The eldest daughter's scheming, the crown prince's exclusive favor to the venomous concubi

At this, Qiu Lingyun fell silent. Jiang Shi didn't dare to speak loudly anymore. She just lowered her head and kept sobbing, carefully stroking Qiu Lingyun's face, "Yun'er, Yun'er, are you alright? My Yun'er."

After a while, Qiu Lingyun suddenly started wailing and clung to Jiang Shi, refusing to let go.

"Waaah! Auntie, it hurts, it hurts! You have to stand up for me, ahh~"

These words made Qiu Zhenzhou laugh in anger. He pointed at Qiu Lingyun and said, "What? You think you're wronged for hitting me? Is this how you behave, like a shrew from the streets? Is this the rule of my Qiu family? You think I hit you wrong? I'd like to see how your aunt will stand up for you."

Having followed Qiu Zhenzhou for so many years, Madam Jiang had rarely witnessed him in a fit of rage. Now that she had seen it, she was visibly afraid. She could only soothe Qiu Lingyun while sobbing to Qiu Zhenzhou, "Master, please calm down. Lingyun is young and doesn't know any better. It's my fault for not teaching her properly, which is why Lingyun offended you. Please forgive her; she is your own daughter."

Qiu Zhenzhou remained silent, only letting out a cold snort. Qiu Lingfeng stepped forward, supporting Qiu Zhenzhou and comforting him, "Father, don't be angry. It will harm your health. Let's do it this time, have a cup of tea, and calm down."

Qiu Zhenzhou was helped back by Qiu Lingfeng, and Qiu Lingfeng turned to look at Jiang Shi, who was still kneeling on the ground, and said: "Auntie said that Lingyun is Father's daughter, but why didn't you think that Sixth Sister is also Father's daughter?"

Why didn't Lingyun consider that she was her own sister? Ling Fengsui, while not necessarily the most well-mannered, knew that the rules for Qiu family daughters were to live in harmony, not to scheme against each other, and certainly not to try to exclude others. But what was Lingyun doing? At such a crucial moment, publicly humiliating her sixth sister? And even using it as an excuse to insult her? Did they think it was justified because the insults didn't involve their father?

Qiu Lingfeng, being the eldest daughter of the household, spoke with considerable authority, leaving Jiang speechless. After a long pause, she stammered, "But, what the eldest young lady says is true. However, Lingyun has been well-behaved since childhood. Her attack on the sixth young lady was only because the sixth young lady was ignorant of the rules. After the sixth young lady argued back, it provoked Yun'er to become angry and insult her. It is truly understandable. If the sixth young lady hears anything inappropriate in her words, she should point it out. How can she directly hit someone? Master, Madam, and the eldest young lady, you cannot be biased towards any one of them."

Qiu Zhenzhou looked at Jian Yue, and when Jian Yue saw this, she trembled and suddenly burst into tears, which gave Qiu Zhenzhou another headache.

"What are you crying about? What's there to cry about? Did you get beaten up? I'm the one who got beaten up."

Qiu Lingyun roared defiantly, her face so swollen and red that it was unrecognizable. Her speech was slurred, clearly because her mouth was sore and couldn't close properly.

Jian Yue timidly walked to Qiu Lingyun's side. Qiu Lingyun trembled and reached out to touch her, but she held back when she thought about her current appearance. However, her sharp fingernails almost tore a hole in the silk handkerchief in her hand.

"What are you going to do?"

Jian Yue paused for a moment, then lowered her head and squatted down on the ground. She reached out as if she wanted to stroke Qiu Lingyun's cheek, but hesitated, making Qiu Lingyun extremely wary. However, Jian Yue seemed to feel sorry for her and said, "It must hurt a lot, right? Sister must be in a lot of pain. What should we do? It's all my fault."

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face as she looked at Qiu Zhenzhou and said, "Father, it's all Lingxiu's fault. Lingxiu shouldn't have acted. Lingxiu is stupid. She couldn't interrupt when her sister was speaking. If you want to punish someone, punish Lingxiu. Lingxiu is willing to die to appease you."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Lingyun spat viciously, "Cat crying over a mouse, all whining and sobbing, do you think they're all dead? You think they believed your words?"

Qiu Zhenzhou looked coldly at Qiu Lingyun, and Jiang Shi shivered. She quickly covered Qiu Lingyun's mouth and said, "Yun'er, don't talk nonsense. Your sixth sister pleaded for you. You should be grateful."

"But……"

Qiu Lingyun looked at Jiang Shi with a wronged expression. Jiang Shi gave her a wink and whispered, "My Yun'er, bear with it."

Qiu Lingyun's eyes immediately reddened. She didn't understand why, at this moment, her parents, who had given birth to her, were all telling her to apologize and endure it? She had clearly done nothing wrong; it was that damned bitch who was responsible.

At this moment, Qiu Lingfeng spoke.

"Lingxiu, don't blame yourself. You're naturally timid, so it's understandable that you couldn't speak. But I'm still feeling scared. It's terrifying that you, a timid person, dared to take action."

