Nanny Tao walked slowly inside.
Shi’yi niang sat propped against the pillows on the kang, her raven-black hair loosely pinned up in a bun, wearing a rose-purple padded jacket, her face all the more luminous and clear for it — not the slightest hint of the usual weariness of pregnancy. Beside her sat Xu Lingyi, dressed in a casual robe of Buddha-head blue Hangzhou silk, his gaze sharp and vital, looking radiantly full of spirit. All of Shi’yi niang’s closest attendants were present, each one either waiting upon Shi’yi niang or tending to the flowers and plants about the room, every face lit up with cheerful smiles. The room was brimming with lively vitality.
Nanny Tao’s heart stirred with a faint bewilderment.
It had been many years since she had seen such a scene.
Thinking back carefully, it seemed that ever since the late First Madam had married into the household, one thing and then another had always left one feeling unsettled at heart, and this kind of joy had never appeared again.
Seeing her enter, everyone nodded in turn and greeted her.
Nanny Tao smiled faintly, stepped forward, and curtseyed to Shi’yi niang: “Fourth Madam!”
Shi’yi niang had gone to such lengths and roundabout trouble with only one aim — for her to leave of her own accord. To choose to leave meant not only betraying the trust the late First Madam had placed in her, but also watching helplessly as Zhun Ge, like a lamb among wolves, was left entirely at the mercy of others — which was no different from death itself. To choose to stay meant facing total disgrace and being driven out of the Yongping Marquis household in humiliation, likewise watching helplessly as Zhun Ge was handed over to the scheming Shi’yi niang — which would be even harder to bear than death. Since there was no difference either way, what did it matter whether she went or stayed?
“You have gone to all this trouble — all for the purpose of making me resign voluntarily.” She looked at Shi’yi niang with a bright smile, and in that expression there was no longer the false courtesies of former days, while her brow was suffused with the resolute grief of one who walks knowingly into danger. “Otherwise, yesterday you would have spread the news of Tao Cheng’s arrest, then sent someone to confront me and driven me out…”
Every sound in the room came to an abrupt halt. Everyone exchanged glances, and a tense atmosphere suffused the air.
Xu Lingyi’s brow furrowed slightly, and he looked at Shi’yi niang with concern, wanting to speak but holding back.
Shi’yi niang gave him a small smile that said “I am all right.”
Xu Lingyi murmured quietly “I will be just outside,” then lifted the curtain and went out.
Only then did Nanny Tian and the others dare to file out one by one, leaving Hupo and Yan Rong in attendance on either side.
“Nanny is quite right!” Shi’yi niang rested lazily against the embroidered ink-splashed bolster pillow, her gaze as she regarded Nanny Tao clear and pellucid. “I was indeed mindful of the Luo family’s honor, which is why I did not act yesterday — I left you a way out.”
Confronted with her own accusations delivered back so directly, Nanny Tao was inwardly shaken, and she straightened her back involuntarily: “And if I do not leave?”
Shi’yi niang smiled and picked up a large red cherry from the crystal dish: “Does Nanny wish to negotiate terms with me?”
“I would not dare negotiate terms!” Nanny Tao’s gaze as she looked at Shi’yi niang was filled with cold intensity. “Only — the Fourth Madam’s methods, though formidable, are like a swallow that cannot fathom the ambitions of a great swan. I am not the sort of person who thinks only of personal safety and abandons her master to face difficulties alone…”
Shi’yi niang listened and laughed.
“Nanny’s great ambitions I truly cannot comprehend.” She cut off Nanny Tao’s words. “However, I find myself genuinely admiring the fact that, with Manager Tao still two thousand taels short of the public funds, you have not touched a single needle or thread from Elder Sister’s room.”
Nanny Tao was taken aback.
Shi’yi niang continued: “That Nanny can hold firmly to her place and keep her conduct proper is itself something praiseworthy. Furthermore, the matter of embezzling the public funds was done by Tao Cheng — though he is your son, as you have lived at the Marquis’s household for so long, some lapses in oversight are unavoidable.”
She said this, her gaze steady and keen as she looked at Nanny Tao.
