Dou Zhao watched Madam Ji’s every move, barely suppressing her laughter.
When she first entered the Marquis’s mansion, she had often given such cold treatment to the stewards and matrons from the Wei family.
How could Yuzhan, a mere maid who had risen through chance, withstand such a scene?
Left idle and ignored, hearing the taunts from Madam Ji’s maids and seeing the cold looks from her servants, Yuzhan decided to find Tuo Niang.
To her surprise, Tuo Niang wasn’t there!
She noticed a kind-looking maid in green clothes living next door to Tuo Niang and asked, “Sister, do you know where Suxin, who serves Fourth Young Miss, has gone?”
The maid was putting on earrings in front of a mirror. She replied, “Yuzhan went to Zhending Prefecture with Steward Wang.”
Yuzhan was stunned.
The maid put away her mirror and walked over with a smile. “Are you new here? I don’t recognize you. Steward Wang is our Madam’s attendant. Our Madam isn’t used to the food in Zhili, so the Old Madam of the Ji family often has their shops send some things over. Steward Wang is going to the prefecture to fetch items for Madam. Coincidentally, a few days ago, Second Madam Yu’s niece and nephew came to visit. Madam saw that Fourth Young Miss liked Miss Wu’s doll, and since Suxin is Fourth Young Miss’s favorite maid and knows her preferences, she sent Suxin with Steward Wang to choose one from the Ji family shop in the prefecture. She should be back tomorrow afternoon.”
Yuzhan’s eyes turned red with jealousy.
The Ji family’s shop in Zhending Prefecture even sold Western items. Daqing’s wife had been there once and spent over twenty taels of silver on a small gilded rouge box with a Western beauty painted on it. She treasured it like a precious gem, only bringing it out to show off during the New Year. She said that if they ever became wealthy, she’d go shopping there again properly.
Suxin was able to browse the Ji family shop accompanied by the Sixth Madam’s steward. The shop assistants would surely treat her with great respect out of consideration for Sixth Madam, making her far more impressive than Daqing’s wife.
How did she get such good luck? What made her better than herself? She was just good at clinging to Fourth Young Miss…
As Yuzhan pondered this, a thought suddenly struck her.
Right, if the dull-witted Suxin could win Fourth Young Miss’s favor, with her cleverness, wouldn’t Fourth Young Miss be even easier to win over?
With this in mind, she thanked the maid, tossed her bundle in Tuo Niang’s room, washed her face, and hurried to the main hall.
Madam Ji was standing with Dou Zhao under a tree, instructing the young maid Caifeng: “…Crush them in a small bowl, add some alum, and leave it overnight. Tomorrow we can use it to dye our Shou Gu’s nails.” As she spoke, she crouched down and held up Dou Zhao’s small hand.
The chubby little hand was white and delicate, with skin that seemed as soft as a peach. The tiny nails were exquisite. When she spread her fingers, small dimples appeared on the back of her hand. Madam Ji’s heart melted.
Yuzhan hurried forward to greet Madam Ji and Dou Zhao: “Sixth Madam, Fourth Young Miss!”
“Oh, you’ve come,” Madam Ji said kindly, her tone a stark contrast to her earlier coldness. Yuzhan felt overwhelmed by the sudden favor and quickly responded, “Yes,” trying to please them: “This servant saw that Suxin wasn’t in the room and thought Fourth Young Miss might need someone, so I put down my bundle and hurried over.”
Madam Ji nodded.
Dou Zhao smiled at her.
Yuzhan’s anxious heart finally settled.
Everyone said that the Sixth Madam of the East Compound was kind-hearted. Perhaps earlier she had just encountered something unpleasant when Yuzhan arrived.
A young maid brought over a crystal bowl filled with garden balsam flowers: “Sixth Madam, is this alright?”
Madam Ji looked hesitant, as if unsure.
Yuzhan immediately offered eagerly: “Sixth Madam, when our Madam was here before, I often helped pick garden balsam flowers.” As she spoke, she began sorting through the flowers in the bowl. “Look, this one is a bit too tender…”
“It seems you do have some discerning eyes,” Madam Ji praised her with a smile.
Yuzhan was overjoyed.
After selecting the flowers, Madam Ji led Dou Zhao back to the room.
Yuzhan hurriedly followed.
Third Aunt came over: “Sixth Sister-in-law, you’re busy!”
She greeted Madam Ji at the door but didn’t enter.
Madam Ji glanced at Dou Zhao, hesitated for a moment, then instructed the young maid: “Take Fourth Young Miss to her room.” She then adjusted her hair and walked towards Third Aunt with a smile.
Dou Zhao entered the room with the young maid and Yuzhan.
The young maid placed the crystal bowl on the kang table and smiled at Dou Zhao, who was standing by the kang: “Fourth Young Miss, I’ll go get the jar of alum. Please stay here and don’t move.” She then asked Yuzhan, “Sister, please watch Fourth Young Miss.”
“Don’t worry, I’m here!” Yuzhan said with a beaming smile.
The young maid scampered off to the back room.
Yuzhan crouched down to talk to Dou Zhao: “Fourth Young Miss, would you like to go on the swing? If you let Suxin come back, I’ll take you on the swing and play string games and beanbag toss with you every day. How about that?”
Dou Zhao couldn’t be bothered to respond.
