Chapter 125 Sixth Miss Qiu Returns Home

Chapter 125: Sixth Young Miss Returns to the Estate

A few days later, the autumn hunting party set off on the journey back to the capital.

They had left the capital in September; now it was October. Maple leaves blazed like fire, and the ground was carpeted with golden ginkgo leaves, adding to the capital's beauty.

Qiu Heng rode in a carriage with County Princess Jiayi. Along the way, the two chatted about the art of incense and the future, making the long journey much less tedious and exhausting.

"Thank you, Godmother, for your care these past days. I've caused you trouble."

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. Your family must miss you after being away for so long. You should return home earlier." Princess Kang instructed someone to escort Qiu Heng back to the Estate of Earl Yongqing, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

Finally, she had sent this girl away.

The carriage from the Kang Princely Estate stopped at the gates of the Estate of Earl Yongqing. The gatekeeper hurried inside to report.

"Sixth Young Miss has returned!"

The Old Madam picked up her teacup with composure. "Have her come in."

A short while later, Qiu Heng entered and bowed to the Old Madam. "Grandmother, your granddaughter has returned."

"Hmm, it's good you're back." After scrutinizing Qiu Heng for a moment, the Old Madam asked, "You didn't cause any trouble for the Kang Princely Estate, did you?"

"No."

The Old Madam was instinctively skeptical and was about to press for details when Earl Yongqing strode in.

"Heng'er is back! Tell your grandfather about the interesting things at the hunting grounds."

As the only person from the entire Estate of Earl Yongqing who had attended the autumn hunt, Qiu Heng was currently the person Earl Yongqing looked upon most fondly.

"Interesting things?" Qiu Heng thought for a moment. "Every day was pretty much the same, nothing particularly special. Except that the Crown Prince's quarters caught fire, and the Crown Prince was trapped in the tower—"

"Pfft—" Earl Yongqing sprayed out a mouthful of tea, leaves clinging to his beard. "The Crown Prince's residence caught fire?"

And that's not considered special?!

"What happened then?"

"Official Xue rescued the Crown Prince."

The Old Madam quickly asked, "That Imperial City Commissioner, Xue Han?"

Qiu Heng nodded.

The Old Madam couldn't help but smile. "Official Xue is quite capable for his young age."

Earl Yongqing gave the Old Madam a puzzled look, thinking to himself, *What's the old woman so happy about just because that Xue fellow is capable?*

"Grandfather, Grandmother, I've been away for so long. Now that I'm back, I'd like to go pay my respects to Father."

"Go ahead." The Old Madam nodded. After Qiu Heng left, she said calmly, "The Earl is always so keen on going to the autumn hunt. Look what's so good about it. Even the Crown Prince's residence caught fire. If something had really happened, who knows how many people would have suffered..."

Earl Yongqing felt uncomfortable hearing this. "When has anything like this ever happened before? It just so happened that Sixth Girl was there."

The Old Madam was stunned for a moment: *I forgot about Sixth Girl's uncanny knack for attracting trouble!*

Not long after, a servant came in to report. "Elder Earl, Old Madam, someone from Prince Fu's Estate has arrived."

Prince Fu's Estate?

Earl Yongqing and the Old Madam exchanged a glance and hurried to meet the visitor.

It was a steward. Upon seeing Earl Yongqing and the Old Madam, he bowed courteously and stated his purpose. "The Sixth Young Miss of your estate saved our Little Princess. His Highness and Her Highness specifically ordered this humble servant to deliver tokens of thanks."

Earl Yongqing was both excited and confused. After the people from the princely estate left the gifts and departed, he immediately summoned Qiu Heng.

"Heng'er, what's this about you saving the Little Princess of Prince Fu's Estate?" Earl Yongqing asked eagerly as soon as he saw Qiu Heng.

"You mean Princess Rongning? That day, Princess Rongning went into the mountain forest to play and unexpectedly encountered a wounded, rampaging black bear. So, I went and lured the bear away..."

The Old Madam felt breathless hearing this. Seeing Qiu Heng's casual, understated manner made her even more breathless. "You wretched girl, you're simply—"

"Heng'er did well!" Earl Yongqing laughed heartily.

