Chapter 1071 Subst.i.tute Another Woman for Lady Ming
The Empress Dowager was so furious that she decided to choose more consorts for Chu Liuchen. Upon receiving her order, Nanny Wei hurried out of the palace.
The b.u.t.terfly Clothing Shop’s address was very easy to inquire about. Before heading there, Nanny Wei asked the carriage to park in an alley aside. Watching the guests coming and going, she felt very satisfied with this good shop because it could make a big profit.
Wei Dahai came from nowhere. When he saw Nanny Wei, he hurried forward to salute her and whispered, “Aunt, please wait for a moment. I’ll invite her over. She should avoid being seen by Princess Chen’s people in case of trouble. Otherwise, Lady Ming might not dare to tell the truth.”
“How dare she! We’re in the capital near the Emperor. Does she really dare to order the guards of Prince Chen’s Mansion?” Nanny Wei didn’t expect Shao Wanru to be so aggressive and was in a peeve over it.
She had felt a little guilty because what happened before was faked, but now, she flared up a little. If Princess Chen had no regard for laws, she might implicate Prince Chen. It would be better to get rid of her.
“It is just because we’re living in the same city with the Emperor that Princess Chen feels rea.s.sured and emboldened. Everyone knows that the Empress Dowager and His Majesty dote on Prince Chen very much. Princess Chen has been taking advantage of Prince Chen’s powerful connections. Please wait for a while, and I will come back immediately,” Wei Dahai said.
He had already thoroughly prepared for this and walked to the b.u.t.terfly Clothing Shop in the gaze of Nanny Wei, who was still in a rage.
When he entered the shop, the shop-boy inside recognized but ignored him, doing what he was supposed to do. The shopkeeper had already told everyone to leave him alone. Except for the shopkeeper’s office, he could go wherever he wanted as long as he didn’t disturb the normal business operation of b.u.t.terfly Clothing Shop.
But a sensitive fellow still reported Wei Dahai’s coming to Madame Dong.
Madame Dong was stunned. She didn’t know what else Wei Dahai would say to her at this time. Since Princess Chen had the final say on this shop, she could do nothing about it. Is Wei Dahai still unwilling to give up? Was he plotting something?
Rolling her eyes and thinking for a while, she uttered a few words under her breath to the shop-boy who came in to deliver the message. Then, the shop-boy nodded and left.
Wei Dahai walked around the store for some time but bought nothing. Finally, he turned to a corner and met a woman in her thirties. Wei Dahai seemed to know her. After exchanging a few words, they walked out together. The shop-boy, who had kept his eye on Wei Dahai, saw them leave together and get on a carriage in the depths of an alley.
The shop-boy swiftly ran inside to tell Madame Dong, “Madam, Lord Wei took a middle-aged woman out and went to a carriage in the alley on our right. The carriage curtains were drawn, so I didn’t see who was inside clearly. I faintly saw there might be a woman.”
“A middle-aged woman? Who is she?” Madame Dong was stunned and asked.
“I asked others in our shop, but no one knew her. They said the middle-aged woman had stayed inside for quite a while and didn’t seem to be from a rich family. She dressed like and looked like you. When she was in the shop, we talked about her, saying you were like sisters.”
The shop-boy said.
“Sisters? So, we look similar. Wei Dahai took out a woman looking like me from my shop. Then others might regard her as me!”
Madame Dong’s face changed. Thinking of what Princess Chen had warned her, she stood up in shock and said, “I’ll go and have a look!”
She left the shop-boy behind and ran out. There were several carriages in a row, and the shop-boy quietly came out with her, pointing to one of them.
The style of the carriage was very ordinary. It looked like one of the most ordinary carriages on the street and had a curtain hanging in front of it.
Since Madame Dong had been dealing with clothes in her shop, she had a sharp eye for them. The fabric of the curtain was by no means ordinary. It remained low-key but was extraordinary. Honestly, it was even far superior to the cloth made for ordinary people’s clothes.
Even though she didn’t touch the curtain herself, Madame Dong knew it in her heart.
Only carriages of those who were wealthy or n.o.ble could be equipped with such top-notch curtains. Madame Dong had seen his carriage several times when Wei Dahai came here. Although his carriage was much more s.p.a.cious, the curtain on it couldn’t compare with the curtain before her.
“The people inside the carriage must not be ordinary. What is Wei Dahai trying to do? Is he plotting something?”
After thinking for a while, she waved her hand and called the shop-boy over, whispering in his ear. The shop-boy nodded, turned around, and ran out. At the roadside, he caught a carriage and went to the Prince Chen’s Mansion.
When the shop-boy left to deliver the message, Madame Dong thought it over and returned to the shop. Then she went upstairs and found a window facing the alley. As expected, she saw the carriage she had noticed just now. Hiding behind the curtain, she watched the carriage intensely. Madame Dong could feel there was something strange about it.
