PROOFREAD BY AFREANA

Chapter 32.2

“Mother, I’ve been thinking hard these days about what to say to my sister when I meet her, but I can’t think of a good response. Mother, think about it, in the past, I was not close to her. She was not close to anyone in the family, only to the fourth sister. She left in such a way and broke up with the family to withdraw from the marriage. What can I do to show my goodwill? She will scold me, kick me out, and be relieved to air her grievances. What about the next time? I can’t always accept my sister’s scolding and come again. Should I suffer from my sister’s scolding all the time? This bitch will certainly be suspicious. It is impossible to get any information from her. Mother, I have thought about it. There must be something she is concerned about to make her willing to meet me, such as the fourth sister’s news. I’m sure she will meet me and beg me to look for her again.”

Mrs. Tan scolded: “This is all you can think of after half a day? Your fourth sister’s whereabouts are unknown. How can we find anything out? Even the government can’t find her. How else can we find her? If we wait until there is news of Fang’er before we meet her, I’m afraid we can’t see her in this lifetime. We should settle this matter quickly. Yesterday, Master Qian came over for this matter. He asked if that bitch contacted your father and asked your father about his plans. It means Master Qian wants our family to secure An Ruochen. Only you can do this. If she wants to be pleased, let her be pleased. If she scolded you, you listen to her and pretend to be pitiful. Just say the family is in chaos after she left, and you have no one to complain about, only her. After all, you are sisters. Only she can understand your difficulties. You don’t have to be afraid of having no reason to talk. Just say that Master Qian is still interested in marriage, and your father is discussing it with him. You are afraid you will have to marry him and ask her to help you think of something.”

An Ruoxi’s heart sank. It finally came?

“Your elder sister ran away to resist this marriage, and if you said this, even if she was indifferent and would not help you, she would keep this in mind. Whether it is gloating or sympathy, she will be curious about the outcome. This way, you can meet with her a few more times ……”

“Father will discuss the marriage with Master Qian?” An Ruoxi interrupted her mother’s words and asked.

Mrs. Tan stroked her daughter’s head and smiled: ” How can we tie the knot? Isn’t the previous mess enough? Even if we discuss this, it is just for show, for that bitch to see. Otherwise, what is your reason for meeting her? There must be something to make her interested. She is determined to take revenge on our family, and this matter is what she wants. You can talk to her and listen to how she responds, improvise, and then we will discuss the response. The more she doesn’t have good intentions and wants to see the joke on you, the better this will be. It is easy to convince her.”

“But ……” An Ruoxi tried to resist, but she heard Mrs. Tan’s senior maid outside the house shouting, “Nanny Song! What are you doing here?”

    Mrs. Tan frowned and got up to go outside. An Ruoxi followed her.

They saw Mrs. Tan’s senior maid leading a young maid and blocking An Ruochen’s old nanny in the corner outside the room. The senior maid saw Mrs. Tan and called out. “Madam, I was just about to send someone to report that I was bringing fruit to you when I came across this old slave hiding under your window and eavesdropping.”

The old nanny had never done anything wrong. Now she was caught red-handed and panicked. “I didn’t eavesdrop, I just wanted to ask the second madam if she had any news about my eldest girl, and I happened to pass by and saw you.”

Mrs. Tan’s senior maid has been with her for many years and learned from her madam. She shouted: “You old woman are full of nonsense. Who in the whole house does not know that Master has repeatedly ordered that no one is allowed to ask questions and discuss the eldest girl? Who are you fooling? You were eavesdropping under the window. I could see clearly. How dare you do such a nasty thing and come to our madam’s courtyard?”

An Ruoxi looked at the panic-stricken old nanny and was ready to say: “Mother, last time I saw Nanny Song sneaking around outside your courtyard. I didn’t think much of it, but now it seemed she should have eavesdropped more than once. She must have overheard the things we discussed and known about those plans. She will tell Eldest Sister. You can’t use these excuses anymore. If I go and tell my sister, she won’t believe me. Father and Master Qian do not need to pretend to discuss marriage. Otherwise, it will make both sides look bad and offend Master Qian. So, let’s think of a new way.”

Mrs. Tan stared at the old nanny, her daughter’s words made her angrier as she listened. How dare this old slave! How dare An Ruochen disgrace the An family outside and arrange for an inside informan in the house! That’s great! If she doesn’t teach her a lesson, that bitch will think that the An family is easy to bully!

    “Someone!” Mrs. Tan shouted angrily, pointing at the old nanny and cursing, “Take this bitch slave to the woodshed and beat her with twenty strokes. Anyone who dares to eavesdrop, talk nonsense, or conspire with outsiders to harm the Master’s family in the future, that’s what will happen to them!”

Two servants rushed forward and pinned the old nanny to the ground. She struggled and cursed, “You are the bitch. I am not a slave of your filthy An House. I only recognize my Miss and the eldest girl as my Master. The An family does not have my deed of sale. I can’t even stand here in your place without feeling dirty ……”

“Slap her mouth!” Mrs. Tan shouted angrily.

