The whole room fell into a strangely dead silence. Everyone was dumbfounded, watching Nanny Sheng lying on the ground with blood all over her head.

“Nanny Xi, go and listen to what she was saying!” Nanny Zheng came back to her senses and immediately reminded Nanny Xi.

Nanny Xi had been taken aback, and she immediately understood what Nanny Zheng meant. Seeing Nanny Sheng’s mouth was still moving weakly as if she was still talking, Nanny Xi wanted to go to her side immediately.

“Nanny Xi, don’t go, this… this is too frightening!” Shao Yanru stretched out her hand and grabbed Nanny Xi, looking terrified. She was shaking all over, pulling Nanny Xi’s sleeves tightly, and looking at Nanny Sheng blankly as if she were really frightened and pulling Nanny Xi’s sleeves subconsciously.

Shao Yanru was afraid that Nanny Sheng would say something unconsciously at this time, exposing the secret of Madam of Duke Xing.

Her voice was not high but awakened the others in the room.

“Go check if she’s dead!” Old Madam calmed down and ordered sternly. If Nanny Sheng died like this, she could not find out the truth. How could she settle for that?

A bold old maid walked over, reached out her hand under Nanny Sheng’s nose, felt it for a moment, and said, “Old Madam, she is out of breath!”

“Nanny Sheng…Nanny Sheng, you… why did you do this…” Madam of Duke Xing on the bed also returned to her senses. She burst into tears and wanted to get out of bed, but she was suppressed tightly by a servant girl beside the bed. She could only look sadly at Nanny Sheng lying in a pool of blood.

“Look at yourself! How can you still pity her? She had betrayed you…” Old Madam cursed, wishing Madam of Duke Xing could be more hardhearted.

Madam of Duke Xing lowered her head and wept, “Mother, she has been my servant for many years. I don’t know why she suddenly betrayed me. Someone must have ordered her to kill me!”

“Suddenly” meant it was something that had happened recently, “Someone must have ordered her to kill me” meant that someone was at odds with her. On every point, it would lead people to think of Shao Wanru. Shao Wanru sneered and walked slowly in front of Nanny Zheng. It seemed that Madam of Duke Xing hadn’t given up yet and still wanted to pass the buck on Shao Wanru.

Sensing the sullen and suspicious gaze of Old Madam, Shao Wanru looked up calmly, saying, “Old Madam, Nanny Sheng has always been serving Madam of Duke Xing. Now that she dared to make such a fuss here, the person behind her must have contracted with her at ordinary times, and he or she must be very powerful in Duke Xing’s Mansion. We should investigate her old acquaintance!”

Nanny Sheng was not a nobody in Duke Xing’s Mansion. She had not only worked here for many years but also had a high position of power. She couldn’t have been bought over by ordinary people.

Old Madam looked at Shao Wanru solemnly, her eyes cold.

Shao Wanru met Old Madam’s without fear, looking very open and forthright.

“Did Nanny Sheng just say…fifth…fifth?” Shuqi said after taking Shao Yanru’s hint.

“Fifth Sister?” Shao Yanru murmured, taking a step back in surprise.

The words of Nanny Sheng just now had been heard by everyone present. But most people hadn’t got it at that time. They hadn’t known what Nanny Sheng meant. Hearing Shao Yanru’s words, all people turned to look at Shao Wanru immediately. What she had tried to say might be “Fifth Miss”!

Was it possible?

Seeing people’s gazes, Shao Wanru said calmly, “Sister, although you and I are at odds, it’s because of the estrangement between us. After all, we barely spend time together. But how could you say such words on this occasion? Are you harboring a grudge against me all the time?”

Smiling calmly, Shao Wanru didn’t panic when hearing Shao Yanru’s accusation. Seeing this, Nanny Xi got a little confused.

She moved her gaze between Shao Yanru and Shao Wanru and decided to reserve her judgment for the time being.

These two people were not old maids, they were the ladies of Duke Xing’s Mansion. Judging from their behavior, they were both powerful.

“Why do you try to mislead people to suspect me?” Shao Wanru said the last sentence slowly after a while, with a trace of coldness in her tone, and her beautiful watery eyes were looking at Shao Yanru coldly. Without the slightest intention of avoiding it, she mercilessly revealed to Nanny Xi, the Empress’s trusted subordinate, that the love and respect between her and Shao Yanru were just a charade.

Shao Yanru was taken aback. She hadn’t expected that Shao Wanru would dare to say such things in front of so many people, breaking the illusion of their good relationship. Her face flushed in an instant.

She gritted her teeth and stared at Shao Wanru, breathing heavily. She had made a lot of efforts to gain a good reputation, and she was known as a dignified, decent, and magnanimous lady now. She had done all this for the position of the Empress in the future, but now Shao Wanru had slapped her in the face. How dare she say that to her!

Shuqi pulled Shao Yanru’s sleeves from behind, acting a little anxiously.

Shao Yanru grasped the last shred of her sanity, slowly calmed down, forcefully suppressed the irritation and resentment in her heart, and slowly gave an innocent, gentle smile.

