Shen Qiyin's eyes flickered slightly.

Curious, she opened it and found a silver openwork ball with floral and bird patterns inside, tied with a ruyi knot at the top and dangling light blue tassels at the bottom.

"How beautiful!" Shen Qiyin held it up to the lamp for a closer look: "Is it a sachet?"

At the chrysanthemum appreciation banquet at the Marquis's residence last time, she had seen similar enamel sachets on some of the daughters of nobles and marquises.

Seeing the tiny glint in her eyes, Xiao Yan felt a sense of relief and explained, "It's a hidden weapon."

Miss Shen froze, her hand still holding the silver ball.

"Hidden...hidden weapon?!"

"There is a hidden weapon in the Eagle Pavilion called the 'Ghost Needle Ball,' which is wrapped around the waist with a thin chain and thrown when fighting, making it impossible for the enemy to defend against it."

As Xiao Yan spoke, he took the silver ball from her hand and pressed it somewhere. A cold light shot out from the hollowed-out gap.

When Shen Qiyin looked closely, she saw a silver needle as thin as a cow's hair sticking into the box containing the hidden weapon.

"However, that's not really suitable for you."

"Firstly, you lack martial arts skills, making it inconvenient for you to operate."

"Secondly, if you want to fight someone, you must take them by surprise and win by surprise. But the Ghost Needle Ball is too conspicuous. I'm afraid that people will be on guard before you even make a move."

"This is the improved design, disguised as a sachet. No one will suspect anything if you wear it with you."

As soon as Xiao Yan finished speaking, Shen Qiyin did not react at all.

She stared intently at the other person and said in a daze, "This is the first time I've ever heard an adult say so much!"

Xiao Yan was silent for a moment, then asked her, "...Is it noisy?"

"No, no!" Shen Qiyin waved her hands repeatedly, "I just find it a bit novel."

What a joke! How could she possibly complain about him talking too much!

Their eyes met, and Xiao Yan was relieved to see no disgust or annoyance in her eyes. He then said to her, "I will teach you how to release flying needles."

"Oh, okay."

Shen Qiyin obediently responded and moved her chair to sit down next to Xiao Yan.

The faint scent of sandalwood emanating from her enveloped him without warning, filling his breath with its subtle fragrance and causing him to momentarily lose his senses.

Shen Qiyin tilted her head and moved a little closer to him: "My lord?"

Xiao Yan snapped out of his daze and unexpectedly met her gentle and charming eyes. For some reason, his face suddenly flushed.

Without thinking much, Miss Shen bluntly asked, "Why is your face red, sir? Were you out there in the wind?"

Xiao Yan swallowed hard and said somewhat awkwardly, "...It was heated by candlelight."

When he saw Shen Qiyin looking at the candlestick at least an arm's length away from him with a slightly puzzled expression, he immediately told her how to use the ghost needle ball. Upon closer listening, it was not hard to notice that his tone was a bit more urgent than usual.

However, Shen Qiyin's attention was currently drawn to the exquisite hidden weapon, and she didn't notice it.

After explaining the mechanism to her in detail, Xiao Yan added, "This silver needle is coated with a sleeping potion. If you feel it's not enough, you can apply a more potent poison on it."

"good."

“These flying needles are of a specially made length, and you probably wouldn’t be able to get them easily outside, so I prepared some for you in the box.” Xiao Yan said, removing the inner layer of the box to show Shen Qiyin. Inside, there were densely packed fine needles, which looked very eerie in the candlelight.

"When you're done using it, you can come and ask me for more."

"Thank you, sir."

Shen Qiyin held the ghost needle ball, admiring it dearly, thinking to herself that she was indeed fortunate to have such a powerful backer; even the "weapon" was specially designed to suit her status.

The next day, when Miss Shen got up, she found a delicate and beautiful sachet on her waist.

When she and Rendong were about to leave, it was almost noon when they unexpectedly saw Shen Cang, who should have been on duty in the palace, return from outside the mansion with a livid face.

The affair between Aunt Zhou and Li Gui caused quite a stir, and both were sentenced to twenty strokes of the cane. However, Li Gui was imprisoned for two years, while Aunt Zhou was imprisoned for three years.

When the execution took place, many people gathered to watch, and the two men were covered in rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs.

As the saying goes, "Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles," especially such romantic tales, which spread like wildfire, quickly becoming the talk of the town, and all of Shen Cang's colleagues at the Imperial Medical Academy knew about it.

The way they looked at him was a mix of pity, mockery, and schadenfreude... but any of those feelings were enough to make him want to dig a hole and disappear.

Unable to bear it any longer, he took leave and retreated back to his residence.

For several days in a row, he claimed to be ill and did not go to the Imperial Hospital.

He could stay, but Old Madam Shen couldn't!

He spends all his time idly in the mansion. Does he expect her, a woman with one foot in the grave, to go out and earn money?

Therefore, she couldn't help but nag Shen Cang, and the mother and son argued fiercely over this matter. In the end, it was only by threatening to hang himself that Old Madam Shen forced Shen Cang to leave the house.

He said he was going to work at the Imperial Hospital, but Shen Qiyin knew that he was lying to the old lady; his early mornings and late nights were all an act.

However, she did not expose him.

It's not the right time yet.

After the incident involving Li Gui and Aunt Zhou, Shen Cang ordered Madam Shen to completely replace all the servants in the mansion.

This was all part of Shen Qiyin's plan.

So, as planned, she instigated Madam Shen to also kick out Granny Dai, who had previously been slapped by Honeysuckle.

Madam Shen naturally refused.

The objection was ineffective.

After all, it was under her management that the two incidents involving Aunt Zheng and Aunt Zhou occurred, which made her look foolish and left her speechless, a rare occurrence.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!