The three people were all confused by Jiang Qiyun’s visit. But in the later afternoon, the Empress made Nijin come over to see if they needed any help. Nijin implied, “The Empress convened Princess Qi earlier out of two purposes. One was that she heard Princess Qi embarrassed Prince of Qi in public because of some trivial matters. So, the Empress wanted to admonish her against doing this again! The other was that the Empress heard Princess Changping sent the invitation letter to you two so she let Princess Qi communicate with Miss Xin and then accompany Miss Xin there. However, upon the arrival of Princess Qi, she…”

“That explains she came here in a rage!” Xin Fubing snorted, “As if I robbed her of something!”

When she had hardly finished her speaking, her maid behind her hurried to remind her by drawing her sleeve that Nijin was present!

But Xin Fubing ignored her and continued, “From my point of view, Jiang Qiyun should not go to Gu E’nuo’s birthday banquet! We’ve had a quarrel here today. If it is spread out, we will surely feel embarrassed. Could the Empress be spared the embarrassment if we have another quarrel in front of Gu E’nuo? So, I’d rather we three go there. The other side has four people. Gu E’nuo, Tang Xinqiong, Princess Changping, and if Tang Xinyao, the pregnant one, is added. There are altogether four of them and only one more than us! Is it hard for us three to deal with them?”

That she overtly expressed her dislike for Jiang Qiyun panicked her servants behind her, who feared these words, if the Empress was to be informed, would upset her.

However, Qiu Yelan and Zhuang Man were calm enough. The latter thought what Xin Fubing said was also what she was going to say while the former had heard from Jiang Yashuang that Empress Jiang disliked her niece Jiang Qiyun so much that she might even make trouble for her niece. So, she wouldn’t get angry if Xin Fubing hated Jiang Qiyun.

“Simply speaking, the Empress will prefer Xin Fubing to Jiang Qiyun, let alone Prince of Qi has lost hope while the Seventh Prince is supported by the Empress. At present, Xin Fubing overtly expresses her dislike for Jiang Qiyun, which will not annoy the Empress. Reversely, the Empress will feel satisfied with her frankness. Nijin is the Empress’s person. She will report what Xin Fubing says to her.”

Qiu Yelan sneered in her heart, “And the Empress knows well about Jiang Qiyun’s temper, who will never subdue her jealousy to tutor Xin Fubing patiently. Additionally, I am here and have a grudge against Jiang Qiyun. It will be impossible for us not to quarrel! So, the Empress probably wants to sound Xin Fubing out by Jiang Qiyun.”

Xin Fubing was newly hurt in a relationship and yielded to a reluctant marriage under pressure so her mood was unstable. Under such circumstances, when Jiang Qiyun, who was self-centered, bullied and insulted her, Xin Fubing would probably expose her true feelings.

The Empress could take this opportunity to learn about her future daughter-in-law’s nature.

Considering the Xin Family’s power and social status, the Empress didn’t have to fear that her power would be deprived of by her future daughter-in-law. But as the Seventh Prince’s wife, Xin Fubing’s position would be improved significantly. Although she was the Empress’s trueborn niece, she didn’t meet the Empress frequently. If she was to be entrusted with something important, the Empress had to know more about her personally.

“But Jiang Qiyun vented her anger mostly to me just now and Zhuang Man came to interfere. Did the Empress reach her goal at last?” Qiu Yelan recalled. Although Xin Fubing got angry apparently just now, she finally controlled herself and didn’t misbehave. In such a degree, would Empress Jiang feel satisfied with it?

But on second thought, she changed her mind, “Anyway this is the Empress’s affair. Why should I worry about it?”

While she was pondering, Nijin indeed didn’t put on a cold look after hearing Xin Fubing’s dislike for Jiang Qiyun. Instead, she comforted with a smile, “The Empress knows that Young lady and Madam Qiu have been wronged. Just now, Princess Qi was summoned by the Empress and she probably had been scolded. Let me tell you secretly. When Princess left, she stumbled along and wore tears on her cheeks… I guess the Empress was in a rage!”

