Morning light filtered through the window lattice into the room, where Fuzhi stood with her head bowed before the bed:
“Miss, last night, the eldest young lady fainted after kneeling for one hour. I dared not act on my own authority, so I had her sent back to her courtyard first. By the time I returned, you and Zhigui Gongzi had already retired, so I did not dare disturb you.”
Qiao Shuyi, holding a teacup, let out a derisive laugh.
“Hah, she’s learned to use these little tricks.”
She lowered her gaze and took a sip of tea, her tone indifferent, revealing neither joy nor anger:
“But… Fuzhi, when I told you to watch her kneel for two hours, I meant two hours. So what if she fainted? Couldn’t you wake her with water? Couldn’t you wake her with a needle?”
She raised her eyes, her gaze falling on Fuzhi:
“By sending her back to her courtyard, weren’t you telling everyone in the household—that as long as one knows how to feign fainting and act slyly, my rules can be broken?”
Fuzhi’s face turned deathly pale. She fell to her knees with a thud, her forehead touching the ground, knocking it repeatedly:
“Please forgive me, Miss! Please forgive me, Miss! It was my fault, I was not thoughtful enough. I beg for your mercy!”
She kowtowed again and again, her voice trembling, not daring to stop.
Qiao Shuyi simply sat upright, leisurely sipping her tea.
At that moment, footsteps sounded from outside the curtain. Qing Yan lifted the curtain and entered, hurriedly reporting:
“Miss, the Madam has arrived.”
Qiao Shuyi gently set down her teacup, smoothed her skirt, and stood up.
As she walked past Fuzhi, the hem of her skirt brushed over the trembling figure prostrate on the ground.
“Fuzhi,” her voice came from above, neither hurried nor slow, “since you spared my sister that one hour of kneeling, you shall take her place for that hour.”
Fuzhi’s body stiffened, then she kowtowed like pounding garlic:
“Thank you for your leniency, Miss! Thank you for your kindness, Miss!”
The main hall.
Liu Jinyu sat upright in the seat of honor, her expression slightly somber.
She held a teacup in her hands but had not taken a sip, allowing the steam to rise and mist half her face.
When Qiao Shuyi stepped into the hall, she saw her mother in this state.
Without pausing her steps, she walked straight to her and called out softly:
“Mother, what brings you here?”
“I heard you punished Shuqin last night?”
Qiao Shuyi sat down beside her and casually replied, “Mm-hmm.”
“Why?”
“She coveted what is mine.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Jinyu’s teacup landed on the table with a thud, tea splashing out and staining a corner of the table.
“You really brought a man into the household by force?”
Qiao Shuyi tilted her head to look at her, smiling openly and honestly:
“Of course, why would I lie?”
Liu Jinyu nearly choked on her breath. She patted her chest and sighed repeatedly:
“Oh dear—it’s all my fault, all my fault for spoiling you since you were little!”
She reached out and tapped her daughter’s forehead:
“Shushu, when have your father and I ever opposed you finding a man to marry into our family? As long as he’s from a respectable family, I could accept it. But you—how could you just snatch a man and bring him home? Do you know his family circumstances? Do you know if he has a wife or concubines? Do you know if his background is clean?”
Qiao Shuyi let her tap without dodging, simply listening to her scolding with a smile.
Only after she finished did Qiao Shuyi speak leisurely:
“Mother, of course I’ve investigated. He’s just a commoner from a family that has fallen into decline, with no wife or concubines.”
This statement was not a lie.
That day, with just a fleeting glance on the street, she had taken a liking to that face.
Later, she sent someone to inquire about his background—
Of course, it was Zong Zhengheng who had fabricated the background in Jinzhou. No matter how much one investigated, he appeared to be nothing more than a down-and-out scholar—both parents deceased, alone in the world, and never married.
Since he was of clean background and possessed such striking looks, wouldn’t it be a waste not to snatch him up?
“You know your daughter’s temperament well. All those men you and Father found for me before were nothing but hypocrites, and their appearances simply didn’t appeal to me. I had no choice but to find one myself.”
