Qiu Yelan did not pay too much attention because the conflict between sisters-in-law and aunts happened in another mansion. Besides, they were all her elderships.

She did not expect that in the New Year’s Eve dinner, the fire was burning on her head.

Before that eve, Jiang Yashuang was worried about her pregnancy and so he turned down the invitation to the dinner. He and his wife ate a richer meal than usual in their room.

The next day was the first day of the lunar year. The whole family was busy with ancestor worship. Besides kids, only Qiu Yelan was idle.

They would visit their relatives the next day. Qiu Yelan did not come back. Ruan Ciyi was also pregnant. Qiu Yelan was lazy to go to Prince’s Mansion of Xihe. So, she sent Mrs. Zhou there as usual.

Mrs. Zhou went back from there. She was about to tell the situation of Prince’s Mansion of Xihe while Xian, who served He Shuijin, was led in by Chen Shui. There was a delicate fruit basket in her arm. She smiled, “Our madame brought some fruit that grew up in the warm house from Mayor’s mansion. She thought that you have a good appetite and so she asked me to send some to you.”

The vegetable was rare these days, not to mention fruits. Though the Qiao Chengbo Family had a warm house, they could not supply so much demand. Xian just said that they sent fruits to Qiu Yelan without mentioning others. It was obvious that the fruits were only given to her. It might be that He Shuijin considered that she was pregnant so that she gave the fresh fruits which her mother sent to her to Qiu Yelan.

Though she knew that He Shuijin was calculating and was trying to win her over, it was hard for her to get moved for what she did. Qiu Yelan kept thanking, “Thanks a lot!” Eating more fruits in pregnancy was good for the baby’s innate quality. It was winter and there were so many kinds of fruits she could choose even in the cellar. Such kind of consideration she did won her heart.

Chunran took the fruit basket over. Qiu Yelan gave a sign to Su He to give her a considerable amount of money as a reward. She asked He Shuijin’s circumstance. And then she asked Xian to take some cakes in return to He Shuijin. She listened to Mrs. Zhou about the stuff in Prince’s Mansion of Xihe. “Now it is desolated in the mansion. Princess Yang becomes old a lot. Prince is also listless. Though they were so hospitable that they asked me to stay longer, I felt uncomfortable. So, I took you as an excuse to farewell.”

She said, “Prince now is fourteen years old. I guess what old Princess means is to choose a nice candidate as his princess. She perhaps wants to ask your ideas.”

“Why does she want to ask me?” Qiu Yelan tried hard to cast off from Prince’s Mansion of Xihe which was like a morass. She was tired of having any association with Yang and her son. She used to promise Qiu Baozhu to defeat Yang, but she did not realize it yet. How could she help her? She took a piece of cake to eat. She said calmly, “His marriage should be decided by his parents. If his mother is still alive, I, his cousin, should not help him to make the decision. If she wants to have someone to talk about, she should talk with Ding, her daughter-in-law.”

Qiu Hongzhi was sentenced to death because of murdering his sister and pissed his father off. At the same time, his wife, Ding Qinghong, who was Xue Chang’s nephew, was saved by lots of people. So, she didn’t die. However, their kid, Qiu Feng, had died because of having a fever.

Whether he died because of illness or not was not Qiu Yelan’s business. At that time there were noises in the court, but Qiu Yelan didn’t care about it.

Though Ding Qingyang lost her husband at a young age, she refused the advice that the Xue Family and the Ding Family gave to her to choose another man to marry. She insisted to keep vigil beside the coffin for her husband and son for three years.

Hearing that Qiu Yelan mentioned her, Mrs. Zhou raised her eyebrow. “When I was there, I saw Old Princess Yang asked Xiuyan to visit Madame Ding on her own and brought the tonics which she ate to give her. It seemed that she cared about her.”

After Yang was proposed to the old Princess, Ding Qinghong was not a young madame anymore. She became a madame.

“No matter how much she cares, Qiu Feng has dead!” Qiu Yelan said coolly, “Before that, Ding Qinghong was not content with Yang. Because she thought Yang would not cultivate him seriously. In her heart, Qiu Feng’s death had a direct relationship with Yang, no matter he was killed by her or not.”

She said, “Everyone knows the purpose that Yang caters for Ding Qinghong. What else will Prince’s Mansion of Xihe have except for their title of nobility, a mansion, and several shops? She wants to plan for Qiu Yinzhi’s future. If she wants to find someone who can give him a hand, it will be Ding Qinghong or me.”

Mrs. Zhou saw she was not interested in this topic and so she stood up and left with a smile.

However, a few moments after she left, she went back as Chen Shui followed her. They wore an unhappy expression. They entered and said to Su He, “You go out.”

Su He was shocked. She was about to say something. Seeing her nice-tempered grandmother give her a stern look, she followed her order and went out finally.

“For what, Mrs. Zhou?” Qiu Yelan put down her cake, asking in bewilderment.

“Madame, I think that there are several guys in the army who are nice. Why don’t you appoint one of them to marry Su He in this happy period?” Mrs. Zhou breathed deeply, saying it grindingly.

Qiu Yelan feels confused. She asked, “Didn’t you and Mrs. Li said…”

“That’s all in the past!” Mrs. Zhou seemed to be so disturbing. She interrupted her stubbornly, “Now please arrange her a marriage!”

