When Xie Yue arrived at the front hall, he put on the airs of the prince’s mansion’s “steward,” lifting his chin high with a stern face as he looked down upon the Old Madam and Second Madam sideways.

“So you’re the ones looking for the Qin family’s young lady?”

The Old Madam wore a half-old cotton jacket and a brown cotton cloak. Seeing Xie Yue dressed in brocade with an arrogant expression, she immediately stood up and curtsied: “You must be the head steward? This old woman has come specially to take my granddaughter back.”

The Second Madam supported the Old Madam and also curtsied.

Xie Yue said arrogantly: “Do you think this is still Great Yan territory under your control? This is the capital, this is Prince Zhongshun’s mansion! Your Qin family are my master’s enemies! Your family’s young lady came to our prince’s mansion to repay debts! Want to take her back? Where could it be so simple!”

The Old Madam’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing this – what she feared most had still happened!

Now they were in Great Zhou’s capital. With Pang Xiao’s status, it was a case of him being the butcher while they were the fish on the chopping board. If Pang Xiao wanted revenge, let alone forcibly abducting one Qin Yining, even if he slaughtered their entire family, no one would say a word against it.

The more the Old Madam thought about it, the more frightened she became, and her body couldn’t help but begin trembling.

Now Qin Huaiyuan’s whereabouts were unknown, and whether he was dead or alive was uncertain. If her eldest son was gone, even with her second and third sons still alive, whether the Qin family’s business could prosper was still unknown. Now they had provoked this fierce devil – would they have any peaceful days ahead?

“This damned girl is so useless! She used to coax Pang Zhixi so well – how did she make him think of revenge again now!” The Old Madam cursed inwardly, breaking out in a cold sweat and nearly shedding tears.

While her thoughts were in turmoil, the Second Madam beside her supporting her arm gently pinched the back of her hand.

The Old Madam was brought back to her senses by the slight pain and suddenly remembered today’s purpose. Her heart felt even more uncertain.

But she still had to steel herself to speak these words, otherwise the whole family would have even less chance of survival!

“This, this isn’t proper. Our Yining is a proper young lady from a good family. How can your prince just bring her back to the mansion as he pleases? Even if there’s some hatred, it’s acceptable to seek revenge openly, but you can’t mistreat a young lady like this.”

The Old Madam used her sleeve to wipe the fine sweat from her forehead, forcing herself to remain calm with a trembling voice: “Today we must take Yining away, otherwise even if we say nothing, His Majesty won’t agree to this.”

Xie Yue carefully observed the Old Madam’s expression and discovered that this old woman’s concern for her granddaughter was almost nonexistent. Just now when hearing about the prince wanting “revenge,” she had actually shown resentment.

Having such a grandmother was truly tragic.

The nervousness and fear the Old Madam displayed seemed to be directed at another matter entirely.

Hearing her say things like “His Majesty won’t agree,” Xie Yue was very suspicious and said sternly with feigned anger: “What big words you speak! You’re nothing but defeated surrendered officials. Coming here and still wanting to act important? His Majesty won’t agree? His Majesty doesn’t even know who you people are! Stop using such excuses to frighten people!”

Seeing that the prince’s mansion’s “steward” was actually so arrogant, the Old Madam had never suffered such treatment before. Moreover, if they couldn’t take Qin Yining away today, their lives still couldn’t be guaranteed.

Therefore, the Old Madam put aside her worry and fear and said angrily: “Don’t be too arrogant! His Majesty will hold an imperial draft next year, and I’ve already registered our Yining’s name! The name has already been submitted! If you don’t release her now, do you want to wait until your prince openly competes with His Majesty for a woman?”

What? Imperial draft?

Xie Yue’s expression remained unchanged, but his heart was in tumultuous waves. This Old Madam showed little concern for her own granddaughter, but she was truly ruthless when it came to using her.

The Old Madam’s words left the accompanying Bingtang, Ji Yun, and Qiu Lu all stunned.

The three of them had traveled together and only encountered the Qin family at the capital’s gates before entering the city together. At that time, the Old Madam, Second Master, Third Master and their group were filthy and ragged, in quite a sorry state – they looked worse off than these three young ladies. Along the way, Ji Yun, Bingtang, and Qiu Lu had been secretly guessing what these people had experienced.

Now, without even learning any useful information, the Old Madam had actually “sold” Qin Yining for the family’s wealth and honor!

Once the words were spoken, the Old Madam’s heart settled down.

The Second Madam also breathed a sigh of relief and courteously said to Xie Yue: “Yining is someone who will be selected to serve His Majesty. It’s no longer appropriate for her to stay at your mansion. I think even Prince Zhongshun wouldn’t compete with His Majesty for a woman, would he? We’re all His Majesty’s subjects – loyalty should come first. Please, head steward, bring Yining out so we can take her back to properly instruct her, lest she be flustered when serving His Majesty in the future.”

Xie Yue had reached the extreme of his dislike for these two women. Their tone of speech didn’t treat Qin Yining as a person at all, but rather as a chip to achieve some goal.

Xie Yue didn’t wish to argue with them and wanted to quickly investigate the reasons behind this, so he waved his hand as if shooing flies: “Don’t even think about it. If you want to send someone for the imperial draft, just pick any girl from your family. Miss Qin was seized by our prince, so she belongs to our prince now. Don’t think about taking her away!”

