Qin Huaiyuan sat wearily on the edge of the Old Grand Madam’s bed, his back against the bedpost of the canopied bed. While waiting for Qi Tai to arrive, he refused to spare Qin Huining even a single glance, much less say another word to her.

Qin Huining curled up on the ground, each breath seeming to tug at the wounds on her flesh, causing her such pain that tears streamed down her face. She looked at Qin Huaiyuan with pleading eyes, hoping only to receive a bit of his concern.

But Qin Huaiyuan ultimately remained silent.

The Second Madam, Third Madam, and the young ladies from the second and third branches who witnessed this situation all fell silent as cicadas, not daring to make a sound.

They wanted to leave, fearing they might offend the Old Grand Madam, but staying meant getting entangled in the first branch’s messy affairs, which hardly seemed wise.

Just as they were struggling with this dilemma, a maid’s voice came from the corridor: “My lord, Qi Tai has arrived.”

“Let him in.” Qin Huaiyuan stood up, clasping his hands behind his back as he paced to the auspicious plum blossom decorative screen.

Qi Tai entered the room but properly remained outside the inner chamber, standing with his head bowed beyond the screen that separated the inner and outer areas, waiting for instructions. “My lord.”

“Mm. There are three matters. First, prepare my estate in the suburbs and have it strictly guarded. Miss Huining has contracted the epidemic disease, so all the masters and servants from Xueli Courtyard are to be sent there for quarantine and supervision. Without my orders, no one is permitted to visit. Second, investigate the origins of the voodoo doll. Once you’ve confirmed who made it and how they framed others, don’t bother reporting back to me—directly chop off their hands and send them to the authorities. Third, contact the Charity Hall; continue investigating the matter that was previously set aside.”

“Yes.” Qi Tai crisply acknowledged and turned to leave.

The room fell into complete silence, with everyone looking at Qin Huaiyuan and Qin Huining with complex, indecipherable expressions.

From the moment Qin Huaiyuan spoke his first sentence, Qin Huining’s body had been trembling like a leaf in the wind. By the time she heard the final mention of the Charity Hall, she was already drenched in sweat.

“Father, Father.” She thought she was shouting loudly, but her voice came out like the buzzing of mosquitoes. She could only tremble as she grasped the hem of Qin Huaiyuan’s robe.

“Father, I am your daughter, the daughter you’ve raised for fourteen years! How is it that once you found Qin Yining, you don’t care about me at all? I haven’t contracted the epidemic disease—why are you sending me to the estate to avoid illness? I won’t go, I won’t go! If I go, I’ll never come back. I won’t go!”

Qin Huaiyuan looked down at Qin Huining, his voice as calm as if it contained no anger: “Hui Jie’er, you have disappointed me greatly.”

Qin Huining suddenly raised her head, meeting Qin Huaiyuan’s serene face and looking into his eyes that were as deep as the ocean.

For a moment, she felt as if everything about her had been seen through, like being stripped naked and paraded through the streets.

“I didn’t! I’ve been wrongly accused! The doll wasn’t made by me, it wasn’t me!”

“Though you are not my daughter, you have grown up before my eyes for fifteen years, and I understand your character. There’s no need for you to make excuses now. Since you feel that the Qin family has treated you poorly and unfairly, then leave the Qin family. Since you feel that my wife is unworthy of being your mother, then don’t call me father anymore. As for whoever made the voodoo doll, it had better not be you. If it was you, I’m afraid that losing both hands will make your future days very difficult indeed.”

Qin Huaiyuan’s pronouncement came suddenly. Though his voice remained as calm as water, it still created tremendous waves in Qin Huining’s life, washing away all the honor and glory she had previously built up and hidden behind.

Only now did Qin Huining realize her own foolishness.

Before Qin Huaiyuan’s absolute authority, everything she had cultivated was nothing more than a castle built of sand. While she had been smugly self-satisfied, others could destroy it all with a single wave at any time.

