Chapter 40 - A Sudden Clap of Thunder!
Chapter 40 A Sudden Clap of Thunder!
The Empress’s Party also noticed the crisis—Qiu Mengmin even betted his title and his life in public. How could he be willing to make such a big bet if he was not quite sure?
A moment after the turmoil of all officials, a level five civil official in a light scarlet robe came out with a dignified expression, “It is a big event. Is there any evidence?!”
Qiu Mengmin raised his head. A sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth. He looked at Princess Yang who had not had a chance to intervene until now first, and then looked at the several people who were lying prostrate on the ground behind her, “The two old servants who served old Princess at that time can prove it! In fact, it is because of the two loyal servants that I knew that old Princess forgave my biological mother!”
He arched his hand to the persons above the red footsteps, “I beg Empress Dowager, Emperor and Empress to allow them to prove for me!”
The emperor sat there without expression just like a decoration. Perhaps his mind was already out of the world.
Empress Jiang gazed at him. She frowned and returned to normal face.
Certainly, Empress Dowager Gu looked happy. She nodded slightly, “They can stand up to speak because they served old Princess of Xihe before!”
Qiu Yelan bit her lip and looked at them with Ruan Qingyan—The two people behind Princess Yang were an old woman and a strong woman.
The elder had sagging skin. She was old but strong, and she was spirited; the young one was about thirty years old, with red lips and white teeth. Qiu Yelan had no impression on them. But Mrs. Li, who was behind her, shouted low and said, “Mr. Guan and Dongyao!?”
Qiu Yelan’s heart sank: These two people really served old Princess?!
“Be quiet!” Mrs. Li’s exclamation made the servant who was in charge of maintaining order below the red footsteps frowned. He cracked a quiet whip and scolded!
Qiu Yelan turned back and gave Mrs. Li a soothing look immediately—During this time, Mrs. Guan didn’t even look at them. She saluted to the persons above the red footsteps. And she said clearly, “I’m Guan. My name is not worth mentioning. And I came from Kuizhou and exiled to the capital city with my parents. After my parents died, I was forced to sell myself to be a maid in Prince’s Mansion to make a living at the age of thirteen. At the age of sixteen, I was honored to serve the old Princess of Xihe. The prince cherished me and allowed me to return to hometown for retirement after the old Princess died. And then I left the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe! Recently, I heard that the Prince needed me to prove the past thing. So, I ventured to come here. I have no regrets even if I die because I have seen the faces of Emperor and Empress! I never dare to lie!”
She was more than sixty years old. From the first time she served old Princess of Xihe at sixteen years old, to the death of the old Princess of Xihe at eleventh years old, she had served the old Princess for over thirty years! Mrs. Guan served old Princess of Xihe almost as soon as she married.
On account of this, her qualifications were more senior than Mrs. Li—Mrs. Li began to be the chef of the old Princess of Xihe over twenty years old. And now she was more than fifty!
What’s more, Mrs. Li was in charge of the kitchen. It was impossible for her to accompany the old Princess all day long. So how could she compete with Mrs. Guan who was an attendant?
And Qiu Mengmin not only found Mrs. Guan to prove, but also found Dongyao!
Dongyao said this, “I’m Wen, who was once named Dongyao by the old Princess of Xihe. I was born in the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe! A few years before the death of the old Princess, I was fortunate to serve her closely and became the head of the first-class maids!”
Qiu Yelan bit her lip.
People in Empress’s Party looked solemn!
Mrs. Guan and Dongyao reported their identity and began to describe the situation before the death of the old Princess of Xihe,” … After hearing the news of the old Prince’s death, old Princess was prostrate with grief and fainted right away because she only has one child, the old Prince! And she was sick at that night!”
“At that time, Commandery Princess Ningyi was only one year old. And the old Young Prince was only eight years old. They all needed caring. But Princess Ruan was sick too after hearing the news—All the people in Prince’s Mansion were afraid of the old Princess and Princess Ruan would have trouble. We were busy in a few days. However, the old Young Prince accidentally fell into the lake and died during this time. After hearing the news, the sick old Princess vomited blood for several days, and then….”
