The Battle of the Noble Ladies

Chapter 43 - Blood Exchange

Li Shi spoke with a hoarse voice, her eyes welling up with tears.

"She is very articulate. She said that Chuyi might have been frightened while visiting over there. I was both shocked and scared, so I dragged her to ask more questions. She answered everything thoroughly," Li Shi said, lowering her head as if feeling very wronged. "I even told her to go back and serve well, and specially rewarded her with a handful of gold melon seeds as a New Year's gift. I didn't expect her to be such a person."

She knew that since the Old Lady had already suspected Huang Yao, it was not a matter of a day or two. She would definitely know that Huang Yao had close contact with her. So this point could not be concealed and had to be confessed honestly.

Sure enough, the Old Lady's expression softened a bit. Although she was angry at Li Shi for her improper actions, she was reluctant to believe that Li Shi did it on purpose.

After all, over the years, Li Shi had indeed been very dedicated to Song Chuyi.

Perhaps Li Shi was really deceived by Nanny Wang's high reputation. The Old Lady stared at her with a complex expression for a while and then said in a deep voice, "Why are you kneeling? Stand up! If you kneel, a whole bunch of people will have to kneel with you."

Li Shi stood up trembling, her eyes red, standing aside with a face flushed from holding back her anger and resentment.

If she had known she would suffer such humiliation, if she had known that this dead girl could gain such favor in front of the Old Lady, she would not have been so soft-hearted and would not have let her stay with the Old Lady so easily.

The Old Lady did not know her thoughts and only thought she felt wronged. She sighed, "It's not that I'm partial to Xiao Yi, nor that I'm deliberately using you as a scapegoat."

Seeing the First Lady concentrating, and the Second and Third Ladies also listening attentively, she continued slowly, "A centipede dies but never falls down. For families like ours, we are not afraid of external storms, but of internal decay... You must know that since ancient times, disasters often arise from within. Not to mention distant examples, just look at the Su family nearby. Don't you find it alarming?"

The First Lady, who had been a bit depressed due to the Old Madam's scolding, sincerely nodded.

This Marquis's residence would belong to her and the First Master in the future, and family rules and traditions were extremely important. The family traditions of noble families often determined how long the family could prosper.

If the people below were all like Nany Wang, who betrayed the master while receiving monthly silver and even stole the master's property, no matter how prosperous the family was, it could not withstand such pests.

The Second Lady, Li Shi, also nodded with red eyes, "The Old Lady is right. It's hateful that I was blind and almost made a big mistake."

Seeing that her goal was achieved, the Old Lady did not continue to pursue the matter. She waved her hand to indicate that they need not speak further. 

After a pause, she said, "With such an incident, I don't trust the people serving the young misses anymore. You all need to work hard to thoroughly check the nannies and maids serving the girls closely. If there are any who betray the master and forget their gratitude, they should be rooted out as soon as possible. Especially for Fourth Girl and Fifth Girl, they are not young anymore, and the people around them must be steady and reliable. Otherwise, it will be too late to regret if something happens in the future!"

The third Lady, Yun Shi, who had previously felt wronged for Song Chumi, now realized that the Old Madam was not just supporting Song Chuyi but was also learning from the Su family's lesson and was doing it for the good of all the girls in the Song family.

Song Chumi and Song Chubin exchanged glances, both feeling pleasantly surprised.

Song Chubin, who was extremely afraid of her wet nurse Nanny Qiu, and dissatisfied with the other servants, felt that life would be much better if they could be replaced.

Even Song Chumi, who disliked the maids who always urged her to curry favor with the First Lady and hoped to enter the palace to accompany the Noble Consort, was delighted at the opportunity to justifiably dismiss them.

The First Lady, who had already lost some trust in the servants due to the gambling and drinking of Nanny Zou by Li Shi's side, now believed even more in the necessity of the Old Lady's actions.

 She stood up and solemnly agreed, then asked, "What about Nanny Wang and Huang Yao by Little Six's side? Should they be sent to the outer courtyard..."

"Send them to the outer courtyard? They might corrupt the maids doing rough work there," the Old Lady sneered. "Send them to the Langfang estate. It's the busy farming season there, and they need more hands."

Not even allowing them to stay in the Marquis's residence, not just demoting them but sending them directly to the estate. Li Shi was both shocked and anxious, feeling her mind in a mess.

The First Lady agreed and then said, "Then Little Six's room will be short of people. We need to quickly find suitable maids of the right age..."

But where could they find suitable maids at the end of the year?

Old Lady Song pondered for a moment and then said, "No need to look outside. Doesn't Jieyi have a granddaughter of the right age who is about to start working here? Let it be her."

It was decided that it would be Nanny Huang's granddaughter! Nanny Huang was the closest person to the old lady.

The First Lady was also somewhat surprised, but being a clever person, she quickly smiled and said, "If that's the case, then it's perfect. Nanny Huang's granddaughter must be well-versed in rules and etiquette, so there's no need to spend extra effort teaching her. I'll arrange for her to come in right away."

Old Lady Song nodded and then inquired about the people serving Song Chumi and Song Chubin, leaving the First, Second, and Third Ladies behind, and sending the young ladies back to their rooms to rest.

Qingtao followed closely behind Song Chuyi, feeling a sense of post-crisis excitement and happiness, which greatly improved her mood. She thought and thought, and finally couldn't help but ask Song Chuyi, "Miss, how did you know that the matriarch would personally assign someone to you? I was really worried that the Second Lady would push another Huang..."

Thinking about it, she felt a bit sorry for Huang Yao and stopped talking.

The moon was high in the sky, casting the shadow of bamboo in front of the veranda, with only the sound of the wind rustling.

Song Chuyi remained silent for a long time, then turned to Qingtao and said, "I gave Huang Yao a chance, but she didn't cherish it. When arguing with Fourth Sister, she clearly pushed me, and when I was ill, she ran to Third Aunt and said I wasn't sick. Every single thing I did, she reported to the Second Lady, inciting me to offend the Fifth Lady. When we were at the Su residence, she even wanted to make a fuss to get me punished... Such a person, I have no reason to let her go."

Song Chuyi felt a chill in her teeth. "Moreover, I did nothing. I just quietly watched her and Nanny Wang's ambitions grow, indulging their appetites until they became insatiable. In the end, it was their own greed that harmed them."