Ning Garden.

Upon learning that Liang Zhe and his wife had gone to the Zhao family, Old Madam Liang’s eyes darkened. She placed her teacup on the table and fingered the prayer beads in her hand.

Incense smoke curled up from the incense burner, the sunlight was warm and gentle, birds chirped outside, autumn insects buzzed, and the room was silent—it was the finest time of late autumn.

However, Nanny Luo stood to one side, somewhat restless.

Yesterday, it wasn’t her turn on duty. She had merely wanted to go out to listen to opera when she was captured by bandits and knocked unconscious with a packet of knockout powder. When she woke up, she didn’t know where she was. Then came inexplicable questioning. After the interrogation, she was knocked unconscious again. When she awoke, she found herself outside the back wall of her own courtyard.

This was the second time she had been abducted.

Although Nanny Luo had done many dishonorable things, the Marquis Pingxi’s residence had been very peaceful these years, and she had lived quite comfortably—more comfortable than an ordinary county magistrate. Her good days were incredibly carefree, and she hoped such good times could last forever.

Naturally, she cherished her life greatly.

How could she have endured such terror before?

Therefore, during the first abduction, she was truly scared out of her wits. When the other party merely drew a knife across her neck, she confessed everything—if her life was gone, how could she enjoy all the gold and silver treasures she had accumulated over the years?

However, after the second shock, the still-frightened Nanny Luo suddenly realized last night that the other party was probably not bandits at all.

With just a little thought, one could discover that their methods were crude and clumsy, their excuses far-fetched and couldn’t withstand scrutiny.

The other party probably already knew that even if Nanny Luo realized they weren’t bandits, she wouldn’t dare tell Old Madam Liang and the Marquis Pingxi.

On the contrary, Nanny Luo would try her best to conceal this matter.

For no other reason than if Old Madam Liang and the Marquis Pingxi knew that Nanny Luo could leak such secret matters, the first person they wouldn’t spare would be Nanny Luo herself.

Nanny Luo didn’t believe the other party were bandits, but she believed their methods were ruthless, so she was truly afraid—while she had indeed harmed people’s lives before, that didn’t mean she wasn’t afraid of others harming her life.

After the last masked interrogation, her husband had met with misfortune.

While walking properly on the street, a palm-sized stone came flying from somewhere and struck his face, immediately causing his head to bleed and his nose to become crooked. He had been taking medicine daily and still hadn’t recovered.

Her husband had always been a tough character, relying on his wife being someone close to Old Madam Liang at the Marquis Pingxi’s residence, he had often acted tyrannically. Having suffered this unprovoked disaster, how could he let it go? He reported to the authorities and also asked people in the underworld to carefully search for whoever threw the stone, but unfortunately, there had been no leads until now.

She knew this was a warning from the other party. It was clearly evident that the other party was very formidable, completely ignoring conventional rules, acting according to their whims, unreasonably.

Her own family also had backing, yet after so long they hadn’t found any traces. One could imagine that if they wanted to take her life, it wouldn’t be difficult at all.

She didn’t want to die! She now had a house full of gold and silver, lived in a large courtyard, with servants filling the yard. She was even more prestigious than a county magistrate’s mother—how could she be willing to die?

…

“Xinchun, your spirits don’t seem very good today. Is something wrong?”

Suddenly, Nanny Luo heard Old Madam Liang ask in a calm tone.

Xinchun was Nanny Luo’s name, personally given by Old Madam Liang back then.

When still unmarried, Old Madam Liang had four capable maids by her side named after the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Later, some were released, some died, and Old Madam Liang continued to replenish them. Regardless of who they were, they all bore these names.

Now, only Nanny Luo Xinchun and Nanny Liao Chuxia remained by her side.

Nanny Luo quickly said: “Nothing’s wrong, it’s just that I’m getting old and my mind wanders.”

Nanny Luo was also a person with meticulous thoughts, otherwise she couldn’t have achieved such a trusted position beside Old Madam Liang. She knew her coming days would probably be difficult. Having pondered all night, she had already prepared her words.

Old Madam Liang didn’t suspect anything and instead sighed leisurely: “Ah, in the blink of an eye, decades have passed. Xinchun, you’re fifty-seven this year, aren’t you?”

“How thoughtful of Old Madam to still remember this servant’s birthday. This servant is indeed fifty-seven this year.”

“You and I are the same age—how could I not remember? When you first came to my side, you were only nine years old. In the blink of an eye, forty-eight years have passed…”

Nanny Luo responded: “Yes, Old Madam, I’ve been by your side for forty-eight years.”

“Over forty years, through vast changes—truly just the blink of an eye.”

Old Madam Liang’s tone carried a sense of vicissitude and melancholy. Nanny Luo was startled and looked at Old Madam Liang.

She saw that although Old Madam Liang was nearly sixty, she was still well-maintained, looking only thirty or forty, yet her face now bore a reminiscent expression.

Why was Old Madam suddenly feeling sentimental today?

One should know that Old Madam Liang’s temperament wasn’t particularly good, and she rarely acted like this.

“Chuxia came to my side much later than you. You came to my side during the late emperor’s time, while she came to my side in the second year of the current reign. It’s been thirty-one years now.”

Nanny Luo understood that the Chuxia Old Madam mentioned referred to Nanny Liao, who was also the third Chuxia. As for “the second year of the current reign,” it referred to the second year of Emperor Delong’s reign.

Back then, when nine-year-old Nanny Luo came to Luo Yanyan’s side, she was renamed Xinchun, joining the then Chuxia, Jianqiu, and Nongdong as four head maids.

The four of them accompanied the bride together to the Marquis Pingxi’s residence and witnessed Old Madam Liang’s marriage and pregnancy.

Then, they witnessed together how Old Madam Liang’s biological child died at birth. Nanny Luo, as the leader among the head maids, personally went to fetch the newborn Liang Yunshan from Concubine Guan, who had given birth the day before.

Then, Nanny Luo personally killed Concubine Guan and dealt with the people who had served her.

At that time, Nanny Luo was only seventeen years old.

With such loyalty and ruthlessness, from then on Nanny Luo became Old Madam Liang’s most trusted person.

After Old Madam Liang finished her confinement, she personally arranged a grand wedding for Nanny Luo, gave her a substantial dowry, and married her off.

After Nanny Luo married, she became pregnant within just a month. Old Madam Liang, fearing Nanny Luo would be tired, gave her extended leave to rest and nourish her body at home.

Nanny Luo didn’t return to serve Old Madam Liang until after her son’s full-month celebration. Old Madam Liang treated her with great affection.

However, Nanny Luo was shocked to discover that the three people who had originally accompanied the bride—Chuxia, Jianqiu, and Nongdong—had all disappeared. It was said that one had died, one had married out, and one had fallen ill.

The current Chuxia, Jianqiu, and Nongdong were all fourteen or fifteen-year-old girls whom she didn’t recognize at all—they were the second batch of Chuxia, Jianqiu, and Nongdong.

Nanny Luo asked nothing.

Old Madam Liang’s methods were ruthless. Not knowing what exactly had happened, the first batch of Chuxia, Jianqiu, and Nongdong had been dealt with by Old Madam Liang.

Nanny Luo was very tactful, became even more loyal, and no matter what it was, as long as Old Madam Liang ordered it, she would do her utmost to accomplish it.