Real Empress from a Noble Family

Chapter 90 Here Comes Another Eavesdropper

Qiu Yelan narrowed her eyes and sharply criticized him and said, “I have always heard that Master Qiu is a great warrior. Why are you eavesdropping on us in a tree like a thief?”

Qiu Feng did not deny it, “It is true that I have been hiding in a tree, but this is because in the evening, after hearing the rumors outside, your brother, Ruan Qingyan was worried that Your Grace is worried too much, in case you can’t get over it… That’s why he asked me to protect you.”

He solemnly said, “Although I have been watching Your Grace after arriving, I don’t deliberately eavesdrop on your conversation. It is because of the stillness of night so that I heard a few words. Of course, I won’t tell anyone about it.”

Qiu Yelan snorted, “My cousin always spoils me. If he is worried about me, why doesn’t he visit me himself? He unexpectedly entrusted an outsider?”

“Your brother is so drunk today that when he asked me to do this, he was still talking nonsense.” Qiu Feng laughed, “By the way, this is your brother’s Jade pendant. Your Grace, you should know it.” When he was speaking, he took out a piece of jade pendant, which was commonly used by Ruan Qingyan.

It was not easy for others to take the jade pendant away from him because of Ruan Qingyan’s martial arts.

Even if he was drunk, there was someone around to take care of him.

And listening to what the Lian Family said, Qiu Feng was not a wicked man. The doubts in Qiu Yelan’s heart were slightly reduced, and she nodded, “It is indeed my cousin’s object. I just misjudged you. I’m really sorry.”

“Your brother’s request is that I won’t show up unless Your Grace does something unwise. This jade pendant is also for me to help Your Grace.” Qiu Feng sneered, “It’s just that I didn’t expect Your Grace’s words to be unique, so I inadvertently alarmed Your Grace.”

Qiu Yelan sighed, “My cousin is really busy. What can rumors do to me? He also has to worry about it.” She asked, “When did Master Qiu know my cousin? I’ve never heard my cousin talk about you.”

She remembered that the last time she told Ruan Qingyan about Qiu Feng. His appearance seemed that he just knew the name, Qiu Feng, but he didn’t know him at all. How many secrets did her cousin have?

Qiu Feng said bluntly, “In the early years, I had contact with your cousin in the south. Your brother is generous and heroic. He has been kind to me several times.”

Generous and heroic?

Qiu Yelan looked at him weirdly for a moment. It made sense for him to be generous, but Ruan Qingyan had a deep mansion and liked to plan. How heroic was he?

“I also heard that my cousin is the child of a big businessman in the South.” Qiu Yelan couldn’t say that she had to find out the exact details of Ruan Qingyan, but she didn’t want to miss the chance to get to know him. All was quiet at dead of night. Chunran and Xiaran were not here. Of course she wanted to induce Qiu Feng to say what he didn’t want to say, “But I don’t know he has already known Master Qiu. I wonder if his official mother and official brother are all right?”

However, Qiu Feng sighed, “At the beginning of the year, when I was about to go north, the Pang family contracted the epidemic. The whole family died.”

“… So this is how my cousin’s VIP status of ‘Tianya’ comes from?” Qiu Yelan’s mouth twitched fiercely.

Of course, she dared not to say the words in front of Qiu Feng. She just thought about it, but she said, “Ah? How could this happen? This is really…” She said vaguely, “I heard my cousin of the Lian Family say that you are usually in the south. Are you going north this time for the imperial examination?”

Qiu Feng didn’t seem to want to reveal to his the purpose of going north. She answered irresponsibly, “I think Ruan Qingyan has sobered up by now. I see that Your Grace is in good spirits. I want to go back and tell him the news first, so that he won’t worry and come in person. What does Your Grace think?”

Qiu Yelan said angrily, “It is up to you, Master Qiu.”

Watching Qiu Feng go through the house, Su He was terrified and said, “Your Grace, will he really keep the secret?” Although Su He had heard the Lian Family say before that Master Qiu was very trustworthy, but what Qiu Yelan had said just now was so arrogant….

