“Fifth Sister, think about what you’re saying.” Seventh Miss slowly stood up.

Her face usually wore a faint smile. Even when not speaking, she appeared approachable.

But at this moment, Seventh Miss’s tone was cold as ice.

Or colder than ice.

“You just said that you and Cousin don’t have mutual feelings, that you’re unwilling to marry into the Xu family. But have you considered whether my heart holds Cousin? What, do you think only you have the ability and status to marry someone you have mutual feelings with, while others lack the ability and status to be selective—that having a prestigious family come propose should make them grin from ear to ear?”

Fifth Miss covered her cheek, completely stunned.

“Let me make this clear to you, Fifth Sister… I don’t care about Duke Pingguo manor’s wealth. The dowry I’m owed, the madam won’t shortchange me by a single penny. All I require from the Yang family is just this.” Seventh Miss stared at Fifth Miss, an indescribable satisfaction rising in her heart. “My heart isn’t large. I eat according to my appetite. What isn’t mine, no matter how much I want it, isn’t mine. I won’t covet it!”

She paused, shaking her head slightly to dispel the faint sorrow in her heart. “Since childhood, the madam’s affection for you has been plain for all to see. If you have something to say, why not speak frankly with her instead of asking me for ideas, playing at this ‘sisters switching places’ scheme… If the madam knew, what would she think of me, Fifth Sister—have you considered that?”

She looked at the still-shocked Fifth Miss and shook her head again.

The anger in her heart slowly subsided.

Human nature is selfish, and Fifth Miss had already trapped herself in a dead end—how could she think of so much?

“I… we… Mother…” Fifth Miss suddenly raised her head to argue. “I’m the one who doesn’t want to marry. By status, naturally it would fall to you! How could Mother…”

Seventh Miss took a deep breath.

She mobilized all her willpower to calm herself down.

She sat back down beside Fifth Miss.

“Fine, let’s say you persuaded Mother, Cousin doesn’t come propose, and the marriage between the Xu and Yang families falls through. What will you do then? Do you think Mother will betroth you to Young Master Feng? Fifth Sister, you know very well that even if he becomes the top scholar, even if he becomes a powerful official who can overturn heaven and earth, Mother will never let a relative from the second branch marry her own daughter. It would be like stabbing a knife in her heart—she couldn’t be hurt more! What can you do? Will you elope?”

Fifth Miss’s expression changed immediately.

“I don’t want to hear it!” She turned away almost frantically and covered her ears. “I… I just don’t want to marry into the Xu family!”

Young girls always harbor the fantasy that things will work out when the time comes, thinking that once they get through the current difficulty, one day their beloved will return on colorful clouds to marry them.

Seventh Miss felt a trace of sympathy.

She slowly continued: “Even if Mother agreed, you heard Young Master Feng’s words—do you think why would Young Master Feng marry you? If his status and position were already worthy of you, there would be plenty of families in the capital proposing marriage. With the grievances between Mother and him, why would he marry you? Wouldn’t that make things even more awkward?”

“Besides, Fifth Sister, your heart holds him, but does his heart hold you? After that one meeting years ago, how many years have passed? If his heart held you, he would have found someone to relay a message, at least told Ninth Brother and me… Fifth Sister, you’ve always been clever—how can you be so blind about this?!”

Though Fifth Miss tightly covered her ears, the gaps between her fingers had gradually loosened.

Instead, a stubborn expression appeared on her face.

“You think… Yang Qi, you think I haven’t thought about everything you’re saying?”

She bit her lower lip. “But I just like Young Master Feng—I’ll just be shameless then. I’ll tell you directly: I just like Young Master Feng. Until I hear news of him, I won’t give up! Call me shameless or willful—I won’t change my mind! I… I just like Young Master Feng! If you look down on me, then look down on me. I just like him!”

Still at that tender age after all, unwilling to give up even a shred of fantasy about the world.

Seventh Miss looked at Fifth Miss’s expression and suddenly remembered events from years ago.

Back then she was about Fifth Miss’s age, having just finished high school. She moved out of the orphanage and, relying on years of meager savings, rented a small room in an unfamiliar city.

So poor she didn’t know where the next meal would come from.

As soon as she settled in, she found work washing dishes at a nearby small restaurant. Washing one or two thousand bowls and plates a day, her already undelicate hands shed skin twice in a month, becoming rough beyond recognition.

The hand cream at the roadside supermarket cost nine yuan per tube. She hesitated for a week before gritting her teeth to buy it. The cashier shook her head and sighed while ringing it up, looking at her hands.

