After Madam Jiang left, she went straight to the courtyard of the old lady. Since the old lady had recently been extremely annoyed with Madam Jiang, she had directly waived Madam Jiang's daily routine of paying respects. She even specifically told the maids and women - servants in the courtyard not to let Madam Jiang enter or leave the courtyard casually.
Therefore, when Nanny Zhang saw Madam Jiang, she immediately blocked her at the door and said with a smile,
"Madam Jiang, you've come at a bad time. Our old lady just fell asleep after drinking the calming tea. Why don't you come later?"
Nanny Zhang forced a smile. Her intention to send Madam Jiang away was very obvious.
When Nanny Qian was around, Madam Jiang had been bribing Nanny Qian, the most trusted servant of the old lady, and had never paid any attention to Nanny Zhang. Her attitudes towards the two nannies were poles apart, which had always made Nanny Zhang feel very resentful.
Now that Nanny Zhang had gained power, she naturally wouldn't show any kindness to Madam Jiang.
Madam Jiang looked up at the sun in the sky and gritted her teeth in hatred.
Although she was being harassed by a servant she had once looked down upon, she couldn't really offend Nanny Zhang on the surface. So she said in a gentle voice,
"Nanny Zhang, I have something important to report to the old lady. Could you please help me to inform her? Thank you."
Saying this, Madam Jiang took off a jade bracelet of pure green color from her wrist and was about to give it to Nanny Zhang. But Nanny Zhang pretended to be flustered and refused,
"Madam Jiang, this is not appropriate!"
After a few back - and - forths, the jade bracelet was knocked to the ground and broke into two pieces with a crack.
"Oh! This old servant has already said not to take it. Why did Madam Jiang drop the jade bracelet? It's such a pity."
Nanny Zhang squatted down to pick it up, but was grabbed by Madam Jiang. Madam Jiang forced a smile.
"I was just careless. Nanny Zhang, don't mind."
The moment she lowered her head, Madam Jiang clenched her fists tightly, with a ferocious expression on her face. Now that she had fallen from power and was being bullied by a servant, as long as she could turn things around, she would surely deal with this old servant first!
Thinking of Nanny Zhang's obstinacy, a sly look flashed across Madam Jiang's eyes.
While she was bending down, she glanced at the direction of the courtyard gate. Suddenly, she pushed Nanny Zhang aside and ran into the courtyard at full speed, shouting as she ran,
"Old lady! Your daughter - in - law has something important to report. Please open the door and see me!"
The old lady was originally drinking tea in the room. When she heard Madam Jiang's voice, she frowned immediately.
"Isn't Nanny Zhang outside? How could she let her in?"
The two maids beside her looked at each other, but none of them dared to answer.
The next moment, Madam Jiang rushed in and knelt in front of the old lady. Nanny Zhang also stumbled in, out of breath and clearly annoyed.
"Old lady, this old servant has already told her that you were resting, but Madam Jiang just wouldn't listen. After failing to bribe me, she pushed me to the ground and rushed in by herself!"
Hearing Nanny Zhang's words, the old lady looked even more disgusted.
Thinking that Madam Jiang still refused to change her ways and wanted to bribe the servants around her, the old lady immediately shouted sternly,
"You all, throw her out!"
She didn't give Madam Jiang any face at all!
Seeing this, Madam Jiang quickly broke free from Nanny Zhang's hand, crawled in front of the old lady, and tightly hugged the old lady's leg with both hands.
"Old lady, what your daughter - in - law wants to say concerns the lives of everyone in the Prime Minister's Mansion! You must listen!"
After the incident of Nanny Qian, the old lady had only felt disgust towards Madam Jiang. Occasionally, she even felt a little afraid of Madam Jiang's vicious heart, worried that Madam Jiang might harm her, so she had always been on guard against her.
However, seeing the tears in Madam Jiang's eyes and hearing her words, the old lady couldn't help but hesitate.
Madam Jiang noticed the old lady's wavering and quickly took advantage of the situation,
"Even if you dislike your daughter - in - law, please listen to me for the sake of Yun Qi and Yun Ni. I'm a mother after all. Although I've done a lot of wrong things before, everything was for my children. Please believe your daughter - in - law. I won't joke about my children's lives!"
The old lady, who originally thought Madam Jiang was just exaggerating, finally decided to temporarily put down her guard after hearing these words.
She kicked the leg that was being hugged by Madam Jiang and said impatiently,
"Just speak if you have something to say. Don't cling to me."
Madam Jiang wiped away her tears, obediently let go of the old lady's leg, and continued to kneel aside,
"Previously, your daughter - in - law heard that the King of Xian sent people to the Prime Minister's Mansion with betrothal gifts to propose marriage to Yun Xi. So I went there to find out. But I heard the master arguing with the King of Xian in the courtyard. It seemed that the master firmly disagreed with this marriage!"
"However, at the palace banquet last time, your daughter - in - law heard Yun Ni come back and say that the King of Xian actually announced in public that he and Yun Xi had been engaged a long time ago, and that it was bestowed by the late emperor!"
"What? There's such a thing?!"
Hearing this, the old lady's face changed instantly. She immediately sat up straight, completely losing her previous calmness.
The engagement between the King of Xian, Qi Rong, and Yun Xi was indeed the intention of the late emperor. In fact, they had known about it for a long time, but because the two were young at that time, they hadn't chosen to make it public.
However, after the late emperor passed away and the King of Xian was convicted of colluding with the enemy, the Prime Minister's Mansion had stopped acknowledging this marriage in order to protect themselves. Who would have thought that the King of Xian still held a grudge and even came to the mansion in person to propose marriage?!
But after carefully considering Madam Jiang's words, the old lady felt that something was wrong.
Although she had heard some rumors about the King of Xian and Yun Xi before, the King of Xian had never mentioned their engagement. Why did he choose this moment to announce it in public in the palace?
Associating with Madam Jiang's words about it concerning the lives of everyone in the Prime Minister's Mansion, the old lady's eyes sharpened and she stared at Madam Jiang.
"The King of Xian first announced the engagement in public and then came to the Prime Minister's Mansion to propose marriage. What on earth is his intention?"
Could it be that he wanted to take revenge for the Prime Minister's Mansion's failure to come to the rescue during the palace coup?
The old lady's face darkened and brightened alternately. Madam Jiang knew what the old lady was thinking but didn't explain. Instead, she said with a panicked expression,
"According to Yun Ni, at the palace banquet last time, the emperor seemed to have taken a fancy to Yun Xi. But the crown prince and the King of Xian stopped him at the same time, almost angering the emperor!"
The old lady was a bit confused by Madam Jiang's words,
"What do you mean by the emperor taking a fancy to Yun Xi?"
Wasn't the queen always intending to choose Yun Xi as the crown princess? And what did the crown prince stop?
Madam Jiang pretended to be in a dilemma and hesitated,
"When a man takes a fancy to a woman, it's always the same. The current emperor is only in his forties, in the prime of his life. It's understandable that he wants to enrich his harem."
Madam Jiang made her meaning very clear. The old lady could hardly sit still!
"This, how could this be?"
Even though the emperor was in his prime, Yun Xi was only fifteen years old, several years younger than the crown prince!
Madam Jiang looked scared and continued,
"The King of Xian announced his engagement with Yun Xi in front of the emperor. Now the master firmly disagrees. If the emperor insists on investigating, this is a serious crime of deceiving the emperor that could cost us our heads!"
"Just now, your daughter - in - law saw Yun Xi and the King of Xian hugging and even kissing each other in the courtyard when no one was around!"