Real Empress from a Noble Family

Because Qiu Yelan found a chance to interrupt, “Our grandmother instructed that we shouldn’t let people gossip about Jiang Qizheng after she died in such a heartbreaking way. Everyone who thought Qiu Feng was in Shazhou already found it weird when he came back suddenly. If he doesn’t go to Shazhou… How will we answer when they ask us about it?”

“Our nephew is still alive. Please think about how he will face others.”

“Don’t think about running away on your way there. I’ll go to the ends of the earth to find you if you do that,” Jiang Yashuang only said that as he didn’t know how to answer Qiu Yelan’s question. He stormed out after he summoned Jiang Tan in and told him to make arrangements.

“You…” Qiu Yelan looked at Qiu Feng and didn’t know what to say. She just sighed, “Consult with my brother more when you get there.”

That was the best she could do for Qiu Feng at that moment.

When she walked out of the Flower Hall, she saw Jiang Yashuang standing with a cold look in the corridor not far away, his hands crossing behind his back. He seemed to be enjoying the plum blossoms outside the railings.

“Why aren’t you wearing your fur coat? There is still snow everywhere. You’ll get cold,” Qiu Yelan knew he was waiting for her. However, he was unhappy because Qiu Yelan defended Qiu Feng back then and he felt sorry for his sister. So, he gave her the cold shoulder.

She approached and held his arm. And then she whispered, “Let’s go back to our room and talk.”

“…” Jiang Yashuang wasn’t willing to move until she pulled him several times. But he still looked gloomy.

When they got back to their room, he sent away others. And then he sneered, “Why did you defend Qiu Feng? How couldn’t you care about our sister?” Jiang Yashuang was truly mad for the first time since they got married. He knew that Qiu Feng and his wife had known each other for a long time. And Qiu Feng protected his wife for some time on Qiu Jinglan’s orders. So, they were close.

But no matter how close they were, Qiu Feng still couldn’t compare with Qiu Jinglan.

Jiang Yashuang could understand if his wife was negligent in what happened to Jiang Qizheng because of Qiu Jinglan. But it was because of Qiu Feng. He was genuinely unhappy about it. After all, he tried every means to please his brother-in-law after he found out that Qiu Jinglan was his wife’s brother. He didn’t ask Qiu Yelan to treat his sister in the same manner. But she couldn’t value a random acquaintance more than his sister, could she?

“I said that because I cared about our sister!” Qiu Yelan asked Su He to persuade Qiu Feng to go to Shazhou. Because Madame Tao told her to do so which would make their previous lies plausible. But it was also because she wanted to protect Qiu Feng. She felt guilty at that moment when her husband complained. So, she tried to explain, “Just think about Jiang Qizheng’s status. And she was loved by our seniors… How could she bear the gossip that Qiu Feng had abandoned her once whether she was alive or dead?”

“You have already explained that to me,” Jiang Yashuang was expressionless. There was a look of disappointment in his eyes, “Is that all? You are going to claim that he didn’t go look for Jiang Qizheng because he had something important to do and he only came back temporarily. I think we can kill him. After Jiang Qizheng’s body gets sent back, we can bury them together. Does it make sense as well?”

Qiu Yelan bit her lips, “Our nephew already lost his mother. Why do you insist on killing Qiu Feng? If he dies, our nephew will be an orphan. Although we can raise him and love him, we can’t replace his parents.”

“Such an irresponsible father is useless,” Jiang Yashuang said coldly. “He doesn’t care about his wife. How much do you think he cares about his son?”

“That’s not true. He didn’t mean to disappear for a year without sending back messages. He was stuck in…” Qiu Yelan suddenly stopped.

But Jiang Yashuang had got what he wanted. His cold and disappointed look disappeared in an instant. He mused, “As expected, Qiu Feng lied to my grandmother, Jiang Yazhu, and Sheng Shishui. Why did he disappear for a year without sending back messages? He told you just now, didn’t he?”

Qiu Yelan had mixed feelings and said coldly, “Yes! He told me. But he didn’t want to tell you.”

