“You…” stammered Qin Yuru, tightening her grip on her teacup.

“If there’s nothing, Elder Sister, I’ll make a move first. It’s Aunt Shui’s turn to rest. Grandma’s health is deteriorating. If I’m not by her side, Aunt Shui would have to keep an eye on her. Aunt Shui had lost so much weight in the past few days, taking care of Grandma!” said Qin Wanru, shaking the dust of her sleeves and she got up to leave.

Qin Yuru’s face turned ashen. Fortunately, she was hanging on to the last thread of rationality in her, otherwise, she would have hurled the teacup at Qin Wanru’s face.

How dare this debased lass tried to imply that Qin Yuru had not been taking care of the sickly grandmother, claiming that only Qin Wanru herself and Shui Ruolan were the only the ones doing it.

“Elder Sister, I don’t time to be idle, please excuse me!” Qin Wanru said, turning to leave before Qin Wanru could explain herself and Qing Yue quickly followed her.

Although chrysanthemum was a common flower, only the chrysanthemum tea given by Qi Tianyu was able to give off such a subtle fragrance. Moreover, this chrysanthemum was fresh. Qin Yuru had not even added these new flowers a few days ago when she was drinking tea.

Coupled with Qin Yuru’s pretentious way of acting, Qin Wanru could tell that there was someone behind the rockery, and this person had to be Qi Tianyu!

By the time Qin Yuru grasped the situation, it was even too late for her to call out to Qin Wanru to stop her. She could only stare at Qin Wanru’s back with eyes filled with hatred.

She hesitated for a while and leaned on the rockery. From the surface, it looked like she was just holding to her tea, thinking some deep thoughts.

In fact, she was blocking her mouth with the teacup in her handing, whispering to someone.

“Elder Brother Tianyu, see, I told you Qin Wanru was siding with Aunt Shui. Anytime Aunt Shui has Qin Wanru behind her back. Qin Wanru seemed had totally forgotten that it was Mother who raised her.”

“Has sister Wanru turned out to be this kind of person?” said Qi Tianyu from behind the rockery, sounding a little doubtful and heartbroken. “What has become of her!”

“I don’t know either. Perhaps Aunt Shui had said something to her. She is still a child after all, and wouldn’t know how to judge for herself!” said Qin Yuru, her face looking as if she was saddened. She had to pretend to look like a good sister!

Qi Tianyu who was behind the rockery became quiet.

“Do you not believe what I say, Brother Tianyu?” asked Qin Yuru with tears in her eyes. She turned around slowly and look towards the rockery. She could vaguely see Qi Tianyu, clothed in a white coat, from this angle and was sure that he could see her too.

Qin Yuru had initially thought that by saying some specious words to Qin Wanru would make Qi Tianyu believe her story about Shui Ruolan, regardless of whether Qin Wanru understood her message. She would not imagine that Qin Wanru was so upfront with her comments and this had totally messed up her plan.

Fortunately, given her influence on Qi Tianyu, she was confident that the situation could be salvaged.

A light flashed across the eyes of Qi Tianyu, who was behind the rockery. He seemed to be hesitant. He had clearly heard the content of the conversation between the two sisters.

“Brother Tianyu, my younger sister was spouting nonsense, will you doubt my words just because of that? I… I was still hoping we could be together… I’ve convinced Mother about it, but even Mother was in a sticky situation herself! If Aunt Shui really marries Father, I… I don’t know what would happen!”

Qin Yuru took out a handkerchief with one hand and started to dap away her tears in a demure manner.

Although she was not wailing, her sniffing and choking on her quiet tears was definitely winning some sympathy.

Qi Tianyu sighed and tried to comfort her, saying, “Alright, stop crying. I believe what you say and I’ll help you however you want me to.”

Such words of comfort turned Qin Yuru’s crying face into a smiley one. She wiped away her tears and with a smile, she said, “Brother Qi, can you help me get a few ruffians to scare Aunt Shui, to shake her up a bit and say something to tint her reputation. That will do.”

