Jiang Yashuang wanted to ask for days off to stay with Qiu Yelan, hanging out. But Qiu Yelan vetoed his proposal. Madame Tao was informed of this at that night without delay.

Recalling that Qiu Yelan refused to accept Mom Hu’s apology, Madame Tao was getting more solemn, “Yashuang has been very agreeable to her. What does she want?”

Mom Hu answered discreetly, “Luckily, young master has been here and explained the reason why Qiu Baozhu went to his house. For this point, I think young master respects you much!”

“I sacrificed a lot to raise him and his sister. For this, Yazhu has a disagreement with me because he was in my house earlier!” said Madame Tao coldly. “If they have a conscience, it’s only right that they obey me. Few men in the world would do it like Kuang Shihan!”

She sighed after smiling emotionlessly, “Until now, Yashuang has been following my order, but he also protects her. What he did for the Seventh Prince was completed. And there is no urgent business he needs to manage in the Hanlin Academy. However, Chaohai commanded him to follow his oldest uncle and third uncle to learn how to take care of official business.”

Something cold and sinister appeared on Mom Hu’s face, “So, Old Master will know who she is! Old Master pays great attention to young master. He will not allow a vicious woman to affect young master! I believe Old Master, one day, will punish her and kick her out of the family!”

“Do you really think so?” Madame Tao squinted and said, “You must have forgotten that when she got married, I spoke for her in front of Chaohai. You think about it. The Prince’s Mansion of Xihe is an empty shell, and Qiu Jinglan has no impact on the court. But on the other hand, Chaohai has great hope for his youngest grandson. If I had not spoken for her, Chaohai would not have allowed her to marry Yashuang as her mother’s family can help Yashuang with nothing!”

She continued coldly, “Chaohai is getting older and older. As long as he is alive, the Jiang Family can care little about the power of the girl’s mother’s family. But, if he dies one day and the branches separate from each other, living independently, the power of the girl’s mother’s family will play a big role… In particular, in the fourth branch, the oldest grandson’s wife is Qianbin, from the Tao Family… Well! Jiang Yazhu is not destined to marry a girl from a noble family due to his background! But, Yashuang will be the head of the fourth branch. He should marry a girl from a noble family and the girl’s father should be powerful enough to help him with his business.”

In the first place, Madame Tao tried hard to persuade Marquess Qin to allow Jiang Yashuang to marry Qiu Yelan. But unexpectedly, in half a year, Qiu Yelan began to cause offence… Marquess Qin would blame Madame Tao because she once spoke for the wrong girl.

For this reason, not only could Madame Tao not say bad words about her, but she would also have to speak for her if someone said bad words about her in front of Marquess Qin.

To think of this made her furious.

“Young madame Yelan is crafty! She dared to fight with the first branch not long after she got married. I thought that she was an aggressive girl. But she is so straightforward that she is inclined to fight with anyone who stands taller than her!” said Mom Hu. Realizing Madame Tao tried to hold her feelings because of Qiu Yelan, Mom Hu hated Qiu Yelan more. She even cursed, “She was actually faking it! As she has known the truth about her mother’s death and it was still light outside when Commandery Princess Ningxin left her house, she could have come here and told us about it. It was not far away from her room. We live in the same yard. Not a thousand miles away! Why didn’t she send a maid here to explain it to us? Let’s see what she did. She got sick. What was worse, she intentionally broke the crystal plates to misguide… I think if you knew what Commandery Princess Ningxin said to her in the first place, you would have stood along with her and comforted her.”

After the long speech, she began to examine herself, “It’s all my fault. I did not arrange it well. Old maidservant Wang is so stupid…”

In fact, Qiu Yelan did not plan to set Madame Tao up, although she did not report timely to her what Qiu Baozhu told her. She just thought that it was not the right time to deal with Xingkang Grand Princess. And what Qiu Baozhu told her was related to the reputation of Princess Ruan. She simply thought that it was not necessary to tell it to her husband’s family members. Anyway, she would finally kill the person, no matter who it was, either Xingkang Grand Princess or Kuang Shihan.

She did not realize if the coincidence would cause a misunderstanding between Madame Tao and her. At that time, she was furious and she did not think of Madame Tao. Among the maids, only Su He, who was standing by, heard what they were talking about. Su He grew up before Princess Ruan’s eyes. When she heard the hidden news out of nowhere, she was so immersed in sadness that she forgot to remind Qiu Yelan of reporting to Madame Tao!

