“How is that possible?!” called Qiu Yelan in surprise and shock. “Yashuang is more familiar with the Summer Palace than me. How can he break into a Princess’s room?!”

Jiang Tan smiled bitterly, “I think so, too. But the maid serving Princess Lexin told me the news. She even showed the perfume bag left in her room by our young master. Empress Dowager Gu finally got a reason…”

Qiu Yelan interrupted him with doubt, “I thought that you had been following him all the time. You think so, too? You must be very clear if he entered Princess Lexin’s room?”

“Her Majesty said she wanted to speak with young master privately. I have to wait outside,” said Jiang Tan innocently. “And then, not long after, young master got out of the Hall and was blocked by Empress Dowager’s servants who told him to meet the Empress Dowager,” said Jiang Tan. Considering Qiu Yelan might be very concerned, he continued promptly, “Her Majesty rushed there after getting the news. I think the Empress Dowager will not hurt our young master considering Her Majesty’s presence!”

“Did you tell my grandmother about this?” said Qiu Yelan after a few seconds.

Jiang Tan replied discreetly, “I have been there. Old madame asked me to tell madame not to worry about it very much. Our young master is not a person who covets the Princess. It must be a trap set up by the Empress Dowager. Her Majesty will help him get out of trouble!”

Old madame’s words implicated that she did not plan to ask Qiu Yelan to the palace or not want to take Qiu Yelan with her.

Qiu Yelan thought for a while and said dismissively, “Where is grandmother now?”

“Old madame hasn’t gone to the palace yet,” said Jiang Tan immediately, “Old madame said we should wait for Her Majesty’s news. Old madame also said that this is a scandal. It should not be spread.”

“You retreat,” said Qiu Yelan with a frown.

Su He and others saw that Qiu Yelan was laden with anxiety when she came into the room. They looked at each other, walking forward and comforting her, “Madame, no need to worry about him. Our young master is a good man. We all know it. We guess it might be the Princess who covets our young master and gets our young master’s perfume bag. She wants to marry our young master. So, she set him up!”

“She is having a daydream. We all know our young master loves our madame very much.”

“Yes, you are right! Madame, let’s wait and see. Her Majesty always cares much about our young master and you. Her Majesty will punish that Princess seriously this time!”

They were trying to comfort Qiu Yelan. In contrast, their words annoyed her. Qiu Yelan felt restless. She beckoned, “You all retreat!”

“Go. Get out now,” said Mrs. Zhou. She went in at the moment with a bowl of the essence of peppermint in her hands. She gave a wink to the anxious maids, suggesting them retreating. And then she said in a low voice, “Madame, do you really believe that our young master went into the Princess’s room?”

“Not much. But I am a little bit confused,” said Qiu Yelan. Though Mrs. Zhou did not stay with Qiu Yelan all the time like Su He did. However, Mrs. Zhou was the bride’s wet nurse. This status was respectable for both Qiu Jinglan and Qiu Yelan. This time, after she drove away the others, she stayed behind. Qiu Yelan dared not to ask her to leave with others. She said to her, “No matter whether it is the palace or the Summer Palace, Yashuang is very familiar with them. He is also an alert man. And more importantly, Her Majesty is taking care of him in the palace. Mrs. Zhou, how could he be caught breaking into a Princess’s room?”

Mrs. Zhou said, “I don’t think our young master has been there. I guess it was Princess Lexin’s maids who said so because the Empress Dowager ordered them to do it. As for the perfume bag, they might pick it somewhere or steal it from our young master.”

“I saw Caiqi and others putting on the perfume bag in his clothes in the morning when they were serving him for dressing up,” said Qiu Yelan, shaking her head. She resumed, “The perfume bag is made of snowy green silk thread, which is contributed to the court. It mixes with white and dark green threads. Furthermore, although the Ruyi knot is tied in a beautiful way, it is also strong. Unless you untie it properly, it will not untie itself at all.”

“Forget it. The roads he went through were all clean and neat. He is followed by Jiang Tan, too. If he lost something, Jiang Tan would notice it. He met with the Empress in private. If he lost it at that time, the maids in the Hall would also tell him. You said somebody stole it. But he is good at Kungfu. It is not easy to steal something from him. If the man were spotted, I don’t think the Empress would let the man go.”

“What confuses me the most is that Jiang Tan just said Yashuang met the Empress privately. And Yashuang was blocked by Empress Dowager Gu’s servants not long after he left the Hall. I wonder if he just talked with the Empress for a few minutes and then sneaked off to Princess Lexin’s room? How is that possible?”

She exhaled, looking at Mrs. Zhou, “You go and pick some stuff suitable for He Shuijin. Before everything is finalized, Mrs. Zhou goes there with the cakes, meets Shuijin, and asks for her advice. Let her tell us who Princess Lexin is? Why does she have a relationship with Yashuang all of a sudden?”

The Emperor was a puppet, and he did not even have the right to decide which concubine should be prompted in the Imperial Harem. But Empress Dowager Gu or Empress Jiang did not control how many girls the Emperor could have. Furthermore, the Emperor had no chance to deal with the national business. He would rather stay with his concubines in the Imperial Harem. That was the reason why the Emperor had plenty of descendants.

Speaking of this, after Qiu Yelan realized how powerful the Jiang Family was and how forceful the Empress was, she even wondered why those Princesses were still alive safe and sound…

It was a long story. Anyway, among all the princes and princesses, except Princess Yongfu who was born by the Emperor, Princess Changping who was raised by the Empress Dowager, and some princes who were fighting for the position of the Crown Prince, the rest of them were so low-key that the public almost forgot their existence. Hence, it was natural that Qiu Yelan did not know the troublemaker, Princess Lexin. She had to ask somebody for her information.

