Chapter 24: Pure Love World Arc 7

  "Yu Zhu, you go down first and close the door on your way out." Xu Zipei drove Yu Zhu away.

  Jade Bamboo rolled her eyes in a way that couldn't be seen and reluctantly retreated. In fact, he didn't like this wet nurse at all. Although she was kind and gentle in front of the masters, privately, she wasn't so easy to talk to when it came to these servants. If someone made a mistake or got caught by her, they'd better prepare for disaster. If they didn't offer enough silver to satisfy her, she would either have the accountant deduct several months' worth of wages or, worse, have the steward drive them out. Fortunately, now that the big madam was in charge, Wang Shi's influence couldn't reach as far, and the lives of these servants were much easier.

  The door creaked shut, and Nanny Wang immediately knelt down with a thud. Xu Zipei hadn't expected her to do this, so he was taken aback for a moment before hurrying over to help her up: "Nanny, what's wrong? Get up quickly, let's talk things through properly, if you have any grievances I'll take care of them for you."

  The wet nurse was unwilling to get up and wanted to continue kneeling. Xu Zhiping had to use force to pull her up from the ground.

  "I, an old slave, know that my days are numbered. There are some things that I must say now, or else I may not have another chance. The master, mistress, and young masters have all left, leaving only you, the second young master, behind. My heart aches at the thought of it, and even in death, I would not be at peace if anything were to happen to you. That's why, even if you don't believe me and think I'm being disloyal, I must still say these things." As she spoke, the old nurse's eyes welled up with tears, although her body was actually quite robust. However, in order to appear more frail and aged, and to make the second young master feel softer towards her, she had deliberately made her hair a bit disheveled, pulled out all the white hairs, and instead of applying rouge to her face as usual, applied some yellowish rice powder, making herself look like she had aged nearly ten years. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was on her deathbed. Xu Zipei naturally fell for it too."

  "I know you care about Zipei, so please speak up. How could I not believe you?" He said, personally helping the nanny sit down at the table and pouring her a cup of tea.

  "Old Mrs. Dai has a wolfish ambition, Second Master, don't be deceived by her appearance, or else the Xu family business will likely fall into outsiders' hands."

  Xu Zipei never thought that the wet nurse would say such a thing. In his heart, Sister Su was simply a paragon of virtue and morality, who could preside over the hall as well as manage the kitchen. Even Zhang Lan, whom he had always admired, couldn't compare to her. So it was absolutely impossible for the wet nurse to have said such a thing.

  "Nanny, I think you must have misunderstood. Although my sister-in-law has only been married to my brother for a short time, she is very capable of managing the household and is extremely loving towards me, her younger brother. She is also very kind and generous towards the servants, and would never do something like what you said."

  "Second Master, you're too kind-hearted and always look at people's good side. If I wasn't certain, I wouldn't dare to speak out of turn and tarnish the master's reputation. This Su lady isn't as virtuous as she seems on the surface; in private, she has a reputation for being overbearing, tyrannical, and fond of handsome men. Don't believe me? Send someone to investigate."

  "Wet nurse, the rumors in town are not to be believed. No matter what my sister-in-law was like in the past, at least after she married into our Xu family, she has been diligent and hardworking, without any fault. If there's anyone who owes her an apology, it's us Xu family. We can't keep pinning unfounded accusations on her. From now on, let's not mention this again. It's late, I'll have someone escort you back home."

  "Second Master, listen to me again. The death of the eldest master is related to the Su family. If you continue to be so obstinate, the eldest master will not be able to rest in peace. And the Xu family's vast property may fall into others' hands." Seeing that Xu Zishan didn't believe her provocation and wanted to drive her away, Wangshi suddenly became anxious and brought out the big move she had prepared.

  "What did you say?!" The wet nurse's words were like a thunderclap on a clear day, startling Xu Zipei into a sudden movement, as she grabbed the wet nurse's shoulders and demanded an explanation.

  "Second Master, you...you're hurting the old slave, let go first and listen to the old slave's slow words." Wang Shi was secretly delighted, indeed, family members were the reverse scales of Second Master.

  "Alright, today this matter must be clarified. What do you mean by saying that the death of the young master is related to the Su family? If you can't explain it clearly, no matter how great your contributions are to the Xu family, don't blame me..."

  "Yes, yes! Listen to me. Young Master wasn't engaged to Miss Zhang since childhood? Originally, they should have gotten married in a year or two, but coincidentally, the Su family also set their sights on Young Master and wouldn't let him go, forcing the Zhang family to break off the engagement. Then, they forced Young Master to marry her, but Young Master's heart still longed for Miss Zhang. After marriage, he was always melancholy. The Su woman didn't realize her own mistakes, nor did she know how to be considerate of others... Young Master's heart was too sorrowful, that's why he would drink alone by the river at night, that's why... Waaah~~ my Young Master ah~~" As she spoke, Wet Nurse Wang began crying again. The story above is half true and half false, with a large part made up by herself, but it didn't stop her from hating Su Luo Luo and grieving for Xu Zi Lin's early passing.

