Sitting in the sedan chair, Qin Shuying began observing the surrounding scenery and decorations.

From Spring Garden to the main hall was quite a long distance. Spring Garden was located in the northwest corner of the Qin mansion—quiet and remote. Not only was it completely unaware of any activity in the front courtyard, but even events in other courtyards in the back would be unknown to Spring Garden. It was truly cut off from information and rarely visited by anyone.

Spring Garden was definitely not a good courtyard—the other young ladies all lived in courtyards where information flowed freely.

Originally, Old Madam had wanted to keep Qin Shuying by her side, but Qin Shuying, ignorant of social affairs and under Xu Shi’s hints and encouragement, had actively chosen Spring Garden, claiming she wanted to copy scriptures for her deceased parents.

Old Madam, seeing her weak constitution, had exempted her from daily greetings. Qin Shuying had taken advantage of this, truly not going to pay respects, often going very long periods before seeing Old Madam once.

Even with her deep longing for Qin Yongzhou, by the time Qin Shuying was ten years old, she had only met Old Madam a few times. Old Madam didn’t have the same deep affection for Qin Shuying as she did for Qin Lianlian, Qin Feifei, and Qin Yunyun, who had grown up at her knee.

Therefore, Old Madam felt both disappointed and heartbroken by Qin Shuying’s distance.

In Old Madam’s mind, though Xu Shi was shrewd and formidable, she hadn’t done anything inappropriate and had made great contributions to the family. Old Madam believed Xu Shi wouldn’t harm Qin Shuying. Besides, Qin Shuying already had a good marriage arrangement—when the time came, they would simply use Qin Yongzhou’s inheritance as dowry to marry her off. Whether the grandmother-granddaughter relationship was deep or not wasn’t that important.

Additionally, Old Madam’s own health wasn’t good and she needed quiet rest, leaving her no time to personally educate Qin Shuying. This was how Xu Shi had managed to shape Qin Shuying into such a weak and helpless girl.

It took nearly a quarter hour of travel before they could see Xuan Hall in the distance—that was Old Madam’s courtyard. How long had it been since Qin Shuying had come to Xuan Hall? Over two months…

“Sister Hui Qin, I, I forgot to put the gift First Madam prepared for me into the gift box! What should I do?” Suddenly, Qin Shuying anxiously called for the sedan to stop, looking at Hui Qin with tears in her eyes.

“What?” Hui Qin looked at Qin Shuying in disbelief, almost grinding her teeth.

“Last night, I took out the gift First Madam prepared for me to look at, then forgot to put it back in the gift box. Quick, check if that’s what happened!”

Hui Qin hurriedly opened the gift box. Indeed, the beautiful box contained only red silk, and beneath the red silk, there was no scroll that First Madam had prepared.

“You…” Hui Qin nearly bit through her lip, but with people coming and going here, this wasn’t the time to lose her temper. She could only point angrily at a second-rank maid and say: “You, quickly go back to Spring Garden and get it!”

The second-rank maid was indignant but had no choice but to go. Qin Shuying timely came to her rescue: “Sister Hui Qin, I was afraid of losing it, so I locked it in the cabinet. Only Sister Hui Qin has the key.”

Hui Qin was so angry her hair nearly stood on end, but she had no other option. Having that second-rank maid take the key to fetch the item—she really couldn’t feel at ease. But the time constraint…

Qin Shuying said with considerable worry: “Sister Hui Qin, I haven’t seen Old Madam in so long, I don’t know what to say. Please go quickly and return quickly. With you accompanying me to see Old Madam, my heart will be at ease.”

Only then did Hui Qin make up her mind and ran off.

Indeed, Qin Shuying had the sedan chair stop in place.

After waiting for quite a while, she suddenly said to the second-rank maid from before: “If we miss the appointed time, will Old Madam punish you all?”

The second-rank maid was frightened and uneasy, and the women carrying the sedan were also somewhat afraid. Qin Shuying finally sighed: “We can’t keep Old Madam waiting. Why don’t we go in first? It shouldn’t matter.”

The others, thinking only of avoiding punishment themselves, naturally couldn’t worry about Hui Qin. Everyone hurried to lift the sedan and quickly headed toward Xuan Hall, soon arriving at the courtyard gate.

Qin Shuying alighted from the sedan. Somehow, over her moon-white dress she now wore a thin, light red shawl, and her face had gained a touch of light red rouge. Her whole person appeared charming and lively. Though her clothing remained plain, she no longer looked pale but rather elegant and serene, with vitality and joy that couldn’t be concealed.

Especially that plum blossom chignon—though the style was old-fashioned, it had somehow gained several elegant pearls, and because of Seventh Miss’s graceful bearing, it appeared refined and wasn’t so unsightly after all!

The second-rank maid stared blankly as Qin Shuying walked gracefully into the courtyard, only then noticing that Seventh Miss had left her hand warmer in the sedan.

Qin Shuying entered the room and quickly surveyed the scene. Indeed, everyone had arrived.

The Qin mansion had three branches in total.

The first branch: Qin Yongtao was the eldest legitimate son. Currently, Qin Yongtao had one wife, two concubines, and several room maids. Qin Yaoyao’s birth mother was Qin Yongtao’s deceased Concubine Zhou. Concubine Li had given birth to Eighth Miss Qin Fangfang. There had also been a Concubine Liu who bore a concubine-born Fourth Miss, but that Fifth Miss had already died, and Concubine Liu now kept her doors closed and no longer appeared.

The second branch: Qin Yongluo was a concubine’s son. Qin Yongluo and Zou Shi had Third Young Master Qin Kaifu, Fourth Young Master Qin Kailu, and Fifth Miss Qin Lulu. Qin Yongluo was currently not in the capital but serving in another region, leaving his wife and daughter in the capital to serve Old Madam.

The third branch: Qin Yongzhou was the youngest legitimate son. Qin Yongzhou and Long Shi had only given birth to Qin Shuying.

In the room, Xu Shi was with Qin Yunyun and Qin Fangfang, Zou Shi was with Qin Lulu, and there were several other slightly younger children, plus maids, old women, and stewards’ wives—a room full of people. The guests hadn’t arrived yet; they were gathering here first before going to receive the guests.

By rights, Lu Changxuan and Qin Feifei should both have come, but unfortunately, Qin Feifei had recently fallen ill from copying scriptures in the temple while mourning her deceased sister Qin Yaoyao, and Lu Changxuan, having recently lost his wife, also hadn’t come—he had only sent someone with expensive gifts.

Qin Yunyun hurried over to take Qin Shuying’s hand, speaking intimately: “Seventh Sister, everyone’s here—you’re the latest. I thought you weren’t coming!”

Giving her trouble in front of Old Madam right upon arrival—this wasn’t unexpected from Qin Shuying’s perspective.

Qin Shuying walked directly to Old Madam’s couch, her eyes brimming with tears but also smiling, and knelt down excitedly: “Old Ancestor, at last Shuying can openly come to pay respects to you! Shuying has waited for this day for three full years!”

Old Madam was obviously somewhat surprised by this display, but Qin Shuying didn’t give her time to think. She quickly and heavily kowtowed three times with “thump thump thump” sounds. Fortunately, Xiangqin, the senior maid beside Old Madam, reacted quickly and immediately helped Qin Shuying up, though her forehead already bore red marks, showing the sincerity of her feelings.

Xu Shi was very surprised by Qin Shuying’s behavior, especially when she saw her elegant yet joyful attire. She frowned even more deeply—how was that dead girl Hui Qin doing her job?