“To the standpoint of paternal and maternal grandmothers, the majority of them would not like to see that their grandsons are closer to their wives than themselves!”
Qiu Yelan had woken up when Su He went back to Jiang’s residence. She was reclining to the bed listlessly and having porridge with the help of Chunran. She immediately asked Su He to report to her after she knew Su He was back. Su He went into the inner chamber and began to report what she met on her way to the Green Villa before Qiu Yelan said a word.
In Su He’s words, she did not mention Qiu Jinglan was in a coma.
This was what Ruan Ciyi required her to do. In fact, even if she did not instruct her to do so, Su He dared not to say it to Qiu Jinglan, given the bad health of Qiu Jinglan now. The affection between them was so strong that Qiu Jinglan would be heartbroken if she heard the news.
Against the backdrop, Su He began to report what Ruan Ciyi told her, “Old Madame raised our young master. Old Master passed away earlier, and our young master would definitely take the responsibility to take care of old madame! But our young master loves you so much that he has a bias towards you even before you two got married. From your view, do you think old madame will be happy about his bias? I guess that old madame hasn’t made trouble for you so far because she thought that you were a good girl and you got married not long ago! She has got a chance to suppress you. She won’t let it slip away. I think her anger at you this morning is the beginning! When our young master comes home, she will insult you before him, I think.”
Mrs. Zhou and others had reported to Qiu Yelan what old maidservant Wang said. Qiu Yelan was unhappy about the people from her husband’s family who used her important stuff to deal with the problem arising from the first branch. And then she was reported that Madame Tao made trouble for her out of nothing. Given the situation, Qiu Yelan felt dismal even if she had realized that Madame Tao might misunderstand her.
After hearing Su He’s report, Qiu Yelan smiled coldly, “I am a puppet in her design. Now, I crossed the red line that she drew for me. She was unhappy about it!” Qiu Yelan used to think that she would get along well with Madame Tao. But only because of the little trouble, Madame Tao warned her. She should have been a good cat. But, it was Yashuang who loved Qiu Yelan the most, not Madame Tao. “Did you think I was a sheep just because I only have a brother and a sister in my mother’s family?” thought Qiu Yelan.
“Did Lady Ciyi tell you what we should do next?” Xiaran asked. Seeing Qiu Yelan was in a lousy mood and woke up minutes ago, Xiaran was concerned about her health and diverted the topic.
Su He said, “Lady Ciyi told me that you got married not long ago and you are a junior. No need to be concerned about these things. The most important thing now is to recover and get pregnant as early as possible!” Su He was shy to say pregnancy as she was not married yet. She paused and hesitated for a while and then resumed, “Take our Madame as an example. As long as you get pregnant, Old Master won’t make trouble for you, let alone Old Madame!”
Qiu Yelan tried to hold her emotions, thinking desperately, “I know she would say so. The ultimate point she would say is to get a child and then you will be somebody in the backyard!”
Seeing her looking up at the top of the mosquito net and saying nothing, maids around her took a glance at each other, feeling lost. Chunran was concerned and said, “Don’t worry. You and our young master are always in good health. I believe you two will have kids one day… Now you have a slight illness and your fever faded yesterday. You are recovering now. I believe you will be okay before tomorrow!”
What Qiu Baozhu said yesterday to them was known only by three in the Jiang Family: Qiu Yelan, Su He and Mrs. Zhou. Princess Ruan accepted the bracelet, although she did so for her daughter. But this bracelet might ruin her reputation if the public knew it. Trouble might hover over her head if Empress Dowager Gu knew what she did. So, Qiu Yelan instructed Su He not to tell others except Mrs. Zhou, who was a confidant of Princess Ruan when she was alive. If she was asked, what she needed to say was to tell them that it was about Qiu Baozhu, who wanted to help her husband get a better position.
The people in the Jiang Family get used to being asked to do favors. All wives had done one or two favors to her mother’s family. And the low official position of Qiu Baozhu’s husband had no threat to their interests even if he was promoted by three levels. Given the reason, no one in the family cared about what Qiu Baozhu did for her husband.
Chunran and Xiaran thought the same as Ruan Ciyi. They believed that Qiu Yelan was sick with anger.
“I am okay. You have been here with me for a long time. You must be tired too. Retreat and have a rest,” said Qiu Yelan. She had been tired of hearing the word “kids” in the past year. Now, Chunran and Ruan Ciyi took their turn to antagonize her with this word. She had a headache. She waved her hand, “I am feeling tired. I want to sleep!”
Hearing her words, maids immediately served her to lie down on the bed.
