Return of the Swallow

Chapter 30: Trump Card in Hand

Qin Yining couldn’t help but look askance at the duchess. She had no idea what this Institute of Luminous Grace was, but her grandmother had traded good fields and stores to her eldest cousin for it. No wonder her cousins’ expressions had shifted when grandmother had brought it up. Née Sun was truly caught by surprise. She’d never thought that a girl who’d just come home, someone unfamiliar to her own family, would elicit so much fondness. And to have mother be so generous!

“Mother, thank you for your kind intentions, but we shan’t accept it. A little girl who knows nothing isn’t suited to look after the Institute. Just like I said, there are so many officials and esteemed nobles within it, and it really would be no joking matter if she offended someone. Besides, she’s just come back and hasn’t even gotten a full handle on all her sums, much less the knowhow on operating a business. She doesn’t lack anything in the prime minister’s manor, and it’s not like her paternal grandmother gave her any money or stores after she came back. Why does our family have to go to such depths?”

The first half of her words actually made some sense, but the duchess was frowning fiercely by the time she’d finished, and left everyone feeling a bit awkward. Without a word, the duke left with the male cousins, leaving the warmed room to the female family members.

When she saw how her father had left just like that, née Sun realized that she might’ve said something that displeased her father. It was a habit of his that she had long recognized. The duke would always vacate the area whenever one of the children did something bad and leave the floor for the duchess to enact punishment.

The duchess spoke after the men had left. “Your words just now were completely inappropriate. Why have you learned to compare yourself to others in jealousy and envy since leaving our family? As a mother, don’t you know you have to serve as an example for your children? Aren’t you afraid that your daughters will also learn these base behaviors of bickering and fighting against others, leading to disharmony between sisters in the end?!”

Née Sun was unwilling to accept this kind of lecturing and lowered her head without another word. On the other hand, Qin Huining flushed hot and cold at those words. The duchess looked like she was lecturing née Sun, but she was really speaking to Qin Huining!

The senior and second madame tried to smooth things over when they saw how angry the duchess was. “Don’t be angry mother, sister Han just has a more innocent nature and speaks more straightforwardly.”

“Innocent nature? Straightforward? She’s almost forty, how can she still be like this!?” The duchess rubbed her forehead as she launched into another tirade. “Have you forgotten everything I said to you that day?!”

Née Sun felt quite aggrieved, but didn’t dare talk back since her mother seemed truly angry this time. She just kept her head down and silently admitted her wrongs. The duchess took two deep breaths to calm herself. “You might not be able to think things through clearly, but thankfully you’ve been blessed with someone who sees clearly: granddaughter Yi. You need to think more in the future. Don’t just blindly believe everything that’s told to you. You should discuss matters with darling Yi in the future when something crops up in the Qin manor. I believe that darling Yi will soon be accustomed to the Institute. Just because you don’t have the ability to run a business doesn’t mean your daughter doesn’t! Don’t forget whose daughter she is!”

Née Sun was being lectured like she was three again. She didn’t even dare breathe too loudly in case it sparked a resurgence in her mother’s rage. Although she was indignant at the words being piled on her head, she actually felt a bizarre sense of pride rise within her as well. Perhaps Qin Yining really did take after her father’s smarts?

Qin Yining could only be anxious off to the side. There was no place for her to interject at all. When she saw the tirade come to an end, she joined her aunts in pacifying her grandmother. The duchess didn’t mean to endlessly continue in this vein either, so she ended that topic to prevent general awkwardness. “Granddaughter Yi, you might not understand what the Institute is, having just come back. I’ll have Bao-mama explain to you what business it runs, and have the accounts and various documents sent home for you.”

“Thank you, grandmother,” Qin Yining responded.

Bao-mama smiled and bent her knee in a curtsey. “Miss, please come with me.”

“Many thanks to Bao-mama.” Qin Yining evaded the greeting and returned a half curtsey. The two left the room in friendly spirits, with the smiling eyes of the duchess, senior madame, and second madame following them. Yet when the duchess turned back to see née Sun murmur something to Qin Huining in a low voice, she felt her head hurt again. She couldn’t help but take up the mantle of the ‘Great Feat of Lecturing One’s Daughter’ again. “I can tell already that granddaughter Yi is one who knows when it’s appropriate to advance and when to retreat. This granddaughter is one I like the most, so you…”

And so née Sun was lectured all over again on every aspect of her life... and then some.