The servant pulled the old nanny up, raised his hand, and slapped the old nanny several times. The old nanny’s face immediately became red and swollen, the corners of her mouth bled, and her eyes scraped with blood. The servant’s hand was so heavy that the old nanny felt her cheeks hurt, and her head was buzzing. She wanted to curse again, but another slap came when she opened her mouth.

“Drag her down and hit her.” Mrs. Tan was furious.

An Ruoxi stared at the scene in front of her and turned pale with fear. She had seen many acts of scolding subordinates. She also slapped her maid. But, she only thought about how to dispose of her marriage with Qian Pei, not to be entangled with her eldest sister. She did not expect to make the old nanny suffer this kind of beating. An Ruoxi’s first reaction was: it was terrible. If the news reached An Ruochen’s ears, and if she thought An Ruoxi had done it and thus came at her, wouldn’t she end up in trouble again?

An Ruoxi froze. She watched the old nanny get dragged by the servants. Angry curses and painful screams came from far away, weakening An Ruoxi’s heart. She said to Mrs. Tan: “Mother, don’t beat Nanny Song too badly. Just teach her a lesson. She is too old and may not be able to bear it. How can I talk to my sister if something happens to her?”

Mrs. Tan angrily said. “If you don’t clean her up, some rumors will get to An Ruochen’s ears and make her defensive, and then I’m afraid you won’t even have the chance to talk to her.” 

She instructed the senior maid: “Go, keep an eye on the matter. Escort her to the woodshed. No one is allowed to come and talk to her without my permission. After beating her, gag her. Whoever dares to say a word more, if I find out, they will all end up the same her.”

The senior maid got the order and hurried off. Mrs. Tan told An Ruoxi to return to her room and think about how to talk to An Ruochen. She had to go to An Zhifu and report the matter so that An Zhifu could decide on the punishment.

An Ruoxi did not dare to say more and returned to her room, distracted. The more she thought, the more scared she was. In the past, she underestimated her eldest sister and did not expect her to have such tactics. 

Everyone believed that a daughter who wanted to climb up in status could only rely on her beauty to be a wife and concubine and please others. But her eldest sister saw through all this and took a different path. 

Now she is strutting around and hitting their face hard. She is so powerful. She would hit again when she knew they beat her nanny like this. While she was the one to be abused by her elder sister, and reprimanded by her father and mother for not doing her job well, only to be sent to Qian Pei.

    The more An Ruoxi thought about it, the colder her heart got. No, she can not do this. She is not willing. Among the daughters of the An family, she is the most powerful and favored one. She is the most beautiful and others can not compare to her. They envy her, flatter her, and try to please her. But why should she suffered the most in the end? 

She could not accept such an arrangement.

An Zhifu had the houses come together in the hall for dinner. The atmosphere was terrible. After eating, the servants cleared up the table and An Zhifu gave a lecture. He said that each house must control the servants and their mouths. The rules were not just for fun. Today a servant has commited an offence, and he had punished her. He would penalize the entire house if their servants broke the rules.

Mrs. Tan waited for An Zhifu to finish and echoed the words like a mother of the house. Mrs. Xue said what the second sister said was right. Her courtyard servants were all disciplined, but she would be more strict and never make mistakes. On the contrary, the first house didn’t have a master, and the second sister had to worry more.

Mrs. Tan was irritated but could not get angry. Did she imply that the entire second house should be punished together with that bitchy slave today? 

However, she had previously put up a mother’s position, and the first house did not have a master. If she did not take the blame, she would become a joke.

Mrs. Tan clenched her fist and secretly swallowed her anger. She said to An Zhifu: “Master, the third sister has a point. It’s bad to have no one in charge of the first house, so why not leave it to me in the future?” 

She emphasized the word ‘future,’ purposely taking out the mistakes made by the old nanny and herself before.

An Zhifu could not understand these women’s hidden words. His stomach was still full of fire, and he consented to whatever Mrs. Tan said.

Mrs. Xue said the second sister had worked hard and that she was pleased with her. The first house was the most unpleasant one in the An House. It was the place of the main family. How can a concubine take charge of it? If you oversee it, others will talk about you. If you didn’t care much, Master would be unhappy.

In the past, everything wrong was An Ruochen’s fault. Now An Ruochen had left, and the house was even more awkward. Master never intended to raise one of the concubines to become the main wife nor marry another wife. Fan Xinxian, the wife, was very concerned about the title. As long as the Master did not say it, the concubines will not have a day to stand out.

Mrs. Tan was powerful, taking advantage of both inside and outside, often posing as a disciplinarian as if she were the legitimate wife.

 Mrs. Xue has long held a grudge over her. She threw this hot potato into Mrs. Tan’s hands today. If Mrs. Tan takes care of the first house, An Ruochen will hold a grudge. Who knows what will happen in the future? She can’t take down  Mrs. Tan’s house now, so she can only help her make enemies.