“But what did Xian say to Chen Shui when she came here?” Qiu Yelan glanced at Chen Shui, who was looking at Mrs. Zhou. And then she said slightly, “Xian said, while in the dinner in New Year’s Eve, Madame Tianhe praised you in front of Empress Dowager. The sixth madame agreed. She said you were generous and virtuous not like ladies of the house. She said that as soon as you got pregnant, you were busy sending the good-looking maids away and picking some ugly maids to serve you. It seemed that you were afraid of being cheated by your maids and your husband…”

After saying these words, her face blushed. Being stared at by Qiu Yelan, she had no choice but to continue, “The sixth madame mentioned Su He expressly. She said that Su He was beautiful and you had always been nice to her. She also said that Su He was eighteen while you didn’t pick a nice guy for her. It was obvious that you saved her for our young master!”

Mrs. Zhou observed Qiu Yelan’s expression gingerly, “Please don’t be angry! Now you are too delicate to be angry. You know Su He best. Though she is innocent, she never has such an idea to be a concubine of the young master.”

“Please rest assured, Mrs. Zhou. I’m not stupid to doubt my maids easily when being provoked.” Qiu Yelan said without expression. “I have to criticize you, Mrs. Zhou. The sixth madame does not have any other association with us. She does not care about us, either. Do you want me to hastily marry Su He to some guy just because of a sentence she said?”

Hearing her words, Mrs. Zhou was stunned and her face changed, “I’m silly!”

After hearing the words Xian conveyed to Chen Shui, the only thing Mrs. Zhou wanted to do was to let Su He get married as soon as possible in case of being regarded as Jiang Yashuang’s concubine. However, she did not think that if Qiu Yelan did so, she would fall into the trap of the sixth madame.

“But as what she told to Empress Dowager, if Su He stays…”

“Even grandmother has not sent anyone to remind me. Why only He Shuijin told me?” Qiu Yelan sneered, “Aunt Tianhe must talk about it to the sixth madame personally. He Shuijin just happened to know it. I think that grandmother does not hear these words. Otherwise…” She lowered her voice, “An is fostered by Jiang Yashuang and me. Do you think grandmother will offend us by such a little thing?”

Thinking of the tender care Madame Tao showed to An, Mrs. Zhou felt relieved, “Now Madame Zhuang is not in the Jing City. If Madame does not suggest you, nobody could ask you to prepare a concubine for the young master!”

“For An’s sake, Madame will not suggest me.” Qiu Yelan touched the warm jade bracelet on her wrist. She squinted, “If I go to ask her this stuff, she will even get justice for me.”

After saying this word, she struck the table, “Go and get my fur coat! I want to visit Madame! Are they kidding me? Such a nice maid, whom I treat as my sister. Why does Madame Mi have the qualification to come here to make indiscreet remarks? Now she has said Su He is the candidate of Jiang Yashuang’s concubine. Will she say Xian is the candidate whom He Shuijin picks for Jiang Yaheng in the future? If things go on like this, how can those maids serving the family live? Why should the future of maids who come here with brides be decided by her? Even in Sir Jibei’s mansion, she cannot have such a right.”

Mrs. Zhou said, “Why don’t you let me tell it to Madame? Please stay home in such a cold winter!”

“It’s not proper for you to say these words.” Qiu Yelan shook her head, “Even the immediate elder will not involve in the future of maids who enter the mansion following their master. What the hell is Madame Mi? How dare she go over my mother and grandmother’s head to make such a decision? I should ask my grandmother on my own. After all Su He is my maid!” She did not know if Madame Mi lost her mind because of being provoked by Jiang Tianhe. But how dare she to say these words?

She offended almost the whole family! Nowadays, even maids were a part of the dowry, which was private property.

If the husband’s family was self-respecting, they would never put a finger on a woman’s dowry! Madame Mi, a wife of their father’s cousin, conjectured the arrangement of Su He’s future groundlessly. It appeared to be that she wanted to force Qiu Yelan to arrange a concubine for Jiang Yashuang. In fact, this thing was more than that. It was the interference of an elder on how her juniors, a young hostess handled her dowry!

“If you treated Xin Fubing well, though Jiang Tianhe was vixenish, she would not make such a big deal. Now you can’t deal with Jiang Tian He, so you want to drag me down?!” Qiu Yelan was getting dressed with the assistance of Chen Shui, while she was thinking ruthlessly, “Dumb! Don’t you know the game rule is a woman will be valued because of carrying a baby? The reason why An Zhenshang is alive is that she is pregnant! Not to mention I am a daughter-in-law whose husband was born by the legal wife in this mansion! How dare you scheme against me? If I don’t sap your vitality this time, I don’t have to stay in Jiang Family anymore!”

She got ready. When she was about to go out madly, Jiang Yashuang, who was called away by Marquess Qin, went back. He certainly would ask her the reason why she went out.

After hearing the issue, he was so angry that even her face became black. He endured again and again. Then he said, “Now it’s cold outside. If they put a stove in the sedan, you will feel stuffy. Besides, it is bad for your health. Stay at home. I will tell grandma this issue.”

Qiu Yelan said, “I don’t need a stove in such a short way. I wear a lot!”

“Be good.” Jiang Yashuang pulled her back gently and predominantly, “The road is slippery on snowy days. What if the old maidservants bumped you? I will be back as soon as I can.”

After relieving his wife, Jiang Yashuang didn’t tell Madame Tao. He directly went to the mansion of Sir Jibei.