In the beginning, Qing Xue had been forced to come back to serve Madam Di. At that time, she had had no choice but to do so and she had been willing to work for Shao Wanru secretly.

But later, things had happened one after another. The biggest change was that Shao Wanru had become a mistress of Duke Xing’s Mansion, and then she had been to the Yuhui Nunnery to cultivate in seclusion and had no longer meddled in the affairs of Qin’s Mansion.

Madam Di had also been so seriously injured at that time that she could hardly survive. It had not been expected that she would torture the people around her so viciously. It was unexpected for Shao Wanru that Madam Di could torture all the people around her like that. Needless to say, Duke Yong’s Mansion had also been involved in that.

Duke Yong’s Mansion seemed to be in decline and unremarkable, but it seemed to be everywhere!

The interests of Qin’s Mansion and Duke Yong’s Mansion had always been closely linked. After so many things, they could still get along with each other like that, thus the meaning behind that had to be important!

Qin Yuru was Madam Di’s biological daughter and the only granddaughter of Old Madam of Duke Yong’s Mansion, but Old Madam attached much more importance to that granddaughter than her own grandson. Was that really normal?

It was said that the heir of Duke Yong’s Mansion also abandoned himself very much now. As long as he had time, he would go out to indulge in dissipation, and not even go home at night. He was a playboy, and a useless playboy.

In the last life, although Di Yan had also been a playboy, at least he had not sounded like a hopeless person. With the background of Duke Yong’s Mansion, Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion, and Duke Xing’s Mansion, he had still steadily stepped into an official career and had shown conjugal harmony with Qin Yuru in front of the public.

But at that time, everything had changed. It was no longer what it used to be!

Duke Yong’s Mansion valued Qin Yuru so much, but was what they saw on the surface really true? With the dowry of Madam Di and Qin Yuru, Shao Wanru always felt something wrong. On that day, she came to find out what was going on.

She wanted to see what other trump card Madam Di had not shown. That trump card was the final answer to protect Qin Yuru, and it must be an astonishing one.

Qin Yuru’s reputation had been ruined to that extent, but Duke Yong’s Mansion still tried its best to protect her. Shao Wanru did not believe that Duke Yong’s Mansion would be so kind.

The so-called family ties, in fact, would dissipate after being gradually worn out.

It was speculated that Madam Di had a secret, which was confirmed after nothing had happened in the battle between Qin Yuru and Duke Xing’s Mansion.

However, that secret was not good for Shui Ruolan and Old Madam Qin. Grasping that secret, Madam Di had made Duke Yong’s Mansion trust Qin Yuru and not use her as a shield. Since then, she might also be used that secret to deal with Shui Ruolan and her grandmother. Shao Wanru would never allow such a thing to happen.

There must be some secret. If Shao Wanru couldn’t force them out on that day, she would think of another way…

Walking out of Madam Di’s Yulan Pavilion, it didn’t take long for her to see Qin Huaiyong’s servant coming in a hurry. When he saw Shao Wanru, he hurriedly saluted and said, “Fifth Miss Shao, our general invites you!”

“Ningyuan Army General is in the mansion?” Shao Wanru asked in surprise. In the past, Qin Huaiyong would not be in the mansion at that time in a day but worked in the government office.

“The general heard that Fifth Miss would come here, so he deliberately stayed in the mansion,” the servant said with a smile.

Shao Wanru followed the servant to Qin Huaiyong’s study without hesitation. It had been three years since she went to Qin Huaiyong’s study last time, so she had inexplicable feelings in her heart.

Since she was taken in by Duke Xing’s Mansion that day, she had not had the chance to talk to Qin Huaiyong in private again, nor had she said anything to him.

It was very quiet in the study. When Shao Wanru entered the room, she saw Qin Huaiyong sitting at a large desk, who did not pick up the file to read but frowned tightly and lowered his head as if he was thinking about something.

When hearing Shao Wanru’s voice, he raised his head and looked at Shao Wanru with a trace of excitement in his eyes. He held his hands and seemed to want to stand up, but he finally calmed down.

“Uncle!” Shao Wanru stepped forward and bowed respectfully, lowering her body deeply.

Since they had been close, it was proper for her to call him “uncle”.

“Wanru… sit down and have a chat!” Qin Huaiyong tried his best to calm down and then said slowly.

She had called him “father” before but now “uncle”. He couldn’t say it wrong, but it somehow made him feel strange and sad. No matter how much he didn’t care, she had been raised by him as his daughter for more than 10 years. He had seen her change from a little girl to a beautiful mistress in an aristocratic family, but a mistress not belonging to his family.

That feeling really made him uncomfortable.

“Yes, Uncle!” Shao Wanru said obediently. She sat down on a chair on the side and the study room became quiet. It seemed that both of them didn’t know what to say next.

Finally, Qin Huaiyong coughed, and his eyes fell on Shao Wanru’s face. Her childish face had grown mature, and her delicate little face was extremely beautiful. Her long dark eyelashes fluttered twice on her eyes, and then she raised her eyes. Her eyes were as clear as glass, and she had snow-white skin and red lips which didn’t need to be painted.

Such appearance was much more beautiful than Qin Yuru’s.

