Pang Xiao knew that Qin Huaiyuan was now filled with life’s vicissitudes and no longer had the heart to strive for power.

Though his own thoughts didn’t entirely align with his father-in-law’s, he couldn’t deny that from Qin Huaiyuan’s perspective, retreating at the height of success was indeed the most prudent approach.

However, Qin Huaiyuan wasn’t him after all and didn’t fully understand his current predicament. Everyone else could leave at this point, but he and Qin Yining couldn’t retreat.

If they also retreated, who would serve as this barrier?

Setting aside other matters, Tianji Zi was obviously still obsessed with her divination from that day. As they had just analyzed, while a desert could stop Li Qitian, it might not necessarily stop Tianji Zi.

“Father-in-law, rest assured. I will think this through carefully.” Qin Huaiyuan nodded with a heavy expression.

Ma Shi smiled: “Dafu, listening to your father-in-law is never wrong. Grandmother doesn’t ask for you to be wealthy and noble, only that our family can be safe and peaceful.”

“I understand Grandmother’s meaning.” Pang Xiao smiled.

Ma Shi patted the back of her hand and, after brief consideration, said: “Since we’re moving the entire family, I’ll go back and discuss this with your grandfather. We’ll go together with our in-laws’ family, saving us from making arrangements twice, and having the whole family together provides mutual support.”

“Dear in-law speaks truly.” Zheng Shi also said, “Once we reach that oasis, we can continue helping Yining look after the children as before. The children’s grandfather will be responsible for teaching them literature, and you can teach them how to strengthen their bodies.”

Hearing this, Ma Shi nodded repeatedly: “That sounds wonderful. My heart is entirely filled with these two precious treasures now – I feel uncomfortable if I can’t see them for even a moment.” Ma Shi then looked at Pang Xiao: “However, regarding your mother…”

Pang Xiao smiled: “Grandmother, rest assured. You and Grandfather just prepare with peace of mind. I’ll have someone bring my mother back as quickly as possible to depart together with the family.”

“Ah, that would be excellent.” Ma Shi nodded with a smile.

Seeing his proposal adopted without any obstacles, Qin Huaiyuan could finally set down the heavy stone in his heart.

“Since this is decided, everyone should go prepare. The sooner we’re ready, the sooner we can depart.”

“Yes.” Second Master, Third Master, Qin Han, and others all nodded in agreement and left the Old Dowager’s courtyard.

Qin Yining had been standing silently to the side, observing everyone’s expressions.

Regarding this plan to relocate the entire family, some showed joy and anticipation, some were indifferent, and naturally some felt reluctant.

As expected, both Eighth Miss and Qin Huining’s faces didn’t look very good.

Actually, she could understand Eighth Miss and Qin Huining’s feelings. Their marriage arrangements had been difficult to settle and had been repeatedly delayed by family affairs. Her two children were already nearly two years old, yet Qin Huining, who was the same age as her, and Eighth Miss, who was somewhat younger, remained unmarried in their chambers.

Now moving to Evening Moon would make these two young ladies’ marriage prospects even more uncertain. It wasn’t surprising they felt upset – anyone would find this hard to accept.

Qin Yining wanted to comfort them, but considering that among the cousin sisters, she had married into the highest-ranking family, going to comfort them might seem like she was speaking without understanding their pain. So she changed direction and quietly tugged at Qin Han’s sleeve.

“Second Cousin Brother, I notice Eighth Sister and Cousin Huining both seem troubled. You should have Second Sister-in-law look in on them later.”

Qin Han was startled, looked at the retreating figures of Qin Huining and Eighth Miss, then understood: “Don’t worry, I’ll go personally and make sure to counsel them well.”

Han Er Nainai sometimes had petty thoughts and tended to overthink many matters, getting stuck in mental loops she couldn’t escape. Qin Yining was somewhat afraid she might make them feel even worse, so having Qin Han go personally would be much better.

Pang Xiao walked to Qin Yining’s side, smiled and greeted Qin Han, and after Qin Han had walked away, Pang Xiao said: “I’ll go back to the military camp to check on things first. I won’t return tonight. Be good at home.”

Hearing his tone as if coaxing a child, Qin Yining burst into laughter: “Don’t worry, I’m not a three-year-old child. Besides, the whole family is here, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Pang Xiao nodded with a smile. Having been constantly together with Qin Yining these past days, he felt unaccustomed to suddenly separating. He sighed and touched her tender cheek with his large hand: “Be good. If anything happens, have someone inform me. Don’t shoulder everything yourself.”

Qin Yining nodded, feeling like she was being cherished and pampered in the palm of his hand. She couldn’t help but break into a bright smile, the little dimples on her cheeks particularly endearing.

Pang Xiao also smiled at her, but still had to exert great effort to force his legs to carry him out. He felt that if he looked at her a few more times, he probably wouldn’t be able to leave home today.

Watching Pang Xiao stride away, Qin Yining smiled and turned around, just in time to see Qin Huaiyuan watching her with a smile.

“Father.” Qin Yining’s cheeks flushed.

Qin Huaiyuan smiled: “Has Zhixi gone to the military camp?”

“Yes. He still has matters to handle. This time when going out, he arranged for a double to be there, so there’s still a process to go through before he can move about openly.”

Qin Huaiyuan nodded with a smile.

