Real Empress from a Noble Family

However, although Sir Jibei was old, he was a military officer and walked with long strides. At the moment, he had entered Marquess Qin’s courtyard!

“What are you doing in such a hurry?” Marquess Qin did not go to the gate to welcome Sir Jibei because he was the elder brother, but still waiting in the corridor of his own courtyard. Seeing Sir Jibei enter, he frowned. He did not ask anything but only ordered, “Go back to your mansion first. Ask your wife to make you a bowl of hot soup. And have a good sleep. We’ll talk about the thing after you get enough energy!”

“Yayue and Yaqing…” Sir Jibei spoke up but then was interrupted by Marquess Qin, “They are already dead. What difference does it make if they know the truth earlier or later? If you work yourself into the ground because of this, how will the descendants be able to face themselves?”

Since he had said so, no matter what the public thought, they had to move forward together, asking Sir Jibei to go back to rest for the night and tell them about the trip tomorrow.

The fourth branch, however, took advantage of Sir Jibei’s departure to ask about Jiang Yadan. However, Sir Jibei, who had been tortured by the long journey and the pressure and consequently had a pale face, instantly turned red, ignoring the fact that Madame Zhuang, who had been taking care of him for years like his daughter-in-law, was right in front of him, and saying through gritted teeth, “I killed him!”

After saying those words, he ignored the fourth branch and simply went off in a huff!

“But…” Madame Zhuang knew the nature of Sir Jibei well. She knew that it was nothing more than angry words. So after a while, she asked Jiang Yashuang to ask the person who had returned with Sir Jibei to find out what had happened.

Madame Zhuang, who doted on her son, was speechless when she found the truth. Jiang Yadan had not been left behind in Shazhou, but rather he made trouble again when he entered Jing City. He saw a pretty girl on the road and suddenly got horny, rushing up to rob her! If it had been in the past, the girl wouldn’t have escaped, but this time it was under the nose of Sir Jibei!

Sir Jibei was already uncomfortable with this kind of bullying and this time he had to transport the coffins of his two nephews back to Jing City. However, Jiang Yadan, as the official cousin, was not only unfilial at all, but in the mood to snatch a beautiful girl! Sir Jibei was almost incensed and without saying a word, he drove his horse forward and whipped Jiang Yadan off his horse, giving him an unpredictable thrashing!

The others in his party could not stop him by begging for mercy!

In the end, it was the molested girl who was reminded by the guards that the one being beaten was the Eighth Young Master of the Jiang Family. If he was beaten badly, the rest of the Jiang Family, not to mention the general and his wife, could not spare her. She had to bravely go forward and pull on the corner of Sir Jibei’s coat, kneeling and begging him to show mercy, which barely mediated a dispute.

“So where is Yadan now? Is he seriously injured?” Madame Zhuang also felt so shameful for her eldest son. But as his mother, she was in the end more concerned about Jiang Yadan’s well-being and hurriedly asked.

The guard said awkwardly, “Although Sir Jibei was angry at the time, he still didn’t hurt him badly. The Eighth Young Master was not badly injured, but just had a flesh wound. However, he can’t ride a horse and so he had someone carry him in a sedan chair behind us. If he can’t come tonight, he should be ready tomorrow.”

“I will bring someone to greet brother Yadan!” Jiang Yashuang said before Madame Zhuang looked at him.

Madam Zhuang nodded, “Take care on your way!”

While Jiang Yashuang went to greet Yadan, Qiu Yelan accompanied her mother-in-law back to the fourth branch alone. When she entered the house, Madame Zhuang also told her to sit down and rubbed the corner of her forehead with a headache, “Yadan is excellent at everything, but except women’s charm…”

“…” Qiu Yelan made a forced smile and thought, “He is excellent at everything? Fortunately, she was recovered or she may not hold out when hearing the truth.”

“It’s more than half a year since An’s mother passed away.” Madame Zhuang muttered to herself and asked in a deep voice, “Did your grandmother ever say anything about a suitable candidate for his wife before?”

Qiu Yelan understood Madame Zhuang’s intention to have his wedded wife take charge of him after the renewal of his marriage, in which case perhaps Yadan would not be so absurd. However, she thought that this only was Madame Zhuang’s wishful thinking. Once Jiang Yadan as a scum was completely activated, it was hard to make him become loyal.

But since her mother-in-law asked a question, she respectfully said, “My grandmother was grief-stricken by the death of my eighth sister-in-law. At her funeral, many mothers brought their daughters and dressed up in fancy clothes, which made grandmother very unhappy. So, during my eighth sister-in-law’s funeral, she didn’t mention this. Later on, when it was time to discuss the matter seriously, brother Yadan went after my eighth sister and so the matter was put on hold. I don’t know if my grandmother has found a suitable candidate!”

Madame Zhuang said, “I’ll ask her later.”

“I don’t know whose daughter is the tragic one this time. Maybe they don’t think it’s a tragedy, but that they’ve found good relatives.” Qiu Yelan silently thought. Although it was said that Madame Zhuang had a deep hatred for concubines, and being her daughter-in-law, she didn’t have to worry about the relationship with her mother-in-law, and her mother-in-law would back her up if she met a mistress, but her mother-in-law might not be in Jing City all the time!

Perhaps after seeing her children, Madame Zhuang would go back to Beijiang to keep an eye on her husband.

She had a chat with Madame Zhuang and then seeing she was sleepy, Qiu Yelan returned to her own chamber.

After she returned, Su He greeted her with Dongran, “Young master’s men have brought back a message.”

Qiu Yelan nodded, “Go inside to talk!”

