Hearing Nanny Tian’s words, the four head maids standing beside Lin Yanran knelt down in terror.
In particular, Wenzhu, who was skilled in medicine, and Wenju, who was adept in poisons, hated Nanny Tian to the core. Instead of living a peaceful life, she just had to stir up trouble, dragging both of them down with her this time.
Lin Yanran had not expected this wet nurse of the original owner to be so sensible: “It is good that you confess. It saves this Princess from having to order another interrogation.”
“Have mercy, Princess! Your servant knows her mistake. Your servant does not beg for the Princess’s forgiveness, but your servant’s family members are entirely innocent.”
The moment Nanny Tian finished speaking, she lunged forward and slammed her head directly into a pillar along the corridor. The people around Lin Yanran had not expected Nanny Tian to seek death so abruptly; caught off guard, they could only watch as she successfully ended her life.
Seeing this, Wenmei was furious. She could not help but stand up, step forward, and kick Nanny Tian’s corpse twice. “Heartless wretch! Not only did you betray your master, but even in death, you had to dirty the master’s ground.”
After her outburst, Wenmei knelt back down to her previous spot. “Madam, how should we handle Nanny Tian’s family?”
Lin Yanran was not one to be soft-hearted. Having survived the mud pits of her past, such a concept did not exist to her—it was always a matter of kill or be killed.
Thus, as Lin Yanran looked at Nanny Tian’s freshly cooled corpse, she had absolutely no intention of letting her family off the hook.
After all, in the book, Nanny Tian’s youngest daughter did indeed go on to become the Marquis’s concubine. In this lifetime, Nanny Tian had already made her move, so there was absolutely no such thing as being “innocent.”
“Sell all three generations of Nanny Tian’s family. Sell them far away, to the Northwest region. This Princess does not wish to see this family in Cangming ever again for the rest of her life.
This includes Wang Da, who is currently serving the Eldest Young Master. Sell him off together with them.”
Wenmei responded swiftly and immediately led a group of people, carrying the land and servant deeds, to seize Nanny Tian’s family.
As for Nanny Tian on the ground, serving servants had already dragged her away.
These servants were actually far calmer than Lin Yanran. To them, the death of a slave was a common occurrence, nothing to be surprised about.
Wenzhu knocked her head against the ground, her heart filled with guilt for failing to protect her master. “Madam, your servant is also guilty. Please punish your servant.”
Wenju also hurried to beg for punishment, feeling that she and Wenzhu had indeed slackened. “Your servant is also guilty. Please punish your servant.”
Lin Yanran knew that these four maids were loyal in the novel. In fact, after the original owner died, Wenju had even attempted to poison Sun Xinrou.
However, the plan had been too rushed and crude. In the end, Sun Xinrou detected it, and Wenju was thrown into a pack of wild dogs to be gnawed to death.
The endings of the other three head maids were much better than Wenju’s, but not a single one lived past two years after the original owner’s passing.
Knowing the fates of these women in the novel, Lin Yanran could not bring herself to be harsh on Wenmei and the others. Besides, regarding the matter of Nanny Tian, the original owner was also at fault.
The original owner had shown too much trust in Nanny Tian and had given her far too many privileges. With the master displaying such complete trust, the people around her naturally followed suit.
“The four of you indeed neglected your duties. However, considering that you have always followed this Princess with unwavering loyalty, Wenmei and Wenlan will be docked three months’ salary, while Wenzhu and Wenju will be docked six months’ salary.”
Hearing their master say this, Wenlan and the other two felt immensely grateful to Lin Yanran. “Thank you, Princess.”
Just as Lin Yanran finished handling the matters here, a servant came to report: “Reporting to Madam, Eldest Princess Changning and Prince Consort Lin have arrived at the gates of the Marquis’s Manor.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Yanran instantly stood up from her reclining chair and led Wenzhu and the others outside.
On the way to the front courtyard, Lin Yanran crossed paths with her mother-in-law, the Dowager Marchioness Xie, once again.
Lin Yanran stepped forward with a smile to greet her. “Mother.”
The Dowager Marchioness, Old Lady Xie, had a sullen face. “Did you inform the Eldest Princess?”
“This sort of matter is likely known to all of Cangming by now. Why would your daughter-in-law need to make a special trip back home to mention it?
In any case, the mother and her two children will be entering the manor in two days. My mother and the others would have found out sooner or later anyway.”