In the past, Qin Yuru had also been beautiful, otherwise, she would not have such a big reputation in Jiangzhou. Three years ago, Qin Yuru had been as beautiful as a blooming flower, but Shao Wanru had still been at a young age. Even so, everyone could still see Shao Wanru’s beauty. Three years later, Qin Yuru was thin and withered, and she no longer looked like a beautiful woman. However, Shao Wanru was as pretty as a fairy coming out of the most beautiful ink painting.

It was said that the First Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion was also a stunning beauty. Compared with those of Qin’s mansion, the daughters of Duke Xing’s Mansion were not only noble but also beautiful.

“Wanru, how are doing in Duke Xing’s Mansion?” Qin Huaiyong asked softly.

“Thank you for your concern, Uncle. I am living a good life.” Shao Wanru replied with a gentle smile.

“If… if you need any help, you can find me… or ask your Aunt Shui for help. We will definitely not refuse you as long as we can help!” Qin Huaiyong coughed in a low voice again.

“Thank you, uncle!” said Shao Wanru.

“You have left some things here before and you can go to have a look later. You can move anything you like over there. It is useless to leave them in the mansion!” Qin Huaiyong said again.

He had not expected what would happen at that time. After that, Shao Wanru only asked someone to move away a small part of her things. If no one lived in Zhifang Pavilion, there were still many things that Shao Wanru had used at that time.

“Thank you, father. I know. I’ll go to have a look later!” Shao Wanru responded gently to Qin Huaiyong’s words.

However, politeness accounted for most in her reply.

It seemed that the two of them were just familiar strangers. They were very familiar with each other because they had lived together for so many years, while they were not familiar with each other because there seemed to be a lot of things between them. Some things could not be found again as long as they passed away.

Even though they used to be family ties!

However, the family ties that had been controlled by prejudice and plot were no longer what they used to be!

Both of them tried their best to speak with a gentle attitude, but there seemed to be something missing anyway. They were not as carefree in chatting as they had used to be when they were father and daughter.

After a few casual words, Shao Wanru said goodbye and went out. She said that she wanted to go to her past yard and have a look, so Qin Huaiyong didn’t keep her and nodded with a smile.

He looked at her who respectfully bowed to him and retreated, and his eyes gradually cooled down. Looking at Shao Wanru’s figure, he let out a heavy breath. He didn’t know how to face his former little daughter now, with mixed feelings in his heart.

After Shao Wanru left for a while, he suppressed his thoughts and ordered the servant, “Ask Master Tianyu to come here!”

The young servant answered and left. After a while, Qi Tianyu was invited in, who had been waiting in the parlor outside.

After the greetings, the guest and the host took their seats.

“Master Tianyu, why do you come to see me today?” Qin Huaiyong went straight to the point. In the past three years, Qi Tianyu had rarely appeared in Qin’s Mansion, but at that time he came there very abruptly, especially at a time when Shao Wanru came back to the Qin’s Mansion. That was really not a pleasant thing.

“Uncle, I do come here for some reasons. In fact, I want to see cousin sister.” Qi Tianyu was not shy and said bluntly, “About the matter of my sister, Fifth Miss Shao is the only person who has the ear of Duke Xing and is willing to speak for my sister. That’s why I have to bother you, Uncle.”

Qi Rongzhi’s incident had gotten worsen and made the whole Duke Xing’s Mansion lose face. Not only had Madam of Duke Xing been known for her sinister and vicious reputation, but even the mistresses of Duke Xing’s Mansion had also been criticized for their duplicity and wicked hearts behind kind faces. It was not proper for mistresses from an aristocratic family to bully a nominal daughter who had been accepted into Duke Xing’s Mansion.

In particular, Qi Rongzhi had even raised her sleeves in excitement, and the scars on her arms could be seen. It was said that those were caused by the mistresses of Duke Xing’s Mansion by accident.

By accident? How could it really be an accident? She was not a child, and there were so many servant girls and old maids following her. There were so many scars on the arms of a mistress from an aristocratic family, which showed that Duke Xing’s Mansion really humiliated people and didn’t take other people’s daughters seriously.

Even though she was a mistress from a small aristocratic family, she must have been raised by her parents like the apple of their eyes. If they didn’t like her, they could not recognize her as an adopted daughter, since they were not forced to do that. At that time, they had even used Qi Rongzhi as a shield, but once the shield had been used and become useless, they bullied her and even ruined her by marrying her to such a disappointing person. That was really too much.

“This has nothing to do with Wanru!” Qin Huaiyong said in a low voice.

All the mistresses of Duke Xing’s Mansion had the possibility to abuse Qi Rongzhi, but Shao Wanru didn’t, because she was not in Duke Xing’s Mansion and her reputation was not bad!

“Of course, this matter has nothing to do with Fifth Miss Shao. But my sister’s current situation also has something to do with her bad reputation. She has hurt others but also hurt herself. My sister is not young anymore, and after such a thing happened, she had a bad relationship with Duke Xing’s Mansion, so her marriage in the future…” Qi Tianyu sighed heavily and then stood up again and bowed deeply to Qin Huaiyong.

“Uncle, please grant my wish and give me a chance to meet Fifth Miss Shao. I want to ask her for help. I can’t let my sister live alone for the rest of her life!”

The request didn’t seem to be too much, but Qin Huaiyong didn’t agree directly. He looked at Qi Tianyu’s face seriously and wondered if Qi Tianyu really meant that.