Lady Fucha refused to take action, and Lady Nian couldn't force her to. Asking her to speak was merely a way of giving her a warning. Time passed in this way, and before they knew it, it was midsummer.
A piece of news, like a pebble dropped into the inner quarters, caused an uproar. It wasn't actually any particularly significant news, but for Lady Nian, it was good news—her brother, Nian Gengyao, was coming to the capital.
Even the Fourth Prince came to her more often, talking to her about Nian Gengyao and indicating that Nian should prepare to receive her own brother. After Nian Gengyao arrives in the capital, he will definitely stay at the Nian residence and will certainly visit Nian at the Yong Prince's residence.
Lanqin learned that the key figure who played a crucial role in the Fourth Prince's struggle for the throne was about to make an important appearance. She also knew that there was another important figure, namely the Fourth Prince's uncle, Longkodo.
Perhaps to appease Nian Gengyao, the Fourth Prince had been visiting the Nian family more frequently lately. Lanqin couldn't possibly be indifferent, but even if she were, it wouldn't change the role the Nian family played in the Fourth Prince's path to the throne. She comforted herself by thinking: Hongli will be the future Qianlong Emperor; if she minded now, she would be hindering the Fourth Prince's succession and might even delay Hongli's future. Therefore, Lanqin desperately tried to find things to do to avoid thinking about the Nian family's situation.
Just as Lanqin was preparing to explore expanding the Daqing Hot Pot business to other regions, a problem arose at the store managed by Qiugui. Upon learning of the problem, Lanqin was furious and wanted to immediately confront her illegitimate second brother, but due to her status, she had to suppress her anger.
Lanqin had no choice but to return to her parents' home in person. She had promised Consort De that she would no longer easily go to those places to avoid attracting attention, but her return to her parents' home was perfectly justifiable.
After returning to the Ling residence, Lanqin did not mention anything to Anjia, because Anjia was getting old and Lanqin did not want her to worry about it, since Anjia had never agreed with Lanqin's decision to help Yang's son.
"Qin'er, your mother seems less happy than before. Is something wrong?" Anjia noticed the worry in Lanqin's smile and took her hand to ask. After all, she was a mother; how could she not notice?
"It's nothing. It's just that Hongli and the other children are being naughty. They're all getting older, and it's not easy to keep them in line," Lanqin quickly said.
"Tell your mother, is the Prince not as kind to you as he used to be?" This was Anjia's first concern. She had suffered for half her life, and her biggest worry was that Lanqin was not feeling well in this area.
"No, Mother, you're overthinking it. The Prince has always been very good to his daughter. It's not about these things," Lanqin said softly, nestled against Anjia's shoulder.
"What exactly is it? Don't hide it from me!" Anjia finally managed to get a clue and quickly pressed for an answer.
Lanqin realized she had let something slip and stammered, "It's Yang's son. I originally gave him a shop to manage. But then the ingredients in the shop had a problem, and people started making trouble. When I sent people to investigate, it turned out he had embezzled the money for the ingredients and bought some inferior ones. It's infuriating! What he did directly affected the business of the other shops."
It turns out that Qiu Gui, in order to embezzle the restaurant's money, had arbitrarily changed the sourcing of some ingredients, using inferior ones instead of higher quality, and pocketing the difference. Hot pot relies heavily on the freshness of its ingredients, and after his substitution, customers discovered that some of the meat and fish were not fresh, leading to a conflict with the restaurant staff. This incident directly damaged the reputation of that particular restaurant. The other restaurants fared better; thankfully, there was no internet or reviews in this era, otherwise the consequences would have been much more severe.
“What did I tell you before? I told you not to use that person’s son. Oh dear, did he really cause you trouble?” Anjia said anxiously.
“Mother, it’s alright. Qin’er just came back to teach him a lesson. Since he’s so shameless, we won’t give him any face. I made it clear from the beginning that I would never tolerate someone who doesn’t do things properly. This time, Father won’t side with them, and Mother won’t have to bear the reputation of being harsh on a concubine’s son. Besides, if we hadn’t done this last time, would they have been willing to split up the family?”
Anjia sighed and said, "This karmic debt is all caused by your father's sins. Qin'er, you've really suffered."
“Mother, it’s nothing serious. Don’t worry.” Lanqin was becoming more and more dependent on Anjia’s maternal love. Every time she went back to her parents’ home, she would snuggle in her arms and act coquettishly for a long time. But when something really happened, she would turn around and comfort Anjia.
But when she actually went to see Qiu Gui and brought Ling Zhu along to discuss his affairs, she found that getting rid of this half-brother was not so easy.
The three of them sat down in Lingzhu's study. After the maid brought the tea, she quickly left.
“Father, I absolutely cannot use Second Brother anymore, given how he has acted. Second Brother, you must take responsibility for your own actions. From today onwards, you no longer need to go to the shop. Our place is too small to support someone as important as you.” Lanqin slammed her teacup down on the table.
Qiu Gui, however, was somewhat indifferent. Seeing Lan Qin's words, he felt that she had directly humiliated him. He said angrily, "Third sister, it's just a little bit of silver in the ingredients. Is it really necessary to swindle people? Father, look at how she treats her elder brother."
"Shut up!" Ling Zhu glared at Qiu Gui, then put the teacup he was holding on the table.
"Qin'er, Qiu Gui has been working for you for several months now. He's been foolish this time, and I've already reprimanded him. Please give him another chance for the sake of our brother-sister relationship. Qiu Gui, swear to your third sister right here and now in front of me that you will never do such a thing again. If you do, cut off your own finger as an apology!" Ling Zhu had already cursed this illegitimate son to the core in his heart, but he still had to plead with Lan Qin for him. After all, he had raised such a good-for-nothing son.
Upon hearing Lingzhu's words, Qiu Gui immediately said, "Father, you're too cruel! You want me to commit suicide..."
"You unfilial son! Your sister is willing to give you a job, so you should take it seriously. Do you think I can support you for life? Once I retire, you and your wife will have to sell your property to make ends meet. Don't come to my door then!" Lingzhu cursed.
Upon hearing this, Qiu Gui dared not provoke Ling Zhu any further and fell silent. Lan Qin, however, had already made up her mind; she would never keep Qiu Gui around. She didn't expect her family to help her, or at least not to be a burden.
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