Real Empress from a Noble Family

Madame Tao Junior smiled bitterly, “it’s a bit unfair to Master Qiu actually when speaking of this. Although Jiang Qizheng hasn’t spoken to grandmother yet, she has rejected everyone we recommended to her, and she even inquire about the news of Master Qiu in private. So, my grandmother means that Master Qiu should have a family at his age now.”

Qiu Yelan frowned and said, “I really can’t help with this. I am not very familiar with Master Qiu and I’m still younger than him, so how can I care about his marriage?”

“It’s said that your brother has a great relationship with Master Qiu.” Since Madame Tao Junior was ordered to come and ask her for help, she was naturally well-prepared, so she immediately said, “Since your brother loves you so much, as long as you talk to him about this, he will certainly help you.”

Her words annoyed Qiu Yelan slightly, “Are you bossing me and my brother around?”

She continued in a slight tone then, “It’s hard to say actually. After all, Master Qiu is a close friend of my brother, not a subordinate of my family. What’s more, he was very kind to save Chunfu Princess, but now you want to force him to marry a wife. He hasn’t got anyone in love yet. If he gets married to the princess casually now, what if he meets someone he really loves in the future?”

Madame Tao Junior noticed her displeasure, so she was slightly stiff. After thinking for a while, she said, “We have no other choice. Jiang Qizheng looks docile, but she is actually stubborn. However, the gap between Master Qiu and her is really big.”

Qiu Yelan said lightly, “I think Master Qiu must be very aware of this, otherwise, how could he insist on putting the credit for saving the princess on my brother and me? It is not a bad thing to save the princess, right?”

The two future sisters-in-law had argued for a long time but couldn’t reach an agreement. Madame Tao Junior was always a good-natured woman. Thus, she was worried about Madame Tao in her heart, but she didn’t say anything serious to Qiu Yelan.

When Madame Tao and Qiu Feng’s conversation was over, Qiu Feng looked so sullen when he left, and he didn’t even greet Qiu Yelan, which showed that their conversation was not going well. So, after Qiu Yelan left, Madame Tao Junior helped Madame Tao get into the carriage and said anxiously, “Neither of them agreed. What should we do?”

“Do you really think it will annoy me?” After getting into the sedan, Madame Tao didn’t look worried any longer. She patted the back of her hand, and said lightly, “The child I care about most in the Jiang Family is still Jiang Yashuang and we have to rely on him in the future. As for Jiang Qizheng, since the Jiang Family is so prominent anyway, who will dare to treat her wrongly after she gets married?”

Madame Tao Junior was surprised, “But father and mother….”

“Write a letter to them. Tell them the story and let them make the decision.” Madame Tao said indifferently, “It’s not that I want to treat their daughter badly. It’s just that Jiang Qizheng fell in love with Qiu Feng. That boy doesn’t have a powerful background, but he is really a gentleman. If Jiang Qizheng were my biological granddaughter, I would not object to her marrying him!”

Madame Tao Junior was a little worried, “What if my father and mother don’t agree and Jiang Qizheng makes trouble again?”

“Don’t worry. If they don’t agree and Jiang Qizheng makes trouble, I will send her to Beijiang to talk to her parents!” Madame Tao said calmly, “Then it’s up to them to dissuade her. If they two can’t stop her, how can they blame me then?”

Madame Tao Junior listened to her determined words, feeling sour in her heart. She thought in her heart, “It wouldn’t be so troublesome if she were the biological offspring. Grandmother still has the empress and the princess, but I….”

When she was in a trance, Qiu Yelan was chasing Qiu Feng into the Ruan Family, keeping asking, “Did Madame Tao threaten you? Or did she scare you? Don’t be silent! What’s wrong?”

She was driven away halfway by Qiu Jinglan then. “Less nonsense. Go for your elder cousin. I’ll talk to him!”

“He has ever entrapped you but I have never done that before! Moreover, I was almost entrapped by you! But you should have gone with him! I hope that you won’t be entrapped by him again!” Seeing that Qiu Feng was taken away by Qiu Jinglan, Qiu Yelan murmured with her hands against her hips, and then walked away angrily.

