PROOFREAD BY AFREANA

Chapter 33.1

Mrs. Tan’s heart was upset. The first house was indeed a problem. She punished An Ruochen’s old nanny today, and although she sealed the news, if the old nanny did not return for a long time, those servants in the first house would suspect something. That courtyard was full of An Ruochen’s people. If she heard about it, Mrs. Tan wouldn’t know how to react.

If she couldn’t help Master Qian restrain An Ruochen and make it easier for him to act in the future, Master Qian would blame her. It will implicate her mother’s family in Fu’an County too.

An Zhifu would then be furious and scold her that she couldn’t do anything right. If the other houses picked up on it and fanned the flames in front of An Zhifu, she would be that much farther away from the position of the principal wife.

Of course, Mrs. Tan did not want any of the above to happen.

She thought about it and said to An Zhifu in front of everyone: “Master, about the first house, the eldest girl has left home and was struck out from the family registry. Her courtyard’s servants have no one to supervise and nothing to do. They have become idle eaters. I was so busy that I didn’t think about it before. Now that the third sister brought it up, why don’t you dismiss all the servants from the first house? This way, from now on, the An family will become clean and there would be no more the eldest girl’s people here. There will be no more trouble with the servants not following the rules and spying on the news, and we can avoid future troubles.”

As Mrs. Tan spoke, she winked at An Zhifu.

An Zhifu heard about the old nanny’s eavesdropping and angrily whipped her again with his own hands. He wanted to tie her to a tree in front of the main house to warn the other servants, but Mrs. Tan reminded him about An Ruochen. He restrained his anger, locked the old nanny in the woodshed, and planned to dismiss her.

After seeing Mrs. Tan’s eyes and hearing her say so, he understood and said, “That’s good. Then, do it quickly. Dismiss them all to avoid trouble.” He turned to the concubines and said, “You all have heard it. All of you go back and discipline your servants well. I’ll punish the whole house if such a thing happens again.”

Mrs. Xue and Mrs. Liao promised. Mrs. Duan only raised her eyelids and then dropped her head to continue drinking her tea, as if the things in this residence had nothing to do with her. An Zhifu looked at her face and became angry. But, Mrs. Duan lost her daughter and her traces were nowhere to be found, so as long as Mrs. Duan did not cause any trouble, An Zhifu let her have her way.

After Mrs. Tan returned to her courtyard, she summoned the housekeeper sisters. She told them to bring the servants to the first house and watch all the servants in that courtyard. No one was allowed to leave. They should pack their things and wait for their release. Then she called An Ping and the accountant to look at the deeds of the first house’s servants one by one and calculate the money. Those who have a fixed-term contract will be released with some severance pay, while those who serve under a lifetime contract will be handed over to a laborer and sold. They will drive everybody out of the residence today, and no one will be left behind.

They settled the matter fast. An Zhifu came over to ask about it, and Mrs. Tan claimed credit for the situation, saying she would take care of it. 

Once the servants get dispersed, nobody would know about the old nanny’s condition. The Master said in front of everyone that he would release all the servants of the first house. There would be chaos when the people are out, so no one should notice they sent a seriously injured old nanny away.

“She’s old and can’t take those beatings. She’s not going to make it. If we find a doctor to treat her, it will leave a scar whether she recovers or not, wasting money and causing problems. Why not throw her directly to the burial mound to save the trouble? We will say to the public that we dismissed all the servants of the first house, and the old nanny went back to the countryside.”

An Zhifu nodded, praising Mrs. Tan’s cleverness and excellent way of handling matters. Mrs. Tan felt satisfied. She embraced An Zhifu and softly said: “Master’s affairs are my affairs. If I don’t worry about it, who will?”

An Ruoxi stood outside the door with the fruit plate, listening to their conversation and biting her lip when she heard about the ending of the old nanny. She calmed down after a while and went in with the fruit plate.

Later in the evening, when An Zhifu left, An Ruoxi spoke to Mrs. Tan: “Mother, I thought of an idea. How about we find a place outside to settle the old nanny? I will find a doctor to treat her injuries and then inform my eldest sister to take her away. I can tell my eldest sister that the old nanny broke the family rules, and our Father punished her. I kindly saved her. Eldest sister will be grateful to me and treat me nicely.”

Mrs. Tan said: “This brain of yours, what do you think about all day? Your eldest sister is so poisonous. Will she be grateful to you? You are not as cunning as she is. You can’t make those things happen. The old nanny heard our conversation this time. We don’t know how many times she eavesdropped before. Maybe your eldest sister’s escape was also under her encouragement. Maybe she was the one who caused the trouble. If no one helped her, how did your eldest sister escape? I did not give a good beating to those bitchy slaves, but now there is no need. You think it’s easy to pretend to be a good person and sell a good deal. If you send that old nanny to An Ruochen, she may say something to An Ruochen and add spice to it. With this old nanny around to give some bad ideas, An Ruochen may do something unfavourable to our An family. We should not keep her. You don’t have to think about it anymore. In a couple of days, you will meet An Ruochen. Pacify her, and we’ll wait for Master Qian’s instructions later.”