Chapter 12: Nanny Gui

Shen Miao left the academy and reached the Shen manor as the sky was darkening.
Shen Yue and Shen Qing still didn't ride with her. Shen Miao couldn't be bothered to argue. Old Madam had already retired; she went straight to the west wing.
At the west wing a warm, eager voice called, "Miss is back! This old servant heard you fell in the water and worried myself sick. Now I see you're well—my heart can rest."
She turned. A middle-aged woman came toward her—forty-odd, slightly stout, skin a little dark, plain blue waistcoat over jacket. The cut was common; the cloth was good. A heavy silver bracelet on her wrist. Smile in every line of her face.
"Nanny Gui."
The woman seemed not to notice anything wrong and went on, "I meant to come sooner, but Ran'er has been ill and wouldn't settle. I had no choice—left him with his mother and came back first. Seeing you well is what matters."
Sweet words—as if Shen Miao mattered more than her own grandson. In the old days Shen Miao would have been deeply moved, comforted her, and handed silver for the boy's doctor.
Born again, looking at this woman, Shen Miao nearly laughed at herself. How had she ever been blind enough to call such a person loyal?
Soon after Shen Miao was born, Shen Xin marched out. Too young for the road, she stayed in the manor. Old Madam hired a wet nurse—today's Nanny Gui. Gui came from a tenant farm; Shen Miao's mother found her diligent and honest. When the nursing went well, she kept Gui as Shen Miao's upbringing nanny.
People change.
The west wing was thinly staffed; the east wing's two branches and Old Madam held power. Gui had once been honest with the girl. Later she read the wind and threw herself at Old Madam in the east wing. Flattering by nature, when Shen Miao set her heart on Fu Xiuyi, Gui had fanned the flame.
Worst of all—when Old Madam took in a distant niece, the girl was ruined by eldest brother Shen Qiu. She forced marriage and turned his inner yard to chaos. The witness that Shen Qiu had "dishonored" her was Nanny Gui.
Looking back, a clumsy play.
Once disloyal, never trusted again. A Gui who would betray a hundred times—Shen Miao would settle accounts properly. A dog that runs to other yards is better killed than kept.
Gui waited a long time for reward. The kindly look on her face stiffened. She looked up. Shen Miao watched her calmly, no special feeling.
Gui's heart thumped. For no reason she felt guilty.
Then Shen Miao answered without heat or cold, "Oh. Then you've worked hard, Nanny."
Guyu sniffed and shot Gui a mocking look. She had always despised Gui's fawning—bullying the west wing on the strength of being the miss's milk nurse. The old Shen Miao had swallowed Gui's gossip and turned against her own staff.
Good. Since the drowning the miss seemed to see clearer. This cool treatment made Guyu very satisfied.
Gui laughed awkwardly. She couldn't tell why today was so cold. Perhaps low spirits from the fall? She coaxed, "Old servant begs you—don't grieve too much. Guard your health. A flower like you—Prince Ding must favor you. One day…"
She knew how to please. She always picked what Shen Miao liked to hear. Today the words hit wrong. Shen Miao's face changed.
"Nanny, do you mean to stain my name?" she said coldly. "Father and Mother aren't in the manor, but I am still legitimate daughter of the general's house—mistress of the west wing. Any decent family guards a girl's reputation. Your talk deliberately throws me into fire and water."
Gui blinked. "Miss, how can you say that? Old servant only meant well—"
"So it's my fault?" Shen Miao laughed coldly. "Fine. Let's ask Old Madam whether a Shen daughter's honor is cabbage on the street—even cabbage costs a few coins. You spoke so grandly I must be the one who knows no propriety."
She hadn't expected this turn. Even in a bad mood she shouldn't vent on Gui. Gui had bullied the west wing for years; the old Shen Miao had been easy clay. To be shamed today—in front of Guyu and Jingzhe—Gui's temper flared. "Miss, you wound old servant. I've been at your side ten-odd years—how can you think I meant harm?"
"Insolence!" Jingzhe snapped loud. "The miss is master. How dare you speak to her so?"
Gui started, regretting her heat. Words spilled like water—and many servants had gathered to watch. She still thought of the girl who could be coaxed. She softened at once. "Miss, old servant truly pities you. All these years I've held you as my own child. Just now I spoke wrong. Don't anger yourself and harm your health."
Her own child? Shen Miao laughed inside. A fine creature, this Gui—silver from Shen Miao's purse, loyalty to the east wing, and in the end a trap that cost her brother dearly. In her last life a maid like this would have died on one decree. Now… since Gui was so eager to serve the east wing, why not use her hand to make the east wing choke?
She raised a brow, tone flat. "Since Nanny Gui admits fault—dock three months' pay."
Gui's face went stiff. Shen Miao's lips curved.
Without silver—what would Nanny Gui do?
Naturally go to the east wing and prove her devotion.