Chapter 167: Didn't You Say I'm Your Beloved One?

When Kuang Qingwu was still pondering the enchanting glimpse, Qiu Yelan was reassuring Ruan Ciyi in the Ruan Family, “My cousin is really fine. It’s just that he was called by Prime Minister Xue soon after entering the city. Is it because of matters concerning his study? Isn’t he often called by Prime Minister Xue?”

Half lying in bed, Ruan Ciyi looked sullen, and said, “What about you? I heard you caught a cold outside. How are you now?”

“I’ve fully recovered.” Qiu Yelan was making an apology, “I’m the one to be blamed. It was because of me that my cousin’s date of return was delayed. Sorry for making you worried.”

“No need to apologize. We’re a family.” Ruan Ciyi smiled, but then frowned, “I need to ask you something while Chunjun is not here. You have to tell me the truth!”

Qiu Yelan was shocked, but forced herself to calm down and said, “Shoot.”

She was wondering whether she should tell the truth or not. Then she thought, “I didn’t agree to tell you the truth. It depends on what you ask.”

Ruan Ciyi didn’t force her to promise. She looked down and said, “Though I’m worried about you this time, I didn’t have to bother Young Earl Ling originally. It’s just that I wanted to send someone to go out and find you, but they said that Chunjun had ordered everyone to stay and guard the house. Is it because he is afraid that sending people out of the city might put me in danger?”

Qiu Yelan thought about it for a while and said, “I haven’t heard of this, but my cousin succeeded in the imperial examination when he was young, and was selected to enter the Hanlin Academy by the emperor. There are always a lot of jealous people.”

“Really?” Ruan Ciyi thought deeply. “Well, did you run into any trouble outside the city?”

“During my outing, the two young ladies from Jiang Family deliberately tried to give me a hard time because someone abetted them to do so.” Qiu Yelan said calmly, “Fortunately, Chunfu Princess helped me get the justice. The two were really lucky to avoid the tumult, as they went back to the city directly after being scolded severely by Chunfu Princess.”

The news of Duchess of Huainan’s accidental death was known to everyone at this time in Jing City. Ruan Ciyi sighed, “When I was living in Jing City, I also knew Princess Qin. She was a very kind person. Unexpectedly, she just died like this.”

When Qiu Yelan found the topic was switched smoothly, she was relieved, “It turns out that Qin was Duchess of Huainan’s surname. I didn’t know that. When we met on Jinxiu Slope before, I only heard Chunfu Princess and Young Lady He call her Princess.”

Ruan Ciyi said, “At that time, she was the only Princess, and it seemed to be more intimate to call her without her surname. Speaking of the Qin Family, they’ve withered so badly these years, and I don’t know if anything bad might happen to Puyang old Princess if she knows the news. After all, the health condition of the Duke of Puyang already makes her worried, and now her niece died at such a young age again, alas…”

“Puyang old Princess?” Although Shao Yuemei trained her these years, Qiu Yelan was still not a qualified lady. This was because she still couldn’t figure out the engagements the ladies had since their childhood. Not to mention others, the Jiang Family’s relatives alone were enough to make her dazed.

At this moment, she tried really hard and only remembered that the Duke of Puyang seemed to be the Special Prince inherited since the founding of the country. But this family was far less prominent than Duke of Xihe’s family, mainly because they had no outstanding off-springs for generations. They basically kept their title and lived an ordinary life. But because of this state of being unable to cause troubles, the title had been passed along smoothly.

She recalled that the Duke of Puyang was very young.

As expected, Ruan Ciyi found that Qiu Yelan still didn’t quite understand, so she introduced, “She is Qin old Princess, Duchess of Huainan’s aunt. She was the matchmaker for Duke of Huainan and Qin Princess.”

“Was the Qin Family very prominent earlier?” Qiu Yelan asked curiously, “The aunt and the niece became princesses one after another.”

