Strange emotions spread through everyone’s hearts. If Qin Shuying was here, then who was the woman in the room?

Those with sharper minds thought even deeper – Xu Shi had recognized that woman as Qin Shuying at first glance. How had she made that determination? Or rather, had she actually “known” from the beginning that it was Qin Shuying?

They looked at each other, and suddenly everyone seemed to understand something.

It turned out this aunt had schemed wholeheartedly against her niece, but the niece was clever and had actually escaped.

If that was the case, then the incident at Old Madam Qin’s birthday banquet became even more intriguing. Although only some relatives had been present at the time, word had still gotten out. However, with so many fresh happenings in the capital, it was quickly forgotten by people.

What others could think of, Ma Shi could naturally think of, and so could Xu Shi.

But what Xu Shi was thinking about now wasn’t this – it was that Qin Yunyun seemed to have never appeared… Xu Shi immediately swayed on her feet. Nanny Liu naturally thought of the same thing and quickly supported Xu Shi, her heart filled with terror!

Could it be that the woman who had never turned her face around was Sixth Miss?

Ma Shi raised her eyebrows, her gaze fixing on where Xu Shi stood, her expression darkly unreadable: Xu Shi actually dared to play tricks in Duke Chu’s mansion!

Ma Shi strode inside and yanked off the quilt covering the woman’s face on the bed. The woman’s eyes were tightly closed, her face covered in tears, her whole body trembling.

Ma Shi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly felt like laughing…

This should be Xu Shi’s case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead…

On second thought, Ma Shi was furious again: Xu Shi was truly audacious, daring to pull such a stunt at Duke Chu’s wife’s birthday celebration, and choosing Sun Qingping no less – did she think Ma Shi was living too comfortably?

Xu Shi was anxious as fire and rushed inside, followed closely by Qin Shuying and the ladies.

“Eighth Sister!”

Qin Shuying entered afterward, happening to stand opposite the woman, crying out in surprise, then hastily covering her mouth.

When Xu Shi saw Qin Fangfang’s face, she was first stunned, then her heart settled – fortunately it wasn’t Sixth Girl!

In that instant, Xu Shi firmly embraced Qin Fangfang, not letting everyone see her face, but Qin Shuying’s cry of surprise had already let everyone know it was Eighth Miss of the Qin mansion.

Qin Shuying asked the people around her in bewilderment: “What happened? Earlier in the courtyard admiring plum blossoms, a maid spilled tea and ruined my dress. Eighth Sister had my maid go out to find a nanny from the Qin mansion for clothing, and she personally accompanied me to the rest room to wait. Halfway there, I twisted my ankle. Eighth Sister told me to wait in place while she went to find people to carry me. I waited there, waited for a long time but no one came. Even my maid came but I still hadn’t waited for anyone. Ziteng was worried about me being alone in the woods, so she had no choice but to help me walk slowly…”

She rambled on like a sheltered young lady who hadn’t seen much of the world.

Xu Shi immediately put on the appearance of a loving mother, holding Qin Fangfang and calling her “my precious child,” wiping away tears, truly the picture of a devoted mother.

Ma Shi watched this, sneering coldly in her heart. Fortunately, Yiting hadn’t agreed to her suggestion back then. With such a mother-in-law, could Yiting’s inner quarters be peaceful after marriage?

Previously, Qin Yunyun had quite a reputation for beauty in the capital, with suitors nearly trampling down the Qin mansion’s threshold. But Xu Shi had set her sights on Mo Yiting, repeatedly hinting to Ma Shi about a marriage alliance between the two families.

At the time, Ma Shi had also thought it would be a good match. After all, it was her son’s lifelong matter, and her son was thoughtful, so Ma Shi had mentioned this to Mo Yiting.

Mo Yiting had refused, reasoning that marrying into the Qin family would bring more harm than benefit. The Qin family supported the Sixth Prince, and as the emperor aged, the competition between princes grew increasingly fierce. If the Mo family married into the Qin family, they would become part of the Sixth Prince’s faction. Never mind that the Mo family was only loyal to the emperor and didn’t participate in the princes’ succession struggles – if they truly married into the Qin family, it would certainly arouse the emperor’s suspicion.

