Chapter 91 - Do You Ever Think that You Deserve My Curtsy!

Shen Ninghua frowned. She had just brought Old Lady Xiao back, and the Zhao family was coming to see her. This news was distributed really fast. It seemed that the servants in this mansion needed to be cleaned up properly, lest some of them couldn’t recognize who was their master!

“Let’s go take a look.”

Inside Songtao Courtyard, Matriarch Zhao did not feel embarrassed about sitting in other people’s courtyard at all. She took the place of honour and sat in the golden sandalwood armchair with an extremely sullen expression on her face. Madam Zhang, who was standing beside her, had an arrogant expression on her face. She commanded the maids around the room and scolded discontentedly, “How are you doing your duty as servants? As maids, don’t you even know how to serve people? There are really no rules in this house!”

When Shen Ninghua walked in, no one announced her arrival. The servants all lowered their heads and listened to Madam Zhang’s reprimand. Shen Ninghua’s eyes turned cold. “Aunt, are you dissatisfied with the maids of the Prefectural Princess Mansion? Speaking of which, these people were gifted by His Majesty from the Internal Affairs Department. If they were bought from outside, I will definitely send all of them away.”

Madam Zhang choked and raised her head to look at Shen Ninghua shining with stunning beauty. A hint of disgust flashed through her eyes. “Are you saying that I talked too much?”

“Why do you think so, Duchess of Wei? I didn’t say that.” Shen Ninghua walked straight to a chair at the side and sat down. Bai Ruo immediately brought up a cup of tea.

Shen Ninghua picked up the teacup and gently sipped it. She lowered her head and sniffed at the fragrance of the tea. Her posture was exceptionally elegant.

Madam Feng abruptly pounded the ground with the cane in her hand and said with a cold expression, “Is this the way you were raised and educated? Addressing your aunt as the Duchess? Don’t you even know how to greet your seniors?”

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes and sneered. “I remembered Matriarch Zhao once said that I’m not qualified to address you as my grandmother. Now I don’t want to be cheeky anymore. Oh, right, let me remind you, I’m now the adopted daughter of His Majesty with the title of Prefectural Princess Zhaohua. If you want to talk about etiquette, you should be the one to curtsy me!”

She and the Zhao family were already enemies that would never reconcile with each other, so there was no need to maintain the peace on the surface. Moreover, Matriarch Zhao was best at taking advantage of her seniority. If she addressed Matriarch Zhao as her grandmother and curtsied her, she would force her to bring tea and pour water for her in the future! Ever since she broke away from the Zhao family, she didn’t want to swallow insult and humiliation silently anymore.

Old Lady Feng’s face darkened. The flesh on one side of her face trembled. Shen Ninghua’s title was of the First Rank Class A, but First Rank officials also had different levels. Which official of the First Rank dared to challenge the members of the royal family? Even if the other party was only a eunuch serving the Emperor, they had yet to treat him with respect.

“Ninghua, you are the Prefectural Princess, that’s true. But Old Lady Xiao is your own grandmother. Is that how you show her your filial piety?” Old Lady Feng said as she signaled Madam Zhang with her eyes.

Madam Zhang hurriedly walked to Old Lady Xiao’s bed and lifted the quilt on her body. A foul stench immediately came out, causing people to involuntarily frown.

Shen Ninghua raised her head and coldly looked at the frightened maids around her. She suddenly slapped the table and said, “How dare you!”

The maids quickly knelt down and apologized, “We are guilty. Please punish us, Your Highness.”

Shen Ninghua’s expression was cold and fierce. “I kept you here to serve my grandmother. Now it seems that you can’t even do such simple work well and need to be reminded by Matriarch Zhao and Duchess of Wei. I don’t dare to use such servants. Qing Que, take out these people’s self-selling contracts. I will immediately go to the Palace to report to His Majesty and send them back to the Internal Affairs Department.”