“As for Manager Tao — he is now also entangled in a criminal case, and you, as his mother, must be greatly worried about his safety. I think this is the best course: Nanny will move to the estate for a few days. As for Manager Tao’s debt to the public funds, in consideration of your years of service, I will advance the funds on your behalf. You write me a promissory note, and when my Elder Brother returns to the capital from Yuhang, we will discuss what arrangement to make.”
“Lu Yonggui moves about widely and is well-informed — I will have a word with him, and let him accompany you in handling Manager Tao’s lawsuit. I will also speak with Steward Zhao of the accounts office; if there is anything difficult that arises, you may also find him to intercede. A lawsuit is always a troublesome thing. To avoid anyone using it to make something of the matter, in front of outsiders let us say that Manager Tao has taken ill, and that in recognition of your loyal and devoted service, I have specially granted you leave to go to the estate to care for him and help manage the daily affairs of the estate. Once Manager Tao is released from custody, he can convalesce there and recover from the ordeal.”
“Once this matter blows over and the Young Heir is coming of age for marriage, you may return and help the Young Heir manage some of the household affairs — it would not be a betrayal of Elder Sister’s trust.”
With each sentence Shi’yi niang spoke, Nanny Tao’s complexion sank a shade further, and by the time she had finished, Nanny Tao’s face had turned the color of iron.
So that was it — you dug the pit for me to jump into, and not only must I leap in obediently, but having fallen in and broken my leg, I must still feel grateful and go about singing your praises.
Where in the world did such a thing exist — reaping a benefit and still putting on a performance of virtue!
Rage made the veins at her temples throb. She arched her brow, just about to speak, when Shi’yi niang’s voice reached her ears once more.
“Nanny — when one thinks about it, we have been living under the same roof for two or three years now. In other matters I would not presume to claim, but on the count of keeping one’s word and honoring one’s promises, I believe I have done rather well. There are certain things you would do well to consider carefully.” Her tone carried a note of warning. “Going to the estate preserves Tao Cheng’s reputation, and when the Young Heir comes of age, you may still return with good standing. Not going to the estate — Tao Cheng runs into trouble, and you, overcome with shame, are unable to face the world and take your own life. That too is not beyond the realm of possibility.”
“You…” Nanny Tao drew a sharp breath, her face shifting between shades of green and white.
Shi’yi niang raised her teacup: “I hear that the old inmates of those prisons are constantly preying upon the newcomers, and that confessions are beaten out under duress. Manager Tao’s matter cannot be delayed. Nanny had best go back now and pack your trunks! Then say farewell to the Young Heir — so you may reach the estate before dark falls!”
Nanny Tao was so furious she was shaking all over, and she stood there for a long while unable to come back to herself.
Hupo and Yan Rong exchanged a glance and flanked her on either side: “Nanny, do not grieve — Tao Master is a man of great fortune and will come to no harm.” And they drew her out.
Shi’yi niang let out a long breath and felt somewhat drained.
Xu Lingyi walked in. Seeing that her spirits had turned somewhat low again, he touched her head: “Are you tired?”
Shi’yi niang shook her head: “Why is it so hard to change what is set in a person’s mind?” She looked rather pensive.
“What happened?” Xu Lingyi, thinking of Nanny Tao who had been pulled out, drew her into a half-embrace by way of comfort.
Perhaps because of the pregnancy, Shi’yi niang often felt her energy failing her.
She leaned softly against Xu Lingyi’s chest and, in a low murmur, told him everything — how Nanny Tao had been fanning the flames, how Zhun Ge had been too young to know better, how she had entrusted Lu Yonggui and Yang Huizu to persuade Nanny Tao, and how she had had Chief Steward Bai find two Shuntian Prefecture bailiffs to detain Tao Cheng in the outer courtyard’s woodshed: “…I also know that, in terms of loyalty, Nanny Tao’s devotion to Zhun Ge’er is the most genuine. But her mind is too narrow — even the smallest matter she cannot let go of… Zhun Ge’er is also at just the age where he does not yet know how to judge things clearly… Better to let her go to the estate and spend some time living with her son. Once Zhun Ge’er is a bit older and knows how to tell right from wrong, it will not be too late to bring her back to serve Zhun Ge’er…”
Xu Lingyi had begun with a furrowed brow, but when he heard about Lu Yonggui and Yang Huizu luring and deceiving Nanny Tao, a smile crept into his eyes. When he learned that Tao Cheng had merely been shut in the woodshed, he could not hold back a laugh: “It is fortunate this was an inner-household woman who fell for it — had it been anyone else, one inquiry at the Shuntian Prefecture and the whole thing would have unraveled immediately. How could anyone have been taken in by such a scheme!”
