Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Pei Yun then told Nanny Xu what Ming Shi had said to her—that the Sixth Miss had always been on good terms with Lady Changning, and that before the two fell into the water, the Sixth Miss had been chatting in private with Lady Changning for a good while. Although there was no solid evidence yet, it did indeed seem suspicious.

Could it be that someone from Qingyun Pavilion was behind this?

Nanny Xu listened with a grave expression and nodded. "You're right to be concerned, County Lady. There are plenty of suspicious details here. I have already asked Wei Yu, who serves Yue Jie, and she said that Yue Jie mentioned going to the rear garden to pick flowers for Grand Lady around noon, and didn't let them accompany her. The girls figured there was no danger in our Splendid Garden's back garden, so they let Yue Jie go alone."

"Unexpectedly, Yue Jie went out on her own, and they had no idea about the details of what happened. We can only wait for Yue Jie to wake up and ask her in detail."

After saying this, Nanny Xu glanced at the ginseng that the Second Branch had sent, lying quietly on the table, and lowered her voice. "County Lady, the Duke Su Mansion is full of complicated personal connections. What's really going on here is anyone's guess. It's good that you're keeping an eye on things."

She then asked whether Pei Yun had learned these matters on her own or from someone else.

"It was Elder Sister-in-law Ming from the West Branch," Pei Yun said. "She was the one hosting Ying Jie's birthday banquet today, so she'd been busy running things over at Peony Terrace all along."

Nanny Xu pondered for a moment, then nodded.

"County Lady, since the old Duke passed, the Duke Su title has been sitting empty for years now. Not only Qingyun Pavilion, but the West Branch has their eye on it too," Nanny Xu reminded her. "You can't fully trust what the West Branch says either."

Pei Yun nodded, feeling that Nanny Xu's words made sense.

Indeed, for the sake of the title, the scheming and plotting in the Duke Su Mansion was just as cutthroat as in the palace.

Just then, Bixiao entered from outside, saying that Yu Ge had returned from his studies and was on his way to the main hall to pay his respects to Pei Yun.

"Hurry, let Yu Ge come in."

Pei Yun straightened up at once, grabbed her handkerchief and dabbed at the corners of her eyes, then sat up straight and waited for Qin Yu to come in.

If you asked what Pei Yun's top priority was after marrying into the Duke Su Mansion, it definitely wasn't to win Qin Chu's favor, but to properly raise and look after the siblings Qin Yu and Qin Yue.

Because on the night before her wedding, she suddenly dreamed that the world she'd transmigrated into was some kind of novel, and the protagonist was none other than Qin Yu, who was about to walk in.

Qin Yu came from a noble background, but for all sorts of reasons, he and his sister were bullied and humiliated. When he grew up, he became a powerful minister second only to the emperor, and then turned around to settle scores with everyone in the Duke Su Mansion who'd bullied him and his sister.

First in line was her, his stepmother.

In the dream, Pei Yun saw herself using her status to viciously and spitefully mistreat the siblings, and her father, the Deposed Crown Prince, didn't escape death either—though that wasn't because of her, but because Lady Fan's father had been impeached and thrown in prison, with his whole family either beheaded or exiled. Lady Fan, suddenly the daughter of a disgraced official, died of grief.

And this wrongful case, as luck would have it, was decided by Pei Yun's father, the Deposed Crown Prince, before he was stripped of his title.

So she and her parents and the whole extended family—none of them got away. They died one more horribly than the last.

When she woke up, Pei Yun was completely stunned. So she'd transmigrated into one of those face-slapping power-fantasy novels?

Once she understood the whole situation, Pei Yun rushed to ask her father about the Fan family. Unfortunately, her father was now completely obsessed with playing with his cats and walking his birds. He'd presided over countless cases back in the day—Fan family, Yang family—he'd forgotten them all long ago.

Pei Yun: ...No wonder he was deposed. Serves him right!

With her old man being useless, Pei Yun had to take matters into her own hands. Once she married into the Duke Su Mansion, she found that Qin Yu didn't seem to know about the connection between her father and his mother's family. So she took great care of Qin Yu and Qin Yue, treating them like her own flesh and blood, hoping that Qin Yu would, for her sake, let her family off the hook in the future.

Though she'd started out with selfish motives, after these few months together, Qin Yu and Qin Yue were both extremely well-behaved and sensible children. The more time they spent together, the more real feelings grew.

At least now, Pei Yun genuinely treated the siblings as her own kids.

While Pei Yun was lost in her own thoughts, Qin Yu entered shortly after. Today he was wearing a deep red round-collar robe, with gold thread finely embroidering linked pearl and paired beast patterns along the collar and cuffs. It looked crisp and elegant on him. When the embroidery workshop had sent over fabric samples a few days ago, she had taken a liking to it at first sight, thinking it suited Qin Yu well.

