"ah--"

The sharp screams broke the tranquility of Caiqiuyuan at night.

Xigui closed the window and glanced in the direction of where Nanny Wu lived. It was already past the first watch, and the moon and stars were sparse in the dark sky.

She said, "Miss, it must have come from Madam Wu."

Sheng Xiyan's dark hair was scattered on her shoulders. She was holding a small cup of warm water in her hand, sipping it slowly and leisurely. Hearing this, she curled her lips and said, "Remember to give her some more tomorrow."

"I know." Xigui went to the dressing table and picked up a small silver jar with filigree enamel, her eyes full of curiosity, "Miss, this incense is really effective."

"This is called nightmare." Sheng Xiyan finished the last sip of warm water and said with a smile, "It's a kind of medicine from Miaojiang." The name is also simple and straightforward.

"Medicine?"

Xigui looked at the small silver jar in her hand. She thought it contained spices. It smelled sweet and very pleasant.

"My grandfather learned this from the Miao people. He wrote in his notes that it can cause people to have nightmares about their worst fears."

This was a prescription she found when she was looking through Old Lady Xu's medical notes. She thought it was interesting, and when she was tidying up the warehouse a few days ago, she found some relatively rare medicinal herbs, so she took the time to make it, but she has never used it.

Xigui understood everything, so the girl deliberately asked her to talk about the thunder that day in front of Nanny Wu, and also specially picked a lively and noisy little maid for Nanny Wu.

"Go and have a rest." Sheng Xiyan said excitedly, "We'll know tomorrow whether this medicine is effective or not."

Her dark almond eyes could not hide her anticipation.

She didn't need anyone to keep watch at night, Xigui was already used to it. Upon hearing this, he lowered the bed curtain for her and left.

When passing by Madam Wu's room, there was another scream from inside. The maid who was in charge of taking care of Madam Wu hesitated at the door. When she saw Xigui, she hurried over and said, "Sister Xigui, look at this... Madam Wu seems to have had a nightmare for a long time and keeps calling. Should I go and wake her up?"

She was only about eleven or twelve years old, and seemed to be frightened and a little timid.

"Let her be." Xigui glanced around. It was August and the night was still a little stuffy. There were no ice basins in the servants' rooms, so most of the windows were not closed. But looking from here, all he could see was pitch black.

Xigui didn't care and just smiled and said, "Madame Wu has just arrived, so it's inevitable that she will be a little reluctant to leave her bed. You just have to bear with it for a few days. The young lady said that she will give you an extra month's salary this month. Tell the others tomorrow."

This is simply a great thing! The little maid's eyes lit up.

Xigui took out another silver ingot and gave it to her: "You can take care of it first, and talk to Aunt Wu more, so that she can get familiar with it sooner, and everything will be fine."

The little maid nodded and said happily, "Sister Xigui, I understand. Today, Madam Wu asked me a lot about the thunder that day. I will tell her more about it tomorrow."

Xigui smiled and said, "Just answer whatever she asks you. Go and have a rest. You still have work to do tomorrow."

The little maid happily took the silver ingot and left.

Xigui took another look at the room. She heard some movement inside. The smile on her lips deepened a little. She thought to herself: Have a good dream.

Of course, a good dream cannot be a good dream.

The next day, Nanny Wu used up almost all her strength to force herself to get up.

When she appeared in front of Sheng Xiyan, her cheeks were deeply sunken, there was a purple area under her eyes, her gaze was dull and scattered, and the whole person looked a little dazed. In just one night, she seemed to have aged several years.

When she was in the Zhenbei Palace, she was nominally a slave, but because Princess Jingle always respected her, she never had to do any hard work. Even the young masters in the palace would politely call her "Madame Wu", and she was treated like an old lady from a merchant family.

But after just one night in the Sheng Mansion, she felt like she had lost half of her soul and was completely drained.

"Madam Wu," Sheng Xiyan asked gently, "Did you sleep well last night?"

She had just gotten up and Xigui was wrapping a handkerchief and handing it to her to wipe her face.

"Thank you, young lady." Madam Wu said in a dry voice, "I slept well."

Sheng Xiyan was very nice and said considerately, "That's good. I was worried that you would get used to your bed. I have some excellent calming incense here. If you can't sleep in your bed, I'll ask Xigui to bring you some. You are an elder by the princess' side, so you don't have to be so reserved with me."

Madam Wu forced a smile and said, "Thank you, young lady. I am used to it."

