Zhou Qin laughed heartily: “Lord Liang is always so witty.”

Liang Zhe also smiled: “Your Highness is witty—I’m merely following suit!”

Zhou Qin secretly cursed Lianpin a few times, then smiled: “Imperial Concubine Mother is confined to the deep palace and doesn’t know Lady Liang’s situation. She’s not as considerate as ordinary people. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Since Zhou Qin was being so attentive, Qin Shuying said: “Your Highness speaks too seriously. Though Her Ladyship is the elder sister, she is more than ten years older than this subject’s wife. This subject’s wife didn’t grow up in the capital from childhood, so it’s not surprising that Her Ladyship doesn’t know my concerns. It was this subject’s wife who was greedy.”

Having reached this point, Zhou Qin knew this couple had always harbored resentment about Lianpin’s affairs. But since he was now determined to win over Liang Zhe, he naturally wouldn’t give up easily.

“The other day when I entered the palace, Imperial Concubine Mother was still talking about how, now that Great-grandmother has passed away, she often misses her. Knowing that Great-grandmother was particularly fond of you, she wanted to chat with you about Great-grandmother to comfort her longing.”

When harsh methods didn’t work, he switched to soft ones.

The coldness in Qin Shuying’s eyes intensified: “This subject’s wife should naturally comply with Her Ladyship’s wishes. It’s just that this subject’s wife has lowly status and may not be able to enter the palace frequently, unable to ease Her Ladyship’s suffering.”

Zhou Qin then said: “No matter. When Tianxiang enters the palace, she can invite you to come along.”

“Yes.”

Everyone had achieved their purpose, and they finally parted on happy terms.

Returning to the Liang residence, after the family had dinner and Liang Zhen and Qu Linglong had just dispersed, Hong Juan came to Qin Shuying and said: “Madam, Third Miss came to the gate this evening, saying she wanted to see you. This servant had someone coax her away first. This servant thinks Third Miss will probably come again in the future.”

Qin Shuying recalled Qin Feifei’s destitute and impoverished appearance: “Did she say anything?”

“This servant asked, but she refused to tell this servant, only saying that if Madam doesn’t see her, Madam will be the one to regret it.”

Qin Shuying remembered the words Qin Yunyun had said on her wedding day and smiled coldly: “I won’t see her. Next time she comes, if she still says the same thing, tell Steward Liang and have her dragged to the yamen. If she persists in her delusion, you go find some people and also disrupt her business at the City God Temple, so she can’t even maintain her livelihood.”

Hong Juan acknowledged and went out.

When Qin Shuying was speaking with Hong Juan, Liang Zhe had been sitting nearby without saying a word. Seeing that the coldness on Qin Shuying’s face hadn’t diminished, he smiled and said: “Wife, for such a trivial matter, let your husband go seal her mouth.”

Qin Shuying shook her head: “Ziyu, let’s leave this matter as it is. She’s jealous seeing that I’m living well now. If she loses her livelihood and spends every day busy looking for work to fill her belly, where would she have the energy to seek revenge on me?”

Liang Zhe moved closer: “Wife, don’t be so quick to be considerate of others—be more considerate of your husband instead…”

Qin Shuying immediately blushed. Liang Zhe wrapped his long arms around her, picked her up, and walked toward the inner chamber.

…

The next day, when Qin Shuying woke up, Liang Zhe had already gone to the garrison.

After a night of wild passion, Qin Shuying’s face was still red, and her legs were still shaking.

Nanny Fu and Ziteng and the others were quite perceptive and hadn’t called her to get up. By the time she finished washing and dressing, the sun was already high in the sky.

Nanny Fu kept smiling cheerfully, embarrassing Qin Shuying so much that she blushed crimson and didn’t dare look up at her.

On March 18th, Qu Yi’s letter reached Liang Zhen’s hands, estimating he would arrive in the capital in half a month. Liang Zhen’s mood became somewhat unstable. Although her words still sounded open-minded and cheerful, there were inevitably some sighs and melancholy.

