Regarding Princess Qin’an’s matter, Liang Yunshan later told only Old Madam Liang, and no one else knew about it.

Until the day Emperor Delong issued the decree, no one dared speak carelessly.

When Old Madam Liang heard Liang Yunshan mention this matter, her eyes turned cold, but she asked nothing.

Only after Liang Yunshan finished speaking did she say in a voice without any inflection: “Winners are kings, losers are bandits—this is natural law. There’s nothing to discuss. When His Majesty issues the decree, just follow the Son of Heaven’s will.”

Liang Yunshan was completely confused by what he heard, but since Old Madam Liang had no objections, he naturally didn’t pursue the matter further.

After Liang Yunshan left, Old Madam Liang sat in her round-backed chair, the corners of her mouth curling into a cold smile. Her face, still beautiful despite being nearly sixty, appeared somewhat menacing as she said word by word: “Utterly shameless!”

At this moment, there was no one else in the room.

Old Madam Liang didn’t much like having servants constantly attending her, and often stayed alone in her room.

Not only did she dislike having servants around, she also didn’t particularly enjoy having children and grandchildren hovering about.

Even though she favored Liang Qiong, Liang Jie, and Liang Yuan, she wouldn’t often have them nearby to enjoy family happiness.

After sitting for a while, she stood up. Her steps were still vigorous as she walked to the bronze mirror.

In the mirror, although the woman wore clothes primarily in black, brown, and deep red colors, the style wasn’t old-fashioned. Far from being old-fashioned, it appeared quite elegant and noble.

Therefore, the woman wearing these clothes, though already fifty-seven years old, didn’t look like the dowdy old ladies of other wealthy families at all.

On the contrary, because she was tall and graceful, with spirited eyes, a straight nose, and fair skin that was elastic from proper care, people would believe her if she claimed to be in her thirties.

Old Madam Liang’s hand gently caressed her own face.

Her slender, fair hands still had even coloring, without the age spots that other old dowagers had.

Looking at the woman in the mirror who still faintly resembled a beauty, Old Madam Liang said quietly after a long moment: “To possess peerless beauty yet be trapped in an empty courtyard. It’s fate, it’s fortune.”

After a moment of silence, she removed her outer garment, then gently rose on her tiptoes, extended one hand, lifted her waist, and assumed a dancing posture.

Then she began to dance in the room.

Her dancing was quite graceful—clearly well-trained. In her youth, she must have had captivating dance moves.

After dancing for a while, her breathing remained even, showing that she danced regularly.

She danced for a long time before stopping, standing in place and panting slightly to rest.

Afterward, she put on her outer garment and was once again the composed, aloof Old Madam Liang.

The woman who had just danced gracefully seemed like a completely different person.

In her day, Old Madam Liang not only had stunning beauty but also exceptional dancing skills. Otherwise, how could a mere concubine-born daughter have been sought in marriage by the old Marquis?

After sitting for a long time, Old Madam Liang softly recited: “In the north there is a beautiful lady, peerless and independent. One glance topples a city, another glance topples a nation. Rather than not knowing that cities and nations topple, such beauty is hard to find again…”

Liang Zhe had gone to work, and Qin Shuying’s days became leisurely.

Although Emperor Delong hadn’t yet issued the decree, since Luo Meixiang knew about it, all her attention was focused on Princess Qin’an’s matter. How could she have any mind to manage Qin Shuying?

Princess Qin’an hadn’t entered yet, but several nobles had already sent beauties over.

Old princes, old nobles, shameless old military cronies…

Luo Meixiang knew these people came with impure motives—some were purely here to gather information. However, she couldn’t touch them. Not only could she not touch them, she had to arrange for Liang Yunshan to personally attend to each one…

This nearly suffocated Luo Meixiang with frustration.

Actually, after Liang Yunshan returned, several noble families had various schemes to send beauties to him, but Liang Yunshan had firmly refused them all. These nobles had given up their thoughts at the time. Who knew that after just one day, these nobles somehow heard something and directly carried the women in sedan chairs to the back gate of the Marquis of Pingxi’s residence, also sending cards to Luo Meixiang’s hands.

Luo Meixiang had no choice but to accept, and she received four of them in one breath.

While others received gifts with joy, she accepted them with an iron-blue face, and her heart condition flared up again.

Qin Shuying knew this was all the “achievement” of Liang Zhe’s recent outings—truly a good son who honored his father.

To accomplish so many things in such a short time, he must have been planning for a while, having everything plotted out before Liang Yunshan’s return.

These days, the weather had suddenly turned cold, and many people couldn’t keep up with the weather changes, catching colds and falling ill.

Qin Shuying was fine though, exercising daily in Pine Wave Residence, healthy and rosy-cheeked.

Although the weather had turned cold, going out wasn’t a problem. Qin Shuying took her maids to stroll through the gardens.

She had been married for over ten days now, but there were still many places in the Marquis of Pingxi’s residence she hadn’t visited.

Ziteng, Lu Ye, Hong Juan, and Huiyun followed Qin Shuying to see the wild roses.

At this time, many of the wild roses had already withered, and the remaining flowers were mostly listless—winter had arrived after all.

However, the fragrance was still rich.

While chatting and laughing, they heard a woman’s voice: “This concubine greets the First Madam.”

Through several clusters of rose leaves, Qin Shuying saw a woman in her twenties standing opposite, accompanied by an unfamiliar maid.

Who was this?

The second branch had several concubines, the first branch had Concubine Yue, plus several elderly concubines.

While her thoughts raced, Hong Juan had already stepped forward: “May I ask who this person is?”

All the legitimate masters of the Marquis of Pingxi’s residence had been met, so this person could only be a concubine. Therefore, her questioning was quite impolite.

Concubine Yue smiled gracefully: “This concubine is Yaoniang. I greet the First Madam.”

Only then did Qin Shuying say: “So it’s Concubine Yue.”

“First Madam, are you planning to pick some roses? This concubine has also brought someone—let her help.”

Qin Shuying’s eyes were clear as she declined: “That’s not the case. No help is needed. Thank you, Concubine.”

Concubine Yue stepped forward, observing the fourteen-year-old girl before her, a flash of understanding in her eyes.

She was afraid of owing a favor and having trouble repaying it later, wasn’t she?

She really didn’t know what the Young Master was thinking, marrying such a yellow-haired little girl. Wouldn’t this just let the Madam manipulate her at will?

At the breakfast table in Ning Garden, the maids and servants who could serve inside were all trusted by their masters and wouldn’t dare gossip carelessly. Concubine Yue’s original maids hadn’t entered the residence, and the maids now by her side were all assigned according to the residence’s rules. They could piece together some fragmentary meanings but no one was willing to tell Concubine Yue.

Therefore, Concubine Yue had no idea about the incident where Qin Shuying made Luo Meixiang lose face.

Although Ayuan and Aning understood what happened, they hadn’t seen Concubine Yue at all these past few days.

So Concubine Yue could only guess at Qin Shuying’s situation based on her imagination.

In the end, she still didn’t think much of Qin Shuying.

Such a delicate little girl probably couldn’t withstand the Madam’s torment and would “die of illness” before long.

She was too young after all. Just because she got along well with the Young Master emotionally, she dared to enter the dragon’s den and tiger’s lair of the Marquis of Pingxi’s residence without weighing her own capabilities.