Last night, the Emperor summoned Minister Mu to the palace for an audience. No one knew what they discussed, but when Minister Mu emerged, his face was pale and he seemed about to collapse.

According to Qin Yongtao’s speculation, His Majesty would not be in a hurry to punish the Mu family.

The reason was simple: the art of balance.

The Crown Prince was already in his thirties with a relatively mild temperament, and his political achievements were not outstanding.

In contrast, the Fifth Prince, Sixth Prince, and Seventh Prince were each capable and excellent. The forces backing them were also formidable—Lianpin was relatively weaker, Noble Consort De was at the top, and Kangpin was in the middle.

The best approach was to maintain the current state among these three factions, or throw out the title of one of the four consorts for Lianpin and Kangpin to compete for, mutually weakening their power.

In this struggle, Noble Consort De’s choice to remain a bystander was the wisest.

However, if either Kangpin or Lianpin emerged victorious and became one of the four consorts, this would be somewhat dangerous for Noble Consort De. Therefore, Noble Consort De might also try to block both Kangpin’s and Lianpin’s paths to promotion.

If His Majesty wanted to protect the Crown Prince, he would certainly continue to find ways to keep these three factions fighting.

This being the case, how His Majesty handled the Mu family would be worth pondering. His Majesty’s handling method would also reveal his attitude. Currently, no court official knew what His Majesty’s attitude was.

As long as he showed an attitude, Qin Yongtao would know how to act in his own best interests.

Therefore, the Mu family matter would ultimately benefit the Qin family without harm. And the person who brought up this matter was the fourteen-year-old girl standing before him.

Qin Shuying’s eyes were clear and innocent as she looked at Qin Yongtao: “Uncle, at that time, Princess Fu’an humiliated your niece in such a way, humiliating Father and Mother, which meant she didn’t regard Lianpin or the Qin residence with any respect. It didn’t matter if your niece alone suffered humiliation, but at that moment your niece represented the Qin residence and Lianpin. Your niece could not show weakness or accept baseless accusations, otherwise they would never be washed away. In that case, Lianpin would be implicated, and His Highness the Sixth Prince would also be implicated. So your niece, stumbling upon this by chance, frightened Princess Fu’an. As long as your niece insisted on this matter, she couldn’t possibly confront your niece on the spot. Unexpectedly, the news your niece had heard was actually true, and Princess Fu’an immediately didn’t dare trouble your niece anymore. Uncle, your niece doesn’t regret doing this. She wanted to humiliate our Qin family and humiliate His Highness the Sixth Prince—don’t even think about it!”

Qin Shuying spoke with righteous indignation, putting family honor first and thinking of Lianpin and the Sixth Prince in everything.

The strange feeling in Qin Yongtao’s mind finally dissipated considerably. This was the attitude and consideration a clever fourteen-year-old girl should have.

She was just an orphan—without relying on Lianpin, the Sixth Prince, and the Qin family, whom could she depend on?

She was merely a fourteen-year-old girl—how could she understand such major court affairs?

He had been overthinking after all.

Perhaps it was because Qin Shuying’s actions over these past few months had truly shocked him. Especially regarding palace matters—Lianpin had later sent Eunuch Xi to tell Qin Yongtao everything that had happened in the palace in detail, including what Qin Shuying had said to Lianpin afterward.

At the time, Qin Yongtao absolutely didn’t believe Eunuch Xi’s implication that Qin Shuying had deliberately schemed to make Lianpin stumble.

He knew his wife and daughter had their eyes on Qin Shuying’s money. Eunuch Xi spoke that way only to make him detest Qin Shuying, so they could find a way to seize the money in Qin Shuying’s hands.

However, after the incident at the Old Madam’s birthday banquet, Qin Yongtao could no longer make a move. The Old Madam’s eyes were sharp as snow. In any case, Qin Shuying hadn’t done anything outrageous, and Qin Yongtao couldn’t possibly take her life—she was his legitimate brother’s only flesh and blood.

Moreover, the palace was Lianpin’s territory—how could Qin Shuying possibly scheme against Lianpin?

Qin Shuying was still unmarried, the Liu family marriage was so advantageous, and later the Sixth Prince had also conveyed his intention to win over Qin Shuying. Therefore, although Qin Yongtao was surprised by Qin Shuying’s actions, he didn’t take any action against her.

Regarding the Eastern Hidden Temple incident, although Qin Yongtao suspected this niece, the route and location had all been arranged by Qin Yunyun. What could this niece have done? It could only be said that her luck was too good—even with such scheming against her, she hadn’t fallen into the trap.

Qin Yongtao became somewhat superstitious—this niece couldn’t be touched. Whoever moved against her would meet with disaster.

These past few days, he had learned that Qin Shuying had actually gained Princess Yongjia’s favor. This was remarkable indeed.

Princess Yongjia was His Majesty’s only blood sibling from the same mother and had considerable influence with His Majesty. She was a figure that countless people couldn’t curry favor with even if they tried. Even if His Majesty passed away in the future, Princess Yongjia’s glory wouldn’t diminish much.

For Qin Shuying to align with her was the best possible outcome.

If this could lead to Lianpin also establishing a connection with Princess Yongjia, then…

The corner of Qin Yongtao’s mouth lifted as he asked, “How does Princess Yongjia treat you?”

“Her Highness treats your niece no differently from other noble ladies.”

Qin Yongtao smiled with little concern. This niece of his was both intelligent and cautious—that was good. Only then could she be of use when she reached the Liu family.

“Very well. If you need to visit the Princess’s residence, just tell your sister-in-law. I’ve already instructed her.”

This was hinting that he would provide her with the highest specifications and standards for outings.

Qin Shuying respectfully said, “Yes, thank you, Uncle.”

“Mm.”

Having said this, Qin Yongtao departed with his hands clasped behind his back.

Qin Shuying watched his retreating figure with very complex feelings.

Through all this time of investigation, she had continuously analyzed Qin Yongtao as a person. Although he was greedy, cunning, stern, and cold, he wasn’t someone who actively reached out to harm lives.

He cherished his reputation.

However, his cherishing was only built on the foundation of his own interests being guaranteed.

Qin Yaoyao’s matter had basically been orchestrated entirely by Xu Shi and Qin Feifei, with Lianpin providing schemes and adding fuel to the fire.

Qin Yongtao probably knew something about it, but he didn’t investigate deeply. Concubine daughters were meant to be used as support, so he naturally affirmed and tacitly approved of Xu Shi’s actions to seize Qin Yaoyao’s wealth.

However, he probably hadn’t expected that Xu Shi would want to kill Qin Yaoyao. But regardless of what he had thought at the time, Qin Yaoyao was dead, the Zhou uncle’s family was dead, Feng’er was dead…

If he had made Xu Shi restrain herself back then, why would Feng’er have died so miserably?

Moreover, there was also Qin Yongzhou’s matter. That was his own brother, and he seemed to care about this brother, but why had he never suspected the cause of his brother’s death?

“Miss, let’s go back.”

Ziteng reminded her.

Qin Shuying looked back at Ziteng and saw the worry and confusion in her eyes. Qin Shuying’s mind immediately became much clearer.

She hadn’t forgotten what Nanny Fu had said about Ziteng no longer being pure.

Why had this happened?

It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought of learning the reason from Ziteng, but there had never been a suitable opportunity.

In the future, if she learned the reason, she would absolutely not let that person go.

If Qin Yongtao hadn’t indulged Xu Shi, if the Zhou family hadn’t fallen into ruin, why would Ziteng have suffered such a fate!