Fortunately, Bai Qingyan was housed in a courtyard arranged by Old Madam Dong, which didn’t require Chun Tao to walk far.

From the bottom of her heart, Chun Tao thoroughly despised this Qiu Huan, constantly feeling grateful… thankfully, she had come to Dengzhou with the First Miss, otherwise who knows what kind of demons and monsters would be serving by the First Miss’s side.

“Princess!” Seeing Chun Tao leave, Qiu Huan hurriedly kowtowed to Bai Qingyan. “It wasn’t this servant! This servant only wanted to serve the Princess well without any other thoughts. Sister Chun Tao fears that Qiu Huan will steal your favor, which is why she’s trying to trip me up. This servant… this servant…”

Seeing Bai Qingyan’s cold, indifferent gaze, Qiu Huan’s voice grew smaller and smaller until finally she couldn’t even lift her head, kneeling there in complete silence, trembling all over.

When Nanny Wang heard that Bai Qingyan had summoned her and saw that Chun Tao’s expression wasn’t very pleasant, her heart skipped a beat, guessing whether her niece had caused some trouble.

She set down her needlework and hurried toward Bai Qingyan’s room. Upon lifting the curtain and entering, she immediately saw Qiu Huan kneeling on the ground through the still-swaying pearl curtain and the magpie nanmu screen.

Nanny Wang’s heart immediately sank. She quickly parted the pearl curtain and walked around the screen.

Hearing the sound of the curtain, Qiu Huan’s body trembled. Seeing it was Nanny Wang, she quickly looked to her for help.

Nanny Wang glared deeply at Qiu Huan and bowed to Bai Qingyan, “Young Miss!”

“Nanny Wang, please take this maid back with you!” Bai Qingyan didn’t elaborate on the reasons; her expression was extremely indifferent.

“Yes!” Nanny Wang didn’t dare ask more questions, only saying, “Tomorrow morning, this old servant will bring a few clever and capable ones for Young Miss to choose from.”

“Being clever and capable is secondary. I prefer those who are honest with upright hearts, and who won’t engage in malicious gossip or sow discord!” Bai Qingyan picked up the ancient text in her hands and continued reading. “This time, I’m sparing this maid for Nanny’s sake. In the future, Nanny must never let this maid serve before Grandmother. Grandmother is advanced in years and cannot withstand such disturbances.”

Nanny Wang immediately understood that Bai Qingyan already knew about her relationship with Qiu Huan. She quickly kowtowed, “Thank you, Young Miss. Rest assured, this old servant will never let this girl serve before Old Madam. This time was this old servant’s oversight, allowing this girl to worm her way to Young Miss’s side. Young Miss is kind-hearted to spare her, but this old servant will not spare her! This old servant apologizes to Young Miss!”

“Nanny, please rise quickly!” Bai Qingyan reached out to help Nanny Wang up. “Nanny has served by Grandmother’s side for so many years and can be considered half an elder to me. There’s no reason for Nanny to perform such a grand courtesy with me! Don’t I know Nanny’s character? I have no intention of blaming Nanny… Nanny should take her back and discipline her properly. After all, she’s a house-born servant, not like those bought from outside. If she makes mistakes… others will hold Nanny accountable!”

These words were spoken for Nanny Wang’s benefit. Having spent so many years in the inner quarters, how could Nanny Wang not understand the reasoning? This time, this little snippet, Qiu Huan, had come to the Young Miss’s side precisely by using her name as a banner.

Nanny Wang took Qiu Huan away without any mercy, having her whipped several times before throwing her back to reflect on her actions.

Now, Qiu Huan’s heart was filled with hatred toward Chun Tao, guessing that Chun Tao must have spoken ill of her to Princess Zhenguo when she wasn’t paying attention. Otherwise, how could Princess Zhenguo possibly have driven her away?