“Not really.” Ruan Ciyi shook her head, “In the Jing City, the dignitaries consider them to be medium. But Qin old Princess is well-known for her virtue, so her nieces are generally married well. At that time, Duke of Huainan wanted to marry a princess. The palace asked him what kind of lady he wanted, and he said that he wanted a virtuous princess. So, Qin’s daughter was chosen.”

Speak of which, she sighed, “My grandmother, your First Aunt’s mother, also has Qin as her surname, though it is not the same lineage as Qin Princess and Qin old Princess.”

Qiu Yelan remembered that her First Aunt mentioned the lady had a suttee. She quickly switched the topic, “I used to live on the Jiang Family’s farm, and heard the young lady in the family mention the Duke of Puyang once. She seemed to say that he had a bad health condition.”

“It is said there was a congenital deficiency in the fetus.” Ruan Ciyi nodded, “He was probably two or three years old when I left Jing City, but had already been taking medicines a lot. He has been occasionally mentioned by others these years, and I heard he was still as unhealthy as before. However, he was very smart, so the hearts of his grandmother and mother, the old Princesses, broke because of him.”

Qiu Yelan thought it was already distressful that the son in their family had a bad health condition. And the fact that he was extremely outstanding made it even worse.

“Well, is he only fifteen or sixteen years old?” Qiu Yelan did the math, “Then the old Princesses are also not very old.”

Ruan Ciyi smiled bitterly, “They’re a grandmother and a mother. What’s the point of not being young? They can only enjoy their life if their off-springs have a good life!”

Qiu Yelan took a sigh in her heart, knowing that she must have remembered her deceased child again, and was about to comfort her. Then a servant from outside came in to report that Qiu Jinglan was back.

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“My… my cousin, he’s back?” Qiu Yelan didn’t have time to care about Ruan Ciyi. She stood up, ran out and asked, “What did Prime Minister Xue tell him?”

“Why are you so careless? Behave yourself.” Before the servant answered, Qiu Jinglan, who had just step onto the corridor, reprimanded her. He turned a blind eye to Qiu Yelan’s gestures to urge him to get the answer. Instead, he walked inside slowly, paid his respect to Ruan Ciyi and showed comfort. Then he asked for leave and exited. At this time, Qiu Yelan was already eager to grab his shirt. She asked again, “What did Prime Minister Xue tell you?”

Qiu Jinglan reprimanded again, “You have to stay calm. You’ll get to know the answer for sure when we arrive at the study room. No hurry.”

As a result, it drove Qiu Yelan crazy on the spot, “Kuang Qingwu took the Western Army to stop me just now.”

“He even took the Western Army to trouble you?” Qiu Jinglan’s face turned pale, and grabbed her arm, “Are you all right?”

“Stay calm. When you get to the study, you will certainly…” Qiu Yelan paid back narrow-mindedly.

Before she even finished speaking, she lowered her head because of Qiu Jinglan’s stern glance, “Young Earl Ling happened to be looking for you and he helped me. Later, Yashuang got there, killed all his helpers and tortured him with muscle division and bone dislocation. It was not until his servants came over, apologized humbly, and gave me another 10,000 taels of silver note that this matter was over.”

“Jiang Yashuang actually arrived later than Ling Zui?” Qiu Jinglan habitually picked her future brother-in-law’s fault, and sneered, “What was he doing before that?”

“His servant didn’t report it to him as he saw he was practicing the calligraphy. Well, the servant is going to have a hard time for sure.” Qiu Yelan didn’t give much thought to Jinglan’s words, “Forget about it. Does Prime Minister Xue know your birth?”

Qiu Jinglan frowned, “Did Kuang Qingwu also tell Jiang Yashuang and Ling Zui?”

“Not really.” Qiu Yelan said, “He didn’t say it directly, but he meant it. However, I don’t think that Yashuang and Ling Zui got it.” Then she thought about it again, “Sure enough, Prime Minister Xue knew it. Did Empress Dowager tell him?”

Qiu Jinglan replied, “In fact, this isn’t unexpected. Everyone has a tacit understanding. Fortunately, although I have never trusted Mei Xue and the other two, they don’t have any evidence against me if they want to make my birth public. As long as I refuse to acknowledge it, it is impossible for Empress Dowager to plant ‘Tianya’ on me like this.”

