"You all move away!" Madame Lu's deep and furious voice came from outside of the window.
Inside the room, Xiuyan didn't look out of the window. She said with a smile on her face, "… Don’t worry. Even if Madame comes in, Prince will still agree with Princess. You are the Commandery Princess after all. How can they let you suffer again and again at home?"
"I have troubled First Aunt," the scar on Qiu Yelan’s face had faded away. Although she couldn't get up, her spirit was good. She said with a smile, "I also have troubled you to come here. This golden hairpin looks great on you..."
"Eh, I came to save you from trouble under Princess's command. How can I accept this?" Xiuyan said those words. But she kept looking at the golden hairpin.
"I'm in the period of mourning for my mother. I can't use any of these," Qiu Yelan gave her a reason. Then Xiuyan took it with a smile.
Madame Lu forced her way into the room at this moment. She walked in tremblingly.
Seeing Xiuyan was here, Madame Lu's eyes shined, " What a good daughter-in-law! Connived with Jinzhu to disfigure Lizhang and prevented Yuqing from coming to mess with this cursed one. Now she even sent her maid here to keep an eye on. Does she want to kick me and my daughter out of the family?"
Xiuyan put on an adorable smile, "You misunderstood. Commandery Princess Ningyi doesn't have enough servants here. Princess is afraid that you may be treated poorly when you come here. So, she sent me here."
Madame Lu gave her a fierce look and then looked at Qiu Yelan. She said coldly, "Do you think you can keep yourself safe with two dowries and Empress Jiang who doesn't even remember you? You instigated Jinzhu to disfigure Li. You did such a vicious thing! And you still think Yang can protect you?"
Dragon head walking stick kept hitting the floor, "Hilarious! So hilarious! Yang arranged some people outside to stop Yuqing. But how can they stop me? I will kill you myself today to avenge Lizhang!"
Qiu Yelan blinked her eyes and said with a smile, "Madame, you are really hilarious. The person who protects me is your son! Otherwise, the servants dare to only let you in? Are you afraid to admit it so that you have to drag First Aunt into this?"
In Madame Lu's impression, she was always shy and afraid to talk. Besides, ever since Madame Lu came back to Prince's Mansion of Xihe, when did she ever hear such mean words considering she had such an obedient son.
She was stunned by anger!
A strange look streaked across Xiuyan's eyes. But with another thought, she looked down immediately like she heard nothing.
"Full of nonsense!" Madame Lu was so angry that she was trembling. She raised her padauk walking stick suddenly and shouted, "My son is the most obedient son. You, the cursed one, instigated Yuqing and Yang, and you instigated Jinzhu to disfigure Li. Now you dare to instigate me and my son..."
"You shouldn't say what you just said out in the public," Qiu Yelan was still smiling, "Old Princess of Xihe has kicked you out of Qiu Family a long time ago. You shouldn't be considered as our family member! The one who First Uncle calls mother can only be old Princess! He is the Duke of Xihe because he is old Princess's son! If he is your son, your family should go back to where you came from. And how dare you hurt me? Ha...I will stay still. After you hurt me with your walking stick, you guys can pack your things and go back to your shit hole!"
She turned her eyes and said, "Oh, no. You can't go back. An old woman like you who is not even a peeress dares to kill the Commandery Princess. You are definitely going down with me!"
Xiuyan suddenly stood up, blocking the movement of the walking stick that Madame Lu waved with hatred and said vaguely, "Commandery Princess is right. Although you don't have the title, we have treated you well for all these years! Your treatment is the same as old Princess! I'm not asking you for anything else. Just please don't make all the people in this mansion suffer!"
Qiu Yelan attacked her about not having a title. Although Madame Lu was furious, she could bear it. Now even her daughter-in-law's maid said like this. Madame Lu felt like there were countless knives stabbing her chest and keeping twisting. That strong humiliating feeling made her about to go mad!
"Yang taught you guys this, didn't she? How dare! How dare she! Where is my son? Tell him to come back! Tell him to come back right now! Otherwise, I will kill myself..."
Madame Lu's voice trembled. She staggered and sat on the floor, and then shouted in a high-pitched voice!
When she made a scene like this in the normal days, Princess Yang would kneel at once and beg for forgiveness taking up all the punishment no matter how much hatred she had.
But now Princess Yang wasn't here. Xiuyan and Qiu Yelan looked at her like she was a joke, "Is she always like this?"
"Sunday punch. You don't know how much our Princess has suffered because of this! Even sixth Commandery Princess is the same," there was happiness in Xiuyan's tone, "No wonder old Princess kicked her out. So cheesy, what kind of family can stand her? Not to mention we are the Prince family."
