The knocking outside grew more and more urgent, accompanied by Father Yan’s voice: “Yan Qing, your father is back.”

But after waiting a while, no one came to open the door, and no lamplight appeared in the rooms.

Madam Yan said, “How strange. Has this child slept in so late? Surely even if she hasn’t woken, the maids would have.”

Yan Qin remarked with feigned nonchalance, “Could it be that Sixth Sister isn’t in the courtyard?”

“Nonsense,” Madam Yan said, raising her voice in reproach. “She’s an unmarried girl. If she’s not in her courtyard, where would she be? Yan Qing is not one of those girls with ‘progressive’ ideas who goes around staying out at night — especially with a marriage agreement still in place with the Shi family. She wouldn’t be so lacking in self-respect.”

“One can only hope,” Shi Yutong sniffed. “If I find out she’s been out spending the night with some man, I’ll have my second brother break off the engagement.”

Father Yan, hearing this, darkened. “Miss Shi, please mind your language. Words like ‘spending the night with some man’ are too crude to come from the mouth of a young lady from a respectable family.”

“Uncle Yan, I’m not wrong about any of it. If Yan Qing isn’t in her courtyard, where else could she be? Did she get lost?”

Father Yan looked away from her and knocked at the door once more.

Before long, the door opened from within. Murong stood in the doorway and bowed to the assembled group. “Master, Madam, Miss.”

Father Yan was about to step into the courtyard when Murong quickly moved to block him. “Master, a moment please.”

Father Yan’s face showed his displeasure. “How dare you stop me?”

“Murong would not dare,” Murong said quickly. “The young miss went to sleep late last night and hasn’t risen yet. Jing Zhi has already gone to wake her.”

“Then I’ll wait a moment,” Father Yan said, his tone softening. “There’s no hurry.”

Murong gestured toward the interior. “Master and Madam, please wait in the sitting room. The young miss takes a little longer to wash and dress.”

Father Yan knew that Yan Qing had difficulty moving about, which was entirely understandable, and so he walked toward the sitting room.

“I’ll go and look in on Sixth Sister’s room,” Yan Qin said, already heading toward the side chamber. “Father is waiting out here, so she can’t keep taking her time. I’ll go help.”

“I’ll come too,” Shi Yutong quickly followed.

“Wait a moment.” Murong’s expression changed. She hurried forward to stop the two women. “Second Miss, the young miss is not quite ready at the moment.”

“Not ready? We’re all women here — what could she possibly not be ready for?” Yan Qin glared. “Get out of my way.”

“It really isn’t convenient just now.” Murong stood her ground. “Please wait in the sitting room. The young miss will come out once she is presentable.”

“I think you’re the one with something to hide,” Yan Qin snapped, poking a finger at Murong’s forehead. “You’ve been blocking us since the moment we arrived. Could it be that Yan Qing simply isn’t in the room?”

Murong continued to stand in front of them, her resolve unshaken. “Please wait in the sitting room, Misses.”

“I’m not going to the sitting room today,” Yan Qin said furiously. “Could it be that your young miss is hiding something disgraceful in there? I intend to go and see for myself.”

“The young miss says you’re being too loud,” Jing Zhi said, coming out of the side chamber. “Please, both of you, wait a little while in the sitting room.”

Seeing that Jing Zhi was carrying a towel in her hand, Yan Qin wavered for just a moment — but things had already gone this far. She had no choice but to brazen it out.

She simply did not believe that Yan Qing was in that room.

“Sixth Sister, I’ve come to help you,” Yan Qin called out and rushed toward the room, but Jing Zhi blocked her immediately.

Just as the two sides were at a standstill, Father Yan and Madam Yan came over as well.

Father Yan asked, “Yan Qin, what are you doing?”

“Father, Yan Qing isn’t in her room. I just glimpsed the head of the bed and there’s clearly no one there.” Yan Qin cried out. “The information I received can’t be wrong. She hasn’t been home at the mansion for these two days. She’s gone off with some man.”

“Outrageous,” Father Yan said, his face going red with anger. “What nonsense are you talking?”

“Father, every word I say is true. These two maids are only putting on an act to cover for Yan Qing. If you open that door right now, what you’ll find is an empty room.”

Madam Yan said, “Master, since this is the case, why not open the door and look? That way it also clears the sixth girl’s name.”

Father Yan nodded and looked at Jing Zhi. “Open the door.”

“Master…” Jing Zhi hesitated, knowing perfectly well the room was empty. If she let them in, the consequences would be unthinkable. Just as she and Murong were wavering, a faint, drowsy voice suddenly drifted from within: “Is that Father back?”

At the sound of that familiar tone, everyone froze — and even Murong and Jing Zhi wore expressions of shock, though their surprise was gone in an instant, instantly replaced by wild joy.

“Impossible,” Yan Qin whispered. “How can this be possible.”

Yet what she had deemed impossible had come to pass. The door of the side chamber opened from within. Yan Qing sat in her wheelchair, wearing a pale yellow silk nightgown, her face bare of any makeup, looking every bit as though she had just woken from sleep.

“Father, Madam, both Sisters.” Yan Qing managed a faint smile. “You’re all here so early today.”

As she spoke, she raised one hand to cover her mouth and gave a light cough.

Father Yan hurried forward. “Yan Qing, are you unwell again?”

Yan Qing said, “I caught a chill these past two days and haven’t gone out. I was thinking of resting for a few days before venturing out again, but then Father came home — I simply had to see him.”