So, only the Empress Dowager party was detrimental to him. In order to prevent the Western Army’s feeling of insecurity, Empress Dowager Gu’s side must hope to kill him quietly, “quietly” meant that Empress Dowager would try to have him killed in secret.

“But even if Empress Dowager Gu still has a lot of constraints when dealing with you, after all, she shouldn’t be underestimated.” Qiu Yelan frowned and asked, “Well, what did Prime Minister Xue say? Was he angry?”

Qiu Jinglan said, “No, but he didn’t want to get into it. He has already told me that clearly.”

Qiu Yelan sighed, “What are you going to do now? Mei Xue and the others are gone. Who will take care of ‘Tianya’ for you now? If you were caught by Empress Dowager… You don’t have to show up, the family members of those that were killed by ‘Tianya’…”

“I have this in mind.” Qiu Jinglan vaguely said, “It’s your business that is urgent for now. Because of Mei Xue, Deng Yi and his mother are still alive. What’s more, even people sent by Jiang Yashuang were blocked. After saying goodbye to Prime Minister Xue just now, I went to Prince’s Mansion of Xihe!”

Qiu Yelan was confused somehow, “Why did you go there?”

“I found out that although they knew my birth from Empress Dowager, they had no idea that I didn’t have any evidence to restore the surname of Qiu.” Qiu Jinglan said indifferently, “Of course, even Empress Dowager can’t figure out whether I can be recognized by my family or not. Anyway, they really fear that I’ll take the title of Duke of Xihe if my identity is restored. So, I made a deal with them that if they help you cancel the engagement between you and Deng Yi, I’ll never inherit Prince’s Mansion of Xihe!”

Qiu Yelan stunned, “Why did you do this? Don’t you know these two? They’re very cowardly. Deng Yi has support from Prince’s Mansion of Guangyang and Empress Dowager Gu. How dare they help me to break the engagement?”

“Even if they don’t have the courage to do that, at least they are given hopes to keep the title.” Qiu Jinglan said calmly, “Lest they panic and do something against you. That would not be good for you.”

“Actually, even if I live in Prince’s Mansion, I won’t necessarily be afraid of them. Have they lived peacefully all these years?” Qiu Yelan said curling her lips, “Anyway, if you’re really worried, I can live with Ciyi here.”

Qiu Jinglan glanced at her, “She doesn’t really want you to come. Haven’t you noticed it? It’s not that she doesn’t like you, but that she doesn’t like to be disturbed by others due to her mood.”

Qiu Yelan was about to nod, and suddenly she got an idea, saying, “You wanted me to move in before. How come you’re driving me away now? Did you know that the Ruan Family is not safe now? So you don’t want me to come?”

“You’re overthinking about it.” Qiu Jinglan frowned, “I have ‘Tianya’. How is it possible that I won’t be able to guard against secret attacks?”

“Really? Then it would be fine if I lived here.” Qiu Yelan didn’t believe his words and said in an instant, “If Ciyi doesn’t like to be disturbed by others, I won’t appear in front of her. Anyway, the Ruan Family is so big. It doesn’t lack a yard to accommodate me.”

Qiu Jinglan got a serious look, “Nonsense! Go back to your place now.”

“Sure enough, you don’t feel secure in your heart. Otherwise, why won’t you let me stay?” Qiu Yelan said firmly, “I won’t leave, I’ll stay here to help you!”

“You won’t leave?” Qiu Jinglan sneered and began to roll up his sleeves, “Did you think the fighting skills I taught you make you strong enough to disobey me? Believe it or not, I will just throw you out!”

Qiu Yelan threw herself to him, held his arm and shook it violently, shouting, “Didn’t you say that I’m your beloved one?”

“An elder brother is like a father!” Qiu Jinglan’s words made her silent for quite some time, “How did Madam Shao teach you the way to behave? Now you don’t listen to me, and it makes sense?”