Chapter 96 Wicked Servant Deceives

Chapter 96: A Wicked Servant Deceives

He looked in the direction Jiang Qingrong was pointing and indeed saw a familiar figure.

It was a woman around fifty, wearing a thick quilted jacket embroidered with dark blue bamboo leaf patterns, a simple silver hairpin in her hair, and traces of silver threads already visible at her temples.

"Yes! That's nanny Chai. I remember when I was a child, I used to take you out to play, and nanny Chai would always nag at me." Jiang Qingrong was a bit excited. "Also, Qin Jiao, do you remember, the drunken crab nanny Chai made was absolutely delicious; I still crave it to this day!"

"I remember." Qin Jiao's eyelashes drooped slightly, his voice faint.

How could he not remember? Nanny Chai, originally named Chai Hua, was Xiao Ning Shi's dowry nanny. She was an excellent cook, and her Huaiyang cuisine was unforgettable. Qin Jiao's current love for drunken crab was largely due to her.

Three years ago, she had accompanied Qin Jiao to Nanzhou along with Cong Shuang, but shortly after arriving there, she quietly returned to the capital with the other attendants, taking all the money and travel expenses with her.

Because she was his mother's dowry nanny and had watched him grow up, Qin Jiao trusted and was close to her. But who would have thought that people's hearts are so hard to fathom, and trouble arose from within the family.

Later, after returning to the capital, Qin Jiao had Cong Shuang inquire about nanny Chai's whereabouts. The doorman said she had angered Madam Yu and was expelled from the mansion; after that, there was no news.

As Qin Jiao recalled the past, Jiang Qingrong had already called out: "Nanny Chai, nanny Chai! Look here."

Jiang Qingrong's voice was like a bell, and nanny Chai had already spotted them. But her first reaction upon seeing Qin Jiao was not joy or concern, but fear and stepping back.

"What's wrong with nanny Chai?"

Jiang Qingrong wondered, but before he could call out again, nanny Chai had already turned and run, even dropping the vegetable basket she was carrying.

"Grab her."

Qin Jiao's voice was low, and his face was cold and stern.

Qin Jiao ordered, "You, quickly catch that woman!"

Seeing Qin Jiao's unusual expression, Jiang Qingrong quickly waved his hand, ordering the Marquis of Pingning's mansion guards downstairs to seize her.

Soon, the guard captain escorted nanny Chai into the private room.

Up close, Jiang Qingrong noticed just how much nanny Chai had aged over the years. Not only were there white hairs at her temples, but her face was also covered in wrinkles, and she looked bitter.

"Nanny Chai, why were you running? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost when you see your former master?" Jiang Qingrong said.

"Perhaps she has done something guilty and is afraid to see me." Qin Jiao's voice was cold.

"What's going on?"

Seeing that Qin Jiao was not in a good state, Jiang Qingrong quickly pressed for answers, and Qin Jiao briefly told him about nanny Chai's actions in Nanzhou.

Jiang Qingrong was the most righteous and hated evil. Back when the capital's market authority was abusing power, he dared to scold even the Second Prince for the sake of the common people. Now, his face was red with anger.

"You wicked servant! The master treated you sincerely, yet you dared to steal the master's money and run away. You truly deserve death!" Jiang Qingrong spat angrily.

"Master Jiang, Master Qin, spare my life! I had no choice but to return to the capital privately!" Nanny Chai was so scared that tears streamed down her face. "Young master, please, for the sake of me looking after you since childhood, spare my life!"

"Who ordered you to return to the capital alone, leaving me behind in Nanzhou?" Qin Jiao gave nanny Chai a cold glance.

Nanny Chai: "I dare not deceive you, young master. It was Madam Yu who said to leave you in Nanzhou."

Upon hearing this, Qin Jiao let out a scornful laugh.

Seeing his icy expression, nanny Chai spoke even more cautiously: "Back then, Madam Yu had arranged for me and Miss Cong Shuang to stay and care for you after the others returned to the capital. But I have a worthless only son at home who loves gambling and is sickly; I was truly worried about him, so I secretly returned to the capital."

Nanny Chai wept and complained: "At that time, my only son owed three thousand taels in gambling debts. The gambling den people said that if I didn't pay, they would chop off both his legs. I was truly blinded by greed, that's why I dared to steal your money, young master, to pay off my son's debts."

As Qin Jiao listened, he sensed something wrong. "You say you stole my money?"

"Yes, yes." Nanny Chai looked ashamed, showing a guilty expression.

"Did Madam Yu not instruct you to do so?"

"No. Madam Yu only told us to take you to Nanzhou and take good care of you, not to let you get hurt." With the guards glaring angrily beside her, nanny Chai dared not falsely implicate anyone: "Later, when Madam Yu found out I had returned to the capital privately, she had me beaten and expelled from the Qin mansion. I brought it upon myself; my only son later continued his gambling addiction, owed huge debts he couldn't pay, got his head bashed in, lost a leg, and has been bedridden for years."

Jiang Qingrong was furious: "Serves you right! You brought this all on yourself!"

Nanny Chai's voice was bitter: "Yes, I brought all this on myself."

Jiang Qingrong, as an outsider, was furious, but Qin Jiao, the one directly affected, remained calm. "Qin Jiao, what do you want to do with this woman? Send her to the authorities?"

Qin Jiao looked at the aged nanny Chai and couldn't help recalling his early days in Nanzhou.

At that time, Qin Jiao was young, and Xiao Ning Shi had just passed away. He was already heartbroken. When he heard that nanny Chai had taken the silver and other servants back to the capital, Qin Jiao was shocked and terrified. He ran after them, but on the way, he was accidentally knocked down by a cart loaded with heavy stone.

Back then, Qin Jiao didn't have the Fengxue Bracelet, nor did he know about his poisoning. That collision with a horse-drawn cart loaded with heavy stone took him a full six months to recover from, and even then only barely.

During those six months, Cong Shuang's eyes were red every single day, either from crying over Qin Jiao's injuries or from staying up late doing embroidery to exchange for money.

Logically, even if nanny Chai had run off with the money, Qin Jiao shouldn't have been penniless, since Xiao Ning Shi had a generous dowry.

But the problem was that before leaving the capital, Qin Jiao had deposited all of Xiao Ning Shi's dowry in a bank, with a three-year lock-in period. Qin Jiao initially thought he would only stay in Nanzhou for a few months, so he didn't bring much silver. In the end, unexpected events left him stranded without money.

He also wrote letters to the Qin mansion in the capital, but each time they went unanswered. Fortunately, later Jiang Qingrong and Ning Zhong sent him some items, which Qin Jiao sold to make ends meet, and life gradually improved.

Later, after Qin Jiao recovered from his injuries, when the Qin mansion still didn't send anyone to fetch him, he gradually understood the family's intentions, and his heart grew cold.

Since his mother's dowry was in his own hands, returning to the capital or not didn't matter. With that thought, Qin Jiao stayed in Nanzhou year after year, until last year when Lin Wen sought him out to return to the capital, and he once again entered this web of intrigue.

"Young master, you are kind-hearted; please spare this old woman!"

Nanny Chai whimpered, trying to grab Qin Jiao's robes. Having known her since childhood, it was hard not to soften. Just as Qin Jiao was about to speak, Luo Yue, who had been observing them from the shadows for a long time, couldn't help but speak up:

"Young master, do not be soft-hearted. This woman is lying to deceive you!"

----------------------------------------