Chapter 434 Tensions

Compared to the chaos that followed the sudden death of Sir Jibei, the Jiang Family was now in a real mess. Although the situation today was not as precarious as it was during the summer of that year. Back then, once something happened to Marquess Qin, the Jiang Family would be comprehensively devastated. Now they were ever-more-powerful than others. But that only meant that outsiders could do nothing to them. When they fought with each other in the family, they had a lot of scruples.

The first branch and the third branch were wary of the fourth branch’s military power. Especially, Jiang Tianchi was on his way back to Jing City. Who would know that how many people he had with him and what his means were? He even didn’t care about Beihu’s invading. Did he really come back to see Sir Jibei one last time? Anyway, Sir Jibei was dead! Perhaps he was coming at them!

After all, Beihu was a threat circling around. Even if Marquess Qin didn’t die this time, he couldn’t do anything to Jiang Tianchi for the sake of the overall situation. Didn’t that give Jiang Tianchi a chance to do whatever he wanted against his brothers and nephews?

The fourth branch was afraid that the first branch and the third branch would be desperate to do something. After all, the two branches were still very powerful in the imperial court, and Jing City was the home base of them for many years. Meanwhile, it was the two branches that benefited most from the end of the Gus. The fourth branch’s manpower and material resources in Jing City were nothing to them. Jiang Tianchi had not yet returned. What if the two branches, who were wary of Jiang Tianchi, took the opportunity to hold the entire fourth branch hostage if something happened to Marquess Qin?

So, when Madame Tao took Qiu Yelan to visit Marquess Qin, she was stopped on her halfway by Jiang Yashuang, who hurried there, “Grandmother, there are so many people around my grandfather. I think that there is nothing Yelan can do. Just let her go back and take care of Jinglan. Otherwise, if she is there with the crowd, it may be upsetting for my grandfather!”

When he was done, he dragged Qiu Yelan and hurried to the wing of Madame Tao’s courtyard. But he only saw that the place was already filled with people. And there were a lot of weapons hidden in the flowerbeds and corridors. The atmosphere was so serious that as if there had been a threat!

Jiang Yashuang dragged his wife into the room where Jiang Jinglang and the other two children were placed, and said severely, “Stay here. Don’t go out unless I or Jiang Tan come calling for you! Don’t trust anyone else!”

After a while, Chu Yitong, Gu E’nuo, and Jiang Yadan’s children were also sent over together. Gu E’nuo was fine as she had not only been crowned as a princess and married a prince, but also survived the disaster with her beauty and calculation that all her families were killed. So, at this moment, she could comfort Jiang Jingheng and others calmly.

But Chu Yitong looked not well. Regardless of not being familiar with Qiu Yelan, she came over and asked, “What’s going on? Don’t they say that grandfather is not well? And then we should be visiting him. Why are we called to grandmother’s yard?”

“There are too many people with our grandfather. Even if we go there, we can hardly help.” In front of so many people, it was hard for Qiu Yelan to say the truth. “Our youngest grand uncle has passed out suddenly and fast. What if our grandfather suddenly died as well? And if the first branch and the third branch want to get to us first… So, if we in the fourth branch don’t save for a rainy day, we’ll be prisoners by then!”

So, she told her what Jiang Yashuang had said to Madame Tao, “We may just add to their workload. It will be okay to let Yashuang and other brothers serve there.”

“Why do we come here?” Chu Yitong had just married into the Jiang Family. Though she knew that the fourth branch didn’t get along with the first branch and the third branch, she didn’t expect their relationship would be so bad. As soon as Marquess Qin fell into a coma, the fourth room would start to guard against their attacks. Chu Yitong was thus surprised, “If we stay in the yard, we can serve our husbands when they are tired of serving the sick, right?”

“A few days ago, Jinglang was calculated by others, right? Our grandfather is not well now. And the whole family has to be about him. To avoid being attacked by some evil people, we are called over to get together. And we take care of each other.” Qiu Yelan persuaded her at a regular time, “It’s only for a few days. I believe our grandfather will be fine soon. My sister-in-law, please hold it!”

With that, Chu Yitong’s wet nurse Mrs. Zhu had pulled at her sleeves several times. Even though Chu Yitong was still in disbelief that the branches of the Jiang Family had become sworn enemies that would attack the women and children, she took the hint and stopped asking, “I am just confused. Why would I feel badly treated? It is our blessing to stay at our grandmother’s place!”

Although Madame Tao’s yard was relatively spacious, the family members of the fourth branch couldn’t take over all the place. They just borrowed a few rooms. So, it was natural that they would have to squeeze in. At Qiu Yelan’s hint, Gu E’nuo offered to take Jiang Yadan’s baseborn children to live in another room without taking up the one where Jiang Jinglang and the other two children stayed.

