The West Wing in the Marquis's mansion really seemed like a secluded place. No matter how much uproar the death of the Qin aunt and nephew caused, it had no impact here at all. Even the second steward, who was ordered by Marquis Dingyuan to investigate the matter thoroughly, interrogated everyone in the mansion, but did not come to the West Wing to ask a single question.
Qin Chuan did not believe such nonsense as being punished by heaven and forced Marquis Dingyuan to give him an explanation, otherwise he would go to the emperor to file a complaint. Marquis Dingyuan also did not believe this statement and ordered the second steward to do his best to find out the truth.
The reason why the second steward was asked to investigate was because the chief steward was implicated by Qin and had been removed from office for investigation.
The second manager was given the task at a critical moment. Knowing that this was a great opportunity for his promotion, he naturally spared no effort in investigating and collecting evidence, not daring to slack off in the slightest.
Correspondingly, the second housekeeper who was originally assigned to serve the Fourth Aunt also doubled her status and became the one that everyone fawned over. Following the old lady's instructions, she assisted the ladies of the East and West Mansions in handling the funeral of their wives and the prince's wife.
Without the suppression of the principal wife, the concubines became more active and set their sights on the housekeeper's power.
A country cannot be without a king for a day, and a family cannot be without a master for a day. The Marquis is the master of the outer courtyard, and the Madam is the master of the inner house. Now that the Madam is gone and the old lady can't bear the hard work, naturally someone has to take up this burden.
As for who can carry it, it depends on each person's ability.
For a time, the concubines of the Marquis and the Crown Prince all rushed to Ci'an Residence, wanting to openly or secretly help the old lady take care of the backyard and share the hard work with her.
How could the old lady not know what these people were thinking? But after looking at them all, she couldn't find anyone who could really make her feel at ease.
Because these people are all pursuing their own interests, none of them is truly considering the overall situation.
Later, Xie Nanjia accompanied the fourth young lady to Ci'anju.
Because Huangfu had given advance notice yesterday, the people in Yilan Courtyard unanimously announced to the public that Xiu'er had been poisoned and was resting in her room due to mental fatigue. The second steward sent people to question her, but they were all sent away by Zhao Lanzhi, who told them to wait until Xiu'er woke up before questioning him.
Therefore, the first thing Xie Nanjia did after returning to Yilan Court was to go to the second steward to answer questions and prove her innocence, proving that the death of Qin's aunt and nephew and the fire in the ancestral hall had nothing to do with her.
In fact, even if she didn't go, no one would dare to doubt her. After all, she is now the real daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, and others don't need to offend the Duke's Mansion for a dead person.
The purpose of investigating the truth was to shut up the Prime Minister's Office. It was estimated that it was either a punishment from God or an accident. Another theory was that it was too cold at night, and the two people might have wanted to burn something to keep warm, and accidentally burned down the house.
In short, no matter what, it has nothing to do with Xiu'er who was poisoned and slept for a day and a night.
Xie Nanjia easily cleared the suspicion and went to comfort the old lady with the fourth young lady.
Because of her status, the old lady treated her differently and kindly asked her to sit down and talk.
Xie Nanjia smiled and declined: "You don't have to be polite, old lady. As long as I stay in the Marquis' Mansion, I will still be the fourth young lady's maid. I will just stand beside the fourth young lady."
The old lady said: "Even if she is a maid, she has done a great job. Just think of it as a reward from me for you to sit here!"
Xie Nanjia couldn't refuse, so she had to sit on the embroidered stool brought by the maid.
The old lady added: "You came at the right time. I just had a difficult problem and wanted to ask you for advice."
Xie Nanjia hurriedly bowed and said, "Xiu'er, I don't deserve it. Just give me your orders, old lady."
The old lady then told her about the housekeeper's power and asked her if she had any suitable candidate in mind.