Qiu Yelan didn’t take it seriously, “He is entrusted by my cousin. Will my cousin pick someone who is not reliable? Do you know that the last time I had a few words with Jiang Yashuang in the house, and you were just watching outside the door. He scolded me to death. Now he asked this man to sneak into our yard in the middle of the night, which shows that this man can be trusted.”

Su He thought about it and agreed with her. She did not expect that Qiu Yelan continued to said, “Besides, if he says something to others, will I admit it? Now there are a lot of people outside talking about me, and there are all kinds of arguments. Smart people know that those words are half true. If they are not smart people, I don’t care about them.”

“…” Su He secretly vomited blood and said weakly, “Then you really don’t consider agreeing to General Jiang?”

Qiu Yelan waved her hand, “You go back to sleep. Don’t tell them including Mrs. Zhou about this. Otherwise, I am reluctant to mistreat you, but I can find a good family for you in advance and allow you to go out.”

Su He said immediately, “I won’t tell them. Don’t kick me out!”

She let Su He leave. Qiu Yelan stretched herself. She strolled into the inner chamber to have a rest, “There’s an uphill battle to fight tomorrow. Jiang Yashuang, you have to work harder. Don’t really trick me to death.”

The next morning, as she expected, she had just cleaned up and was only halfway through a bowl of green stem rice porridge. Chen Shui rushed in carrying her skirt in a panic, “The Deng Family is here!”

She took a breath and hastened to add, “The wife of the Young Prince of the Duke of Guangyang personally accompanied Mrs. Gu.”

Qiu Yelan put down her chopsticks, took a sip of the tea next to her, and asked, “Are they in the vestibule, or do they come directly to me?”

Chen Shui almost stamped her foots, “The Princess Yang has been waiting in the vestibule. Your Grace, what do we do now?”

“They asked me to see them, so I’ll see them!” Qiu Yelan said carelessly, “What else can I do?”

She was so calm. The other people including Mrs. Zhou and Chunran were all freaking out. Although it was said that the Darui’s atmosphere was open, and remarriage was not prohibited, there was a death penalty for having an affair with solid evidence.

Even if Qiu Yelan was the Commandery Princess, Deng Yi was still the grandson of the Empress Dowager Gu. Would the Gu family embarrass their grandson so much?

In the suffering of the servants scratching their ears and their cheeks and barely vomiting blood, Qiu Yelan slowly finished her breakfast. She also ordered another bowl of almond tea and drank it leisurely for a while before Xiu Rong invited her, “The wife of the Young Prince of the Duke of Guangyang and Mrs. Gu are here. The Princess asks you to speak in the vestibule.”

Qiu Yelan ordered Su He to go with her. They were halfway. Xiu Rong saw that there was no one before and after. She whispered, “The Princess said that she believed that you must not be the kind of person who is unruly. When you meet the wife of the Young Prince and Mrs. Gu, if you have any grievances, please tell them.”

As soon as Su He heard it, she immediately looked at her suspiciously and warily.

Qiu Yelan smiled, “Although I don’t want to marry Dengyi, I won’t joke about my reputation because of it.” She had already known that Princess Yang would make an effort to speak for her this time. After all, Princess Yang had her own daughter, not to mention her only son, Qiu Yinzhi, who was not old enough to get married. If his official cousin was sentenced to death, how could he marry a famous girl a few years later?

The marriage between Qiu Hongzhi and the Ding family had already been decided. If anything happened to the Qiu Family, the Ding family could only accept it unless they were completely shameless to break off the engagement. Princess Yang regarded Qiu Hongzhi as a serious worry. How could she let Qiu Hongzhi take advantage of this?

Sure enough, she went to the vestibule to meet the people in turn. After she finished the salute, Princess Yang said, “Look at her. As long as the child does not go out, she is dressed in a white mourning dress for her mother at home. Now she comes out to see us. We can’t see any red on her. There are few young girls who don’t like to wear red and green clothes, but she can stand it. It shows that she is a good child of filial piety. In that case, how could she be alone with an outsider? Someone must be trying to hurt her.”

Qiu Yelan remembered to keep a cowardly image in front of Mrs. Gu. She bowed her head and kept silent, only using the corner of her eyes to keep an eye on the visitors.