During those days, all her expectations for life, all her hopes for herself faded. Before her eyes were only mountains of bowls and plates—wash one basin and another would come. The pressure of survival pressed solidly on her shoulders, forcing a young girl to grit her teeth just to barely hold her shoulders up.

But precisely because she had those days of poverty, through university and into society, working diligently and scheming painstakingly, she finally freed herself from poverty’s shadow.

Looking back at that summer of her youth, she felt it was a precious gift.

Suffering more hardship and setbacks when young wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The Grand Madam didn’t understand this principle. The Grand Master was too lazy to discipline Fifth Miss. So it could only fall to her.

She smiled faintly.

“Fine, you won’t change your mind.” She leaned back against the bed pillar, looking at the red handprint on Fifth Miss’s face. “Then tell me—what do you plan to do?”

Fifth Miss couldn’t answer for a long time.

To marry Feng Jin, she had to find him first, and he had to be willing to marry her.

This path was impassable.

Not marrying Xu Fengjia meant confronting the Grand Madam. But without confessing she wanted to marry Feng Jin, she couldn’t produce sufficient reason to persuade the Grand Madam.

Yet confessing she wanted to marry Feng Jin would be like stabbing several sharp knives into the Grand Madam’s chest—that would be genuine unfilial behavior.

Slowly, large tears gathered in her eyes.

Seventh Miss calmly rose from the bed, speaking softly.

“Who you like or don’t like is your business. How you make a fuss with the madam is also your ability. You’re the madam’s biological daughter—no matter how much you fuss, she’s still your birth mother. However you torment the madam, she can only blame herself for sins in a past life, for not giving birth to a good daughter—one who enjoyed all the Yang family’s wealth but doesn’t plan to do even the slightest thing for the Yang family.”

“You!” Fifth Miss flushed red with anger, straightening up to point at Seventh Miss. She shouted half a sentence but couldn’t continue.

“I’m putting it plainly today,” Seventh Miss’s brow darkened. “However you want to make a fuss, suit yourself. However you want to force what isn’t yours, also suit yourself. But if you drag Ninth Brother and me into this, making the madam think I’m delusional, trying to steal your match…”

She didn’t finish the sentence.

With Fifth Miss’s intelligence, she could understand the unspoken threat.

Seventh Miss’s influence in the Yang household today might not be less than hers.

The Grand Master and Grand Madam’s trust, the closest blood relationship with Ninth Brother… She might not be the treasure in the Grand Madam’s heart, but the words she spoke before their parents carried far more weight than Fifth Miss’s.

Seventh Miss didn’t look at Fifth Miss again and left the eastern side room.

Guyu and Chunfen stood guard at the room entrance, both with solemn expressions.

Seventh Miss’s face was grave as water as she instructed the two maids: “Watch your young miss carefully… don’t let her do anything shameful and foolish!”

Having long occupied a position of authority, when she put on a stern face, she radiated an ineffable dignity.

The two maids showed fear and nodded vigorously.

“If there’s anything amiss, come to Yuyu Pavilion and tell me.” Seventh Miss glanced at the eastern side room and instructed Guyu in a low voice: “Lest the matter blow up and implicate all of Yuelai Hall… Understand?”

“Gu, Guyu understands what to do.” Guyu’s voice trembled. She swallowed several times before finishing her words.

Only then did Seventh Miss slowly walk out of Yuelai Hall.

Faintly she could still hear the sound of heavy objects falling in the eastern side room.

She slowly sighed.

Fifth Miss’s infatuation—she could understand it, could pity it. If this were modern times, she might even encourage Fifth Miss to pursue her own happiness.

Unfortunately, this was Great Qin where propriety was paramount.

If Fifth Miss didn’t learn her lesson now, when she truly fell, there would be no chance to get back up.

“Sisters switching places—what an idea she came up with.” She muttered to herself.

She shook her head with a rueful smile, took several deep breaths of the cold air, then walked thoughtfully toward Yuyu Pavilion.

After a few steps, she stopped again.

“Greetings, Elder Brother.” She hurriedly curtsied properly.

The young man standing by a Taihu rock frowning in contemplation—who else but Min’ge?

#

Min’ge looked up at the sound and relaxed his brow.

“Just coming from Yuelai Hall?” He greeted with a smile. “I’ve been waiting for you quite a while.”

So he came specifically for her.

Seventh Miss was somewhat puzzled.

This morning everything had been fine… why would he suddenly run to Baifang Garden in the afternoon, standing and waiting for her to come out to talk?