Qiu Yelan did not wake up until the afternoon. She felt better then. In effect, she knew why she got sick this time. Neither the pill was taken away from her nor the truth about Princess Ruan’s death caused her sickness. It was because of the iced herbal tea!
It was summertime. Although the temperature in the mountain was cool, it was burning hot outside. Qiu Yelan had been in the sun for a long time that day. What was more, she felt anxious at that time. She drank half a bottle of iced herb tea. Iced tea was not good for health. And minutes later, she heard what happened to Princess Ruan from Qiu Baozhu. Even if Qiu Yelan did not pass out at that moment, she could hardly stand firmly.
Because of the rising deficiency-fire and iced herb tea, she finally got sick.
But when she got sick, it was so coincidental that even though she told people why she got sick, nobody believed it.
She stared at the top of the net for a while. She was about to summon a maid to get in and serve her when she heard footsteps out of the room. It was Jiang Yashuang who raised the curtain and entered the room.
“You are back earlier today,” Qiu Yelan said, noticing that Jiang Yashuang was wearing loungewear. She realized that he had been home for a while. Judging from the light in the room, she guessed it was before 3 o’clock. Usually, Jiang Yashuang got home after 5 o’clock. Hence, Qiu Yelan asked the reason why he got home earlier.
Seeing she woke up, Jiang Yashuang felt relieved. He rushed to her and touched her forehead, testing her temperature. He smiled, “I was concerned about your illness. So, I asked for half a day off from the Seventh Prince.”
Jiang Yashuang felt relieved after he checked the temperature on her forehead. It was warm, not a fever. He took out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat appearing on her forehead during her sleep. “I saw you are sweating while you sleep. I thought that you had a fever again.”
He then raised his voice to summon a maid, ordering her to fetch porridge and vegetables suitable for patients to eat.
While waiting for her food, he helped her sit up. Su He and others were serving her to wash up and comb. They spoke with her softly, showing their concerns to her. Up to now from yesterday, it was the first time for Qiu Yelan to enjoy her husband’s care after she got sober. Thanks to his care, her anger faded a lot. She walked out of the inner room with the help of him. Jiang Yashuang had prepared in person a cup of honey water for her to moisten her throat.
Qiu Yelan felt much better after having dinner. She was gargling with the tea passed to her while she spoke to Jiang Yashuang. “Do you know what’s going on about the Prince of Qi now? Don’t tell me that he died after taking the pill.”
“He’s alive, but he hasn’t woken up yet,” replied Jiang Yashuang, who did not expect that she would ask him this question. He gripped the teacup with a slight force, then released it and said softly, “Don’t worry about this. No big problem.”
Qiu Yelan nodded. As long as the Prince of Qi was alive and could talk, the Jiang Family would not be in big trouble. If Jiang Yashuang was willing to help Jiang Qiyun, and tell the Empress Dowager it was a misunderstanding between the couple, the Empress Dowager would do nothing to the family.
As for whether the Prince of Qi would stand out and testify that he was intimidated almost to death… To Empress Jiang, his testimony would be a severe insult, Qiu Yelan believed!
“No big problem for our family. But, what can Qiyun do after this?” asked Qiu Yelan, putting down her teacup.
Needless to say, after this, Jiang Qiyun’s title, Princess, would be deprived even if she would be willing to swear to God that she would not do it again. Empress Jiang and Marquess Qin would not give her another chance!
To the Empress and Marquess Qin, whether the Prince of Qi was alive or not was not important. But if the matter became an excuse for the Empress Dowager to blame the Jiang Family, that would be the last thing the Empress and Marquess Qin wanted to see. Even Jiang Tianao himself could not stand it, let alone the Empress and Marquess Qin.
Plus, either of them took Jiang Qiyun’s credit and favorable impression seriously.
But now, to the Jiang Family, they could not afford to be ashamed of having their daughter reprieved. On the other side of the coin, they had to keep tabs on Jiang Qiyun from intimidating the Prince of Qi… The Prince of Qi was alive, but Jiang Qiyun might ultimately be punished to death as a Princess.
Qiu Yelan heard the soft sound of her husband while she was thinking, “She will receive her due penalty… Leave those small things behind. I just want to know how you feel. I noticed that you are looking better.”
“Really?” Qiu Yelan rubbed her face. She was usually in good health. She was attacked by the bad news and iced herb tea yesterday. Thanks to the doctor who came to see her quickly, she took medicine and slept all night and half a day. She now felt much better. Not intending to pretend to be ill any longer, Qiu Yelan said, “I think so, too.”
Jiang Yashuang forced a smile at her, “Good to hear that.”
Qiu Yelan noticed that he wanted to say something. She wondered, “I am feeling better now. Why did he give me a forced smile? Is he hoping that I am in bad health longer?”
