The person who came was none other than Nanny Xia, who had taken care of Song Zhaoyang since childhood.
Back then, after Song Zhaoyang was born, the Empress Dowager personally sent Nanny Xia to the Song family to be Song Zhaoyang's etiquette tutor.
The Song family understood the Empress Dowager's intention. She wanted Song Zhaoyang to marry into the royal palace after coming of age. However, the Song family had no intention of getting involved in the struggle for the throne. Although they accepted the nanny, they always maintained their stance of supporting the emperor.
Nanny Xia had watched Song Zhaoyang grow up and had long regarded her as the little mistress of the family. After Song Zhaoyang got married, Nanny Xia also came to the Xue Mansion with her.
During this period, Nanny Xia's old mother passed away, and she went home for the funeral. She never expected that Song Zhaoyang would have a premature birth!
"Nanny." Song Zhaoyang looked at Nanny Xia, and tears welled up in her eyes.
In her previous life, Nanny Xia was the first to discover the conspiracy of Lady Wen and the second branch of the family. She was also the first to find out that her daughter had been switched. But unexpectedly, she was silenced by Lady Wen.
She remembered seeing Nanny Xia chained by the ankle in the shabby house, her whole body festered, and her eyes wide open in death. She clenched her fists tightly, trembling with anger all over, and tears welled up from her eyes.
Nanny Xia saw Song Zhaoyang's blushing and crying face and quickly hugged her into her arms.
"Don't cry, miss. Nanny's back!"
Song Zhaoyang calmed down her emotions, but her voice still had a sob in it.
"Nanny, I'm fine."
Nanny Xia carefully wiped the tears off Song Zhaoyang's face and comforted her, "You're in confinement now. You can't shed tears. Everything will be taken care of by this old servant."
Saying that, she turned to look at Magpie, who didn't even dare to breathe loudly, with a solemn face.
"Magpie, is this how you serve the mistress?"
Magpie trembled in fear and said, "It's this servant's fault, nanny."
Song Zhaoyang saw Magpie looking like a mouse seeing a cat in front of Nanny Xia and couldn't help laughing.
She grabbed Nanny Xia's hand, and her eyes instantly turned cold.
"Nanny, it's not Magpie's fault. Who would have thought they would use such despicable means!"
Saying that, she told Nanny Xia how Lady Wen and Young Lady Wen had joined hands to make her have a premature birth and tried to make her bleed heavily after giving birth.
She only concealed the fact that they had switched the baby.
Magpie was confused as to why the mistress didn't mention this matter, but she didn't dare to interrupt.
Hearing this, Nanny Xia was so angry that her body heaved up and down. She gritted her teeth and said, "Don't worry, miss. Now that this old servant is back, I will never let those two women get their hands on you again. You just focus on your confinement. We'll settle the score with them after you're out of confinement!"
Song Zhaoyang nodded.
---
As soon as Lady Wen returned to her courtyard, she smashed things in the room.
She was so angry that her face was hideous. Looking at the mess in the room, she gritted her teeth, and angry glints flashed in her eyes.
"Song! She thinks she can ride on my head just because she has the support of the Song family! She's courting death!"
"I don't believe the Song family can support her for a lifetime!"
"Is the day after tomorrow the first day of the lunar month?"
The maid beside Lady Wen replied respectfully, "Yes."
A cold glint flashed across Lady Wen's eyes.
"Go and ask Manager Qiao from the grain store to come here!"
Manager Qiao trembled nervously when he saw Lady Wen with a livid face.
Lady Wen said coldly, "I remember there's still some old grain in our store that needs to be disposed of?"
Manager Qiao said, "Yes. Last time, the eldest mistress said that this old grain should be taken to the manor and disposed of by the people there. We could even feed it to the chickens."
Lady Wen said coldly, "Song really thinks the Xue family's money comes from nowhere! People can barely get enough to eat, and she wants to feed it to the chickens!"
"Doesn't Song like to distribute porridge outside the city on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month? You take this old grain there and have it cooked into porridge!"
