Chapter 348 Troublemaker (Part One)

Qiu Yelan’s sudden anger made Mei Xue and Qiu Qian frown. They said, “Your Grace, if you want to know, why don’t you ask when you write to your brother? If he permits, we won’t hide it.”

“Shazhou is so far away. Is it convenient for writing a letter?” Qiu Yelan didn’t have the patience to wait and said with a sneer, “And just now Qiu Qian complained that my brother hasn’t returned to Jing City until now, I don’t think you put so much importance on his opinions.”

Earlier when she realized that Qiu Jinglan had concealed many things from her, she tried to find out the truth, but Qiu Jinglan just didn’t tell her. And before that, she also failed to get a word from Qiu Feng. Now there were finally two breakthrough points, Mei Xue and Qiu Qian, so Qiu Yelan wouldn’t let go of the opportunity for sure.

So, she said sternly, “You must say it today. Don’t think you can still be at ease and enjoy the delicious food and drink provided by the Jiang Family these days.”

Qiu Yelan looked at the two people in front of her and sneered, “The Jiang Family hasn’t found Deng Yi and his mother who are taken away by Qiu Nie. If you don’t tell me today, I don’t know whether Qiu Nie will show up if the Jiang Family takes you away and hangs you naked on the wall.”

These words made Mei Xue and Qiu Qian feel frightened, “You! Qiu Nie and Qiu Qian are your cousins.”

“When Qiu Qian kidnapped me, he didn’t regard me as his cousin.” Qiu Yelan disdained.

“That’s the idea agreed by your brother. He let us not tell you!” Mei Xue said anxiously, “How can you do this?”

“Oh?” Qiu Yelan pondered for a while and said casually, “Well, I’m wrong, but no one wouldn’t do bad things in the life, right?”

“…” She did this because she was in the Jiang Family. Mei Xue and Qiu Qian had to give in, ” We don’t deliberately hide anything from you. We can’t say it without your brother’s permission.”

Being afraid that Qiu Yelan would order people to strip them naked and then hang them out to the public, Qiu Qian restrained her temper and added, “The reason why we are anxious to come and ask for the reward is that we are afraid of delaying your brother’s next plan. You just think we three grew up together with your brother. If you destroyed us, where could he find helpers like us? Apart from holding you hostage in our early years, we have never let you down. That was your brother’s order. He did this to win the trust of Empress Dowager Gu.”

“Who wants to talk with you about those things a long time ago?” Qiu Yelan sneered, but she was quite embarrassed in her heart. She thought that if she believed them, she couldn’t do anything to that person. Looking at the appearances of these two people, she knew they wouldn’t confess if she didn’t punish them. If she didn’t believe them, she was afraid of harming her brother, who was feudal.

“After all, it’s my brother’s fault!” Qiu Yelan thought about it. Considering Qiu Jinglan’s great plan, she didn’t dare to destroy his helpers, and so she had to find an excuse to send Mei Xue and Qiu Qian back to the side yard. However, she was really unhappy. She complained to Jiang Yashuang who came out from behind the screen, “I’m not a three-year-old child. He didn’t tell me anything. Now I can’t frighten others for fear of getting him into trouble. If he had told me something earlier, would I have been so passive today? I don’t know whether what Mei Xue said is true.”

Jiang Yashuang understood Qiu Jinglan’s style of taking full responsibility for things, “Your brother loves you so much. Since he could undertake things, why would he bother you? You see, there are a lot of things in our family. We also negotiate among our brothers and don’t tell our sisters.”

Male heirs had a high status and the corresponding responsibilities were certainly greater.

Jiang Yashuang thought that it was responsible and considerate of Qiu Jinglan not to tell his sisters the trouble.

He could understand his brother-in-law, but Qiu Yelan didn’t think so. She sneered and said, “You think he is responsible. I say it’s not because you despise women. If I were my brother’s younger brother instead of his younger sister, I think he would have consulted with me long ago. Mei Xue and Qiu Qian even know something, but I, who is known as his favorite person, don’t know anything.”

