When Qiu Yelan returned to Beique Hall, it was already dusk. Empress Jiang offered a family dinner. Shortly after the dinner started, only Maid Lin was kept in the hall to serve wines. Qiu Yelan took the moment and said everything that Empress Dowager Ye had just told.
After hearing it, Empress’s expression changed abruptly, “According to what she said, all the royalties are suspects, aren’t they?”
Qiu Yelan replied respectfully, “I’m not wise enough to make any judgment.”
“It’s ok. Since Empress Dowager Ye told you this, you should know her demeanor. Tell me, what do you think of what she said?” Empress Jiang contemplated and said, “Is it true or not?”
“I’ve never met Empress Dowager Ye before. How can I judge the truth of her speech so arrogantly?” Qiu Yelan clarified that she was unfamiliar to Empress Dowager Ye, and then she continued, “But I think what Empress Dowager Ye did was for Duanrou. Duanrou is the only child of the third sister. Both grandfather and Your Majesty are very pitiful towards the third sister and her child. That’s why when Empress Dowager Ye is alive, what she did is of her own responsibility. We shouldn’t blame the family of the third sister. But if Empress Dowager Ye were gone and had some backup plans, when it causes trouble, even if Your Majesty and grandfather are kind, other people of our family may hold grudges against the third sister’s family. I think this is not something Empress Dowager Ye want to see.”
Empress Jiang didn’t agree or disagree, “It makes sense.”
The Empress then asked for some more details and drank up her wine, “Lin, keep serving Yelan. I’ll go to change my clothes.”
Qiu Yelan knew the Empress was off to seriously consider the matter of Empress Dowager Ye. So she stood up and saw her off respectfully.
“How can I trouble Maid Lin?” When the Empress left, Qiu Yelan stopped Maid Lin from pouring her wine with a smile, “I had enough. I should go.”
“I was ordered by Her Majesty to serve you. If you leave now and Her Majesty finds out later, she will be angry at me for not being welcome enough and making you lose your appetite.” Maid Lin calmly insisted, “Please have some more, madame!”
Maid Lin kept inviting but Qiu Yelan still turned her down. In the end, Maid Lin compromised, “Then I’ll have someone else to serve you?”
When Qiu Yelan heard that, a hint of anger crossed through her eyes. But she masked it quickly. She smiled and said, “Since you have already said that, how can I refuse?”
Maid Lin indeed stepped outside and called Niguang in.
Clearly, Niguang had spent time dressing herself up. She was wearing a light pink top with narrow sleeves and crossed collar. A small edge of her inner clothes was shown along the collar. She tied a colorful silk belt around her waist and wore a dress dyed in light yellow and emerald green. Her hair was tied up into a bun and two jade pins were on each side of her bun. She had some light makeup, which made her look pretty and cute.
When she came close to Qiu Yelan, she was very attentive. She persuaded Qiu Yelan to have more drinks and food. She was thoughtful and obedient.
Qiu Yelan watched her performance with cold eyes. She only threw in some light compliments. When the Empress left, she wanted to go back quickly to think about what Empress Dowager Ye said to her when she called her up. But first came Maid Lin, and then Niguang. Her appetite grew thinner and thinner. She held up for a while and finally successfully left under the excuse that the Palace would be closed soon.
When she returned to the Marquess’s Mansion, Madame Tao naturally called her in and asked her again.
After dealing with that, Qiu Yelan went back to her own residence. Her face went dark as soon as she walked through the door. “I’m tired after a day in the Palace. I want to take a nap. No need to bother me when Jiang Yashuang comes back!”
She then closed the door of her room and got in her bed.
A short time later, Jiang Yashuang came back from the front study, hearing that his wife was tired. He looked inside the bed canopy quietly, only to see Qiu Yelan holding the cushion and leaning on the bed dazedly. She was crying!
He was surprised and asked her hurriedly, “What’s wrong?”
He asked multiple times, yet Qiu Yelan ignored him.
