“Have Qiu Hongzhi and Senior Concubine Bian made a concerted effort to kill Qiu Jinzhu?” Even though Qiu Yelan alienated the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe, Prince’s Mansion of Xihe was her mother’s family. She had to go there to see what happened on earth.

Qiu Baozhu and Qiu Mingzhu went there along with her.

Qiu Mingzhu, as a daughter of a concubine, was not a Commandery Princess but she seemed more successful than Qiu Baozhu, the second Commandery Princess. The reason for her success was that she had a senior concubine as her supporter. But now, Senior Concubine Bian and her son were in the shadow of a huge misfortune. Even her father was involved in the misfortune, too. Princess Yang would take charge of the house in the coming days. Qiu Mingzhu felt frustrated and dismal. Although she arrived at the house at the same time as Qiu Baozhu and Qiu Yelan, she did not have time to say hello to them. Instead, she rushed to Qiu Mengmin for details about the misfortune.

However, Qiu Baozhu and Qiu Yelan did not care who would be alive in the house. Hence, they could take their time, following Qiu Mingzhu and exchanging information. In the past, the position of Qiu Baozhu’s husband in the court was so low that the couple could not come to the palace with the Emperor. She took a special trip to come over the last time; she could come so quickly because Jiang Yashuang helped her husband get prompted not long ago. Jiang Yashuang also instructed some responsible people to get the couple to stay in the Summer Palace.

She knew little about the misfortune even though she was older. Noticing that only Qiu Baozhu and Qiu Yelan followed her, she stopped, waiting and inquiring about the misfortune in a low voice.

After hearing Qiu Yelan roughly say a few words, Qiu Baozhu couldn’t help but be surprised, “How is that possible?”

She was not surprised that Qiu Hongzhi and Senior Concubine Bian hurt Qiu Jinzhu, but rather, “How could these two be so careless when they live under the suppression of my official mother?”

“That’s your official mother’s tactics!” Qiu Yelan said, “It is said that the soup which poisoned Qiu Jinzhu to death was mixed with two poisons – It so happened that one kind of poison covered the trace of the other. So, your official mother went to Senior Concubine Bian first and she beat her almost to death! And then, your father showed up and he did not believe what had happened. He wanted to examine the ingredients of the soup. He asked an imperial doctor to examine the soup. After examining, they found that there was the other poison being mixed in the soup! They found more details about it later. They found Qiu Hongzhi linked to this case!”

Although Qiu Baozhu could not get much information, she found something in the case, “As you said, my father is now in…?” They heard that Qiu Mengmin was so angry at his senior concubine and his son that he vomited blood and had to rest in bed. His health was in severe condition.

“Second sister, you have a son and a daughter. You could live by yourself without the help of the house. You have nothing to be afraid of,” said Qiu Yelan dismissively. “I think that it should be Fourth sister who cries for her fate. She hasn’t had a child so far. She will have to observe her mourning for one year in the coming days. If so, many girls will show in her house during that period.”

Qiu Yelan had already straightforwardly said about mourning. It was inferred that Qiu Mengmin’s days were numbered.

Qiu Baozhu’s expression changed for a long time before she said with a mixture of sadness and joy in a hateful voice, “That’s what he deserves!”

But the result did not make her very satisfied, “As we agreed before… Is the next Duke of Xihe our seventh brother?”

What she asked for was just a reason that could make her mother rest in peace. The fact was that Lu and Qiu Mengmin hounded Li to death and Princess Yang was not married to Qiu Mengmin at that time. Hence, she was not a direct murderer. But she had the indirect responsibility. The Yang Family knew that Qiu Mengmin had a wife before Princess Yang married Qiu Mengmin. But the Yang Family coveted the title of Princess and agreed privately with their marriage. If not, Lu and Qiu Mengmin would not have killed Li.

Surely enough, the title of Princess was a temptation. But if the Yang Family did not get it, it would be given to others. As Princess Yang had gotten it, it was reasonable for her to bear the wrath of Li’s daughter. As a saying went: Only in the dream, there was such a thing as a net gain without paying a price!

Not to mention that Princess Yang did not stop torturing Qiu Baozhu in the past!

Qiu Baozhu even said, “That’s what he deserves” to her dying father. She definitely would not think the fact that her stepmother killed her father for the title of old Princess could console her dead mother.

Qiu Yelan realized the dissatisfaction in her tone and smiled, “Second sister, what else does the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe have nowadays besides titles?”

“We have to wait and see,” Qiu Baozhu thought for a while and said. Indeed, her mother’s family was getting worse and worse. Her brother, Qiu Yinzhi, had no ambition but to be brutal and incompetent. He would not have a future at all. Even Princess Yang, the dainty girl born and raised in an official family and gaining the title of Princess by hounding her mother to death, had to face her own mother’s family’s degradation. Princess Yang and her son were alive but they were walking zombies.

Qiu Baozhu knew that Qiu Jinzhu was involved in the case because she became an obstacle on the way for Empress Dowager Gu and Kuang Shihan’s planned marriage.

If nobody were left alive in the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe, people would suspect Empress Dowager Gu and Kuang Shihan killed all of the family.

“Shortly, after Kuang Qingwu marries Princess Changping, the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe will be forgotten…” They had arrived at the door of the back hall while they were talking. Qiu Baozhu looked into the distance of the back hall, a moment of resentment overflew along her body.

But by the time Xiuyan came out to welcome her, she had returned to her usual indifferent demeanor.

“Is Aunt Yang in? We heard that something happened at home and came back to take a look,” said Qiu Yelan. She saw Qiu Baozhu standing there without emotion, so she said to Xiuyan.

Xiuyan replied respectfully and invited them in.

