She was gratified that her daughter knew how to fight for what she wanted, which meant she would never suffer losses or hardships in the future. Lianlian and Feifei were both like this, which was why they could find new life in desperate situations and live better and better.

Her worry was that doing this carried great risks, and she couldn’t control the outcome. But then again, no matter what, the risks involved couldn’t be greater than what Qin Lianlian had faced in the palace back then. Having survived those times was what gave Lianlian her current noble status. The current risks surely couldn’t be greater than before.

If she hadn’t fought for it, Lianlian might still be just a Beauty of low status. The palace was a place that devoured people without spitting out bones – perhaps if Qin Lianlian hadn’t fought back then, she might have lost her life by now.

“Mother, as long as that jinx exists, we’ll never have good days. When she marries and returns home to show off her power, can Mother bear it? Mother, I can’t stand her! I want her to crawl at my feet forever!”

Naturally, she, Xu Jinling, would not allow that jinx to step on her head.

But having thought of all possible methods, what other way was there?

Xu Shi said, “Yun’er, Mother has naturally thought about how to deal with her, but she saw through them all, as you know. Do you think Mother never considered confining her to the back courtyard? In the past, coaxing her not to come out and letting her health deteriorate day by day would have been the best method. No one could say anything against me, and even your grandmother, though she suspected me, had no way to deal with me. Now that she frequently goes out, and our family is what it is, if she suddenly stopped going out one day, someone would surely make an issue of it. Not to mention anything else, if someone used this to implicate the Sixth Prince, the loss would outweigh the gain. You saw the Sixth Prince – he’s a reasonable good child. This matter wouldn’t pass his scrutiny first. The Sixth Prince will probably start considering marriage prospects this year, so there absolutely cannot be any complications at this time that would ruin Consort’s important affairs.”

Qin Yunyun was silent for a moment. What Xu Shi said made sense.

The Sixth Prince would absolutely not allow bad rumors to spread.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have tactfully told Old Madam to confine Xu Shi.

Moreover, the Sixth Prince was sharp-eyed. Though it was clearly Qin Shuying who disregarded feminine propriety by showing her face in public and letting that wretched girl Ziteng expose their scandal, the Sixth Prince immediately saw that Xu Shi played the leading role in it all.

Although Qin Yunyun found Qin Shuying utterly displeasing, she had to admit that the Sixth Prince’s action was truly hitting the nail on the head.

“Mother, that jinx has already ruined the Qin family’s reputation. Keeping her around, who knows what unexpected incidents might happen someday. Mother, don’t forget that regarding Eighth Sister’s matter, that jinx actually knows everything clearly. Perhaps someday she’ll use it to make trouble, and then we’ll be even more passive. Mother, her refusal to stay obediently in the back courtyard actually works more in our favor. If something happens to her outside, no one can blame us.”

Xu Shi shook her head, “The matter at Duke Chu’s residence was also carefully arranged. The Duke Chu’s heir’s wife isn’t favored by the Duke Chu’s old madam, so choosing their house accomplished the deed without anyone pursuing questions. Even so, didn’t she still see through it? Ever since then, whenever the Duke Chu’s heir’s wife sees me, she carries a hint of mockery.”

Qin Yunyun sneered, still holding a grudge about Ma Shi’s refusal to form a marriage alliance with their family. “She has no foundation – what’s there to fear? Acting like that, she still looks down on me? She should look at herself!”

The Duke Chu’s heir’s wife, Ma Shi, was the heir’s second wife, and her story was quite legendary.

In her youth, Ma Shi had been engaged, but when she was fourteen, her fiancé died, giving Ma Shi the reputation of cursing her husband. With difficulty, when she reached seventeen, Ma Shi’s father was promoted to Vice Minister of Personnel of the second rank, truly holding high position and great power. Ma Shi was the legitimate daughter, well-educated and reasonable, with no bad habits, and quite beautiful besides. The reputation of cursing husbands became less important, and marriage proposals came one after another.

But for a woman to still be choosing at seventeen was rather late. Good young men already had marriage contracts, and most of those remaining had various unsatisfactory aspects. Minister Ma picked and chose, and just as he selected a family and prepared to exchange birth charts, Old Madam Ma died.

This put the marriage on hold while Ma Shi observed mourning. As a granddaughter, she didn’t need to mourn for a full three years, but she observed eighteen months anyway. Not many days later, Old Master Ma also died. So she continued mourning.

When marriage was mentioned again, Ma Shi was already twenty – truly an old maid.

At this time, although Minister Ma had observed three years of mourning for his parents and returned from his hometown, the Emperor had preserved his position, and he remained Minister Ma.

Minister Ma’s only legitimate daughter, still unmarried at twenty, had the entire capital craning their necks in anticipation.

As soon as Ma Shi returned, her mother hurried to arrange marriage prospects.

Somehow, just as there were prospects, Ma Shi’s mother died.

The entire capital shed sympathetic tears for Ma Shi.

So when Ma Shi turned twenty-three, she herself had become disheartened and didn’t wish to marry.

But Minister Ma was a good father who decided to arrange a match within one month after Ma Shi finished mourning, so he secretly sought candidates while she was still in mourning. Not only that, but he was determined to find a good family to sweep away his daughter’s bad luck and others’ strange looks.

Minister Ma truly found such a person – the Duke Chu’s heir.

Duke Chu’s heir Mo Libin had lost his wife the previous year. Although he had a legitimate son, the child died young, so his deceased wife left no children. The two families were well-matched – one had lost his wife, the other couldn’t marry off his daughter – a perfect pair.

Just five months after Ma Shi married over, Minister Ma died.

The entire capital breathed a sigh of relief for Ma Shi’s good fortune.

Less than five months after Minister Ma’s death, Ma Shi gave birth to a son and secured her position.

With Minister Ma’s death, the Ma family declined, and now had no figures holding real power. Ma Shi’s support wasn’t deep. Additionally, Duke Chu’s heir Mo Libin had a childhood sweetheart concubine whom Duke Chu’s old madam favored, so Ma Shi’s days at Duke Chu’s residence weren’t easy.

It was said that Mo Libin only treated her with respectful courtesy and was often stationed away from the capital. However, Duke Chu valued this daughter-in-law highly, and with her son being clever and steady, Ma Shi’s days at Duke Chu’s residence were somewhat better.

This was why Qin Yunyun made such remarks.

Xu Shi frowned. What Qin Yunyun said, she naturally knew. But so what? Even if Ma Shi had been everyone’s laughingstock before, even if Duke Chu’s old madam currently disliked her, she was still a first-rank madam. The number of madams in the entire empire who could make her bow and kneel could be counted on one hand.