She had not yet recovered from the nightmare and was always looking for something to do, so she took the ebony comb from E Rui's hand and combed Sheng Xiyan's hair.

Sheng Xiyan's hair was black and shiny. As she slowly combed her hair with an ebony comb, she said to Xigui, "Let's go to mother's place early today. I think the weather is not very good. It may rain."

"Yes." Xigui nodded seriously, "Maybe there will be thunder."

thunder!

Nanny Wu shuddered, her hand shook, and the ebony comb slid down her hair and fell to the ground.

"Bang."

Sheng Xiyan turned her head and saw a distraught face.

Sheng Xiyan's eyes were bright. From her reaction, it could be seen that she had been struck by lightning all night. The effect of nightmare was really good!

According to medical notes, nightmares can cause people to fall into nightmares, but people's dreams are too illusory and too difficult to control.

Therefore, even though Sheng Xiyan had tried to induce Nanny Wu a lot, she could not be completely sure that her dream would go as she expected. But now it seems that everything is going well, otherwise Nanny Wu would not be so scared when she heard the word "thunder".

"Madame Wu, are you okay?" Sheng Xiyan brought up the past, "Did you not sleep well last night? Do you want to..."

"No." Nanny Wu was startled and said quickly, "I just couldn't hold it steady for a moment." She bent down to pick up the comb and returned it to E Rui to wipe it clean.

"Young lady." Nanny Wu forced a smile, her smile uglier than crying. "The princess asked me to serve you. I had enough rest yesterday, so I don't need to rest anymore."

She didn't want to go back to sleep.

Whenever she recalled last night's dream, her heart couldn't stop beating wildly, as if she had really been struck by lightning all night and hadn't recovered yet. This feeling was so real that she dared not recall it again.

It was not until Sheng Xiyan finished her breakfast and prepared to go to the main courtyard that Nanny Wu finally calmed down. Since she had come to the Sheng Mansion, according to the rules, she should pay her respects to Liu, the mistress of the house, so she went with them.

"Miss, doesn't the mansion need morning and evening visits?" After leaving the house, Nanny Wu noticed that Sheng Xiyan seemed to have gotten up a little late, and it was almost 9 o'clock now."

"Madam has been ill recently." It was Xigui who answered. She sighed, "During the thunderstorm a few days ago, a bolt of lightning happened to hit Madam's head, and then Madam fell ill."

What she said was nine-tenths true and one-tenth false. Nanny Wu was so frightened that her legs went weak and she almost fell down. Xigui helped her up at the right time and said with concern: "Nanny, be careful. It rained last night and the ground is still slippery..."

Nanny Wu didn't hear clearly what she said later. In a daze, she followed Sheng Xiyan to the main courtyard.

After Amber passed the message, she led them into the inner room.

Mrs. Liu had been ill for six or seven days. She had a fever from time to time in the first three days. Later, the fever subsided, but she was still sick and could not get up from the bed.

But this could only fool others, but it couldn't hide it from Sheng Xiyan.

As the saying goes, "Observe, smell, ask, and feel", even without taking the pulse, she could tell that Liu should be well. However, she didn't know whether it was to show weakness in front of Sheng Xing'an or to torture Aunt Zheng, but she was still "sick". On the contrary, Aunt Zheng lost a lot of weight in just a few days, and even rouge couldn't cover up her haggard and tired look.

Sheng Xiyan lifted her skirt and went into the inner room.

Liu was sitting on the couch with a soft cushion behind her. Her face was lightly powdered and she was wearing thin clothes. She looked weak and powerless.

"Sister Yan, you're here."

As soon as Sheng Xiyan came in, her breathing stopped.

She also knew that Sheng Xiyan was tidying up the warehouse. She was sure that she had not touched any other things of the Xu family. But she was afraid that Sheng Xiyan would deliberately cause trouble. She felt uneasy as if there was a string tied around her heart.

In fact, she wanted to ask a few days ago, but she never dared. Today, she finally mustered up the courage, made up her mind, and asked, "Sister Yan, have you sorted out the warehouse?"

"It's done." Sheng Xiyan said with a smile, "I also asked Xigui to make a new book. Would you like to see it, mother?"

"No, no." Liu quickly refused, and then said carefully, "Is there anything... Is there anything wrong?"

Sheng Xiyan said gently, "There's nothing wrong with it. Mother has taken good care of it."

She acted like a good daughter, but Liu felt uncomfortable hearing these words. She could only go along with her and said flatteringly, "It's good that there's nothing wrong."

