First Phoenix Lady - chapter 6

Chapter 6

Concubine Wen suddenly turned her head and saw the graceful Shi Anxia standing at the doorway, a playful and malicious smile on her face.

Her heart tightened. “You want to take her from me?”

Shi Anxia asked in surprise, “Aren’t you planning to sell Aunt Gui? My courtyard is short of people, so there’s no need for all that trouble. Just give me her contract, no need to sell.”

Concubine Wen slowly curled her lips into a sinister smile. “So, you finally know who calls the shots in this household!”

Shi Anxia’s smile was sincere. “It won’t be for much longer.”

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said.” Shi Anxia’s rosy lips and white teeth were like a pink plum blossom blooming amid wind and snow.

Concubine Wen started to feel uneasy.

Shi Anxia’s eyes curved with a lazy smile. “How about I trade a maid with you?”

Concubine Wen didn’t even think about it. “No trade!”

Every servant’s contract in this mansion is in her hands-why should she trade with a little brat?

Shi Anxia lowered her eyelids. “If not, then I’ll take my leave.”

With that, she turned and walked out. The maids and old women following her quickly trailed behind.

Only a somewhat unfamiliar Nanny frowned, glancing several times back at the situation in the room.

Her gaze was at times sharp, at times doubtful. Then her eyes landed on Concubine Wen, a hint of disdain appearing, before she finally shook her head and left as well.

Those looks made Concubine Wen flustered and uncertain about Shi Anxia’s intentions in coming and going so quickly. “Nanny Liu, who was that woman? And what was with her expression?”

Nanny Liu was a shrewd one and had already found out. “She’s also someone transferred here by Miss Anxia from the Duke of State Protection Mansion. People call her Nanny Tan. Now she works in Xia Shi Courtyard, serving Miss Anxia. I’ve heard she punished quite a few people as soon as she arrived.”

Concubine Wen’s face darkened. It really is easy to invite gods but hard to send them away!

Now that someone from the Duke of State Protection Mansion is living in the Marquis Mansion, how could she still manage the household as openly as before?

Nanny Liu said, “This old slave suspects Miss Anxia is planning to file a complaint with the Old Madam. For the sake of her reputation, the Old Madam will soon reclaim the Household Management Authority. So Aunt Gui can’t be sold for now. Since the young lady wants her, just let her have her.”

“Despicable!” Concubine Wen, in her anger, slapped Aunt Gui across the face. “You wretch! You must have been colluding with that brat all along! Otherwise, why would she protect you!”

Aunt Gui, bruised and battered, curled up on the floor, mumbling, “This servant did not! I have never spoken a word to Miss Anxia.”

Concubine Wen didn’t believe a word, already regarding Aunt Gui as a thorn in her side. “In a moment, you’ll go to Xia Shi Courtyard to find Shi Anxia. Tell her I’ve agreed to let you serve there.”

Aunt Gui raised her bruised eyes in astonishment.

Concubine Wen looked down at her from above. “I remember your husband is a carpenter, and there’s a job at the tailor shop on East Street. Tomorrow, have him find my brother-he’ll make the arrangements.”

Aunt Gui immediately understood. “Concubine wants this servant to go to Xia Shi Courtyard…”

Concubine Wen glanced at her with disdain. “Whatever Shi Anxia does, you must come and report immediately. If you fail, I can’t guarantee your family will stay safe and sound.”

Aunt Gui was terrified. She could ignore her husband’s fate, even her parents-in-law and sister-in-law, but she couldn’t help but care about her daughter.

A wave of desolation surged in her heart. People like them were nothing but tools in others’ hands.

Within the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Aunt Gui was sent to Xia Shi Courtyard.

Nanny Tan smiled and praised, “Miss, you truly have foresight.”

Shi Anxia lifted the tea lid, brushed away the froth, took a gentle sip, and smiled faintly. “It all depended on Nanny Tan’s timely glances.”

Nanny Tan laughed, and the maids standing to the side couldn’t help but giggle as well.

Shi Anxia pointed at the group of maids. “You lot, don’t just stand there giggling! Learn a thing or two from Nanny Tan-how to get things done without saying a word.”
The Maids responded in unison, “Yes!”

