May 23rd was Marquis Dingxi’s forty-sixth birthday. Since it wasn’t a milestone birthday, it wasn’t appropriate to celebrate grandly, but considering they had just finished the Old Madam’s three-year mourning period and hadn’t had any joyous activities for three years, the whole family was eager for some festivities. So they not only hired an opera troupe but also invited relatives and friends to gather.

Since it was the Marquis’s birthday banquet, the menu was personally reviewed by the Marchioness.

Rong’an Courtyard was Marchioness Dingxi’s residence, located in the southeast main courtyard of the Marquis Dingxi estate. With carved beams and painted pillars, winding corridors through rockeries, and adjoining wing rooms, it was magnificent and imposing.

The entire Marquis Dingxi estate was originally a feudal prince’s mansion from the previous dynasty. This prince had committed crimes before the fall of the previous dynasty, and the mansion was confiscated by the court. Because of its high specifications, no one dared buy it. Once such a fine mansion had no residents and lost its human presence, the house fell into decay. Combined with subsequent dynastic changes and years of warfare, by the time it reached Marquis Dingxi’s hands, it was in terrible disrepair. It took two generations of repairs and expansions to restore the splendor of the prince’s mansion at its peak.

Marchioness Dingxi, Little Madam Xie, was by nature not fond of commotion, so there was rarely loud talking in her courtyard. However, at this moment outside the rear corridor’s inverted hall, a woman with sloping shoulders and a slender waist was loudly scolding something. Three trembling little maids knelt before her.

When Nanny Zhou walked over, she witnessed this scene and recognized one of the little maids as the daughter of one of her subordinate women, so she stopped.

“…tear apart that mouth of yours, go receive a beating, have your parents come over, get out of here immediately, and never enter Rong’an Courtyard again in this lifetime…” the woman said through gritted teeth.

The little maids were so frightened they kowtowed and cried for mercy.

“What’s happening here?” Nanny Zhou said as she approached.

Hearing the inquiry, the woman turned around. She was sixteen or seventeen years old, with a thin, elongated face, clear brows and beautiful eyes, wearing a dark red short vest over a tooth-white inner garment, with a scallion-green sash.

Nanny Zhou recognized her as a third-class maid from this courtyard called Jinchai.

“What are you doing, miss? The Marquis’s important day is approaching – how can you be so angry?” she said.

Nanny Zhou had a steady temperament and rarely spoke up in public or private. Among the Marchioness’s many servants, she was quite unremarkable. But the fact that she had managed the Great Madam’s storerooms from the very first day she came with Great Madam Xie, and even after Little Madam Xie married in ten years ago, she still managed both sisters’ storerooms, and now with the Old Madam’s death, the mansion’s main storerooms were gradually being handed over to her as well, showed the trust placed in her.

Jinchai didn’t dare act superior in front of her. Her elongated face immediately filled with smiles as she bowed and greeted her.

“Nanny Zhou has come,” she said, glancing at the little maids prostrate and crying on the ground. “These little hussies are not only lazy and slippery but also gather together gossiping. Nanny naturally knows that the Great Madam most dislikes such chattering troublemakers…”

Nanny Zhou nodded, seemingly casually glancing at the kneeling maids.

“Sister, sister, we won’t dare again, sister please spare us this once…” one of them immediately grasped at this straw, kowtowing while crying.

“You all should know the rules if you’re going to serve here,” Nanny Zhou said.

The three maids immediately kowtowed to her as well, raising their hands to slap their own faces.

“Madam is in the room – stop making noise. If she hears this, it will truly be troublesome,” Nanny Zhou frowned.

“Hurry and get out,” Jinchai said, taking the hint.

The three maids, as if receiving amnesty, kowtowed several more times before getting up and running away.

“If there’s a next time, I definitely won’t spare you,” Jinchai called after them, watching them run off.

“Is Madam busy?” Nanny Zhou asked with a smile.

“Yes, looking at the menu. Nanny Liu, Nanny Su, and the others are all there,” Jinchai smiled. Seeing no one around, she took Nanny Zhou’s arm and walked quickly a few steps, saying in a low voice, “Nanny Zhou, have you also heard about that person’s affairs?”

Having just scolded the little maids for gossiping, she herself couldn’t wait to gossip. Nanny Zhou smiled with pursed lips.

“Which person?” she asked.

“That… person…” Jinchai looked around and said quietly, “The one from Qiutong Courtyard.”

Nanny Zhou’s heart skipped two beats as she guessed what she was going to say.

Seemingly casually, people in every corner of the Marquis Dingxi estate began discussing a strange matter. Whether staying up all night drowsy with fatigue or lying in bed resting after a tiring day, the story of the Young Madam of Qiutong Courtyard’s death and resurrection was the hottest, most invigorating topic of conversation.

Nanny Zhou covered the incense burner, her movements light and silent. Curling white smoke dispersed in the room, dispelling the summer afternoon’s stuffiness.

Lifting the curtain made of uniform pink small pearls, Nanny Zhou entered the eastern wing room. A woman around thirty-five or thirty-six reclined on the kang with closed eyes, seemingly asleep. She had high cheekbones and a plump figure, wearing casual gray-blue silk with black satin trim in a round-collar front-opening shirt and bean-green silk skirt. Perhaps because she was napping, she had removed her hairpins and ornaments, leaving only a red gold and kingfisher feather hair ornament.