“Have you forgotten that I was beaten and scolded by my cousins at will in the past? It’s no secret that your brother treats you as the apple of his eye. If it is considered as a contempt for his sisters, what’s the life of us?” Jiang Yashuang doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He joked and said positively, “In short, your brother has a kind intention. If you don’t like him to do so, you can explain to him later. You are his only sister and he will definitely not make you unhappy.”

“And do you want to hide more from me than from your sisters?” Qiu Yelan was angry. It was hard to coax her. She sneered, stared at him, and asked, “How many things have you concealed from me? Like my brother’s leaving and was seriously injured, which one did you not want to hide?”

“I was afraid you would become worried!” Jiang Yashuang didn’t expect that his wife criticized his brother-in-law and pointed the finger of blame at him. He felt that he was wronged and explained, “You found a clue later. Didn’t I tell you right away?”

Qiu Yelan said angrily, “Who knows if you made up another lie to coax me? When Qiu Qian held me hostage, I was so moved that my brother told me the truth! As a result, I have known what the two meant today. At the beginning, they had made an appointment to cheat me! I don’t think I deserve his cheating.”

Jiang Yashuang knew it was because his brother-in-law was not here and he spoke for him. As a result, he became a scapegoat. He quickly changed his tone, “Yes, your brother went too far! It is him but I didn’t lie to you!”

“Who knows about Mei Xue and Qiu Qian? Will you cheat me another day?” Qiu Yelan gnashed her teeth, “I don’t doubt it. Are you happy to cheat me? You think I’m easy to be coaxed and you can muddle through with any reason in the future, right? Honest people are easy to be cheated these days.”

Jiang Yashuang became more and more irritated. Finally, he simply stood up.

Qiu Yelan thought he couldn’t help quarreling with her and immediately stared at him.

As a result, when Jiang Yashuang stood up, he lifted up his clothes, stepped up to her, and picked her up.

“What are you doing?” Qiu Yelan was stunned, then struggled, and said angrily, “What do you want to do in the daytime? Put me down!”

“I think my temper is too good. You are more and more unreasonable!” Jiang Yashuang always obeyed her, but this time he ignored her. While holding her into the inner chamber, he said faintly, “Rules are important. It’s better to follow the rules when you are unreasonable, so as to stop you from fooling around again.”

While talking, he had already been near the bed. Regardless of Qiu Yelan’s madness, he directly pressed her on the quilt and sneered, “Don’t think I can’t deal with you although I don’t want to beat you.”

At dusk, leaning on her husband’s arms to rest for a long time, Qiu Yelan saved her strength to speak. Jiang Yashuang’s smiling eyes made her want to bite him, but she didn’t dare to make trouble again. She said listlessly, “Who did Qiu Nie kill for my brother? What reward did my brother promise him? Do you know that?”

“It’s your brother’s arrangement. I naturally don’t know.” Jiang Yashuang played with his wife’s long hair scattered on his chest, smiled, and said, “However, Mei Xue and Qiu Qian said that the task has been completed for several months, so they came to ask for the reward. Among the events that happened a few months ago, the only thing related to the assassination should be… The regicide?”

Qiu Yelan was startled, “The death of the former emperor? Although Empress Dowager Gu didn’t admit it, she couldn’t get rid of it. Is it true that Qiu Nie is the one who killed the former emperor?”

She then frowned, “If so, the person who ordered Qiu Nie should be Empress Dowager Gu or the Gu family. How could it be my brother? At that time, my brother was far away in Shazhou. It was unlikely that he ordered Qiu Nie to do so. And according to Mei Xue and Qiu Nie, the scene where they kidnapped me before was also a deliberate act to complete the task given by my brother. This was years ago. Why did my brother ask them to do so at that time?”

At that time, there were signs of fighting for the crown prince. The two empresses were competing and it was hard to say who would win. If the Empress Dowager’s party won, even if the former emperor died, Empress Dowager Gu would be the Great Empress dowager and she would be regent as before.

And at that time, she hadn’t married into the Jiang Family. Qiu Jinglan’s favorite brother-in-law was Xun Yuxi. Therefore, there was no possibility that he intended to form an alliance with the Jiang Family and plan to commit regicide so that the Jiang Family could seize this opportunity to defeat Empress Dowager Gu.