Jiang Yashuang stared at her for a while and turned away suddenly. His voice was low and uncertain, “And… You don’t want to tell me either?”

“…” Qiu Yelan opened her mouth. Looking at him who was noticeably thinner these days, her heart was softened, “There seems to be bad blood between Qiu Feng’s master and your family. So, he deliberately urged Qiu Feng not to mention him after he knew Qiu Feng married Jiang Qizheng. When Qiu Feng got a message from his master telling him to go back, he left in a hurry. But he couldn’t think of a reason. So, he used my brother as a cover.”

Jiang Yashuang was stunned and then turned around, “Qiu Feng’s master?”

“Yes,” Qiu Yelan puckered her lips. “Qiu Feng is also confused. Speaking of which, you have been studying alongside our grandfather. Do you know about it?”

She told him about Qiu Feng’s experience in that year. But she didn’t tell him that Qiu Feng managed to escape because he memorized the conversation between Qiu Jinglan and Qiu Nie.

Although she didn’t know the secret behind those things, her instinct told her that she’d better not say.

However, as meticulous as Jiang Yashuang, he was suspicious after hearing that, “Qiu Feng’s master is dead. Whether there is any bad blood between us or not and what bad blood there is, we won’t dig up his grave and lash his corpse. Why aren’t Qiu Feng and Lanlan willing to say that until I trick her into telling me about it?”

“As a knight-errant, Qiu Feng isn’t the posturing type. Lanlan knows how much I love her. She won’t hide things from me. In this case, why are they both hiding it? Is it because of her brother?”

He didn’t expose her after some thought. He just said, “That’s strange. We heard of Qiu Feng’s master. He was a famous knight-errant who called himself the Oldman from Lingnan, right? He was a knight-errant. My grandfather and I both know a little about him. I never heard my grandfather say that there was bad blood between him and us.”

“There isn’t?” Qiu Yelan asked with doubt, “Is it possible that you don’t know?”

“It’s not likely,” Jiang Yashuang shook his head after pondering for a while. “Didn’t you ask me about Qiu Feng when we just met? I didn’t know about him back then. So, I asked our grandfather. He didn’t show any signs of abnormality. He treated Qiu Feng like a normal knight-errant after he knew about Qiu Feng’s master. Our grandfather was helping me with my study back then. So, he basically answered every question I had.”

He added, “If there were bad blood between the Oldman from Lingnan and our family, do you think our grandfather would leave me defenseless against his apprentice, Qiu Feng, who is skilled at kung fu? Let alone allow Jiang Qizheng to marry him.”

Qiu Yelan agreed with him, “It’s so strange. Qiu Feng is also confused. He doesn’t know what was wrong with his master. He trapped his apprentice near his grave after he died. Was he afraid to be alone so that he had to drag his apprentice with him? If so, why did he leave food and water at that place to keep Qiu Feng alive?”

“Let’s talk about it later,” Jiang Yashuang interrupted after some thought. “How do you feel today? Is there anything that you are tired of eating? Or do you want to eat anything new?”

The atmosphere lightened considerably after he changed the topic to Qiu Yelan’s pregnancy.

The wet nurse brought An for them to see after a while. The atmosphere enlivened after they played with their nephew for a while.

Mrs. Zhou walked in while they were having fun. She said in a serious look, “Young master, madame! Old Master Lian Jianhai is here.”

“Uncle Lian?” Qiu Yelan was stunned a bit, “He barely comes here… What happened?”

The Lian Family was sophisticated. They knew that there wasn’t much love between Qiu Yelan and them as Qiu Yelan only met them for the first time after she grew up. Although they teamed up to go after Qiu Mengmin, the Lian Family also profited a lot from it. They couldn’t accuse Qiu Yelan of owing them. So, they barely asked her for help after that.

Although they often sent gifts to Qiu Yelan, they always sent their servants to do it, which showed that they just cared about Qiu Yelan instead of wanting a favor.

Since Lian Jianhai came in person, obviously something was wrong.