Jiang Yashuang had to guess himself, “Are you feeling pity for Empress Dowager Ye? Then I’ll talk to my grandfather and my aunt. We can have her live as she did before, can’t we?” Anyway, Empress Dowager Ye wouldn’t live long!
Qiu Yelan kept ignoring him. Seeing that, he guessed again, “Are you worried about Duanrou? Rest assured. She and the third sister are our family members. They didn’t know this matter. They won’t be wronged.”
“Are you missing your brother? The message from there said he was fine recently…”
He kept guessing, yet none moved his wife. Jiang Yashuang felt annoyed. He set on the bed and held her in his arms. He said helplessly, “Fine. Maybe you can tell me when you feel better?”
“I’ve married you for almost a year now, right?” Hearing that, Qiu Yelan reached out her arm and wiped her face with the sleeve. She suddenly asked with a choking voice.
Jiang Yashuang felt lost. He answered cautiously, “Yes… What’s wrong?”
“I’m still not pregnant. Should I start preparing someone for you?” Qiu Yelan stared at him coldly, “What kind of women do you want? Maybe someone pretty, soft, and obedient? Like the one Maid Lin showed me today?”
Jiang Yashuang finally understood why she was crying. He frowned, “Maid Lin? Who is she to be in charge of my backyard?” He pressed down his anger, “Did you forget what I had promised you? Don’t worry about these things. I think my aunt relies on Maid Lin too much these years and she lost her caution!”
Qiu Yelan actually didn’t hate Maid Lin most at this moment. Nijin was pretty clear that it was Empress Jiang who wanted to have someone for Jiang Yashuang and Maid Lin took the chance to recommend her adopted daughter, Niguang. In the end, the problem came from the elders of Jiang Yashuang!
But she couldn’t talk behind Empress Jiang’s back. She could only take it on Maid Lin. After all, a trusted subordinate of the elder who wanted to plan a life for her adopted daughter was plotting against her. That made her very insecure!
She just said quietly, “I’ve met her. She looks good and obedient… If you like her, I’ll get her for you.”
Jiang Yashuang’s face suddenly went cold, “Then are you going to ask me for a divorce? Do you think I have no idea of your personality as your husband?! When I discussed the marriage with you, you said you couldn’t bear for me to have mistresses. Yet in two years, you suddenly become generous? Are you going to divorce me for such a small matter? Do you lose your mind?!”
He couldn’t understand this logic. He said angrily, “Maid Lin is just a maid of my aunt! She recommended some random people whom I’ve never met and you decided to go this far! Am I that unworthy? You just give me up whenever someone comes along?!”
“After seeing Empress Dowager Ye today…” Qiu Yelan also responded coldly. But before she could finish the sentence, Jiang Yashuang abruptly changed his expression, “Empress Dowager Ye? Didn’t I say you can’t go meet her? Why did my aunt send you anyway?”
Qiu Yelan said with a cold smile, “If I didn’t go see her alone, how will she confess? If she didn’t confess, how will the Jiang Family rest assure?! Even though your family is probably more worried after she confessed!”
Jiang Yashuang’s face was dark as the night sky. He said coldly, “Next time you go to the Palace, you tell me! I’ve said before since Empress Dowager Ye could poison the Emperor in a way that the three Premiers couldn’t find out, who knows what kind of things she’s holding back?! This time she was exposed by you. Who knows she didn’t mean to do you any harm when calling you there?! That’s why I told you not to meet her. If they have to make her confess, can’t they use a substitute? She’s never seen you!”
He exhaled a heavy breath, “I’ll ask grandfather and my aunt tomorrow! Who changed their mind?!”
“Then your grandmother will come to talk to me, asking me to be more virtuous and magnanimous. Don’t always try to separate you from your family!” Qiu Yelan didn’t appreciate his words. She said coldly, “She would either persuade me to get you a dozen mistresses or swallow her grievance down like Madame Tao Junior. Or she may just tell me that I’m not virtuous enough to be your wife and I should leave.”
