But now she clearly knew that she couldn’t get angry. On no account could she get angry!

Madam wanted others to see the scene that she treated Fifth Miss well, so she couldn’t get angry.

However, even though Nanny Sheng repeatedly warned herself in her heart, she still looked bad when facing this senseless poor servant girl in front of her. The smile on her face faded away, and her face darkened. “Doesn’t Fifth Miss need to have a meal at halftime?”

Qing’er said senselessly, as if she didn’t see that Nanny Sheng’s expression had changed, “Steamed buns and clear water have been sent in. Fifth Miss said that the quiet practice should be sincere and that only steamed buns and clear water are enough to satisfy her hunger and she doesn’t need anything else!”

“Then I want to meet First Miss!” Nanny Sheng took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in her heart.

“First Miss just said that she wanted to copy the scriptures for Heir of Duke and Infanta. She is writing them wholeheartedly, so I don’t think she can be interrupted!”

Qing’er continued saying.

Shuqi, who had just heard the noise on the porch and was about to come, stopped and turned around, and then went into the room to report to Shao Yanru.

Fifth Miss was earnestly reciting and copying scriptures, and only brought clear water and steamed buns into the quiet room. Her own Miss was also copying scriptures. If she still met people from Duke Xing’s Mansion, others would think that her First Miss was not sincere. Or it could be said that she was completely going through the motions, which would not be good for First Miss’s reputation.

All the people around Shao Yanru knew that she attached great importance to her reputation. If Shao Yanru’s reputation was accidentally ruined, Shuqi could not afford to take the responsibility.

Sure enough, after Shuqi got inside and repeated what Qing’er and Nanny Sheng had said just now, Shao Yanru became a little serious and said, “Please ask Nanny Sheng to leave. It’s not appropriate for her to come in today, because Fifth Sister and I have to copy the scriptures. This kind of intention can’t be interrupted.”

“Yes, First Miss!” Shuqi obeyed and stepped out of the room, heading for the door.

Nanny Sheng had been annoyed with a poor servant girl, who couldn’t give her a clear explanation here for a long time or let her enter the courtyard, so her face didn’t look good. Now when she saw Shuqi coming from a distance, she was overjoyed, because finally there came a clever person.

“Shuqi, come here!” Nanny Sheng raised her voice.

“Nanny Sheng!” Shuqi came over, saluted to Nanny Sheng, and said with a smile.

“Ask this servant girl to get out of the way and let me in. I have brought some gifts for Fifth Miss. Now Fifth Miss is in her quiet practice, so I will deposit them to First Miss. When Fifth Miss finishes her practice, please ask First Miss to send them to Fifth Miss,” Nanny Sheng said and looked at the big broom lying horizontally in disgust. She was really a rough servant girl who knew nothing and very vulgar, which made people angry.

Had she not been working for Fifth Miss, Nanny Sheng would have forcefully pulled her away early without politeness.

Shuqi sighed in her heart. She felt that Nanny Sheng was the smartest in the past. Why was she not smart now? How could she say that Fifth Miss was in practice so First Miss could take these things? It sounded as if First Miss was idle and had no filial piety. This was not good for First Miss’ reputation.

“Nanny Sheng, you can’t do this. First Miss is also in quiet practice. She is copying scriptures for Heir of Duke and Infanta. I’m afraid that she can’t see you either. Like Fifth Miss, First Miss also has brought steamed buns and clean water in. If Nanny Sheng comes early, First Miss is still outside, but you can’t meet her now!”

Shuqi said with a guilty face.

“You, you…” Nanny Sheng was so angry that she wanted to spit blood. Her Madam was anxious at the foot of the mountain, but everyone on the mountain was still calm. At this time, even First Miss did not help Madam and acted like she would advance and retreat together with Fifth Miss, which made Nanny Sheng so angry that she could not say anything.

Stamping her feet hard, Nanny Sheng said angrily, “Well, well, well. I will come again next time.”

After saying that, she did not say anything more to Shuqi, and turned around to leave angrily in a hurry.

The servant girls followed her closely, with the gift boxes still in their hands.

Shuqi uneasily looked at Nanny Sheng’s angry look, and she knew that she had offended Nanny Sheng this time. But for the sake of First Miss’ good reputation, it was not convenient for Nanny Sheng to come in at this time. It might not be a big deal. She just came to give some gifts, so it was not worth it.

After thinking for a while, she ignored Qing’er and turned back to report to Shao Yanru in the main room.

“Why does Mother send Nanny Sheng here in such a hurry? Maybe something has happened?” Shao Yanru did not know that the matter of Baiyun Taoist Temple had been exposed and that it was not good for the reputation of Duke Xing’s Mansion. After frowning, she did not take it seriously and just muttered to herself.

She had some dissatisfaction with her mother in her heart, because her reputation could not be destroyed, even by her mother.

She had asked her mother to keep silent for a while for the time being, but why did she keep doing something only after such a short time? She had already got the ointment and was waiting for Shao Wanru to use it.

She had two same bottles of ointment. One bottle was for herself, and the one she used was no problem with the quality, while the other one given to Shao Wanru was added with something.

These were royal rewards from the imperial palace, but had been taken from Prince Yue and Prince Zhou, instead of directly from the imperial palace. One of the bottles was added something special by Shao Yanru and Madam of Duke Xing.

She had just gotten the ointment, so now she should avoid arousing suspicion. What did her mother want to do?

