After they finished dealing with their issues, Shazhou just became peaceful again. At the same time, in Jing City, there was a mess.

First, Jiang Tianao and Jiang Tianqi doubted that the fourth branch murdered their sons with Qiu Jinglan. However, under the pressure given by Marquess Qin, they didn’t dare to charge against the fourth branch or the Ruan’s Mansion. So, they turned their targets to Qiu Qian and Mei Xue. They forcibly captured the two ladies. And they hoped that they could ask something valuable by torturing them.

However, by the time they captured them, the fourth branch began to fight against them fiercely.

“Father, it must be the fourth branch!” said Lu who hugged her son, Jiang Jingzhao, and wept tears of sadness in front of Jiang Tianao. “Qiu Yelan said she just wanted to find someone from her maiden family. However, she stealthily captured all my second aunt’s family members. Now all my brothers have been missing. It must have something to do with them!”

“Zhao’er is still so young. But he has already lost his father! If he loses his uncle, how can I make it in the rest of our life?”

Her husband was the trueborn son of her father-in-law, which meant her husband was so noble. But he died in Shazhou without any excuse. And now her brothers were captured. She couldn’t imagine what the malicious fourth branch would do to them.

She talked little with her father-in-law. Now she grabbed his sleeve and was unwilling to get up. “For my husband’s sake, let the two ladies go! They have been arrested in the side yard after Gu was killed. What could they know? If you arrest them, you will give the fourth branch a chance to be malicious…”

Jiang Tianao wanted to leave with his livid face while his daughter-in-law was holding his robe so tight. After all, she was his daughter-in-law who had his grandson in her arm. So, he couldn’t kick her the same as he did to servants.

But he was the lucky one because only Lu was begging him. However, at the same time, in the mansion of the third branch, Jiang Tianqi was tangled by Shi, Zhang, and He. “Please help us! Please rescue them!”

After Qiu Qian and Mei Xue were captured, Jiang Yashuang and his wife tried every means to rescue them. But when Jiang Yashuang wanted to visit his uncles and Marquess Qin, they all rejected him. Though Madame Dou Junior cried and screamed after Qiu Yelan took away Jiang Tianou and her family, Jiang Tianao decisively sent his daughter-in-law to Kui County. The reason why he did so was that Jiang Yayun and Jiang Jingxu might look after the patients for an extended period and so he couldn’t bear to see them being separated from their families for a long time.

And then the fourth branch would figure out that the first branch and the third branch were decisive in finding the clue that the fourth branch murdered their kids!

Jiang Yashuang was tired of tangling with them. So, he just dealt with them by using their method. He sent his soldiers to capture all the crucial kids in the Lu Family, the Shi Family, the Zhang Family, and the He Family.

Now the four families became anxious as they didn’t want to get involved in the infighting of the Jiang Family.

Especially, just as Lu feared, Jiang Yayue and Jiang Yaqing were killed in the internal strife, not to mention the relatives like her maiden family. By the power of the Jiang Family, when Marquess Qin was still alive, even if some guys in the fourth branch killed their brothers, they couldn’t do anything to the fourth branch. How could they fight against the fourth branch, which had two armies and was supported by Empress Dowager Jiang?

It was not only the guys from the fourth branch who asked Jiang Tianao and Jiang Tianqi to be self-dignified by releasing the two ladies endlessly but also their daughters-in-law all brought their kids to tangle them.

“It is three days. Why don’t uncles agree with us?” The atmosphere in the fourth branch was not the same as that in the first branch and the third branch. They were peaceful. Qiu Yelan gave a cherry to her husband and said, “They are so malicious. If they don’t care about their daughters-in-law, they should mind their grandchildren!”

“It doesn’t matter.” Jiang Yashuang said calmly. “They don’t guard them in person. If they do, they still have to sleep at night. Shuijin has just sent her maids to tell me that they are forcing uncles to tell them the place where Mei Xue and Qiu Qian are arrested. If they can find the place, we will send people or figure out a way to release them. They want their brothers to be fine and so they will surely help us!”

Qiu Yelan was relieved, “Luckily, Shuijin is smart.”

She frowned then, “But now we offend all those guys. Shall we comfort them later?”

“Never mind.” Jiang Yashuang said disapprovingly. “Do you forget Qiu Qian’s identity? She is your cousin! It is the first branch and the third branch that have been stirring things up. We just retaliate. Even if the Lu Family, the Shi Family, the Zhang Family, and the He Family are indignant, they will not hate us. Even if they don’t believe the first branch and the third branch cause it, they should remember how long their daughters and grandchildren cried before my uncles as they ignored them. It clearly shows that even if my uncles do not kidnap people from their maiden families, they are not important to my uncles at all!”

When Jiang Yashuang decided to take actions against people from the relatives by marriage of the first branch and the third branch, he already had a plan to kill two birds with one stone. The one was to force the two branches to release his wife’s cousin and the other was to create enmity between them and their relatives by marriage.

