Chapter 287: Prospects Ahead
Anxiety crossed née Sun"s face. "Your father has been discussing this with the emperor these days. The initial target date is the day after tomorrow, but I don"t know if there have been any further changes."
"Is father at home?"
"Your father was urgently summoned into the palace yesterday and hasn"t returned yet. I believe it has something to do with the surrender. Many details need to be discussed. Your father is still thinking wholeheartedly on the emperor"s behalf, he doesn"t want the emperor to come out worse for the wear."
Qin Yining nodded understandingly. With her father"s personality, he would be standing firm on the last s.h.i.+ft.
Upon seeing that Qin Yining was talking only to née Sun and not even greeting her, the old dowager felt some affront to her dignity. The smile she"d forced out gradually faded away.
"Granddaughter Yi, why do you have not even a word for your grandmother? Have your days in the military camp been so comfortable that you"ve forgotten all your manners? Our family has never had such a rude daughter."
Qin Yining chuckled at this and looked gently at the old dowager, but her words were anything but.
"If our family has no rude daughters, then might I ask Old Dowager, does our family have the kind of petty thief who takes without asking?"
A dark cloud descended over the old dowager"s face and she responded resentfully, "I only ate a rabbit of yours. Is there a need for you to bear a grudge until now? Your filial piety has all been eaten by the dogs! What kind of times were we in? And you were still keeping a rabbit away from me! Were you going to just sit on by and watch me starve to death?"
"If you"re ranked second when it comes to weak arguments and irrational logic, no one would dare rank first." Qin Yining sneered mockingly. "Did I h.o.a.rd any food for myself and keep it from you? Aren"t you afraid that you"ll chill the hearts of listeners with your words? Did you or second sister-in-law ask me beforehand? Taking without permission is stealing! What justification does a thief have?"
"You! Your father is such a filial person, how could he have raised such an unfilial daughter like you!"
Qin Yining"s expression chilled. "Whether I"m filial or not isn"t determined by you alone! Everyone saw clearly how I treated you when disaster struck. Not just our family, but the refugees in Ning Park too! And how did you treat me? The old dowager is being so aggressively overbearing — do you want to lay this out before others and have them judge who is right or wrong??"
The matriarch"s expression froze completely when the idea was floated of having others weigh-in on the matter.
Qin Yining had spent her days with the Faithful Prince of the First Rank. If it came to pa.s.sing judgement, they"d naturally look to the prince. Though they still had the signboard of "marquis" over their doors, "Marquis of Anping" had been bestowed by the emperor of the former dynasty. Who knew what their days would look like once they moved to Great Zhou?
Their prospects ahead were murky, but this granddaughter of hers was destined to become the prince"s woman. No matter if she was a bedwarmer or a concubine, she was in for a lifetime of fortune and glory.
She only needed to whisper some quick words when sharing the prince"s bed, if she wanted to cut short their lives.
When her thoughts travelled here, the old dowager"s unbridled aura faded away. She wanted to say something nice to smooth over the situation, but couldn"t bring herself to do so. She stood there awkwardly, unable to retreat or advance.