Although she tried to make her plan sound mild and harmless, as if it was just to shake Shui Ruolan up a little, Qin Yuru knew it was rather difficult to control the extent of the damage, which was why she was not entirely satisfied with the plan.

“I can help you get the ruffians, but…” Qi Tianyu hesitated. He had met Shui Ruolan personally and had thought that she was a gentle, quiet lady. Was she really as malicious as Yuru described her to be?

Had Qin Wanru really been deceived by her?

If that were the case, this lady had to be sinister!

“Yuru, do you want to warn sister Wanru to be careful of Shui Ruolan?”

“Why do you mean, Brother Tianyu? Don’t you believe my words? Or are you concerned about Qin Wanru? If not for her, did we have to be separated? If not for her, why would my reputation be ruined? We would have been married by now!”

Drops of tear started rolling down Qin Yuru’s cheeks again. She tried raising her teacup to block Qi Tianyu’s view, so he would not see her cry, but to no avail.

“Alright, alright, I’ll go look for some ruffians for you straight away,” said Qi Tianyu, who could not bear to see Qin Yuru crumble with tears, and decided to give in to her.

“Please inform me once you manage to find the people. I will send someone over to have a look, lest they really hurt Aunt Shui. She was sincerely concerned about Grandma after all, and it looked like she truly wanted to take care of Grandma!” said Qin Yuru in an attempt to sound “kindhearted”.

“You’re too kind, Yuru! Shui Ruolan is obviously trying to impress your grandmother. Do be wary of her,” said Qi Tianyu as his doubts were greatly reduced. Although both Mother and younger sister had said bad things about Qin Yuru, Qin Yuru did not say anything bad about them. She even confessed that the incident the other day was a result of Mrs. Qin’s anger.

She even added that if not for the fear of offending Mother and Qin Wanru, she would have secretly come to see Qin Wanru long ago.

To Qi Tianyu, Yuru remained the gentle and kindhearted girl in his impression. He could not bear to see her getting all upset.

On the other hand, Qin Yuru could see that Qi Tianyu had been taken in by her words. She was secretly feeling the satisfaction in her heart, having achieved her objective. However, she continued to look docile and kind when she said, “Brother Tianyu, Aunt Shui is after all Father’s cousin even if she was devious. All we should do was to shake her up a little. We should not hurt her in any way!” Qin Yuru acted to be considerate towards Shui Ruolan.

“Alright, be careful then. I’ll go look for the people you need and come to inform you once it’s settled!” said Qi Tianyu, nodding.

“Be careful, Brother Tianyu!” said Qin Yuru coyly.

Qi Tianyu nodded and walked away from the rockery which was right before a wall. He exited from a gateway which the closest, while checking left and right to make sure that no one saw him.

He had come up the hills in response to Qin Yuru’s invitation. Qin Yuru had told him that she was going to show him Shui Ruolan’s true colors and that this could determine if Father had been set up by Shui Ruolan. With his curiosity aroused, Qi Tianyu came to her immediately.

From the words of Qin Wanru, it did not seem that she had anything bad to say about Shui Ruolan. She must have been deceived by Shui Ruolan. It was not difficult to make an eleven-year-old girl believe her after all.

While Qi Tianyu hurried away to carry out what he promised Qin Yuru, he failed to notice a petite figure behind a tree, who had been watching from her vantage point behind the tree. This clever petite figure was none other than Qing Yue, who had been popping her head in and out of her hiding place.

“Miss, I indeed saw First Young Master of the Qi Family! He had emerged from the rockery. No wonder Elder Miss Qin kept trying to say vicious words about Miss Shui. Apparently, she wanted First Young Master of the Qi Family to hear her,” reported Qing Yue to Qin Wanru.

At this moment, Qin Wanru was kneeling in the Buddha Hall piously with her hands clasped together.

In fact, she did not use to believe in fate. It was only after she was reborn that she started believing in destiny.

“Did you hear what they were saying?” Qin Wanru asked, not surprised by Qi Tianyu’s abrupt appearance.

Male patrons did not visit Jingxin Monastery alone, Qi Tianyu was no doubt accompanied by Qi Rongzhi on this trip!

