Chengxu clapped his hands lightly.

Several residence soldiers escorted three servants into the courtyard.

The three servants looked utterly devastated. Their knees went soft and they knelt on the ground.

Nanny Er’s expression immediately darkened.

These three servants were old retainers of the prince’s residence, familiar with the residence and efficient in handling matters. She didn’t understand why they had been exposed so quickly.

“My lord, the fire at the study was deliberately set by these three servants with malicious intent,” Chengxu reported. “This afternoon, Servant Li secretly took a jar of strong liquor from the kitchen. Servant Zhou dismissed the servants from the study. After Nanny He finished her inspection, Servant Qin pretended to accidentally drop a fire striker in the study and accidentally kicked over the liquor jar. That’s why the fire in the study spread so quickly and nearly burned down a wing room.”

Nanny He’s eyes widened.

She had been wondering how there could be a fire when she had personally inspected everything. So it turned out someone had deliberately set it!

She looked at the three servants, incredulous: “Why would you do such a thing?”

Before the three servants could speak, Nanny Er walked over and fiercely slapped one of the servants across the face: “This is absolutely lawless! You actually dared to commit arson in the prince’s residence! Who gave you such audacity!”

The three servants trembled all over in fright.

They had only wanted to use the arson incident to have the Prince dismiss Nanny He and the others, but they never expected to be exposed so quickly.

It was as if someone had been watching them the whole time, ruthlessly revealing everything they had done in secret.

“My lord, this old servant’s heart was blinded by greed!”

“Please give this old servant another chance, my lord!”

“Spare our lives, my lord…”

The three servants faced Chu Yi, kowtowing continuously to beg for mercy.

Chu Yi’s face was covered with a layer of frost: “State your motive for the arson.”

The servants immediately fell silent.

That filthy, shameful motive couldn’t be spoken aloud.

“This old servant knows why they committed arson.” Nanny Guo walked over. “They held the position of chief steward in the prince’s residence for over ten years. When this old servant arrived, I took away the power they held. Their unwillingness transformed into tonight’s fire, attempting to use this blaze to return themselves to that position. My lord, this matter was due to this old servant’s lack of consideration—I overlooked the human heart!”

She knew there would be internal struggles among servants—fighting back and forth was normal. As long as no major incident occurred, turning a blind eye was acceptable.

But these unruly slaves, for the sake of profit, actually struck at their masters.

Who on earth gave them such audacity?

She took a deep breath and said, “If you three can confess who is behind this, I will petition the Prince and Princess for lenient treatment!”

Nanny Er followed up: “Speak quickly! Who exactly instigated you to do this!”

She was very confident because she hadn’t participated at all. Even if these three servants wanted to falsely implicate her, they couldn’t make it stick.

The three servants looked at each other and all saw despair in each other’s eyes.

“Guards!” Chu Yi said coldly. “Give these three fifty strokes with the rod, and expel them along with their families from the prince’s residence!”

The three servants were nearly frightened to death.

At their age, fifty strokes with the rod could cost them their lives.

“Please give us a way to live, my lord…”

“My lord, we were wrong. Please show mercy…”

“Princess, please have a compassionate heart…”

The servants crawled on their knees toward Yun Chu.

Yun Chu’s voice was very calm: “Considering you have rendered hard service, the rod punishment will be reduced to thirty strokes.”

She was very clear in her heart that these three servants had likely been incited by Nanny Er to commit such a grave error.

The person behind it all could still retreat unscathed, so these three servants’ lives shouldn’t end here.

Thirty strokes wouldn’t kill them, but they would likely become crippled—this would be the lesson for their mistake.

Several residence soldiers came forward and escorted the three servants out. Before long, anguished screams could be heard.

Nanny Er’s face turned pale wave after wave.

She looked at Yun Chu and happened to meet Yun Chu’s indifferent gaze. This look made Nanny Er increasingly panicked.

She realized that although she had extricated herself from the arson incident, she hadn’t cleared herself of suspicion.

The Princess might be about to deal with her.

Before she could think of anything, Nanny Guo called her outside the courtyard and said coldly to her: “Nanny Er, you are merely the Prince’s wet nurse, not the mistress of this prince’s residence. If you fail to recognize this fact, then sooner or later, you will pay the price for your actions.”

Nanny Er lowered her head: “I have always known my position. Has Nanny Guo misunderstood something?”

Nanny Guo smiled coldly: “Do you know why I directly took away your authority over the residence?”

Nanny Er shook her head.

In her impression, Nanny Guo was someone of deep cunning who had been able to assist the not-very-intelligent Consort Yin in establishing a firm foothold in the palace.

By rights, a change in power should be gradual; otherwise the people below would cause trouble, just like tonight.

“Before I met Ding Dong, I did consider taking it slowly,” Nanny Guo said gently. “But Ding Dong’s intentions are almost displayed openly. If she truly catches the Prince’s eye, then you as the wet nurse cannot hold power. If you want to hold power, then Ding Dong cannot become a woman of the prince’s residence inner chambers. Do you understand?”

Nanny Er was instantly stunned.

She had advised Ding Dong not to rush to get close to the Prince.

But she herself, for the sake of power, had hastily created incidents that led to this situation.

The Princess could no longer tolerate her.

She could no longer retire peacefully in the prince’s residence.

“Nanny Guo…”

She grasped Nanny Guo’s sleeve, her voice carrying a plea.

Nanny Guo shook her head: “If you voluntarily propose to leave the prince’s residence yourself, you can at least preserve your dignity.”

Having said this, she flung her sleeve and left.

Nanny Er stood in place for a long while, yet still couldn’t make up her mind.

Daylight came earlier and earlier.

Yun Chu rose early and practiced martial arts in the courtyard with Chu Yi and Yu’ge. The three of them worked up a full sweat before stopping.

Father and son entered the palace together, while Yun Chu called her little daughter to get up.

Just as she entered the inner chamber, she saw the little girl had already risen and was being dressed by Tingxue.

“Mother.” Chu Changsheng’s speech was becoming increasingly fluent. “Will the teacher come today?”

Yun Chu smiled and nodded: “The teacher will come, and Xian’jie will also come, but they won’t arrive until the hour of the dragon. First let’s go eat.”

After breakfast, Yun Chu first assigned the task of repairing the study, then took her little daughter’s hand and went to the schoolroom.

This was a small study created by renovating a small neighboring courtyard. Several tables had been placed in the warm pavilion, with soft cushions spread on the chairs—very comfortable.

The little girl was attending school for the first time and sat somewhat nervously and uneasily in her seat.

Before long, a maid led Xie Xian inside.

“Xian.”

Chu Changsheng was very happy. She stood up and went forward, taking Xie Xian’s hand.

“Greetings to the County Princess.”

Xie Xian hurriedly withdrew her hand and curtsied.

Her mother had told her that between her and the County Princess, they were first in a superior-subordinate relationship, and only then friends.

Between friends, proper etiquette must also be observed first.

After finishing the courtesy, only then did Xie Xian say: “Changsheng, I’m so happy to be your study companion.”

Chu Changsheng’s face was full of smiles: “I’m also very happy.”