Ning Duke Estate

In a well-lit parlor, a girl was engrossed reading a mystery story. Despite it only being autumn, she was warmly wrapped in an array of colorful, heavy blankets. It was very much a scene of one who was voluntarily closed off from the rest of the world.

"Young Miss!"

Yan Qiu Yue looked up from the book at the sound of one of her maids calling her. This one was Li Mei, the girl in charge of assisting her with clothing. "What is it?"

"The duchess has sent over a dress for you to wear tomorrow to the Mid-Autumn Festival." Li Mei and Chu Hua, another of Yan Qiu Yue's first-ranked maids, laid out the dress for her to see. It was a sea-green silk brocade embroidered with chrysanthemum, wonderfully suited for the fall.

Yan Qiu Yue gave a nod of approval. "As expected of Mother." With the dress already approved, the maids put it away to store until the next night. Yan Qiu Yue finally rose from her blankets and stretched, then looked out the window. The sun had dipped low in the sky, dyeing it a brilliant orange hue. "I didn't realize that it had gotten so late."

Her maids merely shook their heads. They had long since gotten used to their miss's habits. "It's nearly time for dinner. Will you freshen up now, young miss?" The implication was that she had been lazing about for quite a while.

"Father is already back from court?" Mu Rong, another maid, replied that he had. Zhi Lan, Yan Qiu Yue's head maid who specialized in cooking, was apparently already assisting in the main kitchen. Yan Qiu Yue then gave her affirmation and went to wash her face and hands before leaving for Lotus Courtyard where her parents resided.

The Ning Duke's family made it a habit to always have dinner together. Yan Qiu Yue's brothers, Yan Xiang Yi and Yan Qiu Heng, had yet to marry and still lived at the estate so naturally they were compelled not to stay out late. It was the expectation that they would be home every evening for dinner. The entire second branch also joined in, including Second Uncle's two sons. This made evenings very lively.

When Yan Qiu Yue arrived, all but Second Brother and his wife had already come. The matriarch of the family, Yan Qiu Yue's paternal grandmother Madame Lin, was evidently not feeling well and excused herself for this meal. "Yue'er, do you not get hungry?" Duchess Ning raised an eyebrow as she said these teasing words that she already knew the answer to. She had long given up on her daughter arriving at dinner early.

Yan Qiu Yue grinned. "Until Inspector Yu can reach a breakthrough in this latest case, it will be hard for this daughter to have other thoughts." Inspector Yu was the main character in a serial mystery story called "Inspector of the Whistling Pines" that currently captivated many of the upper-class young sirs and misses of Yinchuan, much to the irritation of their parents who wished for their children to have loftier or at least more productive hobbies.

"If this case is plaguing you so, shall I tell Fourth Sister the culprit in advance?" Second Uncle's second son Yan Chang Yuan asked with a friendly yet mischievous smile. He was supposedly friends with the story's author, though this mysterious person never appeared in public or even revealed themselves to others. Still, this Third Brother's statements about "Inspector of the Whistling Pines" had an irritating tendency to turn out to be true. Yan Qiu Yue even harbored suspicions that it was precisely Third Brother who was secretly the author, but she never saw or heard of him writing stories.

"Don't you dare!" Yan Qiu Yue and Yan Qiu Heng both cried out at once.

"Heng'er..." The duchess sighed. So it turned out that he, too, was reading "Inspector of the Whistling Pines." Yan Qiu Heng scratched his head while smiling a bit sheepishly, trying his best to look innocent and lovable. Yan Qiu Yue elbowed her younger twin brother in the side and they shared a conspiratorial grin. These two always sat together at meals, as the Ning Duke's family didn't make a big deal about the separation of genders at these family dinners. Besides, who could bear to divide these harmonious twins who were as thick as thieves? Certainly not the duke and duchess.

After Second Brother Yan Shen Li and his wife finally arrived and issued their apologies for being late, dinner began. The family ate in silence as was the custom, then stayed to chat and drink tea after the dishes were cleared away.

"Have you already made preparations for the banquet at the palace tomorrow?" The duchess asked her eldest son. The imperial palace always hosted a Mid-Autumn Banquet for the nobility. In fact, Yan Qiu Yue was supposed to attend, as well, but she had begged to be exempted. She wished to hit the town and enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival in the city. Though Yan Qiu Yue was a willful one, when the duke and duchess thought of why their daughter would want to avoid entering the palace at this time, they could only sigh.

This only daughter of the Duke Ning household, the pearl in her parents' palm, had recently been decreed marriage by the emperor to his nephew, the only legitimate son of Prince Rui of the First Rank. For this beautiful, clever girl to be forced to marry a young man known for his vices and callous behavior... What a farce! What a tragedy for her family! Of course the duke had to let Yan Qiu Yue enjoy her last bit of freedom. Appropriate excuses were made and perhaps due to his guilty conscience, the Holy One let the matter of her absence pass.

"Yes, Mother. Everything has already been arranged." Yan Xiang Yi's voice was solemn, clear, and yet gentle at the same time. This First Son was the spitting image of his father the Ning Duke and the two had a similar temperament, as well. "Second Brother and Sister-in-law are also attending." Yan Shen Li held a junior position in the Ministry of Personnel which would normally not be worth mentioning, but his wife was from a noble family as well, so they had unexpectedly been invited to the banquet this time possibly also to balance the lack of Yan Qiu Yue and Yan Qiu Heng.

The duchess nodded, satisfied. She then looked to her younger son, who smiled at her in a reassuring manner. He knew what his mother was worried about, but he would be accompanying his sister out. There would naturally not be any problems.

"Be careful tomorrow night." Duke Ning cautioned his two younger children. The twins both reassured him that they would and so the matter was put aside and the family chatted merrily about this and that for a good hour or two.