Even though it was already late, Qin Yining dared not linger outside and could only hurry back to the capital city at full gallop. By the time she reached the city gates, it was already past the seventh hour, and she had to use some silver and reveal her identity to smoothly enter the city.

Since it was already past curfew, Qin Yining dared not walk on the streets for fear of causing trouble. She found a nearby inn to stay the night and arranged for Ji Yun to secretly sneak back to the Qin Mansion to quietly inform Qin Huaiyuan of her day’s journey, lest the Grand Dowager and others notice her absence and create some commotion.

After a peaceful night’s sleep, when she returned to the marquis mansion early the next morning, she saw Qin Huaiyuan’s personal attendant Qi Tai standing at the entrance with his hands tucked in his sleeves, looking around. When he saw Qin Yining’s carriage returning, he hurried forward to pay his respects.

“Fourth Miss, the Marquis instructed this servant to wait here for you. Please go to the study immediately upon your return.”

Qin Yining asked in surprise, “Why didn’t Father attend court today?”

Qi Tai smiled, “The Marquis did go initially, but Her Majesty the Empress was feeling unwell, so His Majesty wanted to stay in Phoenix Ceremonial Palace to care for her and didn’t hold court.”

Qin Yining smiled and nodded.

Was the Empress’s “physical discomfort” because she wanted to find an excuse to eat her flesh? Or because she couldn’t eat her flesh?

Walking all the way to the outer courtyard study, she saw Qin Huaiyuan holding a long-handled wooden ladle, scooping water from a wooden bucket to water the flowers under the corridor. He wore a loose, half-new cotton robe, and because he was afraid of wetting his sleeves, his right sleeve was rolled up considerably.

“My lord, Fourth Miss has returned,” Qi Tai announced at the courtyard gate.

“Mm. All of you may withdraw first.” Qin Huaiyuan set down the ladle, took the handkerchief handed to him by a maid to wipe his hands, then straightened his sleeves himself.

Qi Tai and the maids all withdrew.

Qin Yining smiled, “It’s good that Father can have leisure time to rest at home today. You work too hard on ordinary days.”

“Indeed. I should thank the Empress for this.” Qin Huaiyuan smiled, “Would you accompany your father for a walk in the garden?”

Qin Yining nodded readily, “Certainly.”

Qin Yining had Bingtang return to Shuo Ren Residence to rest first, only having Song Lan come to wait at the garden entrance. After making proper arrangements, she walked with Qin Huaiyuan through the hanging flower gate toward the back garden.

In this season of growing grass and flying orioles, the back garden was full of vitality. The white stone arched bridge over the lotus pond cast its reflection on the lake surface. The banks were covered with green shade, reflecting the shimmering waves. Taking a deep breath, one could still smell the fresh fragrance of flowers and plants, and her tense mood relaxed.

The father and daughter walked all the way to an open lawn, confirming that no one could hide in the surroundings. Only then did Qin Huaiyuan speak.

“Last night, your Ji Yun hurried back to explain the situation to me. Yining, why didn’t you tell me first yesterday? Is it that in your heart, you think your father would sacrifice you to ensure the family’s safety?”

Such direct words from Qin Huaiyuan surprised Qin Yining.

In her impression, Qin Huaiyuan liked to speak only halfway, leaving room for others to imagine and himself room to explain. She had always admired this way of speaking, thinking it was how clever people behaved.

Speaking so bluntly today showed that her actions had angered Qin Huaiyuan, or rather, this incident had given him quite a shock.

“How can Father say such things?” Qin Yining said earnestly, “I would never think that Father would sacrifice me for family interests. It’s just that this matter happened suddenly, and Father wasn’t at the mansion then. If I had waited for your return, I feared that by then the Empress’s and His Majesty’s decree would have already come down. Wouldn’t I then have no choice but to await execution?”

“Moreover, given Father’s position, hundreds of eyes watch whatever you do. If you had gotten involved, it would have been easiest to alert the enemy. Unlike me, a mere girl – many people look down on me. The Empress probably thought that even if I knew something, I would be helpless, so no one would guard against me.”