But she thought it another way, “Sure enough, Ciyi is right. Madame Tao must have set her up in front of Yashuang already!” Madame Tao must have told Yashuang that she was pretending to be ill because she got ill yesterday, but she felt better today. She recovered too quickly!
Thinking of this, she felt dismal. She pursed her lips and said nothing.
Because she said nothing, nobody in the room opened their mouths, leading to an awkward air in the room.
“…” After a while, Qiu Yelan was about to send Jiang Yashuang to his study to deal with his official documents. A maid standing outside entered and said, “Mom Hu is here!”
Her arrival made Qiu Yelan frown. Jiang Yashuang noticed her unhappiness. He said promptly, “As she is here, let her in.” And then he said, “You go and tell her. Don’t talk with madame for too long though she feels better now.”
Although he tried to say sweet words to express his care for Qiu Yelan, she gave no response, not showing happiness or anger. Noticing the awkward air in the room, the maids who wanted to break the ice held back their words. The silence in the room took hold.
It did not take long for Mom Hu to show up. She kowtowed frequently before saying a word. Her action astonished Qiu Yelan. Qiu Yelan immediately asked a maid to get her up, “Mom Hu, why are you doing so?”
“It’s all my fault!” Mom Hu knelt on the floor, not attempting to stand up. She begged for their pardon with a guilty face. “Old maidservant Wang is a broad who didn’t know what she was talking about! Because she is one of my relatives. I begged old madame to keep her around, serving old madame. But this morning, she came here to see you in the name of madame, but what she said over here was so mean! For my own reasons, I have caused young madame to suffer from your illness. So, I am coming here, begging for your pardon!”
A cold smile hovered in Qiu Yelan’s heart, but she said nothing to her. She looked at Jiang Yashuang and had some thoughts. Jiang Yashuang used to be considerable and smart. He must understand what Qiu Baozhu said over here. So, he behaved discreetly before me!
It must be Mrs. Zhou and Su He who told him. Qiu Yelan intended to tell him herself and report Madame Tao in her words. But Jiang Yashuang knew the whole thing before she woke up. What was more, he must have told the thing to Madame Tao. That was the reason why Madame Tao sent Mom Hu over here, begging for pardon.
“Mom Hu. Don’t say so. I was in a coma when old maidservant Wang was here. My maids did not tell me that she said insulting words,” said Qiu Yelan, looking around. “What did she say over here?”
Su He replied promptly, “Old maidservant Wang came here and asked about your condition. We did not hear her say any bad words.”
“Mom Hu, there must be a misunderstanding,” said Qiu Yelan, looking at Mom Hu, who was still kneeling on the floor. “Your kowtow confused me!”
“Mom Hu, you go back first. Lanlan did not recover fully. She was not in a good spirit. I will tell her what happened later,” said Jiang Yashuang with a dry cough softly.
Hearing her words, Mom Hu immediately kowtowed again submissively, retreating with a smile.
After she left, Qiu Yelan asked dismissively, “What are you going to say to me?”
Jiang Yashuang beckoned the maids out with a wave. The sympathy showed in his soft eyes. He hesitated for a while and said after a sigh, “I understand that you are sad now. But you should realize that your mother has passed away several years ago. As for her revenge, I think we will have a chance to do it for her… What do you think?”
Qiu Yelan was loath to talk with him about it. After all, she was not the original body. If she were, she must have cried loudly, hugged Jiang Yashuang for comfort, and told him how she and her mother depended on each other in the old days and now her mother left her alone in the world. And then, she could have accepted Jiang Yashuang’s few words of consolation.
But she was not the original body. To Princess Ruan, she sympathized with her and respected her but with little family affection. And more importantly, she did not want to waste her energy to pretend to be the one. So, she said dismissively, “I agree.”
Her answer was out of expectation, which made Jiang Yashuang hang in the air for a while, “Anyway, because of the trouble made by Kuang Qingwu and Commandery Princess Ningtai, Princess Changping’s marriage will be delayed. If they decide to get the marriage preparedness started now, I have drafted a procedure for the Seventh Prince… So, I have time recently. How about I take you for a walk?”
His suggestion indicated that he was still concerned if she could accept the fact of her mother’s death.
Qiu Yelan laughed at herself. She felt frustrated but without crying miserably, which shocked Jiang Yashuang. Was he worried that she got sick again because of accumulated depression?
Generally speaking, even if it were a misunderstanding, she would have no excuse to give up a chance to increase their affection.
However, she did not have time for a walk proposed by her husband. The thing Qiu Baozhu came to the house and asked her to do had to be done as soon as possible, or the opportunity to deal with it would be passed up.