“Mother, since I was little, I’ve never lacked money or power. When it comes to finding a man—of course, I’ll choose one I truly like.”
For a moment, Liu Jinyu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
This child had truly been spoiled rotten by them.
But so what if she was spoiled?
Her daughter deserved to have everything she wanted.
“Yes, you like him, you fancy him, and then you lock him in the woodshed, make him kneel in punishment, and throw him into the Water Dungeon?”
“Mother, it’s clearly because he wouldn’t listen.”
“But you were the one who forcibly brought him into the manor in the first place. Did he ever agree to it?”
“Mother—”
Qiao Shuyi drew out her tone, shaking her mother’s sleeve as if in a coquettish manner. Her almond-shaped eyes blinked innocently, full of naive charm:
“In the past, whenever I liked something or wanted something, didn’t you and Father always bring it right to me? Now that I’ve grown up and can find ways to get what I like on my own, shouldn’t you be happy for me?”
Liu Jinyu was left speechless.
What the child said… didn’t seem entirely wrong?
But upon closer thought, it was all wrong.
She sighed and rubbed her temples:
“This temperament of yours… I truly don’t know what to do with you.”
Qiao Shuyi leaned closer, wrapping her arms around her mother’s and resting her head on her shoulder, her voice soft:
“Mother, don’t worry. I know what I can and cannot do. But here in Jinzhou, with you and Father around, what can’t I do?”
Liu Jinyu looked at her daughter’s unapologetic face and found herself unable to utter a word of rebuttal.
Indeed, in Jinzhou, with her and Qiao Nanyu around, their daughter truly could have whatever she wanted and do as she pleased.
But what about outside Jinzhou?
She fell silent for a moment, her tone growing more serious:
“That’s true. As long as you know your limits. But… once you leave Jinzhou, you absolutely must not do such things.”
She paused, lowering her voice:
“Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, the court is in need of capable people. Outside Jinzhou, who knows whom you might encounter? If you accidentally offend someone newly promoted by the emperor, I’m afraid even your father may not be able to protect you.”
Qiao Shuyi’s eyelashes trembled slightly.
“These words… did Father tell you to say this?”
Liu Jinyu nodded:
“Yes. Your father asked me to pass this on to you, to tell you to rein yourself in.”
Qiao Shuyi lowered her gaze, concealing the flicker of coldness in her eyes.
Qiao Nanyu wanted her to rein herself in?
Hah.
He wasn’t concerned about her, his daughter—he was clearly afraid that her flamboyance would attract the emperor’s spies and ruin his secret plans to train troops.
He thought the new emperor was still the same new emperor, but he didn’t know that the “new emperor” was currently in his daughter’s courtyard, waiting to seize evidence against him.
Qiao Shuyi leaned against her mother’s shoulder, her face still wearing that innocent, charming expression, but her mind was already racing with countless thoughts.
If Qiao Nanyu truly cared for her, his daughter, even with just a shred of sincerity, she would have been willing to offer him a few words of advice, urging him to stop, or at least find a way to escape unscathed and protect the lives of their entire family.
What a pity.
Qiao Nanyu had only ever used her and her mother, never showing a shred of genuine affection.
If that was the case, what did it matter to her whether the Qiao family fell or not?
Qiao Nanyu’s rebellion was a foregone conclusion.
Even without her, even if Zong Zhengheng didn’t uncover evidence through her, the emperor’s secret guards would eventually find clues.
It was only a matter of time.
What she needed to worry about now was not the Qiao family.
It was her mother.
Liu Jinyu was guileless, with only that man, Qiao Nanyu, in her eyes and heart.
She loved him sincerely, believing he loved her just as much.
If one day the Qiao family were executed for treason—
Her foolish mother would likely follow him in death.
Qiao Shuyi leaned against her mother’s shoulder, gently nuzzling it, just as she had when acting spoiled as a child.
But her eyes were clear and sharp.
She had to find a way.
To make her mother see Qiao Nanyu’s true face.
And to ensure her mother could survive this turmoil.
But… for now, she couldn’t think of a perfect solution.