Cui Ming realized it but didn’t dare to speak, only silently following behind and attending to her.

Back at Wutong Garden, she saw Hong Ye arguing with the young maidservants in the hallway. Upon seeing them, Hong Ye stood up and said, "Miss, can you guess what news I heard?"

Qin Yuan chuckled, "You disappeared all morning, were you busy gathering news?"

Hong Ye said, "Indeed, with the banquet yesterday, so many people came to the mansion, wasn’t there much news?"

Qin Yuan’s heart stirred, "So what have you heard?"

Hong Ye had a mysterious expression, "Let’s talk inside."

Qin Yuan entered the room, and after the young maidservants served tea, she had everyone leave except for Cui Ming, and asked, "Tell me, what have you heard?"

"I heard quite a lot, let me tell you slowly."

Qin Yuan glanced at the hourglass in the corner and said, "Speak slowly, I don’t feel like managing affairs today, I just want to rest."

Hong Ye quickly responded, "Rest is good, since Miss entered the mansion, you’ve hardly had a break."

Cui Ming said, "Hurry up and speak, stop wasting words."

Hong Ye said, "Yesterday, that Miss from the Chang Family arrived in the Capital City just last month. The Ninth Princess doesn’t think much of her, and yet brought her to the Marquis Mansion for some unknown reason. Miss Chang doesn’t even have anyone serving her, and none of the palace maids around the Ninth Princess think highly of her either."

Qin Yuan said, "Miss Chang was just a pawn thrown into the Marquis Mansion by the Ninth Princess. As for what she’s planning, only time will tell. But I have some idea of what Miss Chang wants; if I’m right, she’ll be visiting the Old Madam within these days."

Chang Qingling doesn’t hide her thoughts about Gu Jinghui.

However, Qin Yuan couldn’t understand, Chang Qingling’s late sister had a betrothal with Marquis Gu, and the Chang Family being military generals, the families should be closely connected, yet they seem so estranged. There’s even a subtle caution from Old Madam Gu towards Chang Qingling.

Hong Ye widened her mouth, uttering an "Oh."

Qin Yuan added, "The Ninth Princess considers few people worthy, and Miss Chang must rely on her. It’s likely she’ll need to court the palace maids around her. As the saying goes, ’King Yan is easy to meet, but the little ghosts are hard to deal with.’ The Ninth Princess isn’t very amiable, so her palace maids would be even harder to deal with."

Hong Ye nodded and after thinking, asked, "Does Miss know how the matter with Sixth Madam concluded?"

Qin Yuan grew interested, "Tell me about it."

Hong Ye said, "The nanny mentioned that yesterday Nanny Zhao cried and kowtowed before Sixth Master, making quite a mess. She recounted all the hardships Sixth Madam endured while managing the household over the years and insisted on bringing the two little young masters to kowtow to Sixth Master."

Cui Ming said, "What kind of mess is this?"

Hong Ye continued, "Sixth Master angrily ordered Nanny Zhao to account for how much Silver Sixth Madam had invested, at what cost, and had the housekeeper moms list out every share given to him. He even threatened that if Nanny Zhao lied again, she’d be sent back with Mrs. Xu to the Xu family. He couldn’t keep the Xu family’s servants around, fearing they’d lead the children astray. He also declared he wouldn’t care about Sixth Madam’s troubles anymore—dead or alive, it was the Xu Family’s fault. If it wasn’t for Housekeeper Han and Gu Shiliu intervening, Mr. Xu might have hit Sixth Master."

Qin Yuan listened, feeling both amused and vexed.

"Nanny Zhao is truly a muddle-headed person, at this point the masters all know the little secrets between them. It’s only for the sake of the little masters that faces haven’t been torn. And yet the Xu Family doesn’t care about that little face, and she has the nerve to hide things inside, hide and endure the bitterness. She just had to stir things up, annoying everyone."

Hong Ye agreed, "Indeed, Mr. Xu scolded Sixth Master for being heartless, saying Sixth Madam has always been good to him—having so many children, managing the inner court, and even marrying him off with so many concubines. Saying, even if Sixth Madam got the money, it was all used to support Sixth Master’s concubines and their offspring."

Cui Ming frowned, "It’s all starting to get jumbled up."

Qin Yuan shook her head.

No wonder Marquis Gu stepped in to prevent questioning.

Hong Ye continued, "Sixth Master said the Xu Family doesn’t care about Sixth Madam’s fate, so he won’t care either. He threatened to report to the authorities, saying the Xu Family’s intentions were too malicious, not wanting to repay the debt and even intending for Sixth Madam to die in the Gu home, leaving no evidence. He refused to take the blame. He either reports it to the authorities or separates from the Marquis Mansion and lives independently, so as not to implicate the mansion."

"And in the end?" Qin Yuan asked.

"In the end, Mrs. Xu said she would have Nanny Zhao list a record, they’d cross-reference it. They couldn’t just believe what Nanny Zhao said. Once Sixth Madam wakes up, they’ll discuss whether to repay with money or pepper."

"This is just dragging it out—it seems the Xu family still doesn’t want to give up."

Hong Ye wondered, "The Xu Family also received quite a bit of money from Sixth Madam—earned a lot over the years from printing money. Why hold onto this sum? Aren’t they afraid they won’t be able to maintain a marriage alliance with the Marquis Mansion in the future?"

Qin Yuan replied, "There’s a downside to printing money and lending usurious debts—it requires collecting a high percentage. You need a team to extract debts, and if you’re not vigilant during lending and the borrowers flee or lack money, you can’t even recover your capital. They can’t let others take advantage; they always have to demonstrate prowess to show others. This act is strictly forbidden by the government, and you invariably have to bribe those official bastards. If it leads to a murder case, you need to spend more to settle it."

Upon saying this, Qin Yuan’s heart stirred, and she involuntarily tapped her fingers on the desk.

Cui Ming said, "Even if Sixth Madam recovers, and is willing to handle this matter, she might still mix things up. Miss Xu has disappeared, and the Xu Family always blames Sixth Madam. As Sixth Madam weakens, she inevitably will ponder more."

Qin Yuan nodded.

Sixth Madam should know her health won’t last more than a few years, and fearing estrangement with her natal family completely, she’d have no support.

The Xu family realized this point and thus acted with impunity.

"Sixth Madam can no longer manage affairs, and the Xu Family can’t draw much benefit anymore. The nieces and nephews growing up is a matter of years... it’s always more reliable to have something in hand."

What Qin Yuan didn’t say was, the Xu family’s actions are known to the Marquis Mansion, and the Xu family is aware that the mansion knows.

Without Sixth Madam, it’s equivalent to losing the marriage alliance between the Xu family and the Marquis Mansion. The nieces and nephews are still young, whether they remember their maternal family when they grow is uncertain. Even if they care, by then the mansion might have split, and Sixth Master, being a concubine-born son with little accomplishment in both military and literary affairs, likely won’t benefit the Xu family much in the future.

It shows both the Xu family and Sixth Master truly look down on each other.

Hong Ye couldn’t help but sigh.

"Small households don’t have this much machination."

Cui Ming smiled, "Don’t say that—in small households, what they plot may not seem valuable. It’s not like here where it’s tens of thousands of taels at the drop of a hat."

Qin Yuan paused for a while, and asked, "Anything else?"

Hong Ye said, "The Xu family’s nannies were chatting with the mansion’s nannies, saying the Xu family is contemplating sending a girl into the King Jin Mansion as a concubine."