Qin Yining and Qin Han’s words contained encouragement within despair, stirring the blood even of the sheltered women.

Indignant emotions replaced fear. Though they were only weak women who had never seen the wider world and had panicked in these chaotic times, there was one point Qin Yining and Qin Han were right about—they were all Qin family members. The Qin family had never done anything unconscionable, nor had they ever disgraced their ancestors. Even if the Qin family members had to die, they absolutely couldn’t let the world look down on them!

The Emperor was a fatuous ruler, cursed by thousands.

But the Qin family could never be the same as the fatuous ruler!

Everyone would die eventually, sooner or later. At the critical moment, they could sacrifice themselves to preserve their integrity.

Having thought through this, though they were still afraid, they weren’t so panicked they couldn’t stand steadily. Instead, they felt anger toward the fatuous ruler.

Qin Han caught the meaning in Qin Yining’s earlier words and pressed: “Fourth Sister, have you thought of a way to rescue Great Uncle?”

At these words, the Old Dowager immediately stood up.

“Yining Girl, do you have a good plan?”

Qin Yining smiled reassuringly at the Old Dowager: “Old Dowager, don’t worry. I have thought of a method, but I need to discuss it with Uncle and my brothers first. Rest assured, I will do everything in my power, and Father will definitely be fine.”

“Good, good.” The Old Dowager nodded repeatedly. “With all of you working together, I can be at ease.”

Sun Shi also breathed a sigh of relief, using her handkerchief to wipe the tears from her face.

Third Madam smiled and helped the Old Dowager sit down: “Old Dowager, please be at ease. Our family’s Fourth Girl is no ordinary young lady. Personally taught by Eldest Brother, how could she be lacking?”

The Old Dowager smiled upon hearing this—a daughter taught by Qin Huaiyuan would naturally be excellent.

In times of crisis, the Old Dowager had clearly forgotten all those past frictions.

The originally sad and fearful atmosphere thus dissipated. Qi Tai observed this and secretly admired it, his respect and trust for Qin Yining deepening several layers. He no longer dared to regard her as merely an ordinary boudoir miss.

After thinking, Qi Tai said: “Fourth Miss, there’s one more matter requiring your guidance.”

“Please speak.” Qin Yining turned to look at Qi Tai inquiringly.

Qi Tai then said: “After the Marquis sent Huining Miss to the estate, he instructed me to seek out Huining Miss’s birth parents’ whereabouts at the foundling home. The people have now been found—Huining Miss still has a father alive, living in Lijia Village on the city outskirts.

“Following the Marquis’s instructions, I gave Huining Miss’s birth father money to pay off his gambling debts and had him use the remaining silver to hire a cart to come to the capital. He should be arriving in the next day or two.

“But it coincided with the Huben Army’s surprise attack on the Five Military Camps, and Lijia Village is near the right sentry camp of the Five Military Camps. With large numbers of refugees entering the city, I thought Li Yuzhu should be among those refugees, so I arranged for people to search carefully, but we couldn’t find this person’s whereabouts. Perhaps something happened on the way, or he took the wrong road and never came to the capital at all.”

Qi Tai’s words contained too much information. The women in the room heard clearly and all pictured Qin Huining’s true family background in their minds.

A father with gambling debts, whom Qin Huaiyuan had someone help pay off…

The Old Dowager frowned and asked: “Are there others in the Li family?”

“In response to the Old Dowager, their family has no one else. They have some poor fields, but Li Yuzhu drinks heavily and gambles, and is too lazy to farm, so the family’s fields are all abandoned. He also had a daughter named Xiao Ya, who should be ten this year. After his wife died two years ago, he sold Xiao Ya too. Now their family only has Li Yuzhu, a widower. I inquired carefully—Huining Miss is the Li family’s eldest daughter. When the Li family daughter-in-law had just given birth, a man took the swaddled baby and gave Li Yuzhu twenty taels of silver. The Li family daughter-in-law also died young because her eldest daughter was sold, causing excessive grief that damaged her health, combined with poverty and an unreliable husband.”

“So that’s how it was. To think it was such a household.”

The Old Dowager’s brow was tightly furrowed. Remembering how Qin Huining had made voodoo dolls to curse her, she felt disgusted.

But after all, this girl had grown up by her side, bringing joy to her knees for many years—there were feelings involved.

If she were truly sent back to her birth father, what would her fate be?

Sun Shi also felt a complex mix of emotions.

She hated Qin Huining. But after all, they had been mother and daughter for many years. Hearing that Qin Huining had such origins, she still felt some pity.

It was Second Master Qin Han, straightforward and outspoken, who snorted coldly: “Her family is like that? This means when she was brought to our family, she enjoyed heavenly fortune! Gamblers are shameless—to recover losses, they’ll sell wives and children. If she had stayed home, she would have been sold just the same. She was the legitimate eldest miss in our family for fourteen years, enjoying endless luxuries, yet she was still unsatisfied. To frame Great Aunt, she actually made voodoo dolls to curse Grandmother—truly detestable!”

Qin Yu also looked down on such people and snorted: “Family learning and bloodline inheritance. Dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes.”

This sentence expressed the thoughts of everyone present.

A person like Qin Huaiyuan would naturally have a daughter like Qin Yining.

And Qin Huining’s birth father was someone who could sell sons and daughters for gambling money—under bloodline influence, she definitely wouldn’t be any good either.