Nijin, the maid of the Empress, overtly described Jiang Qiyun’s embarrassment, which indicated her undisguised preference. People present all recognized it and smiled, thinking that Jiang Qiyun’s temper was so bad that even Her Majesty’s maid disliked her and only the coward Prince of Qi, husband of Jiang Qiyun, would tolerate her. If another more self-esteemed prince was in his shoes, he would have fought with her fiercely!

Xin Fubing got the satisfying reply so she wore a faint smile. But soon she put on some melancholy, “Was the Empress in a rage today? Rage does harm to health. Is she well now?”

Qiu Yelan thumbed up for her flexible expressions in her heart, “Whether or not Cousin Xin is worried about Ou Bicheng, she obviously begins to act like a daughter-in-law of the royal family!”

She thought so in her heart while expressing her care, “The Empress is always busy but she has to worry about us. It’s our fault!”

Zhuang Man was always outspoken, “Jiang Qiyun always messes up. She keeps making trouble for the Empress after her marriage. She hasn’t done anything praiseworthy! I think she should be confined in the Mansion of Prince of Qi. Otherwise, she may cause more trouble!”

Nijin was about to reply Xin Fubing and Qiu Yelan when Zhuang Man said out her opinion suddenly, which made Nijin surprised with a rigid smile. Finally, she said, “If I have a chance, I will convey your opinion to Her Majesty…”

Did you think the Empress wanted to see Jiang Qiyun? Apart from Marquess Qin’s principle of giving priority to the first branch, the competition between the Empress and the Empress Dowager was rather fierce. Princess Yan got pregnant after marrying into the family in a year and earned the fame of womanly virtue. What about Princess Qi? She got neither! She even bullied Prince of Qi… If she was to be confined, would it be possible for Empress Jiang to mention “daughter-in-law” in front of Empress Dowager Gu?

Fearing Zhuang Man would utter more embarrassing words out of control, Nijin decided to leave at once, “If young madame and young ladies have no other tasks for me, I’ll see myself out and go back to the Empress.”

After she left, Zhuang Man asked Qiu Yelan, “I heard that in the family banquet yesterday, Marquess Qin was drunken but people thought he fainted away?”

Qiu Yelan was a little astonished, “You didn’t mention this after Jiang Qiyun left. I had thought the outsiders didn’t know it!”

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“How come!” Zhuang Man smiled, “Don’t you know that many people keep an eye on Marquess Qin? Even his coughing will make them feel curious about the reason behind it! Let alone he fainted away in public!”

Xin Fubing felt more astonished than Qiu Yelan, “Really? What about the second grand uncle now?”

Zhuang Man was amazed, “Why should you don’t know? Didn’t you join the family banquet yesterday?”

“She was back home halfway so she didn’t see that.” Qiu Yelan explained, “I was told by Jiang Yashuang, too. I don’t know the details. We came to the Summer Palace early this morning.”

“Is the second grand uncle okay?” Xin Fubing asked with concern. Marquess Qin and Empress Jiang were significant to the party of the Empress. If either of them had a problem, it would bring great damage to the whole party.

Zhuang Man felt indifferent, “He’s just drunken. Perhaps, he has a hangover now. If he is indeed not well, you two won’t be able to live in the Summer Palace. What’s more, Her Majesty is even in the mood to summon Jiang Qiyun today.”

Xin Fubing agreed so she felt relieved a bit, “The second grand uncle must stay healthy.”

“We can’t do anything to help in this regard.” Zhuang Man was not interested in what she couldn’t interfere. She also thought Marquess Qin was not ill so she changed the topic, “I heard some rumors these days, which was seemingly related to Madame Tao Junior?”

Upon mentioning this, Qiu Yelan looked gloomy at once, “These nasty people will have it coming to them!”

“That’s true?” Zhuang Man kept asking, “What on earth happened? I heard Madame Tao Junior was ill?”

Although Xin Fubing frequently visited the Mansion of Sir Jibei these days, she was busy with her own affairs, having no time to care about others. So, she also asked, “Madame Tao Junior is ill? When? I didn’t know that!”

“She was ill a few more days ago. Luckily, Grandmother was so kind that she took her to her courtyard. Otherwise, no one would know what those people of Jiang Yadan would do to bully her!” Qiu Yelan took a gulp of tea to appease her anger in her heart, “Even so, Jiang Yadan won’t let her off!”

