The Kou residence welcomed the Qiao siblings with great ceremony. Old Madam Xue changed from her usual stern demeanor, wearing a smile throughout the visit. The siblings’ maternal grandfather, Kou Xing, and their two uncles specifically took leave to celebrate with him.

Qiao Wan felt quite uncomfortable and tugged at Qiao Mo’s sleeve.

Qiao Mo quietly patted Qiao Wan’s hand to comfort her.

Old Madam Xue smiled and said, “Wan Wan has grown into a young lady in the blink of an eye. We’re rarely so happy today. Nanny Qing, go invite all the young ladies and young masters over so we can all celebrate together.”

Kou Zimo and Kou Qinglan were sitting in the garden pavilion, ostensibly admiring flowers but preoccupied with thoughts about the Qiao siblings’ visit.

“Elder Sister, you’ve finally seen the clouds part to reveal the moon. Cousin has recovered his appearance and achieved first place in the metropolitan examination—Grandfather and Grandmother will surely be pleased.” Kou Qinglan was very happy for her sister, wearing a relaxed smile on her face.

But Kou Zimo didn’t share Kou Qinglan’s joy. Instead, her moth-like eyebrows were lightly furrowed, and she forced a bitter smile at the corners of her mouth.

“Elder Sister, why do you look unhappy?”

Kou Zimo gently tugged at her handkerchief: “How could I not be happy? Cousin’s suffering has turned to sweetness—it’s a great joy.”

“Young ladies, Old Madam requests your presence,” a maid approached.

Kou Qinglan immediately stood up, and seeing Kou Zimo not moving, reached out to pull her: “Elder Sister, let’s go.”

Kou Zimo covered her abdomen and gently shook her head: “I’m feeling unwell and want to return to my room to rest. I won’t go out to meet guests. Sister, please tell Grandmother for me.”

“Elder Sister?” Kou Qinglan was very surprised, looking at Kou Zimo with astonishment.

No one knew better than she did about Elder Sister’s feelings for their cousin. Ever since Cousin’s disfigurement, Elder Sister hadn’t slept well for a single day. When Cousin recovered his appearance and returned to the capital, the usually composed Elder Sister had even gotten drunk with her. When Cousin went to take the examination, Elder Sister prayed daily, hoping for his success.

What was wrong with Elder Sister now?

“Qinglan, I don’t feel well. Just tell Grandmother what I said.”

“Elder Sister, then let me accompany you back to your room.”

“No need. A maid can accompany me. You go quickly.”

Kou Zimo comforted her sister and returned to her room alone. As soon as she entered, she dismissed the maid, closed the door firmly, leaned against it with her back, and painfully closed her eyes.

In the past, when Cousin was in the residence, the elders guarded against her contact with him, like preventing a thief. Now they were calling her to meet with him.

How could someone as intelligent as Cousin not understand the meaning behind this? And what face did she have to go?

She and Cousin were destined to have no connection in this life.

Kou Zimo slowly crouched down, covering her face with both hands and weeping silently.

“What? Zimo is unwell?” A flash of surprise crossed Old Madam Xue’s eyes.

Kou Qinglan’s peripheral vision quickly glanced at Qiao Mo, then nodded: “Yes, Elder Sister might have caught a chill and has abdominal pain. She said she won’t come out to meet guests.”

Old Madam Xue frowned upon hearing this: “What kind of talk is that from this girl? How is Mo a guest? You are direct cousins—aside from your siblings, no one is closer to you than each other.”

Qiao Wan, sitting beside Qiao Mo, couldn’t help but purse her lips upon hearing this.

She was a concubine’s daughter and truly had no blood relation to any of these people present. No wonder Old Madam had never smiled at her when she lived at the Kou residence before.

Qiao Wan felt like sitting on pins and needles, but the pride of being a Qiao family member forced her not to lower her head. The young girl kept her spine straight, looking serious.

