Real Empress from a Noble Family

Chapter 75 General’s Family Was Full of Drama

“How about it? What does that Commandery Princess look like?” when Jiang Qizheng and others went back to their house next door, Little Tao who had been waiting for them for a long time approached and teased with a smile, “Before Madame went to bed, she said that you and the large crowd going there might scare that little girl.”

“Being scared of meeting just a few people, how can this kind of useless person be qualified to marry into our family? Tut!” Jiang Qiyun had been angry for a long time. Because Qiu Yelan was much more beautiful than her. However, she had some scruple. So, she didn’t dare to do something to her. She was full of anger. Seeing Little Tao at that moment, she took it out on her rudely, “Don’t you think you adore her too much? She hasn’t married into our family yet!”

Little Tao knew her sister-in-law was fastidious all along. She didn’t get angry. She smiled and said, “I haven’t seen her. I just told you what mother said.” she knew that Jiang Qiyun didn’t take Madame Tao seriously. Because Jiang Qiyun’s father Jiang Tianao was a junior with a special status who Marquess Qin paid special regard to. So, Little Tao changed the topic at once after she said that, “You guys have gone out for a long time. Must be tired? There are some freshly made drinks inside. Come and have some.”

Unexpectedly, Jiang Qiyun continued to complain, “Tired? Not just tired, also hungry! What kind of Commandery Princess is she? She doesn’t even know how to entertain guests! None of the dishes she serves today is worth eating!”

“I think it’s because she is young.” Little Tao’s husband didn’t like her. She had no kid and her family was down and out. Although the grandmother of her husband’s family Madame Tao was also her great-aunt and Madame Tao’s only daughter was Empress Jiang, she and Madame Tao were twice removed. And there were a lot of people in Jiang Family. It was hard for Madame Tao to protect her.

So, Little Tao was kind to everyone and forbearing in everything. She smiled and then mediated, “She is 13 after all. Her elders don’t adore her. It’s hard to avoid being hurry-scurry and making you feel neglected.”

“Qiyun, you complained about being tired and hungry. Little Tao told you that there were drinks inside. But instead of going in, you stand here and talk back to Little Tao. I really don’t know what you are thinking.” seeing Jiang Qiyun was about to say something, Jiang Qizheng was impatient. She frowned a little and said tepidly, “Are you deliberately messing with my branch? No one invited you to Prince’s Mansion of Xihe today! Our crowd went there without invitation. It was nice of her to entertain us. What more do you expect? Do you think Commandery Princess Ningyi owe you?”

Jiang Yadan and Jiang Yashuang were both sons of the fourth branch. They and Jiang Qizheng were siblings. Little Tao was Jiang Qizheng’s brother’s wife. In Jiang Qizheng’s opinion, Jiang Qiyun taking it out on her equaled taking out on her branch. If it were not for that Jiang Qiyun was her elder cousin and she should respect her, she would have reproached her a long time ago.

After getting reproached, Jiang Qiyun surely wouldn’t let it go. She snarled, “Oh. Are you guys trying to gang up on me?”

“Don’t accuse others of bullying you while you are messing with them!” Jiang Qizheng didn’t like Jiang Qiyun at all because of their grudges. They avoided talking to each other as they could in front of the elders. And they quarreled with each other for a few times in private. Jiang Qizheng said coldly, “Grandmother lives here temporarily. Because they are repairing the main room in Marquess’s Mansion and grandmother hates the noise. If you want to go in and take a rest, please be quiet! Otherwise, if you disturb grandmother, even if she won’t blame you, I will go talk to First Uncle!”

“You!” Jiang Qiyun was hopping mad. But she couldn’t do anything. Elders liked Jiang Qizheng the most among all the juniors. Not only Empress Jiang gave her a Princess title among all the nieces, Jiang Tianao also liked her more than his own daughter. Madame Dou could never make Jiang Tianao change his mind!