After Yuzhan had been talking to herself for a while with no reaction from Dou Zhao, she grew bored. Having stood for so long earlier and now crouching, her legs felt weak as she tried to stand. She steadied herself on the kang table, which tilted, causing the crystal bowl to roll off onto the floor with a loud crash, shattering into several pieces. The garden balsam petals scattered everywhere.
She was stunned.
“What happened?” The young maid, hearing the commotion, rushed in carrying a small cloisonné jar. Seeing the broken crystal bowl, her face turned pale. “How did this happen?”
The maids who had been standing in the corridor also rushed in.
Everyone’s gaze fell on Yuzhan.
“It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me!” Yuzhan instinctively denied it. Her eyes inadvertently caught sight of Dou Zhao standing nearby, and she suddenly saw her chance for salvation. “It was Fourth Young Miss… Yes, Fourth Young Miss accidentally knocked it over!”
Madam Ji’s face turned ashen. She instructed Cailan: “Go fetch Nanny Yu from the West Compound.”
The servants in the room didn’t dare make a sound. Seeing Madam Wang make a gesture, they all breathed a sigh of relief and filed out one by one.
Only then did Madam Ji let her anger show: “This Yuzhan is not worth keeping alive!”
She had first suppressed and then encouraged Yuzhan, hoping she would make a mistake in her pride so that she could find an excuse to teach her a lesson. Who would have thought that before she could act, Yuzhan would do something so despicable?
“No wonder Suxin got into a fight with her,” Madam Wang also sighed, but still tried to console Madam Ji. “It’s good we discovered this early, otherwise who knows how much more Fourth Young Miss would have suffered in secret!”
Madam Ji thought of Dou Zhao’s soft little hands, her eyes reddening slightly. She asked softly, “Where is Shou Gu?”
“Caishu and Cailan are with Fourth Young Miss picking garden balsam flowers in the courtyard!” Madam Wang said with a smile. “She’s having a wonderful time.”
A hint of a smile appeared in Madam Ji’s eyes. She hesitated, “What do you think about raising Shou Gu in my quarters?”
Madam Wang’s eyelid twitched. “Is that what Third Madam came to discuss with you?”
Madam Ji was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.
Madam Wang drew in a sharp breath. “Can we not get involved in this matter?”
When Cailan went to fetch her, Nanny Yu was already overwhelmed.
The Qixia Courtyard was in chaos, with people from the Zhu family coming again to break off the engagement. The Pang family was throwing their weight around, ordering people about. To make matters worse, both the Old Master and Seventh Master were nowhere to be seen. As a mere servant, which of these matters could she take charge of? The stewards and matrons were all avoiding responsibility, pushing her to the forefront. Bound by the Seventh Master’s instructions, she couldn’t avoid it even if she wanted to. She had no choice but to step up, placating one person after another, barely managing to keep things under control. Just as the Old Master finally returned, the Sixth Madam from the East Compound sent someone to summon her.
She could refuse others, but with Fourth Young Miss now in the Sixth House of the East Compound, she couldn’t delay a moment when Sixth Madam called.
She rubbed her forehead and asked the young maid who came to report: “Did they say what it was about?”
The maid shook her head: “They just said to come quickly.”
Nanny Yu had no choice but to give some instructions to Mama Huo and headed to the East Compound with two young maids.
Madam Wang greeted her.
Instead of taking her directly to the main hall, Madam Wang invited her to sit in a side room.
“Elder Sister,” she said, holding Nanny Yu’s hand, “I know you’ve been run off your feet these days. If it weren’t urgent, our Madam wouldn’t have asked you to come.” She then told Nanny Yu about Yuzhan’s incident. “…It was just breaking an object, at most deserving a scolding from our Madam. But she tried to frame Fourth Young Miss, which shows how arrogant she must be usually. If it weren’t for considering the former Madam’s reputation, our Madam would have dealt with her on the spot…”
Before Nanny Yu had heard it all, her head began to buzz.
She knew something like this would happen!
Seeing that Daqing’s wife didn’t take Fourth Young Miss seriously, the maids and servants in the household followed suit, becoming increasingly brazen. Especially those with shallow minds like Yuzhan, who had become utterly senseless.
At the root of it all, this was all trouble caused by her son.
But a grown son is beyond a mother’s control.
She managed the internal affairs, while her son handled external matters. By the time she learned of some things, it was already too late. She had scolded her son several times. At first, he just listened, but later he began to talk back: “We were the former Madam’s people. No matter who becomes the Seventh Master’s new wife, they won’t keep us around. We might as well make preparations for ourselves now while we can.”
She knew her son had a point, but having served the Zhao and Dou families all her life, where else could she go?
Her son said, “Don’t worry, I won’t touch Fourth Young Miss’s things. I’m just using the Zhao and Dou names and Fourth Young Miss’s money to do some business. Once we’ve accumulated some capital and reputation, you can use the excuse of old age, and we’ll ask the new Madam for the favor of letting us return to our hometown. That new Madam will probably be delighted and won’t stand in our way.”
Now that Sixth Madam was displeased with her, this matter wouldn’t be so easy to resolve.
Nanny Yu anxiously grasped Madam Wang’s hand: “Ten fingers are of different lengths. I’m juggling so many issues, that my head is spinning. Please tell me what I should do!”
“Sister, you’ve been by the master’s side for so long. Think carefully, and you’ll know what to do,” Madam Wang said. Despite her words, she smiled and added, “I’ve seen many maids like Yuzhan. She’s troublesome and keeping her around will only bring more problems.” She then took Nanny Yu to see Madam Ji.