Seeing him today, it indeed did.

Although Qin Yu was only eight years old this year, he had a tall, well-proportioned figure, fair skin, and handsome features—perfect for wearing such deep red. Since he had been at the family school today, the young servant following him carried a book satchel, adding to his refined scholarly air.

"Mother."

Qin Yu, with a serious little face, respectfully cupped his hands in greeting to Pei Yun, then lifted the hem of his robe and knelt down to perform a grand bow.

Pei Yun was startled and quickly rose to help him up.

"Why such a grand bow for no reason?"

Pei Yun studied Qin Yu's expression, and seeing his pursed lips and slightly furrowed brows, she knew he must have already heard about his sister's fall into the water.

After Qin Mu's death, Qin Chu had spent several years away at war, absent from the mansion. One could imagine the siblings' situation in the Duke Su Mansion during that time. Having gone through such a period of relying on each other, Qin Yu and Qin Yue shared an extremely close bond. Qin Yu doted on his sister immensely, always shielding her.

Although Pei Yun had only been married into the family for a few months, she understood the deep affection between the siblings very well.

Moreover, she herself had an older brother who cherished her dearly. By extension, Pei Yun comforted Qin Yu, saying, "Don't worry, Yue Jie is fine. Princess Qinghe has also returned to the mansion. What happens next is for your father and me to handle—Yue Jie will not be wronged."

"I understand, son." Qin Yu looked up at her, pressing his lips together. "I heard that Mother defended my sister with all her might today at Ronghe Hall, so I came specially to thank Mother."

Pei Yun felt like dragging Qin Chu over and making him listen to how his son spoke!

No wonder Qin Yu was the male lead, while Qin Chu was merely the background male lead's adoptive father—the difference in caliber was like heaven and earth!

Nanny Xu, standing nearby, was also quite gratified. The County Lady treated Yu Ge and Yue Jie well, and Yu Ge and Yue Jie were filial in return—that was wonderful.

"Good child, no need to thank me. You call me Mother, so it's my duty to protect you." Pei Yun was deeply moved. She bent down to straighten Qin Yu's clothes again and said gently, "Go keep your sister company. Mother knows you're worried about her. Your father has also returned to the mansion and should be in Yue Jie's room with her right now."

Qin Yu was taken aback. "Father is back?"

Pei Yun nodded. It seemed that Qin Yu and Qin Chu had just missed each other, so the father and son hadn't crossed paths.

Upon hearing that Qin Chu had returned, Qin Yu nodded and said he would take his leave to pay his respects to his father. But just before leaving, he suddenly noticed a small red patch at the corner of Pei Yun's eye, as if she had just been crying.

"Mother, you've been crying. What's wrong?" Qin Yu asked with a frown.

Pei Yun hadn't expected him to notice. She quickly stood up and said with a smile, "The wind was strong just now and blew something into my eye. It's nothing. You go on."

Qin Yu knew this was just an excuse, but since Pei Yun didn't want to say, he didn't press further and took his leave with proper etiquette.

After leaving the main hall, Qin Yu, with an impassive expression, called over a young servant to inquire and learned that Pei Yun and Qin Chu had just quarreled, though the servants didn't know the reason.

Qin Yu guessed the general idea and headed toward Moxiang Studio, where Qin Yue resided.

In Moxiang Studio, because the young miss had not yet woken from her fall into the water, the servants were bustling about. Maids carrying medicine bowls, tonics, towels, and pillows hurried through the corridors, pausing to bow when they saw Qin Yu.

"Eldest Young Master."

Qin Yu nodded and asked, "Is Father inside?"

One of the older maids replied, "The Marquis just arrived. The Eighth Miss has also woken up and is currently speaking with the Marquis inside."

Hearing that his sister was awake, Qin Yu immediately cast aside all formality and hurried into the inner chamber.

He pushed open the door and was first met with a strong smell of medicine, followed by the faint fragrance of crabapple blossoms from outside the window, weaving through the air.

Qin Yue was already awake, sitting against the cloud-patterned headrest at the head of the bed in her pale pink nightclothes. Her face was still a bit pale, and the lingering panic in her expression had yet to dissipate. In a soft, plaintive voice, she spoke to Qin Chu, who sat at the edge of the bed.

Qin Chu had his back turned to him, and Qin Yu could only see his tall, broad silhouette.

"Brother!"

Sharp-eyed Qin Yue spotted Qin Yu first, and she quickly craned her neck and called out to him. But she seemed to use too much force, and instead broke into a fit of coughing. Qin Yu hurried over, while Qin Chu quickly patted Qin Yue's back.

"Take it slow. Brother is right here, he's not going anywhere." Qin Yu said with a smile.

Qin Yue coughed until tears brimmed in her eyes, but upon hearing Qin Yu's words, she smiled too. "Brother and father are both back. Yue'er is happy."

