Qin Yining had long seen that Liu Ya wasn’t someone with a peaceful nature. Each day by her side, Liu Ya merely went through the motions and didn’t serve wholeheartedly. She had originally thought that such a person, if she didn’t cause trouble, could simply be kept around. She hadn’t expected that Liu Ya would take the opportunity to leave on her own.
“It’s good that such a person left,” Qin Yining said indifferently.
Bingtang said, “This person was always used to being calculating and competitive. This servant could see she wasn’t of a peaceful nature. It’s good she’s gone—it saves us from needless trouble being brought upon Miss.”
Qin Yining nodded, “Actually, it’s better to have quality people around rather than quantity. In large households like ours, having too many people creates more trouble instead.”
“Miss speaks truly.” Both Bingtang and Song Lan nodded.
As master and servants were conversing, the sound of a young maid’s voice came from outside.
Qin Yining asked puzzledly, “Go see who’s come. Why would someone come at such a late hour?”
“This servant will go look.” Bingtang set down her needlework and quickly went downstairs. Shortly after, she returned to report, “Miss, it’s a young maid from the Old Mistress’s courtyard who came to deliver a message. Tomorrow morning His Majesty will hold a welcome ceremony. The Old Mistress has ordered someone to reserve the second floor of the Drunken Immortal Restaurant facing the street, saying she wants to bring the whole family to admire the Grand Master’s magnificent bearing.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Yining couldn’t help but find it somewhat amusing.
The successful peace negotiations between Great Zhou and Great Yan were surely more joyful than New Year for those in the capital who had long been frightened out of their wits. Moreover, His Majesty placed such importance on this matter that he would hold a welcome ceremony and lead all the civil and military officials to greet them.
The Old Mistress valued Qin Huaiyuan so highly and was most fond of vanity. Thinking of going to watch the excitement, it probably wouldn’t just be their family—there would likely be many noble ladies present.
She truly wouldn’t be vague when it came to opportunities to show off.
Sun Shi was still in the palace with her situation unknown, yet the Old Mistress only thought about such things.
Just thinking about how Sun Shi had married into the Qin family for so many years only to receive such treatment made Qin Yining feel dispirited.
“I understand. Since that’s the case, let’s rest early.”
“Yes.” The group paid their respects, leaving Qiu Lu to keep watch through the night, while the travel-weary Bingtang and Song Lan went to bathe and rest properly.
Qin Yining didn’t sleep peacefully that night. Worried about Sun Shi, her heart remained suspended with anxiety. She woke twice during the night from various unsettling dreams, but upon waking couldn’t remember their content—only feeling deeply disturbed and uncomfortable.
The next morning, Qin Yining simply finished her morning meal and went to the Kindness and Filial Piety Garden to pay her respects.
Today the Old Mistress wore an extremely eye-catching dark red vest. Not only was she powdered and rouged, but she also wore a dark red forehead band inlaid with rubies. Even when the Qin family’s grandsons and granddaughters held happy occasions, the Old Mistress might not dress so festively.
The Second Madam, Third Lady, and Qin Huining accompanied her in cheerful conversation, chatting and laughing quite livelily.
Qin Yining glanced at the peach-colored eight-panel skirt that Qin Huining wore, then sat down to the side expressionlessly.
Those with hearts would be mindful even without being told.
People without hearts like Qin Huining wouldn’t grow a heart even if told ten thousand times.
In any case, Qin Huining didn’t care about the people of Duke Dingguo’s mansion. Presumably if grandfather, uncle, and cousin brothers had knowledge in the afterlife, they also wouldn’t care how Qin Huining dressed.
Second Master and Third Master had arranged for servants outside to gather information. At the hour of chen, someone came in to report.
“Reporting to the Old Mistress, His Majesty’s imperial carriage and Her Majesty the Empress’s phoenix carriage are approaching the city gate. The civil and military officials are accompanying them out, and they’ll soon meet up with them.”
The Old Mistress nodded repeatedly, smiling, “Since that’s the case, let’s also depart. We’ll take a detour to the Drunken Immortal Restaurant first. It’s not far from the city gate, and the view from the second floor is excellent—we’ll be able to see their entire procession returning.”
“Mother is truly thoughtful,” the Third Lady said with flattering laughter.
“Yes, Grandmother’s idea is excellent. We all want to see Father’s glorious scene upon returning. This is truly a matter that brings honor to our ancestors,” Qin Huining also chimed in.
Upon hearing this, the Old Mistress seemed to have eaten happiness fruit, feeling comfortable throughout her body and couldn’t help but laugh joyfully.
Watching these laughing and chatting people, Qin Yining felt increasingly irritated. In any case, they had no human feelings in their hearts, didn’t think about Sun Shi, and couldn’t be expected to worry much about Sun Shi’s safety.
Soon a servant came to report, “The carriages are ready. Please, Old Mistress, Madams, and Misses, move forward.”
Everyone dressed properly and clustered around the Old Mistress like stars surrounding the moon as they left.
The group took a detour to the Drunken Immortal Restaurant. Just as they went upstairs and opened the latticed windows facing the street on the second floor, they could see that common people had already crowded along both sides of the road, craning their necks to look out.
The crowded masses showed only black heads, everyone wearing smiles on their faces, chattering excitedly in animated discussion. The crowd of common people extended in both directions, seemingly endless.
On ordinary days, the women rarely came out, so even seeing such a sea of people was interesting.
The young ladies leaned against the windows, watching while whispering to each other.
Qin Yining stood by the rightmost window, and with a turn of her head could see toward the city gate.
She saw the clean-swept street extending toward the city gate when suddenly a single rider came galloping at full speed. The person wore the iron-gray regular clothes of a eunuch and shouted loudly, “His Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress are returning to the city!”
As soon as the words fell, firecrackers began exploding with crackling sounds. Blue smoke rose everywhere, red confetti scattered, and all the common people smiled joyfully, continuously clapping and cheering.
The women of the Qin family couldn’t help but crane their necks to look outside.
At the wide-open city gate, the Emperor and Empress walked hand in hand at the front, followed closely by Qin Huaiyuan and the Crown Prince, then all the civil and military officials in neat official robes arranged according to rank.
Qin Huaiyuan, wearing bright red official robes with an upright bearing, appeared particularly extraordinary among the ministers of varying appearances, and upon closer look even had a somewhat ethereal, sage-like quality.
The Emperor in bright yellow dragon robes, arm-in-arm with the Empress in red phoenix robes, walked forward along the street under the protection of guards while waving to the common people on both sides of the road.
Whether it was spontaneous from the people or someone had been arranged to lead, suddenly someone shouted loudly, “Long live His Majesty! A thousand years to the Empress! His Majesty’s blessed protection brings Great Yan favorable weather and good harvests!” Then all the people knelt down in unison.
The women of the Qin family also paid their respects when the Emperor passed in front of the Drunken Immortal Restaurant, not daring to look directly upon the imperial countenance.
The Old Mistress led the women in kneeling while continuously murmuring, “Truly he is a son of our Qin family, truly our ancestors accumulated virtue, bringing glory to the Qin family!”
Not only was the Old Mistress proud, but Qin Yining also felt very proud.
After all, being an official to Qin Huaiyuan’s level meant a lifetime of elegance and honor that had reached its peak—this was something many people couldn’t obtain even if they sought it.
Just as Qin Yining was thinking this, she suddenly heard a commotion from outside, with faint sounds of common people cursing and crying.
Qin Yining’s heart gave a sudden lurch. She quickly stood up and went to the window to look out, only to see that among the watching crowd, more than twenty masked men wielding weapons had charged out—they were attempting assassination!