Chapter 992 What’s the Bait?
“Your Highness…” Nanny Yu still wanted to say something, but Shao Wanru stood up with the support of Qu Le. She turned around and walked inside, leaving Nanny Yu on the spot.
“Nanny Yu, please! Let me see you off!” Yujie stepped forward with a smile, held out her hand, and said politely.
However, for Nanny Yu, the polite invitation of a maid was no match for Princess Chen’s curt refusal.
“Yujie, is Her Highness not going back to the Marquis Xing’s Mansion?” Nanny Yu asked with a bitter smile. She felt reluctant to leave. If she returned without accomplishing the task, it would be hard for her to explain everything to Old Madam.
Old Madam was pretty sure that Princess Chen would return, thinking that if Nanny Yu met Princess Chen, she could persuade her to go back. Before Nanny Yu came here this time, Old Madam specifically told her to meet Princess Chen in person. Even if Princess Chen was in the Palace again, she had to wait.
Finally, she got the chance to see Princess Chen, but she was refused, which was more embarrassing than not seeing her.
“Of course, Her Highness will go back to the mansion. Anyway, she is a descendant of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, and no one else can replace her,” Yujie said politely.
Her words sounded polite and considerate, but when given a second thought, they were nothing but emotionless formalities. Of course, Nanny Yu could understand. Since the Marquis Xing’s Mansion had never been kind to Princess Chen, it was reasonable for her to respond with indifference. But Nanny Yu’s master was Old Madam, so she had to think for Old Madam.
“Although Old Madam is not very close to Her Highness, she is her biological granddaughter after all. How can Old Madam allow others to frame her? Old Madam will not spare her if it’s indeed the Madam’s fault,” said Nanny Yu.
“Don’t worry, Nanny Yu. I will pass these words to Princess Chen,” Yujie answered with a smile and directly exposed Nanny Yu’s intention.
Hearing this, Nanny Yu felt very ashamed. She was there when Old Madam met Princess Chen for the first time. Deep down, she knew Old Madam was wrong. However, as a maid, how could she dare to persuade the domineering Old Madam? Now that she knew it was useless to say anything more, she could only go back to the mansion.
After getting out of the carriage in the mansion, she went straight to see Old Madam.
......
Old Madam was sitting on the couch by the window. Beside her were Madam Jiang, who was the Madam of Marquis Xing, and Zhao Xiran, who was the First Young Madam. As Old Madam heard that Nanny Yu came back alone, her face darkened. Then she ordered Nanny Yu to come in.
Hardly when she entered the door, Old Madam asked with a cold face, “Doesn’t she come back with you?”
Nanny Yu lowered her head and said, “Old Madam, Her Highness is not feeling very well.”
“Not feeling so well? She didn’t want to come back, did she? How dare she be so unfilial? Doesn’t she know it is a violation of filial piety? I’m going to the Palace and let the Empress punish her for that!” Old Madam slammed her hand heavily on the table, boiling with rage.
“Old Madam…” Seeing that things might go worse, Nanny Yu hurriedly tried to calm her down.
“Mother, don’t be angry. We must take the long view and think about it carefully before taking any action!” Madam Jiang interrupted Nanny Yu.
Madam Jiang was too thin to fit in her old clothes, which looked very loose on her. Since they could not provide a perfect fit anymore, Madam Jiang lost her previous graceful bearing.
Her eyes also lost their customary noble sparkle and filled with gloom. Anyone who met her gaze would feel like being targeted by a poisonous snake. Her gaze chilled Nanny Yu to the bone. She could not help but step back and keep a safe distance from Madam Jiang.
“The long view? How can we do that? She doesn’t even want to be in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Well, fine, since she refuses us, we might as well remove the whole first branch from the family genealogy, and shut out the branch that will remain unfilial even after I die.” Old Madam became increasingly angry about Shao Wanru. “They’re all so ungrateful! Don’t they know who give them their wealthy life?”
She said so not only because of Shao Wanru but also because of Shao Yuanhao, who had lived in the Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s Mansion for three years. In the beginning, sometimes, he would come back, but later, he would never return except that he had something to deal with at home. Her grandson seemed to be raised for Rui’an Great Elder Princess. Even though Old Madam had other grandchildren, she could not help blaming Rui’an Great Elder Princess for appearing between her and her grandchildren.
“Mother, these things were indeed… I’m sorry, I didn’t think it through…” Madam Jiang lowered her head, wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, and shed a few drops of tears with a grievance.
There was no one else but trusted subordinates in the room. When they saw Madam Jiang like this, they all lowered their heads for fear of hearing any terrible secrets.
Zhao Xiran, head bowed, sat in the chair with slightly twitching eye corners. She didn’t want to hear such words because they sounded like the beginning of a dreadful and secretive speech. This kind of thing had nothing to do with what she was looking for, so she didn’t want to know it at all. But now that she was here, she had to brace herself and bear it.
Madam Jiang was going to tell Old Madam everything that she had done.
“Mother, you know what happened at that time. It was unclear whether she was an authentic descendant or not. No outsider was allowed to get mixed up in my Eldest Brother’s branch. I didn’t know whether she was such an outsider or not, so I asked Wang Shengxue to sound out her background. However, I didn’t expect that the couple had evil intentions… Later, I was so pissed off that I demoted Ning Xueqing to a concubine staying with Wang Shengxue,” Madam Jiang continued.
