The newly appointed external affairs stewards, Nanny Liu and Wife Niu, were eager to make their mark and naturally kept themselves busy.
On the day the new potted plants were brought in, Third Master Ren Shimin was very pleased and even praised Nanny Liu a few times.
But by the next day, overnight, more than a dozen pots of kaffir lilies were discovered to have rotted from the roots.
"Nanny Liu, what is the meaning of this?" Nanny Zhou pointed at the cluster of kaffir lilies brought in by the maidservants, her face stern.
Nanny Liu broke into a cold sweat in the middle of winter. Seeing that she was the only one summoned, she forced a smile and said, "Nanny Zhou, this matter... I am not entirely clear about it. But, shouldn't you also call in Wife Niu and the others?"
Nanny Zhou’s expression darkened. "Why call others? Wife Niu said she was only responsible for the narcissus, and you were in charge of the kaffir lilies."
Nanny Liu had only felt nervous being singled out for blame and instinctively wanted to share the responsibility by involving others. Hearing Nanny Zhou’s words, however, she felt a pang of discomfort and couldn’t help but raise her head to defend herself. "Nanny Zhou, it’s true that I selected these kaffir lilies, but when I picked them out, I went with Wife Niu. Moreover, the flower farmer we bought them from was introduced by Wife Niu’s husband."
Nanny Zhou was displeased. "Then why did Wife Niu say that the kaffir lilies were carefully chosen by you and your youngest son?"
Nanny Liu was stunned for a moment, then sneered angrily. "Don’t listen to her nonsense! I was wondering why, out of all the flower farmers outside the town, they specifically chose one in such a remote location! Later, I overheard the neighboring flower farmers gossiping and found out that the couple had taken five taels of silver from that farmer. Now that I think about it, those flowers must have been problematic from the start—they were setting me up!"
Wife Niu was on very good terms with the original candidate for the external affairs steward, Nanny Wei, and it was said that the two families even intended to form a marriage alliance.
Unexpectedly, Nanny Liu emerged as a dark horse, which caused Nanny Wei to hold a considerable grudge against her. As a result, Wife Niu also treated Nanny Liu with some disdain. Coupled with the competitive relationship between the two external affairs stewards, their rapport was far from good.
In truth, it was quite common for procurement stewards to take kickbacks. Even Nanny Liu herself had skimmed a little profit from each pot of flowers. After she learned about the five taels of silver, Wife Niu even gave her two taels. Although she was unhappy that Wife Niu had taken more than her, she thought there would be plenty of opportunities in the future and said nothing.
Now, however, she felt she had fallen into a trap—perhaps Wife Niu had set her up to get back at her on Nanny Wei’s behalf. Although she hadn’t been in Purple Magnolia Courtyard for long, she was well aware of Third Master Ren’s temper. If something he didn’t care about went wrong, he wouldn’t bother with it at all. But if something he valued went awry, the person responsible would face severe consequences.
So, she couldn’t afford to shoulder this blame.
Nanny Zhou looked astonished upon hearing this. "How could such a thing happen!" she exclaimed angrily, then pointed at Xier beside her and ordered, "Go and summon Wife Niu at once!"Nanny Liu, seeing Nanny Zhou's expression, suddenly regretted having brought this matter to light. Although it was common for steward nannies to accept kickbacks from merchants, such things could never be openly acknowledged. She opened her mouth to say something, but Xier had already taken her orders and left.
Before long, Wife Niu was called in.
Nanny Zhou immediately launched into a tirade: "I had thought you were only responsible for the narcissus flowers, while the kaffir lilies were Nanny Liu's responsibility, so I only called her over for questioning. Little did I know that it was you who found the florist? And you accepted five taels of silver as a 'gift'? Wife Niu, what do you have to say for yourself!"
Upon hearing this, Wife Niu glared furiously at Nanny Liu. Seeing her evasive eyes and unwillingness to meet her gaze, she immediately understood that Nanny Liu had betrayed her.
She spat in Nanny Liu's direction and turned to Nanny Zhou: "Don't believe that two-faced old hag! Today I finally understand what it means to 'eat the meat from the bowl, then curse the mother who gave it'! When taking the silver, why didn't she find it too hot to handle? Now that there's a problem, she's in a hurry to wash her hands clean, as if her own hands were spotless! She doesn't have to sell herself in a brothel, so why pretend to be some innocent maiden!"