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Manager Qiao's forehead. "Madam, some of that rice is mildewed."
A cold glint flashed in Lady Wen's eyes. "Don't worry. It won't kill anyone! As long as this matter doesn't get exposed, no one will know!"
"By the way! Song is in confinement now. Don't bother her. I'll take charge of this matter!"
Seeing this, Manager Qiao had no choice but to agree.
After seeing Manager Qiao leave, Lady Wen said, "Go and call Kong Shan, Nanny Yu's son, here!"
Since Song Zhaoyang had fallen out with Lady Wen, she had sent people to keep an eye on everything that happened in Lady Wen's courtyard.
When she learned that Lady Wen had met with Manager Qiao and Kong Shan, she suddenly sat up from the bed.
Nanny Xia was startled when she saw Song Zhaoyang's action and quickly said, "Miss, slow down. Your body is still weak. You can't be so reckless."
Song Zhaoyang tightly grabbed Nanny Xia's arm and gritted her teeth. "She's trying to harm me again!"
Influenced by her mother, Lady Luo, Song Zhaoyang used to distribute porridge outside the city on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month to accumulate good deeds and blessings for the well - being of the whole family.
In her previous life, during one of the porridge - distributing events, a man suddenly showed up and said that his mother had eaten the porridge last time and had suffered from vomiting and diarrhea. She had almost died.
He forcefully broke into the porridge - distributing shed. Ignoring the obstruction, he slashed open the rice bag with a knife, revealing the mildewed old rice.
The surrounding villagers were in an uproar when they saw this!
The trouble - maker shouted that they were endangering people's lives. The angry villagers smashed the porridge - distributing shed and even beat the Xue family's servants on the scene.
This incident also caught the attention of the court. In the imperial court, the censor impeached the Xue family, saying that they were harming the villagers and were immoral. And Lady Wen's own son, Xue Chuzhong, stood up and said that now the Xue family was under Song Zhaoyang's control, and everything was her idea. The other members of the Xue family were unaware.
The emperor was extremely angry.
To protect Song Zhaoyang, the father and son of the Song family donated 100,000 dan of grain. But this incident also had a profound impact on the Song family's century - old reputation of nobility.
The emperor was wary of the Song family, which laid the hidden danger for the Song family to be involved in the struggle for the throne in the future and for the whole family to be exiled to Ningguta.
Thinking that the Song family had also been implicated by her in her previous life, Song Zhaoyang was filled with hatred and anger.
Nanny Xia saw Song Zhaoyang's hideous expression and her heart tightened. She asked in a low voice, "Madam, is the old mistress causing trouble again?"
Nanny Xia's voice brought Song Zhaoyang back to her senses. She took a deep breath and then sneered, "She wants to harm me? In her dreams!"
"I'll make her taste what it means to 'reap what she sows!' Nanny, you go back to the Song Mansion. Do this..."
Song Zhaoyang motioned for Nanny Xia to come closer and whispered something in her ear.
Nanny Xia understood and respectfully said, "This old servant will go right away."
In the evening, Nanny Xia returned to the mansion with a man and a woman.
"Ziying."
"Feiyang."
"Greetings to the mistress."
Song Zhaoyang looked at the two people in front of her and said calmly, "Ziying, from now on, you'll be a maid serving me like Magpie. Feiyang, you'll be in charge of external affairs. Now I have something for you to do!"
Feiyang respectfully said, "Please give your instructions, mistress."
A sneer curled up at the corner of Song Zhaoyang's mouth. "You go to the Elegant Pleasure House. I heard that Xue Chuzhong is infatuated with a courtesan there named 'Buyao' recently."
"Ask Buyao to whisper in his ear and persuade him to go outside the city the day after tomorrow to distribute porridge in his own name to accumulate blessings. There will be a generous reward if you succeed!"
Feiyang nodded. "Yes! I'll go and handle it right away!"
Feiyang came to the Elegant Pleasure House. Just as he reached an agreement with Buyao, Xue Chuzhong arrived at the Elegant Pleasure House.