Qin Yunyun said, “Daughter knows that Mother cannot act conveniently now, so daughter will plan everything herself. Mother, no matter what one does, it requires a great deal of silver. Is Mother willing to give daughter some?”

Xu Shi was shocked and nodded mechanically, “How much do you want?”

“Ten thousand taels.”

“So much!”

Qin Yunyun smiled charmingly, “Mother, one cannot catch a wolf without sacrificing the child. How much one invests determines how much one gets in return. Mother, don’t you think so?”

Xu Shi murmured to herself, “This… won’t this cause great trouble? Your grandmother…”

Qin Yunyun laughed coldly, “Mother, even if I try to please grandmother now, she won’t think highly of me. Otherwise, why would she have sister-in-law arrange marriage prospects for me? Mother, don’t you understand? Are you just going to watch me be casually married off by sister-in-law?”

By the end, her resentment toward Xu Shi was undisguised. If Xu Shi hadn’t been so incompetent, how would she have been implicated?

Xu Shi instinctively continued to refute, “Your sister-in-law wouldn’t…”

“Mother, what is sister-in-law’s rank? What kind of families can she enter? What words can she speak? Where does she have room to choose?”

Xu Shi fell silent. What Qin Yunyun said was indeed fact.

Qin Kaile had now been promoted to fifth rank, so the families Dong Shi could frequently visit wouldn’t be too high in status. Even if they were invited to banquets at the Qin residence in consideration of Consort Lian and Qin Yongtao’s official position, when Dong Shi attended, she could only sit in lower seats as decoration, with no opportunity to speak, let alone converse with those high-born noble ladies.

Moreover, Qin Yue was also of marriageable age. If there were suitable families, wouldn’t she first consider her own daughter rather than her sister-in-law Qin Yunyun?

Qin Yunyun didn’t believe it.

Xu Shi asked, “What do you plan to do with these ten thousand taels of silver? A young lady’s reputation is important – no matter what you do, don’t let anyone suspect you.”

Qin Yunyun felt delighted. Xu Shi had agreed to her request.

“Mother needn’t worry about what I’m going to do. I promise you, I absolutely won’t let anyone suspect me.”

Of course not – she was merely paying to hire some hands.

Naturally, for such a big matter, a few hundred taels of silver wouldn’t be enough to make people stake everything. So she was offering very generous bait.

This time, she had to drag Qin Shuying into the mud so she could never rise again.

Then she would stomp on her hard, making Qin Shuying never able to lift her head again, suffering ridicule and pain for life!

**

One day later, at Yilan Garden.

Qin Shuying looked at the invitation in her hand, and seeing the signature, couldn’t help but smile.

Xu Peiwei had finally returned!

When she was still Qin Yaoyao, Xu Peiwei had helped Qin Yunyun and often demanded benefits from her.

After Qin Shuying returned from the south and became so submissive, Xu Peiwei had contributed greatly to that transformation!

For over half a year, she had gone to her maternal grandmother’s house. The journey was long, and once she left, it was for half a year.

Some days ago, she had returned and rested at home for a few days before inviting Qin Yunyun and Qin Shuying to visit.

These past years, whenever she invited Qin Yunyun, she would always invite Qin Shuying as well. However, Qin Shuying had only gone once or twice initially, and after suffering several setbacks at the Xu residence, she never went again.

Xu Shi would tell everyone, “My maternal family’s Fifth Miss Xu is the most gentle and amiable young lady. Whenever she invites Yun girl to the Xu house, she always invites Seventh Girl as well. Seventh Girl’s health isn’t good, so she always declines. My niece’s eyes have grown tired from waiting, still missing Seventh Girl. When she comes to our residence, she always makes a point of visiting Seventh Girl. She’s thoughtful in everything and considerate of others everywhere – such children are truly rare nowadays.”

Only Qin Shuying knew what this Xu Peiwei said and did whenever she came to the Qin residence to visit her.

Initially, Qin Shuying had thought of complaining.

Xu Shi saw through her thoughts at a glance and dismissed Qin Shuying’s idea with one sentence: “Seventh Girl, look – in all of the capital, only Peiwei comes to see you. Peiwei is innocent and lively, pure and kind – everyone praises her, and Old Madam knows this too. She says Peiwei is most kindhearted and treats her even better than your Sixth Sister! Whatever you say can’t match a single word from Peiwei!”

Remembering this, Qin Shuying’s lips curved slightly as she placed the invitation on the table, stood up, and walked out of the courtyard.

The garden was full of spring colors, brimming with infinite vitality.

The sunlight was just right, making one feel refreshed and happy.

The weather was so good, yet some people still wouldn’t behave…

“Miss, this old servant will go prepare for the day after tomorrow’s visit to the Xu residence.” Nanny Fu pondered that Qin Shuying would probably go.

Qin Shuying nodded, “Thank you for your trouble, Nanny.”

Nanny Fu was delighted, “What trouble does Miss speak of? This is all this old servant’s duty.”

Previously, she hadn’t quite understood why Miss was unwilling to go to the Xu residence. She had advised several times, but Miss wouldn’t listen. When Xu Peiwei came to the Qin residence and squeezed out Qin Shuying, Nanny Fu had followed closely and witnessed it once or twice.

Later, for some reason, Miss wouldn’t let her follow anymore. She knew Xu Peiwei wasn’t easy to get along with, but when Miss looked stern, Nanny Fu was helpless and could only watch from afar, not daring to follow closely. Each time it was Hui Qin who followed.

Now that Miss was willing to go, that was naturally best.

Although Miss said the Liu family had other plans, no matter what, the Liu family hadn’t said they wouldn’t form the marriage alliance, so Nanny Fu still held hope for the Liu family.

If so, Miss had to go out and let the noble ladies of the capital get to know her.

Although going to the Xu house, Nanny Fu felt there probably wouldn’t be anything good.

“Miss, regarding the family that Ziteng found, my husband went to inquire thoroughly about them. Their family used to live next to the Zhou family – also a scholarly family. When the Zhou house was burned down, the Che family also suffered. The Zhou family was completely wiped out with no one left to compensate, so the Che family had to swallow their bitter medicine. Those possessions had cost them all their wealth initially. When the house burned and their belongings were destroyed, they had no means to start over. These years, Young Master Che has drowned himself in wine, Second Young Master Che became someone’s apprentice, and Miss Che does some sewing and washing to barely maintain their livelihood.”

Qin Shuying naturally knew about this family’s situation long ago. Because they were the Zhou family’s former neighbors, after the incident their circumstances became even worse, so they moved to a small courtyard and no longer lived in their original location.

Ziteng was now in a grand residence and was Qin Shuying’s personal maid, so she naturally couldn’t go out frequently. Now that someone needed to step forward, it was appropriate for Shopkeeper Jin to send someone to act.

Qin Shuying pondered for a moment. Uncle Zhou’s kind face flashed through her mind, making her heart ache so much she could barely breathe. She closed her eyes briefly.

Nanny Fu was behind her and couldn’t see Qin Shuying’s expression. Thinking Qin Shuying was contemplating, she continued, “Miss, the people of the Che family are now desperate with poverty. They probably can’t afford to eat meat more than a few times a year.”