Chapter76 I Was A Bossy Girl in Nature
It had been the end of March after rites for passing the imperial exam. The rites included results release, celebration feast, court dress granted, thank you note and ancestors’ worship, etc.
Qiu Yelan had been studying for ten more days. She realized that Madam Shao was undoubtedly a good teacher being competent for teaching princesses. She, despite unborn in a royal family, was skilled at so many techniques such as qin (a Chinese instrument), chess, calligraphy, painting and poems, etc. She even had a vast knowledge of books preparing for imperial examinations.
The part that Qiu Yelan satisfied the most was that Miss Shao was a reticent teacher. She never steered away from her teaching topic. She never intervened in Qiu Yelan’s after-class activities either.
Madam Shao, as an intelligent, good-looking and versatile teacher who took her class seriously, was an ideal teacher for anyone!
After spending the time with her for half a month, Qiu Yelan was not suspicious of Miss Shao anymore. She decided to send gifts to He Shuijin to thank her for introduction. The gifts were one stone that could kill two birds. She wanted to make friends with He Shuijin and others and used them for a future emergency.
She sent Xiaran, a steady and resourceful maid, to Qiao Mayor’s house. And then she summoned Chunran, “My brother is still not free now?”
“The thing young master promised Young Earl Ling… Heads-up, you also knew about it.” said Chunran in embarrassment.
“The Courtesan Competition will be held on April 9?” asked Qiu Yelan, frowning. “It was Okay that he went there before… But now, he will be the son-in-law of Jiang Family. Even if he always has a crush on many girls, he should watch his bearing this time, behaving like a gentleman now. How could he go out and play with loser Ling Zui and flirt with prostitutes?”
“Young master once said that man should keep his promise.” said Chunran.
“It depends on what the promise is!” said Qiu Yelan promptly. “I just sent our gifts to Young Lady He. If she is free recently, she must be here in the coming days! If she comes here with Chunfu princess again, it will be a chance for my brother to meet her.”
Ruan Qingyan was a handsome boy. Jiang Qizheng would like him!
“Even if Chunfu princess does not come, Young Lady He, as Chunfu princess’s best friend, will tell her everything about my brother. I am sure about it.” sighed Qiu Yelan. “Why is my brother so stubborn this time?”
“No need to hurry, Your Grace. Young master once said that Jiang Family had known that he promised Young Earl Ling he would assist in the Courtesan Competition. If he breaks his promise this time because of Chunfu princess, it seemed like he pleased Jiang Family, but in reality, he may be looked down by them.”
“You’re right.” said Qiu Yelan. She thought that if Ruan Qingyan married Jiang Qizheng, he would enjoy the fruits of her family’s success. But his marriage would make him a puppet. Anyway, Qiu Yelan thought that Jiang Qizheng was a nice girl. Or she would try everything to stop them.
Pondering for a while, Qiu Yelan said, “Okay. Let him do what he wants to do. But he should focus on his assistance. He should not go to the brothel…”
“Young master must know what he is doing!” said Chunran. “And the girl Penglai Yue whom they will assist is the girl that Young Earl Ling is crazy about. Young master must try his best to complete them.”
Settling down this topic, Qiu Yelan suddenly remembered something important. She asked, “Any news from the Prince’s Mansion?”
“It is said that Prince is getting better.”
This short answer made Qiu Yelan smile lightly. She said, “He should be better now.”
In the past half month, Qiu Yelan was busy in observing Miss Shao. She did not go around and make trouble for anybody.
The two pear flowers she sent put the mistresses into the struggle of crown princes which had been fierce for a long time. Mistress Bian had nothing to do but to spend all her money to settle everything down. Even Mistress Tian had to pay for a big sum to Qiu Yelan to ask for her help.
Qiu Yelan’s solution was simple — Although Princess Yang cast doubt on Mistress Bian because of pear flowers, she must not realize that Mistress Bian was pregnant.
After all, the youngest child in the Prince’s Mansion Qiu Yinzhi has been ten years old. There had been no more children born over the past ten years. Qiu Mengmin must think that he would not have more children.
So, Mistress Bian wanted to conceal her pregnancy for several months. She might divert Princess Yang’s attention from Qiu Hongzhi, the one she wants to get rid of most.
“Last time, I taught Mistress Bian how to meet Qiu Mengmin by avoiding being noticed by Princess Yang. I did receive her money but helped her with nothing. She, finally, had to seek help from Qiu Hongzhi.” said Qiu Yelan, sipping tea. “Qiu Hongzhi is so helpful. He found out a way to bring her to Qiu Mengmin in only two days. Mistress Bian cried her experience before Qiu Mengmin, telling him everything… Now, Qiu Mengmin allowed Mistress Bian to stay with him all the time. I think that Princess Yang must be upset recently!”
“If Qiu Hongzhi knows that Mistress Bian conceives a baby boy, I am wondering if he will regret what he has done today.” said Chunran, smiling.
“Maybe not.” said Qiu Yelan, shaking her head. “I still insist on my opinion. Even if she gives birth to a boy, she may have no chance to bring him up. Even if the boy would be lucky enough to be a grown-up, he might not be talented. Compared with my brother, Qiu Hongzhi is a loser. But he is much better than others. That is the reason why Ding Hanlin Academy agreed to let his daughter marry him. But the key part is that he is a bastard!”