Qiu Yelan smiled, "Never mind. Just tell her," and then said, "First Uncle said himself that he was going to live at another place for a while. First Aunt would be in charge during his absence... Can you go peacefully?"
After Madame Lu and her walking stick got carried away by others, Xiuyan suddenly put away her smile and changed into a serious look and said, "Princess offended Madame big time for you this time! Once Prince comes back, and Madame goes to him to complain about this, Princess can't bear it!"
"First Aunt helped me a lot this time. I won't forget it," Qiu Yelan knew what she was going to say. But she still added, "If there is anything I can do, just say the word!"
"You saw how much Madame hated you," Xiuyan said patiently, "Let me tell you the truth. Madame suffers a lot today. And Lady Lizhang's face is ruined. Madame and Lady Yuqing won't let you off the hook even you try to scare them with the Empress again."
She added, "Jiang Family next door just hates the noise. But there are many ways to make people disappear..."
Seeing Qiu Yelan changing her smiley face into a cold one, Xiuyan then said, "It's getting cold. And a lot happened in the mansion today. Princess is tired and she decides not to monitor anything tonight. She has sent away all the servants. Princess won't be able to know where you are about to go and do."
"I understood!" Qiu Yelan mocked at heart. Ever since Xiuyan came to her room in person, she knew that Princess Yang couldn't wait to kill Madame Lu!
However, although Qiu Mengmin left to avoid all this and acquiesced in Princess Yang taking over control while he was gone, he would never allow Princess Yang to hurt his biological mother! Princess Yang couldn't take the fault either. So, she needed someone to do it for her.
In the Prince's Mansion, who was more suitable than herself to be this someone?
But...
Qiu Yelan squinted, "She planned to go see Madame Lu privately even Princess Yang didn't mention it."
Although Princess Yang took her side more or less these few times, she did so for herself. She didn't do it because of her good will. She remembered being ripped off for 800 thousand tael of silver. If Princess Yang really did kill Madame Lu via this chance, Aunt Qiu wouldn't be a match against her anymore.
When that time came, Princess Yang wouldn't need Qiu Yelan anymore. Then Qiu Yelan would be a lamb for her to slaughter!
"Madame Lu doesn't have any title of nobility. She still can suppress Princess Yang for years. She must have some abilities!" Qiu Yelan thought about it calmly, "She fell for the tricks every step of the way recently. Maybe because her son is so obedient that she gets too spoiled. Just need to remind her a little. She should be able to come back to her senses and regain control. I need you guys to fight with each other for now. Don’t let me down, you guys. As Qiu Jinzhu's elders, don't get suppressed by a kid!"
That night, Su He held Qiu Yelan on to the sedan chair sent by Princess Yang and went to the yard of Madame Lu.Princess Yang didn't set anyone to keep a watch on and even sent her people away to avoid any suspicion.Qiu Yelan thought that it would take a while for her to meet Madame Lu. Madame Lu might not want to suffer again and refuse to meet her. To her surprise, Madame Lu was sitting on the couch and drinking a bowl of spun gold bird nest porridge, looking calm.People could still believe that she would live for eighty more years with her rosy cheeks and the youthful look."What? You are disappointed to see that I'm not lying on my couch and dying?" Madame Lu handed the bird's nest porridge, which she had only two or three tastes, to the maid and said, "It tastes bad. You can use it to feed the dog!""Yes, Madame!" The maid looked at the almost untouched porridge enviously and took it away carefully.
