Upon hearing this, the clan elders exchanged glances, and the older one said deliberately: “This matter shouldn’t be for us old folks to speak about. We haven’t interfered in clan affairs for many years. Young Qing has been clever since childhood, and even the clan head has always praised him. During this period, the Qiu family under Young Qing’s leadership hasn’t made a single misstep. In my opinion, let Young Qing decide on this matter.”
The other clan elders nearby all agreed: “That’s right. We’re still at ease with Young Qing handling things.”
Qiu Yuanqing respectfully lowered his head, but the smile at the corners of his lips gradually deepened as he said, “I dare not presume. This junior is being presumptuous.”
Turning back to the Qiu Yuanming couple, he said: “Since the clan elders have entrusted this matter to me, I’ll speak my mind. I think even without me saying it, everyone is clear about Prince Zhongshun’s reputation. He’s a truly brave and skilled warrior with illustrious military achievements that even the Son of Heaven must yield to. I’ve also heard that Prince Zhongshun is very protective of his own and deeply cherishes his Princess Consort. I believe everyone knows about how Prince Zhongshun once defied imperial edicts for his Princess Consort.
“Since Prince Zhongshun is so formidable and the Princess Consort is so beloved by him, we’d better not make enemies of them. This time it was originally Feizhen who molested her first, so we can’t blame Prince Zhongshun’s guards for taking action. It’s better to have less trouble than more—there’s no need to offend the entire Prince Zhongshun faction over one person.”
Upon hearing this, the Qiu Yuanming couple immediately changed expressions: “What do you mean by that? Are you saying our Feizhen should just suffer this loss for nothing!”
“Please don’t forget the Qiu family rules. Whatever descendants do, everything must prioritize family interests. Now it’s clearly unwise to offend Prince Zhongshun’s faction over Feizhen alone, so we must endure it. Moreover, this matter was originally Feizhen’s fault to begin with. Even if it were to be aired publicly, the blame couldn’t fall on Princess Consort Zhongshun. Then everyone would gossip behind our backs—where would the Qiu family put its face? Our Qiu family has had over a hundred years of heritage in Jianchuan. Don’t we care about our reputation anymore? I can understand your feelings as parents, but please consider the family’s interests first.”
Qiu Yuanming trembled all over with anger. He knew Qiu Yuanqing harbored ill intentions. This was forcing him to let go!
But Qiu Feizhen was his son. His son had been harmed like that—others could not care, but could he as a father not care? What about prioritizing family interests? Didn’t these people usually do plenty of things that undermined the family? Others could kill and commit arson, and whatever problems arose could be solved, but when it came to his family it wasn’t allowed?
Qiu Yuanming sneered several times, too lazy even to argue with Qiu Yuanqing.
Although this person controlled the Qiu family’s power and clearly intended to inherit the clan head position, the clan head was still in seclusion after all. He was just a second son—he wasn’t the clan head, so what right did he have to stand out and point fingers?
He looked disdainfully at the clan elders before him.
If people weren’t selfish, even dogs could stop eating excrement! These old things were all just following the wind, flattering Qiu Yuanqing with their words, weren’t they? This was because they saw that Qiu Yuanqing might possibly be the next clan head, so they were fawning and flattering him like this!
Seeing that Qiu Yuanming no longer argued, Qiu Yuanqing assumed he had submitted like the clan elders. He smiled confidently, respectfully exchanged pleasantries with the clan elders, and inquired caringly about Qiu Feizhen’s condition before the gathering dispersed.
However, when Qiu Yuanming returned home and saw his son lying bedridden and barely breathing, the anger he could hardly suppress flared up again.
Listening to his wife’s sobbing, Qiu Yuanming felt irritated and restless. His hand gripped the white porcelain teacup tightly, his knuckles gradually turning white from the force.
Qiu Yuanming gritted his teeth and let out a heavy snort from his nose.
What Princess Consort Zhongshun? Others didn’t dare offend her, but would he be afraid? If he didn’t take action for his own son’s revenge, should he wait for others to do it!
On Qin Yining’s side, she and the others settled into the new inn near the Governor’s office. After washing up in the evening, Qin Yining didn’t dare relax easily.
Ji Yun and Bingtang lay fully clothed with her on one bed, and all three were unable to sleep.
“I wonder how Zhao Ge’er and Han Ge’er are doing now. I don’t know if the wet nurses are taking care of them attentively. At such a young age, traveling and being jolted around, they’re probably not used to it?” Qin Yining’s voice was low and soft, filled with deep worry.
Whenever night fell and all was quiet, she always thought of the two children first.
Ji Yun smiled comfortingly: “Princess Consort needn’t worry. Don’t you trust how the Grand Lady and Old Lady handle things? Besides, the wet nurses are all the most experienced, and the most capable people are by the children’s sides. You don’t need to worry.”
Qin Yining nodded, knowing in her heart this was reasonable, but worry was a constant state. After thinking about the children, she thought about Pang Xiao, wondering if he was going smoothly now. The Pingnan Army had been temporarily suppressed, but Yuchi Yan might not necessarily stay quiet either.
Now that they had entered Jianchuan, entry and exit required passes, and transmitting news from the outside world had become difficult. It could be said their group had been forced to cut off contact with the outside world.
