Madam Xu had to look after Xu Peiwei on one side while also needing to find and bring back Qin Yunyun on the other. She was so anxious her mouth nearly broke out in blisters. She wanted to direct the maids beside her to look for Qin Yunyun, but feared those loafers might target her—the reputation she had barely managed to preserve today would be ruined in an instant.

Xu Peiwei buried herself in Madam Xu’s embrace, crying breathlessly. Her arms had been pulled by men, and her chest seemed to have been touched by someone…

Her reputation…

Her marriage prospects…

In the midst of this chaotic commotion, a patrol team arrived: “What’s all this noise about…”

Seeing this group of people in her despair, Madam Xu almost knelt on the ground and cried out that Heaven had eyes. She hurriedly stepped forward: “Officer, sir…”

Madam Xu explained the whole situation from beginning to end, and then discovered with horror that behind this patrol team was the veiled Qin Shuying.

Behind Qin Shuying were Qin Lulu and their four maids.

“You all…”

The patrol leader said: “So this is Madam Xu. It was this young lady who reported to the authorities. Rest assured, Madam Xu, this official will certainly go and bring back Sixth Miss Qin.”

With that, the patrol leader led his men toward the Zhao family.

After that group left, Qin Shuying slowly walked over and said softly to Madam Xu: “Sister-in-law, I saw the crowd was chaotic and terrifying earlier, so Sister Lulu and I went to report to the authorities. When the officer heard we were from the Qin and Xu households, he quickly came over.”

Madam Xu stared blankly at Qin Shuying, her mouth moving but not knowing what to say.

But Xu Peiwei began screaming like a ghost: “Ah… you’re not human, you’re not human, you’re a ghost, you’re a ghost…”

Qin Shuying frowned and said: “It seems Cousin Peiwei has been badly frightened. Cousin Peiwei, don’t be afraid. That officer just now has certainly reported the matter to his superiors. Sixth Sister will be found shortly, and we can go home.”

But Xu Peiwei shrank away from her: “Get away, get away! You’re a ghost, you’re a ghost…”

Qin Shuying didn’t insist, sighed, and stood at a distance, giving Qin Lulu a helpless smile.

Qin Lulu forced a smile, but her heart was in tremendous turmoil.

She wasn’t stupid. In the earlier panic, she naturally didn’t understand the intricacies of what had happened. But now, thinking back over the events, she discovered many suspicious points.

Remembering what Mother had said about Qin Shuying, Qin Lulu’s heart skipped a beat.

She unconsciously stepped several paces away from Qin Shuying.

But suddenly, an indescribable heroic feeling arose in her chest. She looked toward Qin Shuying and walked two steps closer to her, saying: “Seventh Sister, don’t worry. When we return, I will naturally tell Great-grandmother everything in detail!”

For some unknown reason, Qin Shuying’s nose suddenly felt sour, but she only smiled faintly and said nothing.

Madam Xu’s eyes were unfocused as she unconsciously patted Xu Peiwei. Thinking of having to bear the fury of the entire family when she returned, she felt disheartened and had a terrible headache.

She could see the general outline of this matter but didn’t dare confirm it.

Previously, she had known that her mother-in-law and sister-in-law both disliked Qin Shuying. Qin Shuying had visited their household once or twice as a guest, and she had interacted with her, only finding this young lady very reserved and delicate.

She was merely her husband’s aunt’s niece, so Madam Xu usually didn’t pay much attention to Qin Shuying.

From today’s events, it seemed her mother-in-law and sister-in-law had misjudged greatly.

Very greatly indeed!

What troubled her now was that her sister-in-law had lost her reputation today—what would happen to her marriage prospects…

As she thought confusedly, not knowing how much time had passed, the patrol leader brought several matrons escorting Qin Yunyun back. As soon as Qin Yunyun saw Madam Xu, she burst into loud tears.

Turning her head, she saw Qin Shuying standing gracefully.

“…You… you…”

In the end, Qin Yunyun couldn’t say anything, because she instantly understood that not only had the ten thousand taels of silver been wasted, but she had also lost her own reputation and her entire life!

Qin Yunyun’s vision went black, and she fainted again.

