Chapter 107

"Aunt? You arrived early?!"

Qin Qinian finally saw Qin Hongying in the room. After a moment of pleasant surprise, he quickly straightened up and greeted her formally.

Shi Rongyue also curtsied to him. "Third Cousin."

Qin Qinian smiled brightly, completely oblivious to the strange expression on his aunt's face. "Rongrong has grown a bit taller than last year."

Shi Rongyue's eyes curved into crescents. "You too, Third Cousin."

As they spoke, she secretly observed the unfamiliar young man out of the corner of her eye. After the initial greetings, he hadn't spoken another word, just standing quietly beside the beautiful madam.

Seeming to notice her gaze, he looked up at her. In that instant, Shi Rongyue felt as if she had fallen into a cold, deep pool, the pitch-black water enveloping and drowning her from all sides.

But it lasted only a breath. He looked away, the pool dried up, and everything returned to normal.

Shi Rongyue, however, stood frozen in place.

Because her parents were deeply in love and her mother's family was very powerful, she lived much more freely in the Shi family than most young ladies. In her early years, her father would sometimes bring her along to receive guests. She had met many people, but none as... tranquil as him.

Yes, tranquil.

Cold as a block of ice, showing no obvious emotions. But even as an ice block, he was the best-looking one.

She took another curious peek.

This time, he didn't look back.

Over there, Qin Shaozong had already finished introducing Qin Yanzhou to Qin Hongying, only mentioning that he was Daili's son, that he had now taken Nalan Zhi as his master, and his position in the army.

Qin Hongying's expression grew even stranger.

Just then, Nianxia returned, announcing that the meal was ready.

Qin Hongying temporarily suppressed her bellyful of doubts and simply said, "After a year apart, Second Brother is much kinder than before."

Saying "kinder" was putting it mildly; he was ridiculously generous. If it were just widely collecting medicinal herbs, such rare items could still be measured in silver.

But Nalan Zhi?

How could a renowned scholar of his caliber easily accept a disciple? Not to mention he had never taken one before.

And a military position in the North, regardless of rank, was a kind of resource. If there were intentions to support him in the future, he could absolutely soar to great heights.

This was incomparable to medicinal herbs bought with money.

Qin Shaozong heard the hidden meaning in her words but asked in return, "Oh? How was I before? Tell me."

Qin Hongying was speechless.

"I'm a bit hungry. Rongrong and I will go eat first," Qin Hongying changed the subject, preparing to leave with her daughter.

"Hongying, there is one more thing," Qin Shaozong said.

Qin Hongying stopped in her tracks, feeling quite surprised.

Given Daili's eager attitude toward the medicinal herbs earlier, she thought her second brother had summoned her solely for the herb collection.

It wasn't?

Qin Hongying asked, "What else is there?"

Qin Shaozong didn't care whether the juniors were present or not. "A few days ago, Qin San's biological aunt, who misses him, came to visit. After her last visit, she casually arranged for a next time. If she comes again in a few days, you and Madam will host her together."

Daili hadn't expected that she would have a part to play in hosting his younger sister's visitor. She immediately looked at Qin Shaozong. But the latter was looking at Qin Hongying.

She and Qin Shaozong stood close, less than half an arm's length apart, their hanging robes just barely touching. In a place no one could see, Qin Shaozong raised his hand and lightly patted Daili's lower back.

For some reason, Daili inexplicably understood that he was telling her not to speak just yet.

She had just obtained the Fleeceflower Root and Musk through his hands.

Fine, she wouldn't speak.

The siblings looked at each other with similar long eyes. Qin Hongying raised her eyebrows slightly, her mind racing.

It was understandable for her to host Qinian's biological aunt, considering there was no main mistress in the estate, she was a daughter of the Qin family, and the biological sister of her second brother. But bringing Daili along...

Thinking of all the broken rules, Qin Hongying had an absurd guess in her heart, but she agreed crisply, "Alright, no problem."

After the two left, five people remained in the room.

Daili looked at the two brocade boxes over and over again. "Zhou Zhou, the Fleeceflower Root and Musk have both been found. The remaining herbs are not as precious as these two. Tomorrow, when Old Mr. Ding comes to give you acupuncture, you can tell him this good news."