Therefore, she couldn’t know the latest developments in the court. The situation here wanting to be transmitted to Pang Xiao’s knowledge also had no method, and such circumstances were truly panic-inducing. Although normally transmitting messages between her and Pang Xiao would take some time to achieve, it was still much better than the current predicament.
Qin Yining’s mind was full of recent events. Tossing and turning, she simply couldn’t fall asleep. She didn’t know how long she had been struggling when Ji Yun and Bingtang beside her stopped talking, their breathing gradually becoming steady. She was also influenced by the atmosphere, her eyelids gradually becoming heavy.
Just then, Qin Yining suddenly heard what seemed to be footsteps of someone walking outside the window.
But the fatigue from consecutive days struck, and after she finally closed her eyes and fell into sleep, it wasn’t easy to wake up clearly.
Qin Yining felt she was sleeping very warmly, just like when she was beside Pang Xiao, pillowing on his arm and nestled in his embrace, both secure and comfortable. She seemed to hear Pang Xiao’s steady heartbeat and could smell the faint scent of charcoal burning in the outer room during winter.
“Princess Consort, Princess Consort!”
Suddenly someone pushed her, and Qin Yining was jolted awake to see orange-red firelight before her eyes.
Mu Jinghu stood tensely by the bedside, tearing a damp towel into four pieces: “Cover your mouth and nose, there’s a fire! Quick, come out with me!”
Ji Yun and Bingtang had also just been awakened and faced with this sudden scene, both had a moment of panic before taking the cloths to cover their mouths and noses.
Mu Jinghu couldn’t care about propriety between men and women at this point and pulled Qin Yining to rush outside.
Since he had promised the sly fox, Qin Yining’s safety was his responsibility. Mu Jinghu would absolutely not allow Qin Yining to come to any danger under his watch. He would rather lose his own life than let anything happen to Qin Yining.
The fire outside was raging fiercely. The inn was crowded with people, and everywhere people were shouting loudly: “Fire! Help! Save lives!”
Jingzhe and the others were anxiously trying to rush into the room when they saw Mu Jinghu bringing Qin Yining out. The two were only covered with some dust and hadn’t suffered any injuries. When they saw Ji Yun also pulling Bingtang out, everyone finally breathed a collective sigh of relief.
While the people in the inn were busy fighting the fire, Jingzhe had already looked around and whispered in Qin Yining’s ear: “Princess Consort, only our courtyard caught fire. The other courtyards have no problems, so it’s clear someone targeted us.”
“It must be that sixth branch master of the Qiu family!” Bingtang said through gritted teeth. “I see this place truly has no law. We even chose to stay near the Governor’s office, yet they still dare to commit arson! They’re determined to believe that even Governor can’t do anything to them!”
“It seems there’s nothing to be done about it. The Qiu family must have been passed down for so many years—their history is even longer than Bei Ji. They’re already local emperors here. Governor Wú looks like someone who just wants to calm things down and live peacefully. How would he dare to directly confront the Qiu family?”
Qin Yining felt somewhat emotional in her heart. Don’t look at how Li Qitian thought he had centralized all major and minor court affairs in his hands—just looking at those outer prefectures like Jianchuan where they only knew the Qiu family and not the imperial family, one could see that the Great Zhou dynasty’s foundation was still very shallow. Emperor Li Qitian probably couldn’t take care of everything everywhere either.
While speaking, the fire in the courtyard was gradually extinguished.
Fortunately, this was an independent courtyard with fewer buildings, and they were brick and stone constructions at a considerable distance from other buildings, so the fire didn’t spread elsewhere. Although the blaze caused property damage, it didn’t result in any casualties.
Only then did Qin Yining relax slightly. She knew this fire was directed at her, and if innocent people had been implicated because of her, how could her conscience be clear?
The scene was now a complete mess, with water everywhere on the ground. The extinguished buildings still emitted black smoke, and the air was filled with the suffocating smell of things burned.
Looking at this devastated scene, the anger in Mu Jinghu’s heart was almost uncontrollable and about to explode.
The Qiu family people were truly going too far!
Molesting Qin Yining right in front of him—he had merely taught that lecher a lesson, yet it brought such escalated retaliation from the Qiu family!
Mu Jinghu said with a dark expression: “We should find another place to stay temporarily. I think inns aren’t safe either. Whether we’re near or far from the Governor’s office doesn’t matter anymore.”
“There’s no need for that. We’re not as familiar with the roads in this city as they are. If we go to a sparsely populated area, things will be even harder to handle.” Qin Yining said. “We also don’t need to leave. Let’s stay here. I want to see if they can commit arson again. Such a big fire, and Governor Wú still hasn’t appeared—he must be sleeping soundly. When I see Governor Wú tomorrow, I’ll ask him carefully how exactly he wants to resolve this matter.”
After all, she still had her status. A Princess Consort being deliberately murdered—the matter could be big or small, all depending on how she handled it.
The group spoke with the innkeeper, and since there was no longer a courtyard, they moved to guest rooms on the second floor.
What Qin Yining didn’t know was that after she lay down again, the window next door was pushed open, and Mu Jinghu glided toward the Qiu family’s old mansion like a crane.