A great fire had burned down more than half of the Qin family’s estate, leaving not a single courtyard completely intact. Qin Huaiyuan’s study in the outer courtyard had also been affected, but the main room he commonly used and the side room where books were stored remained intact. The broken window lattices in the main room had now been repaired.
When Qin Yining entered, Qin Huaiyuan was reclining against a luohan couch by the window, fanning himself with a folding fan while reading a book. His leisurely posture was the same as before, making Qin Yining feel in a trance that nothing had happened yet.
“Father.”
“You’re back. Come sit down.” Qin Huaiyuan set the book face-down on the small table and carefully examined her complexion. “Running about all day without a moment’s rest—how is your health?”
Qin Yining’s complexion was poor, but she was in high spirits, her eyes particularly bright and clear.
“I’m fine. After taking medicine later and resting well, I’ll be alright. Father, don’t worry. Your daughter is still young—with careful nurturing, there will definitely be no serious problems.”
Qin Huaiyuan nodded and lovingly touched her forehead with his large hand, then suddenly asked: “Did the Qingtian Alliance catch Cao Bingzhong?”
Qin Yining was startled, then smiled bashfully. “Nothing escapes your eyes. Yes, we caught him. Grandmother, aunt, and sister-in-law were all there and took their revenge. Even my mother rolled up her sleeves and gave him a beating. Right now, Mother is staying outside with my grandmother’s family, catching up on old times.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Huaiyuan nodded. After a moment of silence, he sighed: “Cao Bingzhong deserved to die, but it’s pitiful what happened to your grandfather’s family.”
Seeing her father like this, Qin Yining felt somewhat melancholy. She knew her father truly considered the Sun family as his own people. Otherwise, when Sun Yu had his accident, Father wouldn’t have risked pressure to personally go to the Sun family to help preside over the funeral, and later wouldn’t have secretly supported her in collecting the bodies for grandfather and the others.
In the past, when she wasn’t close to her father, she had speculated that someone like her father, who had been immersed in officialdom for most of his life, must have become iron-hearted and cold. Who would have known that after getting to know him, she discovered that her father was actually a person of flesh and blood with the softest heart.
“Don’t be sad.” Qin Yining thought for a moment, then deliberately changed the topic and asked mischievously: “You’ve already helped grandfather’s family take revenge. From now on, the burden in your heart can be lifted. Instead of worrying about that, you might as well think about how to face Concubine Cao, who has such deep feelings for you.”
Qin Huaiyuan’s face heated up at her words. He shook his head and smiled: “How did I help your grandfather take any revenge? I was the one being beaten down by Imperial Uncle Cao.” He had no intention of mentioning Cao Yuqing.
“Don’t pretend in front of your daughter. I know everything. Father is truly the smartest person under heaven. When you were falsely accused of embezzlement by Imperial Uncle Cao that day, our family’s situation was so dire, yet you were able to calm down and assess the situation.”
“You seemed to take no action, but the entire situation was under your control. First, the embezzlement case erupted, and our family was suppressed without any ability to fight back, making the Cao family more proud and letting down their guard. Then your daughter used a scheme to provoke Prince Ning and the Cao family. After Father learned of this, you immediately went with the flow.”
“Actually, without that day’s events, Prince Ning would still be the best candidate for Grand Marshal. Father merely followed popular opinion and went with the current. Not only did you sell a favor to Prince Ning, but you also used Prince Ning’s explosive yet upright nature to deliver a devastating blow to the Cao family. Now both the demon empress and Imperial Uncle Cao are dead without intact corpses, the Cao family has no one left, and naturally the embezzlement accusation can be removed.”
The more Qin Yining spoke, the more admiring she became. She praised: “Father handled every detail of this flawlessly. Just on the way back, your daughter racked her brains to sort through Father’s role in this matter once, but all of this was merely the result of Father’s natural ability to assess situations.”
Qin Yining looked at Qin Huaiyuan, her almond eyes bright and shining, filled with worship for Qin Huaiyuan. “Father, when will I be able to calculate so thoroughly like you?”
“You.” Hearing her speak this way, Qin Huaiyuan knew that Qin Yining had guessed what he had done, so he no longer concealed it. He smiled: “When I was your age, I wasn’t nearly as clever as you. So when you reach my age in the future, you’ll definitely be even more formidable.”
“Really?” Qin Yining was full of anticipation for the future. But then she shook her head: “Actually, I don’t look forward to that day at all. From now on, I’ll just rely on Father and won’t need to think about anything else.”
Seeing her acting coquettishly, Qin Huaiyuan said with mixed laughter and tears: “We men are born to worry. How can you just not think about anything because you say so?”
“Father is right—we’re indeed born to worry.” Qin Yining thought of today’s events and sighed again, telling Qin Huaiyuan about the Qingtian Alliance matter.
After hearing this, Qin Huaiyuan raised his eyebrows. After a long while, he nodded: “Having such a force that you can use secretly is also good.”
“Father, aren’t you surprised at all?”
“It was expected. Your grandmother was eager for revenge. Now that her great revenge has been taken, there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about it.”
Qin Yining thought of the Sun family women’s appearance today and couldn’t help but sigh.
“Yes, so what if great revenge has been taken? The deceased still cannot return to life. Will our family members have a proper burial tomorrow?”
“Yes. I just finished discussing with your second and third uncles. We’ll hold a formal burial tomorrow. Previously, when the assassins attacked, they said they came for you, but this time none of the masters of our main branch were harmed. Instead, your second and third uncles’ families suffered. I was originally worried this matter would leave resentment in the family’s hearts, worried they would harbor grudges against you afterward. But with your scheme, you quickly took revenge for the entire family. Now the family members probably won’t resent you.”
Qin Yining nodded. Thinking of that horrific scene from that day, her expression became somewhat gloomy: “This matter was indeed caused by the rumors I spread earlier for self-protection. Even if everyone blamed me, I would have nothing to say.”
Both father and daughter fell silent.
After a moment, Qin Yining said: “By the way, Father, from now on I don’t want to deal with Qin Huining anymore. I know Father has father-daughter feelings for her. I won’t force Father to kill her, but Father shouldn’t expect me to be good to her either.”
“Why?”
Qin Yining sneered coldly: “Although in life-and-death situations, human selfishness and seeking self-preservation are understandable, she pushed her own sisters out to save herself.”
Her eyes fixed steadily on Qin Huaiyuan: “Father, do you know how Sixth Sister died? That day, Sixth Sister shouldn’t have died. It was Qin Huining who, seeing she was about to be caught, pushed Sixth Sister out to block the blade for herself. That blade struck Sixth Sister’s neck, and blood spurted so high.”
The scene from that day appeared before her eyes again, and Qin Yining’s voice was filled with grief.
“Usually, Sixth Sister had the closest relationship with Qin Huining. Every time Qin Huining caused trouble, Sixth Sister would come out to speak for her. But Qin Huining treated her like this. Later, when the assassin said those words about coming for me, Qin Huining was the first to point me out to the assassin. When I couldn’t avoid in time and was slashed, falling to the ground unable to dodge further, that’s when Song Lan threw herself on me to block the blade…”