Only then did Shi Anxia take another satisfied sip of tea.

Just a concubine, after all. Her claim to Household Management Authority is neither legitimate nor proper; if word got out, it would damage the reputation of the Marquis Mansion. Shouldn’t one be careful to hold onto this immense fortune?

In the past, no one deliberately stirred up trouble. Otherwise, even if Madam Tang didn’t want the Household Management Authority, above there was the Eldest Aunt, below there were the Third Aunt and Fourth Aunt-how could a mere concubine strut around so arrogantly?

Aunt Gui, covered in wounds, was brought in. She crawled forward, her forehead pressed to the ground. “This servant greets Miss, and thanks Miss for saving my life.”

Shi Anxia said, “No need to thank me. If you must thank someone, thank yourself for your kindness in daily life. The first thing Yun Qi asked when he woke up was where Aunt Gui was, and whether you had been punished because of him.”

Aunt Gui burst into tears. “Young Master Qi is truly a wonderful person.”

For a moment, she couldn’t recall what kind acts she had done for Young Master Qi.

She had only, when he was starving, secretly given him half a cold, hard bun; when he was burning with fever and parched, quietly let him drink half a bowl of cold water… She hadn’t been able to do much else.

Shi Anxia didn’t waste words with her. “You’ll stay in Xia Shi Courtyard to recover. When you’re healed, you’ll serve Young Master Qi. Are you willing?”

Aunt Gui was thinking about how to tell Miss that she had been coerced into acting as Concubine Wen’s informant.

Shi Anxia saw Aunt Gui hesitate for a long time and understood the situation. “Don’t be afraid. Everyone standing here is someone I trust. You can speak freely.”

Only then did Aunt Gui raise her head and repeat Concubine Wen’s words. After she finished, she cried and kowtowed. “I can ignore everyone else, but my daughter is only nine years old…”

“So you mean your daughter is the only one you care about? You don’t care about anyone else’s life or death?”

Aunt Gui recalled how her parents-in-law had spoken harshly to her last night; her sister-in-law mocked her and accused her of having an affair in the Marquis Mansion; her husband beat her, calling her a hen that couldn’t lay eggs, unable to bear a son.

Her dear cousin even shamelessly fanned the flames, “From now on, the Gui family’s lineage will depend on me, isn’t that right, cousin-in-law?”

Thinking of all this, Aunt Gui looked up into Miss’s eyes and uttered a single word, “Yes.”

“Then that’s easy to handle.” Shi Anxia’s brows drew together slightly. “In a few days, go home and tell your husband that Xia Shi Courtyard needs more people, the kind who sign a selling contract-seven taels of silver per person, plus twenty copper coins a month. Let your sister-in-law come and try.”

Aunt Gui didn’t understand. “Why have this servant’s sister-in-law come?”

Nanny Tan explained from the side, “If you ask your sister-in-law to sign a selling contract, she’ll definitely quarrel with you. She’ll urge your husband to sell your daughter into our mansion. Then, with your daughter’s contract in our Miss’s hands, what will you have to worry about?”

Shi Anxia, hearing this, recalled her previous life in the palace, where several capable nannies were just as quick-witted.

She would say half a sentence, and they would immediately know the rest; with a single glance, they would understand exactly what she wanted.

In the end, without those people, she wouldn’t have lasted so long in the palace.

A faint melancholy rose in her eyes. “Nanny Tan, if only you could stay and help me for the long term.”

Nanny Tan was delighted by the praise. “Miss, what are you saying? Bei Hui, whom you’ve trained, is far more capable than this old servant.”

“Then I’ll trouble Nanny Tan to teach her more.”

“This old servant will do her utmost.”

Aunt Gui watched the harmonious relationship between master and servants in Xia Shi Courtyard, so different from the gloomy atmosphere with Concubine Wen. Thinking that her daughter might be able to stay by her side in the future, she felt inexplicably happy, as if her wounds hurt less.

But then she heard Miss say, “In a while, you’ll play the role of Concubine Wen’s informant and report to her where I’ve gone…”