The Second Master’s words left the entire family in silence.

After a long while, Madam Sun finally came to her senses from the shock and said in a panic: “How could this happen? Yining is such a young girl—how could His Majesty be so heartless! Even if he can’t marry Yining due to the people’s will, he can’t ruin her entire life like this!”

The Old Dowager was so angry her face turned deathly pale. After experiencing great calamity with fewer descendants remaining in the family, the Old Dowager valued the surviving bloodline even more. Qin Yining was Qin Huaiyuan’s only legitimate daughter—she had been counting on her entering the palace as empress to steadily elevate the Qin family’s status! How could such a thing happen?

“Those Great Zhou thieves are too despicable! What are they trying to achieve by doing this? It harms others without benefiting themselves, preventing my Yining from becoming empress! Heavens, why am I so cursed! How is my fate so bitter!”

The Old Dowager immediately began beating her chest and stamping her feet in tears.

The Second Madam also wiped away tears: “Great Zhou is despicable, and the common people are ignorant—they actually believed such rumors! How this has harmed our dear Yining! She’s only just reached the age of maturity—must she really spend her entire life in monastic cultivation?”

Madam Sun frantically grasped Qin Huaiyuan’s hand: “Master, please think of a solution! What will happen to Yining? My poor Yining!”

The entire family looked expectantly toward Qin Huaiyuan. After several great trials, Qin Huaiyuan’s position as family head had become even more secure and trusted.

Qin Huaiyuan frowned: “Don’t panic yet. His Majesty has ordered Yining to cultivate with her hair while bestowing the Daoist title Xuan Su, but her name hasn’t been recorded in the Buddhist Registry. What he granted is an imperial villa, merely temporarily renaming the villa. This shows that Yining’s status is only that of a lay practitioner.”

Hearing this, everyone calmed down somewhat and began to understand.

The various Daoist sects had different traditions, with Daoist priests under different schools divided into two types: “monastics” and “fire-dwelling” practitioners.

Monastic Daoist priests must live in temples, observe fasting rules, and abstain from marriage—like the former Immortal Lady Liu.

Fire-dwelling Daoist priests had much more freedom—they could live in temples or scattered about, could observe fasting but had freedom in marriage, just as many Daoist sects emphasized father-to-son succession and hereditary transmission.

Qin Huaiyuan’s calm analysis completely settled everyone’s nerves.

“It seems His Majesty hasn’t given up on Yining,” said the Third Master, who had been silent for a long time, frowning. “If he truly intended to prevent Yining from marrying, His Majesty could have forced her to take full monastic vows. But His Majesty only made Yining a lay practitioner. This is leaving himself a way out.”

“Exactly so.” The Old Dowager felt relieved upon hearing this and turned from worry to joy: “This means His Majesty’s order to convert the imperial villa into Xuan Su Temple is also to keep her close at hand? So His Majesty does have feelings for our Yining—it’s only because of the people’s will that he had no choice but to act this way?”

But Qin Huaiyuan wasn’t as cheerful as the Old Dowager: “This is hardly a good thing. If His Majesty truly succeeds, what would become of Yining? Cultivating under the guise of a lay practitioner while secretly becoming His Majesty’s mistress? How can I, Qin Meng’s daughter, allow such treatment?”

Madam Sun gritted her teeth, her eyes completely red: “Doesn’t His Majesty fear causing heartbreak by acting this way? He’s clearly showing his wicked intentions won’t die!”

“Eldest daughter-in-law, watch your words!” The Old Dowager sternly rebuked Madam Sun. “How can you speak of His Majesty so casually!”

But Madam Sun didn’t back down: “Our legitimate daughter is about to be forced into becoming a mistress—can’t I, as her mother, be angry?”

“You foolish daughter-in-law!” The Old Dowager pulled Madam Sun’s hand and patted it. “Don’t you think—that’s His Majesty! Now that His Majesty has been forced to issue such a decree, it’s a tremendous injustice to our Yining. His Majesty will surely feel indebted to our family and will definitely try every means to compensate us. Our family has suffered so many disasters, and Meng has experienced great rises and falls. Now we finally have such an opportunity to turn things around—this is clearly a good thing.”

