Chapter 1073 The Fake Shopkeeper’s Real Identity
“Nanny Wei, what do you mean?” Shao Wanru asked with her face darkening.
“Her Highness, I have made it very clear. If you are determined to get this shop, you can go and plead with Her Majesty for it,” Nanny Wei chuckled and said in a low voice.
After saying that, she went out but suddenly stopped when she reached the door and said, “Her Highness, I’m tired, so I’ll go back to the Palace from the side door. So, please send someone to inform the coachman about that and let him go back to wait!”
After saying that, she walked to the side door with easy familiarity because she knew the way very well.
Nanny Wei visited the Prince Chen’s Mansion frequently. In the past, when she delivered things for the Empress Dowager, she always went through the side door.
Yujie was so angry that her face turned livid. Looking at Nanny Wei’s back, she almost couldn’t refrain from rushing over to stop her.
Shao Wanru sat down calmly, raised the corners of her mouth slightly, and said to Yujie with a smile, “What’s all this about? Are you really angry?”
Yujie turned around, let down the curtain, and exploded, “My Lady, she has gone too far. Yes, she serves Her Majesty, but you are Princess Chen! How could a servant like her slander you?”
“She had met Wei Dahai. The matter seems to be related to Wei Dahai. I underestimated him, a really capable man to connect with Nanny Wei. When I mentioned the Butterfly Clothing Shop yesterday, Nanny Wei didn’t look right. Sure enough, there is something fishy about it.”
Shao Wanru said in no hurry, pushing away the trimmings before her, “Let’s put the original one on the screen!”
Knowing that Nanny Wei came with malevolent intentions, she had well prepared for it. The screen was merely a tool to test Nanny Wei. Now she could conclude that Nanny Wei held great malice against her.
Madame Dong had sent a shop-boy to deliver the message and tell them everything they had seen. So, Shao Wanru even learned that the middle-aged woman coming out of Butterfly Clothing Shop dressed like Madame Dong and was about the same age as her: she imitated Madame Dong on purpose.
A fake shopkeeper tricked Nanny Wei, but Nanny Wei wouldn’t have been fooled so readily if she had held no prejudice against Shao Wanru.
Both Nanny Wei and Wei Dahai were surnamed Wei, so their relationship was evident.
After Nanny Wei left the Palace, she went straight to the Butterfly Clothing Shop. Wei Dahai had been waiting outside after getting the message. Since he had prepared a fake shopkeeper to deceive her, he must have already known that Nanny Wei was leaving the Palace.
Nanny Wei came to the Prince Chen’s Mansion, announcing that she came here with the Empress Dowager’s order, which meant that the Empress Dowager should have known about it. By inference, Nanny Wei might have cast a slur on her before the Empress Dowager or asked someone to cook some evidence against her. In a fit of anger, the Empress Dowager sent Nanny Wei out to verify it.
However, Nanny Wei didn’t enter the shop to find out the truth. Instead, she only listened to Wei Dahai’s explanation and rushed to criticize Shao Wanru in the Prince Chen’s Mansion, full of malice. It could be seen that Wei Dahai must have bewitched her.
“My Lady, Nanny Wei was cheated. Why didn’t you make everything clear?” Qu Le was a little more friendly, thinking they could forgive Nanny Wei, who was taken in by false statements.
“She has been prejudiced against me already. No matter how much truth I share with her, Nanny Wei won’t believe my words. Anyway, she won’t listen to me.” Shao Wanru talked slowly. Her face darkened, and her watery eyes turned cold.
She had never been a merciful person. Since Nanny Wei had set her heart on scheming against her and never doubted Wei Dahai’s statements, then she didn’t need to explain.
Today, Nanny Wei went to the Butterfly Clothing Shop, which proved that she had said damaging things about her before the Empress Dowager. If Nanny Wei was a good person, she should verify Wei Dahai’s words before believing him. After all, if she didn’t handle such a thing properly, she might bring a fatal and overwhelming disaster to innocent people.
Nanny Wei heard and trusted only one side. In that case, following Wei Dahai’s suggestions to deal with Shao Wanru was committing evil.
Many people in this world could always come up with an explanation for their evil actions, thinking that they were on the right side. Before they acted, they didn’t think things through, but after the damage was done, they kept finding excuses to absolve themselves from blame.
Shao Wanru had always been a cold-hearted person. Others might have no choice or have some misunderstanding to plot against her, but Shao Wanru couldn’t stand bringing damage to herself!
“My Lady, Nanny Wei is the Empress Dowager’s personal maid. After leaving the Butterfly Clothing Shop, she went straight to frighten you in our mansion. Does it mean that the Empress Dowager was also not happy with you? But before you left the Palace yesterday, Her Majesty liked you very much, didn’t she?”
Yujie restrained her anger and became worried.
Nanny Wei was different because she had been the Empress Dowager’s most trusted servant. Though Prince Chen was distinguished, he was the most filial to the Empress Dowager.
“It doesn’t matter!” Shao Wanru said, “Let’s wait and see. We’ve picked up a set of clothes. Now, we’re going to make a new set in the same style and use lighter colors.”
“My Lady, the Empress Dowager likes to see bright-colored clothes, and it will be her birthday party. The set we chose has a festive air. You look good in them, but why do you want to make a new one with lighter color?”
Yujie asked in confusion.