She had seen Mrs. Gu who sat in the first position. Today, Mrs. Gu was still beautiful, but her face was cold. She turned a deaf ear to Princess Yang’s advice and said bluntly, “The Princess Yang, I know that the sixth Commandery Princess of the mansion is your own flesh and blood. So even if you hate this niece very much, you will certainly speak for her. You have to be conscience. Think about Yi of my family, too. How do you feel when your son marries a bad wife in the future, but your in-laws help cover it up?”

Princess Yang, for the sake of her children, had to take great pains to protect Qiu Yelan’s reputation and had secretly vomited blood. After hearing what Mrs. Gu said, she almost fainted without breath, “Your son just married a seductive woman.”

However, although Mrs. Gu’s title of nobility was not high, it was only the fourth grade, but she was the Empress Dowager’s niece. Now she came here because the gossip about Qiu Yelan was so popular. How dare Princess Yang offend her?

She hadn’t figured out what she could say not to offend Mrs. Gu but also to defend Qiu Yelan. Tang, the wife of the Young Prince of the Duke of Guangyang, looked at Qiu Yelan. She also said, “Auntie, you’re right. And the kind words the Princess put in for the Commandery Princess Ningyi are ridiculous. How many people wear red and green clothes to observe filial piety? When the Commandery Princess Ningyi comes out to see us in plain clothes today, she just does what she is supposed to do. In fact, during the mourning period, she should not go out at all. Yesterday, the Commandery Princess Ningyi not only went to Yunyi Restaurant, it is said that she also went to the Jiang’s residence next door.”

Hearing the words, Mrs. Gu was even more unhappy, and her intention of killing flashed in her eyes.

Princess Yang hurriedly said, “You two really have a misunderstanding. I also know that this child went out yesterday because the Chunfu Princess said that there was a begonia bonsai on top of the poetry conference held in Yunyi Restaurant. This was used by her second brother to congratulate the lady of Marquess Qin on her birthday. The Chunfu Princess thought that the child had never met her father, so she invited her to come and have a look. After all, it is something that passes through her father’s hands.”

Mrs. Gu didn’t buy it. She said coldly, “Oh, is that true? The elegant room upstairs in the Yunyi Restaurant is really holding a poetry conference? What day was it yesterday? I don’t think Princess Yang knows it, do you? Even if yesterday wasn’t the day of the Courtesan Competition… Don’t you know what the places near Yunyi Restaurant are? Those places are all messy places. Is that where decent girls should go?”

Tang said lightly, “Princess Yang is really avoiding the important points. Why do you only say Chunfu Princess and not Jiang Yashuang of the Jiang family also went to Yunyi Restaurant yesterday? Is it true that the Commandery Princess Ningyi went to Yunyi Restaurant to see begonia flowers rather than to meet people in private?”

“Absolutely impossible!” Princess Yang wanted to go on, but Tang raised her hand and pointed to Qiu Yelan, saying, “Since Your Grace is here, why doesn’t Your Grace say it herself?”

Qiu Yelan glanced at her and said quietly, “Please ask the lady of Marquess Qin next door what happened yesterday.”

“Are you putting pressure on me with the lady of Marquess Qin?” Tang smiled coldly. She was also a beauty, otherwise she would not have won the respect of Gu Yan. She had a long face and eyebrows like the moon, and her phoenix-like eyes were shining. Now she looked nobler and nobler with anger and sarcasm, “Who is the lady of Marquess Qin to you? What I asked you, you asked me to ask her?”

It made Mrs. Gu furious, “Slut!”

“The wife of the Young Prince. Mrs. Gu.” Princess Yang was shocked and secretly scolded Qiu Yelan for losing her head. She still didn’t know how to behave in times of crisis. Qiu Yelan suddenly looked up, revealing the despair and anger of being driven to a dead end, “Mrs. Gu also knows that yesterday is the day of the Courtesan Competition. There are a sea of people up and down the Yunyi Restaurant. Am I that stupid to choose to meet an outsider on a day like this? Can’t you see such an obvious frame-up? But I suspect that Mrs. Gu and the wife of the Young Prince, you are intentional, are you?”