Jiang Yashuang said lazily, “Qiu Qian mentioned what my brother asked Qiu Nie to do just now. She said ‘business’ and ‘task’, but didn’t say killing people.”

“What?”

“Maybe your brother originally didn’t refer to anyone in particular, but set a goal.” Jiang Yashuang said, “As long as Qiu Nie could achieve this goal, the task was considered to be completed. It was up to Qiu Nie to judge how many people he had to kill and what he should do to achieve this goal. Your brother wouldn’t care about it or make requirements for it. After all, if Qiu Nie and the other two kept in touch with him after they went to Prince’s Mansion of Guangyang, it was hard for them not to be found!”

After a pause, he continued, “It’s like you entrusted ‘Tianya’ to send the dowry list of Old Princess Lian and the collection of the Lian Family from Lanxi to Jing City. Your task for them is to send the dowry list completely. You don’t care how many people ‘Tianya’ sent, where it was hidden, whether someone was killed or released in the middle, or even if they paid for something… Anyway, you just want the list! ”

“So, was the task my brother gave him was to destroy the Gu Family?” Qiu Yelan thought this was the most possible guess, “But what is the reward?”

“I don’t know that!” Jiang Yashuang smiled meaningfully, “Your brother’s wealth… It’s hard to say!”

Although the Qiu Family was not as prominent as the Jiang Family, it could be regarded as a real aristocrat in terms of wealth and time. Qiu Jinglan was hard to be seen through, so Jiang Yashuang couldn’t tell what his brother-in-law had in his hands.

So, they could only write to ask him.

Before the reply to the last letter, Qiu Yelan wrote it by herself and sent the letter out.

Shazhou was far away from Jing City and the road was hard to travel. Even the reply to the previous letter was expected to be received by the end of the year.

So, after the second letter was sent out, they guessed for a while, then restrained themselves, and waited.

Now it was already late autumn. And it was the time when Xue Fangmi would get married at the end of this autumn and the beginning of this winter.

The marriage of the daughter of the famous prime minister would surely be busy as all parties should join in.

Although Qiu Yelan had no personal relationship with Xue Fangmi, she still visited her in person seven days before Xue Fangmi’s wedding.

This reception banquet was not a formal one, but to earn a reputation for Xue Fangmi. It treated and entertained guests who have nothing to do with the Xue Family. For example, passers-by, ordinary people, and merchants who wanted to flatter the prime minister. As long as they entered the door and said a few nice words, they could get seated at the banquet. They did this for celebration.

As for Qiu Yelan’s identity, it was impossible for her to sit on such a seat. So, she went straight into the backyard to see Xuesun as before. After these days, Xuesun no longer regarded her as an outsider. She was receiving several older ladies and couldn’t get away, so she asked her daughter Xue Nongqing, “Go with Your Grace to talk to your aunt.”

Qiu Yelan thought that with her relationship with Xue Fangmi, Xue Fangmi would be cold even if she respected her.

So, on the way, she talked to Xue Nongqing that she would leave after a few polite words.

Unexpectedly, Xue Fangmi was very grateful for Qiu Yelan’s personal visit, which was so unlike her to do like that. She even said a series of intimate words. Qiu Yelan was stunned, but became more cautious.

Sure enough, without talking for a while, Xue Fangmi asked her to go to the greenhouse to see the flowers she had planted. “Its name means sending people the happy news. It’s said that these flowers were in Princess Ruan’s dowry in that year. It looks so good. Let’s go and have a look.”

Qiu Yelan knew that she wanted to lead her to a secluded place. She didn’t want to grant her request. However, Xue Fangmi mentioned Princess Ruan. If she refused, she would be blamed, and so she took Xue Nongqing with her, “Shall we go together?”

She thought that no matter what tricks Xue Fangmi played, Xue Nongqing’s presence could at least prevent her from confusing black and white and making her embarrassed. As for the other aspects, Qiu Yelan was not afraid of her.

However, on the way they went together, a servant woman suddenly appeared and called Xue Nongqing away on the pretext that Xuesun was looking for her daughter. At this time, they had already come to the door of the greenhouse. Xue Fangmi said with a smile, “In that case, let us two go in and have a look? But I don’t know…”

Here she showed her true intention, “Qiu, do you dare?”