Chapter 848 Shao Hua’an’s Wedding
It had been a few days later when Nanny Yu got the information and came back.
It was not that Nanny Yu had been inefficient, but that she had not wanted others to find out that people in Piaoyun Courtyard was paying attention to this Childe Yan’s matter. After all, this matter had nothing to do with Shao Wanru. So it was unreasonable for her to ask someone to inquire about it.
“Miss, Yan’s Mansion is an aristocratic family at the border. They have been guarding the border and have been old friends with our mansion for generations. This can be traced back to Old Duke. At that time, Old Duke and Old Master of Yan’s Mansion were as close as brothers. I heard that they had once followed our previous Emperor to go on a campaign together. They could be said to have a friends.h.i.+p of life and death!”
Nanny Yu selected some useful information that she had inquired about and reported it to Shao Wanru.
“I also heard that the two families had wanted to become related by marriage at that time, but both families had no daughter of lineal descent, so this matter had had to be put aside. Besides, our Duke’s Mansion accompanied the previous Emperor to the capital city, while Yan’s Mansion still stayed there and guarded the border.”
Hearing this, Shao Wanru blinked her watery eyes slightly and grasped a key point. “The relations.h.i.+p between the two families is not the friends.h.i.+p between Second Uncle and Lord Yan!”
“Yes, it should be like this. It is the original friends.h.i.+p between the two mansions instead of that of the Duke. I heard that Old Madam is also very concerned about Childe Yan and sends people to the outer courtyard to inquire about him from time to time.”
Nanny Yu nodded. She had gone through a lot of twists and turns before she managed to gather this information. In order not to be discovered by others and affect her Miss’s reputation, Nanny Yu had been very careful, lest her Miss’s reputation be implicated.
In fact, in Nanny Yu’s opinion, her Miss should not pay attention to the affairs of a strange man from another mansion at this time. Her Miss was about to become Princess Chen. If someone discovered this, it might be used by a man of intention and cause a great disturbance. After all, there were few people in Duke Xing’s Mansion who were kind to her Miss.
Seeing that Shao Wanru was silent, Nanny Yu persuaded her cautiously, “Miss, I don’t think this matter has something to do with you.”
Shao Wanru knew that Nanny Yu said this out of kindness, so she nodded and changed the topic, “Has Childe w.a.n.g shown up in our mansion from time to time recently?”
“Childe w.a.n.g is really annoying. None of the masters likes him. Every time he comes here, he really thinks of himself as a master. But Duke didn’t say anything directly, so everyone can only let him come and go as he pleases.” There was a lot of information about w.a.n.g Shengxue. Even though Nanny Yu had not deliberately inquired about him, she had heard a lot.
Childe w.a.n.g hadn’t been here for a period of time before, but recently he had come here more frequently. After coming over, he liked putting on airs, as if he really regarded himself as a master in this mansion, which was really annoying.
“Since Miss w.a.n.g pa.s.sed away, hasn’t he never come?” Shao Wanru asked with a trace of deepness across her eyes. She clearly remembered that w.a.n.g Shengxue hadn’t come to the mansion when she had entered the imperial palace to attend the Consort Selection.
What had happened to w.a.n.g Yishu had made him fall out with Duke Xing’s Mansion. Moreover, he had even threatened Duke Xing’s Mansion at that time. Thus, Old Madam had had to go to wors.h.i.+p w.a.n.g Yishu. Such a distant descendant dared to trouble Old Madam. It was really hard for Old Madam, who was a self-conceited person, to bear this.
At that time, w.a.n.g Shengxue had also been emboldened by someone’s support. Obviously he had had a new backer, otherwise Duke Xing’s Mansion would neither have shown such weakness nor let Old Madam make such a concession. Not only had she given him a house, but also took all the Misses in Duke Xing’s Mansion to wors.h.i.+p w.a.n.g Yishu, showing that they had given enough face to w.a.n.g Shengxue.
In this case, the most normal behavior was that w.a.n.g Shengxue should no longer have any contact with Duke Xing’s Mansion. Originaly they were distant relatives, so he would be unable to visit Duke Xing’s Mansion in the future.
After something had happened to Madam Jiang, the evidence in w.a.n.g Shengxue’s hands would be useless. Even if w.a.n.g Shengxue wanted to come back, Old Madam would definitely disagree rather than let him be unbridled at the mansion now without saying a word.
Considering Old Madam’s character, since the evidence had lost its effect, she would have never allowed w.a.n.g Shengxue to enter the mansion. However, the current situation was not the case. She seemingly turned a blind eye to w.a.n.g Shengxue and allowed him to do whatever he wanted in the mansion. And the problem he cause was related to Yan Xi.
Shao Wanru had thought for a long time about what the coachman had reported. The conclusion was that w.a.n.g Shengxue was definitely not innocent in the matter between Yan Xi and Miss Zhao, and had probably plotted it by himself. So what did w.a.n.g Shengxue want?
Of course, it could also be said what the person behind w.a.n.g Shengxue wanted!
This matter should have something to do with Duke Xing’s Mansion. Otherwise, w.a.n.g Shengxue could not have been able to enter Duke Xing’s Mansion, considering his previous behavious. However, he not only entered the mansion now, but also seemed to be very calm and at ease. Although all the servants hated him, they could at most gossip behind his back when the masters did not give any instruction.
“Nanny Yu, you’d better pay attention to Childe w.a.n.g. He and his sister used to bear grudges against me. It doesn’t matter even if someone notices you asking about him!”
Shao Wanru raised her arch eyebrows and had made up her mind in her heart!
