Chapter Fifty-One: The News Went Out

Nanny Jiang remained silent.

The Old Madam of the Third Branch said, "So you refuse to speak? Then don't blame me for being discourteous!"

After all, she was just a servant, and Nanny Jiang could not be certain if the fierce Old Madam of the Third Branch might do something extreme to her. Even if she did, the Old Madam of the main house would not be able to get a hold on the Third Branch immediately, and in the end, it would be she who suffered.

Nanny Jiang rolled her eyes and said, "The person is with the Ninth Prince. I’m afraid you wouldn't dare go and ask for him back!"

"What do I... Wait, the Ninth Prince?!"

Nanny Jiang nodded. "That’s right. He was taken away by the Ninth Prince. The Ninth Prince said he caught the man himself and that he would interrogate him!"

Wouldn't that mean losing face right in front of a prince? The Old Madam of the Third Branch was extremely annoyed, practically stamping her feet. "How could this be? How could the Ninth Prince appear here?"

In truth, the Old Madam of the Third Branch had only asked out of habit and didn't expect a real answer. Regardless of how the Ninth Prince appeared, if Eldest Master He had fallen into his hands, there was no hope of getting him back. Her only prayer now was that Eldest Master He would say nothing.

To her surprise, Nanny Jiang answered readily, "He climbed over the wall!"

"Climbed..." Their walls were not low. It seemed they still weren't high enough.

With the man already taken away, the Old Madam of the Third Branch had come up empty-handed. She could not chase after a prince to demand him back, and for a moment, she felt both fearful and lost.

Nanny Jiang had no intention of standing there staring at her while feeding the mosquitoes. She turned to Xue Liuniang and said, "Miss Six, are you heading back? Let me escort you."

Xue Liuniang agreed. Only then did the Old Madam of the Third Branch notice her. Seeing the girl completely unscathed, her anger flared up. She had intended to punish the girl; how had she managed to escape?

"Stop!" The Old Madam of the Third Branch, having nowhere to vent her fury, shouted, "Liuniang, are you a useless fool? That was a villain who broke into our home—how could you let someone else take him away?"

That "someone else" was a prince! Xue Liuniang knew she was suffering for no reason, yet she dared not voice any dissatisfaction. The Third and Fourth Branches were brothers; often, because the Fourth Branch was poor, the Third Branch would dictate matters to them in exchange for favors. It was only recently, as everyone lived together and relied on the Grand-Uncle for their livelihood, that things had begun to change, and the Third Branch could no longer control the Fourth—primarily because the Fourth was no longer as obedient.

However, the Old Madam of the Third Branch was an elder, and Xue Liuniang could not talk back. She kept her head down, saying nothing, appearing as though she would endure any scolding. This lack of resistance felt to the Old Madam like punching cotton; it provided no release, only fueling her rage.

She longed to grab Xue Liuniang and strike her. She seemed to raise her hand to do so, but Nanny Jiang stepped in front of Xue Liuniang and firmly caught the Old Madam’s wrist. "Old Madam of the Third Branch, please calm your anger. Is there anything that cannot be discussed reasonably? Miss Six is a delicate young lady of this household, and furthermore, she belongs to the Fourth Branch. She is not someone you can just strike!"

The implication was that she was meddling in affairs that didn't concern her. The Old Madam of the Third Branch was livid, snapping, "I am disciplining my own granddaughter; when did it become the turn of a servant like you to point fingers?"

Thinking of how the Third Branch had used Eldest Master He to frame Xue Liuniang, Nanny Jiang felt a surge of indignation. Looking at this old shrew who showed not a shred of remorse—even after her accomplice had been captured, she remained arrogant and domineering, still trying to stir up trouble—Nanny Jiang found her detestable.

Nanny Jiang’s status was limited, and she could not afford a full-blown confrontation, but she was not afraid of the old woman. She thought of a solution: she grabbed Xue Liuniang and walked away. As for the furious Old Madam, no one paid her any mind. Had they truly reached a point where they had to be so tolerant of this old shrew? No, the answer was no, so she did not deserve their attention.

Nanny Jiang and Xue Liuniang walked away without looking back. Seeing them leave, the nanny asked anxiously, "Old Madam, now is not the time to be angry with Miss Six or the First Branch. Our prisoner is gone—the prisoner is the key!"

The Old Madam of the Third Branch finally came to her senses. But what could she do? The person who took him was the Ninth Prince, the Emperor’s son. And her own father—let alone not being the Emperor—had been dead for years. She had no one to rely on. What could she possibly do?

...

When Xue Liuniang returned to the Fourth Branch, facing the interrogation of the Old Madam of the Fourth Branch, she felt the same sense of helplessness. What could she do? The other party was a prince.

By now, everyone in the Fourth Branch had heard the news and rushed over to comfort the Old Madam. Among them was Lady He, the mother of Xue Siniang. Because she was highly favored by the Old Madam of the Fourth Branch and because Liuniang was prettier than her own daughter, she had never liked the girl. Now was the perfect time to step on her.

Lady He glanced at Xue Liuniang, whose face held no joy, only the gloom of one who had barely survived a disaster, and sneered, "Liuniang, you went out with your grandmother, yet you didn't suffer a scratch while your grandmother was terrified! How exactly did you look after her?"

Xue Liuniang disliked this aunt intensely. When her own mother was alive, Lady He had often groveled to her for her rich dowry. Later, after the dowry was confiscated by the Old Madam and distributed to the First Branch, the aunt’s face remained plastered with a smile, but the warmth was gone. It felt like an instant transformation. Later, when she learned a few idioms, she realized the words "ingrate," "sycophant," and "shallow-minded" perfectly described her.

Even though she was usually easy to bully, she always found herself instinctively retorting whenever Lady He tried to trip her up.

"It is my fault for not protecting Grandmother well. But who could have known the criminal would not even spare a woman over seventy? He dragged Grandmother into a cave. All I could do was scream for help; otherwise, I fear we both would have been silenced. My life is of little consequence, but I could not be an unfilial person! Rushing in blindly would have been the worst strategy!"

The Old Madam had been dragged into a cave?! They had only heard that the Old Madam had been frightened, with no mention of a cave! Heavens, a young man dragging an old woman into a cave—what could he have intended? What did he want? What had he done?!

Lady He forgot all about harassing Xue Liuniang. She stared at the Old Madam of the Fourth Branch in disbelief and asked, "Were you really dragged into a cave by that beast? Who else saw it besides Liuniang?"

"No one!" The Old Madam of the Fourth Branch glared at Lady He, making her hair stand on end. Lady He asked again, "What is wrong with you?"

The Old Madam of the Fourth Branch looked at Xue Liuniang, longing to jump up and slap her. When others asked how she had been injured, she had kept that detail buried, but this wretched girl had blurted it out the moment she returned. It felt intentional—it must have been intentional.

The Old Madam of the Fourth Branch had an impulse to strike Liuniang dead, but she restrained herself and did not raise her hand.

She asked, "Where is the prisoner?! I told you to bring him back so I could interrogate him. Where is he?"