Xie Nanjia came here for this matter. She had a plan in mind. After a while of pretending to think, she suggested, "It's a good thing that the concubines are willing to share the old lady's worries. However, the mansion has always been managed by the madam. The concubines have no experience in housekeeping. No matter who it is, I'm afraid one person can't be competent. I think it's better to pick a few people to manage together, to help each other and supervise each other, and the old lady can take the trouble to give some pointers. This is a safe strategy. What do you think, old lady?"
The old lady suddenly understood what was said, and nodded repeatedly, "As expected of you, you are the blood of the Duke's Mansion. You are smart in your bones. I was worried for a whole day, and you came and solved it in a few words."
"Yes, yes!" Aunt Hua agreed, "Miss Xiu'er is really born to be the head of a family. Whoever is lucky enough to marry her in the future will find a priceless treasure."
"Then marry your second brother. This way, grandma won't have to worry about having no one to take care of the household." Zhao Lanzhi said.
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room fell silent instantly.
Although no one said it, everyone knew in their hearts that the real county lady would probably replace the fake county lady and marry into the Eastern Palace in the future. Even if she didn't marry into the Eastern Palace, the Second Young Master's status as a bastard would make him unaffordable to marry her.
The old lady was a little embarrassed by her granddaughter's shallowness, and quickly turned the topic back to the main business, and asked Xie Nanjia with a smile: "In your opinion, who is the right person to choose?"
Xie Nanjia said, "The old lady is flattering me. I am just a maid. I dare not presume to interfere in the matter of choosing a master."
"That's fine. Just tell me. I'll take it as a reference." The old lady said, "I've already consulted the opinions of everyone else in this room. It's not an overstepping of my authority."
"In that case, let me talk about it!" Xie Nanjia was no longer modest and said bluntly, "I think the best combination is a concubine of a marquis, a concubine of a prince, and a young lady. These three parties are neither biased nor too much, just the right three legs, and the most reliable.
As for the selection of young ladies, the first and second young ladies have just lost their mother and are in grief, and the fifth young lady is too young. The suitable candidates are the third and fourth young ladies. The fourth young lady is already engaged to Mr. Zhou. I think we should let her practice at home before she gets married, so that she won't be so flustered when she gets married in the future and let others laugh at our mansion for not teaching her well. What do you think, old lady?"
"I think it's okay." The old lady nodded without hesitation. "It's time for the fourth girl to gain some experience. While I can still move, I will teach her so that she won't be restricted in the future at her husband's house."
The fourth young lady quickly stood up and knelt on the ground to thank her grandmother: "Thank you for thinking about your granddaughter. In order not to embarrass your granddaughter and father, your granddaughter will definitely study hard."
Everyone watched silently, thinking that Xiu'er was still Xiu'er. She had gained great power for the Fourth Young Miss with just a few words, and her words were well-reasoned, so others could not accuse her of being biased.
Xie Nanjia seemed to have seen through everyone's thoughts and said with a smile: "Will everyone think that I am biased towards the Fourth Miss?"
"How could that be? You made a very good recommendation. It is a good idea to recommend the best person regardless of his relationship with the person!" The old lady said cheerfully, "Tell me more about the candidate for the aunt."
Xie Nanjia chuckled: "Since the old lady said that I recommend people who are virtuous and not avoid relatives, then I will boldly recommend Aunt Liu!"
Everyone: “…”
She is too reckless!
The old lady didn't say yes or no, she picked up the teacup and said, "Tell me the reason."
Xie Nanjia said, "Madam Liu was the former wife's trusted maid. She followed the wife to learn housekeeping since she was young. When the wife was alive, she took care of all the affairs of Yaoyue Residence. I believe the old lady knows this, but in my opinion, this is secondary. The most important thing is that in order to protect the young master for the wife, she not only volunteered to be the concubine of the prince, but also secretly took the sterilization soup. Who can compare with this sincerity?"
Everyone was moved when they heard this, even the old lady was shocked.
"She actually took the sterilizing soup. Why did she do that?"