It was only then that Qin Yu looked up at Qin Chu. He hesitated for a long moment, unable to bring himself to say "Father" to his face, and could only murmur, "Fourth Uncle."

Qin Yue was still young, barely old enough to remember anything when Qin Mu and his wife passed away. So she quickly accepted Qin Chu as their father and had soon changed what she called him.

Qin Yu, however, was different. He was seven years old now, and he remembered every detail of his time with his biological parents. He had been calling Qin Chu "Uncle" since he was little, so while he could easily call Pei Yun—a woman he barely knew—"Mother," calling Qin Chu "Father" was not so easy. Over a year had passed, and he still hadn't changed what he called him.

Qin Chu didn't mind at all. He looked at Qin Yu and Qin Yue, and absentmindedly, he recalled the days when his elder brother and sister-in-law were still alive. Back then, Yue Jie wasn't born yet, and Qin Yu was still small, crawling around on the rug and babbling. His brother had his arm around his sister-in-law, both smiling gently and warmly as they watched him tease Qin Yu, who was crawling about.

In the blink of an eye, so many years had gone by.

Qin Chu's gaze softened. He ruffled Qin Yu's soft hair and said gently, "Don't worry. I have a clear plan about Yue'er's matter. Now that I'm back, I won't let her be wronged."

Although Qin Chu had rushed back day and night and was still unclear about what exactly had happened at the Peony Terrace, and the people he had sent to investigate still hadn't returned, he had a feeling that this was no ordinary squabble between children. It was likely the work of someone within the household who had used Princess Qinghe's hand to carry it out.

By this afternoon at the earliest, or tomorrow at the latest, someone should make a move.

His eyes darkened at the thought. Whoever it was, whether they had laid a hand on Yu Ge or Yue Jie, he wouldn't let them get away with it.

Qin Yu trusted his fourth uncle's words completely. His fourth uncle had always been good to them since they were young, and after their parents passed away, he was the only one in the whole Duke Su mansion who truly cared for them.

Now, perhaps there was one more: their mother.

"How have these past few months been? Has anyone in the mansion been giving you trouble?" Qin Chu softened his expression and asked Qin Yu.

Although the people he had left in the mansion to look after Qin Yu and his sister sent detailed letters every few days about the household, he couldn't fully trust the reports without seeing things with his own eyes. Some matters were difficult for servants to uncover, so he had to hear about them from Qin Yu and Qin Yue themselves.

"Mother has treated my sister and me very well. With her looking after us, no one dares to bully us." Qin Yu shook his head.

When Qin Chu heard Qin Yu say the same thing, his expression darkened.

Qin Yue chimed in, "Yue'er was just telling father that mother treats my brother and me well, but father didn't believe it!"

Qin Chu pressed his lips into a thin line, looked up at Qin Yu, and confirmed once more, "The Princess has truly treated you both very well?"

Qin Yu nodded.

Qin Yu's temperament was a bit stubborn and aloof, but he never lied.

If that was the case, then what he had said to Pei Yun earlier had indeed been unjust.

Qin Chu frowned, recalling Pei Yun's wide eyes and her aggrieved expression, and couldn't help feeling a pang of regret.

It wasn't that he had suspected his wife out of malice, but Princess Zhaoyang's reputation for being arrogant and domineering was well known. Last year, before they were married, Qin Chu once went to the palace to meet the Emperor. By the lotus pond in the imperial garden, he had witnessed Pei Yun push a palace maid into the water. As the maid struggled and gasped for air, crying for help, Pei Yun had stood at the edge, laughing coldly and mocking her.

That cold, harsh expression had made Qin Chu extremely reluctant when he received the imperial decree of marriage.

But the imperial order couldn't be defied—he had no choice but to marry her.

So when Yue Jie fell into the water this time, he was first anxious about her safety, and second, he couldn't help but recall the way Pei Yun had pushed the maid into the pond that day. His words came out harsher than intended.

"Father, mother really has been very good to my brother and me. Everything we eat, use, and wear is all prepared by mother herself." Qin Yue counted on her fingers. "The hairpins and jewelry, the clothes and fabrics, and even the set of glass dolls on the table—mother sent them all for me to play with."

"And today's incident had nothing to do with mother. I snuck over there on my own without telling her. Mother has been ill these past few days and wasn't planning to attend Big Sister's birthday banquet today." Qin Yue said in a low voice.

The more Qin Chu listened, the deeper his frown became, until Qin Yu, who had been watching from the side for a while, suddenly spoke up.

"I just went to thank mother for the gifts, and I saw that she looked like she had been crying."

Author's note:

Qin Chu: My wife is sick and I made her cry. I'm really a terrible person.

Pei Yun: Don't flatter yourself. I was just homesick. No update tomorrow; see you the day after!