Xu Shi observed Madam Liu’s expression, feeling triumphant inside, but then assumed a grief-stricken appearance and sighed: “It’s all due to my poor guidance. Old Madam, if anyone should be punished, punish me instead. It’s because I’ve been too busy with daily affairs and neglected Seventh Miss’s discipline that she’s developed this character of fraud and refusing to repent.”

Qin Shuying sneered inwardly. This established her guilt before all these female guests! If she didn’t fight back, would anyone believe her words in the future?

Qin Shuying remained silently looking down, her slender body like a solitary orchid swaying in the wind, appearing serene and elegant yet carrying a hint of unyielding stubbornness.

After a moment, Lu Ye entered and handed Qin Shuying a scroll. Xu Shi frowned—where had this scroll come from? Looking at Lu Ye’s wide sleeves, could it have been hidden there?

Qin Shuying stepped forward two paces and said to Old Madam: “Old Ancestor, this Hundred Longevity painting is not granddaughter’s birthday gift. What’s in this box is—something granddaughter wrote personally.”

She held the scroll with both hands and respectfully presented it.

It looked quite ordinary and unremarkable. If there was anything eye-catching about it, it was that the calligraphy was extremely beautiful. However, it was merely beautiful—hardly a superior work.

Everyone felt disappointed. Mao Shi glanced at it and pursed her lips disdainfully.

Xu Shi smiled at everyone with apparent guilt: “Seventh Miss, everyone has seen it. Good, put it away now.”

As if what Qin Shuying had produced was completely unpresentable and had embarrassed Old Madam.

Qin Shuying concealed the cold laughter and mockery in her eyes, respectfully saying to Old Madam: “Old Ancestor, when Father was alive, he obtained a copy of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra personally written by the holy monk Master Xuanseng of our dynasty, saying he wanted to keep it as a birthday gift for Old Ancestor’s sixtieth birthday. Unfortunately, Father had an accident before he could bring it back to Old Ancestor. Now, the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra is stored in the warehouse by First Madam. Shuying cannot see it, so she could only copy it from memory to fulfill her late father’s wish. Additionally, Mother personally polished a pair of mutton-fat jade longevity character hairpins as birthday gifts for Old Ancestor. Though the gifts are small, the sentiment is deep. They were prepared as birthday presents for Old Ancestor, but they’re also stored in the warehouse. I must trouble First Madam to open the warehouse and retrieve them, so as not to waste my late parents’ filial devotion to Old Ancestor!”

With these words, the entire room fell silent.

Xu Shi was stunned and instinctively looked around. Indeed, everyone had strange expressions.

The female guests present were all women from noble households—none were fools. But Qin Shuying’s words carried deep implications!

Xu Shi had never expected Qin Shuying to do this. Even though she was usually clever, she was momentarily stunned. Old Madam was obviously also surprised but still remained silent.

Qin Shuying’s eyes calmly met Xu Shi’s gaze directly. Mutton-fat jade longevity character hairpins? While these were valuable and fine items, they weren’t particularly rare for Qin Yongzhou. She specifically brought up this matter because Xu Shi had long ago given them to Qin Feifei, who then presented them to Old Madam Lu as a filial offering. She had personally seen Old Madam Lu wearing them when she was Qin Yaoyao. At that time, how could the Lu family afford such fine things? With a little thought, Qin Yaoyao had understood their origin.

As for the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, that was truly a treasure one couldn’t find even with a lantern—even copies were competed for by scholars and literati, let alone the original. Old Madam was Buddhist-inclined, so for her, the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra would naturally be an extremely precious thing. This wasn’t her fabrication—it was Qin Yongzhou’s actual intention, which Nanny Fu knew about.

Today, she was determined to tear away all pretenses with Xu Shi.

Whether as Qin Yaoyao or Qin Shuying, the final outcome was always death. She could no longer walk that path again. The barefoot weren’t afraid of those wearing shoes—she now had nothing left to lose. Let’s see who could be more shameless, who could be more ruthless!