In the evening, thinking that Qiu Jinglan had almost got what Madame Tao had talked with Qiu Feng, Qiu Yelan grabbed the teacups from the maid and pretended to go to the study to make sure that they were fine. Seeing her, Qiu Jinglan smiled and said, “Madame Tao just tried to draw the secret out from Qiu Feng, and she intended to find him a bride. So, what did Madame Tao Junior talk with you?”

“She also hoped that Qiu Feng could get married as soon as possible, so that Chunfu Princess wouldn’t think about him anymore.” Since Qiu Yelan’s purpose was seen through, she said bluntly, “I didn’t agree.”

Qiu Jinglan scolded her lightly, “You should agree to it, and then lay the blame on me. Though it is said that Madame Tao Junior has a good temperament, who knows the truth? She is the eldest sister-in-law of the four branches. Why did you offend her?”

“She gave me an idea. She let me ask you for help!” Qiu Yelan said disapprovingly, “According to her, Madame Tao doesn’t object to Princess Chunfu’s marrying Qiu Feng. However, she is not her biological grandmother, so she is afraid that her stepson and daughter-in-law will blame her for treating her granddaughter badly. So, she tries to stop Chunfu Princess! Even Madame Tao doesn’t dare to deal with that, how can I get involved in such a mess? So, it’s better to refuse her at the beginning!”

Qiu Jinglan sighed, “Forget about it now. Fortunately, the provincial examination is over, so Jiang Yashuang will be back soon. After he comes back, we can ask him for help. Qiu Feng can’t leave Jing City now, and he doesn’t want to follow Madame Tao’s words as well.”

“So Qiu Feng really doesn’t have the will?” Qiu Yelan asked curiously, “Princess Chunfu is so beautiful, and she has a good temperament. She is such a gorgeous bride to marry!”

Qiu Jinglan sneered, “Do you think that Qiu Feng looks like he wants to start a family? If it weren’t for saving her life, he would stay as far away from her as he could as usual to avoid petulant girls like her!”

“This is not necessarily true. The pampered princesses and the silly boys in Jianghu are often wonderful matches!” Qiu Yelan muttered in her heart, and then just said, “I heard that Princess Chunfu hasn’t made a statement yet, so we can forget it for the moment.”

Qiu Jinglan thought so, so he no longer cared about it but talked to her about other topics.

However, the two didn’t expect that Jiang Qizheng wanted to marry Qiu Feng badly though she didn’t make it clear. So, she rejected all the men Empress Jiang and Madame Tao arranged for her. After the news spread, other people just thought that Your Highness was naturally high-minded, while Ou Qinglan was so anxious when she knew that, “Since she rejected all the men, doesn’t it mean that she also has a thing for Ruan Qingyan?”

Her confidant maid hesitated and said, “The news I heard before was that the Jiang Family wanted to marry Jiang Qiyun to young master Ruan, but it didn’t happen later, and many people in the Jiang Family knew about it. Now Jiang Qiyun has married Prince of Qi, how can they continue to marry Chunfu Princess to young master Ruan?”

“Young master Ruan is such a great man. Every girl except fools wants him!” Ou Qinglan said in annoyance, “Jiang Qiyun is just one of those fools, but Chunfu is not stupid. There were only few men in Jing City who were qualified to marry her, but she was critical of all of them. If it weren’t for young master Ruan’s observing mourning now, she would have gone for the lady of Marquess Qin to show her crush on him!”

The maid was also anxious for her, “If she really did that, the lady of Marquess Qin would definitely promise her! At that time, it will be equal to the empress’s promise. What should you do then!”

“I won’t allow that!” Ou Qinglan stood up suddenly, clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, “Although Chunfu has a good relationship with me, I won’t yield her young master Ruan. I have to think of a way to prevent her from grabbing him.”

Ou Qinglan was a hot-blooded lady who always did what she said, so she went to Jiang’s residence at once!