After a while, Qiu Mingzhu walked in looking pale-white and with coldness. She was wearing the silk shoes that she put on when she went to bed. The shoes were soaked by the snow, and it left a string of stamps on the thick blue blanket in the inner chamber.She was two years older than Qiu Yelan, and her biological mother was Mistress Tian. She could only be named as the Fourth Lady instead of Commandery Princess.Mistress Tian had almost fallen into disfavor, but she recommended her cousin who was Mistress Bian to the mansion. Mistress Bian was eighteen years old this year. She was a beauty and good at dancing and singing. So that Mistress Tian and her daughter had a pretty good life in the Prince's Mansion.It's said that Qiu Mengmin once promised Mistress Bian to proclaim her immediately as the Concubine if she could give birth to a boy."... It seems that either Lu did not misjudge Princess Yang, or Princess Yang reacted very q
"Your Grace, why don't you listen to the secret that Miss Mingzhu said?" After Mrs. Zhou took Qiu Mingzhu to Princess Yang, Su He made a rose dew and handed it to Qiu Yelan. She asked curiously, “I think she should really know what the secret was...”"But must it have anything to do with us?" Qiu Yelan smiled slightly and took a sip of rose dew. "The first thing we are asking for is self-protection and then to live without acting according to where the wind blows. Then there are other things we ought to do... Knowing too many secrets too early is not a good thing! "She thought, "There was a chuckle out of the window just now. I'm not sure whether she is a servant of Princess Yang or Madame Lu. She followed the Qiu Mingzhu all the way, and maybe is lying in the back window and eavesdropping."Su He did not fully understand and nodded, "So Miss Mingzhu didn’t tell you because of her goodwill! She is so!""Aunt Yang and Madame Lu wil
At noon the next day, Hongyao, the first maid of Qiu Mengmin came to invite Qiu Yelan in person. “It said that you know about the things that Young Master Qiu Hongzhi fell into the lake last night and things of Mistress Bian and others, Your Grace. Now Prince is going to investigate by himself, so I'm here to invite you to help Prince tell right from wrong.”It was impossible to avoid this kind of thing, and Qiu Yelan also didn't want to hide. So, she brought Su He and quickly got on the sedan.Arriving at the back of the Prince's Mansion, she saw Madame Lu sat in the first place, and Qiu Mengmin sat with shame at the next seat.No one else had the right to sit. Even Princess Yang and Qiu Yuqing were kneeling at the front of the crowd. Of course, no one dared to stand, except Madame Lu and her son.But Qiu Yelan didn't intend to join in the fun. So as soon as she entered and witnessed the situation, she immediately raised her sleev
On the snow-covered street, pedestrians were all in a hurry with their clothes wrapped tightly.An inconspicuous carriage hoofed through the snow. Two bodyguards in green and three or four nannies followed the carriage on foot. It looked like some womenfolk of a normal wealthy family were going out.Some passersby checked the carriage occasionally and then looked away apathetically.Inside the carriage, Su He said excitedly, "Your Grace, you are really resourceful. You managed to make the Prince family agree to let you go to the General's Mansion. Now we are out and will never go back!""How is that possible?" Mrs. Zhou was about to say this. Seeing Qiu Yelan looked more relaxed than she was in Prince's Mansion, she managed to keep those words to herself.However, Qiu Yelan said it herself, "That's not possible. I have an engagement. How can I live at Ruan Family forever?" Besides, the best-case scenario was that grand
General Ruan's mansion was located at the north of the capital city. It was the only house Ruan Family had left.The whole mansion appeared to be a little gruesome because too many towering pine and cypress trees were planted there. It was colder inside the walls than outside in the wind.Qiu Yelan walked out of General Ruan's room with a gloomy face.Ruan Qingyan wasn't home on that day. Although he brought a few men into the General's Mansion after he got the right of inheritance, the housekeeper was still the same old Ruan An. So Qiu Yelan got here without any obstruction. She could tell that Ruan Qingyan put a lot of thoughts in settling General Ruan down.The room behind her was warm, clean and big. And the inside was very tidy. The underfloor heating was well functioned. Furnishings were simple. But all were carefully selected. There was a wintersweet bonsai on a higher table and a basin of daffodils on a lower shelf. The roo
"It's my first time to arrive in the capital city and I will take the Metropolitan Exam next year. I want to make the acquaintance of some future peers and Hua knows some of them. That's why I met her several times." As soon as the gate closed, Ruan Qingyan gave a dry cough and hurried to explain, "The other day, she introduced me to Earl of Jingchuan's youngest son, young master Ling. I made an appointment to treat him a dinner today, but I didn't know he also invited Hua. Just now I heard that you were here, and I wanted to come back early. But Hua insisted to follow me. I had no time to waste on her, so I got on my horse and left. I never thought that..."Qiu Yelan glimpsed at him and thought this cousin of her was really clever. As the General's Mansion was in decline, if he said he was the grandson of General Ruan, most probably no one would take notice of him and he would even be despised. Asking a famous courtesan to introduce him was at least a better way.
Su He said tremblingly, "I came up with it myself!""Why?" Qiu Yelan frowned."...because Young Master Ruan is focusing on his career now," Su He bit her lips and said timidly, "I'm afraid that he is nice to you only because of your engagement. So... I want to test him.""Should I be the one doing something like this?" Qiu Yelan realized that no wonder Madame Lu said that Ruan Qingyan might be up to no good. “See? Even Su He suspects him!”Su He cried, "How can you do that? When I say something wrong, you can apologize to Young Master Ruan by hitting me or scolding me. But if you and Young Master Ruan are in a stalemate, we are in his place now!""Don't worry about this kind of thing anymore!" Qiu Yelan looked at the little girl who was shorter than her and sighed, "I know what I'm doing!" Seeing Su He was about to say something, she pounded the table, "You don't want to listen to me anymore, do you?"Su H