“Oh my, you, you need to leave quickly!” Qin Yining jumped up like a startled rabbit, pushing Pang Xiao with both hands. “If my father sees you in my room at this hour, I won’t be able to explain myself even with a hundred mouths.”

Pang Xiao was pushed so hard he nearly fell off the warm kang. He didn’t know where this girl got such strength from. Helplessly putting on his boots, he didn’t forget to caress Qin Yining’s face one more time before leaving.

Qin Yining hurriedly lay back down on the warm kang and covered herself with the thin quilt. Seeing Pang Xiao’s figure disappear behind the door, she simply closed her eyes. When she heard Qin Huaiyuan’s footsteps entering, she sat up as if just awakening from sleep.

Qianyun had already lit the silk lamp by then.

Qin Yining smiled and said, “Father, why have you come at this hour?”

“Ji Yun said you were sleeping. Why are you sleeping so early? Are you ill?” Qin Huaiyuan sat down in the chair that Qianyun and Ji Yun had brought over, accepting the hot tea Bingtang offered.

Qin Yining laughed, “How could I fall ill so easily? But the weather in the capital is different from ours—it’s truly too cold. I don’t want to leave the warm kang, so I was reading under the covers and fell asleep while reading.”

“Reading at night isn’t good for your eyes.” Qin Huaiyuan took a sip of tea and waved his hand.

Qianyun, Ji Yun, and Bingtang all bowed and withdrew.

Qin Yining sat up straight and said, “Father, did you come to see me about something?”

“Yes.” Qin Huaiyuan said, “Did Princess Consort Yan come to discuss making you Prince Yan’s side consort?”

“Nothing escapes Father’s notice. Indeed, Princess Consort Yan appealed to my emotions and reasoned with me very earnestly. But Father should understand what I’m thinking. I won’t agree to them.”

“I naturally know that.” Qin Huaiyuan smiled, “I’ve already said I won’t oppose your relationship with Prince Zhongshun, but I came to confirm with you. Since you’re determined not to have any connection with Prince Yan, I’ll know how to act at court.”

Father was a Second Rank Grand Secretary who would enter the cabinet in the future—such a high-ranking official, yet he still considered his own daughter’s feelings when making decisions. This truly moved Qin Yining.

Qin Yining said, “Father, please don’t let your daughter’s selfishness tie your hands. You must still prioritize yourself.”

Hearing this, Qin Huaiyuan laughed, “Silly girl, you still don’t understand. What do I serve as an official for? Not just for my own career, but more importantly for our family’s happiness. If I let family members make sacrifices for some unimportant matters, wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse and getting more loss than gain?”

Qin Yining’s admiration for Qin Huaiyuan grew even stronger.

Qin Huaiyuan was intelligent. But there might not be no one in the world more intelligent than him. Those who had served at court for many years without falling—which one wasn’t shrewd?

The reason Qin Huaiyuan was more renowned than all those people was precisely because of his personal charisma. He always had an unbreakable bottom line in his heart and never let trivial matters affect his decisions.

Even when following the foolish emperor in Great Yan, he never forgot his true heart. Whether following Yuchi Yan afterward or now serving Li Qitian, Qin Huaiyuan could always remain calm and composed, handling all matters with equanimity.

Qin Yining truly admired her father from the bottom of her heart. It seemed he had the ability to solve all the world’s difficult problems. No matter how great the issue, it couldn’t shake his inner calm. He could always handle everything steadily and choose the right path for the family.

“Father, I understand your meaning.” Qin Yining smiled, “I hope that in the future, I can become someone like Father.”

Qin Huaiyuan was amused by this and chuckled, “What’s so good about being like me?”

“Father naturally has Father’s good qualities. Otherwise, why would so many people hold Father in such high regard?”

Qin Huaiyuan laughed again, “Stop flattering me. I heard your grandmother is angry again about the house matter?”

“Yes.” Qin Yining sighed, “I never expected Marchioness Zhongyong to act so arrogantly and make such wild claims. If she knew that house had long been bought by my people, and the transfer procedures with Father were just for show, I wonder what she’d think.”

Qin Huaiyuan set down his teacup and asked with a smile, “Then tell me, how do you plan to resolve this matter?”

Qin Yining thought for a moment and said, “Actually it’s quite easy. Didn’t she boast that she’d buy our house and prevent others from selling or renting to us, making us homeless? I don’t know if others will listen to her, but just the owner of this residence we’re living in could never sell the house to her.”

“Let her make a fuss for now—the more people know about it, the better. The more she clamors now, the more people will know about this matter. When she can’t buy this house no matter how high a price she offers, the harder she’ll fall and the more fiercely she’ll be mocked.”

Speaking of this, Qin Yining couldn’t help but sneer coldly.

Thinking of the explicit looks Madam Lu had given Pang Xiao, and how she had categorized her among the type of people who could embrace strange handsome men, Qin Yining felt both angry and humiliated.

Hearing this, Qin Huaiyuan said softly, “Doing this would indeed slap Marchioness Zhongyong’s face, but Yi’er, don’t forget that behind Marchioness Zhongyong stands the Lu family. For a century-old family like the Lu family, what do they care about most after all these generations? They no longer lack gold, silver, fame, or profit. What they care about most is the family’s reputation.”

“Your doing this would naturally make Marchioness Zhongyong reap what she sowed and be too ashamed to show her face in the capital. But this would also make the Lu family lose face. We’ve just arrived in Great Zhou, and to immediately oppose the Lu family head-on is truly not a wise move.”

Qin Huaiyuan’s words made Qin Yining fall into deep thought.

Indeed, no matter how incompetent Madam Lu was, even if she was just a branch family member of the Lu family, for such a large century-old prestigious family, probably even raising a dog would be more precious than others’, let alone a daughter from the branch family?

She hadn’t interacted with other people from the Lu family, only seeing Madam Lu alone—a licentious, promiscuous woman with strong arrogance, pride, and self-centeredness.

Qin Yining couldn’t be certain that all Lu family members were like this.

But she also couldn’t guarantee that the other Lu family members were upright people who wouldn’t target their family based solely on grudges, regardless of right and wrong.

“Father is right.” Qin Yining lowered her eyes, “Daughter didn’t think it through thoroughly enough.”

Qin Huaiyuan smiled, “No need to apologize. When encountering such a person, it’s impossible not to be angry. Don’t mention you—even hearing you describe what happened at the banquet made me want to confront her face to face, let alone you who experienced it personally.”

“I think when the Lu family initially held that banquet and invited you, it showed they originally wanted to befriend our family. Because Marchioness Zhongyong married well and is a noble lady who could speak with you, an official’s daughter, they allowed her to extend the invitation.”

“Father is right. I heard that the military achievements of the late Marchioness Zhongyong’s husband, General Mi, could compare with Prince Consort Ji and Pang Zhixi.”