“Deliver the brocade I just chose to the ancestral hall and put it there when there is no one around!” Shao Wanru walked in and gave Yujie an order in a low voice.

“Why?” Yujie froze for a moment and asked.

“Nothing. I just want Madam of Duke Xing to know that Big Sister has been thinking about her and trying hard to save her!” Shao Wanru curved her eyebrows, showed a bright smile, and said with deep eyes. The cloth with the pattern on it should be of Madam of Duke Xing’s favorite style, because she had seen Madam of Duke Xing dressed in a similar style of clothes. She had not figured out how to use the cloth when she picked it just now.

At this time, the news of the etiquette instructor’s arrival inspired her.

She decided to give it to Madam of Duke Xing, who would definitely like it.

After so many things happened, judging from Shao Yanru’s character, Shao Wanru could tell that she would definitely have no time to pay attention to her mother!

“Madam, the etiquette instructor has come!” Nanny Sheng came in excitedly and said to Madam of Duke Xing, who was kneeling in front of the small Buddha statue.

Madam of Duke Xing was dressed in plain clothes, looking very haggard and different from the gorgeous lady she had been.

She stopped knocking the wooden fish in her hand, opened her eyes, and asked, “How many etiquette instructors?”

“One!” Nanny Sheng said, and her eyes lit up with excitement, “It must be that the First Miss won the Empress’s favor, so the Empress sent the etiquette instructor to educate the First Miss and check over her etiquette.”

After being locked up here for a few days, Nanny Sheng, who had been a powerful supervisor working for Madam of Duke Xing, could only get stuck in this small ancestral hall now. How could she, who felt as if she had fallen from heaven, not get excited on hearing such good news?

“Why is there only one etiquette instructor sent here? How many Misses are going to attend the consort selection?” Madam of Duke Xing surnamed Jiang compressed her lips and asked.

When she compressed her lips, her cheekbones stood out on her plump face, making her look a little mean and ungrateful.

“Four Misses are going to attend the consort selection, except for the Second Miss. I heard that she has been engaged to Commandery Prince Qing, so she doesn’t need to attend the consort selection!” Nanny Sheng said. She just went out once but got a lot of news.

Shao Jie’er had been engaged to Commandery Prince Qing? Thinking of this, Madam of Duke Xing surnamed Jiang sneered. Shao Jie’er, a humble Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion, and Commandery Prince Qing, a useless and idle prince, could make quite a perfect couple.

“She’s not going to be the Princess, is she?”

Nanny Sheng thought for a while and said, “I heard that… she’s not going to be the Princess… but because Prince Qing hasn’t come to our mansion, it hasn’t been confirmed yet!”

Madam of Duke Xing raised the corners of her mouth and changed the topic, “Has the First Young Master gotten the information I want?”

This was the most important reason why she sent Nanny Sheng out today.

“The First Young Master said that he couldn’t… get the information in such a short time… He told you to wait patiently. As long as the Duke often goes somewhere… he will notice it.” Nanny Sheng hesitated for a moment and said with her head down. She did not accomplish her main task today.

“Notice it? If he could notice it so easily, I wouldn’t have failed to find the Duke all this time…” Madam of Duke Xing said with a sneer and smashed the wooden fish in her hand on the ground with an indignant look. “I’m having a hard time here, while they couldn’t even do me a little favor outside. They have forgotten who their mother is!”

“Madam, don’t be angry. The First Miss is in a bad mood now. I’m wondering… how she is feeling now!” Nanny Sheng defended Shao Yanru cautiously.

Speaking of this, even she felt guilty. It was Madam who gave the First Miss the drug, but it was taken by the First Miss. If the toxin couldn’t be removed from the First Miss’s body, the First Miss’s life would be ruined. How could the First Miss be in the mood to visit Madam at this time?

Madam of Duke Xing said with a gloomy face, “I’m her mother, but now she gives me the cold shoulder. If she is filial, she should complain tearfully to her father a few more times and think of some ways to get me out of here. The Spring Festival is coming, but I don’t even have a set of decent clothes. How can I meet others after getting out of here?”

Nanny Sheng lowered her head and didn’t dare to say anything else. Madam kept thinking of getting out of here and even vented her anger on the First Miss and the First Young Master. But judging from the current situation, she thought that it was impossible for Madam to get out of here before the Spring Festival.

But she didn’t dare to say that.

“What is this?” Madam of Duke Xing suddenly looked at a bolt of brocade next to the hamper unkindly and asked.

Nanny Sheng looked back and also saw this bolt of brocade. She said, “I… I picked it up at the door when I went out!”

“Where did you pick it up?” Madam of Duke Xing was confused and asked another question.

“At the door of the ancestral hall. I saw it when I came in, but I don’t know who brought it to you. Perhaps the person was afraid to be discovered by others, so she didn’t even enter the ancestral hall!”

Nanny Sheng walked over, picked up the brocade, and examined it. After that, she carefully presented it to Madam of Duke Xing and said, “Madam, look, this is of your favorite color. It should be sent by the First Miss, who is so filial that she didn’t forget you even at this time. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have chosen such decent cloth and sent it here.”

The red brocade with a dark-colored pattern was indeed Madam of Duke Xing’s favorite. It well suited her, a noble lady, and the joyful atmosphere of the Spring Festival. At the thought that she didn’t know when she could get out of here, Madam of Duke Xing felt profound anger and resentment.

