The Old Madam’s tobacco pipe was made of brass and quite heavy. In her fury, she used all her strength to hurl it directly at Qin Yining’s head. If it hit, it would surely cause her head to split and bleed, at the very least leaving her disfigured.
Everyone cried out “Aiyo!” in alarm.
Who would have expected that Qin Yining would swing her hand forcefully, actually deflecting the pipe’s direction, causing it to smash heavily against the treasure cabinet.
The brass pipe bowl struck a small glazed ornament, and both items fell to the ground together. The glazed piece shattered completely, and the pipe and its jade mouthpiece also separated.
This crashing sound echoed through the quiet courtyard, making everyone’s hearts tremble.
What shocked people most was Qin Yining’s fierce, wolf-like gaze when she deflected it so skillfully.
“Grandmother, did you want to kill your granddaughter? Or did you want to disfigure me?”
Qin Yining smiled, her eyes burning like black lacquer as she stared intently at the Old Madam: “The Emperor has always promoted benevolent governance, and all his subjects emulate this. Every household advocates convincing people through virtue. If you feel that what your granddaughter said was unreasonable, you could certainly use reason to educate me. Why use such a heavy object to smash my head? If you killed me, Father would have no heir, and the discussions in court and countryside would surely turn unfavorable.”
“You shut up! Kneel down right now!” The Old Madam banged the low table, her stern words masking her inner weakness.
Qin Huining hurriedly patted the Old Madam’s chest to help her catch her breath, then turned to angrily scold Qin Yining: “You’re too outrageous! How can you speak to Grandmother like this!”
Qin Yining looked at her coldly: “Shut up! It’s not your turn to criticize me!”
Qin Huining instinctively shuddered, intimidated until her face turned deathly pale. Full of anger and resentment, under Qin Yining’s oppressive intimidation, she couldn’t even make a sound to argue back.
The Old Madam kept saying: “Rebellion, rebellion, this is rebellion! Someone come, throw her out, throw her out for me!”
Nanny Qin frowned on the side, thinking that Fourth Miss was like a burning coal—seeing her birth mother wronged, how could she let it go? She dared to publicly humiliate even someone with Concubine Cao’s background. The Old Madam’s weight probably wouldn’t even register in Qin Yining’s eyes.
Nanny Qin helplessly ordered people to drag Qin Yining away.
From the corner of her eye, Qin Yining caught sight of the servants’ movements and sneered: “No need to trouble yourselves. I’ll naturally leave after I’ve finished speaking.”
Looking directly at the Old Madam, her eyes seemed to burn with two flames.
“I know what the Old Madam is thinking, and not only do I know—everyone present isn’t foolish. Your granddaughter has only known the Old Madam for two months. That you don’t care about your granddaughter, don’t consider Father’s feelings, don’t care about our blood relationship—all of this is understandable. But my mother has devoted herself to this family. Even if she has no merit, she has worked hard. She has accompanied the Old Madam for nearly thirty years. Does this only earn her such heartless treatment from you? What will Second Aunt and Third Aunt think? What will the newly arrived Concubine Cao think?”
“You!”
“I advise Grandmother to weigh your actions carefully. Don’t make your conduct too unseemly.”
“Unfilial daughter! Someone come, beat her out! Beat her out!”
“Your granddaughter spoke inappropriately today and offended the Old Madam. Please punish me, Grandmother.” Having said everything she needed to say, Qin Yining lifted her skirts and knelt properly, her back straight as an arrow, her proud bearing undiminished. Though she was requesting punishment, everyone could see that she was only doing so because of their grandmother-granddaughter relationship, not because she had submitted to the Old Madam.
Such a thorny appearance throughout left all the women feeling they had learned something new.
They had never seen a woman face oppression with such domineering fierceness!
Cao Yuqing watched Qin Yining with changed eyes, secretly showing appreciation and interest.
The Old Madam took a deep breath and declared loudly: “Someone come, lock Fourth Miss in the woodshed for me. She can come out when she realizes her mistakes!”