A young maid who had just gotten her hair styled was seriously fanning beside her.

Nanny Zhou walked over, took the fan from the little maid’s hands, and waved her away. The little maid tiptoed out.

“What are they all saying?” she suddenly asked.

This was said so abruptly it could startle someone, but Nanny Zhou showed no surprise, as if the two had been chatting all along.

“Madam,” Nanny Zhou continued fanning while saying, “With so many important matters troubling your mind, why pay attention to such trivial tricks and petty schemes?”

This was Marchioness Dingxi, Madam Xie.

“First hanging herself…” she still kept her eyes closed, speaking slowly, “the maids crying and wailing throughout the courtyard that she was dead, then drawing people to see her alive again, saying something about entering the underworld, drinking Meng Po’s soup, and seeing the Old Madam. I didn’t know that one who was usually like a wooden puppet had this talent for making up lies.”

As she spoke, she opened her eyes and made to sit up. Nanny Zhou smoothly and timely placed a large pillow under her arm so she could recline.

“They say that old witch pushed her back. Those words sound quite beautiful – since the dead old witch permitted her return, shouldn’t she be revered in this household?” A trace of smile appeared on Madam Xie’s face. This smile lingered around her lips, appearing gentle and kind, but if outsiders heard these words, they would be terrified thinking they were dreaming.

The Old Madam of Marquis Dingxi, her mother-in-law, from her mouth came such repeated references to “old witch.”

Nanny Zhou’s demeanor remained composed.

“Whatever she says, let her say it. It’s just a passing wind that will blow over,” she brought over a cup of tea and said quietly, “Madam needn’t pay attention.”

“Three years of silence, and now suddenly she’s putting on a show,” Madam Xie took the tea and sipped it, then picked up a handkerchief to gently wipe her mouth, her expression half-smiling. “Could it be she’s calculated that Cheng-ge is returning and wants to make another attempt?”

Nanny Zhou was silent for a moment.

“If you have something to say, just say it,” Madam Xie noticed her hesitation.

“That day I happened to pass by Qiutong Courtyard and encountered a little maid running away. When questioned, she said Su Mei from Concubine Zhu’s courtyard was being punished to kneel by the Young Madam,” Nanny Zhou said.

“Su Mei?” Madam Xie pressed her temples. “The one who dresses seductively and whom Concubine Zhu parades in front of the Marquis?”

“Yes,” Nanny Zhou said with a smile.

Madam Xie said nothing more, a bland smile crossing her face.

“We know Miss Qi’s temperament all too well. Never mind making maids kneel – she wouldn’t dare even speak harshly to maids. So after hearing this, though I shouldn’t have interfered, I couldn’t help but go take a look,” Nanny Zhou continued. Though she hadn’t mentioned it these past days, somehow that woman’s image of leaning against the door and smiling kept flickering before her eyes, making her feel uneasy.

“What did you see?” Madam Xie asked.

Nanny Zhou looked up at her.

“It was like… like she had become a different person,” she said.

Madam Xie looked at her with an odd expression, as if wanting to laugh and get angry simultaneously.

“Are you saying she really did drink Meng Po’s soup, forgot her past memories, and was reborn as a new person?” she asked.

Nanny Zhou felt somewhat embarrassed, not knowing what expression to make. Truthfully, she didn’t know what she was trying to say – she just felt that way.

“It seems our Young Madam’s words weren’t lies after all,” Madam Xie smiled again, standing up to stretch her shoulders and back. “To make even an old hand like Nanny Zhou believe these rumors – such ghostly tricks can only be taught by ghosts. She really must have gone to the underworld and met that dead old witch.”

She laughed as she spoke, laughing so hard she couldn’t help bending over.

“Madam, this old servant is ashamed,” Nanny Zhou said embarrassedly, lowering her head.

“Investigate,” Madam Xie suddenly stopped laughing, her eyes slightly focused. “The ones who play tricks in this world are never ghosts, but only people. Go investigate for me and see who’s stirring up trouble behind the scenes. It’s quite an alternative approach – actually picking up this waste to use as a weapon.”

Nanny Zhou solemnly acknowledged, feeling even more ashamed. How confused she had been – at her age, she hadn’t thought of this. However, a trace of puzzlement and doubt still flashed through her heart…

That Young Madam she saw that day, the aura she displayed, the way she spoke – all of it seemed impossible to teach through mere instruction. Even the Old Madam personally training her for two years hadn’t resulted in…

“Why aren’t you going?” Madam Xie frowned, interrupting Nanny Zhou’s distraction.

Nanny Zhou didn’t dare think further and hurriedly left with acknowledgment.

Madam Xie watched the swaying bead curtain for a while before sitting down.

“That old witch always calculated well…” she said slowly, “but as the saying goes, human calculations can’t match heaven’s will. No matter how well calculated, it can’t overcome heaven not allowing her one more moment. Heaven itself wouldn’t keep her – dead for three years now, yet some still foolishly try to raise storms under her banner. Such overestimation of oneself…”