Cai Luan screamed and rushed to embrace Qin Yunyun. Caiying was stunned for a moment before also going to hold Qin Yunyun.

Inadvertently, Caiying looked up at Qin Shuying. Although the veiled hat obscured her view of Qin Shuying’s eyes, somehow Caiying just felt that behind that veiled hat, Qin Shuying must have a pair of dark, bright eyes.

Such eyes belonged to someone with firm resolve and extraordinary perseverance.

She thought of her own mother, thought of the future… no, there was no future left.

As Sixth Miss’s personal maid, she had no future left.

Caiying shed a tear.

In the midst of all this confusion, the patrol leader assigned men to escort the ladies back to the Xu household.

Madam Xu sat dazedly in the carriage, holding Qin Yunyun with her left arm and Xu Peiwei with her right, her mind in complete chaos.

The ladies had all lost their composure, but it was Qin Shuying who was arranging tasks—the Xu household people would first escort the Qin household people back to the Qin household, then return to the Xu household.

The matron beside Madam Xu and Nanny Yang looked at Qin Shuying as if she were a monster.

The matron beside Madam Xu didn’t know about Xu Peiwei’s plan, but Nanny Yang did. Not only had Qin Shuying not fallen into the young lady’s trap, but she had turned the trap against the young lady herself…

How terrifying!

The carriage wheels made monotonous sounds on the road. Qin Shuying closed her eyes slightly, her thoughts racing.

Qin Yunyun—this was what she deserved!

Once failed, try again. In Qin Yunyun’s eyes, her own reputation was apparently as lowly as dust, to be trampled at will.

Fortunately, she had done business here in her previous life and knew that the back courtyards of such shops basically all had small doors opening onto alleys, and these alleys generally had men’s toilets and were used to store miscellaneous items.

They would never dream that an official family’s young lady would be unfazed by men’s toilets and would actually pass right through one, then cross the alley, turn into the wall outside another shop, and from outside the wall wind her way back to the street.

When Qin Shuying’s group returned to the street, that crowd was already on its way to the carpenter’s shop.

And the three of them were behind that crowd.

Since they were only after some “Yao Niang,” they didn’t bother with Qin Lulu. Qin Lulu stood on the street, still defending Qin Shuying, telling passersby: “They’ve mistaken the person. That’s my sixth sister, not some Yao Niang.”

Mi Luo had received Qin Shuying’s instructions yesterday to rally the group of people Qin Shuying had secretly cultivated, and had been following the Xu family’s carriage procession all day.

Mi Luo personally disguised himself and wore a veiled hat. Seeing Qin Shuying enter the walnut cookie shop, he also followed and met with Qin Shuying.

Later he saw Qin Shuying being chased back to the carpenter’s shop by a crowd.

But without Qin Shuying’s instructions, Mi Luo didn’t dare act rashly, fearing he might ruin Qin Shuying’s plans. Just as he was getting anxious, he saw Qin Shuying emerge with Ziteng and Lu Ye.

Mi Luo quickly spoke with Qin Shuying, and she made a decisive decision, arranging the fine drama that followed.

As for those who later stirred up trouble, pointing at deer and calling them horses by saying Qin Yunyun was Yao Niang—those were naturally all arranged by Mi Luo.

After arranging all this, Qin Shuying put on the veiled hat Mi Luo had prepared and appeared on the street, pretending to encounter Qin Lulu by chance and persuading her to report to the authorities together.

Qin Shuying had spent a great deal of money cultivating this group of people.

She had arranged for Mi Luo to organize this before the New Year, recruiting personnel and promising heavy rewards. Usually there was no contact, only arranging tasks in layers when needed.

These people were divided into five layers total, with each lower layer only communicating with the layer above, and no communication beyond that.

This was also something Qin Shuying had learned from casual conversations with those overseas people.

The top layer was Qin Shuying herself, the second layer was the Mi Luo couple, then came four reliable assistants recruited by Mi Luo, then eight people found by those assistants, and finally the people temporarily found by the fourth layer.

That’s right—the bottom layer consisted of temporarily recruited people, all for the sake of secrecy. They knew clearly what kind of loafers were easy to manipulate.