Chapter 61

Despite her frail body, coughing with every few steps, her temper was fierce. Ignoring propriety and the presence of a male, she aimed to slap her cousin.
Wei Buxun, the idiot by day, didn’t understand why his cousin struck and scolded him. Accustomed to punishment, his skin was thick; even her force was like a tickle.
But because she lunged too forcefully, they tumbled to the ground together. If not for the sound of the scuffle, someone might have misinterpreted the scene.
The surrounding maids and servants exchanged glances. They wanted to intervene, but it was clear the Second Miss intended to personally teach this foolish cousin a lesson.
Normally, they would rally to her side, but the one being beaten was the young master cousin. Before leaving, the madam had explicitly instructed them to treat him well.
Remembering that, in the future, the cousin’s needs were to be treated like the eldest young master, they couldn’t let the Second Miss have her way. Thinking of her cousin’s imperious eyes, they shivered.
Hong Xiao, Qin Jinxiu’s personal maid since she was five or six, wanted to help, “aid the wicked”, but the two senior maids, Wen Xin and Su Wen, stopped her.
The madam had left them to watch over her daughter while she was away, thinking with the nurse present, there would be no issues. But the nurse, careful in her presence, quickly got mischievous once the madam left.
Because of caution, she left two maids to watch over Qin Jinxiu.
Wen Xin and Su Wen tried to mediate, and they hurried Qin Jinxiu’s elder brother, Qin Simiao, from school to intervene, which finally stopped her.
Qin Jinxiu, scolded in front of the servants, trembled with anger, cheeks flushed, eyes brimming with tears.
“Brother, what is this? The household was robbed recently and you didn’t even come check on me; today, this idiot ruins my carefully tended peonies, threatens my marriage prospects, and I just scold him a bit, yet you rush from school to scold me? Jinxiu is your legitimate sister! And this idiot…”
“Qin Jinxiu! Silence! Buxun is our legitimate cousin and a guest in our house. As a prefect’s daughter, you must treat him properly. Your behavior is worse than a common shrew. Do you care about your reputation?”
Qin Simiao felt a vein twitch on his forehead. From school, after Su Wen’s report, his head ached. His mischievous younger sister had always been a source of amusement, like mud on one’s shoes in the rain, annoying, inescapable.
Yet seeing her trembling and tearful now, he felt pity.
She had grown, realizing that crying could get her what she wanted, unlike when she was younger, causing trouble without admitting fault.
Qin Simiao was no saint; he aimed to enter government service. If his legitimate sister was cunning, he welcomed it. As her brother, he only wished she wouldn’t waste her abilities. Foolishness and malice could harm both self and family.
Now that she was older, he reflected and softened his voice, despite his still-serious face, deciding to instruct her properly:
“Marriage is dictated by parents and matchmakers. Your prospects are arranged by mother and father. Why concern yourself? The former Prince is ruined. The little prince is neither scholarly nor martial. Beyond an inherited title, he is no great figure. His wife would be unpleasant to deal with. You, a prefect’s daughter, need not fawn over her.”
“Brother, you’ve never liked me. Fine, scold me for this idiot, but why involve the little prince? He doesn’t even favor me! Brother never warms to me. My marriage, don’t trouble yourself.”
This girl’s ears were stubborn; she wouldn’t hear his heartfelt reasoning. Qin Simiao felt familiar irritation rising.
“Ahem… my affairs do not need your oversight!”
“Miss.”
As the siblings quarreled, Qin Jinxiu, agitated, coughed and nearly fainted. Luckily, the nurse fed her medicinal pills, calming her chest, and she recovered.
“Yunu!”
Yunu was Qin Jinxiu’s childhood name.
Born frail, with skin like snow, Qin Jinxiu had been treasured by her parents. They sought the best doctors and a thousand-year cold jade bed to nurture her health in her chamber.
Hence the name Yunu. Qin Simiao, usually distant, seldom used her childhood name except in rare moments of emotional intensity.
He hadn’t expected a few words of quarrel to trigger such a severe attack. As the only son, educated early, he knew only of her weak constitution, not its seriousness.
Seeing her pale, fragile form, he frowned, sunlight catching his high nose, reflection dancing on the nearby pond.
Alas… his fault as a brother.
Next to him, the cowering cousin, though foolish, couldn’t be trusted around the servants lest they gossip, worsening Qin Jinxiu’s reputation for scolding her cousin.
He explained gently, “Yunu is frail, often weak. That is why her temper is sharp. Buxun, be considerate of your cousin and do not blame her.”
