As the Imperial Princess’s serious words fell, Qin Wan’s eyes widened in surprise.

Beside her, Yue Qing stared in disbelief, “What?! Taking Ninth Miss as an adopted daughter?!”

Yue Qing felt blood rushing to his head. He wanted to say something, but his mind was in chaos. If it had been anyone else, it would have been different, but he was facing his grandmother. Moreover, he had heard that this decision was made jointly by his father, mother, and grandmother. Yue Qing knew that once these three made a decision together, it could not be changed.

The Imperial Princess looked at Yue Qing with some pity, but more with unwavering determination. Meanwhile, Qin Wan recovered from her shock and said, “Imperial Princess… this… how could I…”

The Imperial Princess gripped Qin Wan’s hand firmly. “You’re about to leave for the capital soon, and once you’re gone, who knows when we’ll meet again. From Jinzhou to the capital is a thousand miles away. We won’t be able to help you, nor would we have reason to. This is what I discussed with them, so don’t refuse. Let Magistrate Huo be the witness, and we’ll settle this in the next couple of days.”

Qin Wan hesitated, “Imperial Princess, this… this isn’t appropriate…”

The Imperial Princess snorted lightly, “How is it not appropriate? When I make a decision, even His Majesty wouldn’t find it inappropriate. By rights, when a Marquis’s household takes in an adopted daughter, there should be a grand banquet. However, given your personality’s dislike of ostentation and our time constraints, we’ll forgo the banquet. We’ll just have Magistrate Huo inform the Madam of the Qin household, and then hold a small feast at the Marquis’s mansion to invite the Madam and your Second Brother. Though your parents are gone, you still have relatives. Although we’re adopting you, you won’t take the Yao surname. You’ll still be the Ninth Miss of the Qin family, but our Yao family will gain a Fourth Young Lady. How about that?”

Qin Wan felt emotional turmoil in her heart. She understood the Imperial Princess’s intention perfectly – she wouldn’t need to change her surname or be officially registered in the Yao family genealogy. It was simply giving her a status, the identity of being the Anyang Marquis’s adopted daughter, to support her.

Qin Wan pressed her lips together tightly, “Imperial Princess, you and the Marquis and his wife have shown me enough care. I shouldn’t be too greedy…”

Qin Wan felt confused. She hadn’t expected the Imperial Princess and the Jiang couple to make such a decision so quickly. She did need support, but thinking about her purpose for returning to the capital, she suddenly felt uneasy. If something were to go wrong then, she worried it might implicate the Marquis’s household, especially since it concerned an “iron case” that the Emperor himself had ruled on.

The Imperial Princess shook her head, “This isn’t about being greedy or not. The matter is settled.”

As Qin Wan tried to speak again, the Imperial Princess looked at her sternly, “Unless you look down on the Marquis’s household?”

Qin Wan smiled bitterly, “Of course not, it’s just…”

“There are no ‘just.’ This is my decision, and no one can question it – including you.” Speaking thus, the Imperial Princess turned to Yue Rong, “Let’s set it for the day after tomorrow. Have Jia’er return from the army, and Magistrate Huo will join us then.”

Huo Huaixin quickly smiled and said, “Very well, very well. We’ll follow the Imperial Princess’s wishes.”

The Imperial Princess nodded, “Later, have Rong prepare the gifts. Tomorrow morning, you’ll visit the Qin household.”

“This official understands. Please rest assured, Imperial Princess.”

After Huo Huaixin gave his guarantee, the Imperial Princess looked around the table, “Good, let’s eat everyone.”

As these words fell, Madam Jiang hurriedly served food to the Imperial Princess. Qin Wan was still lost in thought when the Imperial Princess patted her hand without saying more. Meanwhile, Yue Ning tugged at Qin Wan and said, “Now you’ll have to call me sister.”

Hearing this, Qin Wan smiled bitterly, not knowing what to say. Yue Ning began serving food to Qin Wan while saying, “Come now, stop with the bitter smile. Father and Mother already treat you like their own daughter. Now it’s just becoming official. This way, it’ll be proper when I come to visit you.”

Qin Wan felt a slight ache in her heart and wanted to say something but didn’t know where to begin. Seeing this, the Imperial Princess also started serving her food. Qin Wan quickly picked up her chopsticks, and only then did the Imperial Princess smile slightly.

For everyone present, this was ultimately a joyous occasion. With Huo Huaixin present, pleasant words flowed one after another, and soon the atmosphere at the table became lively. Though Yue Qing was eating, his expression had already become rigid. Throughout this meal, he tasted even less than Qin Wan.

After the meal, the Imperial Princess took Qin Wan back to her courtyard, while Madam Jiang and Yue Rong took Huo Huaixin to discuss the details of preparing gifts and arranging the feast. Yan Chi had left the mansion on business, and Yue Qing returned to his courtyard in low spirits.

Qin Wan and Yue Ning supported the Imperial Princess on either side. Qin Wan still felt somewhat uneasy, “Imperial Princess, I know you and the Marquis and his wife fear I’ll have no support and might be bullied, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Such kindness is too great.”

The Imperial Princess snorted lightly, “This isn’t kindness. You’re one of our own, how can you call it kindness?”

