First Madam Song was momentarily stunned before she reacted, a smile appearing on her round, plump face: “This Madam Fang is quite clever. With the Buddha manifestation at Huangjue Temple and the Eleventh Princess’s betrothal being finalized, on that day not only will we be going, but all the notable madams and ladies in the capital will be going.”
If only the Song family went, Madam Fang doing this would appear too conspicuous and easily arouse Old Madam Chen’s vigilance. But since Old Madam Chen herself had to go, Madam Fang’s attendance would seem perfectly natural.
Sometimes the mouths of inner chamber women could transmit information more reliably than any correspondence. Old Madam Song nodded: “If that’s the case, then pay extra attention that day and listen to what Madam Fang really means.”
Madam Fang was probably testing the waters for Fang Xiaorou. If Madam Fang could truly persuade Fang Xiaorou to pledge allegiance, then they would have the key to opening the door that was the Chen family.
After saying this, she instructed First Madam: “Bring Mingzi and Younger Sister You along too… Mingzi isn’t young anymore. In the past, I always wanted to keep her a few more years. You also know I had considered giving her to one of our own children…”
But precisely to prevent situations like today’s with Old Madam Xiang, she had still adopted Xiang Mingzi under Old Master Song’s name. This way, the Song family boys were naturally no longer suitable.
In the past, she couldn’t bear to part with her, always thinking to keep her a few more years, letting her spend a few more carefree years as a young lady by her side. But thinking about it now, it was indeed time to start considering matches.
First Madam Song understood her meaning and agreed: “Your daughter-in-law understands. It just so happens that both aunt-in-laws from the Cui family will be going that day as well. With them there, Mingzi can get to know more people…”
Song Chuyi was reclining on the couch, listening to Qing Ying relay what Ma Wangkun had Luo Gui bring in today: “I heard that Chief Administrator Qian’s head attendant personally made a trip out of the city, supposedly to go ahead and clean the house at the villa in Tongzhou. But Ma Wangkun and the others say that the attendant took a calling card and went straight to Vice Minister Wang’s residence in Tongzhou…”
Vice Minister Wang of the Ministry of Rites had quite a deep relationship with Prince Dongping. Song Chuyi pressed her lips together: “Find a way to leak this information to people at the Marquis Jinxiang’s residence?”
Ever since Zhang Run had mentioned that Lady Fan the Younger and Lady Fan the Elder appeared harmonious but actually had an extremely poor relationship, Song Chuyi had paid attention to the relationship between these two families. She originally had no intention of getting involved in Crown Prince affairs. Even though she had previously leaned toward Crown Prince Zhou Weizhao’s side, she had always stopped at just that and never gotten too involved. Yet Prince Dongping was determined to drag them into the water.
Prince Dongping clearly knew what kind of relationship the Song and Chen families currently had, yet he still dangled the Chen family along on one hand while being unwilling to give up the Song family as an asset on the other. Such a rational yet greedy person—if he truly became her husband, then if the Song family ever lost its usefulness one day, she would be the first person Prince Dongping sacrificed, just like Han Zhi now.
“The Marquis Jinxiang’s residence also has people secretly inquiring for information. Ma San and the others are very clever—they leaked the information without anyone knowing.” Qing Ying’s lips curved in a smile: “Also, Ma San said that yesterday the steward from the Marquis Jinxiang’s residence went to the Yuantong Escort Agency in the capital and brought back an old woman…”
At this time, with her daughter about to serve as a dowry maid after the Buddha manifestation day and her son having become a wanted criminal, and with the Eastern Palace’s attitude clearly being one of standing by and watching, Lady Fan the Younger should be in a terrible predicament right now. Yet she still had the presence of mind to have an escort agency bring an old woman to the capital, and even had a steward personally go receive her? Song Chuyi raised her eyebrows, instinctively feeling something was amiss here. She closed the book in her hands and instructed Qing Ying: “Have Ma San continue watching, and send someone to ask around at the escort agency to find out exactly what this old woman’s background is.”
Using an escort agency to escort an old woman—no matter how you thought about it, this seemed suspicious.
Lady Fan the Younger was so excited she couldn’t even sit still. In just half an hour, she had sent out four or five waves of people to inquire. Finally, when she heard that the person had entered the residence, she almost bounced up from her seat entirely, repeatedly instructing the servants: “Quickly bring the person in, quickly!”
Nanny Zhang hadn’t expected to see Lady Fan the Younger again. As soon as she entered and caught sight of Lady Fan the Younger, tears filled her eyes to the brim, and her knees went soft as she knelt on the ground.
Lady Fan the Younger swept a glance around the room. Qiu Ju immediately understood and led all the serving people out, closed the door, and personally brought over a stool to sit at the doorway—with no adult male in charge of the household and the Heir having gotten into trouble, recent days had been filled with panic and chaos.
“Nanny, get up! Quickly, get up!” Lady Fan the Younger rushed down from the couch and bent to personally help Nanny Zhang up, her voice trembling with excitement: “After so many years, I’ve finally seen you…”
Nanny Zhang was also tearful. Looking at Lady Fan the Younger who was clearly younger than Lady Fan the Elder but now seemed barely different from herself in appearance, she felt such heartache that she gasped heavily: “I’m… I’m fine… but Miss, you’ve become…”
Lady Fan the Younger took a handkerchief and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, forcing out a smile: “Half person, half ghost?”
“You mustn’t say such things!” Nanny Zhang grabbed her hand and, just like when she was little, pecked at the back of her hand, then spat on the ground several times: “Speaking like this is taboo.”
Lady Fan the Younger was moved by Nanny Zhang to the point where tears almost fell again. She turned her head away and sniffled: “What taboo or not—these past dozen years I’ve already been living neither as person nor ghost. Look at me—where do I still resemble a living person? Nanny, you know why I didn’t return to the old home back then, don’t you?”
Speaking these words in the dead of winter, Nanny Zhang felt goosebumps crawling all over her body. She hung her head, unable to speak for a moment.
Lady Fan the Younger collected her emotions and looked at her with a slight smile: “In the past, I always thought my elder sister and I were the same. But after arriving in the capital, Nanny always cautioned me that I was different from Elder Sister, that I must yield to Elder Sister in everything…”
As she spoke, tears the size of beans suddenly fell from her eyes with a patter onto the carpet, and she lowered her voice in a choked sob: “I kept yielding to her… when we were young with hair ornaments and embroidered balls, music and board games, calligraphy and painting—when we grew up, I still yielded to her… even my reputation and future, I gave them all to her…”
Nanny Zhang’s heart pounded like a drum. She felt her heart rising higher and higher, almost about to jump out of her throat. When Lady Fan the Younger was young, she had been innocent and pampered. Though she said she didn’t compete, she still competed—back then, Master Fan and Madam had been good to her… and even they, the servants who didn’t know the truth, thought they had climbed a high branch…
“But what did I get?!” Lady Fan the Younger’s voice suddenly rose. Nanny Zhang almost jumped up from her chair in panic like a spring.
Lady Fan the Younger stared at Nanny Zhang, pointing at herself: “What did I get?! Elder Sister couldn’t tolerate me… she… she did such things to me, and wouldn’t even allow me to return to the old home… These dozen years, these dozen years I’ve lived like a walking corpse. If it weren’t for the two children, if she hadn’t threatened me with the two children, I would have died long ago! Died long ago!”