Chapter 165: That was All He could Do

At this time, Qiu Jinglan was explaining, “After I passed the provincial exam, I had hoped to study hard for several years and then go to the capital to take the imperial exam when I was sure of winning the first rank. At the same time, I could find an opportunity to be reunited with my family. However, my mother, who had not contacted me for eleven years, suddenly managed to send a message to me, asking me to go to Mount Dizi to pick up my sister. I was worried that something would happen to my mother, so I arranged people to go to Mount Dizi. I packed up and went to the capital ahead of time. In this way, I happened to be your disciple.”

Xue Chang asked suspiciously, “Princess Ningyi came down the mountain by herself after the avalanche and was picked up by people of Prince’s Mansion of Xihe? According to what you said, the people you sent should have arrived at Mount Dizi ahead of time. Why hadn’t they met her?”

Qiu Jinglan said bitterly, “In fact, I don’t know why. Those people all died in the avalanche.”

In fact, he felt that it was most likely done by Mei Xue and Qiu Nie. He seldom cared about the affairs of Tianya. He was taking part in the local examination at that time, so he left the matter to Mei Xue.

Later, Mei Xue told him that maybe those people worried that the strong wind and heavy snow would be dangerous when they went down the mountain with Qiu Yelan. As a result, they all died when waiting for the snow to stop. But fortunately, Qiu Yelan was fine. This explanation was reasonable and Qiu Jinglan himself was anxious to rush to the capital, hoping to save the last three relatives, so he just had no time to suspect Mei Xue.

Xue Chang was silent for a while, showing a trace of compassion, and said, “Fortunately, Princess Ningyi is okay and now she has grown up. Her engagement to Deng Yi was inappropriate. If you broke the engagement and found a good family for her, you would feel at ease as a brother.”

Before Qiu Jinglan could say anything, he said, “I can see that you treat Princess Ningyi like the apple of your eye, so I think you should also understand my difficulties. Although I have many children and grandchildren, if I lost power one day, they might not be better than you and your sister. After all, we do not have a ‘Tianya’ to help the family.”

Qiu Jinglan understood what he meant and sighed, “Yes, you are so kind to me and I would never trouble you anymore. As for Tianya, please rest assured. When I left that year, my grandmother repeatedly told me to concentrate on my studies and not to handle the matter of Tianya in person. Therefore, no one knows that I am the master except the two Dharma Protectors. Now the former Dharma Protectors are both dead. Although the current protectors betrayed me, they have no solid evidence.”

Xue Chang stroked his beard and said, “I am relieved that your family is prepared. But Old Princess Lian was afraid that you might be found out about your fake death and concealed it too much. Now if you want to take back the title of the Duke of Xihe, how can you prove it?”

Even if Qiu Jinglan could prove his identity as the son of the former Duke of Xihe, Empress Dowager Gu might stop him, so he might not be able to get back the title. But with his reputation of entering Hanlin Academy at the age of 18 and being an expert at both literature and martial art, there should be some people in the Western Army who remembered their relationship with General Ruan and Qiu Zhongyan.

With the protection of these people, Empress Dowager Gu and Kuang Shihan would not easily do anything to Qiu Jinglan. After all, the Northern Army has long been the Jiang Family’s army.

Once Empress Dowager Gu lost the Western Army, an armed remonstrance was likely happened no matter how good she was at politics. It was a pity that Old Princess Lian only hoped that her only grandson could escape being killed and was afraid that the traces would not be wiped clean enough. She never thought of leaving any evidence for Qiu Jinglan to be recognized again.

“It’s true.” Qiu Jinglan nodded. “But now I really have no intention of getting back the title. I only wish my sister a safe life. If I could avenge my parents, I would have no regret even if I died.”

“The problem is that both the Empress Dowager and the present Duke of Xihe know about you now.” Xue Chang squinted his eyes. “I got to know that from what the Empress Dowager said. Of course, her purpose was to tell me not to protect you anymore. To be honest, I have students all over the country, but among the many students, I have the highest expectations of you. I think you also know that. But you know that I have always been in the middle. It’s impossible to change for you alone, even if you are the disciple I have spent the most effort on. So now, although I don’t want to get even with you as the Empress Dowager wants, I have to get out of it.”

Qiu Jinglan had made this plan before Xue Chang revealed his story. In fact, Qiu Jinglan was relieved that Xue Chang did not scold him for deceiving him or even question his intention to become his own student. Now he was paying homage again and again.

“But you are still my pupil.” Xue Chang did not immediately leave in a huff, but sighed, “The marriage between Deng Yi and the Princess Ningyi… If you have any plans, go ahead and do it. I’ll give you a hand. Think of it as my last job as a teacher to help you. I won’t teach you in future. If you’re still fine when you are out of the mourning, I’ll arrange a local post for you. Then I won’t interfere in anything with you again, but I hope you don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

Qiu Jinglan wept and said, “I concealed so much from you and you still protect me. What else can I say? If I can be of any help to you one day, I am willing to sacrifice my life for you!”

“Well!” Xue Chang shook his head wearily and laughed at himself, “I am not as capable as Prime Minister Tao. If you were his disciple, as long as you could prove the wrongs done to your family and the Ruan Family, he could do you justice easily!”