“Before the old Princess died, she repeatedly told Princess Ruan not to call the doctor for account. She also said that old Prince and old Young Prince were gone, the title of nobility of Duke of Xihe should be inherited by the current Prince. And after all, Prince’s biological mother was just his biological mother, although she was driven out of Prince’s Mansion on account of small mistakes! After Prince took over Prince’s Mansion of Xihe, it was better to resolve the former resentment and took his mother back to look after, in order to take the responsibility of a son.”
“Old Princess also asked Dongyao and me to tell Prince to care for Princess Ruan and Commandery Princess Ningyi because they were family….”
It seemed that Mrs. Guan and Dongyao were touched by the feeling of the master and servant. Their eyes were red, and voices were choked!
But Qiu Yelan listened without emotion and her heart was chilling as ice!
It seemed that this description was normal. But definitely it was well designed!
—Firstly, they said that Qiu Zhongyan’s death led to the old Princess of Xihe’s sickness, “Because old Princess only had one child, old Prince”. This was simply a suggestion that old Princess only valued her son Qiu Zhongyan and she didn’t treat Qiu Mengmin, the eldest son born by a concubine, as her son! The hidden meaning was that the old Princess of Xihe was not a good official mother!
Besides, they emphasized that Qiu Yelan and Qiu Jinglan “needed caring” at that time when Qiu Jinglan died. It obviously accused Princess Ruan of not taking good care of her children as a mother! The phrase “All the people in Prince’s Mansion were afraid of the old Princess and Princess Ruan would have trouble” actually disassociated themselves from servants who looked after Qiu Jinglan!
If the above words were deliberately designed, the next words were undoubtedly malicious and extremely vicious!
“Before old Princess died, she repeatedly told Princess Ruan not to call the doctor for account” actually meant that if old Princess hadn’t told Princess Ruan, she would have called the doctor for account—In fact, old Princess was stimulated by the matter that she lost her son in old age. Her sickness could not be cured by medicine. But Princess Ruan thought it was the doctor’s fault because old Princess couldn’t be cured—As we could imagine, people would think that Princess Ruan was unreasonable and always vented her anger on others after hearing this sentence!
Moreover, Qiu Mengmin emphasized that “It was because of the two loyal servants that I knew old Princess forgave my biological mother” before Mrs. Guan and Dongyao came out. Compare the sentences before and after—Princess Ruan also heard the last words of the old Princess of Xihe which was beneficial to Qiu Mengmin. However, only Mrs. Guan and Dongyao told him.
It was straightforward—Princess Ruan was dissatisfied with Qiu Mengmin.
She was so dissatisfied that she concealed the old Princess of Xihe’s last words!
Then, as Princess Ruan’s biological daughter, Qiu Yelan’s rebellion and slander of Qiu Mengmin also seemed to have a reasonable explanation: She was misled by Princess Ruan or she was instigated by Princess Ruan!
“The title of nobility of Duke of Xihe should be inherited by the current Prince”. They had discredited old Princess of Xihe and Princess Ruan from the words above. But they confirmed Qiu Mengmin’s legal identity to inherit the title in a tone of the official mother!
Next, they mentioned the matter of Madame Lu. “In order to take the responsibility of a son,” according to this sentence, if someone opposed it, they would question them about old Princess of Xihe’s unkindness and her action of preventing the son of a concubine to “take the responsibility of a son!”
The finishing touch was the last sentence—Care for Princess Ruan and Commandery Princess Ningyi because they were family!
Because of this last sentence, people would come to a conclusion from what they said: In the early years, the old Princess of Xihe was jealous of the eldest son Qiu Mengmin and his mother. So, she drove them out of Prince’s Mansion with the identity of the official mother! It seemed merciless!
However, due to the death of Qiu Zhongyan and Qiu Jinglan, the old Princess of Xihe suffered a lot and was about to pass away. At this time, in order to consider the remaining granddaughter Qiu Yelan, she had to change the way she behaved!