“Okay, I understand!” Nanny Yu nodded in a hurry and breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. She was really worried that her Miss would fall in love with Childe Yan. Since her Miss was going to get married soon, it was not appropriate to pay attention to a strange man at this time.
On the day of Shao Hua’an’s wedding, Shao Wanru got up early. Although Duke Xing’s Mansion was the groom’s family, all the affairs should be prepared early.
After having some breakfast, Shao Wanru went to Old Madam’s Chuntang Courtyard.
The moment she entered the door, she heard a burst of laughter. It turned out that the people of Third Branch were all here. Actually, besides them, Shao Jie’er had also been released and she was sitting down in the lower position.
Third Madam had always been in poor health, but she also got up early this morning. She sat on one side of Old Madam, while on the other side sat Shao Jie’er, Shao Caihuan, and Shao Cailing.
Seeing Shao Wanru come in, Third Madam said to Old Madam with a smile, “Mother, see, we just talked about Wanru and now she comes in!”
Old Madam raised her eyes and glanced at Shao Wanru. She snorted indifferently with a cold att.i.tude.
Shao Wanru had been used to such cold att.i.tude. She stepped forward and bowed deeply to Old Madam respectfully. Old Madam waved her hand and said, “Sit down first. We are waiting for you!”
Shao Wanru retreated to the chair next to Third Madam and sat down. She raised the corners of her mouth slightly with a hint of sarcasm on her face. Waiting for her? Old Madam intented to blame her for being late, but in fact, she had gotten up early today and had come to greet much earlier than before.
However, it seemed that they indeed had arrived for a while. Someone must have informed them in advance, but obviously she had not received such message.
“Mother, what do you think of today’s arrangement? You know that I’m in poor health!” Third Madam coughed in a low voice and gently covered her mouth with a handkerchief.
Since Shao Wanru met Third Madam, Third Madam seemed to have always been in poor health.
We won’t manage the things in the outer courtyard. You are in charge of the inner courtyard. Since you are not well, you can ask Third Girl and Fifth Girl to help you. Fourth Girl, take care of those Misses and accompany them to take a walk or have a chat. I will stay in the flower hall, talking to those Madams who don’t want to walk around.
Old Madam cleared her throat and said this.
Shao Wanru clenched her handkerchief tightly and then relaxed. This arrangement was a little beyond her expectation. She had thought that she just needed to accompany guests, but she hadn’t expected that she would be asked to help Third Madam.
She knew nothing about Duke Xing’s affairs. In fact, she was less useful than Nanny in charge in the mansion!
“Wanru, why don’t you manage the kitchen for me?” Third Madam looked at Shao Wanru with a smile and asked.
“Third Aunt, I… I don’t know these…” Shao Wanru looked at Third Madam quite nervously with a blank look.
Being in charge of a kitchen was not something that could be done in a short time. Today, Third Madam suddenly asked her to be in charge of this. In this case, if something went wrong, Shao Wanru would take responsibility for it. She didn’t think it was a good idea.
“Then how about helping Third Aunt manage the tea room?” Third Madam seemingly also felt that this was difficult for Shao Wanru, so she didn’t insist on it. After thinking for a while, she asked again with a smile.
She could refuse once, but it was inconvenient to refuse twice. Moreover, managing the tea room was much easier than managing the kitchen.
“Okay, then I’ll help Third Aunt manage the tea room. Third Aunt, if I don’t do it well, please teach me!” Shao Wanru promised in a soft voice and then sat aside quietly, listening to Old Madam and Third Madam discussing all the arrangement in the banquet.
When everything was settled, Old Madam asked the supervisors of different departments to come over. Third Madam went to the wing room to meet the supervisors and to arrange today’s affairs.
Shao Wanru and Shao Caihuan accompanied Third Madam. Since they were Third Madam’s helpers today, they naturally tried their best to stay with Third Madam.
Shao Caihuan still wore a veil on her face and sat beside Third Madam obediently. Although she smiled at Shao Wanru kindly and gently, she no longer showed a flattering look as before.
She seemed to have returned to her former self.
Although Third Madam was in poor health, she handled things with ease and efficiency. During this period, she had handled all the affairs in Duke Xing’s Mansion, so she was still quite familiar with them now.
After the supervisors of various departments were given orders, they left one by one and went to work on their own business.
Third Madam asked Shao Wanru and Shao Caihuan to check the affairs a.s.signed to them respectively.
Shao Wanru went to the tea room with Yujie. Now she was mainly responsible for serving the tea for the guests in the inner courtyard. Female guests were also arranged to rest in a large flower hall in the inner courtyard.
The tea room was on the side of this big flower hall. It was a separate courtyard instead of a small room. When Shao Wanru came over, the servant girls and old maids in it were busy preparing. Of course, the so-called “tea room” was not only for serving tea, but also some fruits and snacks needed to be placed on the plate one by one.
Seeing Shao Wanru coming over, the Nanny in charge of tea room hurriedly came over to greet her with a smile. When she had been at the Third Madam’s place just now, the Third Madam had already explained that Fifth Miss was in charge of this matter.
“Are these pastries so exquisite today?” Shao Wanru looked at a plate of steaming pastries and asked. This was specially taken out of the steamer just now by the Nanny in charge in order to curry favor with Shao Wanru. It was a quite small plate of pastries, but it had a perfect combination of color, aroma, and taste. At first glance, one could tell that it was excellent, not to mention that Shao Wanru just had had a little breakfast in a hurry.
Looking at such soft waxy desserts, she really felt hungry!