The huge stone in her heart finally fell to the ground.

"Mother." Sheng Xiyan introduced Nanny Wu to her again, "This is the Nanny given by Princess Jingle. She will stay in our house for the time being."

Only then did Mrs. Liu notice this strange nanny and couldn't help but look at her a few more times.

A thought flashed through her mind: Princess Jingle suddenly gave Sheng Xiyan a nanny. Could it be that she was here to teach Sheng Xiyan how to behave?

Thinking of this, her heartbeat quickened. Ever since the Queen Mother granted her the marriage, Sheng Xiyan had been acting so arrogantly that she was out of control, relying on the fact that she was going to marry into the palace.

Now that she has the leverage over me, I definitely can't control her.

Princess Jingle is different. She is Sheng Xiyan's future mother-in-law, someone she must please! She will definitely not disobey.

When she thought that someone could deal with Sheng Xiyan, Liu became excited and her eyes were burning.

In fact, Nanny Wu had been looking at her since she entered the room. She was first shocked by her haggard face, and then she was even more shocked by her almost servile flattery towards Sheng Xiyan.

Liu was a stepmother and the mistress of the household, but she wanted to please a stepdaughter. This was really strange.

Madam Wu bowed to Mrs. Liu and said, "Mrs. Sheng."

Liu quickly told her not to be polite and said, "The princess is so thoughtful."

Since Princess Jingle sent Nanny Wu here, she must be good at disciplining people. It would be great if she could discipline Sheng Xiyan...

A wide smile appeared on her face as she said politely, "Thank you for your concern, Ma'am." Her little thoughts were clearly revealed on her face.

Sheng Xiyan smiled slightly and said, "Mother, you should have a good rest. Your daughter will go back first."

Liu didn't want to keep her either. She was hoping that she would go back as soon as possible so that Nanny Wu could set some rules for her.

"Be careful with your steps on your way back. There was a lot of dew last night..."

The mother and daughter both looked happy.

Sheng Xiyan had nothing else to do, and she was too lazy to go out in such a hot day. After returning to Caiqiu Courtyard, she leaned back on the beauty couch. As soon as she stretched out her hand, Xigui immediately handed her a storybook. E'rui brought a glass of iced fruit juice and placed it on the tea table beside her, and fanned her with a round fan.

Sheng Xiyan leaned lazily and flipped through the storybook nonchalantly. Before she had read a few pages, she covered her mouth and chuckled. She looked lazy but calm, and seemed to be in a very good mood.

Aunt Wu was simply stunned.

Miss Sheng was very well-behaved and polite in front of the princess yesterday. Even just now in front of Madam Sheng, she behaved very properly. Who would have thought that she would be so unruly in private.

The way he sat was so ungraceful that Aunt Wu couldn't bear to watch.

Aunt Wu calmed down and asked in a gentle voice, "Miss Shengda, what are you looking at?"

Sheng Xiyan showed her the cover of the storybook, which had the words "Jin Xiu Ji" written on it, and said casually, "It's the best-selling storybook in Beijing recently. It's quite interesting."

This book was recommended to her by Cheng Chuyu, who said it was very good and she has already finished half of it.

Xigui asked with interest, "Miss, what is this book about?"

Sheng Xiyan took a sip of the fruit juice and told her a story seriously: "Once upon a time, there was a family with a young lady. Later, the young lady married far away and took the maid who had served her since childhood with her. Later, the maid fell in love with the young lady and poisoned the young lady, hoping to replace her."

"Ah!" Xigui covered his mouth and said in disbelief, "How could there be such a vicious person in the world! What happened next?"

"Later, the young lady turned into a fierce ghost and came back to find the maid. She peeled off her skin and ate her blood... She demanded her life day and night." Sheng Xiyan's voice was soft and gentle, and she deliberately dragged out the sound. "This is called good and evil will be rewarded in the end."

Xigui: “…” She always felt that the storybooks sold in the capital seemed to be getting weirder and weirder.

Thinking back, Xigui was still angry about the plot and said angrily, "It's not enough for a slave to bully his master, he even wants to kill his master. Even if he dies, he will go to the eighteenth level of hell and never be reborn! Aunt Wu, what do you think?"

Nanny Wu's forehead was covered with cold sweat. It was clearly midsummer, but she felt as if she had fallen into an icy cave, with a bone-chilling chill permeating her entire body.

"Madame Wu?" Xigui called her again, as if afraid that she hadn't heard clearly, and repeated it, "What did you say?"

