Chapter 26 Targeting Her Reward and Planting a Spy
Not just Clio herself, but also Rose with red-rimmed eyes and a bunch of maids in tow.
"Cressida, about that zither, it was my poor arrangement. The servants made a mistake and I didn't even notice." Clio's attitude had completely changed, now speaking with great earnestness.
Cressida sat by the table, her expression calm: "Mother, no need to explain. I know it must have been that damned servant Tatum who made the mistake."
Tatum, whose name she'd just mentioned, was standing right behind Clio.
Hearing this, Tatum's whole body trembled, her face turning pale.
She looked up to meet Cressida's deep eyes and was so frightened she dropped to her knees with a thud.
"Ms. Hamilton, spare me! This old servant's eyes are failing, I truly deserve to die!" She slapped herself hard several times.
Tatum thought that once she'd shown her remorse, Cressida would let it go.
But after more than a dozen slaps, Cressida hadn't even frowned. She just kept sipping her tea, showing no sign of telling her to stop.
Tatum felt like she was being roasted over a fire. She looked toward Clio, who only gave her a look, signaling her to continue.
With no choice, even though Tatum wanted to protest her innocence, she could only grit her teeth and keep slapping herself hard.
Again and again, until the corners of her mouth split open.
Clio couldn't bear to watch, her heart bleeding!
Tatum had served Clio since childhood, and now she was being humiliated like this by Cressida, yet Clio couldn't say a word.
Finally, after more than a hundred slaps, Cressida said: "Alright, Tatum, you're my mother's servant. How could I make things difficult for you? Get up."
Tatum's mouth was bleeding, red and swollen with bruises, yet she still had to put on a smile: "Thank you, Ms. Hamilton."
She retreated to the back, gasping in pain.
Cressida's eyes were deep as her cool gaze fell on Rose.
"Is Rose here to apologize too?"
Probably frightened by Tatum's appearance, Rose trembled violently. Before she could speak, tears welled up in her eyes.
"Big sister, the zither Mother gave me, I... I didn't know anything about it."
"Cressida, don't blame Rose. It was all Tatum's confusion." Clio spoke up.
Cressida glanced at Tatum, whose head was bowed lower and lower, and smiled: "Mother, what are you saying? When did I ever blame Rose?"
Clio nodded: "You're very understanding, that's good. But today at the banquet, you were also at fault, letting others see our family's dirty laundry and making us a laughingstock."
Clio was trying to pin another crime on Cressida.
"If Mother is afraid of being a laughingstock, then don't go to such occasions next time." Cressida calmly countered.
Clio's words caught in her throat.
She knew she couldn't get angry.
"Cressida, you're still too young. Doyle gave you so many things, and you can't handle them yourself. It's easy to develop extravagant habits. Give me the keys to the storeroom, I'll manage them for you."
A cold smile flashed in Cressida's eyes.
This was Clio's real purpose.
All her humility was for those impressive rewards.
"Mother, you can forget about that. His Majesty gave them to me, I need to keep them myself."
"You don't trust me?" Clio patted her chest, looking somewhat disappointed. "I carried you for ten months and gave birth to you. Would I harm you?"
Here we go again.
In her past life, to avoid disappointing Clio, she had been completely obedient to her, but what did that get her in the end?
She was just a tool for Clio to gain fame and fortune, never receiving any real care.
"Mother, look at my courtyard, my room—I have nothing. The achievements my brother earned before, I didn't ask you for any of it. I let you and Father manage it all, didn't I?"
Clio felt a guilty pang at her question.
Cressida: "I need to keep these things. Otherwise, if Mother wants to settle accounts with me, I'll have something to settle too."
Clio's disappointed expression froze, her eyes shifting. After a long while, she sighed.
"Fine, you're grown now and won't listen to me anymore. In that case, I've brought some people for you."
She looked at the maids. "Only Emma serves you in your courtyard, which isn't enough. These maids are all carefully selected by me."
Cressida said nothing.
Her gaze swept across the faces of the maids one by one.
Five people. Clio was trying to plant people around her to monitor Cressida.
It seemed Clio knew before coming that Cressida wouldn't hand over those rewards.
"Mother is so thoughtful, but I'm afraid I won't be used to them."
"Just put them to work. If they don't serve you well, tell me."
After Clio said this, the maids took the lead in pledging their loyalty.
Cressida didn't refuse and let them stay.
When Clio left, she stood in the courtyard, looked up and took a deep breath, as if expelling all the frustration from her chest.
Back in her own room, Rose finally rubbed her sore, red eyes.
"Mother, big sister will be on guard against those people."
"I know, but she won't have the energy to fuss much longer. Once the marriage is arranged and she's about to marry out, she'll be begging me for helpers."
"What if big sister doesn't agree? His Majesty and Sophie both favor her greatly. Arranging a marriage for her won't be that easy."
After Rose said this, she changed her tone: "I have a plan that will definitely make her compliant."
Rose and Clio began discussing in low voices.
Night deepened, and the noisy wind died down.
With the rewards and money, plus Clio symbolically giving two basins of coal, Cressida's room was quite warm today.
She sat by the window practicing calligraphy when someone lifted the curtain to bring in tea.
Looking up, she saw it was Lika, one of the maids Clio had sent.
"I don't like tea before bed. Take it away." Cressida said directly.
Before Lika could speak, she was rejected. She gave an awkward laugh and nodded before leaving.
Today Clio had sent five people—Lika and four other servants.
Earlier, Cressida had them follow Emma to inventory the storeroom.
She deliberately gave Emma a chance to establish her authority. Soon, there was a commotion outside.
Moments later, Zola came in crying and knelt before Cressida.
"Ms. Hamilton, Emma is hitting people without reason. She's almost beaten Echo's face swollen. Please go take a look."
Cressida looked at her steadily without moving.
After Cressida's deep eyes looked at her for a moment, Zola's crying suddenly stopped.
"For matters between servants, you're asking me to judge—where are your manners?" Cressida said coolly. "Should I just report this to the authorities instead?"
Zola froze and lowered her head: "I wouldn't dare."
"If Emma hits you, take it," Cressida said coldly. "If you understand, get out."
Zola hurried away without daring to say another word.
Soon after, Emma came in, and Cressida patiently asked: "What happened just now?"
Emma's hair was a bit messy. She wiped her chin.
"While inventorying the goods, they weren't listening carefully. Echo even mocked me for being illiterate, and I heard her."
"You said that when it's time to establish authority, I should do it firmly. These four just arrived and already wanted to embarrass me, so I hit Echo."
"The others ran over to stop me, but none of them were as strong as me. I'd already decided that if I did wrong, I'd apologize to her afterward, but I absolutely couldn't go easy on the punishment."
Cressida showed an approving look that made Emma feel embarrassed.
"Ms. Hamilton, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Emma, you're really smart. Well done." Emma had learned everything Cressida taught her.
Only after Cressida expressed her support did Emma fully relax: "I'm just glad I didn't embarrass you."
Cressida nodded: "Their contracts are all held by my mother. These people can never truly be loyal, so there's nothing wrong with being harsh with them."
Emma understood this principle but felt somewhat guilty: "I never went to school as a child. Compared to these household slaves, I really fall short. I'll work hard to improve."
Cressida said she'd take her to a bookstore on a day when it wasn't snowing. Emma was deeply grateful.
"Ms. Hamilton, with these people constantly around, there's bound to be trouble. I'm afraid I can't watch them all closely by myself."
"It's fine," Cressida trimmed the candle wick. "They came at just the right time. I was wondering where to start, and Mother personally delivered the knife."
Time passed quickly to Christmas Eve.
An unexpected visitor came calling.