Looking at it now, her son’s refusal had been truly wise. Xu Shi was no good person, actually capable of ruining her own niece’s reputation! And she completely failed to consider what treatment she, as the household’s main wife, would face afterward!

Ma Shi sneered coldly in her heart while having the ladies and misses all go outside the door, leaving only Xu Shi and Qin Fangfang inside.

Just as Qin Shuying and Ma Shi and the others reached the doorway, Mo Yiting arrived with his men.

Coming with Mo Yiting was a man slightly older than him, about twenty-some years old, half a head taller than Mo Yiting. Dressed in blue robes, he stood straight as a pine, with handsome features and a cold expression. His entire being radiated an icy, bone-piercing aura.

Mo Yiting bowed to the ladies and said: “An accident occurred today – my apologies! Please, everyone, go to the front hall for tea.”

There wasn’t much more to see after that. The ladies followed the servants of Duke Chu’s mansion back contentedly, discussing animatedly along the way. Especially seeing the man who had come with Mo Yiting, they discussed him even more enthusiastically.

Qin Shuying heard their discussions – this tall, imposing man with a face like a demon was the eldest son of the Conquering West General’s mansion, called Liang Zhe.

Qin Shuying was slightly surprised and couldn’t help but look at the man a few more times.

Indeed, he was as the legends described – handsome as a demon, yet his masculine aura only increased rather than diminished. Combined with that demonic face, once seen, he could never be forgotten.

The young ladies present were even more stunned, staring blankly without even blinking.

The Conquering West General’s mansion neighbored the Lu mansion. Since Qin Yaoyao had bought a courtyard, she naturally knew something about the neighboring residents.

The Conquering West General’s mansion, like Duke Chu’s mansion, was a hereditary first-rank mansion without replacement, among the leading nobles of the Great Zhou Dynasty. She had also heard rumors about this eldest son Liang Zhe – reportedly extremely violent and cold, killing at the slightest disagreement. He was also said to be a wastrel, not attending to proper business, flaunting himself among flowers.

At that time, Qin Yaoyao hadn’t taken it too seriously.

Although the Great Zhou Dynasty was prosperous, its military strength wasn’t strong. The most recent major battle had occurred five years ago.

At that time, the emperor had personally led the campaign to quell the conflict. Even so, they had to send a princess to a tribal chieftain.

Liang Zhe had gone to the northwestern army at age ten. By twenty, given his status, he would certainly be a leader of some rank. As long as he wasn’t completely useless, he would have definitely killed people. As for frequenting flower districts, what man in this world with money in his pocket didn’t do the same?

When Qin Shuying glanced over, unexpectedly Liang Zhe’s calm and indifferent eyes swept toward her. Qin Shuying only briefly met his gaze and discovered that his eyes actually carried some scrutiny and evaluation.

For some unknown reason, Qin Shuying’s heart suddenly pounded like thunder. She quickly lowered her eyelids and continued pretending to be heartbroken.

Ma Shi had her personal nanny invite the second branch to handle matters first, and with Duke Chu’s wife presiding over things, she stayed behind to deal with this mess.

In the room, Xu Shi busily helped Qin Fangfang get dressed. Qin Fangfang covered her face and sobbed softly. After Xu Shi’s gentle persuasion, Qin Fangfang slowly put on her clothes.

Although Qin Shuying’s face showed grief, her eyes were exceptionally bright. She was also tired of pretending, so she let her emotions run free – that anxiety was obviously fake at first glance.

As an imperial guard, Ma Shi inevitably had occasional dealings with palace concubines. She deeply understood the filth and corruption in the palace, so she had told Mo Yiting many stories about inner quarters’ dark secrets, fearing that Mo Yiting might unknowingly get entangled in the struggles between palace concubines. Mo Yiting never dared take lightly what his mother told him about these matters.

Earlier, he and Liang Zhe had unintentionally witnessed Qin Shuying and Ziteng beating up Cai Yan. Considering the current situation slightly, Mo Yiting understood the whole sequence of events fairly clearly.