“Not blamed, not blamed. Cousin is a fairy. Fairies get sick and need doctors…”
Wei Buxun tried to approach, but Qin Simiao glanced at the mud on him and subtly recoiled, forbidding him from touching Qin Jinxiu.
The servants attending Wei Buxun? Each one lazy. Seeing the mother absent and only the sister in the rear courtyard, perhaps they intended to take advantage?
Being a man, he couldn’t interfere in the inner household affairs too often; it was better to write to his mother and have her return sooner.
“Cousin Wei is filthy! Where are the servants supposed to tend him? Take him to bathe and change at once!”
Qin Simiao ordered the servants to bring Wei Buxun back to his own courtyard, then scolded the servants attending his sister before returning to his study.
When “Qin Jinxiu” returned to her own quarters, the doctor, after checking her pulse, advised her to rest properly. Only then did she take a moment to glance at the messages scrolling on the ethereal white screen.
[The streamer’s improving so fast! The sickly heiress persona is holding up perfectly]
[Will the streamer choose the little prince? Judging by my analysis, it seems pretty average]
[The streamer everyone hates, hahaha…]
“Qin Jinxiu” glanced at her overall ratings, not too bad, then turned off the comments, settling her mind to consider the next steps.
Tsk. Her main storyline task seemed simple but contained a huge pitfall: the ideal husband. What exactly counted as the ideal husband?
The ideal husband in the eyes of the world? Or the one “Qin Jinxiu” herself favored…
In her persona, how could she find someone who genuinely cared for her?
“Qin Jinxiu” gazed at the courtyard outside, petals fluttering like snow, yet had no clue. Indeed, as her brother said, the little prince’s household had fallen on hard times; he had little talent, yet in Huaizhou Prefecture, he was still the dream of many young ladies’ hearts.
The storyline had to proceed, otherwise it would go OOC. Sure enough, the nurse came in with a bowl of bird’s nest soup.
Seeing her frail mistress shivering beneath the covers, she ached with worry.
“My Miss, my dear, why must you suffer so…”
“Cough… Nurse, I don’t want the bird’s nest now. Leave it on that table, then ask Hong Xiao and Chutao to add more charcoal. I’m cold…”
She extended her delicate jade-like hands over her mouth, porcelain-like in the firelight, hands glowing like red jade, her temples slick with faint sweat.
The nurse took a handkerchief to wipe the sweat, watching the trembling lashes of her carefully tended young mistress, forming small clumps, as she sobbed quietly into her arms.
“Nurse, my peonies are gone. The little prince’s wife will certainly look down on me now. Won’t that let Jiang Linlang, that little minx, gloat?”
“And my brother doesn’t help. He even sent people to watch that little idiot. I merely scolded him, yet he scolds me, does he think that idiot is closer to me than I am?”
The nurse didn’t think her mistress was wrong. She could only pity Qin Jinxiu. If the madam spent half as much time with her as she did, the nurse felt she was half of Qin Jinxiu’s body and blood.
Her milk fed into her mistress’s body, and the mistress became her own flesh and blood.
So whether Qin Jinxiu scolded her cousin or chased after young masters in Huaizhou Prefecture, the nurse felt no wrong. Only that these people failed to appreciate Qin Jinxiu’s intentions.
“Since you dislike that little minx so much, besides her, no one else dares interfere, right?”
“Besides her?” Qin Jinxiu frowned, feigning difficulty. “Nurse, if Mother knew, she’d surely, ”
“The old servant means…”
The nurse whispered in her ear. Her eyes sparkled, her sickly cheeks brightening with life.
“An idiot paired with a little minx, truly a perfect match. That idiot ruined my two peonies, spoiled my plans, so he must compensate somehow.”
But remembering her mother’s stern face and her brother’s barely hidden disdain, Qin Jinxiu frowned.
“Nurse, what if that little minx wakes and discovers her innocence gone, thinking of taking her life? I judge her to have a proud spirit.”
“She won’t. The young master cousin is the grandson of the Grand Tutor, a first-rank official.”
“But if Mother knew…”
“Madam won’t know.” The nurse patted Qin Jinxiu’s thin back, coaxing her to sleep.
“Miss, just send that little minx the letter; you needn’t touch anything else. Leave it to me. You’ll remain innocent.”
“Nurse, a first-rank official is high in power and authority, right?”
“Indeed.”
“That truly favors that little minx then.”
Qin Jinxiu yawned, her body too weak for mischief, and sank into sleep, still mumbling in her slumber.