Failing to figure it out, Shao Yanru felt it strange, but only a little strange for a moment and then she did not pay too much attention to it. Since she had said that she would read and copy scriptures with Shao Wanru today, she naturally had to obey it.

Although the nuns in the Yuhui Nunnery might not gossip a lot, the people of the Ministry of Justice were still here, who would not care much about the rule here. Nanny Sheng came here in such an obvious way just now, which must have alarmed the people of the Ministry of Justice. It was a good opportunity to make a name for Shao Yanru.

Thinking of this, she sent Shuqi to ask for a few more scriptures from the nuns in the Yuhui Nunnery. She seemed to copy the scriptures wholeheartedly.

Her seemingly sincere behavior also made people who knew this matter praise her very much. They increasingly thought that this First Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion was really endowed with both beauty and talent. Besides, she conducted herself honorably with a genial character. Even her Eldest uncle and aunt were in a different branch, she also showed her filial piety to them, as devoted as their own daughter.

She had a good reputation here, but Nanny Sheng had brought the message that would annoy Madam of Duke Xing. Seeing the gift boxes brought down the mountain by several servant girls, Madam of Duke Xing was so angry that she picked up the teacup beside her and shouted angrily, “Get out, get out, all of you! What a good-for-nothing you are!”

Her words in an extremely loud voice swept away her elegant temperament in the past, which scared the servant girls who were responsible for sending gifts to retreat one by one.

They saw the Duke striding in from the courtyard, who used to wear a smiling face, but his expression was completely different from before. They dared not to look at his angry face and all retreated to the courtyard after saluted him hurriedly. They were far away from the main room but dared not to leave, because they were afraid that the Madam would look for them again later.

“Madam, don’t worry. When we went up to the mountain, we could have put the gifts down, but First Miss was unwilling to accept them. I’m afraid she has not known what happened at the foot of the mountain. If First Miss knows about it, she will definitely accept the gift boxes next time. Then, it will be much more convenient for First Miss to send them to Fifth Miss!”

Nanny Sheng was left in the room. Seeing that Madam of Duke Xing was so angry that her face turned down, she knew that the Madam was furious, so Nanny Sheng hurriedly persuaded her.

If Fifth Miss had accepted the gift from her Madam happily, it could express how harmonious the relationship between the Madam and Fifth Miss was. However, the gift boxes sent to the mountain had been refused with unopened form, which was just like slapping her Madam in the face.

Nanny Sheng was also angry that First Miss did not help Madam but seemed to be on the same path as Fifth Miss. However, thinking about it, it might be because First Miss had not known about the matter of Baiyun Taoist Temple. If she had knew, she would definitely help Madam.

“How dare you! You want to talk to Ru’er about this matter again. Look at yourself, how do you behave as a mother? You can’t do such a little thing well, and you even want to get Ru’er into trouble.” The door was kicked heavily. The half-closed door was suddenly kicked open, and Duke Xing came in with anger.

In the past, no matter how angry he had been, Duke Xing had always shown a smiling round face and seemed very easy-going. It was rare to see his face distorted by anger.

Nanny Sheng was the wet nurse of Duke Xing. At the sight of Duke Xing, she knew that something bad would happen. She shrank her head and dared not to say anything. She stood behind Madam of Duke Xing and dared not to move.

Because Duke Xing was really angry, whatever she said would be wrong. It was better for her not to say anything!

Duke Xing walked in and sat down in the middle chair. He looked at Madam of Duke Xing coldly, pounded the table hard with his hand, and said sternly, “You must solve all these annoying things you have done. You can’t get involved in Ru’er’s affairs. She will do as she should. She originally needs to do quiet practice with Fifth Miss, but you always get her into trouble. If you ruin her reputation, can you afford to pay for it?”

His words were extremely blunt. Madam of Duke Xing had already been in a bad mood, and now she was rebuked to her face, so she immediately blushed with anger. She glared at Duke Xing, unwilling to show weakness, “This kind of thing? Is this my business? It’s obviously your stupid Mother who did this, and she even implicated all the women in the mansion. If you have the ability, you can let her bear this reputation so that I have no need to make up for it here!”

Others did not know, but Duke Xing and Madam of Duke Xing certainly knew that this matter was caused by Old Madam.

Duke Xing’s face darkened and he snorted. “I don’t care how you solve this, or whether you solve, but you are not allowed to disturb Ru’er. You know how important Ru’er’s reputation is, don’t you? Don’t make Ru’er criticized by others because of some unimportant things!”

“But how can I suppress this matter? Everyone in the capital city is talking about the women in our mansion. I… I…” Madam of Duke Xing was so angry that she almost burst into tears because of his indifference. She pointed outside and said loudly.

Her sharp voice made several servant girls and old maids tremble, who were waiting outside. They stood there with their heads even lower, just like quails, and pretended that they could not hear anything.

Seeing that Madam of Duke Xing was so angry, Duke Xing felt himself in the wrong, probably because this matter had been caused by her mother. His expression looked a little better but still quite cold. “If you can’t solve it, you can go to ask Mother. Pay attention not to disturb Ru’er with this kind of thing!”

After saying that, Duke Xing stood up and flicked his wide sleeves. A teacup on the table was flicked to the ground with a crisp sound of breaking. However, Duke Xing strode away without looking back.

Madam of Duke Xing reached out her hand to cover her chest. She was so angry that she couldn’t say a word and could only gasp heavily with crying eyes…