After releasing those guys from the four families, they would know that they suffered nothing even if they were kidnapped. They were arranged in the side yard outside the city. And they were served with delicacies and by pretty maids!

“For the Lu Family, the Shi Family, the Zhang Family, and the He Family, it is just a false alarm. I’m afraid they hate us less than they hate the first branch and the third branch!” Qiu Yelan agreed and smiled, “After all, we just arrest their kids for several days while the two branches don’t care about their life at all!”

Jiang Yashuang nodded, “It is true!” Since there existed a chance to rescue Qiu Qian and Mei Xue, he was tired of talking about it again. He asked about the situation of Madame Zhuang thoughtfully, “How is my mother today?”

“Much better!” Qiu Yelan smiled, “This afternoon, she brought An and our nephew to the garden in person. She even folded a flower and gave it to An!”

Seeing outside, there were all the servants they trusted. She said in a low voice, “Now she is hoping that Yadan and Qizheng can return home as soon as possible. She is looking forward to coming up with a name for our nephew!”

It was because she wanted to let Qiu Feng come up with a name for their son. Madame Zhuang thought that her daughter was killed and so she decided to give her grandson a name by herself. Now she knew her daughter was still alive and she wanted to wait for them to come back… In a word, the kid who was just a little younger than An still didn’t have his name!

Jiang Yashuang couldn’t help laughing, “Why won’t she directly give him a name? I believe when Qizheng returns home, she will ask my mother for a name.”

They talked about some household affairs for a while and then they turned to another gossip. It was not about Sir Jibei but the marriage the emperor would hold.

According to the rank of the emperor, his brother Prince of Wei, his sisters Princess Lexin and Princess Yongfu should get married before him. But from Empress Dowager Jiang’s point of view, she planned to arrange a marriage for Prince of Wei, Princess Lexin, and Princess Yongfu in the first half of this year. And then the emperor could get married after them. But when she mentioned the plan, Xue Chang and the other ministers all vehemently opposed her!

The reason was that in a common family, when one’s father died, they should observe mourning for at least three years, not to mention the former emperor who died. It was not enough for the princes and princesses to attend the mourning for only a year. But the emperor could be excluded. He could only observe the mourning for just a day or a month!

The debate ended with Xue Chan’s words in private, “Don’t mention Prince of Wei and Princess Lexin. It is said that Princess Yongfu is Empress Dowager’s daughter. Can you bear to see the public talk about her unfilial piety after your death? When the first emperor was poisoned in bed, Princess Yongfu served him liquid medicine very assiduously, which was enough to show her filial piety! Whether you are willing to let people speak ill of the princess just because of two years’ filial piety, please reconsider!”

Empress Dowager Jiang loved her daughter so much. She would let her daughter be wronged. So, she decided to concede at that moment. She allowed the Prince of Wei, Princess Lexin, and Princess Yongfu to observe mourning for three years. After all, the most important thing was to mourn for their father. The grandmother’s death was not necessary as their father’s. So, it could be finished at the same time. But the emperor whose identity was different from his brothers and sisters and he could get married this year!

Through the divination by the Royal Observatory, the wedding date was settled in June, only two or three months from now.

“Cousin Xin may be so busy these days. Several days ago, Aunt Tianhe brought her to visit our mother. They even didn’t say anything while the maids from Xin’s Mansion came and asked her to return home. But Aunt Tianhe stayed and had dinner with us.” Qiu Yelan sighed, “She is thinner than before. But it seems that she is happy!”

Cousin Xin’s fate was miserable. Her marriage had always been complex. She had been secretly in love with Ou Bicheng for many years but was forced by her elders to marry the emperor when he was still the Seventh Prince. When she finally accepted this arrangement, the emperor and Jiang Huizhi made a disturbance. Even the wedding day was decided after several twists and turns because of Xue Chang’s dispute with Empress Dowager Jiang.

“I hope everything goes well after her wedding!” Qiu Yelan said helplessly. After her Cousin Xin’s wedding, Jiang Huizhi, not to mention other families, had already become a concubine. With the deaths of her grandmother Madame Dou and her uncle Jiang Yayue, she could even take the position of Noble Consort! Jiang Huizhi’s existence was difficult to ignore!

“Don’t forget that Madame Dou just died.” Jiang Yashuang reminded despite her disappointment. He wrinkled and gently comforted her, “According to the rules, the granddaughter of a person who has just died needs to observe filial piety for a year before she can get married. Emperor and Cousin Xin are in good health. Could it be that after a year from now, your royal son will be born?”

If the first trueborn kid of the emperor could grow up safe and sound without vital mistakes, he would be in the East Palace! Even if Jiang Huizhi could give birth to a boy, she was just a concubine. As the kid was not the first one, even if the first branch supported her, she was still an old Princess!

Qiu Yelan sighed, “That will be great!”

When her Cousin Xin had a kid, even if Jiang Huizhi was a Noble Consort, she should consider her ability to covet Xin Fubing’s position!