The woman and the boy wailed and shouted in the street, but Qin Shuying merely gave a cold smile, not bothering to argue or defend herself. Without hesitation, she turned and swiftly made her way back under the protection of Ziteng and Luye.

  Naturally, Qin Yunyun and Xu Peiwei had to follow.

  Qin Yunyun gritted her teeth and said, “That shrew is spouting nonsense! Does she think there are no ws in this nd?”

  Xu Peiwei was still pale with shock. “Where on earth did that madwoman come from? How could she possibly mistake Seventh Cousin for her… whatever she called her?”

  Qin Shuying ignored them entirely. She was focused on one thing—the growing number of people gathering behind them. The woman and the boy seemed to be following, and even more arming, it appeared some men had joined them, old and young alike, seemingly acquaintances of that woman.

  Thankfully, Luye had thrown powder into the woman’s eyes earlier. If she had clearly seen Qin Shuying’s face, things would have gotten far messier.

  The woman was now riling up the gathered crowd, their voices growing louder and angrier.

  All of this happened in an instant—from Qin Shuying’s decisive turn to leave, to Luye hurling the powder, to the increasing commotion.

  Qin Yunyun panted after a few steps and called out, “Seventh Sister, we can’t just keep running! We have so many guards with us, nothing will happen.”

  Xu Peiwei echoed, “Exactly, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  Qin Shuying did not respond, her pace never faltering, her steps swift and purposeful. Qin Yunyun and Xu Peiwei grew anxious—how could a supposedly frail and delicate noblewoman walk so fast?

  Ziteng and Luye practically flew at her sides like gusts of wind.

  Before long, Qin Yunyun and Xu Peiwei gged far behind.

  They soon realized Qin Shuying was heading toward the carpenter’s workshop, and exchanged a gnce of relief. Madam Xu was there, after all.

  Qin Shuying and her maids arrived quickly at the carriage stop and went straight into the shop.

  The shop assistants inside were slightly startled. When this young dy had entered earlier, she had worn a veiled hat—why was she now without it, shielding her face with a fan? And she was quite beautiful, too.

  Qin Shuying walked in as if she knew the pce well, bypassed the front hall, and slipped into the backyard. She pushed open a side door on the right and disappeared inside.

  Ziteng and Luye followed close behind. Ziteng closed the door behind them.

  The three of them vanished into the inner courtyard of the shop.

  When Qin Yunyun and Xu Peiwei finally arrived, out of breath, they naturally assumed Qin Shuying would be in the tea room where Madam Xu was resting.

  But when they checked—she was not there!

  The three of them grew anxious and searched all around, but there was no sign of Qin Shuying.

  They were dumbfounded.

  Where could she have disappeared to?

  The shop assistants confirmed it—several of them had seen the young dy with her two maids enter the shop moments ago.

  One of the assistants scratched his head and mentioned that technically, there was another exit through the back of the shop—but it led to the men’s privy, so no proper young dy would ever use that way.

  Therefore, he hadn't thought it worth mentioning.

  Qin Yunyun stood frozen. This was clearly not part of the pn.

  “What… what’s going on? Where did she go? You’re certain you saw Seventh Miss come in?”

  Madam Xu grew frantic, pacing the floor. She had been entrusted with these young dies—how could one of them simply vanish?

  The shop assistants and Qin Yunyun’s party all swore they had seen Qin Shuying enter.

  As they were still searching, the noise outside grew louder and louder.

  Madam Xu paused and asked her maid, “What’s all that commotion outside? Go see what’s happening.”

  The maid returned moments ter, face pale with panic. “Madam, something terrible has happened! There are crowds of people outside, shouting… saying they’re looking for someone called Yaoniang…”

  Madam Xu, already agitated, snapped, “What nonsense! How is that our concern? Go find our young dy—that’s what matters!”

  The maid tried to speak again, her face strained, but before she could, the noise outside surged forward. The crowd pushed its way to the entrance, a dark mass of people stretching as far as the eye could see. Men and women, young and old, many carrying sticks or cudgels, several dragging along the family’s injured guards. At the front were the woman and the boy.

  “There! That’s them!” the boy shouted, pointing directly at Qin Yunyun and the others.

  Only then did Madam Xu understand why her maid had been so terrified—the guards had been beaten, and this mob was clearly here for them.

  Madam Xu’s heart jumped. Qin Yunyun and Xu Peiwei instinctively retreated.

  When had they ever seen such a riled-up crowd?

  Even though… it had all been their own doing.

  A carpenter stepped out, wiping sawdust from his hands and frowning at the chaos. “What’s going on here?”

  A man in the crowd, apparently their leader, answered gruffly, “This has nothing to do with you, Shopkeeper Wu. We’re here for them.”

  He pointed at Qin Yunyun and her companions.

  The shopkeeper looked at them, then back at the mob. “What’s the meaning of this?”

  Before the leader could speak, the boy shouted tearfully, “Shopkeeper Wu, my sister-in-w has returned! She was just here, with those dies!”

  Wu Shopkeeper blinked in shock. “What? Truly?”

  “We all saw it! Ask anyone!” The boy waved his arm at the crowd, his voice breaking with emotion.

  The woman added, pointing to her face still streaked with powder, “I recognized her, and she threw powder in my eyes to blind me! Shopkeeper Wu, she’s my daughter-in-w, even if she’s been gone three years. She’s still my daughter-in-w! Since she’s back, you must make her come out.”

  Wu Shopkeeper gnced at Madam Xu’s group. Madam Xu tried to remain calm. “Shopkeeper, we do not know anyone by that name. Surely there has been some mistake.”

  The boy shouted again, “Just now, she was with those young dies! I saw her with my own eyes!”

  His face was still smeared white with powder, barely recognizable, but he stood there stubbornly, his voice sharp and pitiful.

  Madam Xu turned to Qin Yunyun, a look of realization dawning. These people… were they talking about Qin Shuying?

  But how could that be possible?

  She was about to speak when Cailuan interjected, “The person you’re looking for… she’s already disappeared.”

  The boy froze.

  Qin Yunyun gave him a subtle nod.

  The boy gnced at the woman, whose previously fierce expression suddenly went bnk. After a long pause, she muttered, almost dazed, “Gone… truly gone?”

  Cailuan added, “The person you’re looking for—is she one of our young dies?”

  The boy nodded. “That’s right.”

  Cailuan said coldly, “Then you’re too te. She ran off just now.”

  The woman hesitated, her expression wavering.

  Suddenly, a voice shouted from the back of the crowd, “Don’t believe them! I saw her clearly—she entered this shop! She’s one of those young dies in veils! Lift their veils and we’ll see who she is!”

  Several people immediately echoed, “That’s right! Lift their veils! She’s definitely one of them!”