Jiang Qiyun was disgraced by Jiang Qizheng. She surely wouldn’t go in and have a drink. She turned around furiously, “I won’t disturb you and your grandmother!”

“Qiyun!” Little Tao sighed inwardly. She wanted to mediate. However, He Shuijin stopped her stealthily, “Little Tao, don’t mind her. She came with us in order to see the Commandery Princess next door. Since she has already seen her, do you think she will stay and pay respects to Madame?”

Little Tao smiled bitterly. She had to let Jiang Qiyun go off in a huff.

Only Little Tao who was a goody-goody was perturbed because Jiang Qiyun left. Others including Princess Yongfu who liked to meddle were silent. After Jiang Qiyun left, they began to talk like nothing had happened, “Commandery Princess Ningyi is indeed beautiful. I thought Sister He was being exaggerated. After our visit today…”

Princess Yongfu complimented Qiu Yelan’s beauty frankly. Although she saw Qiu Yelan before Jiang Yashuang did, she saw her at night. She couldn’t see her clearly because the light was not good. And also, Qiu Yelan just got beaten up back then. She was at the last gasp and covered with unguent. Of course, it would tamper with her beauty. The Commandery Princess Ningyi she saw on that day was already healed and meticulously dressed. Of course, she looked way more beautiful.

However, when she was half way through her sentence, He Shuijin, Jiang Qizheng and Jiang Qisheng all stepped on her almost at the same time. Although they stepped on Princess Yongfu slightly, she was still pretty depressed. She buried her head in her arms and said angrily, “Fine. I won’t say anything!”

Although He Shuijin’s and others’ moves were subtle, Tao Peibin grew up with them, how could she not know the reason?

She was already unhappy after she saw Qiu Yelan. It was just that Qiu Yelan didn’t know her well. And she didn’t pay attention to her because there were so many people for her to entertain. However, Tao Peibin couldn’t hide her emotion from all the people in the room.

Looking at Princess Yongfu who had an unhappy look at that moment, Tao Peibin thought about that she used to worry about Princess Yongfu and Jiang Yashuang. Because they were always close like real siblings. She was the only cousin Jiang Yashuang didn’t avoid after he grew up. Tao Peibin never thought it would be an orphan Commandery Princess who stole her man.

She felt unspeakable bitterness and didn’t want to stay any longer. She smiled reluctantly and stood up, “I am feeling a little dizzy all the sudden. I want to go and take some rest. You guys have fun.”

“I’ll go with you!” Jiang Qisheng wasn’t from Jiang Yashuang’s branch. She wasn’t that interested in her cousin’s marriage. She went next door with them just to keep Tao Peibin company. Now that Tao Peibin wanted to leave. She surely wouldn’t stay.

After they left, Princess Duanrou patted on Princess Yongfu’s shoulder and said gently, “Okay. You can talk now. Those who shouldn’t hear are all gone.”

“It’s an obvious fact that Commandery Princess Ningyi is beautiful!” Princess Yongfu sat up and pouted unhappily, “They saw her themselves. Why did you stop me from saying so? Be more beautiful if she could! Jealous of others is not necessary!”

She was Empress Jiang’s only kid. Overawed by how Empress Jiang adored her, even the Emperor didn’t dare to criticize her. She stopped talking reluctantly because she and they were close. Otherwise, let alone that she didn’t notice that Tao Peibin was unhappy, even if she did, she wouldn’t care. Even if she said that Tao Peibin was not beautiful enough to covet Jiang Yashuang to her face, what could she do to her?

“Oh, you!” sensing that Princess Yongfu was angry for real, He Shuijin and others comforted her with a smile in a hurry. Otherwise, if she went back to the Palace angrily and told on them, although Empress Jiang was very protective of her nieces and nephews, offending her daughter was unacceptable. How could she adore her nieces more than her daughter? Besides, Empress Jiang had way too many nieces.

They went through a lot of trouble to make Princess Yongfu happy again. Princess Duanrou thoughtfully asked her to show her the garden of the house. Until that moment, Little Tao finally got the chance to ask the real question, “What is she like?”