No longer in the mood of spending time with An, they asked the wet nurse to take An back to his room and take good care of him. After tidying up, they went to the Flower Hall together.

When they walked in, they saw Lian Jianhai circling the room with his hands at his back which showed that he was too worried to sit still.

“Yelan!” Seeing them walk in, Lian Jianhai was thrilled and approached in a hurry. He addressed Qiu Yelan first and then Jiang Yashuang, “Yuxiang is also at home?”

“Lanlan is pregnant. My eldest sister-in-law died last year and my mother isn’t at home. I’m worried about her. So, I’ve been spending most of my time at home these days,” Jiang Yashuang didn’t hide how much he valued his wife. He asked Lian Jianhai to sit down after saluting, “Uncle, you look worried. Is something wrong?”

Lian Jianhai sighed after hearing that and said with embarrassment, “Not just wrong. I… I really don’t know how to say it.”

Qiu Yelan thought it was about government affairs which she shouldn’t listen to. So, she said, “Uncle, please talk to Jiang Yashuang. I’ll go prepare some snacks.”

“Wait!” Lian Jianhai didn’t want her to leave. He was silent for a while and then stated the reason for his visit languidly, “The thing is that Qingqian may not be able to marry Prince of Wei.”

“What happened?” Qiu Yelan and Jiang Yashuang were both shocked, “Did something happen to her?”

Lian Jianhai said with a pale face, “It’s my and your aunt’s fault. We couldn’t prevent her maid from stealing her personal belongings. We don’t know how some rogues from out of town got it. We knew about it when they came to look for trouble today.”

“Only personal belongings?” Jiang Yashuang said, frowning, “It doesn’t matter. How could strangers recognize it as hers? Just don’t admit it. Arrest those men and then send them to Governor’s office. They’ll be charged with slandering the noble.” Although the Lian Family and the Wang Family were of modest status, Wang Qingqian was the future princess who was qualified to be a noble.

“But our neighbours all have known about it. We can’t explain ourselves since the rumour has been widespread…” Otherwise, Lian Jianhai would never mention it as his niece was about to marry such a good husband. He came to them to confess because he couldn’t hide it anymore. They could at least feel sorry for Wang Qingqian whether they could help or not.

Qiu Yelan said with a gloomy face, “I don’t believe those so-called rogues are so bold that they dare to frame the future princess.” She looked towards her husband and continued, “I forgot to mention one thing to you. Our sixth sister-in-law sent He Shuijin over when Jiang Yadan just hinted that he wanted to remarry. She wanted me to persuade our grandmother to allow Jiang Yadan to marry her cousin of her maiden family. I didn’t agree. But He Shuijin implied that I shouldn’t offend our sixth sister-in-law.”

Jiang Yashuang was livid. He glanced at Lian Jianhai, “Uncle, please comfort Qingqian when you go back. A clean hand wants no washing. Old Princess Miao is a smart woman,” He paused. “I’ll look into it and send someone to tell you the result in a few days.”

Lian Jianhai suspected that someone tricked Wang Qingqian. He was overjoyed after Qiu Yelan pointed out the suspect. How could he have a problem with that? He left without hesitation.

Jiang Yashuang rubbed his forehead after he left, “Jiang Qizheng and others just had the accident. And Jiang Yadan hasn’t decided on his second wife. Our sixth sister-in-law should be smart enough not to mess with us at this very moment. Do you have any other reason to doubt her?”

“Isn’t it because she is jealous of my cousin becoming the Princess of Wei?” Qiu Yelan sneered, “The princes were selecting their concubines when Jingzhui just died. Our sixth sister-in-law went to beg our aunt. She wanted to marry her cousin of her maiden family to one of the princes. But she didn’t get what she wanted. However, nobody expected that Old Princess Miao herself would choose my cousin to be the Princess of Wei.”

Jiang Yashuang pondered for a while, “I see!” He said calmly, “You can’t think too much or get angry since you’re pregnant. Don’t worry. I’ll seek justice for Qingqian.”