13 Chapter 13 Punishment

Xueying, carrying the bird's nest, had her eyes darting about everywhere. Seeing the two young masters both in the room, she could hardly keep her eyes off them, seemingly wanting to stick herself onto them.

Seeing her undisguised longing, both Mo Qingfeng and Mo Qingyun disdainfully frowned.

"Thanks for your effort, Nanny." Mo Ziwan motioned with her hand. Xueyan deftly took the bird's nest from her and handed it to Mo Qingfeng, thus quelling the growing anger of the two young masters.

Mo Qingfeng took the bird's nest from Xueyan, wafted away the steam, and began to concentrate on feeding Ziwan.

"I can do it myself." Ziwan stubbornly insisted.

Seeing her blushed and bubbly face, Mo Qingfeng felt reassured and gave Ziwan the bowl.

Ziwan smiled, took the bowl, scooped up a spoonful of bird's nest, and put it in her mouth. Then suddenly, her eyes widened as if she couldn't believe her own judgment, and she critically observed the bird's nest in her hand.

"What's wrong?" Mo Qingfeng and Mo Qingyun, who had been watching her closely, sensed something was off.

Ziwan scooped another spoonful into her mouth, then furrowed her brows. Seeing Mo Qingfeng's startled question, Nanny Xia's face started to show signs of anxiety. Oh good heavens, did the young miss find out something?

To her horror, Ziwan started throwing a tantrum and smashed the bowl directly in her face.

Nanny Xia's face and body were covered in bird's nest, her appearance utterly disheveled.

"Young Miss, please don't be angry. Did I do something wrong to upset you?" Nanny Xia, guilt-ridden, trembled as she spoke. The old Ziwan had always treated her like a saint, believing whatever she said and had never been as angry as now. Ever since she lost her memory, Ziwan had been increasingly difficult for Nanny Xia to understand.

"It's not to your taste?" Mo Qingyun knew that the current Ziwan was not one to make a fuss for no reason. It must be Nanny Xia who did something to anger her, and it's not just about the taste.

"You know very well what you did." Ziwan coldly motioned.

"I really don't know." Nanny Xia, with beads of sweat on her forehead, scarcely dared to breathe, yet persistently refused to admit any wrongdoing. Seeing the young miss getting angry, Xueying's gaze shifted away from the Mo brothers' faces, and she started flustering as well.

The Mo brothers, recalling Ziwan's earlier hint about a performance, understood the situation and silently sat without uttering a word.

"I trusted you so much and you dared to swindle me! Replacing the precious Blood Bird's Nest with an ordinary one. Just because I am young?" Sitting there, Ziwan was so angry that her chest was heaving visibly, a clear sign of her intense anger.

When they heard this, the Mo brothers finally understood what had happened. They hadn't paid attention to the bird's nest in the bowl earlier. Ziwan was frail, and all the medicinal supplies sent to her by the Qin Manor were precious, meant for her recovery. To think that this lifesaving thing was being embezzled by there servants! They wondered how much they had exploited from Ziwan. The brothers were both outraged, they wished they could flay these embezzlers on the spot.

It should be known that there is a huge gap in value and price between common bird's nest and Blood Bird's Nest.

"Young Miss, spare me please. I was blinded by greed this one time. Please, for the sake of our past, let me go." Realizing the gravity of the situation, Nanny Xia broke down crying, pleading for mercy but not once admitting her mistake.

Still spouting excuses even now, Ziwan coldly laughed at her in her heart, thinking her stupidity was unsurpassed.

She sat there motionless, waiting for someone. If that person arrived, let's see what excuses she could muster. Seeing Ziwan silent, the Mo brothers also sat there nonchalantly. Only the muffled cries of Nanny Xia and her daughter filled the room.

"Young Miss, not only did we find Blood Bird's Nest in Nanny's room, but we also found ginseng and various pieces of jewelry." After a while, Nanny Zhu arrived with a group of sturdy maidens. They returned with a pile of precious medicinal materials and embezzled jewelry.

The jewelry alone was enough for an ordinary family to live a lifetime. Humph, Nanny Xia indeed had the audacity.

"These jewelry were given to me by the young miss as rewards." Nanny Xia, realizing by now that Ziwan was deliberately targeting her, clung tenaciously to her defense.

"There are indeed some things here that I have rewarded you with, but can you dare to say that you weren't deceitful? Even if these jade objects were truly rewarded by me, you had quite the appetite to accept them all." Ziwan motioned, but it didn't affect her dignity. "At least half of these things were pilfered by you. It is better to check the account book." She tossed the account book to Nanny Xia.

At the sight of the account book, Nanny Xia felt the room spin. She was done for, that was her only thought.

Others might not know what the account book recorded, but she and her daughter knew. The account book was more of Nanny Xia's property register than anything else. It recorded all her embezzled items and bribes taken.

The embezzled items were vast enough to condemn her entire family to death a hundred times over. She clearly understood the severity of the situation hence was extremely frightened, "It was all my doing, Xueying and everyone else in the family knew nothing about it. Please, Eldest Miss, spare them." Nanny Xia desperately kowtowed to Ziwan. This time, she was truly begging for mercy. Every thump her forehead made on the floor echoed in the hearts of everyone in the room.

Even now they play innocent, looking at Nanny Xia's family, their attire was almost on par with her, the mistress. Who gave them such gall? Was it the addle-brained, now deceased, Mo Ziwan? Too bad, she was now longer that fool.

"Eldest Miss, for the sake of my dedicated care for you, please spare them." Nanny Xia's heartfelt cries were heart-wrenching, but there was no sympathy for her in the room. At least, Mo Ziwan would not sympathize with such a treacherous servant.

Ziwan was not one to make a move often, but when she did it was fatal. "Are you suggesting that I, Ziwan, should be forever grateful for the servants who care for me?" She said with a smile on her face, but the intended message sent chills down Nanny Xia's spine.

Ziwan was warning her in no uncertain terms, taking care of the mistress was their duty. Yet Nanny Xia dared to threaten the mistress with it, this was a crime worth additional punishment. Only then did Nanny Xia realize, the Ziwan in front of her was a stranger, an outright devil. She had never truly understood her mistress, yet she had, in her complacency, assumed that the mistress was weak and could be manipulated. How ridiculous.

She kneeled on the spot in a daze, forgetting to beg for mercy, as if she wanted to scrutinize Mo Ziwan.

Ziwan was unruffled, let her stare. The body was still the original young Miss Mo's, she wasn't afraid to lay bare everything for her to see.

"I know nothing, Young Miss, please spare me." Xueying wept bitterly. She was young and beautiful and poised to become a concubine, how could she die now? She was not ready.