After entering and clearing the room, Dongran showed a slight smile, “Young master’s marriage has been decided!”

“Really?” Qiu Yelan was first delighted, but then she felt some inexplicable loss. She subconsciously suppressed this feeling of loss and asked expectantly, “Who is the lady? What are her personality and appearance?”

“It’s Miss Ou, who has gone to Shazhou this time!” Dongran’s tone was a bit emotional.

Qiu Yelan was also stunned, “It is her!” Although she had been lamenting Ou Qinglan’s persistence towards Qiu Jinglan before, this time when she heard that Ou Qinglan really got what she wanted, Qiu Yelan still felt a bit incredulous, “Didn’t my brother always… He had always been adamant that he wouldn’t even consider Ou Qinglan!”

Dongran understood her meaning, “This is something that even Ruan Yi finds very sudden. Perhaps young master was touched by Miss Ou’s sincerity, wasn’t it?” Honestly, she didn’t believe this possibility any more than Qiu Yelan, his own sister. As the earliest henchman to follow Qiu Jinglan, Dongran knew all too well how ruthless Qiu Jinglan was. Was he someone who could be easily impressed?

“…” Qiu Yelan pondered for a while without any clues, but the good thing was that she at least still knew something about Ou Qinglan’s family, her talent, her character, and… So, Qiu Yelan gave up thinking since she could not figure out why Qiu Jinglan changed his attitude, “So when will this marriage be announced? And what will happen when the marriage is arranged? Will my brother be able to return from Shazhou at this juncture?”

Dongran answered, “The marriage has not yet been announced, but only the marriage proposal has been mentioned. He made someone back with the letter, intending to ask Prime Minister Xue to propose marriage on behalf of him.” She took out a letter from her sleeve and took it to Qiu Yelan with both hands, “For such a big event, Mr. Ruan thought it would be more formal to ask you to go to Xue’s Mansion and entrust the matter to him personally!”

She also smiled, “Although young master had already given Princess Ruan’s hairpin and ring to Miss Ou in Shazhou, which was, in the end, a private matter. This time, he asked Prime Minister Xue to go to Jingbo’s Mansion to propose marriage. So, I thought he should take another token. It’s just because that there’s nothing left behind by the old Princess and the Princess…”

“That’s easy!” Qiu Yelan frankly asked someone to open the storehouse, smiling, “I told my brother earlier that he should take more things left by grandmother and mother, but he didn’t listen to me! Now there’s not enough to go around, is there?”

She also instructed Su He, who was going to the storehouse, “Take the best ones! I can’t let my future sister-in-law lose out on the lion’s share of these things!”

After Dongran left, Mrs. Zhou and the others all congratulated Qiu Yelan, and she also ordered all the servants in her courtyard to be rewarded with a month’s salary to add to the joy.

But after all this hilarity, she sent her servants away and returned to the inner chamber alone. The smile on her face suddenly disappeared completely, “Brother is getting married after all!”

As husband and wife are one, even the closest siblings before the wedding would inevitably become estranged when they each composed a family.

To think of such a scenario was a heartfelt discomfort!

“But I was married before my brother. I can’t expect him to stay single for the rest of his life, can I? At least Xing and I are close, and we’ve got to know each other well over the past two years.” Qiu Yelan listlessly reassured herself, “It’s better than a strange sister-in-law… And brother loves me so much that even after getting married, he may not be as distant as other families… Alas… Anyway, it’s a good thing that brother is getting married!”

She bit her lip and punched the pillow in exasperation, “Yes! It’s a good thing. I’m not jealous at all! It doesn’t hurt at all!”

Unfortunately, the more she said, the more depressed she got!

In the end, she simply climbed up onto the bed and pulled the covers off to sleep!

She woke up as she felt her forehead being rubbed by someone. She opened her eyes, finding it was already bright, and it was the next day’s morning.

Jiang Yashuang had a relieved look on his face, “How are you? Do you feel uncomfortable? I came back last night and heard that you had been asleep since noon and couldn’t even wake up at dinner!”

“No.” Qiu Yelan was also shocked to hear that she had slept for so long, but as she felt full of energy, she was relieved and shook her head, “I think it’s because I’m pregnant… How’s brother Yadan?”

“He arrived home at midnight last night. He indeed had only some flesh wounds.” Jiang Yashuang paused and sighed before continuing, “But it’s no wonder that grand uncle let him stay in a sedan chair at the back in that his head and face were injured, which was really not appropriate to see people.”

Qiu Yelan thought he deserved that. She didn’t care much about his attitude towards his cousins’ deaths, but the young girl he met on the road would have had her life ruined if Sir Jibei hadn’t been there. It was a great pleasure to see such a scum being beaten up, but of course this could not be said to Madame Zhuang and Jiang Yashuang, who were his blood relatives!

Knowing that Jiang Yadan wouldn’t die, she changed the subject, “My brother is getting married. Do you know about this?”

“I only heard about it this morning. Congratulations to him!” Jiang Yashuang said so, but his face had little congratulatory meaning, obviously worrying about Ou Qinglan’s poor life after the wedding. But this was not the time to discuss those things carefully, because the most important thing is about to start, “Just now Sir Jibei’s Mansion sent messages, saying that grand uncle will come over soon… Since you are fine, I will go over to grandfather’s side first. Shall we discuss these things later?”

Qiu Yelan looked seriously, “Be careful!”

There was no choice now. The fourth branch had taken too much advantage this time and even if Sir Jibei were to take care of the overall situation, it would be hard not to get a big bite of blood and flesh!