In her own social circle since childhood, the young ladies she had met were generally well-educated, reasonable, and sensible.

Few young ladies could be as unruly and disregard for dignity and propriety as Wu Jin'er.

Qin Sheng stood up, glanced at the broken skewer in Wu Jin'er's hand, and said coldly, "What is Fourth Miss Wu doing?"

"You're not praying for a marriage, are you?" Wu Jin'er said maliciously. "Oh dear, you're a divorced piece of trash, and you still have the nerve to pray for a marriage?"

As she spoke, still seemingly unsatisfied, she leaned closer and lowered her voice: "Qin Sheng, how dare you, a divorced woman, seduce the Regent?"

"seduce?"

Qin Sheng was first taken aback, then smiled slightly, "Miss Wu, an unmarried girl, must really enjoy seducing men, otherwise how could she just spout off like that?"

"What did you say?"

Wu Jin'er had never suffered such humiliation in her life, and she raised her hand to strike.

Qin Sheng gripped her wrist tightly. "The Buddha is watching, Miss Wu, you'd better restrain yourself."

After saying that, he forcefully threw her hand away, as if he had touched something dirty, and even wiped his palm with a handkerchief.

"..."

Wu Jin'er was furious and about to explode again when several people walked in through the door. The one in the lead was a beautiful woman whose features bore a resemblance to Wu Jin'er.

Qin Sheng understood immediately; this must be Lady Xing, the concubine of Marquis Wuping.

"Jin'er." Madam Xing called out to her daughter, her tone slightly stern: "How dare you be so presumptuous before the Buddha."

"mother……"

Wu Jin'er quickly went over, took Xing's arm, and pointed at Qin Sheng, "You have no idea what she just said about me!"

Qin Sheng didn't even glance at the mother and daughter again. He knelt on the prayer mat, picked up the divination tube, and continued to draw lots.

Fortunately, it was still a very auspicious sign.

Qin Sheng picked up the fortune sticks and took them outside to have the old monk interpret them.

Wu Jin'er was still angry and pouted, but Xing Shi pulled her to kneel on the prayer mat with her, "Buddha, please bless Jin'er..."

Listening to her mother devoutly kneeling and praying to Buddha while reciting her marriage proposal, Wu Jin'er's cheeks flushed slightly.

After the prayers were finished, Madam Xing instructed the nanny beside her to donate money for incense oil.

He donated one thousand taels.

The mother and daughter left the main hall together. Wu Jin'er took Xing's arm and couldn't help but whisper, "Mother, is what Father said true? Is Lord Liao from the capital really going to recognize me as his goddaughter?"

"Of course it's true."

Mentioning this, Madam Xing's gentle face flushed slightly. "If we had godparents like Lord Liao and Madam Liao, no one would dare to bring up your illegitimate birth anymore."

This matter has always been a source of pain for Ms. Xing.

No matter how much the Marquis doted on her and her daughter, she was always just a concubine, and Jin'er was always just an illegitimate child.

But things are better now.

If Lord Liao recognizes Jin'er as his goddaughter, things will be very different. Jin'er's status will be even more noble than that of the legitimate daughter, Wu Jingying.

"That---"

Wu Jin'er's cheeks flushed red and hot. "Does this mean my daughter can marry whomever she wants in the future?"

"You silly girl," Madam Xing couldn't help but raise her hand and gently poke her forehead, "How can you make such a big decision as marriage by yourself?"

"When my daughter goes to the capital, she will definitely be able to see the Regent often. My daughter should either not marry at all, or she should marry a man like the Regent."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Madam Xing quickly rebuked.

After scolding him, he nervously looked around, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that no one else was there.

Wu Jin'er playfully stuck out her tongue, took Xing Shi's arm, and walked away, surrounded by a group of trusted maids and servants.

At the corner, Qin Sheng slowly walked out with Caiyue.

"This Miss Wu is really lucky," Caiyue couldn't help but sigh. "If she really recognizes Lord Liao of the capital as her godfather, no one will dare to bring up her status as an illegitimate child anymore."

"Yes," Qin Sheng said calmly.

But she couldn't help but think more about it. Why would the Left Prime Minister Liao Wushan want to recognize the illegitimate daughter of the Marquis of Wuping as his goddaughter?

Liao Wushan indeed had no daughters, only one legitimate son and two illegitimate sons.

Even so, if he really wanted a goddaughter, normally he should have recognized Wu Jingying, the legitimate daughter of Marquis Wuping.

Just as Qin Sheng was lost in thought, Lü Qingfeng arrived.

"Would you like to stroll around a bit more, young lady, or go back?"

"Let's go back." Qin Sheng temporarily suppressed her thoughts; she still needed to write a letter to her parents when she got back.

Back at the manor, a guard brought over a letter, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Madam, this is a letter sent to you from Crescent Moon City."

Qin Sheng subconsciously assumed it was a letter from Qin Yu.

To my surprise, when I opened it, I found unfamiliar yet slightly familiar handwriting, with strong and sharp strokes.

This is... a letter from Yue Rongheng to her.

Qin Sheng was surprised that he would write her a letter, so she sat down in the courtyard to read it.

The letter is short.

Yue Rongheng told her about his experiences on the way to Crescent Moon City, briefly mentioned the war between the two countries, and at the end, he told her that if she needed anything, she should definitely go to Magistrate Hou for help, without having to avoid suspicion.

Qin Sheng folded the letter and got up to go to the small study in the backyard.

She first wrote a letter to her mother, sealed it, and then had it sent back to the Qin family residence in the capital along with the birthday gifts she had prepared.

Just as I was about to write a reply to Yue Rongheng, Yu Fu arrived.

"My lady." Yu Fu bowed to Qin Sheng, unable to suppress the joy on his face.

“These past few days I’ve been dealing with several merchants from out of town who have come to Ningzhou. I heard that a caravan from the Wuyue Kingdom will be going to Qingzhou in a few days. The furs, gold, silver and jade artifacts, wolf-hair brushes and gold-flecked paper from the Wuyue Kingdom are all rare items. In the past, when their merchants came, everything they brought was snapped up.”

"However, they also buy our goods to take back to Wuyue Kingdom to sell. I heard that the most popular items from our Da Xiang in Wuyue Kingdom are all kinds of embroidery and fabrics."

"..."

Embroidery...

Qin Sheng's heart began to race slightly. She understood Yu Fu's meaning: if the embroidery in their shop could be sold to Wu Yue's merchants, wouldn't that mean...?

Qin Sheng had a lot of confidence in Yu Rou's cooking skills, but she still needed to discuss the specifics with Yu Rou.

Is this news true?

Yu Fu patted his chest and guaranteed: "It's true. In just a few days, a large number of merchants from Ningzhou will definitely be heading to Qingzhou."

Qingzhou is about two hundred miles away from Ningzhou Prefecture.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted.

Qin Sheng hurriedly asked Yu Fu to inquire about the news again, and then she got up and called her maid and Lü Qingfeng to go to the embroidery shop together.

When I returned, it was already completely dark.