Whether Lin Yulan ended up injuring Nanny Zhang, Nanny Zhang ended up injuring Lin Yulan, or both ended up battered and in a sorry state, the second branch would be more than happy to see it happen.
Either way, they wouldn’t lose.
As for Lin Yulan, to come in the door and immediately clash with the Marquis’s wet nurse—what would the Marquis think of her in his heart?
Nanny Qi glanced at Nanny Zhang, who was completely ignoring Xiao Qu and staring straight at Lin Yulan with unblinking eyes. Unable to help but feel a shred of reluctant admiration, she forced a smile and tentatively probed, “Nanny Zhang is out of her mind and not easy to deal with. This old servant notices that she seems rather different toward the Madam. I wonder how the Madam managed it? Might as well teach this old servant too.”
Lin Yulan glanced at her and smiled lightly, “This is simple. Sincerity is all it takes.”
“Sincerity?”
“Mhm, sincerity. Having an open and honest mind, being genuine to people, and treating them with sincerity. It’s just that simple.”
Nanny Qi had a guilty conscience. Hearing these words, she felt thoroughly uncomfortable all over, always feeling as though the Marchioness was cursing her. She forced out a few chuckles: “No wonder everyone says the Madam comes from a family of scholars; your learning is truly wonderful, hehe…”
Lin Yulan smiled and did not take up the topic.
Now that she knew Nanny Zhang’s identity, Lin Yulan naturally could not just ignore her. Therefore, she coaxed Nanny Zhang into coming with her, saying they were going to wait for the Young Master.
Although Nanny Zhang was muddle-headed, her intuition was still intact. Among the servants in this estate, everyone despised her; the moment they saw her, they would run as fast as they could, and absolutely no one paid attention to her.
Yet the young girl before her did not run. For no reason, Nanny Zhang developed a bit of favorable impression toward her. When Lin Yulan said she would take her to wait for the Young Master, Nanny Zhang happily followed her right away.
Nanny Qi grew anxious. She tugged at Lin Yulan’s sleeve and whispered, “Madam, there’s no telling when Nanny Zhang might go mad. If she goes mad, that would be terrible! In this old servant’s view, the Madam shouldn’t bother with this idle business. Hurry and call Youguijia or Ping’er to come and take her away! Otherwise, if she happens to go mad and stir up trouble, or worse yet, injures the Madam, what on earth would we do?!”
More importantly, if this mad old woman acted up in the Chunhui Courtyard, servants like them wouldn’t be able to escape either and would be implicated for nothing…
The Marchioness was still too young and didn’t understand the principle that more trouble is worse than less trouble!
Lin Yulan refused, “It won’t happen. I won’t feel at ease unless I bring Nanny Zhang back.”
“Madam—”
“Alright, say no more.”
Nanny Qi had no choice but to shut her mouth, harboring endless complaints in her heart.
Lin Yulan knew what was going on in her own mind. Since the second branch had arranged this accident, it couldn’t have been arranged for nothing; they surely must have already sent someone to notify Shao Xun.
After all, for her to clash with Shao Xun’s wet nurse, Shao Xun simply had to see it with his own eyes for it to have true visual impact and shock value.
If it were discussed afterward, the effect would be greatly diminished.
How could Lin Yulan dare to send Nanny Zhang away at a time like this? If she were sent away now, who knew whether Madam Fu would play dirty tricks again? Of course, the most suitable approach was to hand the person directly to Shao Xun.
Only in this way could she distance herself completely and cleanly.
Sure enough, not long after Lin Yulan brought Nanny Zhang back, Shao Xun hurried in from outside!
“Nanny! Nanny!”
Seeing his own wet nurse and his newly wed Marchioness sitting together harmoniously, drinking tea and eating pastries, with that Lin woman smiling brightly and speaking softly about something while the wet nurse listened with a beaming smile, Shao Xun opened his eyes wide in a daze.
“Young Master!”
Nanny Zhang’s eyes lit up. She hurriedly got up, stepped forward to hug Shao Xun, and looked him up and down. “Is the Young Master alright? Who took you away? Were you hurt? Does it hurt? Quick, quick, let this old servant look!”