“I didn’t manage to hear clearly since I was quite far away,” said Qing Yue, shaking her head. Qin Wanru had left Qing Yue behind when she left the pavilion.

“Have Aunt Shui take care of Grandma for a while, and say that I’m ill.” Qin Wanru said after pondering for a moment. She already had the answer. She thought it was very possible that they were targetting Shui Ruolan because the malicious words used to describe Shui Ruolan were meant for Qi Tianyu.

“Given Aunt Shui’s character, she will definitely come to see me if she knows I’m unwell. Since Qin Yuru intends to harm Aunt Shui, let’s make the first move, lest things go out of control for us!” said Qin Wanru, opening her eyes and curling her lips at the corners as she sat cross-legged on the futon.

The Buddha hall was relatively small and there were no other visitors since Qin Wanru came to kneel down here.

“Are you thinking to make Miss Shui come to you now, so if Elder Miss Qin was plotting something against her, this would become a good opportunity?” said Qing Yue as she realized Qin Wanru’s intention.

“Not only that!” cried Qin Wanru, shaking her head. Since Qin Yuru had set it in her heart to harm Shui Ruolan, there was no way she would let her off easily.

Instead of stopping this from happening, Qin Wanru was going to provide Qin Yuru the chance to work her plan.

“Watch Qin Yuru carefully. Apart from Mei Xue, she had also brought along another old maid. Just watch that old maid closely to see who she was meeting up with,” said Qin Wanru, batting her eye lashes.

When they first arrived at Jingxin Monastery, Old Grandma had the most maids accompanying her. The rest, including Qin Wanru each, brought along their personal maid and another older maid who handled all the miscellaneous matters for their respective mistresses.

Since these maids are personal maids, they would be following their mistresses closely. If anything happened to them, their respective mistresses would be implicated. The old maids, however, were regular servants, unlike the nannies at home. If anything happened to them, the mistresses whom they serve would not be responsible. Moreover, these old maids were much older, more experienced and tactful. The younger personal maids were no match to them

In light of this, it would less complicated to make the old maids do the work rather using the personal maids.

“Yes, I get it!” said Qing Yue who immediately understood Qin Wanru’s intentions.

When Shui Ruolan learned that Qin Wanru had fallen ill, she made time especially to pay her a visit. When she saw that Qin Wanru was merely looking a little frail, she felt less worried.

“Aunt Shui, please take care of Grandmother these few days on my behalf. When I’ve recovered, I will make it up to you,” said Qin Wanru coyly and she held on to Shui Ruolan’s hand.

“You’re only a child, so you don’t really need to be responsible. Rest assured, Wanru, Aunt Shui will take good care of your grandmother,” said Shui Ruolan with a smile as she gently patted Qin Wanru on her head.

“You’re the greatest, Aunt Shui!” cried Qin Wanru coyly. It was only when she was with Aunt Shui that she felt like a child being pampered.

“Oh my child!” cried Shui Ruolan as she embraced Qin Wanru and patted her head. She had this tender feeling towards this child and she thought Qin Wanru was an obedient, sensible, as well as a filial child.

“Did you meet anyone on your way here just now, Aunt Shui?” asked Qin Wanru when she spotted a fragrant sachet hanging at Shui Ruolan’s waist. It was the only accessory Shui Ruolan was wearing and it was a really beautiful sachet she sewed for herself. Shui Ruolan was very skillful in needlework. She did sewing regularly whenever she had some quiet time to herself.

She would also give Qin Wanru some of her sewings as gifts.

“I didn’t bump into anyone. Why?” said Shui Ruolan with a smile.

“I’m just worried you’re hurt by someone bumping into you!” replied Qin Wanru as she remained in Shui Ruolan’s arms and reached out to her sachet and quietly undo it from her waist. Qin Wanru made sure she was very gentle and careful so that Shui Ruolan was not aware that her sachet had been taken away.

This move may not be of any use after all, but the sachet was an easy thing for people to make use of toe bring harm. Qin Wanru was just being careful.