Watching the drama unfold to this point, Qin Yining finally tasted the flavor of it all.

Had Qiu Feishan once again devised a plan to kill two birds with one stone, or perhaps multiple birds?

Luring her here to discuss some major cooperation – she somewhat believed this statement. Otherwise, Sitong Trading Company wouldn’t have tried every possible means to funnel silver into the military in the old capital.

But what about the rest?

Qin Yining had encountered quite a few people skilled in scheming, but Qiu Feishan was the only woman who remained so inscrutable. She had even been forced to be led by the nose several times.

This scene of punishing Qiu Feizhen before her eyes was deliberately staged by Qiu Feishan for her to see, wasn’t it? She wanted her to know that to express sincerity, Qiu Feishan – who for various reasons hadn’t returned to Sword River for a long time – had come back and was now confronting her power-holding second uncle, fighting so fiercely.

Qin Yining remained expressionless, determined not to reveal her thoughts.

At this moment, the crackling sounds of wooden boards striking and Qiu Feizhen’s wails could be heard in the distance.

Qiu Yuanqing said angrily, “Qiu Feishan, do you really not care about your cousin’s life or death?”

Qiu Feishan replied, “Second Uncle, please don’t push all the blame onto me. If you hadn’t instigated things, Cousin Zhen wouldn’t have done such a thing. The Qiu family has ancestral teachings and family laws. When someone truly violates family law, they can only be punished according to ancestral rules. It’s not that I don’t care about cousin’s life or death – cousin could avoid punishment.”

Qiu Yuanqing’s face turned red with anger, yet he couldn’t refute her words. Qiu Feishan’s tone was identical to Qin Yining’s earlier tone, making him curse inwardly once again – such clever women were truly the most detestable.

“I don’t want to argue with you, but you harming clan members for the sake of outsiders – I will definitely report this matter to the clan elders!”

“Why doesn’t Second Uncle say you’ll report to Grandfather instead? Why hasn’t my grandfather appeared these past two years?” Qiu Feishan’s tone suddenly became sharp, her gaze unprecedented in its severity. Compared to her earlier relatively calm demeanor, Qiu Feishan’s current presence could be described as cold as ice, completely different from her usual gentle appearance.

Qin Yining was somewhat surprised that Qiu Feishan would become so agitated when mentioning the Qiu family patriarch who had been in seclusion for over two years.

It seemed the Qiu family’s waters ran very deep. What was the story behind that patriarch’s seclusion? Why hadn’t Qiu Feishan returned to Sword River for over two years? And why had she made Sitong Trading Company grow larger and larger in recent years, even extending her reach into the imperial court? All these questions were worth investigating deeply.

As Qin Yining pondered, someone had already come to report back to Qiu Feishan.

“Young Miss, Qiu Feizhen has fainted. Should we call for a physician?”

Qiu Feishan glanced at the person lying motionless on the ground in the distance: “According to clan rules, those who violate family regulations are beaten and expelled – this is proper. No need to call a physician.”

“Yes.” The attendant obediently returned to stand behind Qiu Feishan.

Qiu Feizhen lay on the ground with no one paying him any attention.

Qiu Yuanqing was about to order someone to help Qiu Feizhen up and send him for medical treatment, but on second thought, he worried that Qiu Feishan might use this to confirm that he had instigated Qiu Feizhen, and seeing Qiu Feizhen’s miserable fate, he felt guilty and thus intervened to rescue a family criminal.

After all, the Qiu family had invoked family law many times before, and he had never shown mercy.

Thinking of this, Qiu Yuanqing dismissed the idea.

Qiu Feishan, however, snapped open the sandalwood fan in her hand and waved it, her clear eyes full of contempt.

Then she stepped forward with her hands behind her back, her voice not particularly loud, but clear enough for Qiu Yuanqing to hear.

“Second Uncle is also aware of the rules governing the alternation between ‘visible families’ and ‘hidden families.’ The Lu family, as a ‘visible family,’ has maintained neutrality in the imperial court for two hundred years according to ancestral rules, which is how the ‘visible family’ has remained standing.

“However, the new family head Lu Heng has broken this balance and clearly expressed support for Li Qitian in the court. This means the Lu family must now share the same fate as Li Qitian. The ‘visible family’ already shows signs of decline. According to ancestral teachings, it’s time for us ‘hidden families’ to replace them. Otherwise, if we wait for others to act and end the visible family, that would be truly final.

“The ancestors established these rules of the sun rising as the moon sets, the moon rising as the sun hides, so that our entire family bloodline could continue unbroken. The reason I invited Prince Consort Zhongshun’s Princess here was to follow ancestral teachings, establish a firm foothold in the court, and prepare to transform our hidden family into a visible family.”

Speaking to this point, Qiu Feishan raised her eyebrows as she looked at Qiu Yuanqing: “But Second Uncle disregards the clan’s development and repeatedly offends my honored guest. Does Second Uncle want to become the Qiu family’s sinner?”

“Just because you choose someone, does that make them the right choice?” Qiu Yuanqing sneered coldly, “You’ve decided on Prince Zhongshun – does that mean the family must necessarily approve of him?”

“Among the heroes worthy of mention in today’s world, the current emperor counts as one, Prince Zhongshun counts as one, Prince Consort Ji who is currently fighting the Tatars counts as one, and the Tatar Si Qin also counts as one. Si Qin is of foreign blood, so we won’t consider him. That leaves only three candidates.