Father Yan felt a pang of guilt. “It’s Father’s fault for coming and disturbing you so early.”

He drew a small box from his pocket. “Your father bought this for you in the Western city. Open it and take a look.”

Yan Qing opened the exquisitely crafted little box. On the black velvet interior sat a gold-cased round watch, the strap made of fashionable crocodile leather, the dial in the very latest style.

“Your father saw it at the foreign goods shop and felt it suited you,” Father Yan said with a smile. “Keep it well. Once you’re recovered, you can wear it.”

“Thank you, Father.” Yan Qing said happily. “Father is too good to me.”

Seeing that Yan Qing’s color was poor, Father Yan didn’t linger. He offered a few words of advice and then rose to leave.

At the doorway, he turned to look at Yan Qin behind him, his eyes cold with anger. “Your sixth sister was simply unwell and resting at home. Yet in your telling, it became her staying out overnight with some man. You are a daughter of our Yan family. The coarseness of your language is a disgrace. I advise you to spend less time in future with those who appear fine on the outside but are rotten within — lest you corrupt your own character.”

As he said this, his gaze swept lightly toward Shi Yutong.

Yan Qin tried to argue in her own defense but was silenced by a glare from Madam Yan.

After Father Yan swept away, Shi Yutong also turned on Yan Qin with irritation. “This is the little scene you arranged? You dragged me out before I’d even done my makeup. How foolish.”

“Yutong, listen to me — this is Yan Qing’s scheme…”

“Save that for your father.” Shi Yutong wasn’t about to listen and left in a huff.

Watching the elaborate scheme she had so carefully arranged come to such an abrupt and undignified end, Yan Qin choked with fury and resentment — and turned right back around to Yan Qing’s courtyard.

Yan Qing was sitting in front of the mirror while Jing Zhi combed her hair. It had grown quite a bit longer — she could now have it braided into two small plaits.

Yan Qing caught sight of Yan Qin in the mirror, and the corner of her mouth curved ever so slightly.

“Yan Qing, you may be able to fool everyone else, but not me.” Yan Qin pointed at her furiously. “You weren’t in the mansion for these two days.”

“That’s right,” Yan Qing said pleasantly. “I truly wasn’t.”

“So you finally admit it.”

“And what of it?” Yan Qing tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Go and tell Father now. Let’s see whether he’ll believe you.”

“You…” Yan Qin trembled all over with rage. “Don’t get too full of yourself.”

“Fifth Sister, I advise you to stop making trouble for me. Just look at yourself — every time you try to scheme against me, you end up in a complete mess. I’m almost starting to feel sorry for you.”

Yan Qin stamped her foot but was too angry to say a single word.

“Just you wait, Yan Qing. Just you wait.”

By the time she reached the doorway, Yan Qin finally managed to squeeze out those words — she was thoroughly beside herself with rage.

The large parrot hanging under the eaves decided to join in: “Just you wait, just you wait.”

Jing Zhi laughed and scolded it: “Who are you telling to wait?”

Once Yan Qing’s hair was done, Jing Zhi set down the comb. “Miss, my heart is still pounding. That just now nearly scared me to death.”

Murong came in carrying water. “It’s a good thing Di Huai was quick-witted — he heard the commotion and ran to keep watch at the entrance, for fear that the young miss would come back through the main gate. If the young miss had returned even a moment later, she really would have been caught out by the Fifth Miss.”

Yan Qing had heard that Yan Qin went to the Military Police Bureau to ask after her, and an uneasy feeling had taken hold. She had been away from home for two nights, and Yan Qin, who never missed a thing, would surely seize the chance to make trouble.

Shi Ting had driven her back to Yan Mansion at full speed through the night, managing to arrive just before daybreak. Di Huai had been waiting at the entrance to meet them and helped her enter through the back gate of the courtyard, then through a window back into her room. It was only that way that she had narrowly escaped disaster.

Not only was Jing Zhi’s heart racing — Yan Qing had broken out in a cold sweat herself. It seemed that living in this era still meant abiding by the rules of this era. One couldn’t be too free-spirited.

This time she had been lucky. What about next time?

“Miss, where did you and Director Shi go for these two days?” Jing Zhi asked curiously.

“We solved a case.”

“Weren’t you two supposed to be going fishing? How did that turn into solving a case?”

Yan Qing told them the story of the Le Chenghua kidnapping case, leaving both maids wide-eyed and gasping in astonishment.

“Miss, I think you and Director Shi are a perfect match. Whatever kind of case it is, as long as the two of you are on it, there’s nothing you can’t handle.”

Yan Qing shook her head. “The massacre of the Chen and Xu families has still not been solved. More than twenty people lying unavenged.”

Those two cases had always weighed on her heart. But without any clues to follow, she had no way to proceed.

“Cough, cough.” Yan Qing raised her handkerchief to her mouth and gave a few light coughs.

Jing Zhi grew anxious. “Miss, you’re not actually ill, are you?”

“I truly didn’t sleep well these past two days. A couple of days of rest and I’ll be fine.” As Yan Qing thought back to the scene of sharing a bed with Shi Ting the previous night, her face flushed involuntarily with embarrassment.

After staying inside for two days, Yan Qing’s health was more or less restored. Taking advantage of the fine weather, she sat beneath the eaves feeding the large parrot and teaching it to sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

“Miss, someone outside is asking to see you.” Jing Zhi lifted the curtain and hurried in.

—