After all, those baseborn children of Jiang Yadan gave a bad impression on Qiu Yelan. And their biological mothers had been ordered to be killed by Madame Zhuang for touching Madame Tao Junior’s dowry. If these children were placed together, they would perhaps be angry with Jiang Jingkun and harm him. Even though someone would have an eye on that, it would be awkward and troublesome in the end. So, it would be better to separate them from the beginning.

When Gu E’nuo rose and was about to ask Jiang Jingheng and the others to follow her, Jiang Huizhu, the eleventh junior young lady, raised her head and asked, “Mother, my nineteenth aunt, I haven’t seen my fourteenth brother for a long time. Can I play with him?”

“An is just a little kid. It’s easy for him to get tired while playing. Just wait for him to grow up a bit!” said Qiu Yelan, smiling.

Chu Yitong also frowned, “If you like kids, you can play with your fifteenth brother and sixteenth brother. Just leave An alone!”

Jing Huizhu bit her lip, looking disappointed. And then she left with Gu E’nuo.

When they left and were out of the door, Chu Yitong coughed dryly and explained, “Huizhu… She just wanted to be more intimate with her trueborn younger brother!” She intentionally emphasized the word “trueborn”. And Qiu Yelan got the point. Jiang Huizhu’s biological mother, Luan, had forced her subordinates to save her daughter first, resulting in the death of Jiang Yadan’s eldest baseborn son, the ninth junior young master Jiang Jinghu. After that, Madame Tao ordered to kill her. And Jiang Huizhu lost her biological mother. Luan dared to disregard the life of the eldest baseborn son for the sake of her daughter. So, it was clear that Jiang Huizhu lived a good life when she was still alive. That was to say, she must have offended many people!

So, after the death of Luan, Jiang Huizhu’s life could be imagined! Now she wanted to please her trueborn younger brother to improve her situation, which was only human nature.

Though Qiu Yelan could understand her feelings, she wasn’t going to give her that chance. With an effort, Jiang Jingkun was able to be brought up by Qiu Yelan. She didn’t want him to be dragged into the tumble in Jiang Yadan’s backyard again!

“They are siblings. It’s natural for them to be close.” Qiu Yelan smiled, “But An is too young to play with his sisters yet.”

Chu Yitong was relieved to see that she had overlooked it, “My sister-in-law, you are right. I feel the same way.”

Having talked about what Jiang Huizhu thought, the two sisters-in-law exchanged a few pleasantries before Chu Yitong excused herself and went to her own place to tidy up.

Qiu Yelan played with the kids. Jiang Jinglang was too young and had just recovered. So, he was still mainly eating and sleeping. She mostly spent time with Jiang Jingkun and Jiang Qizheng’s son. Both of them had reached their first birthday and were now able to walk with the help of the couch and speak a few words. And they were more energetic.

“My eighteenth sister has got pregnant again. I don’t think she’ll be able to come back next spring.” While playing with the kids, Qiu Yelan said to servants, “If she gives birth and experiences confinement in Shazhou, she will not leave until her baby is able to have a long journey. When will she be back? It’s not appropriate as my nephew hasn’t got a name. See, each time when I called ‘An’, my nephew turn would his head as he thought I was calling him!”

Mrs. Qu said, “Madame, why don’t you give a pet name? I think the Princess and her husband will be okay with that.” Anyway, Qiu Yelan had brought up their son for such a long time. It was a pet name rather than a formal name. If they didn’t like it, they could change one. Though Mrs. Qu hadn’t seen Jiang Qizheng and his husband, she thought that the biological daughter of Madame Zhuang shouldn’t be mean.

“Just call him Fu. My eighteenth sister’s title is Princess Chunfu. And this character is auspicious.” Qiu Yelan nodded.

With that, someone outside said suddenly, “Fu? ‘Fu’ is also in my title!”

Qiu Yelan was surprised and she handed them the rattle that Jiang Jingkun and Fu were fighting for. She stood up, “Yongfu, what brings you here?”

It was Princess Royal Yongfu. In her early years, the Princess was very close to Jiang Yashuang. She often sneaked out of the palace to play with her cousin Yashuang, and often stayed at the Marquess Qin’s Mansion or the Jiang Family’s residence. But ever since Jiang Yashuang met Qiu Yelan, the number of times she sought out her cousin had dropped considerably. She hadn’t even spent the night at the Marquess Qin’s Mansion in the past two years. Of course, this was also because she had a new playmate, Ou Bicheng.

