Chapter 12

But that only made it more essential to get rid of her!

I looked at Madam Zhai coldly. “When Yun returns from school today, tell her your brother has married and wants you to join him for a comfortable life. Tell her that I have shown you special favor by releasing you from service, and that you’ll visit whenever you have time. What happens afterward needn’t concern you.”

Madam Zhai stared at me without a word.

“Let me make this clear,” I said mildly. “You have no other choice. Say one word wrong, and your brother will lose a piece of himself. Think carefully. How many cuts can a man like him withstand?”

With a hoarse cry, Madam Zhai struggled to throw herself at me.

Hongyuan restrained her with one hand. “You really won’t learn until you see the coffin!”

“Let her go,” I said coldly. “Let her think it through herself.”

This would be handled better if Madam Zhai cooperated.

She trembled all over, looking like a trapped beast ready for one last struggle.

I did not hurry her. I simply watched in silence.

After about the time it took an incense stick to burn, she finally sank to the floor like a collapsed lantern, her face defeated and despairing.

“Have you made up your mind?” I asked.

“I… I understand,” Madam Zhai whispered. “After I leave… please have pity on Yun, Madam. Treat her well.”

I sneered. “Yun is my niece. Of course I will treat her well!”

As if I needed a wicked servant to remind me!

There was little more to say.

When Yun returned from school, Madam Zhai’s expression changed several times. In the end, her love for her brother won, and she repeated what I had told her to say.

Yun’s face fell. In tears, she begged her nurse not to leave.

“You don’t understand, young miss,” Hongyuan said gently from beside them. “Nanny Zhai is going to enjoy a comfortable life with her brother and his wife. If you won’t let her go, wouldn’t it be even sadder for her to grow old with no family to depend on?”

Through her tears, Yun asked, “Nanny, is it true? Didn’t you say you’d never leave me?”

Madam Zhai was heartbroken. She had stolen over the years, but she did have affection for Yun.

Life in the earl’s household was so comfortable. She would rather have died than leave.

But her brother was her treasure. She dared not defy me. At last she gritted her teeth. “Miss Hongyuan is right. I… I’m going to live comfortably. Don’t worry about me, young miss!”

Hongyuan followed smoothly. “Whenever Nanny has time, she’ll come back to visit you. Just wait for her, young miss.”

Madam Zhai nodded stiffly and hugged Yun tightly. “From now on, listen to Madam and live well,” she said through tears. “Nanny must go now.”