“I am lucky to have met you!” Of course, Qiu Jinglan knew that the Prime Minister Tao that Xue Chang was talking about was the grandfather of Madame Tao, the prime minister of the former emperor’s reign, Tao Yinsong, who was known as the “pillar stone of the country. Xue Chang was now very well treated by Empress Dowager Gu and Empress Jiang, and it was not too much to say that he was in real power. But he was no match to Tao Yinsong, who even several times scolded the former emperor, who was never a coward. The most terrible thing was that he had done so and ended well!

The Tao Family declined after him, but they hadn’t received any retaliation so far. On the contrary, anybody in the court would mention him as the pillar stone of the country and a famous prime minister.

But Qiu Jinglan had no envy. He knew that it was better to rely on himself than on others. Now, although Xue Chang clearly told him that he was going to make a clean break with him, he didn’t feel sorry at all. Instead, he felt he had earned a lot.

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Xue Chang got into the wagon from the back door of the teahouse. Xue Nongying had been waiting in the wagon. He helped him sit down on the cushion and asked softly when the wagon began to move, “Now that you had decided to break with Ruan Qingyuan. No, Qiu Jinglan, why did you talk to him for a long time? You can’t conceal today’s meeting from the Empress Dowager.”

Xue Chang smiled, and now he no longer had the helplessness in front of Qiu Jinglan and regained his usual composure. “It’s no secret that he was the student I had high hopes for. Even if I weighed the situation and gave up on him, what was wrong with saying a few more words before giving up? Humans are creatures with emotions. This is the universal truth. And…”

The old man squinted his eyes. “Did you forget the relationship between his sister Princess Ningyi and the Jiang Family? As long as her engagement to Deng Yi is broken, she will become a woman of the Jiang Family. Therefore, though Qiu Jinglan now seems to have a weak influence, he still has the hope of revenge. After all, being his master, why should I make him hateful when I could make him grateful?”

“This is also what I left you!” Xue Chang added silently in his heart. He thought of Tao Yinsong’s good ending and the Tao Family’s decline without any sufferings, and thought that he had Xue Nongying, a capable grandson, and that the Xue Family might still have the hope of having another prime minister in the future. Tao Yinsong had become a recognized “pillar-stone” minister only on the basis of the accumulation of the two generations of his family.

Although Qiu Jinglan was about to lose his backer, the breakup was unexpectedly easy. Qiu Yelan’s interrogation was deadlocked. Kuang Qingwu was unexpectedly a hard nut. Jiang Yashuang used the special muscle and bone breaking technique for executing for three times in succession, which was seldom used in the Northern Army. He was tortured to the ground like a puddle of mud. His clothes were wet through with sweat, but he still kept silent!

Even Ling Zui admired him a bit, “He deserves to be one of the Western Army.”

Seeing Qiu Yelan’s gloomy and irritable face, he quickly added, “They are all single-minded idiots!”

Jiang Yashuang frowned and stopped. He said to Qiu Yelan, “I’m afraid he won’t make it if I do it again.”

Qiu Yelan knew that even Marquess Qin could not kill Kuang Qingwu. Today Jiang Yashuang tortured him repeatedly for her sake. She guessed that there might be trouble for him. Although she was not willing to accept it, she sighed, “That’s it.”

Jiang Yashuang wiped his hands with the towel handed over by the guard and said, “Let me send you back.”

Qiu Yelan was about to answer when suddenly an old servant in his sixties came into the teahouse. From his clothing, he was obviously a decent servant. When he came in, he saluted and sighed, “My young master is young and ignorant. He has learned enough lessons today. He will study hard at home and care for nothing in the world. I beg you to be merciful and let him off.”

He took out a stack of silver drafts to compensate Qiu Yelan.

Kuang Qingwu could not be killed anyway and Jiang Yashuang was going to send him back. It was good that someone came to pick him up. Ling Zui took over the silver notes and counted instantly. “Ten thousand taels? I suddenly want to beat him again.”

At this time, the old servant was supporting Kuang Qingwu to walk out slowly. Kuang Qingwu was pale and sweating, but he still had the mood to turn around and smile at him, “If you really want to beat me, you can’t do it now.”

Ling Zui admired his temper, but the two had made enemies. So Ling Zui shrugged his shoulders and handed the silver notes to Qiu Yelan, “This is yours.”

Qiu Yelan waved her hand and said, “I don’t…” Before she had finished, Su He suddenly let out a scream and knocked off her veil hat.

Everyone was stunned, but Su He said, “A bee flew into the screen just now!”

“It’s just a bee. Don’t make such a fuss!” Qiu Yelan complained.

Jiang Yashuang was very attentive and hurriedly bowed to check whether the bee was covered in the hat on the ground. “It’s better to be careful in case you get stung.”

He looked for a moment and found that the bee was wrapped in the veil. He killed it with a flick of his fingers, picked up the hat and slapped it for a while. He was about to put it on Qiu Yelan’s head when he suddenly saw that one of Kuang Qingwu’s feet was inside the door and the other outside. He twisted his head and was gazing at Qiu Yelan. The look was an amazed and complicated one. The old servant pulled him several times without success.

Jiang Yashuang’s face suddenly sank!

He was about to lose his temper when the old servant saw that and hurriedly grabbed Kuang Qingwu by the arm and dragged him outward. “Young Master, you are badly hurt. Even if you want to apologize, let’s do it another day!”

Kuang Qingwu hadn’t completely lost his head. He sensed the murderous look of Jiang Yashuang, pursed his mouth, arched his hands at him, and left quickly with the old servant.

Ling Zui also saw the scene and snorted, “Now you know you have offended a beauty? But it’s too late!”