Yao Shi recalled the details of her time with Qin Yining and smiled: “Father, I’m afraid you’re overthinking this.”

“Oh?” Yao Chenggu set down his pipe, his expression serious. “How am I overthinking?”

“I see that Miss Qin is an intelligent person who understands propriety and knows when to advance or retreat. Even when I deliberately spoke harshly, she didn’t get angry and responded quite beautifully. She’s always maintained respect for her elders—she’s not a spoiled, willful person. She also seems extremely well-informed about court situations.”

The more Yao Shi spoke, the more satisfied she became with Qin Yining, her smile gradually deepening. “I heard that Master Qin has only this one daughter. From observing her speech and bearing today, it’s clear that Master Qin’s family upbringing is excellent. Master Qin must also be an intelligent and proper person. Without considering the court situation and looking only at character, the Qin family would be a good choice for in-laws.”

Madam Ma at the side snorted: “You father and daughter think too much and plan too much. In my opinion, our Dafu is such a clever child—how could the person he’s decided on be lacking? Instead, you two are testing a girl who traveled thousands of miles to get here. Aren’t you afraid of ruining Dafu’s chances?”

Yao Chenggu listened as his wife’s voice grew louder and louder, until she was nearly pounding the table at the end. He wasn’t angered, just smiled as he listened to her scolding.

Only after Madam Ma finished did he respond gently: “Don’t be angry. We also need to screen things for Dafu. Besides, if Miss Qin could be angered by Yuping’s casual probing today, that would only prove the girl isn’t suitable for our Dafu.”

“Exactly, Mother.” Yao Shi also nodded.

Madam Ma snorted: “If the Qin girl was provoked to anger, that would be because you went too far—how could you blame her? You deliberately test her, but she’s not allowed to be angry?”

“Mother, that’s not what we mean.” Yao Shi explained gently. “Our Dafu’s position in court is precarious right now. Though he appears to be a prince of a different surname with unlimited glory, the Emperor’s wariness, the hatred of those former ministers from Northern Ji, and the existence of those great families—all of these are difficulties for our Dafu. Dafu’s foundation is shallow and his position awkward. If he can’t have an intelligent and steady good girl as a capable helpmate, it won’t just harm Dafu and our family—it might even implicate the Qin family.”

“Exactly.” Yao Chenggu also said, “This isn’t making things difficult for the Qin girl, but seeing whether she’s truly suitable to enter our family. If her temperament isn’t suitable, she’d suffer if she married in—better to nip it at the source from the beginning. Think about it: if Dafu’s wife doesn’t have the ability to maintain stability, it won’t just be Dafu who suffers—both families will suffer together.”

“You two always have so many reasons.” Madam Ma wasn’t a foolish person—her thoughts just weren’t as detailed as this father and daughter’s. After hearing Yao Chenggu and Yao Shi’s analysis, she understood their meaning and finally said fairly, “Your thinking is good and comes from good intentions, but your methods aren’t honorable. Testing once is fine, but Miss Qin is a refined young lady from a great family, not merchandise to be appraised. How could you keep testing and selecting her like that?”

“Mother is right.” Yao Shi smiled and nodded.

Yao Chenggu also smiled: “We’ll listen to you completely.”

Madam Ma snorted. Thinking that Pang Xiao finally had a girl he fancied, and that she might soon have a great-grandson to hold, her mood became even better.

At this moment, Qin Yining was being led by the hand by Pang Xiao, walking slowly on the small path leading to the study in the outer courtyard.

The stone bricks on the ground were arranged neatly in a fish-scale pattern. The accumulated snow had been swept very clean, with only occasional white lines remaining in the cracks between bricks. The thick snow on the courtyard walls would be lifted by the wind into fine, sparkling particles that appeared especially crystal clear in the warm afternoon sunlight.

If she could ignore the servants constantly bowing in salute, Qin Yining would actually be quite willing to keep walking hand-in-hand with Pang Xiao like this.

“Didn’t you say you had an appointment with Master Xie and Master Xu? Shouldn’t we hurry over now?”

Qin Yining withdrew her hand, pretending nonchalance as she looked elsewhere, deliberately not meeting the curious gazes of the servants who had bowed to her.

Pang Xiao laughed: “No rush—it’s fine for them to wait a bit.” His slightly rough fingers gently touched her earlobe. “Look, your ears are all red. Are you cold?”

This man was obviously asking despite knowing the answer—how terrible!

“Moving your hands around like this—aren’t you afraid people will laugh?”

“What’s there to laugh about? Now everyone knows that this prince snatched the Qin family’s young lady back home. If I only treated you with formal courtesy in my own mansion, that would be strange.”

As Pang Xiao spoke, he extended his arm and pulled Qin Yining into his embrace, leaning close to her ear: “The more I act like this, the more genuine it appears.”

Qin Yining blinked and asked somewhat nervously in a low voice: “Are there many spies in your mansion?”

Pang Xiao smiled: “There are various eyes watching unimportant places. But you needn’t worry—I know what I’m doing.”

Qin Yining nodded. If the prince’s mansion were protected by Pang Xiao as tightly as an iron barrel with no gaps, that would make Emperor Zhou even more uneasy.

Appropriately allowing a few spies to enter, then controlling the channels through which these people learned information, would allow him to control the situation.