“We only met her for the second time. It’s hard to tell whether she is nice or not.” this was the matter of Jiang Yashuang’s wife. Jiang Qizheng and He Shuijin were both cautious. They didn’t jump at conclusion, “We don’t find any obvious flaw for now. She is young anyway. It’s better that we let Madam Shao observe carefully. It’s nice that she let Madam Shao stay in the same yard with her. Thus, Madam Shao can know about her daily life. It’s the best way to know about someone.”

Little Tao said with a smile, “Yashuang always has good taste. I suppose the one he likes can’t be bad.”

Realizing that she wasn’t trying to speak for her cousin, Jiang Qizheng and He Shuijin were relieved, “You are right.” They both had nice impression of Qiu Yelan. She was beautiful. Although she made a lot of mistakes interacting with them because she was unprepared, she was natural and graceful the whole time. She wasn’t panic nor upset. Considering her age and how she grew up, it was rare that she could be so graceful.

So, they were a little worried, “It’s just that she brought up her Cousin Ruan a lot. It’s okay if she is just grateful. We did some research after all. Ruan Qingyan has been really great to her. And he helped her with Princess Ruan’s funeral. But if she loves Ruan Qingyan because of that… it’s the first time that Yashuang is into a girl for all these years.”

“Shall we ask Yashuang?” Little Tao thought for a while and suggested, “I remembered that Yashuang had gone to General’s Mansion for a few times. If that were real, he should notice something.”

“Definitely not!” Jiang Qizheng and He Shuijin objected at the same time, “When Yashuang asked for our help back then, we asked him ambiguously if he liked her or not. It’s not something which he shouldn’t mention. However, he got angry. He said that we measured the stature of great men by the yardstick of small men and he just took pity on her. We comforted him for a long time to get him stop being angry. If we go and ask him like you suggested, he will be angry again, won’t he?”

He Shuijin continued, “We most definitely can’t let Yashuang know that we went to check the Commandery Princess out by ourselves and arranged Madam Shao to be with her. Otherwise, he won’t find us thoughtful. Moreover, he will definitely blame us for meddling!”

“That’s right!” Jiang Qizheng said with a serious look, “Since that Commandery Princess could bring down his uncle, she must be sophisticated. Can someone like her like being inspected by us like this? It’s okay if she doesn’t marry to Yashuang. If she does, how embarrassed will we be?”

Little Tao murmured to herself, “That’s right. Yashuang is an absolute nice guy. It’s just that he is so shy.”

“He is not shy about other things, only his marriage…” Jiang Qizheng shook her head, “It’s only because Yadan fools around too much. He makes grandfather and grandmother so afraid that Yashuang will learn from him. So, they overdid it which made Yashuang so old-fashioned that he couldn’t even tell the truth in front of us.”

Speaking of which, she asked Little Tao with concern, “How is the thing Yadan caused a few days ago? Any news from the Palace?”

Prince’s Mansion of Xihe

After sent away the guests, Qiu Yelan suggested Shao Yuemei that they should rest first and start the class the next day.

After some chitchats, she went back to her room. In spite of her exhaustion from the long day, she took out a piece of letter paper and wrote a letter rapidly. The general idea of this letter was that she got an important information for Ruan Qingyan just now. His future fiancée was good at calligraphy. She looked very interested in it. And she was also picky.

“Even Jiang Family only considers cousin as one of the candidates for their son-in-law, but with my assistance and cousin is a talented handsome man with a promising career, he will surely win the competition and get the girl!” Qiu Yelan finished writing and sealed it after examination. She asked Xiaran to send it to the General’s Mansion at once and thought about it happily, “My cousin’s future wife is beautiful and has a good temper. She also comes from a powerful family. Eh, cousin just got the title. He is way too busy these two days. Otherwise, I should ask him to make his move as soon as possible. So, he can marry her soon.”