After listening to Ruan Ciyi’s teachings that the women who gave birth to babies would have a say in the harem, Qiu Yelan finally found a reason to leave, and she didn’t even meet Qiu Jinglan but went straight back to Jiang’s residence.

By this time it was over lunch, but Mrs. Li would never forget to leave her some food.

After eating the food hastily, Qiu Yelan looked at the copper funnel in the corner of the house, “People always feel sleepy at this time, especially the sixteenth sister-in-law who is pregnant now. So I will go to visit her later.” But what if Sheng Shishui was not sleeping? So she ordered Chunran, “Send a little maid to the sixteenth sister-in-law. Ask when is the right time to visit her.”

It was really lucky that they had sent someone to go there as the little maid who ran errands came back soon and reported, “The sixteenth madame said that if you are not sleepy, you can go and talk with her!”

Qiu Yelan smiled and stood up, “That’s great.”

When she arrived in the room of Sheng Shishui, she saw that the room was simply furnished, many decorations were removed, and the room even looked a little humble.

“I often walked around the room, and I was afraid that there were too many things to bump into, so I ordered people to put them away.” Sheng Shishui explained, “Fortunately, on this mountain, no one else comes here except you. So I don’t have to be afraid of being impolite.” It meant that she never took Qiu Yelan as an outsider, so she didn’t think it was a snub to her to remove most of the decorations when she came here.

Qiu Yelan smiled and said, “That’s okay if it was you who did that.” What she saw at Madame Tao Junior’s house before was really an eye-opener. From then on, she knew that the men in Jiang Family were domineering and even their concubines and mistresses were ambitious. So she had thought it was Jiang Yazhu’s concubine who swept her house!

Sheng Shishui knew what she meant and said with a smile, “I have to thank grandmother. The time when I was almost killed before, grandmother gave my yard a big sweep. Now almost all the servants here are chosen by myself.” Her voice turned low then, “A few maids in the house of Jiang Yazhu were not allowed to come here for this summer vacation. When setting off, she ordered the housekeeper in Marquess’s Mansion to find someone to sell them…”

In fact, this was Madame Tao’s reward to her. Madame Tao Junior was slandered before, so in order to exonerate her granddaughter, Madame Tao used her pawn Yanniang who was placed in the yard of Jiang Yazhu. Not only did she take Sheng Shishui down with them, but she also made her take a small amount of gelsemium elegan powder… Although Sheng Shishui could see that, she didn’t say anything about that.

Since she was judicious, Madame Tao had to do something as well.

She cleaned out Jiang Yazhu’s yard, gave her complete rights, and dismissed all Jiang Yazhu’s mistress-maids… If Sheng Shishui’s baby was not affected by the small amount of gelsemium elegan powder, it would really be good compensation.

After all, those things were really easy to do for Madame Tao. If Sheng Shishui did that by herself, it would take a long time for her to plan, and it would be difficult to achieve the absolute advantage like this.

At the moment, Sheng Shishui’s smile was full of satisfaction and gratitude, “I feel at ease in this yard now!”

If it weren’t for the fact that her hand that subconsciously touched her lower abdomen trembled when she said this, Qiu Yelan would suspect that she had forgotten the pastry containing gelsemium elegan powder.

Qiu Yelan didn’t know if Sheng Shishui had any resentment against Madame Tao or if it just depended on the situation after her baby was born. She felt emotional that it was really difficult to be the wife of a son of a concubine in a big family. She had to keep smiling after being framed as a pregnant woman and dare not show any resentment… Sheng Shishui had a special life experience. She was shrewd and deep because she was used to being bullied since she was a child. Nobody else could bear it except for her!

Whether Sheng Shishui’s baby was healthy or not in the future, she looked nice and had a good appetite at this time. Qiu Yelan was more concerned about Madame Tao Junior and Jiang Qizheng. So, seeing that there was nothing she could do for her, she left after talking with her for a while.

When she walked to the door, she happened to meet Jiang Yazhu. Both of them were shocked when they saw each other. Qiu Yelan hurriedly saluted him, “Brother!”

“Did you come to see Shishui?” Jiang Yazhu’s face was haggard, but he seemed to be in a good mood, and smiled at her, “Is she okay? I haven’t come back in these two days.”

