青春期撞上更年期第1部

“Then what do you think?” Shao Wanru, who had understood everything, asked calmly.

“I mean, My Lady, you’d better not have a conflict with the chief supervisor because of this matter. Before I came here, I had already told the kitchen supervisor to scold the delivery man when he came with the food material tomorrow. If he wanted to send the food for our mansion, he mustn’t send any inferior ingredients over.”

Nanny Yu said, trying to reconcile this dispute.

!!

“So we just let it go?” Shao Wanru asked, raising her eyebrows.

“My Lady, take a step back, and everything will be fine. It’s not a big deal. I can’t let such a trifle cause any misunderstandings between His Highness and you!” Nanny Yu thought Shao Wanru was unwilling to make concessions, so she hurriedly advised, “The chief supervisor has been taken care of His Highness since he was little, so they must be particularly close. I heard that even Xiao Xuanzi, His Highness’s trusted servant, was cultivated by the chief supervisor.”

Looking at Nanny Yu’s anxious face, Shao Wanru felt warm and safe in her heart. Though this wet nurse didn’t seem to be much helpful, she was loyal in both her previous life and this life.

Nanny Yu would compromise as long as it could benefit her. Though she was a powerful chief supervisor of the inner court, she wasn’t eaten up with pride.

Her opponents in the dark must have gotten Nanny Yu wrong!

When many women married into their husband’s families, they would first scheme for power. Even if the previous servants made no mistake, they would fabricate some and replace these servants with their trusted ones.

But Shao Wanru was different. Though she had been swift and fierce, she and Chu Liuchen were of one mind. She trusted Chu Liuchen in every decision, so she wouldn’t put on air before his chief supervisor to display her power when Chu Liuchen was away.

Shao Wanru had thought about it before. Those plotting against her wouldn’t give up even if she didn’t leave the Prince Chen’s Mansion. Since she was merely a woman staying inside the inner court, they couldn’t implicate her in a major event. Moreover, Chu Liuchen was not at home now. Even if there were something big, they would not blame her.

If so, there could only be small matters going wrong.

Every family had trivialities in day-to-day life. So, which part of her mansion was the most vulnerable?

The kitchen should be somewhere others could stir up trouble with the least effort because it had frequent contact with the outside world. After all, fresh vegetables and meat had to come in daily.

Shao Wanru didn’t expect bad things to happen in the kitchen before she could put up a strong defense. It seemed that some people were excessively eager to hurt her.

The people plotting this frame-up against her must have gained some understanding of her, knowing that she couldn’t tolerate a little mistake. That was why they started from the kitchen.

First, they drove a wedge between Shao Wanru and the chief supervisor. Then, their following conspiracies would go on smoothly.

It hadn’t crossed their minds that Nanny Yu was loyal and timid. If anything related to the inner court happened, she wouldn’t make any decision before reporting it to Shao Wanru. Unluckily, they also misjudged Shao Wanru!

How could a person who had died once worry about her gains or losses?

“Nanny, be careful. Many people intend to deal with our mansion. His Highness is not here now. I’m afraid I might be killed if any of them succeeded.” Shao Wanru mentioned it to Nanny Yu with frankness.

Nanny Yu’s face changed dramatically. She was scared and jumped up from the stool, looking at Shao Wanru in horror.

It was the first time the two maids heard Shao Wanru say such a thing. They were so frightened that they could not speak for a while.

“My, My Lady, why did you say that?” After a while, Nanny Yu came to her senses and asked in a trembling voice.

“Yes, My Lady, who wants to hurt you? They’re audacious in the extreme!” Yujie also collected her wits and exploded with rage.

“My Lady, let’s not go anywhere and stay in the mansion, waiting to see who else dares to attack.” Qu Le gave more consideration to it and suggested with a pale face.

Shao Wanru’s words spooked the three of them.

“Nanny, sit down first. I merely brought it up in passing. In his letters, His Highness has reminded me about it. So, we have to be much more cautious during this period. Since His Highness trusts the chief supervisor with the affairs in the mansion, I believe in him too. If any matter in your charge conflicts with his management, please follow his ideas. In this way, we can unite and overcome difficulties together.”

Shao Wanru comforted them with a smile.

Nanny Yu nodded vigorously and said, “Don’t worry, My Lady, I will. I will never argue with the chief supervisor nor disgrace him. As long as he can protect you, My Lady, I will do anything.”

Nanny Yu was severely frightened. How could she argue with the chief supervisor at such a critical moment? Even if he threw away all the dishes in the kitchen, she would only ask someone to pick them up at most and wouldn’t get angry with him, let alone collide with him.

Princess Chen’s life was of the utmost importance. She had to keep her safe until His Highness came back to protect her.

Although His Highness looked a little weak and infirm, he was the mainstay of the mansion. His absence would considerably lower Shao Wanru’s safety level, and Nanny Yu felt she shouldered a great responsibility to safeguard Princess Chen. Things about food like this were nothing serious and didn’t matter.

“Nanny, there may be more than one thing. More trouble will follow.” Shao Wanru hinted with a smile.