In terms of friendship, the friendship between Ou Qinglan and Jiang Qizheng was not as good as that between He Shuijin and Jiang Qizheng. However, she came at the right time. Jiang Qizheng was full of thoughts and needed a listener, while He Shuijin had just got married and she was with her husband all the time, so how would she have time to care about Jiang Qizheng?

Therefore, Ou Qinglan came to the Jiang Family, pestering Jiang Qizheng for two days, and finally found that she had really fallen in love with someone whom she didn’t want to make clear.

“It must be the young master Ruan!” Ou Qinglan felt that the maid was right. “Young master Ruan is observing mourning and he almost became the fiancé of Jiang Qiyun, so it was not surprising that Chunfu Princess felt embarrassed to make it clear!”

“She is embarrassed to talk about it publicly. But after young master Ruan finishes observing mourning, she will go for the lady of Marquess Qin on the sly. Since the lady of Marquess Qin loves her so much, she will accede to all her demands!” As for the background, Ou Qinglan knew that she couldn’t compare with the niece of the Empress. She could just grit her teeth, “how can I let her desist?”

She had thought for a long time but didn’t find a way out. So, she said bluntly to Jiang Qizheng at night, “I have made up my mind that I won’t marry anyone except Ruan Qingyan! What do you think of that, Chunfu?”

Jiang Qizheng was stunned, “Ruan Qingyan?”

“Yes!” Ou Qinglan could pester her cousin to ask for a match, so naturally, she did not lack the courage to show her hand to her “rival in love”. She said sternly, “I know you admire him too, but….”

“Wait! Who tell you I admire him?” Jiang Qizheng was shocked! She had nothing to do with Ruan Qingyan at all! And he was the brother of her future sister-in-law. Noble families like the Jiang Family would not allow exchanging marriage!

Ou Qinglan paused, “You don’t like him. So, who do you like?”

Since Jiang Qizheng didn’t answer her, she rolled her eyes, “I told you my secret, but you don’t tell me yours. You can’t do that!”

Jiang Qizheng couldn’t stand her pestering, and she was curious about how Ou Qinglan would like Ruan Qingyan, so she told her about the experience of getting acquainted with Qiu Feng bashfully, “I just heard from Qiu Yelan that he was born in a grassroots family. My elders won’t agree on it definitely.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Ou Qinglan felt energetic after hearing what she said, and directed her experiencedly, “You should talk with your grandmother first. If she doesn’t agree, don’t cry or make trouble but go on a hunger strike. Your grandmother cherishes you so much, so I promise she will immediately agree to everything you say just after one day! Even if she doesn’t agree, she will give you an idea!”

Just like Jiang Yashuang, Jiang Qizheng was used to being docile. She had never been rebellious, so she hesitated after hearing that, “Isn’t it too petulant?”

“You have to be petulant when you should be!” Although Jiang Qizheng made it clear that she was not her love rival, Ou Qinglan still felt that the earlier she got married, the better it would be since she was such a strong competitor. What if the Jiang Family did not allow her to marry Qiu Feng but wanted her to marry Ruan Qingyan?

Therefore, she persuaded her unscrupulously, “Think about it clearly. Qiu Feng was not born in a noble family, so he definitely dares not take the initiative to chase you! If you don’t use some means, you will miss him in this life! Do you want that to happen?”

She continued, “Moreover, the Jiang Family doesn’t ask you to marry someone. I remember your grandmother said that you are in charge of your marriage. It’s hard to meet someone you really like. Are you sure you can really let it go? ”

Jiang Qizheng was in love with Qiu Feng and other men were not up to her taste. After Ou Qinglan’s instigation, her heart started racing immediately!

So next, Chunfu Princess, who was known for her gentleness and demureness, started a hunger strike. Madame Tao didn’t know what Ou Qinglan did. She could just sigh that the girl, who had been docile all the time, became rebellious for a man. She felt disappointed and sad, but couldn’t leave it alone.

While coaxing her to eat, she said what she prepared to say before, “If you two were matched for marriage, I would agree at once! But there is such a big gap between you. I dare not decide your life without asking your parents. So, I will write a letter to Beijiang. We’ll see what your parents say then!”