"Mei'er, we're back!"
Before he even entered the courtyard, Seventh Uncle Zheng Jinglian called out loudly with a bright, hearty laugh.
His voice carried clearly through the layers of courtyards and reached Zheng Qian's ears.
She smiled.
Behind him, two servants followed, carrying a large number of gifts.
In the original host's memories, Zheng Qian had a good relationship with this Seventh Uncle—because she had once saved his youngest daughter, Zheng Han, from drowning.
Zheng Han was eight years old this year. Ever since she was young, she had been as mischievous as a monkey. Once, she slipped into a pond, and Zheng Qian just happened to pass by and pulled her out.
Zheng Qian caught a chill and was bedridden for half a month afterward.
From then on, Seventh Uncle treated her very well, always bringing her gifts whenever he traveled.
Though even so, they weren't particularly close.
"Seventh Uncle."
Holding her cat, Zheng Qian stood under the eaves and greeted him with a slight bow.
Zheng Jinglian held the hand of a small boy.
"Oh? You really did raise a cat?"
But Zheng Qian's gaze had already shifted to the child.
The "boy" had hair tied into two small buns like little horns, fair skin, and wore a light blue robe. His eyes were lively—almost too lively.
Zheng Qian ignored her uncle's question and instead said,
"Why did you dress Sixth Sister like this?"
The "boy" was none other than Zheng Han.
Zheng Han was notoriously troublesome—a true little terror. Her pranks were not only mischievous but cruel; she had even blinded a maid before.
Zheng Jinglian had been married twice. Both wives had died.
His first wife (Zheng Han's birth mother) died during childbirth.His second wife died three years ago—rumor had it Zheng Han had driven her to death.
Now only twenty-nine years old, Zheng Jinglian was the youngest son of the Old Madam and held a decent position in the household. Yet he had no intention of remarrying.
He once had two concubines—but both begged to be released because they couldn't tolerate Zheng Han.
He let them go.
Zheng Han refused to bond with anyone in the family, so wherever he went, he took her with him—often disguising her as a boy.
"It's more convenient when traveling," Zheng Jinglian said cheerfully.
"Han'er, greet your eldest sister."
Zheng Han rolled her eyes, gave a cold snort, and turned her head away.
Zheng Qian: "..."
Zheng Jinglian didn't correct her at all. As if he hadn't seen anything, he casually changed the subject.
"You've been quite the sensation lately?"
Zheng Qian found his tone oddly light. Did he not know a young master in the household had just died?
The atmosphere in the residence had been heavy these past days.
"More or less," she replied with a smile.
They entered the room. Tea was served. The servants placed the gifts in the east wing before leaving.
Meanwhile, Zheng Han sat drinking tea—but her eyes kept darting toward the cat.
While Zheng Qian was speaking with her uncle, the little girl quietly approached.
Then—
She grabbed the cat by the back of its neck.
The cat, with a human soul inside, stiffened for a split second before struggling fiercely.
Zheng Han tightened her grip.
Zheng Qian saw it immediately and strode over, slapping the back of Zheng Han's hand hard.
"Let go!"
The slap was heavy—Zheng Han's hand instantly turned red.
Zheng Han froze for a moment—
Then burst into loud wailing.
Zheng Jinglian: "..."
Zheng Qian snatched her cat back and glanced at her uncle.
He calmly sipped his tea—as if he heard nothing.
So Zheng Qian also acted like nothing was happening.
Amid the piercing cries, she continued chatting:
"Are you going out again soon?"
Zheng Jinglian raised his voice slightly to be heard over the crying:
"Not for now. Nothing major until the end of the year. Maybe I'll go out briefly before New Year to collect rents."
Zheng Qian nodded.
The maids all lowered their heads. No one moved to comfort Zheng Han.
So Zheng Han cried even louder.
Eventually, Zheng Qian couldn't stand it anymore.
She set down her cat and stood up.
Zheng Jinglian thought she was going to comfort the child.
"Mei'er—"
Instead, Zheng Qian walked over and shut the door.
Then returned calmly and sat down.
"Let's not disturb the maids outside. What were you saying, Seventh Uncle?"
Zheng Jinglian: "..."
And so, the two of them—plus the cat—continued chatting calmly, completely unaffected by the child's ear-splitting cries.
When Zheng Han's crying became especially loud, Zheng Qian simply raised her own voice slightly and carried on.
Zheng Jinglian didn't even frown.
After crying for a long time, Zheng Han's voice began to give out.
Suddenly, she stopped, walked over, picked up a cup of tea, and drank it in one gulp.
Zheng Qian: "..."
Zheng Jinglian smiled.
"Why did you stop crying?"
"It's useless. Eldest Sister is cold-hearted," Zheng Han said.
"Good that you know," he replied.
"I'll tell Grandmother! You just wait to be scolded!" Zheng Han threatened fiercely.
Zheng Qian replied lazily,
"Go ahead. I'm so scared."
Zheng Han: "..."
Seeing that things had gone far enough, Zheng Jinglian stood and took Zheng Han away.
Zheng Qian escorted them to the door.
"Seventh Uncle, come visit again."
"No need to see us out."
"I'm not coming back!" Zheng Han snapped.
Zheng Qian smiled faintly.
"I wasn't inviting you. Only Seventh Uncle. If you dare hurt my cat again, I won't just slap your hand next time."
"Father, she bullied me!"
"Silly child," Zheng Jinglian said calmly,
"What's the use of telling me? I saw everything. If you want to complain, go tell someone who didn't."
Zheng Han fell into thought.
Zheng Qian: "..."
Behind every troublesome child, there's an even more troublesome parent.
After sending them off, Zheng Qian went to check the gifts.
Ten bolts of fine silkTwo boxes of pastriesA box of pearls (not top quality, but usable for jewelry)Some cosmetics
She had them stored away.
Zhu Xiu sighed,
"Seventh Master treats you well, Miss—but that Sixth Miss is really troublesome."
"She just has a bad temper," Zheng Qian replied.
"She drove away both concubines," Zhu Xiu added.
Zheng Qian shook her head slightly.
"It wasn't her. It was Seventh Uncle who didn't want them anymore."
Zhu Xiu didn't understand.
Zheng Qian smiled:
"If he didn't go along with it, how could a child succeed? No matter how troublesome, she's still just a child. Everything she relies on is his indulgence."
Zhu Xiu shivered slightly.
"So… Seventh Master has bad intentions?"
Zheng Qian laughed.
"You're overthinking it. If he truly had bad intentions, dealing with a child would be easy. He probably just wanted to be rebellious when he was young but was restrained too much.
"So now, he's letting her have everything he never could—encouraging and indulging her behavior."
So in truth—
The real "little demon" wasn't Zheng Han.
It was her father.
Zheng Qian didn't mind such people—as long as they didn't target her.
Zheng Jinglian clearly loved his daughter.
And since Zheng Qian had saved Zheng Han, he would never harm her.
That was enough.
Even with Seventh Uncle's return, the Marquis residence did not become livelier.
The household was still immersed in grief over the Third Young Master's death.
No one paid much attention to the returning father and daughter.
Only Zheng Qian felt curious:
"What kind of person is Seventh Uncle, really? He's not someone you can see through at a glance… interesting."