The old lady said, "But..."
Gu Liyue looked at her sincerely. "Grandmother, if those things hadn't happened, you wouldn't have known about me, and I wouldn't have been able to return to your side, right?"
The old lady nodded and stroked Gu Liyue's cheek. She had heard from Chengzhi how emaciated Liyue was when they first met, and how she treasured even a coarse rice bun. Now that Liyue had grown into such a graceful young lady, it seemed that Lady Jiang had really put in a lot of effort.
She sighed, waved her hand, and said, "Well, let it be then."
Jiang felt slightly relieved. After all, Lady Jiang was her older sister-in-law. Since her older brother had done such excessive things, she didn't want her sister-in-law to suffer again because of Jiang Yingyue. This made her feel even more guilty towards Gu Liyue. She wished she could give all the good things to Liyue to make up for it.
As they were chatting idly, a servant woman came forward to report that Nanny Zhao, Lady Jiang's personal maid, had come.
Jiang was surprised. With such a big incident happening in the Jiang family, her sister-in-law should be very busy. Why did Nanny Zhao come here?
The servant woman added, "Madam, Nanny Zhao said that Lady Jiang has a message and wants to talk to the young lady in person."
Gu Liyue was taken aback. What could Lady Jiang want to say to her? The words Lady Jiang had said yesterday had exhausted the last bit of their friendship. She had only asked the Jiang family not to smear her reputation anymore, considering it as repaying Lady Jiang's kindness. She had planned to have no more ties with the Jiang family.
Jiang stood up, informed the old lady, and then took Gu Liyue to the front hall.
Nanny Zhao bowed respectfully and said in a low voice, "The lady knows that no matter what, she owes the young lady. Now that the young lady has returned to her ancestral family, the lady has nothing to congratulate with. She remembers that Tangyuan used to serve the young lady and they got along well. She wonders if the young lady still wants Tangyuan to serve her. If the young lady needs her, this servant has brought Tangyuan and her family's indenture deeds. Consider it as the lady's congratulatory gift."
When Gu Liyue was in the Jiang family, Tangyuan was the only maid who served her. There was also Yuanxiao for a short period, but she didn't serve for long. Now that she was in the Gu family, although there were many servants around, because of what happened with Yuanxiao, she was really afraid and didn't even want anyone to serve her closely. All her personal belongings were still taken care of by Yunniang.
Was Lady Jiang really going to give Tangyuan to her?
However, if Tangyuan could accompany her, she would of course be happy. After all, they had been together for half a year, and Tangyuan was like family. She was new to the Gu family and didn't know anything. It would be more reassuring to have Tangyuan with her.
Gu Liyue didn't dare to accept immediately. She just looked up at Jiang. When she saw Jiang nodding, she then said, "Thank you, Nanny. Please convey my thanks to the lady... And by the way, please apologize to the lady for me."
Nanny Zhao shook her head repeatedly. "Young lady, don't say that. The lady knows that in this life, the person she owes the most is you."
Gu Liyue originally wanted to ask Nanny Zhao more questions, but Nanny Zhao didn't say much. She bowed and then left.
In the afternoon, Tangyuan's family arrived at the Gu family. Her parents stayed in the servants' quarters at the back gate to work, while her elder brother and sister-in-law worked in the stable, specifically taking care of Gu Liyue's carriages and horses.
Jiang didn't keep their indenture deeds but gave them all to Gu Liyue. She also said carefully, "These are all your people. You can take them with you wherever you go in the future. But one thing, if you're not sure about something, you have to tell me. You can't let them get too assertive and have the servants override the master. Do you understand?"
Gu Liyue was touched. She knew that her aunt was always thinking about her. Giving her the indenture deeds of these servants and also being afraid that she would be deceived by others, hence this advice.
When Tangyuan finished tidying up and entered the inner courtyard, Gu Liyue held Tangyuan's hand. Seeing that the swelling on her cheeks hadn't completely subsided, she felt guilty. "It's my fault. I made you suffer."
Tangyuan shook her head desperately. "Young lady, please don't say that. It's my honor to be able to serve you again."
Gu Liyue personally applied medicine to Tangyuan's face and asked, "Did the lady beat you because I escaped?"
Tangyuan smiled. "It wasn't the lady. The lady doesn't like to beat people. If she doesn't like someone, she'll just send them to the manor. It's just that before, we didn't know that you were the young lady of the Gu family. Nanny Zhao was afraid that the lady would be angry and drive me away, so she hit me harder to make the lady feel sorry for me and not drive me away."
Gu Liyue sighed. "Actually, you didn't have to do so much for me."
Tangyuan said, "From now on, this servant will always think about you."
Gu Liyue felt a bit embarrassed. "Originally, your parents, elder brother, and sister-in-law had good positions in the Jiang family. Following me to the Gu family, I'm afraid it won't be even half as good as before."
Servants also had different ranks. The monthly stipend was secondary, and power was the most important. Tangyuan's parents had much better jobs in the Jiang family than now.
Tangyuan obediently let Gu Liyue apply the medicine to her face and then said, "The lady has sent away most of her personal maids and servants. If you didn't want me and my family, we would have been sent to the manor to work."
Gu Liyue was puzzled. "Why?"
Tangyuan replied, "I heard that after the lady finishes dealing with the current matters, she will pretend to be ill and go to the second young master's place after the New Year."
Duke Jiang had three legitimate sons. The eldest was the heir apparent and served in the Ministry of Revenue. The third was Jiang Che, who was idle and had nothing to do. There was also a second son who had volunteered to train outside for many years. Gu Liyue couldn't even remember where he was specifically.
"But the eldest son is still here. Why does the lady want to rely on the second son?"
Tangyuan nodded. "Yes. It's said publicly that she's going to recuperate due to illness... Anyway, the heir apparent's wife will take care of the family, so the lady doesn't have to worry."
Gu Liyue didn't say anything more. Lady Jiang must have been completely disappointed in Duke Jiang. Whether it was the former Jiang Yue or the current Jiang Yingyue, although Duke Jiang had loved them, more importantly, he had only cared about his family's reputation and power.
Tangyuan saw a little red figure running around in the room. Her playful nature was aroused. After teasing it for a while, she hesitated and said in a low voice, "By the way, young lady, Xiuqiu... is gone."
Xiuqiu was gone? A few days ago when Gu Liyue went to accompany Xiuqiu, it was still very lively. Why was it so sudden?
"The lady said that Xiuqiu should have left long ago. Now she has nothing to miss."
Tangyuan sighed and added, "The lady also released Sister Yuan'er. Sister Yuan'er wasn't born into the servant family. She was picked up from outside by Miss Jiang Yue when she was young. Her name was given by Miss Jiang Yue, and her indenture deed was also handled by the lady. Now that Xiuqiu is gone and Sister Yuan'er has nowhere to go, the lady simply released her indenture deed and arranged a place for her. From now on, she can do whatever she wants."
Gu Liyue thought of Yuan'er's cheerful and fearless personality and felt relieved. She had always wondered how Yuan'er with such a personality could survive in the inner courtyard. It seemed that Lady Jiang had protected her a lot.
"Lady Jiang is actually a very nice person."
Tangyuan nodded. "Of course she is. For so many years, I've never heard that she severely punished any servant. Usually, when we maids were reckless and made some small mistakes, the lady didn't blame us."
Gu Liyue didn't say anything more. The Jiang family had nothing to do with her anymore.