In her youth, Wife Niu was famously sharp-tongued and even had the nickname 'Spicy Pepper'. Now that her children were grown, her temper had mellowed somewhat, but she was still someone who refused to be taken advantage of—quick to ignite and capable of saying anything once her temper flared.
Nanny Liu was also infuriated by these words and retorted immediately: "I did take silver, but wasn't it the hush money you gave me? The florist was contacted by you and your husband! Now that there's trouble, of course we should seek answers from you two!"
Wife Niu had originally received five taels of silver, but Nanny Liu had insisted on taking two taels from her, even demanding that she get the larger share next time. Having meat snatched from her mouth left her resentful. She hadn't expected Nanny Liu to be the kind of shameless person who took the benefits but let others take the blame when trouble arose. She was instantly enraged.
"You shameless wretch! If you have the guts, spit out that silver! All you know is how to scheme behind people's backs! Who doesn't know how you got your steward position? Wasn't it by giving Nanny Zhu twenty taels of silver!" Wife Niu pointed at Nanny Liu's nose and cursed.
Nanny Liu, flushed with anger and shame, snapped back: "Hah, and your stewardship is so clean? Didn't your sister-in-law beg Granny Gui from Old Madam Ren's quarters back then? How much silver did you stuff into the hands of Concubine Fang's people, thinking others were blind?"
Nanny Zhou, who had been sitting idly by, glanced out the window. Wife Niu's loud voice had already attracted many people peeking in from outside.
Seeing the timing was about right, Nanny Zhou slapped the table and stood up: "How dare you! You even drag Old Madam Ren into this! And what was that about Nanny Zhu taking twenty taels of silver just now!"
Nanny Liu's face darkened. Wife Niu's matter involved people from Old Madam Ren's quarters, so naturally no one dared say much, but her own twenty-tael bribe was not so easily explained.Wife Niu sneered, "Everyone in the courtyard knows that the night before you announced the selection for the external affairs nanny, Nanny Liu gave Nanny Zhu twenty taels of silver to have Fifth Young Lady pull strings and secure her the position of external affairs nanny."
Nanny Zhou's expression changed sharply. "How dare you! How dare you drag Fifth Young Lady into this! The selection for the external affairs steward was decided by the master and madam the afternoon before that day. What does it have to do with Fifth Young Lady?"
Upon hearing this, Nanny Liu was stunned and exclaimed in shock, "It was decided in the afternoon?"
Seeing Nanny Liu's expression, Wife Niu's eyes darted as she understood something, and she couldn't help but cover her mouth with a gloating laugh. "Now I understand what it means for like to attract like!"
Nanny Liu's face turned ashen.
Nanny Zhou was also furious. She instructed a maid to summon Nanny Zhu while lifting the curtain and stepping out of the side room to report the day's events to Madam Li in the main chamber.
By the time Nanny Zhou returned from Madam Li's main chamber, Nanny Zhu had already arrived. After a confrontation, it was completely exposed that Nanny Zhu had deliberately deceived Nanny Liu out of twenty taels of silver using information she had overheard from Fifth Young Lady.
However, Wife Niu and Nanny Liu did not fare well either due to their involvement in bribery.
Before the specific punishments for these three could be finalized, Third Master Ren Shimin flew into a rage. The reason was that he discovered the dozen or so dying kaffir lilies had not died from disease but had been scalded to death by someone pouring hot water over their roots.
Third Master was a man of refined tastes, and such an act of "flower murder" was utterly intolerable in his eyes. He immediately ordered Madam Li to investigate thoroughly.
This investigation led straight to Nanny Wei.
It turned out that Nanny Wei had been deeply resentful of Nanny Liu replacing her as the external affairs nanny. After learning from Wife Niu that Nanny Liu had already profited several taels of silver from this assignment, she became furious. Taking advantage of the night, she poured boiling water over each of the kaffir lilies Nanny Liu had purchased, killing them one by one.
Upon learning this, Third Master immediately ordered Nanny Wei to be given fifty strokes with the rod and expelled from the Ren Family. When Fifth Young Lady found out, she hurried over to plead with Third Master on Nanny Wei's behalf and finally managed to spare her life.
However, with the incidents involving the other nannies occurring simultaneously, Third Master grew impatient. He instructed Madam Li to clean up the courtyard, expelling all those unfit to be seen and not to let them remain an eyesore before him.
Although Madam Li also received a few reprimands, she was secretly pleased, as all these people had been brought in by Concubine Fang.
[bookid=2288861,bookname=Noble Family's Murder]
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