The Old Madam’s rebuke made everyone turn their gaze toward Qin Yining in unison.

The maids in Xueli Courtyard were arranged by Nanny Jin who served at Sun Shi’s side. Most of them had previously been Sun Shi’s people. Qin Yining had only returned to the manor for one day, and the servants were only sent over yesterday afternoon—where would she have had time to discipline them? If one were to say the servants lacked proper conduct, that would be because Sun Shi had taught them poorly. What did that have to do with Qin Yining?

After last night’s incident, no one thought Qin Yining would swallow her anger in silence. At this moment, the way they looked at her carried some subtle undertones.

Qin Huining’s eyes sparkled even brighter, full of expectation—it would be perfect if this wild girl could fly into a rage and have a fight with the Old Madam!

Qin Yining slowly stood up.

Everyone held their breath with rapt attention.

Qin Huining’s hands hidden in her sleeves clenched tightly with excitement.

Who would have thought that Qin Yining would properly perform a bow and speak in gentle, soft tones: “The Old Madam’s teaching is correct. It is this granddaughter’s fault for poor supervision. Please calm your anger, Old Madam.”

Her obedient appearance and submissive tone made people feel comfortable in their hearts, yet inevitably moved them somewhat.

By responding this way, she was indirectly protecting Sun Shi.

Even the Old Madam’s gaze toward Qin Yining inevitably became gentler.

She truly was the legitimate daughter of Qin Huaiyuan. Even though she hadn’t been raised at his side, this child’s nature was still kind-hearted.

The Old Madam’s lifelong glory and pride rested entirely on her eldest son. Now, looking at this young girl whose appearance resembled the young Qin Huaiyuan, the Old Madam’s anger gradually dissipated, and she couldn’t help but reveal a smile.

“Mm, just be more careful in the future. Your father has engaged a teacher for you who will arrive shortly. You must also study diligently.”

Qin Yining smiled and bowed: “Yes, thank you, Grandmother.”

“Sit down.” The Old Madam waved her hand.

The previously tense, sword-drawn atmosphere was resolved with just one sentence from Qin Yining!

Seeing the Old Madam show such an affectionate smile toward Qin Yining, Qin Huining’s fingernails, clenched into fists, nearly broke the skin of her palms.

Yu Xiang’s forehead pressed against the ground, waiting for Qin Yining to quarrel with the Old Madam so she could then take advantage of the situation to accuse her of having malicious thoughts and mistreating servants. Who could have expected that “wild girl” wouldn’t play by the rules at all!

The Old Madam’s gaze turned to Yu Xiang, her eyes carrying more scrutiny: “What matter do you have that requires me to make a decision? Raise your head to speak.”

Yu Xiang lifted her head. Her dirty face was covered with coal ash, and the white tracks her tears had washed out had been casually smeared by her hand, creating a black mess. The young ladies all looked away, feeling their throats churn.

As if she had suffered some great injustice, Yu Xiang sobbed: “Please, Old Madam, make the decision to transfer us servants away from Xueli Courtyard! This slave cannot survive in Xueli Courtyard—I’ll surely be tortured to death by the Fourth Miss!”

The Old Madam frowned and glanced at the Second Madam.

The Second Madam immediately understood, saying sternly: “Nonsense! The Fourth Miss is the master—as a master, how could she deliberately torture servants? Moreover, as a servant girl, where you serve is not for you to pick and choose! Being able to go to Xueli Courtyard to serve the Fourth Miss is your good fortune. Now you come before the Old Madam looking like this to sow discord and even dare to slander the young miss—do you want to rebel?!”

“Second Madam, please see clearly! This slave truly had no other choice but to resort to this desperate measure! The Fourth Miss is too violent! This slave and Rui Lan had only served for one day before being tormented into this state. The Fourth Miss stepped on Rui Lan and beat her—look at her face, it’s still swollen!”

