“It’s me, Grandfather. Ruzhi and I have come to see you.”
Jiang Wanning leaned her head against Grand Preceptor Zhou’s leg and acted spoiled. “Grandfather, don’t be angry with Ningning anymore.”
“Silly girl, how could Grandfather be angry with you?”
“Quick, stand up and let me look at you.” Grand Preceptor Zhou’s aged hand brushed Jiang Wanning’s cheek. “Good child, you’ve grown so tall.”
“Old Master, Little Miss, please eat.”
“Oh, yes, yes. Come, sit down.” Grand Preceptor Zhou pulled Jiang Wanning up and gestured for Shen Ruzhi to join them. “Ruzhi, you sit too.”
“Old Zhao, you sit down as well.”
“That would be improper,” Steward Zhao said.
“There’s no such thing as proper or improper here. You usually eat with me anyway. I’m happy today; go and get the wine I’ve been saving.”
“Grandpa Zhao, please do as Grandfather says and sit down.”
Seeing that Jiang Wanning also said so, Steward Zhao smiled. “Then this old servant will go get the wine.”
While Steward Zhao was getting the wine, Jiang Wanning chatted with the old Preceptor for a bit.
When they began to eat, she noticed that the dishes on the table weren’t just simple—they were practically an insult. The soup wasn’t like soup, and the vegetables weren’t like vegetables.
“Grandpa Zhao, what’s going on here?” Jiang Wanning’s brow furrowed.
Steward Zhao glanced at the old Preceptor. “If the Little Miss doesn’t wish to eat this, this old servant will have them make it again immediately.”
“I’m asking you what is going on with this!”
“It’s just a few chefs being lazy. Don’t press Old Zhao,” the old Preceptor said. “And you, knowing Ningning was coming, why didn’t you give orders earlier?”
“Yes, yes, it’s this old servant’s fault.”
Jiang Wanning suppressed the bitterness in her heart. To avoid upsetting her grandfather, she sat through the meal. After chatting with him for a while longer and waiting for him to take his afternoon nap, she called for Steward Zhao.
“Grandpa Zhao, what was with the meal today?” Jiang Wanning asked calmly. “You and Grandfather seemed used to it.”
“This definitely isn’t the first time.”
Seeing that Jiang Wanning wasn’t just asking on a whim, Steward Zhao sighed. “Ever since the Mistress married out, the Old Master cut the manor’s staff by half.”
“Later, because of that incident, the Mistress stayed behind closed doors. Her visits went from every few days to once a year, until recently she only sent people to deliver things.”
“The Old Master donated as much of the manor’s money as he could to poor scholars.”
“The servants saw that there was only one old man in the house and that neither the Mistress nor the Little Miss came to visit, so they became very perfunctory in their work.”
“The Old Master is old and doesn’t want to make a fuss. As long as he can get a meal down, he doesn’t say anything. Over time, they became more and more brazen.”
“Has no one thought of changing the chefs?”
Steward Zhao said, “The Prince of Langya sent some, but the Old Master refused.”
“The Prince of Langya?”
Steward Zhao explained, “The Prince of Langya often comes to the manor to play chess with the Old Master to relieve his boredom.”
Pei Yanchuan, just how many things have you done silently in this life that I didn’t know about?
“Even so, they can’t treat him like this. The food I just ate was…” Shen Ruzhi didn’t finish her sentence.
The grand Grand Preceptor’s Manor was actually living in such poverty.
“Grandpa Zhao, Mother has been ill and in poor health. She was afraid of worrying Grandfather, which is why she hasn’t returned to visit.”
Jiang Wanning explained on behalf of her mother. “However, a cure has been found. Once Mother is better, she will return. You and Grandfather are up in years; you cannot be careless with your diet.”
“I will handle this matter.” Without waiting for Steward Zhao to react, Jiang Wanning headed toward the back courtyard.
Steward Zhao’s eyes filled with tears. “The Little Miss is back. She said the Mistress hasn’t forgotten the Old Master.”
“The Grand Preceptor’s Manor can be as lively as it used to be.”
Jiang Wanning walked to the back courtyard. Seeing several people drinking tea, eating melon seeds, and gossiping, her expression turned cold. “Which of you is in charge?”
One of them looked up impatiently, squinting provocatively at Jiang Wanning. “Who are you?”
“This is the back courtyard of the Grand Preceptor’s Manor. Could it be the Old Master felt lonely and brought you in to warm his bed?”
Snap!
Jiang Wanning swung her whip. A red welt immediately appeared on the speaker’s face.
“Ah! You dare to use violence in the Grand Preceptor’s Manor? Do you have a death wish?”
The person stood up, rolling up their sleeves as they walked toward Jiang Wanning. Seeing their leader get beaten, the others also rolled up their sleeves and stepped forward.
“How bold! This is your Old Master’s granddaughter, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis’s Manor! You dog servants dare to bully your masters?” Shen Ruzhi pointed at the crowd and roared.
The person in charge paused. “Little Miss? Hmph, who are you trying to scare?”
“The Mistress hasn’t been here in years, let alone the Little Miss.”
“Are you just seeing how easy the work is here and trying to get a piece of the action?”
“Stupid!” Shen Ruzhi cursed. “Ningning, teach them a proper lesson.”
“Brothers and sisters, someone wants to snatch our livelihood! What do you say we do?”
“Kick them out!”
The group echoed their leader, grabbing whatever was nearby and charging at Jiang Wanning and Shen Ruzhi.
Jiang Wanning sneered inwardly. Her skills might not match Pei Yanchuan’s, but dealing with these people was no problem. Her long whip lashed out fiercely.
Shen Ruzhi also found a suitable weapon. Together, they beat the group into submission.
Jiang Wanning retracted her whip and sat on a nearby chair. “Who taught you to act this way?”
She didn’t believe that these servants would dare to be so arrogant just because she and her mother didn’t visit often. She suspected that even if Steward Zhao had replaced them, the new ones would have been the same.
The group knelt on the ground, looking at each other, none willing to speak first.
“It’s no big deal if a servant or two dies occasionally in the Grand Preceptor’s Manor,” Jiang Wanning said nonchalantly.
“It’s just a matter of paying a couple of taels of silver. Grandfather’s assets go to support poor scholars, but the Marquis’s Manor has plenty of money.”
Half of the Grand Preceptor’s wealth supported poor scholars, and the other half had been given to her mother as a dowry.
Jiang Wanning scanned the room, her voice flat. “The Marquis’s Manor can afford to pay for your lives.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” the leader said, emboldened. “We didn’t sign death contracts; we haven’t sold our lives to you.”
“If you dare kill us, someone will naturally go to the authorities to report you.”
Jiang Wanning nonchalantly admired her newly painted nails. “Do you think… I’d be afraid?”
“Or that the daughter of the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review would be afraid?” She looked at Shen Ruzhi beside her.
“My father is the best at solving cases. Besides, he was a student of the old Grand Preceptor. He will certainly be even more cautious and thorough.”
“When the time comes, it won’t just be about one person dying; it will be about the execution of your entire clans.”
Someone, unable to withstand the intimidation, cried out, “It was the Second Miss of the Marquis’s Manor!”
“Every time she came, she told us not to worry about taking care of the Grand Preceptor.”
“She said the Mistress and the Little Miss had already abandoned the Grand Preceptor’s Manor and didn’t want to bother with him, so they sent her instead.”
“Him!” The person pointed at the leader. “He was sent by the Second Miss.”
“We were all forced into this.”