Qin Yining then accompanied Qin Huaiyuan away from the Old Dowager’s Garden of Filial Devotion, strolling along the small paths in the mansion.

“Father must have experienced a life-and-death situation this time, right?” Qin Yining sighed deeply. “At that time, I discovered signs of this in the palace, but being under house arrest there, transmitting messages was as difficult as reaching heaven. Fortunately, I remembered Father mentioning Eunuch Jiang Yuan, so I passed the message to the Azure Heaven Alliance. However, I was afraid the Azure Heaven Alliance people wouldn’t arrive in time…”

Without Qin Yining needing to elaborate, Qin Huaiyuan could imagine the scene at that time. Qin Yining was trapped alone in the palace, with Pang Xiao far away in the south. She had to face the Tatar princess’s difficulties, navigate the palace carefully without leaving any handles for others, and still find ways to transmit messages.

These weren’t even the worst part. The most mentally exhausting aspect was that, with mountains high and roads far, she had no idea whether everything she was doing was even useful.

Qin Huaiyuan stopped walking and patted Qin Yining’s shoulder with heartache.

A thousand words transformed into just a long sigh.

Given the current situation, as Qin Huaiyuan’s daughter, she had enjoyed limited wealth and honor but suffered no shortage of fear and worry.

“It’s Father who has burdened you. You child, you’ve had an unfortunate fate from childhood. Because of the troubles Father caused, you were switched by villains and suffered outside for fourteen years. When Father thinks back to those days, I can hardly imagine how you survived alone in the mountains at age eight. Never mind that you were only eight then – even if Father went into the mountains now, I probably couldn’t survive.

“Father is ultimately not a qualified father. Back then Father was confused and didn’t support you, causing you to be suspected by your mother when you returned home. You never enjoyed much family warmth, and later you were burdened by Father again. You had to be included in peace negotiations, court affairs involved you, you nearly got eaten by the demon empress, then came drought and famine…”

“Father, why dwell on past matters? No matter how difficult things were initially, didn’t everything eventually turn out well?”

“Yes, but that was because you yourself are clever, because you handled things well.” Qin Huaiyuan sighed. “Overall, Father feels guilty toward you because Father never gave you the comfortable life other young ladies enjoy. Now Father is leading the whole family to flee, leaving you here.”

Qin Huaiyuan looked down at Qin Yining, his eyes filled with undiminished sorrow and guilt.

Seeing her father like this, Qin Yining also felt sad. She forced herself to be spirited and smiled: “Father shouldn’t say such things. The current situation is already different from before. The realm has just been pacified, the Tatars are temporarily unable to cause border troubles, the south has a young emperor who’s no longer a threat, and the current emperor is ambitious and suspicious by nature – how could he tolerate Pang Zhixi? Our whole family can’t foolishly stay here as sitting targets. Your leading all people connected to us away is the best strategy.

“Moreover, they don’t know what Evening Moon is like, but don’t I know? Though the local customs there are simple, it’s been isolated for many years. Building up Evening Moon won’t be accomplished overnight. Father will already be working hard mediating relationships between the families and will probably have to spend even more mental energy on Evening Moon’s development. Father will have many things to do in the future.”

Qin Yining thought of that vast oasis.

It was almost equivalent to an undeveloped land, and geographically very different from the old capital – much hotter there. The family would probably need a long time to adapt, and with everyone having their own thoughts, Qin Huaiyuan, as the family head, would need to mediate between them. She could already foresee what life would be like for the Qin family after settling in Evening Moon.

Qin Huaiyuan lowered his eyes and shook his head: “These are all things Father should do. Father is just worried about you.”

Qin Yining understood Qin Huaiyuan’s meaning and smiled freely: “Father needn’t worry. The Prince will protect me. Moreover, with our whole family in a safe place, the Prince and I can act with much more freedom.”

“So you mean you don’t plan to persuade the Prince to stay away from conflict and retreat to hermitage?”

After brief contemplation, Qin Yining told Qin Huaiyuan about Tianji Zi in detail.

“She’s an extraordinary person. That she’s willing to be confined by the Prince in the military camp even now – I think it’s simply because she doesn’t want to leave. She firmly believes in destiny and is very concerned about her divination from that year. I see that she still wants to put the Purple Forbidden Emperor Star on that throne.

“If our goals align with hers and we have common interests, that’s one thing. But if our beliefs run counter to hers, she was capable of blowing up the Northern Ji imperial mausoleum – who knows if next time she might blow up the capital.

“Though the desert is a natural barrier for Evening Moon, it wouldn’t be difficult for Tianji Zi. If the Prince and I go into hermitage, whether we go to the desert or not, you would all become Tianji Zi’s targets.

“Now that things have reached this point, I privately think it would be better to stake everything on one throw and thoroughly resolve all troubles, leaving no disturbances behind. Otherwise, there will still be endless future problems.”

Listening to Qin Yining’s words, Qin Huaiyuan gradually opened his eyes wide in astonishment.

“Yining, from what Father hears in your words, it sounds like you want to… want to comply with Tianji Zi’s divination?”

Qin Yining smiled and said frankly: “Initially, the Prince kept enduring because he didn’t want to start another war. The current emperor has repeatedly harmed and destroyed things, yet he couldn’t bear to destroy the peaceful prosperous times that the common people had finally obtained. However, human endurance has limits. Now that events have developed to this point, we can no longer afford to endure.”