Qiu Lingfeng's words had a double meaning. She stared intently at Jian Yue, trying to discern something from Jian Yue's expression. However, Jian Yue lowered her head, blushed, and sobbed, saying, "I didn't think about anything just now. I was just thinking that what I said was inappropriate and insulted my father. Insulting my father is unacceptable, so I did it."

Upon reflection, I realized it was inappropriate. Hitting my elder sister was wrong of me, and failing to respect hierarchy was also my fault. However, if others were to say that all the daughters of the Qiu family were so ill-mannered, thus damaging my sisters' reputation, that would be Lingxiu's fault.

Qiu Lingfeng was taken aback, but Zhang, the second concubine who had remained silent until now, suddenly laughed and said, "Oh my, now that you mention it, it really is true. If the sixth young lady hit someone, people will say that she is rude and doesn't understand the proper order of things. But this fifth young lady is like a shrew from the marketplace, verbally abusing and beating her own sister, and even going so far as to insult her own father. If people find out about this... Master, you must punish her severely. Our daughters are all at the crucial point of marriage negotiations. We can't let this incident implicate the other girls."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the women present were unhappy, and Qiu Zhenzhou fell silent.

Besides his principal wife, Madam Sun, he also had three concubines. Apart from Madam Sun, who gave birth to two legitimate daughters, each of his concubines had given birth to a daughter for him. Now, Qiu Lingyun's actions have displeased the others.

The drama in wealthy families is nothing more than this. It's just that the backyard of Qiu Zhenzhou has always been managed by Madam Sun, who is very resourceful. The backyard is quiet on the surface, but if someone really stirs up trouble, they are happy to take control if they can.

Fourth concubine Liu coughed lightly, covering her lips with a handkerchief, and said softly, "This is indeed difficult, sir. I am not in good health, unlike the other concubines who have sons. I only have my daughter Min'er to rely on. If Min'er is really ruined, I will not be able to live on. Please handle this carefully, sir."

Qiu Zhenzhou frowned and turned to look at the silent Madam Sun. Madam Sun was also not at peace. She had taken Zhang's words to heart. The matter of the sixth girl was alright; it was just hitting someone, and everyone has moments of impulse. But the words that the fifth girl said were truly filthy. If they were to spread, who knows what would become of their Qiu family's daughters? And who would suffer the most? Wouldn't it be her, who dared to dream of becoming the Crown Prince's mother-in-law?

Seeing Qiu Zhenzhou looking at her, she frowned and said with a serious face, "She really should be severely punished. Fifth Sister is really disrespectful to her elders. She dares to shout and yell in this ancestral hall. She doesn't only disregard us elders, but also the ancestors in this ancestral hall."

This time, the accusation was much more serious. Jiang was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. She quickly begged Sun for forgiveness, saying, "Madam, you're too kind. Yun'er would never have thought such a thing. She's just young and spoke without thinking. I..."

Qiu Lingyun still didn't understand what she had done wrong, why she was the one being beaten, and why all the blame was now on her. Seeing her aunt kneeling on the ground begging for forgiveness, she immediately became indignant and interrupted Jiang Shi, saying, "What did I do wrong? I wasn't the one who hit her, what did I say? Wasn't I just telling the truth? That little bitch..."

Qiu Lingfeng stepped forward and said, "The little slut you keep calling me is actually my sixth sister, whom Father personally sent to bring back. She is Father's biological daughter, and now Mother is merciful and wants to raise her as her own daughter."

Even in terms of status, you are not as good as Sixth Sister. Fifth Sister said that Sixth Sister was ill-mannered, but Sixth Sister knew to uphold Father's dignity when you were insulting her. Even though she was afraid, she still stood up to warn you not to speak ill of Father. But you, relying on Father's little favor, insult him at will. Do you still consider yourself a young lady of the Qiu family?

Qiu Lingyun opened her mouth, her face full of shock. She only knew that today was to include this wretched girl in the family genealogy, but she never knew that the madam would actually take this girl under her care. How could this be?

At this moment, Madam Sun stood up and said to Old Madam Qiu, who had been sitting in the seat of honor and had remained silent and unnoticed, "I hope you will forgive me for disturbing my mother's meditation."

Jian Yue had actually been paying attention to the old lady Qiu, who was sitting at the head of the table, and who was also her adoptive grandmother.

This person had only existed in her memory before, and now that she had seen him, she was quite amazed, and her guard immediately went up.

After all this commotion, the old woman remained completely unmoved, continuing to fiddle with her prayer beads as if she were a hermit. Now, when Madam Sun spoke, she merely blinked and made no further move.

Sun was not angry. She turned to Qiu Lingyun and said, "Lingyun, you grew up by my side. I don't know who taught you so many curses, and I don't know why you would attack your own sister at such an important moment."

However, I know that the rules for daughters of the Qiu family are absolutely not like this. You say that others do not understand the rules, but you utter insults and talk back to your elders in such a solemn place as the ancestral hall. This is disrespectful to your father and even more so to the ancestors of the Qiu family.

"Madam Jiang, you have failed in your parenting, allowing your daughter to run rampant here, yet you still plead for her. This is unforgivable. From today onwards, you and Lingyun will be confined to your own courtyard for three months, and fined three months' wages. Do you think this is acceptable?"