Chapter 102 - Diversion. Pull the Plug (2)
Chapter 102 Diversion. Pull the Plug (2)
The next noon, Qiu Yelan finished her class and took Qiu Qian to her room. Entering the room, she saw He Shuijin sitting leisurely on the bed under the west window. With a Chinese rose in her hand, she was playing with Whitey.
“Miss He?” Qiu Yelan was surprised and then scolded Chunran. “Why didn’t you go to my class and call me?”
He Shuijin threw the Chinese rose to Whitey at once and stood up to salute. She said smilingly, “Your Grace, don’t blame them. It was me who told them not to go and disturb you. After all, there was nothing urgent. When I was waiting here, they served me well. It’s just I played with your Persian cat without asking for your permission.”
Qiu Yelan didn’t care about her playing with Whitey. This Persian cat was of good quality and was taken good care of by Su He and others. Now it was so beautiful that all the maids would like to hold it in their arms. As its real master, Qiu Yelan didn’t have time to play with it and was used to see it being affectionate to others.
They exchanged some pleasantries and Qiu Yelan introduced Qiu Qian to her. Then the host and guest sat down separately.
Qiu Yelan asked He Shuijin why she came, but He Shuijin only chatted about other things. After a while, Qiu Qian realized what was going on and went out by the excuse of taking Whitey to the yard and play.
After she left, He Shuijin talked about her real intention, “I came here hoping to inquire about someone.”
Qiu Yelan said immediately, “Please.” Are you going to show your hand and ask me about my cousin? God bless the Jiang Family is not marrying Jiang Qisheng to him!
“I heard when the three young ladies of the Yang Family came here, Your Grace met them.” He Shuijin sipped her tea and said with a smile. “May I know how does Your Grace think about the sixth young lady, whose name is Yinian?”
This question was not expected by Qiu Yelan. She was stunned for a long while and shook her head, “Actually I couldn’t even tell the three ladies from each other, let alone know how is this sixth young lady.”
He Shuijin’s showed a little disappointment. She sighed, “I see. I thought it was a good thing!”
“May I know what it is?” Qiu Yelan asked as she didn’t leave right away. Thinking that they were not so close, she added, “I didn’t mean anything. If it is not proper….”
“It’s nothing improper.” He Shuijin shook her head. “It’s not a secret anyway. Did Your Grace hear about the incident in the Yang Family after you came back from the cemetery?”
Qiu Yelan said, “Yes. Was it about Yang Yifu? Then why do you ask me about Yang Yinian?”
He Shuijin smiled and said, “Yang Yifu is dead now and that’s not my business. As for Yang Yinian, it’s time for her to be engaged with someone. But such a thing happened to her cousin, how could her own marriage not be influenced? She’s her parents’ only daughter and they don’t want her to be married too far away or marry beneath her, so they asked me for help.”
Qiu Yelan was surprised, “The Yang Family asked you for help?”
Don’t you belong to the Empress’s party? Don’t the Yang Family belong to the Empress Dowager’s party? Are the two parties going to cooperate?
He Shuijin said nonchalantly, “Well, I offer help to these families in my free time and charge a little…. These are all family affairs and don’t involve politics.”
Qiu Yelan didn’t think that her fame of “profit-driven” was gained through openly charging for favors. She had thought it was because He Shuijin helped to manage Jiang Family’s industry. Trying to figure out what He Shuijin implied, she asked, “Someone wants to marry Yang Yinian, but he doesn’t know her personality?”
“Exactly.” He Shuijin nodded. “After all, I don’t know the Yang Family well. Ding Hanlin is much older than Yang Yinian and already has children. If he remarried a woman who’s not able to control other concubines, that wouldn’t be good.”
“Yang Yinian and Ding Hanlin?” Qiu Yelan exclaimed in shock. Although a man marrying a much younger girl had always been a tradition, this man had married once and he had children. Such a match was hard to admire.
Moreover, Ding Hanlin’s eldest daughter, who would marry Qiu Hongzhi at the end of May, seemed to be older than Yang Yinian.
He Shuijin was calm and didn’t think anything wrong with this marriage, “Yang Yinian’s father, Yang Yong, is only level five Vice Censor-in-chief, while Ding Hanlin is senior level three Hanlin Academician Recipient of Edicts who is the head of Hanlin Academy. Although being his second wife, Yang Yinian will not be despised through this marriage. Especially regarding what happened to Yang Yifu, the Yang Family should be grateful that Ding Hanlin shows interest in this marriage.”
Fine, values in the age were different. Yet in the last life, before the last phase came, there had been many young women who would like to marry old rich men. It was true that there is nothing new under the sun.
Though Qiu Yelan didn’t know whether Yang Yinian herself wanted to marry him, since her parents had decided for her, she had no interest in getting involved. After feeling amazed, she realized another problem, “But the Yang Family and the Ding Family?”
He Shuijin smiled elegantly, “Yang Yong promised that he would live apart from the Yang Family as soon as possible.”
Qiu Yelan understood it at once, “It means he doesn’t want to follow Yang Tao but turns to the neutral party. He’s so decisive by marrying her own daughter who’s only fifteen or sixteen years old to an old man. She will not only be his second wife but the stepmother of his children who are older than her.”
