With this thought, Qin Xuan recounted his conjecture to the others.
After a moment of silence, it was Fan Miwei's turn to speak.
"I don't think your thoughts are problematic."
"After all, there's an old saying, 'The imperial family is the most heartless.'"
"Although feudal monarchy is long gone, the Qin family's structure is not much different from that of ancient royalty."
As she spoke, Fan Miwei began to explain the Qin family's structure to Qin Xuan.
"The Qin family was established by the first patriarch, Qin Musheng, who, with his wife, had one son, the current Qin family patriarch, Qin Shoujiang."
"Qin Shoujiang has a total of four children: two sons and two daughters."
"They are the eldest, Qin Antai, the second, Qin Anbang, the third, Qin Anrongrong, and the fourth, Qin Anning."
"The eldest is the most favored, followed by the fourth. The second and third are often reprimanded, receiving vastly different treatment from the eldest, Qin Antai."
"It is precisely because of this that even though the eldest son of the Qin family dotes on his younger brothers and sisters in daily life, he is still not favored by Qin Anbang and Qin Anrong. They would even band together to oppose Qin Antai."
"Only the youngest daughter, Qin Anning, who was still young at the time, was inseparable from this elder brother."
"Therefore, if we are to talk about the assassination of Qin Feiyu, besides Qin Anbang, who is the beneficiary, the third daughter, Qin Anrong, who has always hated her elder brother, is also a possibility."
After finishing, Fan Miwei paused.
Qin Xuan could feel that she hadn't finished speaking, so he waved his hand indifferently, "We're just discussing possibilities, there's no need to worry."
"After all, this is all my own conjecture from beginning to end. It doesn't matter if I'm wrong."
Fan Miwei nodded at his words, reorganized her thoughts, and spoke again.
"If there's anyone in the Qin family who least wants Qin Feiyu to return, besides the second son Qin Anbang and the third daughter Qin Anrong, it would be Qin Antai's second wife and her pair of children."
"Qin Antai has a second wife?"
Qin Xuan was taken aback.
Although Hu Zi'an had told him before that arranged marriages were very common among large families.
However, given the Qin family's status, they shouldn't have needed such arrangements.
But upon closer thought, Qin Xuan was relieved.
The Qin family was powerful, so they didn't need to proactively seek alliances through marriage.
But this didn't mean others wouldn't propose such alliances.
Especially since Qin Antai was the recognized successor to the Qin family's leadership, it was not unreasonable for him to have one or two arranged marriages.
In fact, considering this, Qin Antai having only two wives actually proved his devotion...
"The eldest son, Qin Antai, married two wives in his lifetime."
"The first was named Fang Rou, who was Qin Feiyu's biological mother. They were deeply in love and almost inseparable wherever they went."
"As for Qin Antai's second wife, she was the daughter of the Tang family, one of the eight great families of the capital, named Tang Xin."
"When Tang Xin first married into the Qin family, her relationship with Fang Rou was relatively harmonious."
"Tang Xin, as one party to the alliance, did not display an overly arrogant demeanor, and Fang Rou, as the legitimate wife, was also very caring towards Tang Xin."
"Unfortunately, good times don't last."
"After Tang Xin gave birth to a pair of twins for Qin Antai, their relationship began to drift apart."
"The reason was simple."
"The patriarch's affection for Fang Rou and Qin Feiyu far surpassed that for Tang Xin, his second wife."
"So, over time, Tang Xin gradually came to resent Fang Rou and Qin Feiyu."
"Even after Qin Antai's death, there were rumors in the capital that the car accident was Tang Xin's doing."
"The goal was to eliminate Fang Rou and Qin Feiyu, allowing her own children to rise to prominence and succeed."
"Although these were just rumors and not confirmed by any reliable sources."
"They nonetheless indicated the irreconcilable conflict between Tang Xin and Fang Rou's mother and son."
Qin Xuan found Fan Miwei's account very convincing.
After all, Wan Lingqiu had just mentioned that Old Master Qin's affection for Qin Antai and Qin Feiyu was unparalleled.
Therefore, by extension, Qin Shoujiang would surely not treat Fang Rou, his eldest daughter-in-law, poorly.
This meant that Tang Xin and her two children had always lived in the shadow of Fang Rou and Qin Feiyu.
If this were a problem in an ordinary family, it might be manageable. After all, they were all family, and one could endure it.
But who was Tang Xin?
She was the esteemed daughter of the Tang family, one of the eight great families of the capital.
How could a pampered young lady from a wealthy family like her accept such prolonged differential treatment?
Therefore, sparks or even conflicts with Fang Rou were an inevitable outcome.
Similarly, Tang Xin must have deeply loathed Qin Feiyu, who constantly overshadowed her own children.
In this light, it made sense that when Tang Xin learned Qin Feiyu was not dead and might even return to the Qin family, she would go to the dark web abroad and hire assassins at great expense.
With this thought, Qin Xuan's head began to ache again.
What was so great about these wealthy families?
Not only were their relationships complex, but conflicts also easily arose due to vested interests.
His orphanage back then was much better.
Although everyone came from different places and had different backgrounds, their relationships were at least harmonious, like one big family.
Speaking of which, it seemed he hadn't visited the orphanage in a long time.
He wondered how the director and the others were doing.
The next morning, Qin Xuan, along with Yuan Mengqi and others, went directly to the orphanage where he had lived before.
The place had already changed.
The walls had been repainted.
The main gate was also new.
The security guards at the entrance were burly and looked like no ordinary people.
These were arrangements Qin Xuan had made for the orphanage after he became wealthy.
Whether it was educational equipment or daily necessities, Qin Xuan had donated everything the orphanage could possibly need.
Not only that, but he had also funded and opened his own orphanage in Jiangcheng, with the aim of saving children who shared his fate.
Upon arriving at the director's office, Qin Xuan found that the director was not there.
He learned from other teachers that a girl had come to see the director.
They should be on the sports field now.
Qin Xuan was not in a hurry upon hearing this.
He went directly to the education room where classes were held for the children.
The orphanage was now filled with entirely new faces that Qin Xuan didn't recognize.
But this did not prevent Qin Xuan from interacting with them in a friendly and cordial manner.
Orphans had no parents, but they were more mature than other children.
After playing with the children for a while, the director finally walked in from outside.
Her appearance had not changed much, but her hair had begun to show streaks of white.
Beside her stood a woman of exquisite beauty.
She followed the director calmly, occasionally saying something.
As she casually raised her eyes, her gaze met Qin Xuan's.