These half-truths from her mouth sounded reasonable.
Old Madam’s face darkened, and she stopped talking.
The room fell into silence. Zhao Xiran even stopped stirring the handkerchief in her hand, just looking silently and blankly at her hand, as if she didn’t even exist there.
Madam Jiang should be responsible for what she had done. It was none of her business. So, what if she heard all of it? She was not there back then, so she didn’t have to take the blame for Madam Jiang and make Princess Chen her enemy.
Princess Chen was not easy to deal with. They had once had a conflict that Zhao Xiran regretted doing. It brought her nothing beneficial and even estranged her from Princess Chen.
Zhao Xiran, eyes fixed on her nose tips above her tight lips, sat silently, with her head down.
“What should we do now? According to Fifth Girl’s character, she will never let it go. She may not do that even if I ask her to come back.” After a long while, Old Madam said in a low voice.
It was not that she might not come back, but she would not go back at all. Old Madam said that only to save herself from embarrassment.
“Madam, Rui’an Great Elder Princess had come to make trouble and put all the blame on Old Madam, accusing her of being harsh to juniors. Now there are rumors like that going around the capital, and even the Empress Dowager and the Empress have already known about it. Even if Old Madam goes to the Palace, there may not be anyone supporting her!”
With great caution, Nanny Yu carefully spoke for Old Madam who couldn’t show any sign of weakness before them, but what Nanny Yu said was the truth. After Rui’an Great Elder Princess made a terrible scene with them, this matter became tricky.
Since Old Madam had a bad reputation for being unkind to juniors, it was useless for her to go to sue Princess Chen in the Palace. Then, the violation of filial piety was no longer suitable to be applied to Princess Chen.
Moreover, there was Rui’an Great Elder Princess, who couldn’t stand any more actions against Princess Chen.
She should be watching Old Madam quietly. So long as Old Madam crossed the line, she would fight back more fiercely than before.
“Mother, Fifth Girl is now Princess Chen. She didn’t grow up by your side, so she is not as obedient to you as your other grandchildren. But now you must beg her for help. Frankly, it doesn’t matter what happens to me. I just don’t want to ruin the reputation of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion because we can’t stand more misfortune,” Madam Jiang said, wiping the corners of her eyes again.
It seemed that Madam Jiang was willing to make so many accommodations for the sake of their overall interests. She had indeed put her whole heart into the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Thinking of the cruel reality that the Marquis Xing’s Mansion was no longer the prosperous Duke Xing’s Mansion, Old Madam felt like crying with emotion.
Madam Jiang said what Old Madam felt at the bottom of her heart. Indeed, the granddaughter, who had not grown up with her, must be unfilial and did not have any family affection for her. If she had known this, she would not have recognized Shao Wanru as her granddaughter at the beginning. Anyway, she was an ungrateful wretch to go against the Marquis Xing’s Mansion. It was better for her to take good care of these grandchildren raised up in her mansion.
However, it was too late to say that.
“So what? She has become Princess Chen enjoying the high status and no longer needs to obey our orders,” Old Madam said sadly.
“Mother, there is actually a way!” Madam Jiang said in a low voice. Then she stood up, walked to Old Madam, and knelt heavily.
“What is it? Tell me!” Old Madam gritted her teeth. She wanted to try any methods that were at hand. So long as Shao Wanru was willing to come back, Old Madam was still confident that she would make compromises. No matter what Shao Wanru wanted, she would agree. Old Madam had only one request for Shao Wanru that she couldn’t ruin the reputation of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion.
Madam Jiang had expected Old Madam’s reaction. Anyway, Old Madam would give up on her now. Madam Jiang gritted her teeth secretly with hatred. “This damn bitch knew something I did before, but she just played dumb and watched me plot against Shao Wanru. Since she has never stopped me, she must have approved of me doing those things. I know she doesn’t like Shao Wanru at all!”
“But at this moment, she pretends to be innocent and caring. She’s so annoying.”
“Mother, return the title of nobility to the first branch!” said Madam Jiang.
“Are you crazy? Do you know what you are talking about?” Old Madam couldn’t help standing up and glaring at Madam Jiang.
Zhao Xiran also raised her head in astonishment. Although she didn’t altogether agree with them, she held the same opinion as Old Madam in this aspect. The title of nobility should belong to her husband. They had repeatedly demonstrated this benefit to her when asking her to get married into the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, hadn’t they?
“Mother, I’m conscious of this. Princess Chen won’t return if you don’t use the title of nobility. Even if you’re sick, she won’t go back here to see you!” Madam Jiang covered her face with a handkerchief and cried. “I have no choice. If Princess Chen doesn’t come back, I can’t persuade her. What… What should I do?”
“Even so, you can’t say that. Yuanhao is too young to know the importance of the title of nobility. How can we give it to him? Besides, he lives in Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s Mansion now, which must have alienated him from us. Compared with the time when he was little, he is now much less respectful to his blood relatives in the Marquis Xing’s Mansion!”
Old Madam said in a low, strained voice, “Tell her I’m sick and invite her over!”
Madam Jiang’s words reminded her. After pondering for a while, she added, “Give her a hint about the title of nobility. Just say that we have to discuss it.”
Old Madam believed that Shao Wanru would return for the title and filial piety!
“Mother, what if they’re not enough?”