While speaking, Nanny Zhang anxiously tugged and pulled at Shao Xun to check whether he had any injuries on his body.
Deep within Shao Xun’s eyes, a trace of pain and guilt flashed by. He caught Nanny Zhang’s hands, smiled, and pulled her down to sit. “Nanny, did you have another nightmare? I’m fine! Look, aren’t I right here, safe and sound?”
“Really?”
“Of course it’s real! Nanny, don’t ever say such things again in the future. How unlucky is that? Right?”
Frightened, Nanny Zhang hurriedly covered her mouth and nodded repeatedly. “Right, right, unlucky, unlucky. I’ll never say it again.”
Having coaxed the wet nurse into a good mood, Shao Xun raised his head and realized that apart from him and the wet nurse, Lin Yulan and her maidservant were long gone. He couldn’t help hooking his lips into a light smile—this woman was certainly quite proactive when it came to avoiding suspicion.
Of course Lin Yulan had to keep her distance; she didn’t want to get mixed up in his personal matters in the least.
Seeing him look up, Nanny Zhang looked up as well and suddenly stood right back up. “Where’s the girl? Why has the girl disappeared?”
“The girl?”
“Yes, the girl! The girl is so wonderful, and she didn’t lie to me,” Nanny Zhang said with a face full of smiles, gently patting the back of Shao Xun’s hand. “She said she would bring me to find you, and I really found you!”
Shao Xun: “…”
The wet nurse hadn’t ended up like this because she cracked her head; it was because she had been poisoned on his account, and the residual poison had not cleared, which was why she was like this. She only recognized him, and sometimes when her condition flared up, she wouldn’t even recognize him. Then how on earth had Lin—Lin Yulan managed it?
The matter of the wet nurse involved a great deal. Since Lin Yulan intentionally kept her distance, Shao Xun naturally understood her meaning, so he smiled at Nanny Zhang and said, “Nanny, well, that girl had matters to attend to and has already left. Next time, I’ll have her come visit you, alright?”
Nanny Zhang showed a trace of a wistful expression, but she clearly listened very much to Shao Xun. She nodded and said, “Oh, alright, alright, I’ll listen to the Young Master! Young Master, don’t forget you must bring her to see me. I like talking with her so much; that girl is a good girl!”
Shao Xun chuckled and casually replied, “Rest assured, Nanny.”
Youguijia and Xiaoping ran over in terror and haste, hurriedly dropping to their knees to plead for mercy.
Shao Xun waved a hand to signal them to stand and said coldly, “You are not unaware of Nanny’s condition. If there is a next time, don’t blame this master for being impolite. If you dare to be negligent again, think of your families.”
“Yes, yes!” Youguijia and Xiaoping were so full of regret they wished they could slap their own faces a few times. “Rest assured, Marquis, these maidservants will never do it again.”
“Hmph!” Shao Xun said coldly, “Ten strikes of the wooden bench for each of your families, so that you too can remember this lesson.”
“Yes…”
Thinking of her husband and several children and grandchildren, and Xiaoping thinking of her parents and younger brothers and sisters, their complexions turned pale. How could they dare to have any objections?
Shao Xun personally escorted Nanny Zhang back to the Yu’en Hall where she resided. When he returned, Lin Yulan was admiring the flowers in the courtyard.
The April peonies were blooming at their finest. A cluster of Erqiao peonies was planted in this courtyard, their oversized blossoms blooming together in two interwoven shades—one deep and one shallow—where the pink and deep red complemented each other splendidly.
“Cough, cough!”
Lin Yulan turned around and offered a slight curtsy. “Marquis.”
Shao Xun dismissed the servants and lowered his voice, “Thank you very much for today’s events.”
Lin Yulan shook her head with a smile, “The Marquis needn’t put it that way. Today’s matter was clearly targeted at me. Even though I anticipated it wouldn’t be peaceful, I never expected that they would actually stoop to utilizing someone in Nanny Zhang’s condition…”
Rage surged in the depths of Shao Xun’s eyes, and he sneered, “This second aunt of mine is both vicious and petty; there is nothing she wouldn’t dare to do.”
He would make a note of it first; naturally, he would settle accounts with her in due time.