A strong urge to locate a Taoist priest struck the warden. Had he offended some malignant spirits or god lately?? Why did accidents from charging horses keep occurring, and to different factions in which both sides were nobles not to be offended?
âMen, hurry and take Sir Cheng to a hospital.â Sir Zheng couldnât afford to let any risk come to the young masterâs life.
Ever since Minister Cheng Mengâs eldest son died in infancy, the minister had devoted his energies to passing on the family name. Multiple concubines crossed his doorstep, bearing him the  âSeven Fairiesâ, but only one Cheng Yue.
Minister Cheng didnât hope for great accomplishments out of his son; just peacefully carrying on the family name would be enough. Thus, he didnât impose any strict demands, which gave rise to Cheng Yueâs domineering, brattish behavior.
This arrogant bully only worsened after Cheng Meng was promoted to minister of the Bureau of Military Affairs. The noble scion often gathered with his peers and got into all sorts of trouble. Having been warden of the eastern ward for a long time, Sir Zheng often ran into these noble sons. Heâd always let them go with a slap on the wrist, if not, because of his relationship with their fathers.
But who knew that Cheng Yue would do the unthinkable and butt heads with the Qins!
If things had been before, Sir Zheng would naturally sweep everything under the table again. However, the emperor most favored Qin Huaiyuan now, so too was the warden on the emperorâs team.
Since the factional lines were delineated, everyone should keep to their camps and refrain from getting into further trouble. But who wouldâve thought that the Lu-backed faction would levy their spears at the emperor-backed Qin Huaiyuan?
Now that public discourse was at such a high and Sir Zheng in charge, he couldnât protect any side even if he wanted to.
âMiss Qin.â Sir Zheng offered a cupped fist salute next to the carriage. âIâm afraid Iâll have to ask Miss Qin to make a trip to the Wardenâs Office.â
âOur miss is the victim and the culprits these unreasonable horse racers!â rebutted Xiaoman. âWhy does milord want to take our miss into custody?â
âPlease donât misunderstand, Miss Qin. Iâm not arresting you, just need to inquire about a few things.â
This was precisely the development Qin Yining was waiting for, so she responded kindly, âI wonât put you in a difficult situation, milord. Iâll make the trip with you. Iâm sure youâll be able to give me a concrete explanation as well.â
âOf course, thatâs my duty as a warden. I impartially handle everything.â
âThat would be wonderful.â Qin Yiningâs voice was exceedingly gentle, spreading comfort and ease in its wake.
A noble girl talking a walk in the market with the familyâthat was quite a normal occurrence. But the poor girl had bumped into these unruly noble songs!
Add to that Qin Huaiyuanâs matter from a few days ago and the fact that it was the same group of people, Sir Zheng was certain that this was revenge long in the making.
The noble scions were equally surprised at this moment. None of them had thought that a girl would have such ferocious guards by her side!
However, it was easy enough for the warden to understand. If it was said that Cheng Yue was Minister Chengâs sole hope, then Qin Yining was also Qin Huaiyuanâs only daughter. He didnât even have a son!
In comparison, Minister Cheng had the âseven fairiesâ. It didnât seem that Qin Huaiyuan doted on Qin Yining any less than Cheng Meng did his only son.
What an irritating mess!
After placating Qin Yining, Sir Zheng turned to talk some sense into the outraged noble scions.
Compared to the well-educated and reasonable Qin Yining, this group wasnât so easy to handle. After failing to convince them verbally, Sir Zheng had to settle for half coaxing and half threatening the group back to his office.
âŠâŠ
The Qin fourth missâ carriage slowly rolled to a stop at the office doors. Bingtang, Jiyun, and Lian Xiaozhou alighted first before turning back to help their mistress down.
Meanwhile, several of the noble sons looked curiously their way. It too piqued their curiosity on just what kind of woman could entrance a hardened man like the Faithful Prince of the First Rank. The prince had ignored the blood feud of his fatherâs death to carry off the girl!
A pale-white, unadorned hand reached out probingly, resting on the maidâs hand. It was followed by a charming face that was as pretty as a peach. The crowdâs gazes clung to her as she alighted from the carriage.
Her adroit and deft movements placed her as average height compared to typical northern women, but above average among southern women. She flicked an aloof glance at the crowd, light sparkling in her limpid, almond-shaped eyes. Not a single word was needed to entrance the mind of everyone present.
No wonder! No wonder that even someone like the Faithful Prince of the First Rank fell victim to this sweet trap!
Some of the noble scions were quite disgruntled. They hadnât made out with anything for their troubles today! They didnât cause Qin Yining to alight from her carriage or hear her voice. And now, were they to just silently watch on?
But given the current situation, they really didnât know how to get their hands on her.
The group arrived at the front hall. Sir Zheng gave orders for tea to be served.
The youth with a swollen cheek, courtesy of Jingzhe, chugged his cup of tea and pointed at the guard standing behind Qin Yining. âYour lordship, that man tried to murder someone in broad daylight. Arrest him!â
Jingzhe, Bingtang, and the others were all standing quietly with their heads down behind their mistress. The guard captain didnât even raise an eyebrow when he heard the accusation, remaining docilely standing behind the Qin fourth miss.
All of the former Silver Masks now looked like average, everyday servants. Their frightening skill from earlier was the last thing on everyoneâs minds. If it wasnât for concrete evidence in the form of the young manâs face, Sir Zheng wouldâve never believed it.