The eighth miss had a simple, honest, and cheerful disposition. She"d never thought about entering the palace. In fact, she rather felt it a frightening prospect. The girl naturally bobbed her head in agreement when she heard the old dowager"s announcement.Qin Huining on the other hand, lowered her head demurely and cleverly kept silent.
She wasn"t pleased to let go of this opportunity, but what else could she do? In his exalted and lofty position, she wouldn"t be able to reach the emperor even if she had some plan in mind. All of the girls in the imperial selection were in the running because of family connections. It was impossible for her to bypa.s.s the Qins to enter.
Besides, she was just a foster girl and no true n.o.ble daughter. The family would always think of Qin Yining and Qin Baoning first. It would never be her turn.
……
It took the span of only a night for news of Qin Yining beating the Public Pet.i.tioner"s Drum to become public knowledge. For some reason, there seemed to be hands at work in the shadows as minute details of just how the Qin fourth miss had been taken and humiliated were also disseminated. The scene came to life with vivid clarity, as if someone had been present, recording everything.
The rumors flowed from one gossip to the next. Soon, everyone in high society learned that a Qin daughter had been carried off by the Faithful Prince of the First Rank.
Thinking of how brutal and vicious the prince had been to the old guard that had harmed his father after he conquered Northern Ji, the general public developed a deep sympathy for Miss Qin.
But who told Qin Huaiyuan to cause the death of Pang Zhongzheng with a scheme? It was only right that the crimes of the father were the sins of the daughter.
Qin Yining"s name card was naturally rejected, closing the book on the imperial selection chapter.
……
The fourth miss spent her days with Lian Xiaozhou and her maids. Other than greeting the old dowager every morning, she spent the rest of the time in her room, focused on needlework. She was rarely out and about.
When the second madame heard that Qin Yining was setting an example and leading her maids to do embroidery everyday, she laid on the praise in front of the old dowager.
“Niece Yi is a mature one, alright. We don"t have any silver to our name now and can only live in the guest inns. Though our room and board are covered, what if someone wants to buy something? It"s not as if we can request money from the Great Zhou emperor. In my view, niece Yi is doing women"s work so she help out with the family finances.”
Complex distress welled up in the old dowager"s heart. Though the girl did many things that the Qin matriarch wasn"t fond of, one couldn"t repudiate her grasp of the bigger picture.
The old dowager summoned all of the womenfolk in the family to do needlework as well.
Qin Huining and the eighth miss spent their days by their grandmother"s side. Qin Huining cautiously tried to pander to the old dowager and the eighth miss was very filial as she"d lost both her birth and official mother.
With the comparison of the "wild and intractable" Qin Yining to more than a decade of familial relations.h.i.+p with Qin Huining and the eighth miss" biddable, straightforward cheerfulness, both girls won the old dowager"s fondness. Qin Yining actually turned into the most unwelcome out of the three granddaughters.
But the fourth miss didn"t care about this at all. She continued to return to her room everyday after making her morning greetings.
One day, she happened to hear a venting session between the second wife"s serving girl an the second madame"s maid.
“We don"t have that many left in the family now, but the fourth miss is oh-so pampered. She has five maids serving her. The Qins aren"t as wealthy and high up as before—she shouldn"t be allowed to give herself airs like this. My own madame doesn"t have that many servants by her side.”
“Isn"t that right? My mistress only has me and Xiaotao as well.”
Holding Xiaozhou"s hand, Qin Yining planted her feet and looked sideways at the two with their backs to her. She chuckled softly. “After all this fleeing for our lives, anyone who"s still alive is very fortunate. My maids are all very lucky and will naturally live a very long life. But, there will come a day when one"s good luck is used up. Don"t get too full of yourselves and turn good luck into bad.”
The two maids jumped before whipping their heads back. They saw Qin Yining, draped in a pale-green, brocade cape, standing under the covered hallway with her maids. None of them looked at the two with friendly eyes.
The two complainers hadn"t forgotten the type of methods the fourth miss had used back in the day to keep the inner residence in order. They trembled and stammered, finding nothing to say.
“The family"s lost all of their silver and now relies on welfare for our daily meals,” sneered Bingtang. “No one"s getting anything from anyone else. But here we have someone running their mouths! If one day we have to leave the inns, the family will have to depend on the lord and our miss then. But apparently someone has no idea of death or danger? I wonder if they"ll be so principled then as to not eat anything!”
“Isn"t that right?” snickered Jiyun. “It"s like they were never taught any manners.”
The two terrified maids didn"t dare lift their heads. They huddled where they stood, like quail.
Qin Yining had no interest in pointing her fingers at the second madame and wife"s staff. She took her people and left with utter indifference.
The two maids only heaved long sighs of relief when they saw the fourth miss had walked off into the distance, and didn"t seem inclined to punish them.
Halfsies!