Qin Shuying found it difficult to comfort her and could only be more attentive in all matters, taking on more of the household affairs herself.

On this day, Mu Tianxiang submitted a request to enter the palace and asked Qin Shuying to come along.

Qin Shuying had also been waiting for this day and readily agreed.

At Shuangyun Palace, Lianpin appeared quite warm on the surface, chatting casually with the two women, showing no sign of having anything on her mind.

After chatting for quite a while, Lianpin’s face showed some sadness, and she said to Mu Tianxiang: “Princess Consort, this palace misses your great-grandmother. I have some matters to discuss with Lady Liang. Please go with Fu Qu for a stroll first.”

Mu Tianxiang was tactful and understanding. After comforting Lianpin with a few words, she followed Fu Qu out.

Once Mu Tianxiang left, Lianpin asked about some matters concerning Old Madam Qin. After the two sighed together for a while, Lianpin sighed and said: “Grandmother wasn’t that old—she had ruined her health, which is why she left so early. If she could have taken care of her body like Empress Her Majesty, she wouldn’t have died so early. Speaking of which, Empress Her Majesty isn’t that much younger than Grandmother either. Shuying, don’t you think so?”

These words were extremely treasonous.

Qin Shuying didn’t make an issue of the treasonous nature of the words. She knew Lianpin’s thoughts—didn’t she just want to learn something about Empress Wen from her?

“Although this subject’s wife has been fortunate enough to be summoned by the Empress several times, I have never seen the Empress’s true appearance and don’t know about Her Majesty’s physical condition.”

Lianpin feigned surprise: “The Empress summoned you, and everyone knows the Empress likes you very much and treats you differently. Everyone said you must have seen the Empress’s true appearance. How is it that you haven’t seen her either?”

“I have not.”

“How strange. When the Empress summoned you, what did you talk about?”

“The Empress lives deep in the palace and is probably somewhat bored, so she summoned this subject’s wife to tell her about the fresh happenings outside.”

Lianpin was puzzled: “If that’s the case, why didn’t she summon others before, but specifically wanted to hear about outside news from you? Oh, speaking of which, when Princess Yongxing was around, the Empress did summon her a few times too.”

Qin Shuying shook her head: “The reasons behind this, this subject’s wife is too dull to understand.”

Seeing that Qin Shuying was tight-lipped, Lianpin didn’t press further. She sighed again and said: “I really didn’t expect that your family’s old madam was fake, actually a remnant of the Qifeng Dynasty. She truly had an undying treacherous heart. Seeing that she was about to be exposed, she still struggled desperately at death’s door, deliberately saying that the Empress wasn’t from the Wen family but was the Late Emperor’s consort Lin Yuan, trying to stir up people’s speculation and provoke His Majesty’s anger. Oh my, Shuying, look at my loose tongue—you mustn’t tell anyone, or we’ll both be in trouble.”

Qin Shuying was indeed intrigued by Lianpin’s words: “Your Ladyship, the Late Emperor’s consort Lin Yuan? What exactly is this about? When that fake woman said such things, this subject’s wife had no one to ask. Since Your Ladyship mentioned it, this subject’s wife can’t help but inquire.”

Lianpin said: “The Late Emperor’s consort Lin Yuan—quite a few people in the capital know about her. Lin Yuan was several years older than His Majesty and was the Late Emperor’s consort. When Lin Yuan entered the palace, the Late Emperor was already very old and frail. After the Late Emperor’s death, Lin Yuan also died soon after.”

“So she had already passed away.”

“But when your family’s fake old madam said such things, there must have been a reason. Haven’t you thought about what that reason might be?”

Qin Shuying smiled: “She was just a fake. She wanted to use this news to muddy the waters in the harem and among the ladies to buy herself a chance at survival. Other than that, this subject’s wife can’t think of any other reason.”