The young ladies ate their chilled fermented rice wine and pastries while Yun Jingshu chattered incessantly about southern affairs. “…That kind of sea fish—who would have thought something so ugly could taste so incredibly delicious? Sister Shuying, don’t you agree?”
Qin Shuying just listened, neither stopping her nor joining the conversation. Her expression remained indifferent, as if she were listening yet also as if she weren’t.
Yun Jingshu complained with feigned annoyance: “Sister Shuying, you haven’t said a word in ages. I was starting to think you weren’t listening at all.”
Qin Shuying smiled dismissively, absently stirring the delicate silver spoon in her hand.
Qin Fangfang, who had been silently sulking the entire time, suddenly stood up and said: “Seventh Sister, I still have some embroidery work that isn’t finished. I’ll head back first.”
Only then did Qin Shuying speak: “Very well, Eighth Sister. I won’t keep you then.”
Qin Fangfang nodded to Qin Lulu and the others, then left without so much as a glance at Yun Jingshu.
Qin Lulu couldn’t help but laugh out loud with a “puff”—she hadn’t expected that after the marriage affair, Qin Fangfang had actually grown clever. Not only had she grown clever, but she had also learned to subtly flatter Qin Shuying without making it obvious.
Qin Lulu and Qin Yue also took their leave one after another. Yun Jingshu sat for a while longer, with Qin Shuying responding to her remarks in a perfunctory manner. No matter how thick-skinned Yun Jingshu was, she couldn’t continue sitting there. Besides, she had already achieved her purpose for today’s visit, so before long, she took her leave as well.
Ziteng was once again the one to escort the guest out.
When Ziteng returned from seeing the guest off, Nanny Fu was in the room fuming with anger: “What is Second Young Master trying to do? Test Miss? Is this how family behaves? Is this how a cousin acts? He’s acting like an enemy!”
Seeing this, Ziteng said: “Nanny, I considered several possibilities, but I never anticipated Second Young Master would act this way.”
Nanny Fu snorted coldly: “No one could have anticipated it! His heart has turned black!”
Qin Shuying thought for a moment and said: “Now that Second Brother has returned, you all need to be more careful. He can’t do anything to me, but he is the master of the Qin manor—he could take his frustrations out on you.”
Although the indenture contracts of everyone in Yilan Garden were in her own hands, if he truly set his mind to it, he could still find some fault to use as an excuse to vent his anger on them.
Nanny Fu was so angry that her veins bulged: “What fine abilities he has! A dignified scholar who doesn’t focus his thoughts on the people or the imperial court, but uses them against his own cousin instead! Narrow-minded, base and shameless—he truly disgraces his manhood!”
Qin Shuying clenched the handkerchief in her hand tightly. Qin Kaiyu had achieved success at a young age, but several years ago, due to youthful arrogance, he had offended an important figure. To avoid the storm, he hadn’t rushed into official service. Now that important figure had died, and he had just finished three years of scholarly travel—everything was perfectly timed, which was why he had returned.
He shouldn’t still possess such an impulsive and hot-tempered nature.
“Nanny, getting angry won’t help. You just need to understand his character. Second Brother is unlikely to still be impulsive and hot-tempered. I’ve already arranged for Nanny Mi to pay extra attention. When situations arise, you should all stay alert and not miss any important information.”
Only then did Nanny Fu sigh and say: “Fortunately, Miss planned ahead and Nanny Mi has people constantly gathering various information. Otherwise, Miss would have died countless times already! This world is so relentlessly oppressive toward women that one can’t even catch a breath!”
“Nanny, there’s no need to worry excessively. People are born crying into this world—they come to suffer. If it’s not this kind of suffering, it’s another kind. No one can escape it.”
Nanny Fu thought this made sense, so she dropped the topic and brought up Liu Junqing: “Miss, now that Young Master Liu has taken office, the Liu family still shows no response whatsoever. How does Miss plan to break this deadlock?”