"I..." Aunt Wu shuddered. She came to her senses and tried to calm her inner panic. She said in a strong but weak voice, "Miss, you'd better read less of this kind of idle book."

There was an unconcealable tremor in her voice, but she still deliberately put on a tough attitude and said, "Young lady, since the princess has given me to you, I will take advantage of my age to say that you should read more "Nu Yi" and "Nu Xun"."

Sheng Xiyan sat up slowly and placed the notebook on her knees. This simple action, when performed by her, brought out a natural elegance.

Nanny Wu felt that her words worked, and continued to encourage her, "Miss Shengda, although your family background is ordinary, since you are about to marry into our Zhenbei Palace, you should also know what it means to be careful in what you say and do."

When she said the last four words, Aunt Wu deliberately emphasized them.

She stood up straight and said with a serious face, "Miss Shengda, since you know you are wrong, go and copy the "Nu Yi" ten times."

Sheng Xiyan tilted her head and said, "Madame Wu, what did you say?"

Aunt Wu repeated, "Please ask Miss Shengda to copy the "Nu Yi" ten times."

Sheng Xiyan smiled, smoothed her sleeves and stood up.

Nanny Wu thought she was going to copy it, so she said, "Young lady, the princess gave me to you for your own good..."

However, as she was saying this, she realized something was wrong. Sheng Xiyan stood up, but did not walk towards the study. Instead, he walked towards her step by step. When he was only half a step away from her, Sheng Xiyan stopped and stared at her steadily with a pair of almond-shaped eyes as deep as an ancient pool.

The fifteen-year-old girl was already half a head taller than Aunt Wu. Although she had a faint smile on her face, the pressure emanating from her body made Aunt Wu feel an indescribable oppression.

"Miss Shengda!" Madam Wu raised her voice and emphasized, "I was sent by the princess. How dare you disrespect the princess?!"

"Princess?" Sheng Xiyan smiled. "Of course I will show my respect. But, Madam Wu, I don't know who your master is. How should I show my respect?"

Sheng Xiyan leaned forward and asked with interest: "Tell me, who is your master?"

Nanny Wu's heart trembled suddenly. She suddenly remembered that when she first came to the Sheng family yesterday, Sheng Xiyan had asked her, "Who is your master?"

She originally thought it was just a slip of the tongue, or maybe she just spoke in a hurry. After all, Sheng Xiyan's attitude was still quite gentle afterwards, as if she had long forgotten what she had said.

But now, the topic is brought up again... What on earth does she mean? !

A night of nightmares had strained the nerves in her head to the limit. Nanny Wu was almost losing her sanity. Her eyes were filled with anxiety and her face was full of helplessness.

She wanted to avoid it, but her feet seemed to be tied with heavy lead blocks, making it difficult to move. She swallowed and said with difficulty: "My master is of course the county..."

"Think it over before you answer." Sheng Xiyan raised a finger and shook it gently, saying with a smile, "Otherwise, you will be struck by lightning."

Aunt Wu: “…”

She thought of the thunder last night, of Liu who was still lying on the sickbed and unable to get up, and of the rumor that Liu was struck by lightning. She suddenly realized why Liu was so humble to her stepdaughter Sheng Xiyan.

"Madame Wu, go back and think about it carefully. Come back and tell me when you've made up your mind."

Sheng Xiyan yawned and sat back on the beauty couch. She picked up the storybook and never looked at Nanny Wu again.

Nanny Wu stood there in a daze, unable to come back to her senses for a long time, until Xigui made a "please" gesture to her, and Nanny Wu subconsciously took a step forward.

"Madame Wu." When she reached the door, Sheng Xiyan spoke again. Her head was still buried in the storybook, so only her voice could be heard. "The tragic young lady in The Brocade Embroidery Story lingered day and night around the maid who killed her. Do you know what happened to her in the end?"

Nanny Wu shuddered and quickened her pace.

She didn't want to hear a word.

"Finally, that maid, ah..."

Her voice suddenly stopped, as if carrying an endless sigh.

Nanny Wu's mind was in a mess, like a ball of tangled ropes, and her mind was filled with Sheng Xiyan's last unfinished words.

She didn't know how she got through the day, and when night came again, she began to get scared.

She didn't want to stay here anymore, didn't want to face Sheng Xiyan anymore...

She quickly packed her bags and tried to get back before curfew.