“Young Master Qiu Hongzhi’s mother has been dead for a long time. And on the other side, Mistress Bian is the most favorite one of Qiu Mengmin’s. To this point, the boy may have his day because of his mother.” said Su He, interrupting. “By the way, Your Grace, do you think that Prince has already known that Mistress Bian is pregnant?”
“As Mistress Bian has met him before, she must have told him about it. It is the only way for her out of the trouble! And Qiu Mengmin insisted on keeping her around him. Do you think he did so just because she is his most favorite woman? As we know, the reason Qiu Mengmin is lying on the bed is that he is too sad for losing his mother! He should not have kept his concubine beside him if he wanted to be a perfect son. That is why Princess Yang could resist Mistress Bian to meet him before.” smiled Qiu Yelan.
Speaking of this, she smiled, “Qiu Mengmin must have known her pregnancy. In my opinion, Princess Yang must have jolt out of her daydream too during the past days! Don’t you think it is weird that Qiu Hongzhi and Qiu Yinzhi both are quiet recently? I guess Princess Yang must have told Qiu Hongzhi the whole thing and they are conspiring to kill the baby together. In doing so, they could go back to their battle they used to fight! I guess this is the reason why Qiu Mengmin is hasty to get better.”
Su He counted the days and then she said, “Good news is, according to the news reported by Prince’s Mansion, I guess Prince will recover within five or six days. And within ten or more days, the stuff from Lanxi will also arrive.”
“Thanks to the consideration of Ruan and Lian families, so that old stuffs have been put aside totally. Or we have to burden the suffer ourselves.”
Qiu Yelan said with a nod, “That is the reason why I commanded you to zip your mouth about this thing when Lu came here! If she were warned it, and left a will to hold all accountability, Qiu Mengmin must also admit the accountability. But he would pay nothing in the excuse of losing money year after year… If so, we can get nothing finally. We can’t get our stuff back, right?”
She breathed heavily and continued, “It’s different now. Lu died long ago. Qiu Mengmin has to admit the crime that he embezzled old Princess’s and my mother’s dowry. And meanwhile, he surely hoped to hold his title in arm tightly. So, he will try everything he can to return the stuff to me! Oh, and includes one piece of dowry a Commandery Princess rightfully should have!”
Su He was convinced by her words, “Your Grace, you are so awesome!”
“I like your compliment!” said Qiu Yelan, not modest at all. She touched her head, squinting and saying, “More compliment?”
“You certainly will be tired of hearing the same compliment. And then, you will ask me to say something new.” said Su He, making a face to her. “I won’t fall for that! I will use this one for my life to make you happy!”
“You are out of line! Chunran, teach her a lesson!” smiled Qiu Yelan.
Chunran covered her mouth, smiling, “Your Grace, you know that I will do whatever you ask me to do! It’s you who spoiled her like this.”
While they were making jokes, the little maid Chen Shui who was still in her internship and bought several days ago, walked into the room, saying, “Your Grace, Xiu Rong is here, Princess Yang wants you to go her place.”
Seeing a new maid coming into the room, they all became serious, sitting up, “For what?”
“Xiu Rong did not tell me more in the first place.” replied Chen Shui in a low voice. “I had to tell her that no details, I dare not to report. So, she told me a little. There were some princesses from Yang Family coming to visit Princess Yang.”
“What’s that got to do with me?” grunted Qiu Yelan. She thought for a while and stood up, saying, “She must not ask me to go there for meeting her two nieces. I am afraid she has new plots dealing with me — I don’t care. I am not scared of her.”
Anyway, she was free now. She then asked them to dress her up.
After dressing up, she went out with Chunran and Su He. Xiu Rong had been waiting for her anxiously, but she dared not to say anything considering Xiuyan’s case. She was reluctant to compliment her with a smile and then ushered them.
Before entering the yard where Princess Yang was recuperating, they heard girls’ voices passing out of the room.
“Why did you get up while you are still sick?” said Qiu Yelan, walking into the room before Xiu Rong reported them. She bypassed the screen and saw pale-faced Princess Yang wearing formal dress, sitting in the middle and smiling at the girls like a blooming flower.
Seeing Qiu Yelan breaking into the room rudely, her smile froze.
“Who are you? Are you allowed in here!” a girl in her 10s stood up, lashing out at Qiu Yelan before Princess Yang said a word. “You are so rude! Get out of the room and leave us alone!”
This girl was beautiful with bright eyes. Her voice was delicate. Her actions of standing up and yelling demonstrated that she was born in a decent family — A girl who had a similar age might have been shocked by her bearing.
Unfortunately, the girl in front of her was Qiu Yelan —Qiu Yelan held up her skirt, walked quickly to the girl and slapped her before Princess Yang stopped the girl’s rudeness. This little girl was stunned completely by Qiu Yelan’s sudden slap!
“Who the hell are you! You did not salute to me even you saw me. How dare you to behave so rude and even lashed out at me?” yelled Qiu Yelan. Qiu Yelan took a handkerchief out of Su He’s sleeve after slapping the girl. “Are you blind, you don’t know who I am?” she added while she was wiping her hand carefully in front of the rest.
She finished cleaning in a minute, but she did not return it to Su He. She threw it out of the window! And then she angrily asked Princess Yang, who was stunned, “So, my aunt, you asked me to come here for insulting me by a dumb!”
Did you think that I just dared to show my muscle in private instead of in public?
I was a bossy girl in nature, Okay?