After the concubine ran away, the cold prince lost control

Chapter 424 Managing the Family
Qin Xiaoning had just sent Princess Xiang away when the Duke's wife sent someone to invite Qin Xiaoning over, saying that the Sixth Miss was going on a hunger strike because of her marriage.

When Qin Xiaoning heard this, she hurried to the Sixth Miss's yard.

The Duke's wife and Li Lanchun were both there, and they were trying earnestly to persuade the Sixth Miss, but the Sixth Miss was sitting on the bed covered with a quilt, looking unmoved.

"I really don't see what's so good about Zhou Er. He's just handsome and can make a living. But he has a bad character. If you insist on marrying him, you will regret it sooner or later."

Listening to the Duke's wife's endless chatter, the Sixth Miss simply turned her head away and said, "If mother doesn't let me marry Zhou Erlang, then I will never marry for the rest of my life."

The Duke's wife's patience ran out, and she also got angry: "If you don't want to marry, then don't marry. Don't scare me with this. Why would I be afraid of this? It's not like my family can't afford to support you."

As he said this, he winked at Qin Xiaoning and walked away helplessly.

Seeing that the Duke's wife had left and Li Lanchun had also left, although she had never been good at persuading people, she naturally slipped away if she could.

Qin Xiaoning looked at the two people running away and couldn't help but sigh.

The Sixth Miss turned to look at Qin Xiaoning, and asked with a sullen face, "Second sister-in-law, you have always loved me the most, so why are you teaming up with mother to bully me now?"

Qin Xiaoning asked back: "In your eyes, is your mother bullying you?"

The Sixth Miss lowered her eyes and said, "I know my mother hopes that I will marry a good man, but I don't like anyone, so I've only chosen Tuesday."

Qin Xiaoning sat down on the chair. She had walked in a hurry just now and was thirsty, so she poured herself a cup of hot tea and asked the Sixth Miss calmly, "You like him, but do you know if he has you in his heart?"

The Sixth Girl was choked and speechless for a moment.

After a long while, she pouted and said, "Of course he has me in his heart."

Seeing that Qin Xiaoning didn't say anything, she stammered again, "Otherwise, why would he beg my family to come to my house to propose marriage?"

Qin Xiaoning smiled and said, "Perhaps he values ​​our family background and wants to get close to us. It's hard to say."

"Second sister-in-law——"

When the Sixth Miss heard this, she immediately became anxious. She put on her shoes and got off the ground. She walked over to Qin Xiaoning in two or three steps, snatched the teacup from her hand, and said angrily: "Second sister-in-law, how come you have become so vulgar since you became the regent princess? It turns out that you are not like this."

Qin Xiaoning was halfway through her tea when someone snatched the teacup back from the Sixth Miss and said to herself, "I'm telling the truth."

"Zhou Er is not that kind of person." The Sixth Girl's face turned red with anxiety: "Do you have any evidence to prove your claim about him?"

Qin Xiaoning took another sip of tea, then raised her head and asked the Sixth Miss, "Did he ever tell you about redeeming Ji Nu?"

"What Ji girl?" The Sixth Girl was confused.

Qin Xiaoning told the Sixth Miss the news she had found out. After listening carefully, the Sixth Miss was in disbelief. She then excused Zhou Er by saying, "This doesn't mean anything. Maybe he felt sorry for the woman, or maybe the woman begged him."

"In short, I don't believe he would fall in love with a Ji girl." Qin Xiaoning said helplessly: "You are really bewitched by him."

Then he analyzed it with her in detail: "No matter what the situation is, if a man feels sympathy for a woman, I don't believe he is really open-minded."

The Sixth Miss pondered over Qin Xiaoning's words with her head down for a long while. She stammered and retorted, "Second sister-in-law, I still remember when we were studying together, you were so innocent and good at observing people's intentions. Now, you have really changed, second sister-in-law, you have changed a lot. Take the matter of Tuesday for example, I thought you would support me, but I didn't expect that you would slander Tuesday in such a fabricated way just to please your mother."

Although the Sixth Miss's words were spoken in anger, they were also very harsh. When she said this, the maids serving in the room were all shocked. They glanced at Qin Xiaoning's face cautiously, thinking that she must be angry and might leave immediately.

But Qin Xiaoning was silent for a long while after hearing this, and just smiled faintly. She said: "Qing'er, although we grew up together, our daily food, clothing and daily expenses seem to be the same, but our growth experiences are different after all."

She paused, glanced at the dark eyes of the Sixth Lady, and continued, "You were born into a prominent family, loved by your parents, and protected by your brothers. You are the apple of everyone's eye. Every step of your growth has been taken care of by someone. This has cultivated your character of not knowing the difficulties of the world. You believe that no matter what difficulties you encounter, someone will help you deal with them in the end. But marriage is a lifelong event for a woman. If you do not listen to advice and insist on doing it your own way, no one will suffer for you in the future."

After saying this, she stood up and walked out slowly. When she reached the door, she stopped again and turned to look at the Sixth Miss who was sitting there blankly: "Qing'er, I don't think that Zhou Er is your good man. I advise you to think twice."

When they returned to Qingsong Garden, the housekeeper from the inner courtyard had been waiting in the corridor for a long time. He came to give Qin Xiaoning a list of holiday gifts for the coming year.

Qin Xiaoning carefully read the gift list, and then ordered someone to bring in the key person, and immediately asked: "Why are there so many gifts from officials in previous years, but suddenly there are none this year?"

This kind of festival gift is a custom among the powerful and wealthy. During every major festival, especially during the Chinese New Year, the powerful and wealthy, like ordinary people, will give each other gifts. Most of them are fragrant fruits, tea, local specialties from their own farms, etc. They are not very expensive and are intended to win over each other.

Upon hearing this, the housekeeper replied, "Those officials who were deleted all had some connection with the party that supported Chen Taifu in framing the prince a while ago. They were either relatives or old friends. This year, these officials did not send us any festival gifts, so we deleted the gifts for them as well."

Qin Xiaoning ordered: "Add these families in and continue to send gifts according to the practice of previous years."

"But." The housekeeper hesitated and said, "The prince is a loyal regent and holds the highest position. Logically, they should have sent it to us first. The other families sent it long ago."

Qin Xiaoning asked back, "In previous years, these families also sent gifts early, and we also returned the gifts as usual. Why did they suddenly stop communicating this year?"

In eunuch families, the men work hard in the court, but all interactions are decided by the women in the harem.

Maintaining good relationships with all parties is the most challenging task for the mistress of the house.

Facing the young princess' question, the old butler couldn't help but wipe his sweat: "In my humble opinion, they probably have some resentment towards our prince."

"No." Qin Xiaoning said firmly, "They are afraid in their hearts. They are worried that they will be implicated by those criminals who framed the prince. They are worried that the prince will be angry with them because of this. Therefore, they are waiting and watching, and dare not have any contact with us rashly."

As the steward of a noble family's inner chamber, he is naturally no ordinary person.

After hearing what Qin Xiaoning said, the old housekeeper suddenly understood: "Then according to what the princess meant, should we take the initiative to show our goodwill to them?"

Qin Xiaoning nodded and replied, "Your Highness is an iron-blooded man. If they really had second thoughts about you, you would have dealt with them long ago. Your Highness kept them so that they could still be used. It's just that because of the false accusation, these people are bound to have a rift with you. But this rift is not difficult to resolve. Since these people did not participate in the frame-up, they can be won over."

"So, just like before, we should continue to treat each other normally during festivals," Qin Xiaoning ordered.