“Had it been anyone else, this scheme naturally would not have worked.” Shi’yi niang smiled. “Surely I was not going to let Tao Cheng get caught up in a real lawsuit on Nanny Tao’s account.” Thinking of Zhun Ge’s attachment to Nanny Tao, her voice grew somewhat wistful. “As the road lengthens, the horse’s strength is revealed; as time passes, a person’s heart is known. After a few years of Zhun Ge growing up smoothly and without incident, the knot in Nanny Tao’s heart will untie itself too.”
Xu Lingyi, thinking of Shi’yi niang’s kindness toward the children, pressed an affectionate kiss to her forehead.
Nanny Tao had the maidservant help her pack the trunks and cases, then went to the Shuangfu Courtyard herself.
Xu Sizhun was in the middle of lessons and was full of surprise when Nanny Tao came to find him.
“Young Master,” Nanny Tao gazed at his face — those refined and delicate features so like the late First Madam’s — and felt she could never look her fill. When she had first entered the late First Madam’s service, she had promised no end of things to the maidservants and matrons, and yet she had never believed that Shi’yi niang’s promises would hold. Now that she was on the verge of leaving, with only the slimmest hope of return, she would have chosen to fight to the very end rather than go — but now that Shi’yi niang was letting her leave with her dignity intact, even that slender thread of hope she could not bring herself to give up. “Tao Cheng tripped and hurt his leg when he went home last night,” she said, using the excuse Hupo had given her, “and the Madam has asked me to go back and look after Tao Cheng, and to help him manage the estate while I am there. Once he has recovered, I will come back!”
Xu Sizhun gave a startled “oh” and looked worried, his young face full of concern: “Is Cheng Ge all right? I have some medicinal herb that stops bleeding from the Third in my storage cabinet — let me have Xi’er wrap some up for you to take back.” And he was about to call Xi’er.
“Young Master, hold on!” Nanny Tao held Xu Sizhun back. “I am in a hurry to go and see Tao Cheng — there are a few words I must tell you first.”
“What does Nanny wish to tell me?” Xu Sizhun looked at Nanny Tao with clear, bright eyes.
Nanny Tao looked at him and could not help but feel a sharp grief.
She leaned close to Xu Sizhun and whispered: “The Fourth Madam is now with child, and the Grand Madam and the Marquis have their minds entirely on the Fourth Madam. From now on you must look after yourself. If there is anything you cannot decide on your own, send a manservant to the estate to ask me. You must remember — in this Yongping Marquis household, aside from the Marquis, the most honored person is the Young Heir. So there are no small number of people watching your title of Young Heir, wanting to seize it from you. You must never be careless. Also, do not eat things casually when others give them to you; do not go to secluded places; wherever you go, be sure to bring maidservants and matrons with you; and if you want to leave the household grounds, you must first have the Marquis’s permission…”
Xu Sizhun listened attentively, and gradually felt that something was not quite right with what Nanny Tao was saying.
“Nanny,” he interrupted Nanny Tao, “what you said is not right. Mother says I was born as the Young Heir — no one can take it away. Why do you say there are people who want to seize my title of Young Heir?”
Nanny Tao raised her head and saw that Yan Rong, who had accompanied her, already wore a look of impatience on her face.
She had no more time to explain to Xu Sizhun. She could only say hurriedly: “You must remember — where there is life there is hope. If you suffer some injustice in secret, never lose your temper on the spot. Bear it, and do not let the Grand Madam and the Marquis think you too delicate and spoiled. But if someone shows you disrespect openly, you must certainly report it to the Grand Madam and the Marquis and ask them to stand up for you.”