“As my grandfather falls ill, my mother is worried about him. So, she sent me here to visit my grandfather.” Princess Royal Yongfu dressed in purple and wore boots, which was a smart outfit. She looked worried on her beautiful face, “When I just went to my grandfather’s yard, my grandmother said that my grandfather had just fallen asleep after drinking his medicine and asked me not to disturb him inside. I didn’t see you over there. And after staying with my grandmother for a while, I heard that you were here, so I came over to take a look!”

At the words, a person came up from behind her. It was the seventh madame of the third branch, Madame Zhang. She said with a poker face, “I haven’t seen An, lang, and my nephew for days. I wanted to accompany the Princess for a walk, but I didn’t expect to hear that you had given her nephew a nickname.”

Qiu Yelan frowned slightly and thought to herself, “Is Madame Zhang watching Princess Royal Yongfu? Even Yongfu is treated like that. It’s no wonder that why Jiang Yashuang and Jiang Yadan don’t allow their families to visit Marquess Qin in his yard. They are afraid that we, as their families, will be attacked.”

But with a face as if she hadn’t noticed anything, she asked with concern, “How is our grandfather?”

“Dr. Lin said it was because he had been exhausted for days. He was already tired. When he heard that there was a change in Beijiang, he was suddenly stimulated to fall ill. He will be okay.” Yongfu Princess set her mouth in a line, “I think he will wake up tonight.”

Madame Zhang said, “Our grandfather has been healthy.” And she added coldly, “I’m not picking on you as your sister-in-law. When something happened to Lang’er two days ago, you were worried about him. But our grandfather has been ill. Shouldn’t you go there and visit him?”

Qiu Yelan thought to herself, “How dare you say that! Just look at the way you’re spying on Yongfu! I’m not sure what will happen to me if I go there!” But she said, “Nothing I can do about it. My fourteenth sister-in-law hasn’t come back. Even if she returns there, how can a pregnant woman be busy with that? I’m not saying that my third aunt and you, my seventh sister-in-law, are not capable of being in charge of the family. However, when it comes to the family affairs, even our grandfather praises her a lot, right?”

After hearing that, Madame Zhang’s face grew darker, “Isn’t this saying that Jiang Jinglang’s getting poisoned last time had a lot to do with the third branch’s incompetence in running the family matters?”

“By the way, has Lang’er’s wet nurse been changed to those from more affluent families?” Madame Zhang thought for a moment and then suddenly said, “Earlier, I had already advised you that although people from humble families were honest, they were also stupid! How could they know the rules better than our family servants? If it weren’t for those two wet nurses being so mean, Lang’er wouldn’t have had to suffer so much! My nineteenth sister-in-law, you are too young. You’d better listen to your sisters-in-law more often. What do you think?”

It was better if she didn’t say that. But when she did, Qiu Yelan almost couldn’t resist slapping her twice, “He Shuijin is no longer a suspect, but that doesn’t mean you, the third branch, can get away with that! You may be one of the people who harmed my son. How dare you lecture me about this!”

“My seventh sister-in-law, you are right!” Qiu Yelan took several deep breaths before she could suppress her anger and gave a fake smile, “It’s because there are few people in our yard and we usually live a peaceful life. Also, I’m afraid that my subordinates have been nowhere and can’t control the new servants. So, I thought wet nurses from humble families would make it easy for me! I didn’t expect to get caught up here! But this time, the wet nurses were chosen by Yashuang himself. And he had told them a lot. So, I don’t think there will be any more problems.”

It was Madame Zhang’s turn to take deep breaths, “Few people? Live a peaceful life? Your subordinates have been nowhere? You are just showing off that since your marriage, Jiang Yashuang just has you. And you are in charge of the yard!”

“The wet nurses were chosen and told by Yashuang himself! This is a blatant display of how much your husband values your son and how considerate he is of you! Your husband has taken over the job for you which should have been your job!”

“But what about my husband Jiang Yayi? He even got a performer of a brothel into this family just three days before the death of Sir Jibei!”

Moreover, Jiang Yayi loved both his new and old mistresses, who fight with each other. Madame Zhang, as the lady of the house, not only needed to help Madame He and be the scapegoat for her but also had to play mediator for these mistresses. Otherwise, Jiang Yayi would be bothered by these mistresses and thus thought that his wife was incompetent to run the yard!

Madame Zhang felt so miserable about her own situation that she didn’t even notice that Princess Royal Yongfu proposed to leave. It was only when she was quietly nudged by a servant that she woke up. She gritted her teeth and made it go away together with the Princess!

As soon as they left, a bodyguard came over to report, “The maid of the Princess stuffed this silk into my arms when the maid of the seventh madame wasn’t noticing!”