Causing such a scene at Old Madam’s birthday banquet was naturally not good—it not only dishonored Old Madam’s celebration but also harmed the Qin manor’s reputation. No matter their internal conflicts, to outsiders they were still family.

But did her Feng’er deserve to die? Did her wet nurse deserve to die? Did her uncle’s entire family deserve to be exterminated? Did Qin Yaoyao deserve to die? Did Qin Shuying deserve to die?

Who would give them justice? Who would care about their reputations?

Qin Shuying was dead—except for herself, this impostor, who knew Qin Shuying had already died?!

Qin Yaoyao died unjustly and miserably. In the entire Qin manor, who had sighed even once for Qin Yaoyao?!

She had no way to retreat.

If she missed today, it would be difficult to find another opportunity to deal such a heavy blow to her opponent.

Even if this earned Xu Shi’s hatred, even if Xu Shi completely destroyed her because of this, she couldn’t care about so much anymore!

Besides, Xu Shi really didn’t dare openly kill her!

Xu Shi hurriedly maintained her spring-like smile: “Good child, you’re young and have always been weak. Old Madam even exempted you from daily greetings, letting you rest and recover your health, so naturally you couldn’t manage the shops. Third Brother left behind many things. I took on the burden of helping to oversee them, but I can’t remember everything. Since these are meant as birthday gifts for Old Madam, you should have told me earlier. Nanny Zhang, go to the warehouse and retrieve both items Seventh Miss mentioned.”

Nanny Zhang quickly agreed. Qin Shuying sneered inwardly—saying she’d go retrieve them was just to appease everyone. When nothing was brought back, someone would casually say Nanny Zhang was busy, and who would interrogate her about it?

She had prepared for this long ago. Such things had happened too often before. Back then, she was easily dismissed because she wanted to preserve Xu Shi’s dignity and didn’t know how to resist.

“Nanny Zhang, wait!” Qin Shuying stopped Nanny Zhang as she was about to leave, pointing to the red gold harmony ruyi hairpin in her hair: “Nanny Zhang, that red gold harmony ruyi hairpin on your head looks so familiar. My mother had one exactly like it when she was alive, with a small character ‘Rong’ carved on it.”

Nanny Zhang immediately stepped back, instinctively touching her hair arrangement, looking toward Xu Shi: “Seventh Miss, you… you’re putting this slave in an impossible position. This slave’s… though this is a gold hairpin, the workmanship is crude—how could it compare to Third Madam’s refined pieces…”

Qin Shuying glanced at Lu Ye, who quickly and deftly pulled the gold hairpin from Nanny Zhang’s head, took a swift look, and cried out in surprise: “There really is a ‘Rong’ character!”

The room immediately erupted in commotion.

Old Madam’s face also turned iron-blue.

Xu Shi’s complexion changed dramatically as she hurried to say: “Seventh Miss, there are hairpins of all colors and styles in this world—similarities are inevitable. You must be mistaken. Today is Old Madam’s joyous day. Why bother with a servant’s trifles? It’s beneath your dignity and makes this auspicious day inauspicious. People outside who don’t know might think you disrupted Old Madam’s birthday celebration and call you unfilial.”

In the past, Qin Shuying would have been completely paralyzed by the word “unfilial,” and Qin Yaoyao would have been suffocated by those two characters.

But now, Qin Shuying faced Xu Shi directly, completely ignoring her words, and said with a smile: “First Madam, this gold hairpin’s workmanship and style are exquisite and refined, with Jinghai Jewelry’s mark at the tip. Jinghai Jewelry’s labor costs alone are considerable. I wonder how Nanny Zhang, with a monthly salary of only two taels, could afford this kind of hairpin worth twenty or thirty taels of silver?”

The gold hairpin on Nanny Zhang’s head had been given to her by the original Qin Shuying to curry favor. However, Nanny Zhang absolutely dared not bring such words to light. A master bestowing such valuable items on a nanny was problematic in itself.

The original Qin Shuying had given Nanny Zhang many fine things, yet she still helped Xu Shi harm her. So today, when Qin Shuying used her as an example, she felt no psychological burden whatsoever.