The room fell completely silent.
Nanny Qin didn’t move immediately, looking at the Old Madam as if she wanted to speak but hesitated.
The Second Madam and Third Madam exchanged glances, also hesitating to speak up for Qin Yining.
Seeing that no one would follow the Old Madam’s orders, Qin Huining remembered how Nanny Qin treated Qin Yining specially, and anger rose in her heart: “What? Is Nanny Qin also planning not to listen to Grandmother’s orders?”
Nanny Qin was startled and lowered her eyes: “This servant wouldn’t dare.”
“Outrageous! Is there a place for you to speak here!” The Old Madam frowned, displeased as she glared at Qin Huining.
Qin Huining’s face flushed red with embarrassment, and she lowered her head.
Though the Old Madam didn’t like Qin Yining’s defiance, she still appreciated her intelligence, courage, and capabilities. Such a woman not only had methods for handling affairs but was born with a beautiful face and had gained the Crown Prince’s favor—perfect for marriage alliances. Her desire to punish her was also for the sake of her own face.
But in comparison, the Old Madam now disliked Qin Huining’s fence-sitting behavior even more.
Honestly, when the Old Madam thought calmly about her treatment of Sun Shi, she herself felt guilty. It was just that circumstances were such that she had no choice.
That Qin Yining would act like this for Sun Shi’s sake inexplicably reminded the Old Madam of how Qin Huaiyuan had protected her when he was young.
Qin Yining had returned to the mansion for less than two months, not only was her relationship with Sun Shi not deep, Sun Shi couldn’t even be considered good to Qin Yining, yet she could still be so loyal and steadfast to Sun Shi.
But what about Qin Huining?
Sun Shi had treasured and loved her for fourteen years like a pearl or jewel. Now seeing Sun Shi fall and a new concubine enter, Qin Huining eagerly cozied up to the new concubine, completely disregarding the kindness of her upbringing. With so many men from Duke Dingguo’s household beheaded, Qin Huining could still wear bright colors to meet people.
Though the Old Madam’s own actions were criticized, she disliked seeing Qin Huining’s sycophantic behavior.
Seeing this, Cao Yuqing smiled and said: “Old Madam, this servant-concubine presumes to say a word. In this freezing weather, Fourth Miss is just a young girl. If she’s locked in the woodshed and catches cold or develops some ailment, won’t you be the one who’s heartbroken? In a family, it’s inevitable that tongues hit teeth. As the family’s matriarch, please forgive Fourth Miss.”
“Yes, Mother, please don’t hold it against Yining.” The Second Madam also smiled as she persuaded.
With someone providing her a way out, the Old Madam felt much more comfortable and glared coldly at Qin Yining.
Just as she was about to speak, she heard a maid outside calling loudly: “The Master is here.”
As soon as the words fell, they saw Qin Huaiyuan quickly enter wearing a lead-gray brocade cloak with a black sable fur collar. His hair still had white frost on it and was steaming, clearly having just bathed and come over before his hair was completely dry.
Nanny Qin glanced at the doorway and caught sight of Bingtang’s figure flashing by.
So Fourth Miss had just instructed Bingtang to fetch reinforcements—truly excellent tactics!
Upon entering, Qin Huaiyuan smiled and bowed to the Old Madam: “Mother.”
“Meng Ge’er, why did you come without even drying your hair properly? Aren’t you afraid of getting sick?” Seeing her beloved son, the Old Madam felt such tenderness, hurriedly calling for Nanny Qin to bring a towel to help Qin Huaiyuan dry his hair.
Qin Huaiyuan sat on the folding stool at the Old Madam’s lower right, smiled gratefully at Nanny Qin who was drying his hair, then said to the Old Madam: “Just now in the study I was reading ‘Thirty-Six Stratagems’ and came to the section on ‘hiding a knife behind a smile.’ I thought about discussing it with Yining, and knowing she was here with Mother, I couldn’t wait to come over.”
The phrase “hiding a knife behind a smile” carried deep meaning that different people would understand differently.
