Chapter 520: Unpredictable Intentions
Hongye laughed and said, “Aren’t you a smart person? I like you but you are wrong.”

Qin Yuan also smiled: “Hehua and Yang’er may not be stupid people. Okay, let’s not talk about this. Have you arranged everything for the Mid-Autumn Festival?”

Hongye said, “Everything else has been arranged, but the gifts for the two in-laws have not yet been decided.”

Qin Yuan was silent for a moment, and said, “The Xu family will just prepare according to the old rules, and Mr. Lin’s family…”

Qin Wan is pregnant, so it is necessary to send her some things to protect her pregnancy.

But thinking of the other party’s petty temper, Qin Yuan was worried that it would be a thankless task, so he said: “Add a portion of the dim sum and cakes sent to Renhetang, such as winter melon and long lotus root, and select a few pieces of fine brocade, a few poetry collections and travel notes, etc.”

Hongye asked, “Do you want to add some gold, silver, jade and other toys?”

Qin Yuan shook her head. “Forget it. Sending it there will only cause trouble for her.”

Madam Yu is a troublesome person. Now that she has passed the Minglu and is serving Lin Ziqi, she cannot have children, so she has to spend a lot of time and effort to persuade Lin’s mother. The more gifts she gives her, the more she will be coveted.

In her previous life, she had a miscarriage, and Qin Wan had someone send her a bunch of supplements to help her recover.

Lin’s mother was picky and took away a lot of good things, and kept saying that miscarriage was not a serious illness and there was no need to eat such good things, which made her very angry.

Lin Ziqi also said that his mother’s thrifty and frugal lifestyle was also for their own good.

Qin Wan finally had her own child in this life, so she would not cause trouble. With Lily and her mother taking care of the child, Cui would take care of everything.

Hongye said: “But…will this be considered shabby?”

Qin Yuan said, “It’s okay. Choose fashionable and good brocade and choose colors suitable for young women to wear. The rest can be given after the baby is born. If the gift is too heavy, it will be difficult for the other party to return it.”

She disliked Qin Wan, and even more so the other three members of the Lin family, and she didn’t want to give them any benefits at all.

Hongye glanced at Qin Yuan and said, “Young lady is more attentive to the second young lady than before.”

Qin Yuan smiled and said, “We are all daughters of the Qin family. We don’t have to endure her nitpicking and spoiled temper if we stay away from her. Maybe it’s because life in the Marquis’ Mansion is comfortable, so I don’t bother to care about these things. If she is well, mother won’t be angry, and father won’t be embarrassed. If I have nothing to do, I might be happy to watch her having fun. But now there are a lot of things going on inside and outside the mansion, I just hope she won’t cause me trouble.”

The three of them decided on all the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts and wrote them down on paper. Qin Yuan said, “Let the old lady and the marquis take a look tomorrow, and then we can decide.”

“What are you looking at?”

Lord Gu’s voice was heard outside the door, and in the blink of an eye he had entered the house.

Qin Yuan first glanced at Lord Gu’s expression, then stood up and went to greet him gracefully, saying softly, “It’s about the Mid-Autumn Festival gift list. I don’t know what to send to my sister’s family and the Xu family.”

Cui Ming brought the replacement clothes, and Qin Yuan helped Lord Gu change into his regular clothes. Seeing that the gloom on his face had eased a little, Qin Yuan said, “I said I would send some rare food to my sister, and also some good fabrics, all of which are fashionable nowadays. Hongye said they might be a little thin.” Lord Gu smiled and said, “His family is a mess, so you can send whatever you like.”

Qin Yuan said, “I think so too. Mr. Lin’s cousin and his mother are both difficult to deal with. If the gifts are too good, it will be troublesome. Besides, their family is poor, and if the gifts are too expensive, it will be difficult to return the favor. Maybe they will have to squeeze the second sister’s dowry again.”

Lord Gu’s heart moved, and he remembered something, and said, “I heard from Sixteen that Xu Tang sneaked out of the palace, played football with your brother, and went to Lin Juren’s house twice. He hasn’t even returned to the Xu family during this period of time.”

Qin Yuan sighed.

“Brother Heng is a troublesome person. I sent a letter to my father, asking him to arrest him and not to get involved with Xu Tang, but he insisted that you can’t get a tiger cub without going into the tiger’s den. Only when you get close to him can you know what he is planning.”

Lord Gu smiled and said, “I will be free tomorrow, so I can ask Eighteen to go to the Imperial College and invite him to ride a horse at home, and we can talk together.”

Qin Yuan said, “The Qin family has only one legitimate son, but he is not very smart and is not good at studying. He will definitely be in charge of general affairs in the future. It would be good for him to see all kinds of people, but I am afraid that he will be led astray and it will be difficult to change. He admires you the most and is willing to listen to you. It would be good for you to teach him.”

Lord Gu changed his clothes, walked a few steps to the table, and said with a smile: “I am his eldest brother-in-law. I don’t care about him. I just hope that my father-in-law will take this into consideration and not push me too hard on my homework.”

Qin Yuan smiled and said, “I’m afraid my father feels that he can’t repay you, so he can only encourage you to make progress. Congratulations, my lord, congratulations to my husband, you will definitely be a scholar-general in the future.”

The couple chatted for a while, and Lord Gu’s expression gradually eased. He then asked Qin Yuan, “How is the profit of your dowry shop these days? I heard from Sixteen that you are going to start stockpiling pepper. Do you have enough money? If not, let Sixteen take whatever you need from my private vault.”

Qin Yuan smiled and said, “Manager Leng just brought the account book over. The incense pills have been selling well recently. Several other dowry shops are planning to exchange their stocks for the Queen Mother’s birthday to make a big profit. Shen Changle and Manager Leng are helping to come up with ideas. Oh, there is also the Wan Accounting Office. Shen Changle is really amazing. It hasn’t been long since he and the Wan Accounting Office have become very close. Although the poetry collection is selling well, there is not much income yet. By the end of the year, when we collect money from everywhere, there should be a lot of money.”

The implication is that Lord Gu’s private vault is not needed for the time being.

Lord Gu asked again, “Didn’t Baozhu say that she wanted to come to Wutong Garden to talk to you about harvesting pepper? Where is she?”

Qin Yuan said, “He left a long time ago. He was walking like a wheel of fire. At this time, he sent someone to send a letter to the Duke’s Mansion. Maybe he was going to talk to Miss You.”

Lord Gu frowned.

“That thing you mentioned… Could it be that Yuda is using us to send a portrait to the prince?”

Qin Yuan laughed out loud, “I’m just a nice girl, but you and your sister have turned me into a rough guy.”

Lord Gu curled the corners of his lips.

Qin Yuan said, “I heard Baozhu say several times that Miss You has close ties with the Ninth Princess and has also acted as a lobbyist, wanting to get the death warrant on behalf of the Ninth Princess. After Baozhu refused, I thought they would think of other ways, but I didn’t expect that after the fire at the Hostage House, there was no more movement.”

Lord Gu narrowed his narrow eyes and said, “Are you guessing that they have changed their tactics to trap us?”

Qin Yuan said, “I’m just taking precautions. If this picture gets out, and the Crown Prince uses it as an excuse to ask the Emperor to arrange a marriage for her, it’s hard to say what the three dukes and nine ministers will think. No matter what her intentions are, we should wait until the position of the Crown Princess is decided before discussing it.”