Yu Xiang stood up and pulled Rui Lan forward, pointing to the bruises at the corner of her mouth, then pointing to herself: “And this slave too—the Fourth Miss punished me to go to the small kitchen to boil water for no reason at all, making me boil water for half the night without letting me sleep…”

At this point, Yu Xiang was already crying heavily, her tears once again washing two white streaks down her cat-like face.

Rui Lan, after hearing Yu Xiang’s words, wished she could immediately learn Taoist magic—if only she could become invisible!

Usually, Yu Xiang seemed quite clever, but how could she act so foolishly at such a crucial moment? It would be one thing if she were being stupid by herself, but she had to drag her along too!

Rui Lan was so frightened she fell to her knees with a thud, racking her brains to think of ways to protect herself.

Yu Xiang also knelt down, kowtowing again: “Please, Old Madam, make a decision. Today this slave risks her life to come forward and speak. If this slave returns, the Fourth Miss will probably beat me to death directly!”

While Yu Xiang was crying and complaining, everyone’s gazes had already moved back and forth several times over Qin Huining’s swollen cheeks. If one were to say someone had been beaten badly, it truly was something Qin Yining could do.

The Emperor promoted benevolent governance, so the Prime Minister’s manor hadn’t seen any incidents of servants being beaten to death for many years. Moreover, everyone had truly never seen a refined young lady who could resort to physical violence.

The matter of Qin Huining being beaten had just been glossed over lightly by the Old Madam, and now another maid had come to lodge a complaint.

Everyone was curious to see how Qin Yining would react.

She had calmly accepted the Old Madam’s rebuke, but they didn’t believe she could also endure a servant’s accusations.

Yet Qin Yining remained seated properly, her eyes lowered as she gazed at the footstool in front of the Old Madam’s arhat bed, as if she could stare a flower into bloom. She offered not a single word of defense and never once gave Yu Xiang even a glance, as if this person didn’t exist.

Now, even the Old Madam couldn’t quite understand.

Being accused of mistreating servants could be considered reputation damage for a woman. Did Qin Yining not care?

Or did she simply not understand the seriousness of this matter?

The atmosphere became tense once again. In the quiet room, only Yu Xiang’s sobbing could be heard.

The Old Madam frowned and was about to speak when Rui Lan suddenly crawled forward on her knees, kowtowed three times with loud “thunk” sounds, and declared loudly: “Old Madam, you absolutely must not believe Yu Xiang’s words—the Fourth Miss is truly wronged!”

Yu Xiang was stunned upon hearing this and turned back to glare at Rui Lan in shock and anger: “You, what are you saying! Weren’t we supposed to…”

Before Yu Xiang could finish, Rui Lan had already said urgently: “The situation is not at all as Yu Xiang described. The Fourth Miss did indeed punish her to boil water, but Yu Xiang was punished because she made a mistake. Yesterday, Yu Xiang secretly took quite a bit of the jewelry that the First Madam had bestowed upon the Fourth Miss. She thought the Fourth Miss couldn’t read the characters on the inventory and couldn’t recognize the quality of the ornaments. She didn’t expect the Fourth Miss to be extremely intelligent—with just one glance, she could tell how many items were missing.”

Speaking, Rui Lan looked toward Qin Yining with admiration: “The Fourth Miss didn’t expose her at the time but merely gave her some indirect hints, suggesting that Yu Xiang return the items. Yu Xiang felt ashamed when her scheme was exposed and had no choice but to return the jewelry she had stolen. But she held a grudge in her heart. When we servants followed the Fourth Miss out, she deliberately withheld the charcoal for the miss, refusing to provide braziers for the main room, making it as cold as an ice cellar.”

“Last night, this slave was accidentally injured by the miss due to the fabric-tearing incident. When we returned to the courtyard, Yu Xiang saw this and spent quite some time gossiping about the miss with this slave. This slave tried to dissuade her to no avail. It happened that the Fourth Miss returned and heard those words Yu Xiang spoke behind her back. With several offenses combined, the miss punished her to boil hot water.”