When he saw the tokens of thanks from Prince Fu's Estate, he hadn't dared to be happy, fearing it was a mistake. He never expected Sixth Girl had actually saved the Little Princess!

After the excitement subsided, Earl Yongqing felt that thanks from just Prince Fu's Estate weren't quite sufficient. "Such a matter should have reached His Majesty's ears, right?"

"His Majesty heard about it and even summoned me, asking what reward I wanted."

Earl Yongqing grew tense. "What did you say?"

"I said I wished to come with my family next year. His Majesty said that next year's autumn hunt, the Estate of Earl Yongqing should come together."

Earl Yongqing fell silent all at once, even feeling a bit like crying.

This thing he had been longing for so long... was achieved just like that?

"Heng'er has truly brought honor to the Earl's estate." Earl Yongqing sighed. "Why didn't you mention this when you first returned?"

"It wasn't a big deal. I just didn't think of it at the moment."

"You silly child." Earl Yongqing shook his head, then asked with lingering concern, "There's nothing else, is there?"

"There is one more thing."

Even though Earl Yongqing was the one who asked, hearing Qiu Heng say this still startled him. "There's more?"

Was life during the autumn hunt always this eventful? He'd never heard those who returned talk about such things before!

"Honored Consort Yu arranged for someone to send a wooden doll resembling Eldest Sister to Lin Chengfeng—"

"What?"

Before Qiu Heng could finish her sentence, both Earl Yongqing and the Old Madam exclaimed in unison.

"Then, they publicly searched Lin Chengfeng and found the wooden doll on him, taking him before His Majesty."

Earl Yongqing's vision darkened, and his voice trembled. "And then?"

At this moment, Earl Yongqing was immensely grateful he hadn't been present at the scene.

That kind of pressure, his old bones couldn't have handled it.

"I said the wooden doll was a gift from me to Lin Chengfeng. His Majesty believed me."

The Old Madam heaved a huge sigh of relief, then her expression changed again. "Sixth Girl, His Majesty didn't... he didn't bestow a marriage between you and Lin Chengfeng, did he?"

The man who was supposed to marry the eldest granddaughter is now marrying the sixth?

What a mess!

Earl Yongqing, however, breathed a sigh of relief: Thank goodness, the Earl's household won't face a major disaster.

As for which granddaughter got the husband, compared to the family's fate, it was an insignificant matter.

"Not exactly. Official Xue and Young Master Cui told His Majesty they fancied me, so perhaps His Majesty found it difficult to choose for the moment."

The Dowager Countess slapped her thigh hard.

That's it—Sixth Girl was off the hook again!

The Wretched Girl had been gone for over a month, and she'd nearly forgotten this familiar feeling!

Earl Yongqing shot a sidelong glance at the Dowager Countess: *Has the old woman lost her mind because of Sixth Girl?*

"Grandfather, has our Earl's household ever offended Honored Consort Yu?" Qiu Heng was frank with Earl Yongqing and his wife about taking credit for the wooden doll. Her reason was simple: they were all in this together—if one fell, they all fell.

"No, how could our household have had the chance to offend Honored Consort Yu? Unless your eldest sister—" Mentioning Beauty Qiu, Earl Yongqing felt nothing but disgust.

"What about the Lin family? Has the Lin family ever offended Honored Consort Yu?"

"The Lin men have long been stationed at the border. The only young son left in the capital is Lin Chengfeng—where would he have had the opportunity to offend the Honored Consort?" Earl Yongqing said, now fearful. "It must be that your eldest sister, getting the honor of attending the autumn hunt this time, displeased the Honored Consort."

Qiu Heng silently picked up a pear and took a bite.

"Heng'er, regarding the matter of the wooden doll, aside from your grandmother and me, do not speak of it to anyone else—not even your father."

"Your granddaughter understands."

Before dinner had even begun, thanks to the lavish gifts sent by Prince Fu's household, the story of Sixth Girl's fight with the black bear had spread all over the Earl's manor.

Qiu Song dragged Qiu Feng to Qiu Heng, their gazes a mix of excitement and awe as they looked at her: "Sixth Sister, is it true that you slapped a black bear to death with a single slap?"