Qiao Mo saw this and felt both heartache and amusement, taking over the conversation: “Since Elder Cousin is unwell, let her rest properly. This afternoon, the Marquis has arranged for me to meet friends, so Wan Wan and I cannot stay long.”

Hearing Qiao Mo say this, Minister Kou and the others naturally couldn’t insist they stay, and sent the siblings back after the meal.

During private tea time, Old Madam Xue’s expression was slightly dark: “What is that girl Zimo thinking? She has no sense at all!”

Kou Xing gently blew at the tea leaves floating on the water surface: “What’s the rush? Qiao Mo is still in mourning. As his maternal grandparents, surely we can’t actively bring up his marriage matters? Where would that put our eldest daughter?”

The “eldest daughter” Kou Xing mentioned was Qiao Mo’s mother, the eldest daughter of the Kou Xing couple, so while anyone else could bring up Qiao Mo’s marriage matters, they couldn’t say half a word about it.

“It’s precisely because it’s inconvenient to bring up that we should let them have more contact, so when Qiao Mo completes his mourning period, it will be a natural progression.”

Kou Xing sighed: “Qiao Mo surely understands Zimo’s feelings, but I can’t read that child’s thoughts. You’d better not interfere. Wait until he completes his mourning period.”

Sitting in the carriage returning to the residence, Qiao Wan breathed a sigh of relief: “Finally, we’re going back. I want to go horseback riding this afternoon—the little foal Brother-in-law gave me has grown taller.”

“Did you eat enough?”

Qiao Wan’s face reddened as she shook her head: “I didn’t eat enough. I don’t know why, but I just felt uncomfortable and couldn’t eat.”

“Then let’s not return to the residence yet. Big Brother will take you to Desheng Tower to buy some food.”

Qiao Wan’s eyes lit up: “Great! I want to eat roast duck.”

Desheng Tower was bustling at this time. Qiao Mo instructed a servant to buy roast duck to take back to the residence, and the siblings sat in the carriage waiting.

Qiao Wan felt bored and lifted the carriage curtain to look outside.

Not far from Desheng Tower was a bookstore. Two young ladies walked out together—one wearing a pink dress, the other in blue robes, each followed by a maid carrying books.

“Big Brother, do you know who they are?” Qiao Wan made some space and pulled Qiao Mo to look.

Qiao Mo glanced once, then withdrew his gaze, lowering the carriage curtain and smiling: “How would Big Brother know them?”

Those two young ladies—the one in the pink dress was Miss Zhu from Marquis Taining’s residence, and the one in blue robes was Miss Xu from Elder Xu’s family. With his good memory, Qiao Mo recognized them at a glance.

“They’re both vice presidents of the Fushan Society. No wonder their literary reputation spreads far—I came to buy roast duck while they bought so many books. Big Brother, I won’t be so playful in the future. In a few years, I want to join the Fushan Society too.”

“Good, Wan Wan, work hard.”

“Oh, right, Big Brother, a few months ago, Sister Li was quite impressive at a banquet. She won several competitions against the Xijiang people, and Miss Xu even gave Sister Li her beloved ancient qin.”

Qiao Mo’s eyebrows moved slightly, his expression becoming more serious: “Is that so? This means Miss Xu has a good relationship with your Sister Li?”

With aligned positions and friendship with his sworn sister, it could be seen that Miss Xu had excellent character. Perhaps—

Thinking this far, Qiao Mo felt somewhat embarrassed and coughed lightly, saying nothing more.

Time flew by, and soon it was time for the palace examination.

Emperor Mingkang held a vermilion brush, looking at the ten excellent papers placed before him.

Three papers were placed in the most prominent position—the top three from the metropolitan examination.

Emperor Mingkang quickly glanced through each paper, his gaze falling on the examination paper with “Qiao Mo” written on it.

These ten papers had been selected from three hundred papers by the examination ministers and presented for imperial review. In his view, determining which three would be in the first tier was much the same, but to avoid trouble, the metropolitan examination results were the most important reference.

Qiao Mo—