Qin Huaiyuan looked seriously into Qin Yining’s eyes.

Seeing her sincere tone and clear gaze, with no sign of insincerity, he nodded and said, “It’s good that you don’t overthink. To tell you the truth, if I had suddenly received an imperial decree without prior knowledge, I too would have had to let you escape. If I had gotten advance notice, I probably would have used the same method as you.”

“I am Father’s daughter, so naturally my solutions would be similar to Father’s,” Qin Yining laughed lightly.

Seeing that Qin Yining seemed not to take the Empress’s desire to eat her at all to heart, remaining as steady as always without showing any sign of panic, Qin Huaiyuan’s affection and pity for her deepened.

“Your method was very good. After receiving the news last night, I kept paying attention to the palace situation. Though I couldn’t get exact information, His Majesty didn’t hold court today – not because the Empress was unwell, but because the Empress threw a tantrum and His Majesty stayed to pacify her. Connecting this to recent events, why the Empress threw a tantrum is quite obvious. Regardless of what methods His Majesty might think of to take your life, your safety is temporarily assured for now.”

Qin Huaiyuan stopped walking and broke off a thin willow branch to play with in his hands.

Qin Yining also followed Qin Huaiyuan’s example, picking a willow leaf and pressing it to her lips to use as a whistle.

The trembling sound of the leaf startled birds into fluttering flight, making Qin Yining laugh uncontrollably.

Seeing her completely unclouded demeanor, Qin Huaiyuan’s mood also relaxed considerably, his tightly furrowed brow easing somewhat.

After a moment of silence between father and daughter, Qin Yining finally threw away the leaf and said, “Father needn’t worry too much about this matter. As long as your conscience is clear, that’s enough. It’s just that now that we’ve seen His Majesty clearly, you should plan more for yourself in the future. If he were a wise ruler, if he were willing to work diligently for good governance, even if he were incompetent, it would still be worth us as his subjects dedicating ourselves wholeheartedly until death. But he is a foolish ruler.”

Qin Yining looked up directly into Qin Huaiyuan’s eyes and said, “Speaking words of great disrespect – Father, serving beside such a foolish ruler is beneath you. Such a person doesn’t deserve Father spilling your passionate blood. Father shouldn’t be too disappointed, nor torture yourself. After recognizing reality, just think carefully about the future.”

How could Qin Huaiyuan not be disappointed?

He had served in court for many years. If not achieving great merit, he had always been conscientious and loyal. Yet the Emperor had repeatedly persecuted his family members, never considering his feelings. First destroying his in-laws, then putting his wife on the execution ground, forcing a woman on him as a concubine against his wishes, and now wanting to capture his only flesh and blood to be eaten!

In his lifetime, having children had been difficult – he had only this one daughter, yet His Majesty showed no consideration for his loyal service and was so vicious!

Qin Huaiyuan had tossed and turned sleeplessly last night, first grateful that his daughter was clever and had responded appropriately in time, then deeply bitter and sighing. Even with that saying “if the ruler wants the subject to die, the subject cannot refuse to die” hanging over his head, he despaired at the Emperor’s foolishness. He even felt that perhaps changing to a new emperor sooner would improve Great Yan’s fortunes and spare the people from being exploited to the point of corpses littering the roads and endless suffering.

But Qin Huaiyuan never expected that his daughter, after nearly being captured to be eaten, would not blame him, her father, for being incompetent, but instead comfort him.

That feeling of being understood and embraced was something Qin Huaiyuan had never received even from his own mother.

Qin Huaiyuan’s eyes grew warm, so he raised his head and looked into the distance with his hands behind his back.

After a long while, Qin Huaiyuan finally said, “Your third cousin sister will marry in another month, and you’ll come of age in just two months – it’s time to discuss your marriage. His Highness the Crown Prince came to see me yesterday. I don’t want to wrong you, so I wanted to ask your thoughts.”