That gorgeous and magnificent set of clothes was embroidered with flying peonies. The royal scarlet coat showed off Shao Wanru’s fair face, which wasn’t colorless and pallid. Instead, she had naturally pink cheeks, and her skin was as delicate and white as jade. When she was in this set of clothes, her servant girls were stunned by her beauty and couldn’t help praising it.
Most of Shao Wanru’s clothes were light-colored, so she had never worn such bright red ones, especially with peonies regarded as flowers of wealth. Honestly, it wasn’t easy to match with such resplendent clothes. But when Shao Wanru put them on, she looked stunningly beautiful and glamorous.
The Empress Dowager would be happy to see her in this bright set with peony patterns on her birthday.
“Is it because of Nanny Wei’s words just now?” Qu Le blinked her eyes, thought for a moment, and said with a frown, “But I think she was talking about the table screen’s rim. She said that deliberately because she wanted you to replace the suitable trimming with a gaudy one.”
“This rim doesn’t match. Can you see it?” Shao Wanru picked up the last piece they chose. It was long with tassels. Although it looked wonderful alone, it didn’t go with the table screen. Anyone who wasn’t dull would know it was inappropriate.
Nanny Wei had been serving in the Palace for such a long time, so how could she make such a simple mistake?
Her words could mislead Shao Wanru for a while, but Shao Wanru would realize the mistake after some time. Even if she didn’t notice anything, the servant girls would find out it was not appropriate.
Nanny Wei deliberately diverted their attention but concealed her true intentions. The most important thing was to make Shao Wanru believe she should wear gorgeous clothes. Shao Wanru had thought she should do that before. However, after hearing Nanny Wei’s words, she felt it might be inappropriate.
Suddenly, Shao Wanru remembered that the Empress Dowager had sent Chu Liuchen several pieces of clothes made in the Palace. They were all in an elegant style. Even if there were some decorative patterns, they were not eye-catching and embroidered with gold threads. Those clothes appeared brightly elegant and noble but not gorgeous.
Chu Liuchen had no gorgeous clothes. So, if she wore such showy clothes, she would not be a match for Chu Liuchen. The Empress Dowager wouldn’t like to see that this couple was not suited to one another.
With this in her mind, a trace of coldness flashed in her eyes that gradually turned icy cold. Gorgeous? Her skin had been pretty white, and her lips were bright and rosy. In her previous life, Old Madam Wen and Gu Xishu drove her out of the Mansion of the Prime Minister. Since she had the dazzling appearance, she would appear ill-matched with Chu Liuchen if she wore gorgeous clothes.
Their differences would be more conspicuous.
Others might not pay attention to it, but the Empress Dowager was different, for she had always cared about Chu Liuchen’s health. At that time, if anyone with ill intentions made a few unpleasant remarks, she was very likely to get into trouble.
If the Empress Dowager banished her from the Palace before everyone present, she would be too ashamed to be Princess Chen in the future. Moreover, she would definitely be severely punished.
If people were out to condemn someone, they could always trump up a charge. In Shao Wanru’s previous life, she had been thrown out of her home for such an absurd reason.
In this life, she encountered the same trick.
Nanny Wei lured her to wear gorgeous clothes because she wanted to ruin Shao Wanru.
Even the Mansion of the Prime Minister would do such a thing. If the Empress Dowager in the Palace went furious, she could make Shao Wanru suffer much more.
In the past, even if the Empress Dowager was not happy about it, she might not show such feelings in front of others. But the situation was different now. With Nanny Wei’s slanderous talk, a great calamity would be impending over Shao Wanru if she was not careful.
“His Highness has always dressed in a graceful and elegant style, so I can’t be gorgeously dressed. I’ll make a set of light lotus red clothes with light golden and simple embroidery patterns. The gold color is a symbol of nobility. So, using some golden threads to embellish the clothes could show my distinguished identity as Princess Chen,” Shao Wanru paused and added, “I’m Princess Chen, so I should wear clothes in the same style as His Highness. If he is here, our clothes will match.”
Whether Chu Liuchen was here or not, she should choose her clothes according to Chu Liuchen’s style and mustn’t outshine him.
At this time, the two maids also understood. They looked at each other with lingering fear on their faces.
“My Lady, don’t worry. I’ll go and get a few pieces of cloth first. After you choose some, I’ll ask the embroidery room to make the clothes as soon as possible,” Qu Le said with a nod and turned to Shao Wanru’s warehouse, in which there were many high-quality pieces of cloth.
Shao Wanru nodded. Initially, she wanted gorgeous clothes embroidered with magnificent and complex patterns, but there was no need to make these clothes now. Therefore, her servants only needed to embroider some simple designs on her clothes with gold thread. The gold thread represented luxury which could show her identity and status. This way, Shao Wanru could get the clothes she wanted in time.
“Yujie, go and invite Madame Dong here.” Shao Wanru said to Yujie again.
There were some things that she had to ask Madame Dong. They’d better get fully prepared for the fake shopkeeper, and Nanny Wei would inevitably make more trouble. Since she had many things to deal with, Shao Wanru had to cope with shifting events by preparing in advance.
Madame Dong arrived at the Prince Chen’s Mansion quickly with people from the Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s Mansion. Shao Wanru had inquired about the Imperial Household Department from Rui’an Great Elder Princess.
Madame Dong came in first and told Shao Wanru about the fake shopkeeper. That woman lived in a courtyard near the shop. The hostess might be Wei Dahai’s mistress, and the fake shopkeeper was very likely to be her trusted nurse.