Ever since learning that the Liu family had interfered in the Eastern Hidden Temple affair, Nanny Fu felt nothing but deep hatred toward them.
“No rush. The Liu family should be the ones feeling anxious.”
After thinking it over, Nanny Fu understood. Indeed, with Concubine Kang pressing so hard, if the Liu family didn’t take some concrete action, how could they deal with Concubine Kang?
Qin Shuying had analyzed that while Madam Liu favored Princess Fu’an, Liu Gongshan probably did not.
Actually, for the Liu family, there wasn’t much difference between marrying Princess Fu’an and marrying Qin Shuying. Either way, it was the Sixth Prince’s faction versus the Seventh Prince’s faction—what difference did it make?
For the Liu family, marrying a daughter from a neutral faction or the Crown Prince’s faction would be best.
So while on the surface it seemed like Madam Liu felt proud of her connection with a palace concubine, in reality, hidden dangers lurked.
Madam Liu couldn’t see this clearly, but Liu Gongshan and Liu Junqing could. That’s why Liu Junqing had acted that way at Princess Yongjia’s manor, and today had deliberately shown Qin Kaiyu and Xu Zhijie that he was a man of his word who was determined to marry Qin Shuying.
The Liu family still wanted to use her until they found a suitable family.
However, it was now very difficult to find neutral factions in the court. With marriage alliances connecting everyone, they all belonged to some faction when counted up. To find a family that was both well-established and neutral was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Of course, if the Liu family chose the Crown Prince’s faction, that would be much simpler.
But would the Liu family choose the Crown Prince’s faction?
Or rather, would the Crown Prince want the Liu family?
Was the Crown Prince’s faction truly as weak as it appeared on the surface? Was it really so easy to gain their trust?
Although the Crown Prince had participated in governance for many years, his political achievements weren’t particularly remarkable. He was rather obsessed with cultural promotion and water conservancy projects. He had indeed made contributions in flood control, but wasn’t particularly outstanding in other areas.
The Crown Prince’s current Crown Princess was his second wife, and the son she bore was only five years old. His other sons were all born to secondary consorts and concubines, of low status, and none showed exceptional talent.
No matter how much the current Emperor favored the Crown Prince, he couldn’t designate an Imperial Grandson. Otherwise, if there were an Imperial Grandson, no one would dare covet the Crown Prince’s position anymore.
Compared to the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Princes and their supporters, the Crown Prince’s lineage truly wasn’t very prominent.
However, having been established as heir for over ten years, he was viewed as legitimate, so naturally he had many followers, especially among the world’s scholars, enjoying tremendous prestige in scholarly circles.
Qin Shuying had analyzed all these matters with Nanny Fu, Nanny Mi, Ziteng, and Lu Ye. This was also to help them act with more awareness and proper judgment in their daily conduct.
At this moment, Zhihua knocked on the door outside. Ziteng went out, and before long, she returned, saying: “Miss, the arrangements for Feixian County have been properly made. Nanny Mi had someone open a grain shop there. The person sent over is a shopkeeper she trusts. She gave five thousand taels of silver to make it the largest grain shop locally, with plenty of staff hired. It will be ready to open in another half month.”
Qin Shuying said: “Send word to Nanny Mi that she must constantly pay attention to the Liang Zhen household. If anything happens to Liang Zhen, she must protect her and her child’s safety.”
Ziteng replied: “Yes.”
Nanny Fu naturally knew about this matter too: “Miss, returning kindness for kindness—although deploying these people may not accomplish much, at least it shows we’re repaying Young Master Liang’s favor. Amitabha!”
Now that Liang Zhe had people at his disposal, how could he not care for his legitimate sister? However, Liang Zhe might not understand much about inner household affairs, so Qin Shuying had also arranged for Nanny Mi to ensure people infiltrated Liang Zhen’s current household.
Although the man Liang Zhen married was currently only a seventh-rank minor official, he also had numerous concubines and chamber maids. For someone of Miss Liang’s status to marry into such a household, she would probably be constantly mocked—she’d be worse off than an ordinary woman.