Nanny Wu felt inexplicably panicked. She was afraid that the princess had really found out. She also thought that Sheng Xiyan was just bluffing and deliberately deceiving her. Her heart was in suspense, neither able to rise nor fall.

She originally thought that Sheng Xiyan might stop her, but everything went smoothly until she walked out of the Sheng Mansion.

Along the way, Nanny Wu walked very fast, panting heavily.

However, when she turned into the street where the Zhenbei Palace was located, what caught her eyes was a large area of ​​white. It was the white cloth hanging at the gate of the palace.

Aunt Wu was panicked. She rushed over quickly, knocked on the corner door, grabbed the doorman and asked, "What's going on? What happened?"

The concierge said sadly, "The princess is gone."

Aunt Wu: “…No, this is impossible!

She asked quickly: "When did this happen?"

"It happened last night." The concierge cried and said with tears and snot, "The princess suddenly had chest pain and could not be saved."

Nanny Wu shook her head in disbelief and muttered to herself, "This is impossible, impossible... Princess!"

"county……"

Nanny Wu woke up suddenly, gasping for breath, with large patches of sweat on her forehead.

She looked around subconsciously. This was her room in Sheng Mansion. How could she have fallen asleep on the table?

It was just a dream...

"Madame Wu..."

Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, Nanny Wu seemed to hear a voice calling her, over and over again. The voice seemed ethereal, sometimes far away, sometimes near.

"Madame Wu..."

Nanny Wu turned her head subconsciously and saw endless darkness, a darkness that seemed to be able to swallow up everything in the world.

Was it that dark just now? This thought flashed through Aunt Wu's mind for a moment, and a pale figure slowly walked out of the darkness and walked towards her step by step.

"Madame Wu..."

"Princess?"

Although it was so dark all around, Nanny Wu recognized the figure as Princess Jingle at a glance.

"You killed me."

"You poisoned me."

"You are the one who wants to kill me."

"No, no... Princess, no. Please listen to my explanation..."

Nanny Wu shook her head in fear and stepped back step by step until she had nowhere to retreat and her back was pressed tightly against the wall.

A cold hand touched her cheek, and the sharp nails easily scratched her skin. Then with another strong force, the whole skin was peeled off from her face in extreme pain.

The hand held the face and shook it gently in front of her eyes.

"ah--"

Nanny Wu screamed loudly and woke up again. She quickly touched her face, frightened and panicked. Her heart was beating so fast that it seemed like it would jump out of her throat at any time.

At this moment, she couldn't tell whether it was a dream or reality.

"Madame Wu..."

Suddenly there was another sound.

Nanny Wu rushed out of the door without thinking and ran as fast as she could. She didn't know where to go, she just wanted to escape from here.

However, just as she stepped out of the door, her feet tripped and she fell heavily face down.

The fall was so severe that she was in so much pain that she could not even get up. She could only use her elbows to crawl forward with great effort.

In the darkness, someone walked slowly towards her, one step at a time. On the embroidered shoes visible outside the hem of her skirt, two colorful butterflies fluttered as she walked.

"Princess, Princess! I know I was wrong, I know I was wrong!"

She held her head with both hands, yelled incoherently in panic, and was almost on the verge of collapse.

A voice asked her, "Would you like to tell me who your master is?"

"Who told you to give the princess that heart-eating grass?!"

Time seemed to have stopped, and the darkness was like a beast, glaring at her.

Nanny Wu slowly released her hands from holding her head and carefully raised her head.

Sheng Xiyan's face flickered in the candlelight of the lantern. Her dark hair was tied up in a loose bun, and she was not wearing any pearl flowers.

She looked down at her, her face expressionless and with no sense of joy or anger, which made her feel endless fear from the bottom of her heart.

Aunt Wu could no longer tell whether this was reality or a dream; she felt as if she were trapped in an abyss, sinking deeper and deeper.

"If you don't want to talk, then I'll leave."

Sheng Xiyan spoke lightly as she shook the lantern in her hand. The red candlelight flickered in front of Nanny Wu's eyes. A moth was attracted by the candlelight and landed on the lantern.

Nanny Wu subconsciously stretched out her hand, like a moth, trying to grab the only ray of light in the darkness.

However, Sheng Xiyan turned and left.

Her figure blocked out the light of the lantern, and the endless darkness around her surged up again, almost swallowing her up.

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you, I'll tell you!! Don't leave... I'll tell you everything!"

Nanny Wu screamed and yelled hysterically, and the last string in her heart finally broke completely.