“Jiang Yadan weighs appearance over virtue. Madame Tao Junior is perfect except her appearance!” Zhuang Man heaved a sigh, “I guess one of his lovers caused the trouble… Didn’t Jiang Yashuang persuade him?”

Qiu Yelan said, “Your words are pungent and that’s true! Jiang Yashuang persuaded him a couple of times but he refused to listen. After all, Jiang Yadan is his brother. Jiang Yashuang can’t beat him!”

“What a pity that my aunt is not in Jing City,” Zhuang Man expressed her sympathy. “My aunt hates concubines and mistresses. If she were in Jing City and Jiang Yadan dared to bully his wife, my aunt would give him a hard lesson!”

Xin Fubing added, “The fourth aunt indeed hates mistresses. Unluckily, she had to take care of the fourth uncle in Beijiang so she had no time to come here.” The fourth aunt was the one who chased away Jiang Yazhu’s mother twice.

A slow remedy couldn’t meet an emergency. Qiu Yelan was now not in the mood to think about it. She just said faintly, “I only wish Madame Tao Junior can recover soon. We can’t do anything else to help.”

“What a pity that Madame Tao Junior is ill. Otherwise, we can invite her to stay with us in the Summer Palace and tell her misery to Her Majesty.” Zhuang Man heaved a sigh. A patient could not enter the palace. Although Empress Jiang could invite some womenfolk from her family to stay over a few days without informing others, she had better not break the rules.

“What’s the use of telling the Empress?! Her Majesty must have known this. And it is impossible for her to be so busy that she has no time to inquire of that, as what Jiang Yashuang said,” Qiu Yelan smiled but she didn’t think so in her heart. “I assume, considering the fight for the status of the crown prince is fierce now, the Empress doesn’t want to have any mess in her family, which may let the Empress Dowager have the goods on her. So, she pretends to be ignorant of it in case it may be aggravated. After all, Madame Tao Junior is long renowned for virtues and from a venerable family. If she is deserted out of no reason, the party of the Empress Dowager will make a fuss of it. What’s more, Jiang Yadan is very willful. If the Empress interferes personally, he may be more willful, which might give the party of the Empress Dowager a big chance.”

“This is one of the reasons. The other one is that not only Madame Tao but also Empress Jiang attaches much importance to Jiang Tianchi, who has the military power. So, they don’t want to provoke his trueborn son!”

She remembered clearly that Madame Tao Junior, entrusted by Madame Tao, went to persuade Qiu Feng to get married soon so that Jiang Qizheng could feel hopeless. But she said Madame Tao didn’t think it was unsuitable to have Qiu Feng as her grandson-in-law just because Jiang Qizheng was not her trueborn granddaughter. She interfered, fearing her daughter-in-law might be provoked. It was only a matter of granddaughter, let alone when it was related to her grandson!

Jiang Yadan thought highly of good-looks. If he selected his wife on his own, he would never choose Madame Tao Junior. So, his marriage must have been arranged by his family, which probably was related to Madame Tao. After all, Madame Tao Junior’s marrying into the Jiang Family meant a second marriage between the Jiang Family and the Tao Family.

Now Jiang Yadan decided to desert his wife and marry an outsider. If those opponents were the family members who forced him to marry Madame Tao Junior, Jiang Yadan would probably feel enraged instead of a sense of guilt, “You forced me to marry a woman I don’t love but now you ask me to be responsible. No way!”

According to Qiu Yelan’s knowledge of her eldest uncle, he certainly thought it in that logic.

“Jiang Yashuang is preferred by the Empress among the descendants of the Jiang Family, so he is reluctant to say something which may affect the Empress’s influence. That’s why he made up an excuse that Empress was too busy,” Qiu Yelan sneered in her heart. “But, this stuff, given a deep thought… How to solve Madame Tao Junior’s trouble should rely on Brother and Ling Zui rather than the Empress!”

No matter how worried she felt about Madame Tao Junior, she was now in the Summer Palace. So, she could only deal with the things at present. Gu E’nuo’s birthday was approaching.