“Father, I was wrong. I know I was wrong. I never felt that the Qin family treated me poorly. I was just unwilling to accept…”

“You were unwilling, jealous. You felt that Yi Jie’er had taken everything from you, isn’t that right?” Qin Huaiyuan asked gently.

For a moment, Qin Huining found herself unable to speak.

But Qin Huaiyuan continued: “Though you were brought here innocently enough, do you know what your original family was like?”

Qin Huining broke out in a cold sweat. They had indeed found her original family long ago! Otherwise, Qin Yining wouldn’t have been so certain earlier! Had they been planning to send her away all along?

“You took Yi Jie’er’s place and enjoyed fourteen years of wealth and privilege, yet you consider yourself innocent? The truly innocent one is Yi Jie’er—she’s the one whose happy life was stolen from her. You, on the other hand, were the one rescued from trouble. You are very clever, but too clever for your own good, and too selfish for your own good. You only think about how you were innocently brought here, but you don’t consider that the wealth and privilege you enjoyed in the Qin family was Heaven’s compensation to you.”

“Father, I was wrong. Don’t send me away…”

“Since you call my wife ‘Madam,’ then address me as ‘My Lord.'” Qin Huaiyuan said: “The Qin family has treated you well, yet you don’t know gratitude and don’t remember your mother’s nurturing kindness. This is truly disheartening. You should go stay at the estate for a while. Once the voodoo doll matter is resolved, I’ll arrange for you to meet your birth parents. Don’t you feel that the Qin family has wronged you? When the time comes, if you want your own family, then go back to them.”

After speaking, Qin Huaiyuan pulled his robe from Qin Huining’s tight grip and bowed slightly to the Old Grand Madam: “Mother, your son hasn’t slept all night and needs to rest for a while.”

The Old Grand Madam had long been shocked beyond measure by Qin Huaiyuan’s words.

Listening carefully, however, she felt that every sentence he spoke was reasonable.

Though she didn’t like Qin Yining because she was too clever and difficult to control, she also deeply detested Qin Huining’s ingratitude.

From Qin Huaiyuan’s meaning, he intended to send Qin Huining away.

The Old Grand Madam frowned as she looked at the person prostrate on the ground, crying bitterly. Thinking of how this granddaughter had grown up by her side since childhood, she felt some reluctance after all.

“Meng Ge’er, let’s postpone the Charity Hall matter for now.”

Qin Huining was only focused on crying, but when she heard the Old Grand Madam’s words, she suddenly remembered that her grandmother could still restrain her father. Hope filled her heart as she crawled and rolled to the bedside, continuously kowtowing to the Old Grand Madam.

“Grandmother, save me! I don’t have the epidemic disease, I won’t go to the estate! Grandmother, I didn’t make any doll to harm you! I’m innocent!”

The Old Grand Madam rubbed her aching forehead.

Qin Huaiyuan had already spoken first: “The disease avoidance matter must proceed. I cannot tolerate keeping a family troublemaker at home. As for the voodoo matter, if someone truly intends to harm the Old Grand Madam, I will absolutely not show mercy. That’s how things will be.”

Under Qin Huaiyuan’s firm decision, the Old Grand Madam found herself with no room to object. Thinking that Qin Huining might actually have made the voodoo doll to harm her in order to hurt Sun Shi and Qin Yining, the Old Grand Madam’s heart also felt cold.

“Very well, let’s do as My Lord says.” The Old Grand Madam declared loudly: “Lu Juan, take people to help Miss Huining pack her things.”

Nanny Qin secretly breathed a sigh of relief, smiling as she responded: “Yes.” Finally, this troublemaker was being sent away. These servants could also enjoy some peaceful days.

Qin Huining was helped to her feet by the servants, her legs as soft as noodles.

The people from the second and third branches, including Sixth Miss who had been closest to Qin Huining on ordinary days, could not interfere in the first branch’s affairs at this time.

When Qin Yining and Sun Shi at Xingning Garden heard that everyone from Xueli Courtyard had been sent to the estate, they were truly shocked.

Sun Shi was silent for a moment before saying: “Your father is truly furious this time.”