What had happened?

She quickly collected herself, driving all distracting thoughts from her mind.

When talking with someone like Min’ge, if her emotions were unsettled, it would be hard to maintain the initiative.

“Does Elder Brother have business with Little Seven?” She asked with a smile. “Would you like to come into Yuyu Pavilion for tea?”

Min’ge considered for a moment and shook his head. “Though we’re family, at our age, we should observe proprieties.”

He asked Seventh Miss: “Shall we walk together to Wanhua Liuluo?”

Seventh Miss naturally wouldn’t refuse.

The two walked together into the corridor, proceeding smoothly for a stretch before entering the quiet, deserted western wing.

Seventh Miss stole several glances at Min’ge but couldn’t discern anything.

This cousin’s emotions also seemed somewhat disordered—his brow hadn’t relaxed once.

Though Baifang Garden was large, their pace was quick. Before long they approached the desolate, empty Wanhua Liuluo.

The sky already showed faint blue, though still tinged with gray, but spring spirit was slowly emerging.

Seventh Miss stopped by the pond, raising her brow to quietly regard Min’ge.

Min’ge took a deep breath before speaking with a faint smile: “Actually… there’s a matter I’d like to ask Seventh Sister’s help with.”

Seventh Miss couldn’t help pausing.

What was going on today? First Guyu, then Fifth Miss, now Min’ge—as if they’d coordinated—all with the same opening line.

She didn’t speak for a moment, just waited for Min’ge to explain further.

Min’ge’s inquiring, probing gaze swept back and forth across Seventh Miss’s face. After a while, he looked away toward the distant Jieyu Pavilion.

“This matter is quite difficult to handle. In the household, the only one I can ask is Seventh Sister.” His tone faintly revealed urgency. “However, you and I haven’t been particularly close before. To trouble you with such an awkward matter—I’m rather hesitant.”

Seventh Miss remained composed.

Even with Min’ge’s composure, he couldn’t help revealing slight discomfort.

Only then did she speak with a smile: “Elder Brother, what are you saying? We’re family. Any favor I can help with, Little Seven will never stand aside.”

Dialogue requires back and forth between two people.

The earlier silence was merely to make Min’ge aware of the difficulty of asking favors.

People are like this—once their posture is lowered, their expectations also lower. If Min’ge came to borrow money, if she’d engaged with him from the start, he might think borrowing ten thousand taels was perfectly reasonable. Now if he could borrow five thousand, he’d be profusely grateful.

Min’ge visibly relaxed.

“Actually, I just want to tactfully request that Grand Aunt write to my father, asking him to send our second branch’s Aunt Xiang back to the northwest to live.” He spoke slowly.

Even with mental preparation, Seventh Miss was genuinely shocked.

Her delicate brows unknowingly knitted together.

“Elder Brother, this…”

Not to mention the two branches had already separated—even if they hadn’t, the Grand Madam would have difficulty saying anything about the Second Master’s household woman.

This request was both strange and unreasonably demanding.

No wonder even with Min’ge’s thick skin, he felt embarrassed.

“These past years, Mother hasn’t been in Suzhou or the capital.” Min’ge changed the subject, looking toward the empty Wanhua Liuluo. “She’s lived long-term in the northwest. Beijing household affairs have mostly been managed by Aunt Xiang. Seventh Sister knows this.”

Seventh Miss softly acknowledged.

With Min’ge’s intelligence, he naturally could see who the Grand Madam’s true confidants were.

Being a confidant, her information would naturally be better than most.

“Though Mother has spent years in the northwest rarely leaving her quarters, our correspondence hasn’t ceased. She often writes to督促 our studies, wanting us to make up for past wrongs and quickly complete our education to add strength to the Yang family.” Min’ge spoke eloquently. “We three brothers have devoted ourselves to study, rarely contacting relatives in the capital.”

Seventh Miss couldn’t help giving Min’ge a half-smile.

Such saccharine lines—it was impressive he could deliver them so earnestly and righteously.

“The three brothers have truly worked hard.” Of course she had to play along fully.

“Only recently did I learn from a letter from the capital that the marriage between myself and that Miss Ouyang was vigorously promoted by Aunt Xiang.” Min’ge’s face showed a warm smile. “Though Aunt Xiang didn’t mean harm, she’s just a concubine—sometimes her perspective is narrow. Good intentions can lead to bad outcomes… I heard recently she wants to arrange Eighth Sister’s marriage as well.”

Though his tone was gentle, it still revealed deep hatred.