“Among these three, Prince Zhongshun is the most capable, both wise and resourceful. He not only has the ability for warfare but also possesses a merciful heart. Such a person is most worthy of our support. If we don’t choose him, does Second Uncle have other candidates? Would Second Uncle disregard family interests entirely for personal gain?”

Speaking to this point, Qiu Feishan suddenly turned toward Qin Yining, lifted her robe hem, and gracefully knelt down, respectfully performing a grand bow.

The attendants and mounted guards who had come with Qiu Feishan also dismounted and knelt together in salute, their movements uniform and coordinated. Though silent, it was extraordinarily impressive.

Qiu Feishan’s forehead touched the ground as she kowtowed three solid times before saying, “Princess Consort above, I respectfully represent the Qiu family in expressing our support and allegiance to Prince Zhongshun and the Princess Consort. From this day forward, we pledge loyal service with all our strength. Let all present bear witness!” She then bowed again.

Those following Qiu Feishan all knelt and bowed as well.

Qin Yining stood there dumbfounded, unable to utter a single word.

The concepts of “visible families” and “hidden families” that Qiu Feishan had just mentioned swirled in her mind.

So the Lu family and Qiu family actually had such a relationship!

Though one was surnamed Lu and the other Qiu, tracing back over a hundred years, they might both have been surnamed Lu, or both surnamed Qiu, or perhaps both descended from some other surname.

Regardless of their surname, this family bloodline had continued unbroken. The two surnames came from the same clan – one part visible, one part hidden. Both developed their respective powers, and once the visible family declined, the hidden family could immediately step up, either to protect the visible family or even to be the force that crushed it. Through such alternation, they preserved the family’s enduring strength.

Ancient people valued family and surname highly, with few willing to change their clan name like this.

But the Lu and Qiu families could do so according to such an ancestral rule.

Looking at Qiu Feishan making a submissive gesture before her, Qin Yining once again felt she had fallen into a trap.

Qiu Feishan was forcing Prince Zhongshun’s faction to bind themselves together with them. With such great power as the Qiu family possessed, if Qiu Feishan actively showed goodwill, would she and Pang Xiao be foolish enough to push them away? If they pushed them away, what if they went and chose their opponents instead?

So, following the previous incident with Sitong Trading Company’s autonomous support of the Pingnan Army, they once again found themselves helplessly falling into the web that Qiu Feishan had woven.

Originally, this was a matter of mutual benefit, so there wasn’t really any loss involved. But this method of forcing them to comply truly displeased Qin Yining.

Just as Qin Yining’s face showed her inner conflict, the sound of rolling wheels suddenly echoed through the spacious, quiet mountain valley.

Everyone looked toward the source of the sound. They saw a black lacquered flat-topped carriage slowly approaching, surrounded by a group of imposing men.

Qin Yining couldn’t see anything different about that carriage.

But Qiu Feishan, who had been kneeling on the ground, suddenly sprang to her feet with a whoosh, her eyes full of joy as she looked toward the carriage and quickly went to greet it.

Qiu Yuanqing also showed surprise on his face and hurried to meet it.

When the carriage drew near, Qin Yining noticed that the Qiu family emblem on the carriage was somewhat different from what she had seen a few days ago. Perhaps the golden leaf vein patterns on that emblem represented the Qiu family patriarch’s status?

“Grandfather!”

Before anyone inside had alighted from the carriage after it stopped, Qiu Feishan had already run over to greet it. Only now could one see that Qiu Feishan was a young, lively girl – her joyful appearance simply couldn’t be hidden.

In comparison, Qiu Yuanqing appeared somewhat somber, showing no pleasure. Instead, Qin Yining caught a trace of barely perceptible panic on his face.

“Grandfather, is that you! Are you alright!” Qiu Feishan stood before the carriage, anxiously reaching to lift the curtain.

But before her slender, pale hand could touch the curtain, the deep blue cloth was already lifted by an aged, large hand.

An elderly man sat within, wearing a brown round-necked wide-sleeved outer robe, his hair gray-white with an immortal bearing, looking disapprovingly at Qiu Feishan.

Qiu Feishan didn’t notice the old man’s displeasure at all, crying out joyfully: “Grandfather!”

Qiu Yuanqing also smiled broadly at this moment: “Father, you’ve come out of seclusion?”

Qiu Guang gave Qiu Yuanqing a meaningful look – that glance was too sharp. Before saying much more, it had already frightened Qiu Yuanqing into immediately lowering his head.

Seeing Qiu Yuanqing’s reaction, Qiu Feishan’s smile became even more radiant, “Grandfather, how did you come? Should granddaughter help you down from the carriage? How have you been these past two years?”

Qiu Feishan had lost contact with Qiu Guang for exactly two years. Having lost her parents at a young age and being raised by her grandfather, the grandfather-granddaughter bond between Qiu Feishan and Qiu Guang was naturally deep. Since Qiu Feishan often traveled for business, she and Qiu Guang had their own secret codes for communication to prevent anyone from impersonating either party and taking advantage.

However, two years ago, the secret codes in their letters disappeared. After being deceived a few times without falling for it, soon afterward, news came from the main family that Qiu Guang wanted to contemplate some problem and needed to enter seclusion to think.

Qiu Feishan was anxious, because she knew what kind of person her second uncle was. If things went badly, in his quest for power, he might truly harm grandfather.

At that time, she had no other options – she only had Sitong Trading Company. Helplessly, Qiu Feishan could only do everything possible to make Sitong Trading Company into a giant enterprise. Her thinking was that at worst, she would have substantial capital, and with silver, naturally she could accomplish things that otherwise couldn’t be done.