The maids’ expressions changed completely. Once they were sent back to the Internal Affairs Department, there would be no way for them to survive. “Your Highness, please spare us. When Matriarch Zhao and the Duchess of Wei entered the door, we were preparing to clean up for the Old Lady. However, they stopped us and ordered us to wait for your explanation. That’s why we delayed our work. Your Highness, please scrutinize carefully.”

Shen Ninghua turned to look at Old Lady Feng with confusion in her eyes. “Matriarch Zhao, why didn’t you allow these servants to do their job? I was just thinking about it. After all, grandmother was back for no more than an hour. Even if the maids were careless, it shouldn’t take much time. Why did you have to take so much trouble and insist on not letting them clean her up until I arrive?”

Old Lady Feng’s expression stiffened. Her cold gaze swept Shen Ninghua from head to toe. She did not expect Shen Ninghua to be so unyielding. She had wanted to control the rumors in the capital and accuse Shen Ninghua of not recognizing her biological father. However, before she made her move, she heard that Shen Ninghua had brought Old Lady Xiao back. In that case, how could she accuse her of being unfilial?

That was why she rushed over in a hurry in order to seize the opportunity to prove that Shen Ninghua treated her grandmother harshly and with ill intentions. In any case, Old Lady Xiao was now unable to speak. She could charge Shen Ninghua with whatever wrongdoing as she liked. Unfortunately, Shen Ninghua did not yield, and particularly, she didn’t care about her reputation at all. She actually even wanted to openly return the maids sent by the Internal Affairs Department!

Seeing Old Lady Feng’s expression that kept changing, Shen Ninghua was delighted in her heart. She picked up the teacup and drank the tea leisurely.

Madam Zhang did not like her arrogant appearance, so she said, “Your Highness, as His Majesty’s foster daughter, you should cultivate your merit, appearance, speech and needlework, so that you live up to your status as a member of the royal family. You must pay extra attention to every word and deed of yours.”

Hearing this, Shen Ninghua placed the teacup onto the table. The bottom of the cup made a muffled sound with the table. She raised her eyes, slightly moved her shoulders, and straightened her back. A cold and inviolable noble aura spurted out from her cold eyes.

Madam Zhang was suddenly shocked. Cold sweat covered her forehead. She looked at Shen Ninghua in surprise, but she only persisted a few seconds before she turned her head away from Shen Ninghua’s sight. Shen Ninghua was in such a high position that she radiated a sense of pressure and a temperament that made people afraid of looking directly at her. The shock in Madam Zhang’s heart was incomparable: Why did Shen Ninghua look so noble and inviolable?

Not to mention Madam Zhang, even Old Lady Feng was stunned.

Feeling that it was almost time, Shen Ninghua said unhurriedly, “Duchess of Wei, I will receive training from the royal family concerning my way of speaking and acting. There is no need to trouble you. Oh, by the way, is Zhao Ruyun alright?”

Madam Zhang abruptly raised her head. She forcefully suppressed the tremors in her heart and maintained her bearing. “She’s very well. She doesn’t need Your Highness’ concern.”

Shen Ninghua smiled slightly, and her lips curved up into a perfect arc. “That’s good. You two probably can’t get used to the food in my mansion, so I won’t ask you two to stay.”

Old Lady Feng suppressed the anger in her heart and took a deep breath. She stood up and quickly left with Madam Zhang and the maidservants behind her.

Shen Ninghua’s cold gaze swept across the maids kneeling on the ground, and her deep gaze seemed able to see through the hearts of the people. The maids were drenched in cold sweat and trembled as they knelt on the ground.

“These people have neglected their duties. Bring them down and give them each twenty strokes. Everyone in the mansion should come and observe the execution.”

“Yes, Miss.” Qing Que waved her hand, and a few old maidservants came forward and brought down the maids who were just about to cry out.

Shen Ninghua walked to Old Lady Xiao. Looking at the old woman waving and screaming on the bed, she said, “Grandmother, I took you over to serve you out of kindness, so you should feel at ease for being served. I suggest that you dismiss some thoughts from your mind. The enmity between the Zhao family and I is already deep-rooted, and there is no need for you to interfere in it. So you might as well live well. Maybe you can live to the day when the Zhao family is annihilated.”