Both Madame Tao and her maidservant grew up in a big official family. Madame Tao’s husband’s family, the Jiang Family, was also a prominent one in the capital. They have been used to overthinking in the face of trouble. Due to this, the misunderstanding between Madame Tao and Qiu Yelan deepened.

“Old maidservant Wang used to hold Yashuang in arms several times when Yashuang was a baby,” said Madame Tao dismissively. “When she went to see Qiu Yelan, Yashuang was not at home! Yashuang believed that I made trouble for his wife because somebody in his yard must have told him this… So, don’t blame old maidservant Wang. Well, actually, we underestimate the influence Qiu Yelan has on Yashuang! He is even willing to believe what her maids tell him!”

Mom Hu sighed, “And, what’s worse is that she bears a grudge on us now… What should we do now?”

“She saved Xue Nongying’s life in the old days, which was the reason why Xue Chang stood on our side, framing Empress Dowager Gu to death. Xue Chang wanted to thank us for what she did!” said Madame Tao, squinting and examining the decorative pattern of her dress. She continued, “Her brother, Qiu Jinglan, we depend on him to deal with the Western Army… So, we should stay put now. Even Chaohai won’t cause trouble for her in the coming years if he knows who she is. Well, we’d better stay put and do nothing. What we only need to do is to care about her as usual. Time is on our side.”

Mom Hu couldn’t reconcile herself to giving up, but considering the current situation, she… If they fueled the flame because of what Qiu Yelan did. Xue Chang and Qiu Jinglan might estrange each other. At that time, Marquess Qin would investigate the entire thing and punish them. So, Madame Tao had to continue to pretend to be kind and nice. Mom Hu felt frustrated, “She couldn’t even have a chance to get married to Yashuang if you did not speak for her. How hateful!”

“As Yashuang intends to ask for a leave for days, we should also do something,” said Madame Tao dismissively. She added, “I will lie down on the bed tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. You go and speak with Yashuang in private, telling him that I don’t feel well. And tell him I didn’t want to tell him it in the first place because there are other sick people or pregnant people who need more attention in the family… But I have to tell him because lying on the bed for a long time makes me uncomfortable and I want him here to talk with me. After he comes, I will tell him what I want to say!”

Mom Hu took the hint, “I will explain to young master without missing a word. I know you fall sick not because you are angry at young Madame!”

It was easy for a person to pretend to be sick. Qiu Yelan, you were a junior. Did you think only you knew how to pretend to be sick? Even if you lay down on the bed before I arrived, so what? Did you think your health was more important than that of a senior?

When they were plotting how to deal with Qiu Yelan, Qiu Yelan got an excuse to send Jiang Yashuang away, and then she summoned Su He, asking, “Who allowed you to tell Yashuang about my mother? After you told him, he immediately went to tell old Madame about it. It is not a big deal to ruin my plan. But you think about it. My mother accepted the bracelet for my good. But she would be gossiped by the public because of this. Are you out of your mind when you did this?”

Su He explained immediately, “Madame, I have to do so! Mom Hu was here just at the moment when young master came home. She kept saying old Madame worried about you and old Madame sent maids and servants to come here for news. She pretended to be very concerned about you in front of young master. But she implied that you got sick because you were angry about Her Majesty. Young master did not say a word at that time, but I could tell that he believed what she said, judging from his facial expression… So, I…”

She resumed, “I am not that stupid to tell young master all about Princess. I just told young master that Xingkang Grand Princess took offense at Princess because she failed to win people over in the Western Army. So Xingkang Grand Princess murdered Princess! And Prince and Princess Yang of the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe were both involved in it!”

What she said to him was flawed. Princess Ruan was a woman. She had never been to the Western Army, and she had no influence in the Western Army. Xingkang Grand Princess was resisted by the men of the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe when she tried to win people over in the Western Army. But it was logical if she took anger at Qiu Mengmin because he succeeded in the title of the Prince, but not Princess Ruan, who was alive at that time.

Fortunately, she knew to hide the secret that Kuang Shihan coveted Princess Ruan.

Qiu Yelan’s face softened a bit, “It’s okay if Yashuang misunderstood you and me for days. Don’t ever do anything like this again without my permission! Use your brain. Mom Hu provoked you to tell Yashuang. And then she came over and kowtowed to me, saying that it was her fault. It’s not over! I have to go to see Madame for her forgiveness after I am okay. Mom Hu is Madame’s confidant. Even Yashuang has to save face for her. You saw it. She came over and kept kowtowing to me and said it was her fault… Do you think it’s over? I have to do something to save her face later.”