“Fifth Sister…sorry. You know I have a quick tongue. Maybe I heard it wrong!” She had acted quite well as if she were really regretting it. In an aristocratic family, some shady things could not be talked about on the table, especially in front of outsiders like Nanny Xi. So right now, everyone was intended to keep the secret.

“Sister…I’m sorry. I also have a quick tongue. Maybe I misunderstood your kindness!” Shao Wanru suddenly smiled, her dimples blooming like flowers.

Her remarks corresponded to Shao Yanru’s remarks. Shao Yanru’s previous remarks made people feel that she had not deliberately mentioned the word “fifth”, but Shao Wanru’s remarks immediately made people feel suspicious. They felt that what Shao Yanru had said before sounded insincere.

She had not only said the words insincerely but also deliberately!

Shao Yanru got so furious that she wanted to reach out to scratch Wanru’s beautiful smiling face. But she clenched her fists firmly in her cuffs, and her smile became softer, “Fifth Sister, I was panicked just now, I’m sorry. In fact, we still have to ask mother about this. The matter started from mother.”

After speaking, she turned to Madam of Duke Xing lying on the bed, walked over, and held her cold hand, “Mother, who do you think had bought over Nanny Sheng? You are living in the ancestral hall and couldn’t meet any other people. Why would Nanny Sheng poison you?”

Madam of Duke Xing’s face suddenly stiffened, and she looked at Shao Yanru incredulously, trembling with anger. Her good daughter brought the attention back to her in order to avoid her own trouble.

If there had not been so many people in the room at this time, she would have given her two slaps. She had raised and loved her daughter, but her daughter did not care about her at all. She had used her mother as a shield. Madam of Duke Xing had wanted to make full use of Nanny Sheng and make a fuss. But after Shan Yanru had intervened, it would be difficult to frame Shao Wanru now.

Holding Shao Yanru’s hand firmly, Madam of Duke Xing thrust her long nails into Shao Yanru’s palm fiercely. She was very annoyed, but she had to show a sad expression, saying, “I… I don’t know, I was reciting scriptures and worshiping ancestors in the ancestral hall all the time, but I don’t know why… why she betrayed me!

After speaking, she pushed Yanru away fiercely, turned inward, and started crying with sobs, showing the deep friendship between her and Nanny Zheng.

Shao Wanru looked at her with a bit of sarcasm and coldness in her eyes. Shao Yanru had been panicked because Shao Wanru had revealed her true face under the mask of hypocrisy. Therefore, she had deliberately transferred people’s attention to Madam of Duke Xing. Shao Yanru wanted to cover up the fact that she was at odds with her sister, and she didn’t want the Empress to know that she was not as kind to her sisters as people said.

Shao Yanru’s goal had always been the supreme position of the Empress, so Shao Wanru could offend her openly, but Shao Yanru couldn’t do it. She had to work hard to maintain her dignified and generous public image as the young lady of Duke Xing’s Mansion.

“Check whom she had contacted and where she had been in the past few days!” Old Madam said with a sullen expression.

“Old Madam, if you find anything, please tell me. The Empress would also want to know how the poison case in the palace back then get related to Duke Xing’s Mansion!” Nanny Xi said.

Old Madam gave Nanny Xi an angry look but still had to agree.

Now that Nanny Sheng was dead, they couldn’t find any new clue for the time being. Old Madam dismissed the crowd. The ladies were not in the mood to learn the rules anymore, so she asked them to go back respectively. Nanny Xi said goodbye to Old Madam because she must go back to the palace to report this matter to the Empress.

Old Madam didn’t want Nanny Xi to tell the Empress about it, but she couldn’t stop her. She could only say it implicitly and gave a big gift to Nanny Xi, hoping that Nanny Xi could talk more about the good thing of Duke Xing’s Mansion in the palace.

Since something like this had happened and Nanny Sheng had died, everyone was not in the mood to say anything now. The young ladies dispersed at the gate of the courtyard.

Shao Yanru had originally wanted to say more to Shao Wanru. But seeing Nany Zheng behind Wanru looking at her with a faint smile, she hesitated and could only watch Shao Wanru leave.

Her palm hurt dully in the cuffs. It had been pinched by Madam of Duke Xing just now. It hurt, but she felt as if her face hurt more. The last few words that Shao Wanru had said today in front of Nanny Xi were like slaps in Shao Yanru’s face. But she couldn’t argue with Shao Wanru. Even if she won the argument, there would be no benefit.

“Miss…” Seeing her watching Wanru’s leaving back in a daze, Shuqi called her in a low voice.

“Let’s go!” Shao Yanru retracted her venomous gaze and headed to her yard. She couldn’t act rashly. She couldn’t spoil her big plan. She was about to take part in the wife selection of the Prince soon. At this critical time, she couldn’t confront Shao Wanru head-on. She must endure it for the time being. She would have to wait for a good opportunity to kill Shao Wanru.

For the sake of the future, she could bear anything. Fortunately, she hadn’t participated in her mother’s scheme this time. Even if the conspiracy was exposed, it would have nothing to do with her. She had no plan to help her mother now. She forced herself to endure all the disgrace now because she wanted to tramp Shao Wanru hard to death in the future!

She was going to tramp her into the mud and make her miserable…