It seemed this letter from the capital probably revealed something wrong with that Miss Ouyang, which was why Min’ge was so anxious upon learning Aunt Xiang wanted to arrange Eighth Miss’s marriage.

Seventh Miss couldn’t help feeling puzzled.

What exactly was wrong with that Miss Ouyang that made both Min’ge and Eleventh Young Master so wary, yet unable to speak plainly to their elders?

Otherwise, if Min’ge wrote the Second Master a letter harshly criticizing Aunt Xiang, as long as the Second Master wasn’t foolish, he wouldn’t continue entrusting Eighth Miss’s marriage to her, right?

But as it didn’t concern her, she just listened without asking.

“Mother is far away in the northwest—Beijing affairs are beyond her reach. Her health hasn’t been good these past years. We dare not let her know about this, lest it worsen her condition.” When Min’ge spoke of this, his tone remained as casual as ordinary conversation.

As if the Second Madam’s current downfall had nothing whatsoever to do with the first branch.

“We three brothers are in Suzhou. Though the Wang family uncles can help, they’re outsiders after all and can’t speak on such matters. After much thought, we can only ask Aunt to intervene—either send Aunt Xiang away from the capital or arrange a matchmaker for Eighth Sister. In any case, as their elder brother, I absolutely won’t let Aunt Xiang interfere with my younger sisters’ marriages.” Min’ge suddenly turned and bowed deeply to Seventh Miss. “Unfortunately, I’m not eloquent and fear I can’t explain the matter clearly. I can only presume to trouble Seventh Sister!”

Seventh Miss quickly stepped aside. “Elder Brother, why go to such lengths!”

She understood Min’ge’s meaning.

Whether arranging a matchmaker for Eighth Miss or sending Aunt Xiang away—either matter the Grand Madam could easily accomplish.

Given the current relationship between the first and second branches, the Second Master was probably worried about having no way to curry favor with the Grand Madam. Moreover, this matter ultimately touched the Second Master’s interests. If the Grand Madam spoke up and he investigated carefully—if even Min’ge knew about it, how could the Second Master not discover it?

But “easily accomplished” didn’t mean she would be interested in helping.

Min’ge and the Grand Madam only had surface relationship. Even if he swallowed his pride to beg her, she had plenty of excuses to decline.

Only if she herself, as a confidant, gradually broached the subject would this matter have any chance of success.

There might be some complications involved, but this was ultimately the second branch’s family affair. Seventh Miss had no interest in learning too much.

Facing Min’ge’s hopeful expression, she only smiled without speaking.

In normal meetings, she didn’t mind performing family harmony. In small matters, she could accommodate her cousins’ feelings to prevent them from developing ill will toward the first branch over trifles, which would be counterproductive.

But ultimately, Min’ge must be aware that his relationship with Seventh Miss could only be described as superficially harmonious but internally estranged. When asking favors, one must either offer sweeteners or grasp the other’s weakness.

Could it be he’d finally found clues about the Huiqing Temple incident?

She waited patiently in silence.

After a long while, Min’ge also smiled.

“Let’s speak plainly.” He clasped his hands behind his back, the pleading vanishing from his face, replaced by calm confidence. “I dared come seek Seventh Sister today because naturally I have a favor to offer in return.”

Seventh Miss couldn’t help sighing inwardly.

If Ninth Brother had even a third of Min’ge’s thick skin, he wouldn’t suffer many losses in official circles.

This person could bend and stretch, was proper before others and had his own ideas behind the scenes, could grasp situations wherever he went—he would surely thrive in official circles.

She just didn’t know his true view on the Second Madam’s matter—did he genuinely think she acted wrongly, violating this era’s most basic principle of blood protecting blood, or did he have other calculations…

Forget it, what did other calculations matter? Even with all his scheming, he couldn’t harm Ninth Brother.

At most the two families would continue their superficial harmony.

If he wanted to disrupt the first branch—Min’ge probably didn’t have that ability yet.

She looked at Min’ge with a smile and replied softly:

“Little Seven is listening.”

Min’ge lowered his voice: “This morning when I entered the main hall, my steps were rather quick and sudden. The maids didn’t announce me in time. Uncle and Aunt were still discussing court matters—I inadvertently stopped to overhear a sentence. Seventh Sister, do you know that this March, the court will select a crown princess consort from among the daughters of nobles and dignitaries?”

Seventh Miss had been somewhat puzzled at first. Looking at Min’ge’s expression, alarm bells suddenly rang in her mind and her expression changed dramatically.