“This little girl’s closeness to Madam will surely gladden Lord Xiao.”
Regarding Xiao Shan’s attachment, the nanny beside was very pleased. “In time, Madam will have children of her own. But Second Young Master and the little girl are the late elder brother’s orphans. If Madam treats them generously, others will praise her for her broad-heartedness.”
Mi Yao had thought that once the little radish was sent away, she could finally rest quietly. But no sooner had the door closed than Nanny Luo’s mouth began moving without pause.
After commenting on the little radish, she turned to the eldest. “Xiao Yi is Lord Xiao’s adopted son. With no parents and being older, he already has his own thoughts. Madam need only give him face. At the first opportunity, Madam should separate him from Second Young Master and the little girl, lest he say something that misleads them and estranges them from Madam.”
Seeing she would not stop, after teaching her how to sideline Xiao Yi, she began reciting the number of servants in the household and who needed to be won over.
Mi Yao grew weary of listening. “You’ve spoken of everyone else. Shouldn’t you also speak of yourself? In your view, how should I treat you?”
In the original heroine’s courtyard, there had been four maids and one nanny. Before her marriage, her stepmother, Madam Li, found an excuse to replace her nanny, inserting Nanny Luo in her place. Later, she married off the heroine’s chief maid and replaced her with Shi Ya.
Knowing Madam Li’s arrangements were at the Yu family master’s command, Mi Yao did not care who was sent. She had no intention of meekly obeying or wronging herself anyway.
On the road, Nanny Luo had been quiet, so Mi Yao treated her as nonexistent. But now that she was chattering, Mi Yao turned her gaze upon her.
“Who are you to me? Why should I need you to teach me how to act?”
At her first question, Nanny Luo heard the displeasure in her tone. Her smile faltered—only to hear Mi Yao’s rebuke follow. Her voice, edged with irritation, rang through the room.
Shi Ya pressed her lips together and stepped back half a pace. Since coming to Mi Yao’s side, she had noticed that Mi Yao seemed indifferent to everything, as if she had no temper. In truth, she simply could not be bothered with matters that had nothing to do with her own enjoyment. It was just like when she had first come to Mi Yao’s side. She had thought Mi Yao’s daily pampering of her skin was troublesome, judged her temper to be mild, and so served her carelessly. When Mi Yao discovered this, she made her stand holding a basin for an hour each day, saying it was to train her strength, so that when her mistress required her service, she would not be too weak to lift her hands.
Complaining to Madam Li was useless. Punishing disobedient maids was a mistress’s right. Even if Madam Li dropped a few hints in Mi Yao’s presence, Mi Yao ignored them, leaving Madam Li powerless. From that time on, she realized Mi Yao only *appeared* soft. She had even told Nanny Luo about it, but Nanny Luo refused to believe, insisting Mi Yao was only bullying her for being young and inexperienced, setting rules to frighten her.
Now, look. Mi Yao clearly gave no one face.
“Madam has married far from home. Second Madam specially requested me from the First Madam to be at Madam’s side, fearing Madam is young and inexperienced, so I might offer guidance.”
“You are clever indeed—knowing that invoking ‘Madam’ alone cannot suppress me, so you add my aunt, hoping to use family authority against me.”
Mi Yao’s lips curved. “But what of it? If my aunt stood before me, I would show her courtesy as an elder. Yet you, even if you have some standing in her courtyard, are still only a household servant. Nanny Luo, your contract is in my hands. Do not imagine yourself my master, teaching me how to act. If I grow weary of you, what benefit will that bring you?”
Her father still held some affection for his daughter. The Yu family head had originally planned to place more Yu retainers in her bridal entourage, thinking they might prove useful later. But before her marriage, her father had taken Nanny Luo’s family contracts, so at least openly, his daughter could fully command her attendants.
Seeing Mi Yao truly did not fear her reporting back to the Yu family, Nanny Luo ground her teeth. “Your vision is too shallow. Commander Xiao marries you not only for your beauty, but for your Yu family name. If Governor Zhao or First Madam learn of such conduct, they will be chilled. If you estrange yourself from the Yu family, how will it remain your support? And every word I speak is for your sake, not to harm you. Why must you treat me as an enemy?”
Mi Yao merely cast her a cool glance. “Leave. The sound of your voice wearies me.”
This was more defeating than anger—Nanny Luo truly could not understand Mi Yao’s thinking. As a woman, how could she cut off her own support, disregarding her natal family’s elders?
“You will regret this!”
“If you speak again, whether I regret it or not is beside the point. First, consider where someone of your age would be sent if sold off.”
Seeing Nanny Luo still clinging stubbornly, Mi Yao frowned and cut her off directly. “This is your only warning. If there is a next time, you’ll be left to pray for a kind master.”
Frightened by Mi Yao’s threat, Nanny Luo, however unwilling, could only fall silent.
Once she left, Shi Ya immediately knelt before Mi Yao.
“This servant is not like Nanny Luo. Since coming to Madam’s side, I have known that my only mistress is Madam. I am loyal without question, and would never, like Nanny Luo, say things that displease Madam while claiming it is for her own good.”
