Daily Life of a Powerful Official Supporting His Wife

Chapter 10

chapter Ten

The Gu Mansion was bustling with people, all of whom were female guests.

The ladies who came and went gathered in groups of three or five, either gossiping about their families or socializing with each other. Some, seeing Lu Baoer was unfamiliar, inquired about her identity. When they heard her accent wasn't from Kyoto, they guessed she might be the wife of the newly elected top scholar. Her family was humble, and she'd grown up in the countryside, so there was no point in making friends with her, so they stopped caring.

The old nanny had guessed this was the situation. On the one hand, she was worried that Lu Baoer was too young to stand being ignored and would have a stern face. On the other hand, seeing her lovely smile even when no one paid attention to her, she felt a little distressed and thought that the young lady was too sensible.

She patted the back of Lu Baoer's hand privately and said softly, "Don't take it to heart. I ignored you today, but I will warmly welcome you one day. Human feelings are such a cold thing. If you don't take it seriously, you won't be surprised by praise or criticism."

Seeing that the old nanny's demeanor was unlike that of an ordinary servant, and that she knew everything about the deeds of officials both high and low, Lu Baoer was actually quite curious about her. At this moment, Lu Baoer couldn't help but ask, "I've been wanting to ask this since morning. Who is this nanny? I always feel that you know everything, and your vision and insight are extraordinary. Not only do you know the etiquette of entertaining guests, but you also know the identity of Old Madam Su. An ordinary nanny in an official's house has never seen a high-ranking official, so how can she tell the difference between the wives of different families?"

Hearing Lu Baoer's question, the old nanny didn't want to hide it from her. Xie Junling knew the old nanny's background, so he assigned her to Lu Baoer to protect her. The old nanny looked at where Madam Su was, sighed melancholy, and said, "I used to work for the late Empress Dowager and was a lady-in-waiting in the palace. I also met the Princess of Qingping when I was young."

Lu Baoer was surprised. She turned out to be a female official who had served the royal family! She didn't expect the old nanny to have such a great background. She stuttered for a moment: "Then how...how did you end up working in the Xie Mansion?"

The old nanny smiled faintly, as if remembering the late Empress Dowager. Tears welled up in her eyelashes as she spoke, "The late Empress Dowager was kind and doted on me. Back then, I was out of the palace shopping when I fell in love with Steward Chen Shan. I begged the late Empress Dowager for mercy and asked her to let me leave the palace and marry. The late Empress Dowager originally wanted to marry me off to a son of a concubine from her family's branch as her principal wife, but I was ungrateful and insisted on marrying a commoner. She feigned anger and promoted Steward Chen Shan to take charge of the official residence, then married me off to him as punishment for disobeying the Phoenix Order. Although it was a punishment, it was only to silence the late Empress Dowager's family members. She even personally prepared a dowry for me. If I hadn't been so reluctant to part with the Steward, I would have wanted to guard the late Empress Dowager's tomb."

She remembered that when she got married, the late Queen Mother refused to see her. She kowtowed repeatedly outside the palace, hoping that the late Queen Mother would forgive her for not being able to keep her promise and stay by her side, leaving her alone to enjoy the loneliness of the palace.

No matter how much she requested to see the late Queen Mother, she would just send someone to drive her away, saying coldly that she was just a lowly female official, so what difference would it make if she was missing?

Only she understood, and only with the late Queen Mother's words could she leave with peace of mind. Imperial affairs were so cruel and uncaring. She had accompanied the late Queen Mother to the end, their relationship as master and servant, as well as close friends. She had received the late Queen Mother's kindness, but now, for her own selfish reasons, she had abandoned her... leaving her to die alone in the palace.

She felt sorry for the late Queen Mother!

The old lady sighed heavily and had nothing else to say.

"In that case, the late Queen Mother was a good person." Lu Baoer said in a low voice.

The old nanny nodded, tucked her eyes with a handkerchief, and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. The ladies have all gone into the house, so let's follow them."

"Okay." Lu Baoer was supported by the old nanny and entered the house. Madam Su and Madam Gu were sitting in the main seats.

Although Madam Gu was the host, the highest-ranking lady here was Su, not to mention the Princess of Qingping County, so she was naturally treated as a distinguished guest. Su was kind and didn't ask everyone to perform the same royal etiquette as they would for a royal relative, which was a good thing.

Because Su was present, no one dared to make a noise. Only Madam Gu exchanged pleasantries with Su: "A few days ago, I sent a visiting card to the old lady's residence, inviting her to be my guest. And yet, she has honored me by actually coming. Let us all enjoy your blessing." Her words were so flattering that the ladies in the room grumbled inwardly, but dared not speak out loud.

Madam Gu pulled a pretty young girl over to Mrs. Su, patted Li Jiao's hand affectionately, and said, "Jiao Jiao, come quickly and pay your respects to the old lady. This is my granddaughter, a child of the Li family. I miss her so much that I brought her back to stay with us for a while."

Su was much older than Madam Gu. She looked at Li Jiao with a smile. Seeing that Li Jiao lowered her head with a sweet and innocent look, she took out a jade bracelet from her hand and handed it to her, saying, "You are such a lovely girl. I like beautiful girls. This is for you."

Mrs. Gu had hoped to elicit some other comments from Su, such as "dignified and intelligent," but after all her attempts at flattery, she only managed to get one word: "beautiful." What mistress would simply judge a woman by her looks? She wasn't a concubine serving a man for her beauty!
Madam Gu did not give up and continued, "Don't look at Jiaojiao's young age. She was praised by Zhang Hongliang for her good poetry in Tongzhou before!"

The others gasped. To think that Zhang Hongliang, a famous poet, had actually praised him before? He must have been quite talented!
Mrs. Gu thought, Su will finally follow her words and continue talking. At least give Li Jiao a reputation as a talented woman! But Su just smiled and said perfunctorily, "Very good, very good."

Mrs. Gu rolled her eyes in anger, wondering if Su was playing dumb or, perhaps too old to understand her inner meaning. She wasn't going to give up until she achieved her goal, thinking of dropping a few more hints.

Unexpectedly, Su's gaze passed Li Jiao and fixed on the old nanny next to Lu Baoer. She waved at the old nanny in surprise and asked, "Are you...Bizhu?"

The old nanny hadn't been called by her palace name for a long time. When she saw that Su still remembered her, she burst into tears for some reason.

She saluted Lu Baoer, took a few steps forward, knelt before Su's knees, and replied: "In reply to the Qingping County Lady, this servant is Bizhu."

She still called her Princess Qingping according to the palace rules as before.

Su remembered her. She was the female official who was closest to the late empress dowager. Unfortunately, the late empress dowager passed away early, surpassing her.

Su sighed and asked, "Where are you working now?"

"I am currently working at the residence of Mr. Xie, the editor of the Hanlin Academy. Today I am here with Madam Xie for the incense appreciation meeting."

Perhaps wanting to save Bizhu's face, Su said gently, "Oh? Which lady is this? Come here and let me see her."

Lu Baoer was flattered to hear that Su wanted to see her. She stepped forward to greet Su and whispered, "Greetings to Old Madam Su."

Su smiled and looked her up and down, but his eyes fell on the jade at her waist, and he remained silent for a long time.

Lu Baoer's heart was filled with anxiety. She glanced at the jade hanging around her waist. It was the jade her father had left her before he died. Was it against the rules? Or was there something inappropriate? Otherwise, why would Su Shi keep staring at her?
(End of this chapter)