Qin Wan was moved, though her smile carried a hint of bitterness. The Imperial Princess noticed this and patted her hand, saying, “Child, though your nature is kind and gentle, I can see that you keep yourself somewhat distant in dealing with others. Your parents passed early, you have no siblings, and you’ve suffered at the hands of your First Uncle and Third Uncle. Perhaps you’ve given up on having close relationships with anyone? Don’t worry, though we’re adopting you, we’re not asking you to treat me as your real grandmother. Everything stays the same as before. We simply want to help you…”

Hearing these words, Qin Wan could no longer show any reluctance and quickly said, “No, no, being adopted by the Marquis and his wife is my good fortune. I never expected such a fortune before, and now that it’s fallen to me, I feel overwhelmed. I remember all the kindness you and the Marquis and his wife have shown me, even better than my clan members.”

Though Qin Wan spoke thus, she couldn’t deny that the Imperial Princess had hit the mark. She wasn’t the real Ninth Miss, and naturally, it wasn’t because of her First and Third Uncles’ treatment that she felt she wouldn’t have close relationships again. In her mind, the closest people were her father and mother, who were already dead, and in just two months, Qin Wan indeed hadn’t planned to treat anyone as her closest kin.

However, the Imperial Princess’s words made her feel somewhat guilty, and she began to accept this matter. The Imperial Princess then held her hand and said, “Good child, you should know that all this came naturally after we saw your character and received your kindness. You haven’t received anything you shouldn’t have.”

Qin Wan felt reassured hearing this. Receiving such great kindness from others had indeed made her very uneasy, but thinking again, she wouldn’t be alone anymore and would have someone to truly show filial respect to – this was truly a blessing for someone who had lost her parents.

Qin Wan nodded, “Yes, everything you say is right.”

Seeing Qin Wan’s expression relax to normal, the Imperial Princess knew she had accepted this matter and finally breathed a slight sigh of relief. She turned to look at Qin Wan, then at Yue Ning, and said contentedly, “I only have one child, Rong’er, but in my grandchildren’s generation, I have both grandsons and granddaughters. Good, very good! I must live at least another ten years!”

Yue Ning laughed, “Ten years isn’t enough. With Fourth Sister here, you’ll need to live another twenty or thirty years.”

This “Fourth Sister” from Yue Ning made Qin Wan’s heart skip a beat. She knew that she was the same age as Yue Ning, and in her view, though Yue Ning appeared reserved, she was still an inexperienced young lady who hadn’t been through much. Now suddenly being called her sister truly made her scalp tingle.

Yue Ning seemed to find this form of address quite natural and turned to say again, “Isn’t that right, Fourth Sister!”

Her tone was bold, deliberately affecting an elder’s manner. Qin Wan could only twitch her lips and smile inwardly, deciding to go along with it and nod, “Indeed, the Imperial Princess will surely live to be a hundred.”

Seeing the two of them like this, the Imperial Princess also smiled, “I don’t ask to live to a hundred, I just hope we can have four generations under one roof.”

While they were still talking, Huo Huaixin had already finished discussing arrangements with the Yue couple. He had made suggestions to Yue Rong following Yan Chi’s hints, and the matter was settled so quickly! Huo Huaixin increasingly felt Qin Wan’s importance to the Marquis’s family and felt somewhat grateful to Yan Chi. With this matter settled his relationship with the Marquis’s household would naturally advance further as a witness.

Huo Huaixin left the Marquis’s mansion for his residence in high spirits. Along the way, he remained in an excellent mood, thinking about how to approach the Qin household tomorrow. After some thought, he shook his head – not only was the current Qin household in decline, but even in their prime, they wouldn’t have refused the Marquis’s household adopting Qin Wan. Huo Huaixin dismissed these thoughts, deciding not to worry about it. He knew Madam Lin of the Qin household and Second Young Master Qin Li weren’t difficult people to deal with. Tomorrow, they would surely thank him!

Thinking this, Huo Huaixin strode through his gate, but after just a few steps, he ran into Huo Ning, who was heading out. Huo Huaixin frowned, “Where are you going?”

Huo Ning, accompanied by Feiquan and Nanfeng, showed a slight change in expression, coughed lightly, and said, “Just going out for a walk.”

Huo Huaixin snorted lightly, but in his good mood, he didn’t want to make things difficult for Huo Ning, “Come back early—”

Hearing these words, Huo Ning was suddenly surprised. He had thought Huo Huaixin wouldn’t let him go out at all. Huo Ning looked at Huo Huaixin for a moment, suddenly noticing his excellent mood, and stepped forward to ask, “Father, what happened to make you so happy?”

Huo Huaixin lifted his chin, “The Marquis’s household is going to adopt Ninth Miss as their daughter, with me as a witness.”

When Huo Ning heard this, he was first stunned, then his eyes brightened as he broke into laughter.

“Haha, now Yue Qing will cry—”

Huo Huaixin paused his steps, “What? The Marquis’s Second Young Master? What does this matter have to do with him?”

Huo Ning continued laughing, “Yue Qing has feelings for Qin Wan. Now that she’s being adopted as a daughter, they’ll become siblings. Won’t Yue Qing’s hopes be dashed?!”

Hearing this, Huo Huaixin was stunned, and remembering it was Yan Chi who had suggested this to him, a cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back.