Qiu Huan didn’t know that regarding her behavior outside Dong Qingyue’s study courtyard that day… Chun Tao hadn’t mentioned a word to Bai Qingyan. If she didn’t find such matters shameful, Chun Tao still found them too unpleasant to trouble Bai Qingyan’s mind with.

The next day before dawn, Nanny Wang indeed brought an honest girl of few words to serve Bai Qingyan.

The little girl was perhaps too honest, following Chun Tao around in trepidation, doing whatever Chun Tao told her to do, and doing everything very well. It was clear that Nanny Wang knew how to select people.

After Madam Cui returned from paying respects to Old Madam Dong and finished her morning meal, she rinsed her mouth with rose-scented water, covered her lips with a handkerchief, and spat out the scented water. Then she heard her nanny speak in lowered tones about how the previous night, Bai Qingyan had dismissed Nanny Wang’s niece, and Nanny Wang had personally selected a maid to send to Bai Qingyan.

Madam Cui dabbed her lips with the handkerchief. “Dismissed?”

“I heard that Qiu Huan even received several lashes.”

Madam Cui was even more surprised, “Was it that Qiu Huan’s service was inadequate?”

Since Madam Cui had arranged for the person to be sent there, she naturally felt more concerned.

“It’s unclear. That Chun Tao, besides Princess Zhenguo, keeps her mouth tightly sealed, and being in Old Madam’s courtyard makes it difficult to inquire! However, since she’s Nanny Wang’s niece, even if something did go wrong, it couldn’t be blamed on Madam.” The personal nanny serving beside Madam Cui said.

“What kind of talk is that from Nanny!” Madam Cui disapprovingly handed the handkerchief to a maid and stood up. “I know Young Miss’s temperament all too well. How could she blame me? I should still go ask… If Qiu Huan served inadequately somewhere, it would serve as a warning to everyone in the household not to make the same mistakes, so Young Miss can stay more comfortably. Yesterday I heard Master say that Young Miss probably won’t be staying many days before leaving.”

Hearing Madam Cui speak this way, the nanny smiled until the wrinkles on her face bunched up, quickly supporting Madam Cui as they walked outside, “Madam’s heart is truly broad-minded, which this old servant could never compare to!”

On Bai Qingyan’s side, after accompanying Old Madam Dong for the morning meal, she heard Old Madam Dong express her unwillingness to go to Shouyang with her.

Old Madam Dong picked up a piece of red date, cloud bean, and Chinese yam cake and placed them on the white jade plate in front of Bai Qingyan. Holding her chopsticks, she waved her hand gently and smiled, “Grandmother is old and can’t handle the journey! I need to stay in Dengzhou to rest properly… When my little A’Bao gets married someday, Grandmother will make one more effort, supporting this old body to personally attend our A’Bao’s wedding!”

After speaking, Old Madam Dong also picked up a piece of the red date, cloud bean, and Chinese yam cake and took a small bite. This was made personally by Nanny Wang. When Bai Qingyan was small, Nanny Wang had made it once, and Bai Qingyan had eaten it with such relish that Nanny Wang remembered. Today, she had specifically gotten up early to have this pastry ready before the morning meal.

Seeing her grandmother’s gentle gaze and that she had made up her mind, Bai Qingyan nodded and lowered her head to eat the yam cake.

Seeing that Bai Qingyan had eaten quite a bit today, Old Madam Dong was also pleased. After rinsing her mouth with scented water, Old Madam Dong wiped her hands with a damp cloth while smiling, “You’re just like your mother, both loving to eat these very mildly flavored things! At least you can eat alongside me!”

In Old Madam Dong’s eyes, Bai Qingyan was still a child… yet this child had to shoulder heavy burdens after both her grandfather and father had passed away. How could this not break her heart?

Looking at Bai Qingyan’s elegant and dignified behavior, Old Madam Dong’s eyes couldn’t help but redden again. She quickly turned her head away and dabbed at her tears with a handkerchief.