At this moment, this bolt of cloth cheered her up a little. She picked up the cloth and touched it, feeling the smooth cloth in her hands.

She now lived in the ancestral hall and was dressed in plain clothes made of ordinary cloth. Once again touching the gorgeous cloth that represented her identity, she became more and more eager to get out of here.

She could not stay in the ancestral hall obediently.

“Ru’er is filial, but the most important thing at the moment is to get me out of here. It’s useless to send me the cloth. No matter how beautiful it is, I can’t wear the clothes made of it!” Madam of Duke Xing said grumpily, but she was still reluctant to give up such good cloth, so she reached out to rub it a few times.

“I also think so. Madam, please wait a little longer. Since the First Miss sent you the cloth, it means that she has forgiven you for the mistake you made and should be thinking of ways to get you out of here. But it is not so easy to persuade the Duke and Old Madam to release you at the moment. I heard that the Duke was reprimanded by His Majesty before!”

Nanny Sheng served her a cup of tea and spoke with a smile.

“What does that have to do with me? He’s so useless that after locking me up, he even failed to hide the cause of Wang Yishu’s death from Wang Shengxue so that Wang Shengxue managed to find some evidence. Look what he has done. He even allowed a rogue like Wang Shengxue to threaten Duke Xing’s Mansion. If I were in charge of the mansion, I would neither allow Wang Shengxue to get in and out of the inner court at will nor allow him to have much contact with Wang Yishu, let alone allow him to get in Wang Yishu’s room and get the evidence as soon as Wang Yishu died!”

Madam of Duke Xing said with a snort. She got the news from Shao Hua’an. When she thought that the pawn she had set up long before was spoiled and the useless scoundrel Wang Shengxue managed to get evidence of what they had done to Wang Yishu, Madam of Duke Xing got furious.

The reason why they allowed Wang Yishu to live for three more years was that they wanted to make use of Wang Yishu to deal with Shao Wanru. Now not only did they fail to deal with Shao Wanru, but Wang Shengxue also benefited from it. As Madam of Duke Xing thought about it, she became increasingly angry.

If she had not been locked up at that time, such a thing would not have happened.

“Madam, don’t be angry with the Duke. There’s nothing we can do about it in the current situation!” Nanny Sheng tried to appease her.

“Since they can’t get me out of here, I’ll think of a way to get myself out of here. They only dare to secretly send me something without the courage to come forward and speak up for me!” With her face softening a little, Madam of Duke Xing put the brocade on the table and spoke.

“Madam, what do you mean?” Nanny Sheng asked.

“There came an etiquette instructor, right? Can you bring the etiquette instructor here…” Madam of Duke Xing said. At first, she didn’t have so many thoughts, but when she saw the brocade, an idea came into her mind. She tried to save herself here, while her daughter tried to save her outside. With their joint efforts, she believed that she could get out of this difficult situation.

In addition, she had a son, who was the only son of the Duke. In any case, she should not be locked up in the ancestral hall all the time.

“Madam, you can’t do that. If it is seen by others, your reputation will be ruined!” Nanny Sheng said anxiously, “If others see that you are locked up here, it will have a bad influence on the First Miss’s reputation. The First Miss is going to participate in the consort selection soon!”

If a Miss wanted to be selected in the consort selection, she should have a flawless reputation and parents with a good reputation. Although some people knew that Madam of Duke Xing was locked up in the ancestral hall, they had neither spread the news nor exposed it.

“What are you afraid of? You can say that I specially stay here to pray for the whole mansion!” Madam of Duke Xing said disdainfully.

It was a good thing to pray for the whole manor, but no Madam would do it in person. It was even said that praying for the manor was just a soft name for being punished. No Madam would really do that!

Nanny Sheng didn’t think it was a good idea at all. Madam would never come up with such a bad idea in the past. But now Madam desperately wanted to get out of here. Nanny Sheng sadly found that her master became more anxious than before so that she dared to trick the nanny from the imperial palace with only a bolt of brocade.

If things went well, of course, the nanny would feel pity for her and put in a good word for her in front of the Empress, so that the Empress released her. But if things didn’t go well, it might even be known to everybody that she was locked up in the ancestral hall. In this case, not only her but also the First Young Master and the First Miss would inevitably be implicated.

However, looking at her master’s bright eyes, Nanny Sheng couldn’t say anything to persuade her master to drop the idea even if she wanted to.

No matter what she said, Madam would not follow her advice at this time.

“Madam… it is also possible that the brocade isn’t sent by the First Miss!” Nanny Sheng thought that it was better to enlighten Madam from another point of view.

Madam of Duke Xing waved her hand impatiently and said, “No one other than Ru’er knows my preferences so well and would pick such good cloth and send it here. I’ve made up my mind. I won’t ruin Ru’er’s future!”

Now she thought that the wedge between her and her daughter had gone now and they began to understand each other.

“But… but your being reprimanded and locked up has something to do with the Empress Dowager!” Nanny Sheng reminded her carefully. No matter how powerful the Empress was, she was Empress Dowager’s daughter-in-law anyway. Did the Empress really dare to disobey the Empress Dowager’s order as her daughter-in-law?

“The Empress has been displeased with the Empress Dowager for a long time!” Madam of Duke Xing said with impropriety and slightly raised the corners of her mouth, “Pass on a message to Honored Consort Shu!”