She lowered her voice, “If I don’t do it as soon as possible… You guess what will happen. Madame will blame me for everything. At that time, if we tell Yashuang everything, he must stand more firmly on our side. Think about it!”

Su He listened carefully, feeling regretful, “I am so naive!”

“Ask your grandmother’s advice first before you have to cope with something. Don’t be stupid again.” grunted Qiu Yelan. Her words were not a stern warning. After this, she asked, “Do you know what was going on around when I fell into a trance in the past two days?”

Su He tried to calm herself, replying, “Nothing special happened in our house. Knowing you are sick, each branch sent maids to see you. They did not tell Madame Tao Junior about your sickness. Mom Hu explained to young master, saying that Madame Tao Junior was in bad health. She might be getting worse if she knew about your situation… So, they did not tell her.”

“How about the response outside of the house? In particular, the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe,” asked Qiu Yelan.

“About them?” Su He understood why she mentioned the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe. She stood along when Qiu Yelan agreed to meet the requirements of Qiu Baozhu. Su He stopped for a while and said, “Nothing new about them.”

Qiu Yelan looked at her, saying, “Go and send a man to keep an eye on them… If we don’t have the right man to do this, go to Green Villa to get one. Remember to get a good reason before you go there!”

Actually, young master knew it already! He might not wake up now!

But Su He dared not to say it out. She smiled, “Yes, Madame… I will do it later.”

Jiang Yashuang went back before she left. Seeing only Su He in the room, serving his wife, he asked, “What are you talking about?”

“We are talking about my Uncle Mengmin,” Qiu Yelan answered. “I must do it as I promised Qiu Baozhu. I can use the time to do it because I guess that Kuang Qingwu is figuring out his plan during the time. It will save my face if I do it now!”

As Su He had added Qiu Mengmin, Princess Yang, deceased Lu, Aunt Qiu and others, who were suspected of murdering Princess Ruan, on the list, Jiang Yashuang thought that it was sensible for his wife to take revenge on them for her mother. And more, what his wife did was fair and should not be gossiped about. And more, it was not the right time to expose the truth about Princess Ruan’s death. So, now was a perfect chance to use Kuang Qingwu.

Jiang Yashuang was figuring out what to do to comfort his wife, who “got sick after knowing the truth about her mother’s death, and was too sad to cry out.” Hearing her words, he said right away, “Let me do it. Su He is a maid. She can do nothing like this. What’s more, she should stay here serving you.”

Qiu Yelan did not realize that he was busy in recent days being a probationary politician trained by Marquess Qin. She thought his job was to stay with the Seventh Prince. So, she said, “Okay… By the way, as you go there, can you help my second brother-in-law’s job transfer? I don’t expect he can be prompted to a very high position. As my second sister has been here, asking for a favor. We need to give her an explanation.”

“So easy,” said Jiang Yashuang. “I will ask Jiang Tan to do it with a card tomorrow. He will be prompted the day after tomorrow!”

As Jiang Yashuang promised to watch Qiu Mengmin and others personally, he would use all he could to get the latest news about Qiu Mengmin.

It did not take a long time. The next day, before the dust, he got a message, “Princess Yang got summoned in the afternoon. She went to the palace, and it was said that her aim was to discuss Commandery Princess Ningtai’s marriage thing. But she refused to meet Commandery Princess Ningtai after she came back from the palace. She locked herself in the room, refusing to see anyone, including her husband, the Duke of Xihe.”

“I guess Kuang Qingwu asked Empress Dowager Gu to give her a hint. They wanted to see whether the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe can protect Qiu Jinzhu, including Princess Yang and his son, Qiu Yinzhi,” said Qiu Yelan. A maid had reported to Qiu Yelan on the other side of the screen. Qiu Yelan smiled aloofly after hearing the report. She said to Jiang Yashuang, who was blowing the hot soup for her, “She has only one way to go. She can sacrifice her daughter for her and her son’s promising future! But Qiu Jinzhu is her daughter. As a mother, Princess Yang has to pretend to be heartbroken!”

“I have sent a man to coordinate. The man is going to meet her tonight. Don’t worry. The second sister deserves a clear explanation!” said Jiang Yashuang, who tested the temperature of the medicine and walked toward the bed. He then sat by the bed and said, “Time to take medicine!”