So, she not only let Princess Ruan forgive the doctor who treated her, but also appeased Qiu Mengmin. She agreed with him about taking back Madame Lu to exchange his care for Princess Ruan and Qiu Yelan!
But Princess Ruan was not like old Princess of Xihe, who passed away after ordering. She was still alive! So, she was still hostile to Qiu Mengmin—So, there was Qiu Yelan, the niece who exposed her uncle’s disrespect to his official mother!
It made sense! Impeccable!
A mean, jealous, narrow-minded official mother, who only thought about her own child and regardless of the son of a concubine but had to bow to him because of fate, was sculptured by them!
An equally mean and narrow-minded sister-in-law, who only thought about her dead husband and son and even taught her biological daughter to be hostile to the innocent uncle, was sculptured vividly!
A young, ignorant, unreasonable, stupid and unfilial niece, who just trusted her mother’s instigation, was also sculptured vividly.
What Qiu Yelan had discussed with Ruan Qingyan before was the biggest victory in this battle—The problem that genealogy was not easy to modify was skipped directly under these remarks—The matter that old Princess of Xihe had driven Madame Lu out was written in genealogy! But old Princess changed her mind before she died! Although it was too late to add Madame Lu’s name back to Qiu Family’s genealogy, there was witness. Additionally, Madame Lu was Qiu Mengmin’s biological mother. What was the reason for forbidding someone to support mother?
Yang Tao, a Minister of Personnel, simply wanted to laugh loudly!
He couldn’t wait to ask, “Commandery Princess Ningyi! The facts and witnesses are all present—What else can you say?!”
Princess Yang listened to her cousin’s question, and thought happily, “With Mrs. Guan and Dongyao, even if Qushan’s family came out—Could a female cook far away from the kitchen compete with the maids who had served old Princess for most of her life? In particular, Mrs. Guan and Dongyao’s words had made all officials be disgusted with b*itch old Princess of Xihe and Ruan. Ruan had stopped Qushan’s family from being sold. On account of this, it could be said that they were instigated or misled by Ruan if they said something true!”
For a moment, everyone looked at Qiu Yelan whose face was pale!
“Of course there is!” Qiu Yelan was silent for a moment. There were many officials whispering. It seemed that Empress Dowager was about to convict her, Empress Jiang looked somber but couldn’t find suitable words to protect her—She finally spoke!
Without asking for forgiveness or confessing, she still stood upright with a dignified complexion and looked calm, “The words of Mrs. Guan and Dongyao are not true! Mrs. Li behind me….”
“It’s said that Mrs. Li was just old Princess of Xihe’s female cook?” The level five official who debated with her to replace Han Shan came out again. She said sarcastically, “In Commandery Princess Ningyi’s eyes, a female cook who was in the smoky kitchen was closer to old Princess than her maids?!”
The man held a tablet and bowed around. He asked with a smile, “Masters, have you heard anything more ridiculous than this?”
“Ningyi was still young and was inevitably deceived.” Princess Yang finally found the opportunity to speak, and immediately saluted and confessed to the people. She sighed, “Mrs. Li’s family was called by Princess Ruan to serve her after old Princess died. It can be said that they watched Ningyi grow up. And they were very close to Ningyi! It was because of our carelessness that they instigated Ningyi….”
This statement undoubtedly confirmed that Qiu Yelan was misled by the immoral biological mother, Princess Ruan, and the unpredictable servants to deliberately against Qiu Mengmin!
The Empress’s Party had a tendency of being defeated!
At this moment, Ruan Qingyan, who had been standing still just like Princess Yang, suddenly looked up and said lightly, “Minister Yang and Princess Yang, don’t be happy so early—Ruan Family and Lian Family, the old Princess of Xihe’s family, both have a written letter eleven years ago before old Princess of Xihe died, which can prove that old Princess allowed Madame Lu to return to Prince’s Mansion was fake!”
It was like a sudden clap of thunder!!!