In the carriage, the middle-aged woman bowed deeply to Nanny Wei. Before she could get up, her face was covered with tears, and her voice was choked with sobs. “Please… please help me.”
“Are you Lady Ming?” Nanny Wei measured “Lady Ming” with the eye and asked slowly.
“Yes… I am Lady Ming!” “Lady Ming” replied.
“Get up and talk!” Nanny Wei said gently.
“Lady Ming, get up first. Aunt will take care of you and won’t let Princess Chen force you to do anything. You can keep your shop,” Wei Dahai said with concern. He reached out to help “Lady Ming” sit down on one side.
Nanny Wei glanced “Lady Ming” up and down a few more times and felt she was pleasing to the eye, so she further softened her voice. “Have you decided to return to Dahai?”
“Nanny, he and I… We are childhood sweethearts. Our misunderstanding has been solved, and fate has brought us together. We are not young anymore. Even for our own sake, we should let go of the past. How can we take the past too hard? Nanny, please help us!”
“Lady Ming” said, wiping her tears.
“Is Princess Chen really going to take your shop away?” Nanny Wei kept silent for a while and asked slowly.
“Princess Chen thinks this shop is excellent and takes a fancy to it. That day, she threatened me with the matter related to Infanta Yuan’an and asked me to sell the shop to her, saying it could be regarded as compensation for her loss. Otherwise, she would definitely mess up my shop and make it impossible for me to manage the business. Nanny, I only have one daughter. Over so many years, we have depended on each other for survival. Finally, we keep this shop going and have saved some money.”
“Lady Ming” cried more bitterly, revealing the helplessness and sadness of a poor woman. This reminded Nanny Wei of the days in her childhood when she was alone and helpless. She felt more and more sorry for “Lady Ming”.
“Well, I know. Since Princess Chen bullied you with her power, I should report it fairly. You can go back now and do business as usual. When this matter is over, you can marry into Wei’s Mansion!”
Nanny Wei said kindly.
“Thank you, Nanny. Thank you so much.” “Lady Ming” was so excited that she wanted to kneel again but was stopped by Wei Dahai. “Don’t do that. Aunt is always kind-hearted and can’t bear to see vulnerable people like you suffer. You should go back first. I’ll talk to my aunt for a while.”
“Okay, I’ll go first!” “Lady Ming” dabbed her eyes and nodded. Then she bowed to Nanny Wei gently and got out of the carriage, going straight to the b.u.t.terfly Clothing Shop as if she were its shopkeeper.
Madame Dong, peeking at them upstairs behind the curtain, saw the middle-aged woman come out. She called a shop-boy over, asking him to go downstairs to follow her. While she still hid in that blind corner and continued to monitor what was happening downstairs.
A while later, Wei Dahai came out. When he got off the carriage, he looked around and saw no one had noticed him, so he went to the back of the alley. There were also several carriages parked there, one of which was his.
After he climbed into the carriage of his mansion, the coachman made a turn and left from the back of the alley.
Nanny Wei’s carriage stopped for a while, and the coachman drove the carriage away. Since Nanny Dong stood high, she could look into the distance. When she saw that the carriage seemed to be heading for the Prince Chen’s Mansion, she frowned tightly. “Her Highness guessed right. This matter is far from over.”
Wei Dahai was so bold that he dared to confront Princess Chen. It seemed that Wei Dahai was not as useless as she had thought. If she guessed correctly, this carriage should be from the Palace.
Fortunately, she had sent someone to inform Princess Chen in advance. Even if someone from Palace suddenly visited Princess Chen, she must have prepared a solution. Madame Dong had faith in Shao Wanru.
Although Madame Dong was worried, this didn’t throw her into a panic.
She came out from the curtain and went downstairs to her accountant’s office, staying inside for a while. Then the shop-boy whom she had asked to go out came back.
“Madam, that woman doesn’t live far away. She entered our shop and walked around for some time. Seeing no one pay attention to her, she left through the back door. I followed her and found she lived nearby in a courtyard two blocks away. Her place was not big, but the door was closed tightly. I made a few inquiries and learned that only a woman lived there with a female servant. No one knew whose mistress she was. Anyway, the man of the house seldom came and was always secretive about what he did. Anyway, others seldom saw him there.”
The shop-boy reported.
“Can you remember the address?” Madame Dong nodded and asked worriedly.
“Trust me, Madam. I’m familiar with this area and won’t mess up the turns and streets. Next time you want to see this woman, you can go with me, and I’ll make no mistake about it,” the shop-boy said, patting his chest with a.s.surance.
Madame Dong nodded and handed a tael of silver to the shop-boy who thanked her repeatedly and withdrew.
Nanny Wei’s carriage stopped before the Prince Chen’s Mansion, and the coachman stepped forward. The guard at the gate stopped him and asked sharply, “Who is it?”
“Nanny Wei, the Empress Dowager’s personal servant, is here with Her Majesty’s order. Please inform Princess Chen of this!” The coachman folded his hands in salute and said.