Chapter 55: Chapter 24: Nanny Gu Departs (Part 2)_2
Nanny Lau shook her head and said, “Madam, everyone below is saying that the Third Young Lady couldn’t bear to see Old Granny Guh separated from her son, so she let them go to reunite their family. She cried like a tearful figure.”
Upon hearing this, Lady Mo’s face darkened, “What do they mean by reuniting the family? If the Third Girl really cared, why would she have let Old Granny Guh go? How can a widow and orphan survive on their own?” Clearly, it was just an excuse to send Old Granny Guh away.
Nanny Lau sighed, “Isn’t that the truth? The Third Young Lady is too heartless.” Having let this widow and orphan go, their life outside will certainly be extremely difficult.
Although Lady Mo harbored secret resentment, she was powerless for the time being. She didn’t have the courage to defy the Old Madam. Old Grand Master Lian always prided himself on being a filial son, boasting of being the most obedient, and he was utterly subservient to the Old Madam. In any case, whatever his mother said was always right, and the daughter-in-law was always wrong. Over the years, she had suffered so many grievances because of this.
Nanny Gu’s son originally did not want to come to the Capital City and intended to use the opportunity to ask for leave from the Lian Mansion. But his mother didn’t want to, and in the end, she had him come along to the Capital City. He entered the School, and at that time, he worried that if people found out he had a mother who was serving as a Servant Woman, they might not respect him. He made a rash decision once to seek favor. It was just that later his mother persuaded him earnestly with many words, and after contemplating for a long time, he gave up the idea.
But what terrified him was that a schoolmate somehow caught wind of the rumor, asking him whether his mother was working as a maid in someone else’s house. Hearing this, he broke out in a cold sweat. If people found out his mother was serving as a maid at Lian Mansion, he would have no place in the School. Therefore, he had to ensure his mother left the Lian Mansion this time.
He didn’t dare to approach his mother directly, as she would certainly not agree. The Old Madam of the Lian family was known for her compassion towards the weak and had a reputation for benevolence far and wide, so he could only go directly to the Old Madam for help. He just hoped that the Old Madam would agree to grant them this favor. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about losing respect from others in the future. Unexpectedly, the Old Madam indeed showed her charitable nature, readily agreeing to let his mother go.
But why after waiting for so long, his mother still hadn’t come out? Nanny Gu’s son paced back and forth outside the gate, fearing that the Lian family might, like last time, go back on their word.
Yueyao had already ordered everything below, the clothes that Nanny Gu used, and everything she could take with her. After packing up, there were large and small bundles, seven or eight boxes in total. From this, it was evident that Nanny Gu’s possessions were quite substantial.
The maids in the courtyard could not carry these items, so Yueyao specially called a few sturdy old nannies to help carry the things to the Outer Courtyard.
Not only that, but Yueyao also gave Nanny Gu three hundred taels of Silver in front of a few maids in the room. Additionally, she gave away some Gold and Silver jewelry. Altogether, it added up to five or six hundred taels of Silver.
The maids in the Inner Courtyard of Lanxi Garden were all brought back by Yueyao from Jiangnan. Lady Mo did not meddle with Lanxi Garden temporarily due to her deference to the Old Madam. Also, because they were completely dedicated to Yueyao, they were very angry about Nanny Gu accusing Yueyao of being inhuman at that time. Now seeing the Young Lady bestowing so many things to Nanny Gu, they looked at Nanny Gu with disdain. Everyone felt that the Young Lady was too generous and thought it was not worth it for such a person.
Nanny Gu had her unspeakable difficulties. Over the years in the mansion, she had managed to save up all this Silver. But with it in hand now, she would have no more in the future.
Nanny Gu was leaving. The Old Madam’s generous reward came to forty taels of Silver, Lady Mo also followed suit by giving twenty taels of Silver, plus some cloth and other items. All together with the miscellaneous amounts, there were seven or eight hundred taels of Silver. Having seven or eight hundred taels of Silver among the common people also meant being a moderately wealthy family.
The people in the Outer Courtyard seeing Nanny Gu’s possessions, all muttered to themselves that the Third Young Lady was really generous. When they heard that the Third Young Lady had given another thousand taels of Silver on top of that, they sighed that the Third Young Lady was out of touch with the ways of the world.
Yueyao did this actually on purpose, and her actions carried a hint of showing off wealth. Yueyao wanted the people of Lian Mansion to know she was a wealthy person. As long as people knew she had money and that she was generous, she believed that no one would dare to say she relied on the main branch for support.
What Yueyao didn’t expect was that because of this act, the maids inside Lian Mansion, hearing that the Third Young Lady’s courtyard was in need of maids, all looked for connections wanting to get into Lanxi Garden.