Lin Yanran’s words completely blocked any further arguments Old Lady Xie might have had. The children had already been born; no matter how cruel she wanted to be, she could not bring herself to say she would kill her own grandchildren.
She could only sigh and accept her fate, putting on a smiling face as she headed toward the front courtyard.
Having married from a prestigious noble family, Dowager Marchioness Xie truly felt that her eldest son had made a wrong move with this step.
Although in this society, men of their standing mostly had groups of wives and concubines, her eldest son had publicly declared years ago, due to various reasons, that he would only have one wife for his entire life.
Now that he had produced an external mistress and children, even if people praised his masculinity on the surface, who wouldn’t secretly question his moral character in private?
Particularly the imperial family; they might not say anything on the surface, but how could they not hold a grudge in their hearts? In the future, what good fortunes would ever fall to him?
But a grown son does not listen to his mother. What she thought did not matter. What mattered was that her son had already ruined a perfectly good hand of cards.
In the past, she could still put on the airs of a mother-in-law before her eldest daughter-in-law, but in the future, she feared her eldest daughter-in-law would not be as easy to talk to as before.
The Dowager Marchioness and Lin Yanran walked together along the path, exchanging very few words. The Dowager Marchioness was worrying about how she would explain her eldest son’s actions to the Eldest Princess and the Prince Consort later.
Meanwhile, Lin Yanran was worrying about whether Eldest Princess Changning and Prince Consort Lin would see through the fact that she was not the original owner.
This was her first time meeting the original owner’s biological parents since she transmigrated, so her heart was inevitably filled with anxiety.
Thus, both the Dowager Marchioness and Lin Yanran had their own respective worries, and neither was in the mood to find topics for idle chatter.
By the time Lin Yanran and the Dowager Marchioness arrived, Eldest Princess Changning and Prince Consort Lin had already finished two cups of tea.
The moment the Dowager Marchioness saw Eldest Princess Changning, she spotted the red whip resting beside the Eldest Princess’s hand.
The Dowager Marchioness’s heart tightened, and cold sweat broke out across her back. Although she knew there was a high probability the Eldest Princess would not whip her, who wouldn’t feel a sense of dread toward this Eldest Princess, who was known to beat people up on a whim?
While bowing to the Eldest Princess, the Dowager Marchioness added a line in her mind—perhaps her eldest son was the only one who didn’t!
“This subject’s wife pays respects to the Eldest Princess and Prince Consort Lin!”
“Daughter pays respects to Father and Mother!”
Lin Yanran casually performed a salute in the manner of the original owner. Without waiting for Eldest Princess Changning to tell her to rise, Lin Yanran stood up on her own. “Father, Mother, why have you come?”
“I came to see if you had cried yourself to death while hiding under your blankets.”
Prince Consort Lin’s words were blunt, but his eyes scanned his daughter from head to toe. Seeing that her complexion looked decent, the solemn look on his face relaxed slightly.
The Eldest Princess, on the other hand, grabbed her daughter and inspected her thoroughly. “This Palace only heard this morning that the Marquis of Wenxuan has been keeping a mistress outside, and has even fathered two children. This Palace came specifically to see what kind of celestial beauty she is.”
Hearing the words of Prince Consort Lin and the Eldest Princess, the Dowager Marchioness quickly tried to explain on behalf of her son. “Chen’er was also temporarily muddled, falling into the trap of an outside woman. They are merely playthings; Chen’er will not take them seriously.”
The Eldest Princess did not even look down at Old Lady Xie, who was actively speaking up for her son. Her tone lacked her usual warmth: “Dowager Marchioness Xie need not be so formal, please rise. The Prince Consort and I were simply overjoyed to see our daughter and forgot about you.
You are also a parent; surely you can understand the feelings of the Prince Consort and myself.
There is no need for you to entertain us here. The Prince Consort and I wish to speak with our daughter in private. Surely the Dowager Marchioness does not find this difficult?”
The Dowager Marchioness immediately expressed: “Not at all. Please suit yourselves, Eldest Princess and Prince Consort. This subject’s wife shall take her leave.”
However, in her heart, the Dowager Marchioness cursed her unreliable eldest son once more. Even when she had followed the late Marquis, she had never had to swallow such anger.
Now that she was old, she still had to endure this kind of treatment because of her son.