“A servant girl dares to steal her master’s belongings, yet when the master said little about it and didn’t punish her severely, she instead harbored resentment and withheld her master’s charcoal. This slave feels that the Fourth Miss’s treatment of Yu Xiang was already merciful enough. For Yu Xiang to come and lodge a complaint today is truly unconscionable!”

Rui Lan reached this point and kowtowed: “Please, Old Madam, see clearly and don’t be misled by Yu Xiang’s words to wrongly accuse the Fourth Miss.”

Qiu Lu, who had been standing outside the screen, came forward to kowtow: “Old Madam, this slave also heard Miss Yu Xiang gossiping about our miss, saying very unpleasant things. Rui Lan’s words are true—all the servants in Xueli Courtyard can testify.”

“You, you, all of you, you’re talking nonsense!” Yu Xiang’s eyes blazed with fury as she lunged forward to scratch Rui Lan’s face.

Rui Lan cried out in fear and fell backward. Fortunately, Qiu Lu, Ji Xiang, and several other maids were nearby and managed to separate them.

Yu Xiang shrieked: “You’re slandering me with false accusations! Yesterday you said you’d help me get revenge, and today you bite back at me, you two-faced wretch!”

“Yu Xiang, shut up.” Qin Yining, who had remained silent, finally stood up. Those simple four words frightened the quarreling Yu Xiang into silence.

Qin Yining walked to where Yu Xiang knelt on the ground and looked down at her from above.

Her gaze was too cold, making Yu Xiang shiver all over. Looking down at Qin Yining’s embroidered shoes, she felt that foot might kick her chest at any moment.

But Qin Yining didn’t strike. Instead, she bowed to the Old Madam: “Old Madam, that such matters have caused disturbance even to you is truly this granddaughter’s fault. It’s this granddaughter’s failure to manage Xueli Courtyard properly that has allowed you to hear such sordid affairs.”

The Old Madam had let the Second Madam speak and coldly observed today’s events because she wanted to see everyone’s reactions. Seeing that Qin Yining hadn’t lowered herself to quarrel with a servant, she was already quite satisfied. Moreover, seeing that Qin Yining, having returned to the manor for only one day, could make Rui Lan and Qiu Lu stand up to speak for her, this indirectly proved she had the ability to manage people.

Yesterday’s obedient understanding was still fresh in memory.

When she saw Qin Huining trying to sow discord between her parents, she also had the courage to confront others.

Today at their meeting, she hadn’t merely known how to show off her authority but also knew to consider her birth mother’s reputation.

The Old Madam now found Qin Yining much more pleasing to the eye, feeling she was a young lady of courage, wisdom, and flexibility—truly Qin Huaiyuan’s flesh and blood, naturally carrying some of Prime Minister Qin’s youthful character.

The Old Madam waved her hand for Qin Yining to stand: “This has nothing to do with you. This girl’s nature has gone astray.” It was as if the person who had just rebuked Qin Yining for poor servant management wasn’t her at all.

She then instructed Nanny Qin: “Go investigate the people in Xueli Courtyard. Once this matter is proven true, immediately sell Yu Xiang off.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiang stared in terror with wide eyes: “Old Madam, you can’t do this! I’m a house-born servant, my father is…”

The Old Madam frowned impatiently: “I don’t care who your father and mother are. If they could raise such an unruly daughter, they’re probably no good either. Lu Juan, I’m leaving this matter to you. Since she’s house-born, then handle it according to the rules. First, take her away—looking at her annoys me.”

“Yes.” Nanny Qin immediately called for sturdy women servants who stuffed Yu Xiang’s mouth with cloth and directly dragged her away.

Watching Yu Xiang being dragged away, Rui Lan also felt somewhat afraid.

At this moment, with just one word from Qin Yining saying she had attempted to attack her master yesterday, she might face the same fate as Yu Xiang.