Regardless of what others thought, the Old Madam’s old face grew hot, and she uncomfortably snorted: “A girl who hasn’t read many books—what would she know about the ‘Thirty-Six Stratagems’?”
Qin Huaiyuan smiled gently: “Yining, ‘hiding a knife behind a smile’ comes from which set in the ‘Thirty-Six Stratagems’?”
“From the second set, tenth stratagem: ‘Trust and reassure them, secretly plot against them, prepare before acting, don’t let changes occur—hard inside, soft outside.’ Father, your daughter knows her error.”
After speaking, Qin Yining sighed lightly.
Her methods were still too crude.
Though simple, direct, and effective, after calming down, there were perhaps other gentler ways to handle today’s matters. It was just that she wasn’t accustomed to suffering grievances, her nature was such that she impulsively confronted the Old Madam like this.
She felt that since the Old Madam didn’t care about her anyway, whether she acted or not, the Old Madam wouldn’t have a place for her in her heart.
But she had forgotten to consider Qin Huaiyuan’s feelings being caught in the middle.
Qin Huaiyuan deliberately mentioned “hiding a knife behind a smile” to stab at those who did hide knives behind smiles, warning them not to think their actions were very secretive. He was also teaching her that in handling affairs, she should learn to be “hard inside, soft outside.”
It had to be said that Qin Huaiyuan truly deserved his reputation as “Intelligent Pan An.” Having served as a high court official for so many years wasn’t for nothing—with casual conversation, he had stabbed at those who needed stabbing and enlightened those who needed enlightening.
Seeing Qin Yining so receptive to instruction, Qin Huaiyuan smiled: “A responsive drum doesn’t need heavy hammering. Very good. Yining, you’re a good child, just a bit too straightforward in nature. In the future, learn to think thrice before acting.”
By saying her “nature was a bit too straightforward,” Qin Huaiyuan was indirectly acknowledging that the general direction of what Qin Yining had said and done today was correct—just that her methods were too direct.
Teaching Qin Yining this way was actually blaming the Old Madam’s methods!
Everyone understood Qin Huaiyuan’s meaning, each with different thoughts.
The Old Madam’s old face grew even redder, and she felt somewhat wronged—everything she did, who was it for!
“Yes, thank you for Father’s instruction.” Qin Yining immediately docilely kowtowed to the Old Madam: “Please calm your anger, Grandmother. Your granddaughter is only fourteen—the rice I’ve eaten is less than the salt you’ve eaten. Where I’ve been offensive, please look upon Father’s face and forgive me.”
The Old Madam was thoroughly choked up and snorted: “How would I dare speak of forgiveness!”
By now, Nanny Qin had finished drying Qin Huaiyuan’s hair and retied his topknot.
Qin Huaiyuan stood up and bowed his head: “Please calm your anger, Mother. If Yining made mistakes, it’s because I didn’t discipline her properly. Please, considering that Yining wandered outside for many years without good opportunities for cultivation and suffered through so many bitter days, don’t be angry anymore. When you’re angry, I’m truly filled with trepidation.”
Qin Huaiyuan was currently the Crown Prince’s Grand Preceptor, yet he remained so respectful before the Old Madam. This gave the Old Madam plenty of face and greatly satisfied her vanity.
The Old Madam sighed: “Forget it, forget it. You handle it as you see fit. But one thing—you mustn’t let her off lightly. I’ll be watching how you deal with her!”
“Yes.” Qin Huaiyuan smiled gratefully, turned back to Qin Yining and said: “In that case, Father will punish you to copy the ‘Thirty-Six Stratagems’ thirty times. Come to the study the day after tomorrow for me to check.”
What kind of punishment was this…
Everyone was once again dumbfounded.
Could it be that Qin Huaiyuan still thought Qin Yining’s methods for dealing with the Old Madam weren’t strategic enough?
When disciplining a daughter, shouldn’t she be punished to copy things like “Admonitions for Women” or “Classic of Filial Piety”?
Qin Huaiyuan was raising her like a son!