Mi Yao clearly heard that Shi Ya was trampling Nanny Luo to highlight her own differences. She could not help but laugh.
“Get up. As long as you don’t annoy me or cause trouble, loyalty or not makes no difference.”
She had no interest in devising strategies for managing servants. If Nanny Luo had quietly built her own influence in the Xiao household without trying to manipulate her, Mi Yao would not have bothered to threaten her at all. So long as they did not starve her or vex her, she was easy to deal with—as a brainless ornament, she was perfectly agreeable.
As she spoke, her gaze swept over the others in the room. Shuang Hua understood Mi Yao was addressing them all, and quickly voiced assent. Yet the less Mi Yao demanded loyalty, the more the maids suspected she was testing them with reverse words.
Nanny Luo, being the First Madam’s person, had only one chance. But the maids knew they would not be sold off for a single mistake.
*
“This Yu girl is truly strange. Her first act upon arrival was to discipline her own servants, alienating her most capable matron.”
After Mi Yao reached Yizhou, Old Madam Ma kept close watch on the Xiao household. She had heard Mi Yao brought a formidable matron, who, within half a day, had gathered and sorted through the servants, and worried this Yu girl might be too capable. But within hours, word spread that Mi Yao had scolded the matron for meddling and dismissed her. She did not allow the matron to seize authority, yet showed no other activity—spending the day in her chamber, seeing no one, going nowhere.
“Do you think she did this because she hasn’t yet married that boy Xu, so she deliberately punished her own matron to show the Xiao servants she is generous and broad-minded? Truly brainless.”
Old Madam Ma could not make sense of it and turned to her daughter-in-law. “And that mute brat Xiao Shan—usually I smile and coax her, but she won’t even let me hold her. Now she clings to the Yu girl, refusing to let go. What an ungrateful little flatterer!”
“Young children are most sensitive to adults’ faces. Second Young Master is older—though your words are harsh, he knows to respect you as an elder and pretends. The little girl simply doesn’t know how to pretend.”
Madam Pan, worn down by nightly dreams and poor spirits by day, usually offered comfort when her mother-in-law complained. Today she spoke plainly.
“You don’t truly like the little girl. Naturally, she doesn’t draw close to you.”
“What does a child know of true liking? I say that Yu girl must have used some trick to make that brat cling to her!”
Old Madam Ma feared the Yu girl might win the children’s affection and earn Xiao Xu’s trust. She muttered complaints for half the day, but when Madam Pan, head in her hands, gave no reply, she grew bored, grumbled a few times, and went off to her daughter’s room.
Once her mother-in-law left, Madam Pan rubbed her temples and began to ponder her dreams. At first, she had dreamt of Xiao Xu gaining the world, becoming the supreme ruler. She thought it was nonsense, a baseless fantasy. But as the dreams repeated, each more detailed than the last, she realized she was seeing destiny. She had never imagined the one to go furthest would be Xiao Xu. Her brows furrowed. She could not understand why she always chose the wrong side. Her father had been Zhao Tianhe’s trusted aide. After he died in service, Zhao Tianhe took her in as his foster daughter. When she came of age to marry, she had to choose among the men around her. Her choice narrowed to Ma Songping and Xiao Xu.
In terms of looks, she had favored Xiao Xu at first. But Xiao Xu did not know how to please a woman—he only spoke when there was something to say, so every attempt at closeness felt like pressing warm cheeks against cold stone. Ma Songping, on the other hand, knew how to joke and amuse her and would send gifts to win her favor.
At that time, Ma Songping also seemed more valued by Zhao Tianhe, so she rejected Xiao Xu and chose Ma Songping. Who could have guessed Ma Songping would be short-lived? Less than a year after their marriage, she was widowed. With Zhao Tianhe as her backing, remarriage was inevitable.
A woman’s second marriage is like a second birth. Compared to her youthful ignorance, she thought long and hard about her next choice.
Xiao Xu was still among her considerations. But when she saw that Zhao Tianhe had taken him as a foster son without granting him the Zhao surname, she judged he would never enter the Zhao clan’s inner circle of power, and turned her eyes instead to Zhao kinsmen with blood ties.
Yet in her dreams, the man she chose became Xiao Xu’s enemy, and before long, Xiao Xu destroyed his faction. She herself was forced to flee, only to die miserably of illness in a grass hut.
Madam Pan bit her lip. Heaven had given her this chance to see clearly, to choose the strongest tree to perch upon. She had not chosen Xiao Xu before, but it was not too late to choose him now.
In her dreams, the Yu woman loved another, married Xiao Xu yet treated him as an enemy, tormenting the Xiao children, and in the end was executed by a thousand cuts. What was there to fear in such a woman, even if she was noble-born and beautiful? In the dream, she had simply backed the wrong side, failing to devote herself to Xiao Xu. Now that she was willing to fight for him, the Yu woman was no match.
If the Yu woman killed the Xiao children, so be it—especially Xiao Yi, whom Xiao Xu later raised as his heir. At the right time, she would even help the Yu woman fan the flames.
Once the excess was gone, only the children she bore with Xiao Xu would have a clear path forward. Then she could become the most exalted woman in the world.