The Second Madam lowered her gaze upon hearing this, making no comment.

Her thoughts were similar to the Old Dowager’s. But speaking plainly, they were willing to curry favor with His Majesty and gain his guilt and compensation by tacitly allowing the Qin family daughter to become His Majesty’s mistress. Even parents would feel they were wronging their daughter by saying such things, let alone other relatives. Only the Old Dowager could say such words.

The Third Master had never been favored by the Old Dowager, and having experienced the pain of losing his wife and son, could be said to have long held great dissatisfaction with the Yuchi family’s rule. Upon hearing the Old Dowager’s words, he immediately expressed his displeasure:

“Mother’s words are inappropriate. Our Yining is a legitimate daughter, elder brother’s only bloodline. Becoming His Majesty’s mistress would still be an unofficial status—this is too much bullying! Moreover, elder brother has weathered the court for many years and his position is established. Does he really need to rely on selling his daughter to stabilize his position?”

The Second Master also nodded.

If it were his daughter being asked to do such a thing, he wouldn’t be willing whether she was legitimate or secondary-born.

The Old Dowager was so angry her face turned pale, arguing forcefully: “As a daughter of the Qin family, the household has supported her daily, and the family has also suffered disasters because of her existence. Now that she can serve the family, shouldn’t she do so?”

Everyone looked at the Old Dowager upon hearing this, then turned to observe Qin Huaiyuan and Madam Sun’s expressions.

Madam Sun was furious and about to speak when Qin Huaiyuan raised his hand to stop her.

Qin Huaiyuan’s face was dark as water: “I understand Mother’s words clearly. Mother is resenting Yining? But you must know that these are troubled times. With my position in the court, encountering assassination and raids from foreign countries was inevitable. Yining was merely forced to bear this burden. Yesterday it was Great Zhou people—in the future, there’s no guarantee Tatar people won’t come, and perhaps Goguryeo and Japanese pirates will also interfere. Does this mean that every time there’s an assassination, as long as outsiders say they came for someone in our family, we should blame that person?”

“Meng, you…”

“In the end, it’s because I’m useless and implicated the entire family. We could share wealth and honor before, but now when sharing hardships, some hearts grow uneven.”

“Elder brother, don’t say such things.” The Third Master said anxiously. “This matter isn’t anyone’s fault—if we must blame someone, blame the Emperor of Great Zhou.”

The Old Dowager’s face flushed red, never expecting Qin Huaiyuan to speak this way.

Qin Huaiyuan said: “I will find a way to resolve Yining’s situation. If Mother holds the intention of wanting Yining to serve His Majesty without proper status, then you’re still blaming me for bringing disaster to the family. If that’s the case, I dare not implicate the family further and can only take my wife and daughter and move out.”

While parents lived, the family didn’t divide.

So Qin Huaiyuan, unable to bear it any longer, spoke of moving out himself, without mentioning dividing the estate.

This didn’t violate propriety or filial piety.

But saying it was tantamount to separating the family.

“Elder brother!” Both the Second Master and Third Master became anxious.

The Second Madam, Nanny Qin, and others were also quite surprised, never expecting that for Qin Yining’s sake, Qin Huaiyuan would say such things in his anger.

The Old Dowager was both angry and ashamed, pounding the table: “Fine, fine! You disregard everything for your daughter! I won’t interfere anymore! I won’t interfere in any of your affairs!”

Though furious, she had also backed down.

Only then did Qin Huaiyuan soften his expression: “Mother, rest assured. I will not let my daughter serve any man without proper status, nor will I let her suffer injustice.” He turned to Madam Sun: “Go tell the people serving Yining at Scholar’s Study to bring Yining’s usual belongings and pack luggage. They’ll accompany me to the imperial villa shortly.”

“Without His Majesty’s decree, can we go?” Madam Sun was somewhat worried.

Qin Huaiyuan said seriously: “His Majesty ordered Yining to cultivate—he didn’t say the family couldn’t send things.”

“Yes.” Madam Sun felt greatly reassured. “Master, this wife also wishes to go along.”

“Mm, then let’s go together.”