For a moment, the room was silent.

Qin Yining frowned and thought for a while before saying: “I understand this matter. With refugees entering the city these past days, the estate where Qin Huining lives must have been affected. Given Qin Huining’s nature, returning to the mansion to seek protection is inevitable.”

Everyone looked at Qin Yining, wanting to see how she would decide Qin Huining’s fate.

Qin Yining pressed her lips together and after a long while instructed Song Lan: “Go tell the gatekeeping women later—if Qin Huining returns, let her in, but don’t arrange for her to stay in the inner quarters. Don’t even think about returning to Xueli Courtyard. Have people clean out the guest room in the northeast corner for her to live in. As for the servants with her, if they want to return to the Qin family, let them return. If they’re unwilling, dismiss them according to the rules.”

Song Lan bowed: “This slave understands.”

Seeing the Old Dowager and Sun Shi both looking at her with inexplicable expressions, Qin Yining smiled.

“To tell the truth, I don’t want to care whether she lives or dies. She’s ungrateful and has harmed my mother in every way. If she had succeeded even once, my mother would have suffered greatly. Such a person is just like her gambler father—shameless and selfishly filthy.

“But just because I have no feelings for her doesn’t mean I won’t consider the feelings of the Old Dowager, Father, and Mother. I’m taking her in for the peace of mind of Father, Mother, and the Old Dowager. When she returns, in my heart she’s only a guest, no longer a miss of our family.”

This was said clearly enough, earning Qin Han’s admiration and leaving Sun Shi, the Old Dowager, and everyone else with complex feelings.

Qin Yining’s actions could be considered the utmost benevolence and righteousness toward Qin Huining.

After all, Qin Huining’s previous actions had left knots in everyone’s hearts.

Qin Yining felt disgusted just thinking about Qin Huining. Seeing that matters were explained clearly, she smiled and said: “Old Dowager, I’d like to visit the outer study now, and it’s almost time for the daily hearing. I’ll take my leave first.”

The Old Dowager nodded and waved at Qin Yining.

Qin Yining, Qin Yu, and Qin Han paid their respects and left with their attendants.

Once out of the women’s sight, Qin Yining could no longer maintain her composure. Frowning deeply, she asked Qi Tai behind her: “Do we have any way to contact people in the Ministry of Justice prison to provide some conveniences for my father? The weather is hot this season, and the prison must be very damp—it’s when mosquitoes, insects, and rats are most rampant. Father being thrown into such an environment, how much suffering must he endure!”

Qi Tai sighed: “Though the Marquis has connections in the Ministry of Justice, the Emperor is currently angry, and the previous events have made people wary, fearing the Emperor’s great fury might implicate their own families. So even if we make requests now, there probably won’t be any results.”

“Yes, with the Emperor’s decree, who dares interfere with Great Uncle?” Qin Han frowned. “But even if we can’t find people to accommodate us, we should be able to find ways to send some things in, right?”

Qin Yining shook her head: “Let’s not handle this matter for now. I’m afraid our actions might be too conspicuous and provoke the Emperor to even greater anger. I’ll think of a solution first.”

Everyone was intelligent and knew Qin Yining had the Zhaoyun Agency and people left by Prince Zhongshun, so she would probably have some methods. They stopped dwelling on this matter.

Only then did Qin Han ask: “Earlier Fourth Sister said she had some guesses about National Uncle Cao’s reinstatement?”

“Yes.” Qin Yining frowned: “National Uncle Cao has some connections with the Tatars. Now that Great Zhou is determined to war with us, the Emperor has no other options and must try to win over the Tatars. You also know that the Tatars have been constantly harassing Great Zhou’s north for years and are quite a headache for Great Zhou. If the Tatars could send troops to interfere at this time, Great Zhou’s pressure on us might be greatly reduced. For the Emperor to use National Uncle Cao to win over the Tatars, he naturally needs to suppress my father.”

Qi Tai, staying by Qin Huaiyuan’s side, naturally knew many things.

But Qin Han and Qin Yu were stunned upon hearing this, both very surprised. They looked at each other and couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

“We didn’t even know about these things. No wonder Great Uncle trained Fourth Sister like a son. In political acuity, we two humbly admit defeat.” Qin Yu said seriously.

“Elder Brother, please don’t tease me. I only learned this information by chance.” Qin Yining smiled and then instructed Ji Yun: “Go invite Shopkeeper Zhong to come. I have important matters to discuss with him. But because of family affairs, I won’t go out easily now.”

Ji Yun understood immediately: “Miss, rest assured. This slave will explain your situation clearly, and the head shopkeeper will definitely understand.”

Qin Yining nodded.

Qin Yu and Qin Han gained a few more points of understanding about Qin Yining’s skill with people.

Soon, the three arrived at the outer courtyard study.

Second Master was currently at court and hadn’t returned yet.

Third Master sat alone, looking worried and troubled.

Seeing Qin Yu, Qin Han, and Qin Yining arrive, Third Master said dejectedly: “You’ve heard too, haven’t you.”

“Yes.” Qin Yining nodded and asked Third Master seriously: “Third Uncle, I’ve thought of a method that might benefit Father. I’d like to ask your opinion.”

Third Master’s eyes lit up, and he leaned forward: “What method do you have? Tell me quickly!”

**Author’s Note: Here it is, finally finished!