Qin Shuying smiled faintly: “Nanny, if you can think this way, I can rest assured. Sixth Prince has great ambitions—he’s someone who accomplishes great things. Previously, he naturally didn’t take me seriously. In the future, however, he’ll guard against me everywhere. If he wants to deal with me, he won’t act lightly, but once he does, he’ll certainly ensure I can never turn things around. Nanny, from now on, we need to start keeping watch on Sixth Prince.”
Nanny Fu felt both heartache and sorrow: “Bullying an orphaned girl—what excellent methods!”
Fortunately, Sixth Prince had now been assigned duties and wasn’t in the capital.
“Nanny needn’t be angry. When soldiers come, we’ll block them with generals; when water comes, we’ll cover it with earth. Think more about everything and make more preparations. Even if he’s a prince, so what? Crown Prince, Fourth Prince, Fifth Prince, Seventh Prince—which one of them is easy to deal with? Nanny needn’t worry too much either. He wouldn’t put me on the same level as Crown Prince, Fourth Prince, Fifth Prince, and Seventh Prince when dealing with opponents.”
“Fourth Prince? Miss, Crown Prince naturally goes without saying. Fifth Prince has Consort De as his mother and such a powerful maternal family. Seventh Prince has Consort Kang and Minister Mu. It’s natural for Sixth Prince to be wary of them. As for Fourth Prince, his birth mother had low status and died early. Fourth Prince has been away from court for many years—what threat could he pose?”
Qin Shuying said: “Affairs of the world are unpredictable. Thinking a bit more is never harmful. Did Xu Shi ever imagine that I, Qin Shuying, would one day cause her to fall to such a state? Did she ever expect that Qin Yunyun’s marriage prospects would deteriorate to this extent?”
Nanny Fu remained silent with a complex expression, unsure what she was thinking.
A shadow flashed through her mind. It had been so long that she thought she had almost forgotten that person’s appearance, yet just now, she discovered she actually remembered that person’s every smile and frown.
The next day.
Dong Shi returned home.
Except for Xu Shi and Qin Yunyun, everyone else met with Dong Shi in Xuan Hall.
On this return, Dong Shi brought back a son and daughter, along with Qin Kaile’s concubine, Concubine Miao, and her daughter, eleven-year-old Qin Wei.
Qin Yue and Qin Wei were similar in age—Qin Yue was only a few months older than Qin Wei, showing how favored Concubine Miao had been by Qin Kaile back then.
Dong Shi had never been an exceptionally beautiful woman. Following her husband to his posts, constantly laboring, and not being skilled at adorning herself, she looked considerably older than Concubine Miao.
Concubine Miao stood respectfully behind Dong Shi, dressed modestly and properly, without the flashy demeanor of legendary favored concubines. Though her clothing was simple, it couldn’t hide her beautiful appearance.
Upon seeing Qin Shuying, though Dong Shi still smiled warmly, she inevitably lingered on her for quite some time.
Though the family letters hadn’t explicitly stated that Xu Shi was practicing Buddhism because of Qin Shuying, Dong Shi wasn’t foolish. Xu Shi had been managing the household for so many years—why would she suddenly be ordered to return quickly to take charge?
Therefore, Dong Shi had her wet nurse, Granny Zu, make thorough inquiries.
Only then did she learn about the Qin household affairs, naturally making her impression of Qin Shuying more profound.
As Dong Shi scrutinized Qin Shuying, Qin Shuying didn’t avoid her gaze, allowing herself to be observed openly while also taking note of Concubine Miao, Qin Yue, Qin Wei, and Qin Shuo.
Qin Yue inherited Dong Shi’s appearance, while Qin Wei inherited Concubine Miao’s looks. Standing together, one was plain-looking while the other was stunningly beautiful—a stark contrast indeed.
However, though Qin Yue’s appearance was ordinary, she possessed the steady, serene temperament of a proper young lady from a noble family. She sat there with a gentle smile, composed and gracious.
Qin Wei’s gaze lacked Qin Yue’s clarity. Her eyes lingered on Qin Shuying noticeably longer than on others, even more than on Old Madam.
Who could blame Qin Shuying for wearing that set of purple jade accessories worth over ten thousand taels of silver!
Qin Wei’s gaze couldn’t hide her amazement and envy.
With such a concubine-born daughter present, yet Dong Shi could raise her legitimate daughter to be like this—she was clearly exceptional.
Of course, whether Qin Yue was truly as she appeared at first glance would require time to verify.
Qin Shuo had also been raised quite well—polite, generous, answering questions appropriately with proper responses.
The happiest person was naturally Old Madam. Though Qin Shuo was now eight years old and couldn’t be held in her arms, she had him sit on the footstool beside her, holding his hand throughout.
After lively conversation for a while, Zou Shi had already arranged everything at Rongfu Courtyard where Dong Shi’s family would reside. Dong Shi then led her household members to get settled.
It took Dong Shi’s household two days to settle in completely.
On the third day, Dong Shi officially took charge of household management.
All of this had little impact on Qin Shuying.
Dong Shi had originally come from an official family, later following Qin Kaile to his posts and always managing households. The Qin household wasn’t complicated, and without a mother-in-law pressuring her from above, managing the household wasn’t difficult for Dong Shi.
The household rules remained the same as always, with no changes. The allowances for Yilan Garden also continued as before.
As Qin Shuying had expected, the Liu family accepted her congratulatory gifts but only sent return gifts according to proper etiquette.
As in-laws, when Zou Shi was managing the household, she had naturally sent gifts in the Qin household’s name. The Liu family’s return gifts were only slightly better than those for other official families.
Qin Yongtao, however, was very pleased.
From now on, he would have a third-place scholar as a nephew-in-law, which somewhat improved his mood after being mocked and angered over Qin Yunyun’s affair.
At the same time, he felt regretful that if only the Liu family were in the capital, he would certainly drink heartily with Minister Liu.
After Liu Junqing became third-place scholar and paraded through the streets, he hurriedly returned to Huzhou without time to visit the Qin household—truly a great pity.
Among everyone, the most unhappy person was Nanny Fu. Everything had been predicted by the miss, which made her both angry and deeply worried about the miss’s future.
If the Liu family truly broke off the engagement, what would the miss do?
Or now that the Liu family’s fortunes had risen, would they develop other thoughts?
Several days later.
That morning, after Qin Shuying got up, she exercised as usual, rested, then had breakfast.
Old Madam often didn’t require them to dine together or pay respects, so she followed her own routine. After Dong Shi returned, Old Madam breathed a sigh of relief and announced the next day that everyone needn’t come pay respects for the next month.
Now that Old Madam’s leg ailment had improved considerably, and Qin Shuying had taught this technique to Xiangqin and Xiangchun, even when Qin Shuying wasn’t present, someone could massage Old Madam’s legs.
Just after finishing her meal, Nanny Fu came in and said: “Miss, Eighth Miss has returned.”
Qin Fangfang had returned? She had gone to be a concubine—how was she allowed to return home? Could something major have happened?
Ziteng interjected: “Miss, this servant made inquiries. She was sent back by people from Duke Zhuangmu’s household. They said Eighth Miss was dying, and having her die in the Sun family would be inauspicious, so they delivered her to our main gate. The gatekeepers said they needed to report to the First Madam, but unexpectedly, the Sun family people didn’t care—they just left the sedan chair and departed. When First Madam learned of this, she quickly ordered Eighth Miss to be carried in. I heard Eighth Miss has only one breath left.”