After saying that, Shen Ninghua directly turned around and walked out of Songtao Courtyard.

Bai Ruo took the cloak and put it on her. “Miss, could it be that the Old Lady was still manipulating all of this?” She couldn’t even move. How could she have so many bad ideas?

Shen Ninghua tightened the cloak on her body. “She cannot move her body, but her mind is still very active. She can’t speak but she has Xue Zhu who can speak. I was just testing her, but judging from her reaction, she was really involved in this matter.”

Bai Ruo sighed. “How could she be so obsessed? She can’t even move now. Why can’t she just live the rest of her life peacefully?”

“She has feud with the Zhao family. If she doesn’t take revenge, she won’t even be willing to die in peace. The older she gets, the more obsessed she is. You and Bi Zhu clean up all the maids and servants in Songtao Courtyard. Without my permission, not a single word can be passed to the outside.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Shen Ninghua raised her head to look at the sunset glow on the horizon. The red sky seemed to be covered with flames and looked burning red. Now that she had her own mansion, the next thing she would do was to turn this place into an impenetrable iron barrel.

When Old Lady Feng was back in the Zhao Mansion, she sent for an imperial physician that day. Whereas after Madam Zhang was back in her courtyard, she first went to see Zhao Ruyun. Looking at her skinny daughter lying on the bed, her heart was as if twisted with a knife. “Ruyun.”

Zhao Ruyun stared blankly at the top of the bed, as if she did not hear the voice beside her.

Madam Zhang wiped her tears and said, “Don’t worry, Ruyun. No matter how much it costs, I will definitely cure you.”

Zhao Ruyun finally reacted. She stiffly moved her neck and barely turned her head. Her sunken eyes stared blankly. “Get lost!”

Madam Zhang bit her lips and said, “Ruyun, I’m your mother…”

“Get lost!” Zhao Ruyun screamed, and her expression became even more terrifying.

Madam Zhang didn’t dare to provoke her anymore. She hurriedly turned around and walked out.

Shen Ninghua had heard things about the Zhao family, especially the occasional news that Zhao Ruyun had almost gone crazy after she was paralyzed.

At this time, she was carefully reading a book on medical technique. She felt a little thirsty and said, “Bai Ruo, bring me some tea.”

There were some footsteps, and then a cup of tea was placed next to her hand.

Smelling the fragrance of the tea, Shen Ninghua paused. This was not her favorite flower tea. She hurriedly raised her head and saw Chu Junyi’s smiling face.

“Why are you here again?”

These past few days, Chu Junyi came here every day, treating this place almost as his own courtyard.

“A day without you is like three autumns apart. I’m here to see you, of course.”

Shen Ninghua rolled her eyes at him and said, “If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise hurry up and leave.”

“Oh,” Chu Junyi sighed and covered his chest. “Ninghua, you are still so ruthless.”

Shen Ninghua frowned and gave him a cold glance. “Qing Que, send him off.”

“Wait. I came here because of something important.”

Shen Ninghua gestured for Qing Que at the door to withdraw. Then, she picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. “What is it?”

Chu Junyi sighed in his heart. For such a long time, this black-hearted girl was as beautiful as jade and as cold as ice as ever. He really couldn’t do anything to her. “Number one, I’ve investigated the thing thoroughly at your request. Ever since Shen Dong moved to the suburbs, the maidservant serving Old Lady Xiao was bribed by the Zhao family to secretly drug Old Lady Xiao and the Zhao family had planned to let Old Lady Xiao have an accident on the day of your 15th birthday so as to give you the reputation of being an ominous girl who would bring bad luck to her family. But they didn’t expect you to bring Old Lady Xiao back.”

Shen Ninghua nodded. That day, when she smelled the medicine on the ground, she noticed that something was wrong. She did not expect that it was really the Zhao family’s scheme.

“Number two, I’m here to bring you the money.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes suddenly lit up.