However, thinking of the fact that Yang Yishi killed her cousin Yang Yifu and made her the scapegoat of her affair, and Yang Tao sweeten up Yang Hao to help cover up her daughter’s mistake, it was really “like daughter, like father”. If Yang Tao got trouble in the future, it was likely that he would make his brother the scapegoat.
Yang Hao had neither learning nor skill and had to be supported by his elder brother until today. Yang Yong was Vice Censor-in-chief. It seemed that he had some ability so he didn’t have to stay with his family and be Yang Tao’s backup scapegoat. It was understandable that he wanted to seize the chance and move out of his family.
After considering her own pros and cons of Yang Yinian’s marrying Ding Hanlin, Qiu Yelan said implicitly, “Although I can’t distinguish the three young ladies of the Yang Family, in my view, they all seem good.”
He Shuijin smiled. In fact, she also wanted to make it done. Even if Yang Yong turned to Xue Chang instead of Empress Jiang, it would undermine the power of Empress Dowager’s party.
“Anyway, it’s true that Yang Yinian is a beauty.” He Shuijin seemed to say to herself when she left.
Qiu Yelan knew that she would try her best to persuade Ding Hanlin into marrying Yang Yinian.
But the road to this marriage was not smooth. As soon as she saw off He Shuijin, another piece of shocking news came from the Yang Family: Yang Yishi, still single, got pregnant!
Qiu Yelan asked Su He who just came back from inquiring information, “How did the news break?”
Su He ran all her way back lifting the edge of her dress and her face was red. After grasping her chest and panting for a moment, she said, “It’s said that Yang Yifu’s mother Luan was not well, so she called for a doctor. When the doctor came, Yang Yishi was also there. Luan said she seemed pale and asked the doctor to see her. At that time, all the people were talking in a low voice behind the curtain, so the doctor didn’t know who she was and thought she was another concubine. Thus, after he examined her, he offered his congratulations.”
“This is about the daughter of the Yang Family, but it spread so quickly. It seems that the one who wants to harm the Yang Family has made good preparation.” Qiu Yelan clicked her tongue and commented. “Who is the father of Yang Yishi’s child?”
Just after she asked, Princess Yang burst in with her servants angrily and cursed, “How vicious you are! You incited Ruan Qingyan to hook up with Yishi! The Yang Family has now lost all the fame and is being laughed at by everyone….”
“You are talking nonsense!” Qiu Yelan heard it and knew that Yang Yishi said it was Ruan Qingyan. She became angry and shouted, “You said that my cousin hooked up with Yang Yishi? What a joke! Everyone knows that my cousin is attractive to girls. Even the winner of the Courtesan Competition also prefers him. Can Yang Yishi compare with the winner courtesan?”
Princess Yang was furious, “Yishi is an elegant lady. How can you compare her with a prostitute?”
“If she were a real lady, then why would she be seduced?” Qiu Yelan sneered. “If she could control herself better and meet no men outside her family, how could she be seduced? Was the Yang Family’s guard so loose that anyone could sneak into a girl’s room?”
Princess Yang said angrily, “That must be Ruan Qingyan’s smooth talk….”
“Still, it was Yang Yishi who couldn’t keep her chastity first!” Qiu Yelan said definitely. “If she were virtuous, why would she respond to other men? She should have cut her ears off when she heard other men talking to her! That’s the example of being virtuous!”
“You… you are also a woman but look what you said about Yishi!” Princess Yang knew Qiu Yelan was sharp in talking, but she didn’t know to what extent. She almost fainted by rage. After stunning for a while, she said in a shivering voice, “Now, not only Yishi, but Yinian, Yimian…. All the Yang Family girls are ruined! Don’t you know? And you spoke like that! Do you have a conscience?”
Qiu Yelan said in disdain, “You should have kept the girls in the right way in the first place instead of blaming me! Am I the master of the Yang Family? It is the Yang Family who failed to discipline your girls and that’s not my business! Moreover, you claimed it was my cousin who seduced Yang Yishi. Where is the evidence? Even though you are a Princess, is it right for you to slander a Jinshi? You are degrading all the scholars!”
Hearing her mentioned all the scholars, Princess Yang couldn’t repress her anger. She rolled up her sleeves and was about to beat her, “You are so eloquent that you refer to all the scholars! Then let’s see which scholar will disagree that I beat you as your aunt!”
Qiu Yelan immediately sat down on the ground and said, “Su He, call a doctor and tell others than my aunt treats me as a doormat because Yang Yishi had sex with someone. And that I’m beaten to faint and vomit blood. I guess I can’t recover unless I lie in bed for a year or two!”
Princess Yang screamed with wrath, “Let’s see how Su He can go out of this yard without my permission!”
As she ordered, the servants who had followed her here all said yes! Such a large crowd was intimidating!
Seeing this, Qiu Yelan stood up at once and patted her dress, saying, “You think you can defeat me like this?”
Princess Yang sneered, “I know you have learned some superficial martial arts from the old dog of the Ruan Family! But do you think I’m still unprepared?”
“Are you really prepared?” Qiu Yelan sneered and suddenly shouted to the outside. “Madam Shao! Help! My aunt wants to kill me!”
Can you also kill the teacher who is respected even by Chunfu Princess?