Ever since she learned that a whole string of herbs was needed to remove the Gu worm, Daili's heart had never truly settled.

She didn't deny that Qin Shaozong had power and influence, but some things couldn't be solved by power. Like time...

Qin Yanzhou froze, instinctively looking at Qin Shaozong.

He remembered standing by the door of the main room that day, hearing the conversation between the two inside.

His mother's words still rang in his ears. Even though he couldn't see her then, just from that sentence—"Qin Changgeng, if you make me watch Zhou Zhou suffer with no cure, I cannot do it"—he could imagine her tearful eyes at that moment.

This man had told his mother to trust him.

Trust?

Two light words, easy to say, but how difficult to achieve.

Meeting his complicated gaze, Qin Shaozong only said lightly, "I have never broken a promise I made to your mother."

Then Qin Shaozong glanced at the three juniors. "Do you have any important matters?"

The word "important" carried a hint of shooing them away.

Qin Yunce didn't; he had only come to pay his respects after hearing that his aunt and cousin had come to the main courtyard.

He didn't, but Qin Qinian said excitedly, "Yes, yes, yes, there's a huge matter!"

Daili looked at the joyful youth, then at her own son, thinking that since the two came together just now, could this matter...

Qin Qinian said as if claiming credit, "Father, Qin Yanzhou found several strongholds of the Green Lotus Sect in the county. He's amazing! He just walks into a shop, says a few words to the shopkeeper, and can sniff out clues like a hound finding prey."

Daili was speechless. I really thank you.

"Qinian, how are you speaking?" Qin Yunce tried hard to smooth things over. "That's not how you praise someone. If Mr. Mi finds out you don't even know how to speak properly, he'll make you copy books again."

Qin Qinian instantly shrank his neck. "Brother, the point isn't that I don't know how to praise people, it's that he found the Green Lotus Sect strongholds!"

Because their father loathed sects, the Green Lotus Sect had a weak presence in the North. But that didn't mean Qin Qinian knew nothing about it. The Green Lotus Sect blended into the lower and middle classes, making their whereabouts incredibly secretive, harder to find than ants.

But speaking of this, Qin Qinian realized belatedly, "Qin Yanzhou, how do you know so much about the Green Lotus Sect? Could it be that you used to..."

"Qinian." Seeing things going south, Qin Yunce cut him off. "Let's get back to business. Father, since we now know the strongholds of the Green Lotus Sect, how about sending troops to arrest them?"

Qin Shaozong turned his thumb ring, not responding to Qin Yunce's suggestion, but instead looking at Qin Qinian and Qin Yanzhou. "What do you two think?"

Qin Qinian said without hesitation, "Arrest them, of course."

"Hold off for now. Since they dared to send a message to Mother, they must be confident that Mother will go beg them when the time comes. It's better to play along, enter their trap, and then play the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind," Qin Yanzhou said deeply.

Daili looked at her son in astonishment.

Message?

After coming to Yuyang, the Green Lotus Sect had only sent her a message once. It was the piece of silk cloth Nianxia had presented earlier.

Only she and Qin Changgeng knew about that. How could Zhou Zhou...

Qin Shaozong raised his long eyebrows slightly. The broken tail of his left eyebrow looked like a blade drawn just a fraction from its sheath. Under the gaze of the others, he said something completely unrelated to the topic at hand: "So there is nothing wrong with your tongue after all, seeing as you can say so much in one breath. Why do you usually act like a sealed gourd, unable to utter a single squeak even if beaten with a stick?"

Qin Yunce: "..."

Qin Yanzhou pursed his lips.

Daili still stood very close to Qin Shaozong. Just now, when he raised his hand to pat her lower back, no one had noticed.

Now, Daili also raised her hand behind him, touching the edge of the leather belt at his lower back, and gave him a pinch through his clothes.

Qin Shaozong: "..."

Qin Shaozong cleared his throat softly. "Going with the flow is an excellent plan. Your aunt has been an avid collector of medicinal herbs for many years, and ordinary people are not allowed into her treasure trove. Presumably, the Qinglian Cult does not know how much she has in her possession. Now that she has come to Yuyang, the other side must already know her itinerary. Tomorrow, I will have my men stop searching for fleeceflower root and only continue looking for musk. This will make them think we have only acquired enough fleeceflower root."