  In the original story, she was a dirty and unclean person who offended the original host, Xu's brothers died one after another, and no one protected her, so she was beaten and kicked out by the original host. She ended up begging for a living and was seen by Xu Zipei, which led to the exposure of the original host's true face and sparked Xu Zipei's inner hatred. However, in this world, Su Luo managed the household strictly, and she didn't have the opportunity to do anything wrong, let alone get her legs broken. Yet, she still couldn't get along with this big madam, mainly for several reasons:

  One is that she really loves the Xu brothers, and is also loyal to the Xu family, hoping that hatred can shift Xu Zipei's grief of losing his parents, letting him quickly regain his composure and rebuild the Xu family business. As for what Su Luo did for Xu Zipei, it's not worth mentioning, she didn't see it, even if she saw it, she would think that they had ulterior motives.

  Another, and the main reason is that since Mrs. Xu's death, the Xu family has not had a female owner, and the management of the back house and the middle courtyard are all in her hands, let alone the oil and water. However, after Su Luo married into the family, Xu Zilin handed over the power to manage the household to her, and his own rights and prestige were gone. Now the young servants and maids don't show as much respect to him as before, making him feel very uncomfortable. If it were Zhang Lan who was weak-willed and easy-going, she would definitely be controlled by him, and he would still be in charge.

  She also had a daughter, about the same age as Xu Zilin, who had always wanted to wait for Xu Zilin to marry his wife and then take her as a concubine. Now that she was dead, it naturally came to nothing. The Xu family also had a family rule that they were not allowed to take concubines before their wives entered the house. Xu Ziping was younger than her own daughter, and he still had to observe mourning for his brother, so there was no hope for him. Therefore, she was in a hurry to find a husband for her daughter. Her daughter had been instilled with the idea of serving as a personal maid since childhood, and she would not easily marry an ordinary person. This caused a big commotion at home, but she couldn't beat or scold her, which made her both angry and heartbroken. She really had no way out, so she could only hate Su Luo Luo with all her might. But the other party was the master, and as a servant, what could she do to them? After some thought, she came up with this plan to sow discord. If she could get Su Luo Luo kicked out of the Xu mansion, or just let Xu Ziping take back his power, she would also benefit from it, and at the same time, she would avenge her daughter.

  Xu Zipei didn't know that Su Luo marrying into her own family would have such a twist.

  When his elder brother was getting married, he was studying abroad with a group of classmates, and Xu Zilin didn't really want this marriage either, so he didn't let his younger brother return from afar. Later, when he learned from his family's letters that his elder brother and Zhang Lan had cancelled their engagement and each got married, he was extremely shocked and worried about Zhang Lan, but because he secretly admired Zhang Lan, he couldn't ask more questions and forced himself to forget the matter.

  Although Xu Zipei is a simple person with simple thoughts, she wouldn't determine Su Luo's guilt just because of the nanny's words. In her heart, Su Luo is still very good and big brother will like her too, even if he was unwilling at first, they can slowly get along after marriage. She couldn't help but defend Su Luo in her heart and also wanted to eliminate the nanny's misunderstanding towards Su Luo.

  "Wet nurse, the deceased is gone, big brother is no longer here, so there's no need to dwell on past grievances. Regardless of how sister-in-law married big brother, his death was indeed caused by his own drunkenness and carelessness, not anyone else's fault. In Zi Pei's opinion, sister-in-law is a gentle woman, when big brother was alive, she must have been devoted to serving him, it's impossible that she would be like what you said. Alright, let's stop here, wet nurse, don't spread this around either, or it will ruin sister-in-law's reputation."

  "Second Master, don't be deceived by this woman! Madam Su has always liked young and handsome gentlemen. With the eldest master gone, she hasn't had a chance to interact with other men. Seeing how dignified you look, she must have taken a liking to you and is being friendly with ulterior motives..."

  The wet nurse hadn't finished speaking when Xu Zipei slammed the teacup in her hand heavily onto the table, glaring at her with anger.

  "Preposterous! How dare you say such a thing, my sister-in-law has been kind to me only because of her respect for my brother, and yet you have the audacity to slander her in this way. Get out! The mistress of the Xu household is not someone you can casually defame, if there's a next time, don't blame me..."

  "Yes, yes, I'll go out now." Xu Zipei's furious expression startled her. For over a decade, she had never seen this young master lose his temper with anyone, always having a gentle disposition like a little girl, but it turned out that when he got angry, he was also terrifying.

  The wet nurse went out with a quivering heart, thinking about how much of what she said today the second young master had taken in, whether he needed to think of some other ways or manufacture some evidence so that the head housekeeper could "yield" her position as soon as possible.

  Xu Zipei was getting more and more agitated as he sat alone. To calm down, he drank a whole pot of cold tea on the table, but it didn't seem to have much effect. He walked back and forth in the room for dozens of rounds, then lay back on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He picked up a book to read, but couldn't concentrate. After struggling like this until midnight, he finally fell asleep with great difficulty.