Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 522 - 522 523 Attempting to Suppress_1

Chapter 522: Chapter 523: Attempting to Suppress_1 Chapter 522: Chapter 523: Attempting to Suppress_1 Muniang bid farewell to Jian Yue, and as she lifted her eyes to survey the maids Jian Yue had left behind, there were five in total: two old nannies and three young maids. Muniang carefully sized up the maids only to find that each one was strikingly pretty, easily surpassing Qiao Xin, who attended to Jian Yue, in beauty by many times over.

In the households of prominent families, it is common for the women not to keep maids who are extraordinarily beautiful, especially when they are in close attendance, as it’s too easy for the master to take notice and cause trouble for themselves. Yet these three maids were left behind to serve Yu Ze, and now Jian Yue had sent such fetching creatures, Muniang understood her motives all too well.

Muniang cast a cold glance at the row of servants, then said to Qingya, “Go arrange lodgings for these people; I will assign their tasks later.”

“Yes.”

The faces of the line of servants changed, clearly sensing something amiss in Muniang’s words. After all, the Marquise had already assigned their duties before she left; the three young maids were to accompany the Prince Heir, and the two nannies were to teach etiquette alongside the Princess. They should have been sent directly to their posts, so why were they waiting for her to allocate their duties?

Muniang’s tone grew colder, “What? You’re not willing?”

The group felt an inexplicable fear. How could the Princess seem different from a few days ago?

Muniang sneered inwardly, she had shown Jian Yue respect while she was here, but were these servants thinking they still had the run of the place?

But the old nanny, after all, was from a grand family and had steadied her nerves, stepping forward she said, “Princess may have forgotten, but the Marquise had already arranged our places before leaving. The Princess need not trouble herself.”

“Is it that I need not trouble myself, or is it that my words are less significant than those of a mere servant?” Muniang’s voice became even more chilling, the politeness shown to Jian Yue completely gone.

The old nanny mentally exclaimed her dismay, realizing the Princess was indeed cunning, feigning compliance in front of the Marquise, who had truly underestimated her.

“That was not this servant’s intention, but the Marquise’s directive. I implore the Princess not to quarrel with a mere servant. Although the Marquise has left, this servant is not without means to contact her. It would be best for the Princess not to act too rashly or this servant will have to fulfill her duty.”

The old nanny’s words were respectful, but the tone was clearly threatening.

Muniang was indeed infuriated, “Such gall you have, I wondered why you were so bold. Seems you’re threatening me with the Marquise. Look clearly at who your present master is! If the Marquise handed you over to me, that doesn’t mean she left me in your charge. No matter how respected, you’re still a servant and now you wish to lord over me? Shall I directly hand the Yu Mansion over for you to dictate as well?”

The old nanny trembled. To tell the truth, the Marquise’s intention was just that: they were sent to assist but in fact to usurp the Princess’s authority. The Marquise harbored wariness toward the Princess, wishing these two seasoned nannies to seize her power, and the other three maids to usurp her favor. That was the Marquise’s true intent.

The Marquise could hardly tolerate her son being so ‘manipulated’ by a woman. But of course, these true intentions could not be explicitly stated, for although the Princess had fallen out of favor with the Marquise, she remained highly cherished by the Prince Heir, and they could not overstep their bounds at this moment.

But now, due to miscalculation, they had seen the Princess being extremely obedient in the presence of the Marquise, yet now she had turned so defiant; she was clearly not one to be taken lightly, and the maids and nannies couldn’t help feeling dread.

“Where would I not defer to the Princess’s authority?” the old nanny eventually gritted her teeth and made concessions.

Muniang snorted coldly and then turned to leave.

Returning to her room, Muniang felt immediately upset. She knew that Jian Yue was not pleased with her, but what was this supposed to mean now? The people she sent all seemed to be thinking about how to suppress her, to shove her off the stage. Did she really have no tolerance for her anymore?

Qingya, seeing Muniang in such a state, felt uneasy and handed her some tea, “Lady, don’t be angry. Perhaps the Marquise did this with good intentions, and it just happens that those servants were too domineering.”

Muniang slammed the tea onto the table with force, and said coldly, “Servants domineering? No matter how domineering servants are, without the approval from above, would they dare to treat their master in such a manner from the start?”

Qingya choked on her words, not knowing what to say anymore, she could only ask, “So, what does the Lady plan to do now?”

“Those old nannies came here to try to intimidate me and thanks to my firm stand, I stopped them. Otherwise, they would really start to think I’m an easy persimmon to pinch and their behavior would become increasingly troublesome in the future. But, alas, they were sent by her, so I can’t shoo them away, nor can I treat them with disdain; this is what truly upsets me the most.”

“Why not let the Prince Heir…”

Muniang waved her hand dismissively: “What does he, a man, have to do with inner courtyard affairs? Besides, he’s currently busy with Guard matters, too occupied to attend to this, coming home late and leaving early, he’s tired enough. If I need his help with everything, he might just be worn out.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Those two nannies are born and raised servants of Marquis Chen Mansion, said to have some stature. In Marquis Chen Mansion, they are considered quite capable. Now that they are here, naturally, I can’t mistreat them too much, so I’ll give them a management position.”

“I am indignant on behalf of Lady, this clearly isn’t Prince An Mansion, it’s the home of the Lady and the master, not some deep, grand residence. Why should it change just because of these two old dames?” Qingya said resentfully.

“You think I want this? I wish I could order those two around like rough maidservants!”

“And what about those three maids? Lady, you mustn’t be blinded. If you really let them serve the master, each one is prettier than the next, clearly bitch vixens sent by the Marquise to seduce the master.”

“You think I’m foolish? Those two nannies have high reputation in Marquis Chen Mansion, I’ll show them some respect for the Marquise’s sake, but what are those three greenhorn girls? Since they have come to the mansion to serve as maids, can they choose their masters? I’ll have them all doing menial work as rough maidservants and put them in some out-of-the-way place to wash clothes and do miscellaneous chores, or maybe just send them to the kitchen to tend the fires. Definitely not put them anywhere conspicuous; seeing them only disgusts me!”

Muniang, although she knew that Yu Ze’s heart was filled with her now, was not foolish enough to just let these women mess around; if by chance she bet wrong, not to mention if Yu Ze took a liking to one of them, even if Yu Ze inadvertently slept with one, it would disgust her to death!

Things were not like before. If he dared to touch another woman in the past, she could simply walk away, but now, with all her foolish love given and a child born, if she didn’t protect her own man, would she wait for another woman to spoil what was hers?