"For the young master." Xie Nanjia said, "She was afraid that she would be distracted after having a child, so she simply cut off her own escape route. Old lady, think about it, no matter what kind of wife the prince marries in the future, can she treat the young master wholeheartedly like Lvliu?"
"I don't need to think about it. Of course not." The old lady sighed, "I didn't know she was so loyal, resolute and strong-willed. Well, if not for anything else, just for the young master, she deserves this family."
Others also thought so. Aunt Liu was willing to sacrifice herself for the young master, so there was nothing to worry about. The young master would be the head of the mansion one day, and it would be great to have such a selfless person guarding the backyard for him.
Thus, the candidate for the prince's concubine was decided.
The only one left was the Marquis's concubine. Everyone couldn't help but wonder in their hearts, would Xiu'er recommend the Fourth Concubine
However, unexpectedly, Xie Nanjia actually recommended the third aunt.
The Third Aunt is the Madam's person. She usually relies on the Madam's power to bully this and oppress that. She will pick on anyone the Madam makes a fuss about. She once had a conflict with Xiu'er, which caused her and Hualou to be beaten. Why would Xiu'er recommend her
The old lady was also surprised: "Why did you recommend her?"
Xie Nanjia explained, "The Marquis has only three concubines. The second concubine is too honest and can't control people. The fourth concubine is now the mother of the fourth young lady. If she and the fourth young lady are in charge of the household at the same time, people might say that they are clinging to each other. So, isn't the third concubine left?"
The old lady thought about it and agreed, but she really didn't have a good impression of the Third Aunt, so she hesitated and didn't agree on the spot.
Xie Nanjia said, "I am just making a suggestion. As for who to use and who not to use, it is up to the old lady and the marquis to discuss and decide."
The old lady said yes, and that she had to ask the Marquis’ opinion first.
So Xie Nanjia changed the subject, talked about something else, and then left with the fourth young lady.
On the way, Zhao Lanzhi solemnly expressed her gratitude to Xie Nanjia, saying that she was able to gain a foothold in the Marquis' Mansion and get to where she is today step by step, all because of Xie Nanjia's great help. She also promised that as long as Xie Nanjia could use her in the future, she would spare no effort to help her.
Xie Nanjia thought for a moment and asked her, "Does Miss Four know why I helped you?"
Zhao Lanzhi was stunned for a moment, then slowly shook her head.
She was not a stupid person. She knew that Xiu'er had deliberately led her second brother to Yilan Courtyard. She also knew that the reason why Xiu'er agreed to come and serve her so readily was not entirely because of her second brother's face.
As for the reason, she could never figure it out, but she was smart enough not to think about it, not to ask, and pretended not to notice anything.
Xie Nanjia said, "Young Miss Four may not believe me, but the reason I helped you is because you once made a set of clothes and shoes for the young master."
Zhao Lanzhi's eyes widened immediately and she asked in surprise, "How did you know?"
"Hua Lou told me." Xie Nanjia said, "I was thinking of transferring out of the kitchen at the time. After hearing what Hua Lou said, I felt that you were a kind-hearted person. Seeing that you were being bullied, I decided to help you. It also gave me a place to go."
"So that's how it is." Zhao Lanzhi was surprised and excited. "So, I am still benefiting from my nephew!"
"I guess so!" Xie Nanjia said, "Although I didn't know that the Crown Prince's wife was my cousin, and I didn't know that the young master was my nephew, I did decide to help you because of them. So, if you really want to repay me, please take good care of the young master for me. No matter now or in the future, please do your best to help him when he needs help. This is the best way to repay me."
Zhao Lanzhi was silent for a moment, then nodded solemnly: "Okay, I promise you, I will do my best to take care of the young master. He is your nephew and also my nephew. I will love him well."
"In that case, thank you very much!" Xie Nanjia tried to hide the tears that were about to burst out by thanking her.
She will be going to the Duke's Mansion in a few days. Before leaving, she must make proper arrangements for her son so that she can leave with peace of mind.
Although, she will be back soon.
In a new identity.
(End of this chapter)