Mrs. Zhou left in a hurry and returned in a hurry. She reported without drinking water after saluting, “Princess Lexin is Qu Baolin’s daughter. She is one month younger than Princess Changping. She is always careful about what she says and what she does and never gets involved in right and wrong. The fourteenth madame recalled it for a long time. She then told me that Princess Lexin cares about his brother, who is five years younger than her. The fourteenth madame has nothing more about her. She also believed that Princess Lexin must have been instigated by the Emperor Dowager this time to slander our young master!”

Qu Baolin’s status was not very high, and Qiu Yelan thought that Qu Baolin was either related to the Empress Dowager or not very good at pleasing the Empress. In which case, she might stand on the side of the Empress Dowager more firmly.

“It is doomed to fail only depending on the words of some maids and a perfume bag to frame Yashuang in the presence of the Emperor,” thinking of Qiu Yelan. “But what I am concerned about the most is that Princess Lexin will do what the Prince of Qi did before, testifying her words by trying to kill herself… That will be a big problem! Could it be that the Empress Dowager learned a lesson from what the Prince of Qi did and wanted to do exactly the same? Princess Lexin is the bail the Empress Dowager got this time. Princess Lexin will not help Yashuang! What was worse, who can tell right or wrong in a scandal?”

She continued thinking, “The Empress has been through much trouble in the past. She must have had an idea…Well, what an uneasy summer vacation this year!”

The next morning, Jiang Yashuang still did not show up. But Nijin showed up, “Her Majesty thought that as young master Yashuang did not come back, madame must be concerned about him. Her Majesty ordered me to tell madame that young master is staying with Her Majesty now. Please don’t worry about young master.”

Hearing her words, Qiu Yelan beckoned her maids out of the room and held Nijin’s hand, “Can you tell me what was going on? Why did my husband enter Princess Lexin’s room?”

Nijin lowered her voice, “Young master definitely did not do this. The Empress Dowager set him up!”

“The Empress Dowager?” Her answer was the most likely answer, but Qiu Yelan still thought something was wrong when she heard the answer. She said with a frown, “So, what is the Empress Dowager’s next step?”

“Madame, don’t worry. Her Majesty has figured out a plan. They are doomed to fail. The only evidence provided by some maids and a perfume bag coming from nowhere cannot prove anything,” Nijin said firmly.

Suddenly, Qiu Yelan asked, “As you said, the perfume bag belongs to Yashuang?”

“Err…”Nijin paused and then said, “I did not see it. I just heard that the perfume bag looks like that one. I am not sure if it is the one.”

“So, Yashuang’s perfume bag is missing, right? Or how did she not know if it was real or not?”

Nijin replied, “Her Majesty ordered me to check all the places in the palace last night.” What she said implicated that there might be informants who were designated by the Empress Dowager to steal Jiang Yashuang’s perfume bag without being noticed?

Qiu Yelan thought with a doubt, “Yashuang is so careless?”

“So, when can Yashuang come back?” asked Qiu Yelan. Seeing Nijin did not intend to say more, she sighed.

Nijin replied respectfully, “Her Majesty wants to talk with young master for more minutes. I think young master can be home this afternoon.”

The scandal happened last evening but Jiang Yashuang was allowed to be home this afternoon. It seemed that it was not a big scandal. Empress Dowager Gu sacrificed her granddaughter’s reputation for this. Was she willing to give up so easily?

Qiu Yelan had more doubts while she thought deeper. Sending Nijin off, she was alone, thinking for minutes. And then she ordered a maid to tell Mrs. Li, “I want to have some mung bean cakes. You ask her to make them. I want to spare some with grandmother, Yadan, and Yazhu.”

This season was hot. People required cooling down. Hence, there were enough mung beans in the kitchen. The mung bean cake was not difficult to make. Mrs. Li, with the help of two cooks, quickly made enough cakes.

According to Qiu Yelan’s instructions, the steaming mung bean cakes were packed into food boxes and were sent to three places.

Among them, Qiu Yelan especially asked Xiaran who was sedate to deliver the piece for Jiang Yadan.

A short while later, Su He returned from Sheng Shishui’s place with two large bunches of grapes in return; Caiqi also brought back a few pomegranates from Madame Tao. Only Xiaran came back the latest and didn’t bring anything. This did not surprise anyone. Jiang Yadan’s wife, Madame Tao Junior, was still sick and moved into Madame Tao’s courtyard to stay there. Jiang Yadan had many concubines in his room, but none of them were capable of taking charge. Therefore, no one prepared for a return gift.

At this moment, Qiu Yelan had no leisure to care about other things. After dismissing the maids, she asked Xiaran in a low voice, “How was it? Did Yadan not come back yesterday either?”

Xiaran whispered, “Sorry, madame. The people there seemed to know that I would go there to find out the whereabouts of young master Yadan. They all kept their mouths shut tightly.”

“That means I guessed right.” Qiu Yelan sneered, “Old madame is sly. She had sent someone over last night to lecture them in case I would go there to ask about the whereabouts of Yadan. But if Yadan’s whereabouts are okay, why should she be afraid of me knowing about it?”

Xiaran asked cautiously, “Are you suspecting that the fact that our young master didn’t come back last night has something to do with young master Yadan?”

“Otherwise, why would his perfume bag be missing? And then, Princess Lexin’s maids had one just like the one of Yashuang?” Qiu Yelan gnashed her teeth. She added, “I’m afraid that Yadan might have done something to the Princess. With his reputation, even if this hadn’t happened, there would have been a few rumors. But in the family, Yashuang is recognized as a good and clean boy. So, when the rumor came to him, Her Majesty could justifiably say that the Empress Dowager and the Princess slandered Yashuang. How did I end up marrying into such a family?!”

Xiaran did not dare to make a sound.

Qiu Yelan was furious, but she guessed wrong this time!