The social scene in the capital had shifted, and families with children of marriageable age were busy arranging matches.

The families asked about the most were naturally the Qin and Lu families, as one was the Empress’s family and the other was the Emperor’s maternal family.

Both Qin Sheng and Lu Jinyan were known for their beauty.

So many people came to propose marriage that they nearly wore down the thresholds of the Qin and Lu residences.

One day, while working on needlework with Qin Sheng, Lady Qin asked her, “The gentlemen who have visited recently all come from good families, and your brother has investigated their character. Is there anyone you like?”

Qin Sheng kept her head down, continuing her stitches. “Mother, my brother’s marriage hasn’t been settled yet. You should find a match for him first. I want to stay with you for a few more years.”

Lady Qin laughed. “Lord Song intends to take your brother as his son-in-law. I don’t need to worry about your brother’s marriage. Now, I only worry about you. You’re sixteen now. If you stay with me for a few more years, you’ll become an old maid, and no one will want you.”

Qin Sheng’s hand paused briefly. “Then I’ll be an old maid forever!”

Lady Qin looked at her in surprise.

This wasn’t the obedient, delicate daughter she remembered.

She sighed. “Silly girl, don’t say such things. I know you’re close to General Lin, but General Lin is a fourth-ranked general personally appointed by His Majesty. There aren’t many men who can match her status. You don’t need to follow her in everything.”

Lin Yao and his sister, Lin Zhao, were both officials.

To distinguish them, people called Lin Zhao “General Lin.”

As a female general with official rank and exceptional martial skills, Lin Zhao was of marriageable age, but no one dared to propose to the Lin family.

The officials higher in rank were much older, and those her age didn’t have her rank.

The sons of princes and dukes preferred wives who were well-versed in managing households rather than military affairs.

Qin Sheng understood her mother’s point. “I’m not comparing myself to Azhao. After everything our family has been through, I just want to stay with you a little longer.”

Lady Qin, thinking about the gifts sent by the Xie family from the northern frontier, tentatively said, “The Lin family may not have deep roots, but they have great achievements. Those siblings are excellent, and you are close to General Lin Yao. If you were to marry into the Lin family, you wouldn’t be mistreated.”

“Mother…” Qin Sheng nearly pricked her finger and looked up in exasperation. “Don’t say such things. My friendship with Azhao has nothing to do with her brother. If this talk spreads, people will gossip every time I spend time with Azhao.”

Seeing her daughter’s firm refusal, Lady Qin smiled more broadly. “Alright, alright, I won’t say it anymore.”

However, she became more certain that her daughter might be interested in Xie Huan from the northern frontier.

But the thousand-mile distance between the northern frontier and Bianjing made her hesitant.

Qin Sheng noticed the concern in Lady Qin’s eyes and set down her needlework. “Mother, what’s wrong?”

Lady Qin replied, “It’s nothing. It’s just that when you said you wanted to spend more time with me, I realized that if you marry someone in Bianjing, the entire Imperial City is right here. I could visit you whenever I missed you. But if you marry far away, it might be three to five years before I see you again.”

Qin Sheng unconsciously clenched her hand tightly, biting her lip without saying a word.

Her mother seemed to have guessed everything.

Perhaps she brought up these things today to test her attitude.

Feeling a surge of guilt, tears welled up in Qin Sheng’s eyes. “Mother…”

Lady Qin held her hand. “Don’t cry. I didn’t mean to blame you. As long as you’re happy, your future husband is someone worth entrusting. Neither I nor your siblings will stand in your way. I hope you find a husband in Bianjing so that your brother, sister, and I will all be here. If you suffer any grievances after marriage, someone will stand up for you. In life, who can see the future at a glance? If you marry far away, thousands of miles apart, you’ll have to swallow many grievances alone.”

“Your nature is gentle. Among my three children, I worry about you the most.”

As the saying goes, “High families marry daughters, low families marry daughters-in-law.”

After the ups and downs of the Qin family, Lady Qin didn’t want her daughter to marry into any noble families again.

She thought it would be better for her daughter to marry a promising young man from the Hanlin Academy.

Previously, whenever someone came to propose marriage, Qin Sheng only wanted to find an excuse to reject them.

After talking to Lady Qin, she felt confused for the first time.

Xie Huan treated her exceptionally well, and Lady Xie also liked her.

When they were in Leizhou, Lady Xie would send her trendy fabrics or delicacies from the south whenever they were in fashion.

But Qin Sheng didn’t know if Lady Xie treated her so well because she genuinely liked her or because of her sister.

And just because she appreciated someone’s goodness, was it right to ignore her mother and siblings and leave for a distant place, causing them worry?

Qin Sheng felt she was being unfilial.

That night, she looked at the rabbit lamp Xie Huan had made for her during the Lantern Festival for a long time before putting it away in a dusty wooden box under her bed.

She realized she might like Xie Huan, but that affection wasn’t enough to make her gamble with her future and leave her home.

As she tried to sleep, Qin Sheng tossed and turned, tears dampening her pillow.

It was the day she left Beiting, with the cold wind blowing and rain mixed with snow falling from the gray sky.

Servants were bustling in and out, busy moving her and Pei Wenyu’s belongings.

When she and Pei Wenyu were about to board the carriage with their umbrellas, she heard a soft call behind her: “Miss Qin.”

Turning around, she saw Xie Huan hurrying over.

Pei Wenyu noticed that Xie Huan had something to say to Qin Shend, so she handed her the umbrella and got on the carriage first.

Qin Sheng took a few steps back and stopped three steps away from Xie Huan.

She replied somewhat awkwardly, “Master Xie.”

Her grip on the umbrella handle tightened unintentionally.

She didn’t know how to bid farewell to the person before her.