The words "your aunt" were directed at Qin Yanzhou. The young man lowered his eyes and said nothing else.

Qin Shaozong added, "During the days your cousin stays at the manor, you may show her around."

The Qin brothers voiced their agreement.

To stop the search for fleeceflower root, he needed to send messages not only to Jin Duole but also to Qiao Wangfei, who was far away in the south.

Qin Shaozong later went to his study. After finishing the two letters, he put down his wolf-hair brush and picked up the tiger-shaped brush rest on the desk.

His long, dark fingers stroked the brush rest, rubbing over the alternating yellow and black stripes of the tiger's back. Perhaps because it was frequently played with by its owner, this brush rest had become glossier than it originally was.

Looking at the small brush rest, Qin Shaozong suddenly clicked his tongue softly. "You certainly are precious."

After being with her for so long, she had only given him this broken little brush rest.

Other than this, nothing.

"This stingy temper of yours, sooner or later I will correct it." Closing his large hand around it, Qin Shaozong called Hu Bao in from outside.

"My Lord, what are your orders?"

Qin Shaozong handed over the two previously written letters. "Have someone ride at top speed to deliver these to Jin Duole and Qiao Wangfei respectively."

Hu Bao took the letters but did not immediately turn around, waiting for his superior's further instructions.

Qin Shaozong said, "Have Wei Qing come to the study. Go."

"Understood."

"Wei Qing, the Lord wants you to go to the study." Hu Bao found the man in another courtyard.

When he found him, Wei Qing was not the only one in the courtyard; Feng Feng and the others were also there, gathered together chatting.

The called man was slightly stunned. Before he could speak, Mo Yanyun asked, "Did the Lord say what it is about?"

Hu Bao replied, "He did not."

Not only Wei Qing, but the others were also full of doubts.

"Old Wei, has that younger brother of yours been bullying men and women again?" Feng Feng stroked his chin.

Among the four garrison commanders of the Xuanxiao Cavalry in the east, south, west, and north, Wei Qing was actually slightly more distant from their superior compared to Bai Jianping, Feng Feng, and Qiao Wangfei.

The reason was simple: he came from a prominent family and had the best background among the four commanders.

He was already a garrison commander. If he also became the Marquis of Wu'an's absolute top confidant in the eyes of others, the Wei family would likely become too arrogant.

Even if those matters had nothing to do with Wei Qing and were not his wish, he could not stop others from using his name to throw their weight around.

Hearing this, Wei Qing frowned. "After he committed evil last time, I went back and broke his legs. He clearly promised me that he would turn over a new leaf and start anew."

"Could it be that he didn't learn his lesson after his injuries healed?"

"I will go over first and see," Wei Qing said.

On the way to the study, Wei Qing thought and thought, but even when he arrived at the study, he still could not figure out the reason.

The study door was wide open. He walked straight in, saluted Qin Shaozong who was sitting behind the desk, and asked, "My Lord, for what matter were you looking for me?"

Qin Shaozong said, "Go close the door."

Wei Qing went back to close the door.

Once the door was closed, only the two of them were left in the room.

Silence flooded the room, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. The man behind the desk did not speak immediately.

Wei Qing was already a little nervous, and now seeing his superior looking at him in silence, a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.

What matter could be so critical that the usually decisive Lord would actually hesitate? Could it be that those bastards in the Wei family had pierced the heavens this time, and he, the unlucky commander, was going to be implicated?

Wei Qing's nerves were taut, and his fingers curled involuntarily. With all the previous mistakes of the Wei family as a warning, unable to bear the heavy burden, he simply dropped to one knee to plead for punishment:

"I beg the Lord, for the sake of the hard work your subordinate has put in over the years even if there is no great merit, please do not let the innocent suffer."

"The matter I am about to ask you, once you step out of this door, you must not speak of it to outsiders."

The two voices rang out almost simultaneously.

Wei Qing froze, then shot up to his feet, wishing he could swallow the words he had just said.

This didn't sound like the Wei family's messy affairs at all!

Qin Shaozong did not mind his subordinate's recklessness. "I remember that your marriage with your esteemed wife had quite a few twists and turns at the beginning. She was unwilling to marry you, but later you two became a harmonious and deeply loving couple. Jinsong, is there a secret to this change?"