Chapter 724 She Intends to Drag Nanny Zheng to Her Side
Refused by Nanny Zheng, Nanny Xi had to give up.
Then Nanny Xi began to teach the Misses etiquette, such as how to walk properly, and the rules in the imperial palace.
Nanny Xi asked them to demonstrate their manners one by one, but she didn’t dare to be harsh on Shao Wanru, who behaved so properly that she couldn’t find fault with her no matter how harsh she was. Shao Wanru obviously had practiced her manners for a long time, so she was proficient and refined in manners.
Even Shao Yanru, who often entered the imperial palace, couldn’t compare with her.
As such, after all the Misses demonstrated their manners, Nanny Xi found that she couldn’t even point out a mistake in the Fifth Miss Shao’s manners, which could almost be considered perfect. It was even impossible for Nanny Xi to behave so perfectly.
As expected, Nanny Zheng was very competent as the Fifth Miss’s etiquette instructor.
During the break, Nanny Xi happily invited Nanny Zheng to sit down on one side, poured a cup of tea for her and handed it to her. After that, she said, “Nanny Zheng, please take a rest too.”
“Nanny Xi, you’re too polite!” Nanny Zheng said in a much kinder tone. She didn’t refuse and sat down.
“Nanny Zheng, I didn’t expect that you’ve done such a good job in teaching the Fifth Miss. Thank you for saving me a lot of trouble!”
Nanny Xi said with a kind smile, while fixing her eyes on the Misses who were sitting not far away. Now she looked completely different from the way she behaved when she first came to Duke Xing’s Mansion.
“Nanny Xi, you’re too polite. You teach them in a more systematic way.” Nanny Zheng said in a lukewarm tone.
Nanny Xi rolled her eyes, leaned over and said in a low voice, “I just came to Duke Xing’s Mansion, so I know nothing about the Misses of Duke Xing’s Mansion. Old Madam suggested me to suppress the Fifth Miss at the beginning, but I think the Fifth Miss seems to be nice. Why doesn’t Old Madam like her?”
She intended to inquire about Shao Wanru? Nanny Zheng squinted at Nanny Xi and said, “I really don’t know why. I’ve just entered Duke Xing’s Mansion as well. I haven’t met Old Madam, and the Fifth Miss has never told me anything about Old Madam!”
Although she still said in a frigid tone, at least she became a little more talkative and seemed to be less unwilling to talk with her.
“It worked well.” Nanny Xi thought complacently.
“This kind of thing isn’t worth talking about indeed. I heard that the Fifth Miss is not favored in the mansion.” Nanny Xi said with sympathy, and then fixed her eyes on Nanny Zheng with an increasingly warm smile, “Nanny Zheng, you was probably in a miserable situation after coming out of the imperial palace! You are so lucky to have a good master like the Fifth Miss Shao. I heard that she saved Prince Chen. I’m wondering how she did that.”
She said softly, while s.h.i.+fting the subject from Duke Xing’s Mansion to Chu Liuchen quickly and naturally. She was indeed worthy of her ident.i.ty as a nanny sent by the Empress. At the moment, she, who was less aggressive and arrogant than before, looked very kind and friendly.
Nanny Zheng glanced at Nanny Xi calmly, shook her head slightly and said, “As a servant, I can’t guess Prince Chen’s private affairs!”
“That’s true…” Nanny Xi said and smiled awkwardly. She didn’t think Nanny Zheng’s answer was unexpected. If she could get a definite answer from Nanny Zheng easily, she would doubt it.
Everyone in the imperial palace was astute, especially a personal servant like her. Others in the imperial palace might not know Nanny Zheng’s ident.i.ty, but how could she be unaware of it?
Maybe she didn’t know it before, but later, she gradually figured out something from the Empress’s words, so she didn’t dare to really confront Nanny Zheng.
After talking cautiously with Nanny Zheng for a while, Nanny Xi fixed her eyes on Shao Wanru and praised Shao Wanru with a smile, “The Fifth Miss Shao really surprised me. She is so outstanding. I heard that she has cultivated in seclusion in the past three years. If she had showed up in public earlier, she would have been famous in the capital!”
“The Fifth Miss is still young!” Nanny Zheng said, also fixing her eyes on Shao Wanru, who was talking with her sisters. Sensing that they were watching her, she turned back and smiled at them gently.
“Although she’s a little too young, she’s in her prime now!” Nanny Xi leaned closer and said, “The Fifth Miss is so ravis.h.i.+ng that she will definitely be selected. The Empress told me to pay special attention to the Fifth Miss. Now it seems that the Fifth Miss is the best among the several Misses. She just needs to learn etiquette as a mere formality!”
Hearing her words, Nanny Zheng felt her heart skipped a beat. Why did the Empress show kindness to Shao Wanru? What was more, Nanny Xi even suggested that the Empress wanted Shao Wanru to be selected, but it was contrary to what the Empress had expected before.
Could it be that the Empress wanted Shao Wanru to marry into Prince Zhou’s Mansion?
“As servants, we can’t decide it. As for etiquette, the Fifth Miss has been trained for several years, so she’s not too bad in manners. But to get prepared to enter the imperial palace later, she still needs to learn etiquette.” Despite her shock, Nanny Zheng said expressionlessly.
Nanny Xi had been observing Nanny Zheng’s expression. Seeing her expressionless, she couldn’t figure out what Nanny Zheng meant at the moment. Could it really be an accident that Nanny Zheng became the Fifth Miss Shao’s etiquette instructor?
If it was really an accident, it would still be a hard nut to crack. If they could not handle it probably, Nanny Zheng, who had been Consort Lan’s servant, could cause other trouble.