The Xie family was a prominent official family guarding the border.

Xie Huan would surely stay in Beiting to assist Xie Chi in the future, but her family was in Bianjing, and she had to return.

Xie Huan didn’t hold an umbrella.

The indigo-colored robe was marked with wet stains from the cold rain and snow, but he didn’t look disheveled.

He brushed off the snowflakes on his clothes with a graceful smile on his handsome face. “Beiting is like this. Most of the year, it’s rainy and snowy.”

Qin Sheng nodded discreetly.

Seeing that his clothes were almost wet from the fine rain and snowflakes, she tilted her oiled paper umbrella towards him.

The umbrella was large enough to shelter two people.

However, Xie Huan grabbed the handle of the umbrella, preventing Qin Sheng from tilting it towards him.

His slender, fair hand, which was usually busy with a pen, gripped the handle above, still a distance from Qin Sheng’s hand, but this sudden movement made her heart suddenly beat faster.

Xie Huan’s hair, usually neatly arranged, was also dampened by the mist and snow.

He looked at Qin Sheng with a serious expression. “Miss Qin, do you think the snow in Beiting is beautiful, or is it the snow in the Southern Capital?”

Qin Sheng couldn’t answer him, her hand gripping the umbrella handle tightly.

He seemed to know the answer from her silence.

Still wearing a gentle smile on his face, he released his grip on the umbrella handle. “Perhaps the snow in the Southern Capital is better. I hope that one day, you and I can see the snow in the Southern Capital together. I wish you a smooth journey.”

It was just that sentence that left her heart in turmoil until now.

But apart from that sentence, he didn’t promise her anything.

The items sent to the mansion in Lady Xie’s name were more of an implicit ambiguity.

That night, Qin Sheng caught a cold and fell ill.

After that, when items were sent from the Xie family, she politely refused them all.

She couldn’t bear to leave her mother and siblings.

Instead of continuing this ambiguous connection and waiting for an unclear answer, she might as well make her attitude clear to everyone.

Qin Sheng put away everything she brought back from Beiting, but her heart suddenly felt empty.

As the unrest ended and the court no longer needed to maintain such a large army, some soldiers would be disbanded and sent home with provisions and travel expenses.

Some of the Women’s Army would also be sent back home.

Qin Sheng managed the Women’s Army’s accounts and focused all her attention on the financial records.

Lin Zhao worked early and returned late every day.

Among the Women’s Army left behind, some would be selected to join the palace guards.

In the past, the palace guards were all men, but if they trained a female guard that could compete with the male guards, the palace’s defense would be much stronger.

To train a female guard that could match the male guards, Lin Zhao selected two hundred women from the five thousand Women’s Army left behind and trained them every day.

Pei Wenyu, as Lin Zhao’s chief clerk, was already titled as a princess, but she still came to help Lin Zhao with some paperwork every day.

Qin Sheng, preoccupied with her own thoughts, didn’t notice anything unusual about Lin Zhao.

Instead, Pei Wenyu asked, “What’s going on with you and Zhao lately?”

Qin Sheng considered Pei Wenyu a good friend and didn’t hide anything from her.

She told Pei Wenyu about her mother’s words and her own choices.

Pei Wenyu seemed to remember her deceased family and looked a bit melancholy. “Your mother is right, and it’s good that you can come to terms with it yourself. If I were you, I wouldn’t want to leave my family either.”

Qin Sheng sighed lightly and didn’t continue talking about her own affairs.

She asked, “What about Zhao?”

Pei Wenyu said, “Like you, she’s either busy as a spinning top or sitting in the courtyard daydreaming.”

Qin Sheng was taken aback.

She couldn’t imagine how a fiery girl like Lin Zhao could be troubled by matters of the heart like herself.

Pei Wenyu only said, “Maybe.”

Yesterday, when she left the government office later than usual, she found Minister Cen’s carriage parked under a teahouse opposite the government office.

Lin Zhao, acting unusually, didn’t leave through the main gate but left over the back wall.

In the blink of an eye, Qingming arrived.

Qin Sheng used to be very close to Shen Chan because of her sister, but unfortunately, Shen Chan had passed away.

Qin Sheng had cried several times over Shen Chan’s ordeal.

She had been sent to marry into the Northern Barbarian, knowing how terrifying it was.

If it weren’t for her sister’s efforts to save her, she might have already perished.

Qin Sheng had heard that during festivals and holidays, if there were no offerings burned for the deceased, they would be mistreated in the underworld.

Since there was no one left in the Shen family, she was afraid that Shen Chan wouldn’t fare well there either.

She secretly discussed with Lady Qin and decided to burn some offerings for Shen Chan during festivals and holidays.

Lady Qin also felt sorry for Shen Chan, knowing she was a child of misfortune, so she readily agreed.

However, she was worried that Qin Jian still couldn’t get over it, so she warned Qin Sheng not to mention it in front of Qin Jian.

On Qingming Day, Qin Sheng sneaked into the abandoned backyard like a thief, preparing to burn offerings for Shen Chan.

However, she found her elder brother Qin Jian there, burning offerings for someone as well after returning from tomb-sweeping.

Qin Jian rarely drank, but now he was sitting cross-legged on the ground, holding a small clay wine pot in his hand.

He took a sip himself and poured some on the ground, saying, “I was a loyal subject of Chu. When you were alive, we were sworn enemies, but now that you’re dead, I can have a drink with you again.”

Qin Sheng held her breath and hid behind the overgrown flower bed, not daring to make a sound.

Qin Jian might have been drunk, as he rambled on, “We had agreed that if I could enter the court, I would root out corruption and uphold justice for the country. But in the end, you forgot all about it…”

Qin Sheng bit her lip.

She could probably guess who Qin Jian was burning the offerings for.