“You – does your prince dare to steal even His Majesty’s woman?” the Old Madam asked loudly.

Xie Yue snorted with laughter: “Don’t place such a big hat on my prince’s head. This Miss Qin hasn’t participated in the imperial draft yet and isn’t His Majesty’s person at all, is she?”

The Old Madam was choked speechless, her lips trembling for a moment, not knowing how to respond. This steward was too difficult to deal with!

The Second Madam helped the Old Madam sit down in the round-backed chair and sat beside her: “If you don’t bring Yining out, we two won’t leave. Surely the great Prince Zhongshun’s mansion wouldn’t make things difficult for two women?”

“Right! If you don’t hand over Yining, we won’t leave!” The Old Madam came to her senses and joined in the clamoring.

“Hey, really now – when reasoning doesn’t work, you start acting like rogues. Do you even deserve to be called wives of great families? You’re really bringing shame to the Qin men!” Xie Yue waved his hand as if shooing mosquitoes, saying impatiently: “Feel free to wait if you want. These three maids, come with me.”

“Yes.” Ji Yun, Bingtang, and Qiu Lu bowed together and were about to follow Xie Yue.

The Old Madam said: “These three girls belong to our Qin family. What, your prince seized one young lady from our Qin family, and now you want the maids delivered along with her?”

Xie Yue didn’t want to argue with women and children as it would diminish his dignity. He had deliberately provoked the Old Madam and Second Madam into talking to gather information, but now that the conversation couldn’t continue, he didn’t want to pay them any more attention. He pretended not to hear and quickly left with the three maids.

The Old Madam and Second Madam remained in the hall. Although they couldn’t see any servants around, there were guards at the entrance and back corridor. After their minds cooled down, they realized how impulsive they had been to actually quarrel with the prince’s mansion’s steward.

Would the prince’s mansion’s people make things difficult for them later?

Meanwhile, Xie Yue brought Ji Yun, Bingtang, and Qiu Lu to Suxue Garden, where Qin Yining had already donned her cloak and was waiting under the corridor.

Upon seeing the three, she immediately hurried down the steps and threw her arms around them: “Wonderful! Wonderful! You’re all safe!”

“Miss! We knew you were still alive!”

“This is truly wonderful!”

“I thought I’d never see you again!”

…

The four girls hugged together, first laughing, then beginning to cry with their heads together, leaving Qian Yun and Lian Xiaozhou beside them stunned.

After finally calming their emotions, Qin Yining wiped away her tears and carefully examined the three, seeing that they had only grown thinner but weren’t injured. Only then did she finally feel at ease.

“When we were separated that day, did you travel with the Old Madam and the others?”

Bingtang shook her head: “We’ll tell you about this in detail later. There’s something more urgent now!”

“Exactly.” Xie Yue said: “Miss Qin, your family’s Old Madam and Second Madam have come to take you back, saying that for His Majesty’s imperial draft next year, they’ve already registered your name and want to take you back to properly train you to serve His Majesty. I’ve already given them a talking-to, but they’re determined to take you away. Right now both of them are having tea in the front hall and aren’t even afraid of our prince anymore.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Yining felt as if struck by lightning, her ears buzzing.

“You said my grandmother wants to send me to the palace?”

Xie Yue nodded.

This was truly…

This was truly unexpected yet entirely reasonable!

Since Father had been separated from the Old Madam and others, the Old Madam would certainly seek a way out for the entire Qin family’s security. Sending a daughter into the palace was indeed a method to secure the Qin family’s future.

No, this idea might not have been the Old Madam’s – it was more likely the result of the entire Qin family’s collective deliberation.

What a fine calculation they had made – they wanted to squeeze her blood and flesh dry, using her to the very end before they’d stop!

Seeing Qin Yining’s expression alternating between bright and dark, Bingtang said worriedly: “Miss, don’t be angry yet. Perhaps there’s still hope for a solution.”

“Yes, Miss.” Qiu Lu also joined in comforting her.

Qin Yining took a deep breath. After the initial anger and panic, she forced herself to calm down: “I’ll go meet with them later.”

Xie Yue said: “Why not wait until His Highness returns before seeing them?” After all, they were family elders, and Qin Yining might suffer disadvantages when facing her elders.

Qin Yining thought for a moment: “That’s good too. If we’re going to act, we should do it thoroughly. Since I was supposedly abducted, it would be better not to be too free.”

“So Miss wasn’t actually abducted?” Ji Yun asked with a smile.

Qian Yun beside her took Ji Yun’s arm and smiled: “His Highness assigned both of us to serve Miss. Do you think His Highness would mistreat Miss?”

Ji Yun and Qian Yun looked at each other and couldn’t help but smile teasingly.

Qin Yining was made to blush by their laughter, and even her anger dissipated. She turned to take Lian Xiaozhou’s hand and introduced the three to Bingtang, Qiu Lu, and Ji Yun, thanked Xie Yue, then went inside with the three she hadn’t seen for so long to catch up on their experiences.

After having lunch and even taking a nap, Pang Xiao finally returned to the mansion.

In the study, Pang Xiao had changed clothes and was listening to Xie Yue tell him about the Old Madam wanting to send Qin Yining for the imperial draft. He immediately became so angry that he smashed his teacup, pointing toward the main hall and cursing: “Damn bastards!”