Nanny Xi knew that her master had never considered any of those new imperial concubines as a threat. Nanny Zheng’s former master was the only threat to her master.
Although the Empress managed to entrench her position over the years, no one knew what she had been through.
It was not easy to entrench her position!
“Nanny Xi, Nanny Zheng!” There came a soft voice from beside.
The two of them turned around, only to see Shao Yanru stand beside them with a smile. When she saw them look back together, she smiled slightly and bowed to them gracefully.
Besides Shao Wanru, the First Miss Shao was also refined in manners.
“What’s the matter, First Miss Shao?” Nanny Xi said with a smile. In her opinion, the First Miss Shao would definitely marry into Prince Zhou’s Mansion, so she couldn’t treat her lightly.
Nanny Zheng glanced at Shao Yanru and said nothing.
“Nanny Xi, I heard that you serves as the Empress’s personal servant. I want to ask you what kind of candidate the Empress likes.” Shao Yanru lowered her head and said with a blush on her white and tender face, looking extremely attractive and beautiful.
Although it was a little inappropriate to ask that, it was not a big deal with no one else in the room at this time. Moreover, on hearing her words, Shao Caihuan and Shao Cailing turned their heads and looked at them.
Shao Wanru picked up the teacup at hand and took a sip, glancing at Shao Yanru’s blus.h.i.+ng face with her deep eyes.
“First Miss, please sit down and listen to me!” Nanny Xi was happy to solve Shao Yanru’s doubts. Of course, she intended to solve Shao Wanru’s doubts at the same time. After Shao Yanru sat down, she called the other three Misses over, since she was supposed to tell them about the taboos in the imperial palace.
Nanny Zheng was about to stand up, but Nanny Xi stopped her politely and pulled her to sit down beside her.
“Nanny Zheng, since you are an etiquette instructor as well, you don’t have to stand behind Fifth Sister. I believe Fifth Sister won’t blame you!”
Shao Yanru said with a soft smile and then turned to Shao Wanru, “Fifth Sister, do you agree with me?”
Shao Wanru smiled slightly and nodded with deep eyes. Shao Yanru was showing kindness to Nanny Zheng. By comparing Nanny Zheng with Nanny Xi, she suggested that Shao Wanru, who treated Nanny Zheng as an ordinary servant and let Nanny Zheng stand behind her, didn’t show enough respect for Nanny Zheng.
Shao Yanru intended to drive a wedge between them. It seemed that Shao Yanru thought highly of Nanny Zheng as well as the person behind Nanny Zheng.
Shao Wanru smiled silently smile, did not reply and only nodded her approval.
“Nanny Zheng, since Fifth Sister has agreed to let you sit down, you may sit down now. Otherwise, Nanny Xi also has to stand. It’s inappropriate for us to let both of our etiquette instructors stand. What will the Empress think of our Duke Xing’s Mansion if we do so?”
Shao Yanru said with a smile and an increasingly gentle look. She was not only generous, but also quite a talented talker.
If Nanny Zheng was not willing to stand behind Shao Wanru, her words would definitely arouse Nanny Zheng’s dissatisfaction.
Compared with Shao Wanru, Shao Yanru was really kind and considerate!
“Nanny Zheng, please sit down. As my etiquette instructor, you don’t need to stand behind me.” Shao Wanru blinked and spoke.
“Thank you, Fifth Miss! Thank you, First Miss!” Nanny Zheng thanked them seriously and then sat down.
Seeing her strictly act as rules required, Shao Yanru sensed a strong a desire for this etiquette instructor. She didn’t expect that Shao Wanru had such a brilliant etiquette instructor around her. If she had known this earlier, she would have dragged Nanny Zheng to her side long ago.
“Nanny Zheng, you are too polite. If you can also give us a few advices, our Duke Xing’s Mansion will be very grateful!” Shao Yanru said these words on behalf of the whole Duke Xing’s Mansion.
As the eldest among the four Misses here, she was indeed qualified to speak on behalf of Duke Xing’s Mansion.
“First Miss, you are too polite. I will tell you everything I know.” Nanny Zheng had to reply.
“Nanny Zheng, you are too polite!” Shao Yanru said softly with a bright and gentle smile. At first glance, one could tell that she was a nice master. Compared with her, Shao Wanru, who was sitting on one side indifferently, didn’t seem to be so easy to get along with.
“The First Miss is indeed worthy of her ident.i.ty as the First Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion. She’s excellent in dealing with people and affairs.” Nanny Xi praised Shao Yanru, and then turned to ask Nanny Zheng, “Nanny Zheng, do you think so?”
“All the Misses of Duke Xing’s Mansion present are excellent!” Nanny Zheng gave a flawless answer. Shao Yanru was very dissatisfied with Nanny Zheng’s answer, but she knew that this kind of thing could not be rushed.
Since Nanny Zheng had attracted her attention, she would try all she could to drag her to her side. It didn’t mean anything that Nanny Zheng had been Shao Wanru’s etiquette instructor for three years. It seemed that Shao Wanru did not care much about this etiquette instructor, which gave her a chance. She decided to show her kindness to Nanny Zheng in all respects from now on and drive a wedge between the two of them later. In this way, she could finally drag Nanny Zheng to her side.
Dragging Nanny Zheng, who came out of the imperial palace, to her side could make her grow like winged tigers. Meanwhile, Shao Wanru would certainly be no match for her in the future after losing Nanny Zheng’s support.
Shao Yanru firmly believed that Nanny Zheng was the person who helped Shao Wanru defeat her in their secret battles before, so she paid great attention to Nanny Zheng.
“First Miss, bad news, bad news…” An old maid rushed in and shouted. When she pa.s.sed the threshold, she stumbled on the ground in a panic.