“My Lady, please set your heart at ease about it. I will remain calm and fair in approaching these problems. Never will I let anyone deteriorate the relationship between the inner and outer courts. As for the affairs of the outer court, I will not interfere in them.” Previously, Nanny Yu was lacking in knowledge and experience. Later, after Nanny Zheng taught her for some time, she became acquainted with the inner-court affairs of the Prince Chen’s Mansion and gradually took steps in the right direction.

Sometimes, Nanny Zheng would talk to her about things in the Palace. Nanny Yu had heard a lot, so she naturally learned some ways of thinking. Again and again, she warned herself not to become a burden to her master like those useless servants in the Palace who brought unexpected disasters to their masters living peaceful lives.

“That’s good. Then let’s wait and see!” Shao Wanru said meaningfully, her eyes slowly darkening. She was going to deal with the changes by staying calm. No matter who plotted to injure her, she would be on the alert and combat-ready in the mansion.

Since something came up in the kitchen, she could ask someone to keep an eye on it. “Nanny, Qing Yue has been working under your command and helps you manage things from time to time. Just let her watch the kitchen. As the supervisor of the inner court, you can’t monitor the situation there all day long. We don’t have to make a big fuss about it. Unlike you, Qing Yue can stay there as my trusted principal maid.”

Qing Yue was Shao Wanru’s first servant girl, who was as loyal to her as Nanny Yu. However, she was too timid and couldn’t be as helpful as Yujie at the critical moment, for Yujie was much stronger than her. Thus, after they arrived in the capital city, her efforts were centered on assisting Nanny Yu. Though she served Shao Wanru sometimes, she did it much less than Yujie and Qu Le.

Nevertheless, she had always been regarded as Shao Wanru’s principal maid. While doing jobs for Nanny Yu, she gained some prestige among servants. All in all, Qing Yue was indeed the most suitable person in charge for the time being.

“Okay, I got it. I’ll inform Qing Yue later. Ow! what a coincidence!” Nanny Yu abruptly slapped her thigh and said with a smile, “When the incident happened, I happened to take Qing Yue there. When you called me over, Qing Yue stayed behind to count how many food ingredients were rotten. Now, she is in the kitchen, doing the tasks you’ve just assigned her.”

“That’s perfect!” Shao Wanru nodded delightedly…

The envoys were on their way back to the capital with two princesses and some generous gifts from the Xu State. The diplomatic mission went on smoothly. Of course, the most valuable thing should be the national letter from the Xu State King in Prince Chen’s hands.

As a small affiliated country of the Kingdom of Dongcang, the Xu State had sent a lot of presents over, but the number of their gifts gradually declined. In recent years, few messengers came over to offer tribute. They had reached a new agreement with the Xu State King, who indicated in the national letter that messengers from his state would visit the Kingdom of Dongcang with gifts every year.

The marriage between Princess Yuyan and Chu Qing had been settled. As for Princess Yutao, she left her country in the name of sending Princess Yuyan off. The First Prince, Princess Yuyan’s elder brother, was supposed to come over in the first place. However, somehow, Princess Yutao was appointed to do this job, so she had to set off with the Xu State’s diplomatic corps and head for the capital of the Kingdom of Dongcang.

After walking for only a few hours on the first day of their trip, Prince Chen said he had to rest because his weak body couldn’t endure the long-distance travel. Neither Chu Qing, who was full of worries, nor the severe Qin Huaiyong could turn down this righteous decision.

Nothing mattered more than Prince Chen’s health. Though the sun was high in the sky, everyone had no choice but to go to rest at the courier station!

In the largest courtyard of the courier station, eight guards were standing at the door, which showed Prince Chen was much superior to Commandery Prince Qing, with only two guards at his door

Looking further inside, Princess Yuyan found the heavily-guarded courtyard quiet and solemn, which made her nervous. In her mind, Prince Chen was so handsome and kind. Although he was a little delicate, he was nice. But why did his guards look so murderous and scary?

She heard this prince had always been so fragile, but he had such an impressive bearing, like the sun’s son in mythology. Thinking of this, Princess Yuyan blushed slightly with a bit of shyness in her eyes. She turned around and slowly walked somewhere else. How she wished she could run into Prince Chen!

However, the situation in the main room was not as enchanting as Princess Yuyan had imagined.

“How’s it going?” Chu Liuchen leaned leisurely on the thick and soft cushion, but a trace of gloom flashed in his eyes. He used to be gentle and elegant, but now his eyes appeared cruel and bloodthirsty.

Xiao Xuanzi stepped back and reported, “Don’t worry, master. It’s done!”

At this moment, he showed his true features. The mild and gentle look was nothing but just a mask. How could it be real?

“Have you well arranged her safety?” Chu Liuchen asked again.

“Trust me, master. We’ve made more prudential arrangements for Her Highness. Beyond the team under Qing’er, another group secretly keeps an eye on Princess Chen and will never let anything bad happen to her.” Xiao Xuanzi knew Chu Liuchen best and was fully aware that his master was worried about Her Highness.

Princess Chen was the apple of his eye.

His master had more concern for Princess Chen than for himself.