Perhaps at crucial moments, these spies could even be used to his advantage.

Seeing Qin Yining nod obediently without asking more questions, and even appearing to understand everything completely, Pang Xiao couldn’t help but pinch her cheek: “When you understand everything like this, it makes me feel quite useless.”

Qin Yining laughed: “How could the Prince lack uses? You have to rush back to ‘recuperate,’ pave the way for my father’s future official career, worry about whether the elders in the mansion will make things difficult for me, and think of ways to make me happy. Your heart is nearly split into several pieces with all these concerns—how is that useless?”

“You know all this?” Though Pang Xiao knew Qin Yining would understand him, actually hearing these words from her mouth still filled his heart with joy.

“How could I not know the things you do for me?” Qin Yining sighed softly and gradually stopped walking.

Pang Xiao also halted, looking down at her while smoothing the stray hair by her ear and tightening her collar.

Qin Yining looked up at his smiling eyes.

This man always restrained all his external sharpness when facing her, showing only his most special side to her alone.

Upon learning she was in danger, knowing he might not even find her, he still disregarded the risk of arousing Emperor Zhou’s suspicion and privately deployed troops to search.

To avoid delaying the Qin family’s prospects for development in the Great Zhou, he disregarded his own reputation and performed the charade of a bandit kidnapping someone in public, not caring at all about others’ gossip.

Emperor Zhou’s absorption of surrendered ministers was meant to balance the relationship between Northern Ji’s old ministers and new nobles in court. With Qin Huaiyuan leading the Yan dynasty’s surrendered ministers, the Qin family would definitely receive important positions once they arrived.

With Emperor Zhou so wary of Pang Xiao, how could he allow Pang Xiao to have such a powerful father-in-law?

If Pang Xiao showed her the same deep devotion today as he had in Great Yan, Qin Huaiyuan’s official career and the Qin family’s development would likely be completely cut off.

Qin Yining sighed as she nestled into his embrace, pressing her cheek against his chest and wrapping her arms around his lean waist.

Pang Xiao was both surprised and delighted—this was the first time Qin Yining had so actively embraced him in public. In his shock, he didn’t know where to put his arms. After a long moment, he came to his senses and gradually tightened his embrace, his chin tenderly nuzzling her forehead.

“Cold?”

“Mm. It’s really cold here, colder than Liang City. But I feel very secure now.”

Being able to make his beloved woman feel secure was the greatest praise a man could receive.

His Sister Yi was so considerate. Having experienced countless hardships, nearly being killed, almost freezing and starving to death in the mountains, then after being found, working tirelessly to patch up his impulsive and inadequate plan—yet when she saw him, she never complained of suffering or showed the slightest grievance. As if all of this was what she should naturally bear.

He clearly hadn’t cleared all obstacles for her or created a space where she could breathe freely, yet she repaid his imperfections with the word “secure.”

Pang Xiao closed his eyes and planted a precious, resounding kiss on her forehead.

“No matter what, you’re beside me now. As long as you’re within my sight, where I can reach you, where I don’t have to worry constantly, nothing else matters.”

Qin Yining smiled brightly: “You’re right. Whatever happens, we’ll bear it together—there’s nothing to fear.”

Pang Xiao smiled too, his thumb brushing across her lips. The soft touch made his gaze grow hazy, but she shyly stepped back two paces to avoid him.

“Let’s go to the study. It would be too rude to keep people waiting long.”

Pang Xiao nodded helplessly, grasping Qin Yining’s hand in his, using his warm palm to warm her slightly cold fingers. “Though the prince’s mansion is large, I usually only frequent the study in the outer courtyard. I normally rest in the study too—if you need anything, you can come directly to find me.”

“After all, I was ‘kidnapped’ here by you, so I shouldn’t be too presumptuous.”

“I’d like to ‘tie’ you directly to the study, but that would be taking liberties with you. If my family saw that, they’d look down on you in the future, so I can only do this much.”

The two chatted as they arrived at the outer courtyard study, where Huzi was already standing with his hands clasped, nearly frozen into an ice sculpture by the courtyard gate.

“Your Highness, you’ve arrived! Master Xu and Master Xie have already had three rounds of tea.” Huzi hopped in place a few times, then came forward to bow to Qin Yining: “Fourth Miss, greetings.”

Pang Xiao said seriously: “We have important matters to discuss. Have people guard the area around the study carefully.”

Seeing Pang Xiao so serious, Huzi immediately straightened his expression and bowed: “Yes.”

Like the upper courtyard, the study had a heated alcove by the window with a warm brick bed. The bed was heated to a comfortable temperature with soft deep blue cushions laid on top. Braziers were placed on the floor, burning high-quality silver frost charcoal.

Just as Qin Yining and Pang Xiao removed their cloaks and sat down, Xie Yue and Xu Weizhi, who had been waiting in the side room, entered together. Behind them followed dozens of people, all dressed as scholars.

Qin Yining asked in surprise: “These are all your advisors?”

“Mm.” Pang Xiao smiled and nodded. “Today I only invited the core members for you to meet.”

Qin Yining couldn’t help but be amazed—Pang Xiao had so many advisors under him!

While she was still thinking, everyone had already bowed in unison.