Qin Shuying walked forward at an unhurried pace, her bearing flawless beyond reproach. She respectfully bowed to the three princesses: “Your subject Qin Shuying pays respects to Princess Yongjia, Princess Fuping, and Princess Fu’an.”

Princess Yongjia looked her over and smiled lightly: “She does appear to be well-behaved and properly mannered.”

Madam Rong raised an eyebrow: “The princess speaks truly.”

Princess Fuping also looked at her with a smile, as if she had never seen her before.

Princess Fu’an’s scrutiny was the most direct, as if she wanted to examine Qin Shuying from inside out. Though her eyes held a smile, they carried mockery. Qin Shuying’s mind raced, trying to figure out where Princess Fu’an’s hostility originated.

“Princess Fu’an, may I ask what matter requires your summons?”

Seeing that Princess Fu’an remained silent, Qin Shuying took the initiative to ask.

Princess Fu’an leisurely took a sip of water before saying: “Nothing much. I heard that Seventh Miss Qin, despite being the daughter of an official family, shamelessly shows her face in public to conduct business, truly disgracing the reputation of our Great Zhou’s official families. Since this princess has learned of it, I must naturally take the place of your deceased parents to discipline and teach you what feminine virtue means.”

Qin Shuying felt puzzled. Princess Fu’an had immediately placed such a large accusation upon her – where exactly had she offended her? These words were a naked slap in the face.

She calmly observed the expressions of the other four people. Princess Fuping, Princess Yongjia, and Madam Rong all maintained indifferent appearances.

As the elder, Princess Yongjia said nothing.

Qin Shuying simply smiled lightly and said: “Your Highness, please forgive your subject’s dullness. Your subject truly doesn’t quite understand Your Highness’s meaning.”

Princess Fu’an’s face became somewhat ferocious. Those particularly large eyes glared as she looked down and shouted: “Slap yourself! When this princess speaks, how dare you question it?”

Her reprimand was quite loud. The madams and young ladies in the venue had already been paying attention to this area, and now everyone was watching, unclear about what exactly had happened – how had Qin Shuying managed to provoke Princess Fu’an’s sudden fury in just a moment?

Fourth Miss Lin smugly glanced at Lin Zilan, her eyes revealing disdain. After all, she was from the countryside with poor judgment. She had just made a friend upon arriving in the capital, only to have the princess slap her in the face. Let’s see how she could show her face when she returned.

Princess Yongjia only frowned slightly, as if she hadn’t seen Princess Fu’an’s anger.

Princess Fuping watched Qin Shuying with interest.

A shadow flashed through Qin Shuying’s eyes, yet she remained calm and said: “Your Highness, please forgive your subject’s inability to comply.”

Princess Fu’an, who had originally thought Qin Shuying would only obediently slap herself or beg for mercy, immediately widened her eyes and raised her voice in disbelief: “What did you say?”

Qin Shuying lowered her voice and spoke rapidly: “Your Highness, although Old Madam Mu privately participated in foreign spice trade, which could also be considered showing her face in public to conduct business, she is Your Highness’s maternal grandmother. You need not speak of her as lacking in feminine virtue. His Majesty once decreed the abolition of the Taicang Yellow Ferry Maritime Trade Office, stating that those who dare engage in private foreign trade would be severely punished by law, and all foreign spices and goods are forbidden from being sold. Your Highness respects His Majesty’s laws with such righteousness in eliminating family corruption, which naturally commands admiration. However, Your Highness’s actions would place Consort Kang in what position? Would Consort Kang not be guilty of knowing but not reporting?”

In an instant, Princess Fu’an didn’t know how Qin Shuying had managed to speak such a long passage so clearly and articulately.

“You… you… are talking nonsense!”

Princess Fu’an’s hair practically stood on end as she looked around frantically at Yongjia, Fuping, and Madam Rong.

The other three were all stunned by these words. Even Princess Yongjia couldn’t hide her astonished expression, no longer maintaining her previous indifference and detachment.

Consort Kang’s mother, Old Madam Mu, had actually disregarded the Emperor’s strict maritime ban and dared to participate in foreign spice trade?

Did she know this was a matter that could destroy the entire family?

How did Qin Shuying know about this?

Where did she get the courage to dare speak such words in front of these top-tier noble ladies of Great Zhou, immediately accusing a first-rank noble lady of such grave crimes without any regard for consequences?

Qin Shuying lowered her eyes. How did she know? Of course, she had spared no effort in gathering this information. Her current strategy was simple – having no other strengths, she could only use silver to purchase various needed intelligence.

Why shouldn’t she have courage? Why couldn’t she have courage?

Didn’t these people in power enjoy bullying orphaned girls like herself who had no parents or support? Didn’t they enjoy watching her become a laughingstock? Why should she extend her neck to let them bully her?

The former her would have been terrified by Princess Fu’an’s immediate demand for self-punishment. But the current Qin Shuying saw that these people were nothing more than paper tigers.

If you treated them as nothing, being three times more fierce than them and firmly grasping their vital points, they would have no choice but to submit to slaughter, no different from any ordinary commoner!

Once placed in dangerous circumstances, these people’s selfish faces would be completely exposed, their panicked behavior no better than beasts, their grace and bearing inferior to that of ordinary commoners!

And she collected information about these people’s vital points every day, memorizing them carefully every day. Not only did she do this, but Ziteng did as well. She needed to use this information to secure a thread of survival for her life at any time.

The more she saw, the more disgusted she became with the filthy and revolting affairs within these royal and great family circles. People like Xu Shi and Qin Yongzhou were everywhere, throughout the world – there wasn’t a single clean place.

In this life after her rebirth, she had never planned to endure humiliation and live a miserable lifetime.

In her previous life, she had been killed by “virtue and propriety.”

In this life, she wanted nothing to do with anything related to “virtue and propriety.”

Silence. Stillness.

The bewildered noble ladies below watched the people above and Qin Shuying with her back to them.

Lin Zilan whispered to Qin Lulu: “I don’t know what Princess Fu’an summoned Sister Shuying for, but from the looks of it, I’m afraid it’s nothing good. Did only your sister-in-law come from your family? Is there no one else who could speak on her behalf?”

Qin Lulu nodded anxiously: “Yes, that’s right. What should we do?”

Qin Yue frowned as she looked at the several people above. She saw them strangely looking at each other, but didn’t know what exactly was happening.

Fourth Miss Lin smiled mockingly and said: “My dear sister, I’m afraid you’ve gotten into trouble. This Seventh Miss Qin has probably offended Princess Fu’an. What good ending could there be for offending a princess? My dear sister, I’m afraid you’ll also be implicated.”

But Lin Zilan said: “I see that Sister Shuying is well-mannered. Sister, you’d better not make wild speculations.”

Fourth Miss Lin snorted coldly and muttered: “What’s the use of being stubborn with me? Father will teach you when you return. I’d like to see whether father will forgive you after you’ve implicated him.”

Lin Zilan cast her a cold glance, no longer paying attention to her, and turned to look at the several people on the platform.