“Grandmother is old enough. She just says things!” Jiang Yashuang frowned his eyebrows even tighter, “As for whether we would get someone into our residence, that’s our decision. I said that I wouldn’t wrong you, so I definitely won’t put you in a tough spot…”
“When I came out of the Ganli Palace, I went to Beique Hall.” Qiu Yelan smiled coldly, “After telling aunt what happened, she left to change her clothes and left Maid Lin with me. How can I let your aunt’s trusted subordinate serve me? I exchanged some pleasantry with her. Then she said she would find someone who could serve me well. She brought that nicely dressed maid to me. Then what she was hinting was…”
Jiang Yashuang kept a cold face, “I’ll enter the Palace and talk to my aunt tomorrow! Maid Lin is highly valued by my aunt, but she is not indispensable!”
“Maid Lin served aunt for so many years. Do you think she’s someone who would go behind aunt’s back and act on her own?!” Qiu Yelan said slowly. Her simple question made Jiang Yashuang fall silent. After a while, he said quietly, “Why do you have to be like this? My aunt has ideas, but I’m not the one who would blindly listen to anyone else. I promised you and I’ll honor that! Can’t we talk nicely?”
Qiu Yelan looked at him for a while. And then she dragged up the duvet and said quietly, “I don’t feel too well. I don’t think I can help the third branch. You should ask someone to tell He Shuijin later!”
Jiang Yashuang sighed, “Ok.”
After he left, Su He came in and said quietly and anxiously, “Madame, don’t be sad. Young master is always on your side…”
“You eavesdropped again!” Before she could finish, Qiu Yelan lifted the duvet up and grabbed her by the ear. She said angrily, “You really don’t know how to behave yourself now, do you?!”
Su He said aggrievedly, “No, I didn’t. Young master found me when he left and asked me to talk to you. He said he remembered what he had promised you and asked you to stop overthinking!”
Qiu Yelan sneered. Su He did eavesdrop on that conversation. Qiu Yelan sat up with a straight face, “What do you know? He is an honest man, but his whole family is persuading him. Who knows what he will think about?”
“But young master hasn’t done anything wrong until now. If you throw a tantrum at this moment, he would be more unhappy, wouldn’t he?” Su He pouted.
“I just exposed Empress Dowager Ye’s scheme and solved a big mess for the Jiang Family. Yet the Empress still asked Maid Lin to hint me that I should get a mistress for Jiang Yashuang!” Qiu Yelan gritted her teeth, “Empress Dowager Ye was right. This whole family, besides Jiang Yashuang, are all ungrateful! What they did to the Tao Family was an example! If I don’t make a fuss when Jiang Yashuang thinks I actually have a reason to be, should I always let him believe that his good grandfather, aunt, and grandmother would treat me like him?!”
Empress Dowager Ye complained for County Princess Duanrou. She felt that Duanrou had spent so many years with Princess Yongfu. She should at least get some credit for it. But Qiu Yelan thought about herself and felt she had it worse than Duanrou!
She saved Xue Nongying and exposed Empress Dowager Ye. Just these two things helped the political fight of the Empress’s party greatly! She could even say that she rescued them!
And the medicine to save Xue Nongying was from her maiden brother. She used her own knowledge to expose Empress Dowager Ye. They had nothing to do with the Jiang Family!
She didn’t ask her husband’s family to value her too much. The problem was that she had just helped them, yet they immediately wanted her to find a mistress for her husband. The fourth branch had Madame Tao Junior. Did they think every daughter-in-law would be obedient like her?
Qiu Yelan finally understood why so many wives would separate their husbands from their families. Some were the wives’ mistakes, but some of them were definitely forced!
“These are all elders of the young master. If they are not happy…” Su He reminded her worriedly, “What if you overreach yourself?!”
“I just want to see whose side he is on!” Qiu Yelan was emotionless on the surface. She thought in her heart angrily, “If he tries to smooth things over or takes the elders’ side, then I really need to think about a way out. I don’t need to waste my time in the Jiang Family!”
At around the same time, Jiang Yashuang entered the study of Marquess Qin with a straight face.