Maybe that accident back then wasn’t enough to strip her of a lifetime of happiness, but the one who could give her happiness definitely could not be Brother Ling Qian.

They were uncle and niece after all. Even if Brother Ling Qian didn’t mind, Xia Yinian herself absolutely wouldn’t be able to accept it.

The Old Madam let out a light sigh, a faint pain throbbing in her chest.

"It’s all my fault as an old woman, I was too muddle‑headed. Nian Nian, Grandma has wronged you!"

She held Xia Yinian’s hand, her body trembling slightly.

She had always thought her arrangements were the best, yet she hadn’t realized she was making those young people who cared about her suffer so much.

Maybe forcibly shoving Wanqing to Seventh’s side wasn’t necessarily a good thing either.

"Grandma, don’t get worked up, you mustn’t get worked up!" Xia Yinian instantly tensed up.

"Everything is already in the past, no one can retrieve anything. We all have to look forward, right?"

"Besides, having one more Grandma who loves me so much out of nowhere, I’ve actually profited."

Most importantly, if it weren’t for all those accidents, she and Beicheng might never have gotten to this point.

Whether there was a future or not, at least she was happy right now.

"Oh right, Grandma, can you still remember what happened during this period? And what exactly happened that day at the Feng Residence?"

As long as things were made clear, Xia Yinian didn’t want to say anything more.

All the more since Grandma kept asking whether she liked Beicheng or not; she really didn’t know how to answer.

She did like him, that was for sure, but for Grandma’s illness Beicheng had gone so far as to get engaged to Yu Wanqing—what use would it be for her to admit anything?

Besides, between her and Beicheng, apart from Yu Wanqing and the Yu Family, there were even the Gu Family, along with some forces she herself didn’t even know about.

So for now, all she could do was trust this man; as for what came after, they’d talk about it later. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Maybe one day in the future, she really would become as strong as he was.

It was still good to have dreams; what if they came true?

"That day at the Feng Residence, Wanqing told me about you and Seventh." The Old Madam sighed again.

"She really loves Beicheng. Maybe she’s already gone mad—she truly has gone mad..."

"Grandma, you know about all that already. I was asking about the hypnosis on you." Xia Yinian asked softly.

"Mm." The Old Madam nodded. "But I truly never thought Wanqing would actually dare to lay hands on me."

Seeing the Old Madam so calm, Xia Yinian was slightly relieved. At least her body could still bear it.

"To have Yiheng treat you, Beicheng brought us to Yaoshan. Tomorrow Yu... Lady Qing will arrive. Grandma, you..."

The Old Madam looked at Xia Yinian, a frown knitting her brows.

"Nian Nian, you’ve never thought of letting Grandma give you a hand?"

"Give me a hand?" Xia Yinian blinked, clearly not quite understanding.

"To help you and Seventh. Don’t you want to marry him?" the Old Madam asked gently.

"There’s no need, really." Xia Yinian pressed her lips together, her expression serious, and very grateful as well.

"Since Uncle is going to get engaged to Lady Qing, he must have his reasons. We shouldn’t interfere in his affairs."

The Old Madam looked at this little girl and only after a long time did she nod slightly.

Her gaze fell on the man still busy not far away, and she let out a soft sigh.

"Yiheng, if you have things to do, you can go ahead. I’m really fine now. You’ve worked hard during this time."

Since the Old Madam had spoken, Qin Yiheng didn’t want to stay any longer either.

All the more since he had no interest in topics between women.