When they arrived at the hall, they saw Princess Yang sitting haggardly at the top, asking them not to salute with a hoarse voice, and then she asked them to sit.

The two had a bad relationship with Princess Yang. And they had been informed by each other about what happened in the house while they were walking here. Facing Princess Yang, the saddest person nominally but the beneficiary of the case actually, they had no interest in talking with her.

They said a few polite words. Then they mentioned Qiu Mengmin. Sensibly, they both had to offer to visit and serve the sick. The desperate and haggard Princess Yang’s sad expression became a bit soft after hearing their offer, “I know you are good girls. And I should not forbid you two to visit Prince. But you two might not know that Prince was so angry with them that he vomited blood. After we sent him into the inner room, he held the edge of the bed and vomited two large bowls of blood…”

Speaking of which, she took a handkerchief and wiped at the corners of her eyes, “For the past two days, he has taken some tranquilizers, but he still can’t sleep! It was not until this morning that he fell asleep – and I wish he could have had a good sleep.”

Out of politeness, Qiu Yelan swam with the current, asking, “As you said so, I definitely should not bother my uncle now.”

Princess Yang was about to answer when she suddenly heard Qiu Baozhu whisper in mock surprise, “We should not bother Father now? But I heard that Fourth Sister was going to see Father when we entered the house.”

“What?” Princess Yang frowned, looking at Xiuyan, “You don’t know about this?”

Xiuyan was also amazed, “I haven’t heard that!”

“Go and take a look!” Princess Yang’s face was annoyed, “She needed to follow some rules even though she wanted to show her care to her father. We definitely should not bother Prince now.”

Qiu Yelan turned the bracelet on her wrist without saying a word. But she saw out of the corner of her eye a momentary flash of pleasure showing on Qiu Baozhu’s face – Princess Yang would be a widow in the coming days. She would take charge of the house. Surely enough, she pretended that she did not know Qiu Mingzhu went to her father’s room.

Princess Yang and her maid pretended to be surprised. They must have a plan like, “Princess Yang just lost her daughter and the murderer is an insider. She was so sad and frustrated that she did not have the energy to manage her maids. Young Master Qiu Yinzhi is young… What is more, they did not expect that Mingzhu was so inconsiderate to the Prince. The Prince has been hurt severely in the first place and managed to sleep for days. But Mingzhu came and bothered her father… Prince’s health became more severe.”

“Poor Qiu Mingzhu!” Qiu Yelan sneered in her heart, “She’s so desperate. She doesn’t even think that Qiu Mengmin has three sons, and the only one who can inherit the title is Qiu Yinzhi! She ran to see Qiu Mengmin without Princess Yang’s permission. So it’s okay if she doesn’t see him, but if she does, she will fall into a trap!”

And Qiu Baozhu deliberately brought up this topic. She wanted to take advantage of the topic and push Qiu Mingzhu to fall into the trap. However, Qiu Mingzhu, as the first daughter of the first wife of Qiu Mengmin, lived the worst life among the daughters. As the eldest sister, none of her younger sisters respected her! Now the situation had changed, and it was her turn to teach her sisters a lesson!

A few moments later, Xiuyan really led someone to grab Qiu Mingzhu. As soon as she entered the door, Xiuyan knelt down and apologized, “Miss Mingzhu did enter the door before the Second and Fifth Commandery Princesses and went directly to see Prince! But I did not know anything about this. It is really my fault…”

Princess Yang didn’t have the patience to hear her out and asked directly, “How is the Prince now?”

“Princess, Prince had fallen asleep earlier, but Miss Mingzhu went over and said that you had ordered her to go inside to visit, I…”

“Liar!” Princess Yang angrily shouted and interrupted the old maidservant, “I didn’t even know she was back. How could she be allowed to visit Prince? What did I tell you in the first place? Prince is sleeping. Don’t disturb him! Are you far away from me? You don’t know to come over here and check it with me?”

“Nonsense!” At the same time, they heard Qiu Mingzhu’s scream, “I didn’t even pretend to claim the order of the Princess! When I arrived at Father’s room, they let me in without saying a word. I didn’t even know that Father, he had -”

Qiu Yelan put the lid on the untouched teacup, and then looked at Qiu Baozhu for a second. Qiu Baozhu gave her a back look. They both knew that this was where the entire thing would be settled.

In the evening of the day, Qiu Mengmin, the Duke of Xihe, passed away.

Senior Concubine Bian, who poisoned and killed Commandery Princess Ningtai, died before the Empress Dowager Gu’s decree arrived. Her title, a senior concubine, was stripped. As her title was stripped, she was buried with concubine rites.

Qiu Hongzhi, the man who was almost killed by Princess Yang and was carrying the charge of murdering his sister and provoking his father to be angry to death, had only one way to go – death.

Qiu Mingzhu’s end was not good either. In the beginning, her husband’s family agreed to let her enter the house because her aunt was a much-loved senior concubine. Now, her backer was gone and she had fallen for the crime of negligence that caused her own father to death. These reasons were good excuses to divorce her!

Senior Concubine Bian’s son, the Eighth young master, Qiu Maozhi, died without a clear date. The reason for his death was unclear either. But people who knew about it had a tacit agreement. They all tacitly agreed not to mention it. They just sighed with emotion about the tragedy of the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe and the bitter fate of Qiu Yinzhi, the newly appointed Duke of Xihe.

The promise Jinzhu Kuang Qingwu made to marry Qiu in the palace in front of Empress Dowager Gu and Empress Jiang was also forgotten as if it never happened.

The news about the tragedy that happened at the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe didn’t last long. The coming events that the Prince of Zhou was about to get married and that the Seventh Prince would be bestowed Prince’s title turned it into old news.

When the summer vacation was over and when all were on the way back to the capital, people’s concern would focus on the two upcoming royal weddings.