“She is good but just misses you all the time. Just now she said that since grandfather has recovered now, she has to order someone to make you some nourishing food to make up for your hard work these days.” Qiu Yelan said with a smile. She had a good relationship with Sheng Shishui at this time, so she didn’t mind helping her if she had the opportunity.

After Jiang Yazhu heard this, his smile became deeper as expected. He glanced at the room subconsciously, “Then I will go to see her. I won’t see you off then!”

“Just go, brother! It’s in my own home. You don’t have to see me off.” And it was improper to see off his sister-in-law. Qiu Yelan smiled as she watched him walking towards the yard in a hurry, thinking, “I’ve heard that Jiang Yazhu is also an ignoramus dude like Jiang Yadan. But he seems to care about Sheng Shishui so much… Maybe because he hasn’t completely deteriorated as he is at a young age, and Sheng Shishui, his beautiful wife, is pregnant, right?”

She sighed then, “If Madame Tao Junior had given birth to a child early, would Jiang Yadan have treated her better?”

Everyone had his own fate.

She shook her head and returned to her yard. Before entering the room, Chunran greeted her, “Just now the third branch sent someone here to report that the fourteenth madame is pregnant.”

“Really?” Qiu Yelan was startled, saying then, “This is a good thing… Are the gifts prepared? Show me the gift list.”

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Xiaran who followed Chunran out leaned forward and said, “The gifts were prepared according to the list when the sixteenth madame was pregnant, and only a few of the gifts were changed into some other colors that were more suitable for the official daughter-in-law. However, in addition to the good news, the person of the third branch said something else as well.”

While talking, Qiu Yelan had already entered the room. She took a seat, taking a sip of the tea that Su He had made, and asked, “What is that?”

“The person said that the fourteenth madame’s baby is not in a good condition due to the daily labor of family affairs. The doctor advised her to stay in bed for some days to avoid risks.” Xiaran said gently, “And the sixth Madame and the seventh madame are not very good at housekeeping. Now that she is pregnant, she would like to ask you to help her.”

If Qiu Yelan heard this before, she would not doubt it.

But she had heard from He Shuijin that Madame He had even lost some of her dowries when she was in charge. Qiu Yelan would only get involved in it if she were stupid! So she said without hesitation, “I’m so young, and there are so many sisters-in-law of the same generation. So, how can I take my turn to be in charge? And since Madame Tao Junior and the sixteenth sister-in-law are like this now, how can I have the mind to take care of other things?”

Regarding the ability of housekeeping and money managing, Qiu Yelan didn’t think that she could compare with a natural economic expert like He Shuijin after the time-travel. Once she coveted the rights of housekeeping and agreed, she would become so busy and be overshadowed by He Shuijin then.

And Qiu Yelan knew clearly why Madame He invited herself to do this. It was just because Jiang Yadan was in the fourth branch.

He was just a prodigal, and only the money-making talents like He Shuijin would not care about the prodigals in Jiang Family who spent money like water. At this time she had to have a rest to take care of the unborn baby. What if she had to rest until her baby was born or even her baby was one month old? If so, even if the successor followed her rules completely in the course for almost a year, it was hard to guarantee that there wouldn’t be any surprises. Especially the fight for the position of Crown Prince turned fierce at this time. It not only indicated that the possibility of accidents would increase, but also meant that the expenses of the Empress’ party would be even higher…

At this critical moment, who would dare to take over He Shuijin’s work?

“She wants to get me involved with the rights of the housekeeper, and then I will have no way to back down. If there is a problem with the accounts, for the sake of my fame, I will have to use my own dowry to make up for it just like you, Madame He… That’s ridiculous.” Qiu Yelan sneered in her heart. “The fourth branch is not the eldest, and Jiang Yashuang is not the eldest son of the fourth branch. In the future, when the family property is shared, it is hard to say how much we can get. Why do I bother to worry about that so much?”

With her dowry, it was true that she didn’t care how much property Jiang Yashuang could get in the future.

Besides, Jiang Yashuang had a bright future, and there was no need for him to stare at the family property. So even if He Shuijin hadn’t inadvertently reminded her before, Qiu Yelan would not agree to take over the position of the housekeeper, either.

Therefore, when she rushed to the third branch to congratulate He Shuijin after ordering the gift list and was invited to the main hall by Madame He to talk about the housekeeping, she refused extremely bluntly, “The eighth sister-in-law is ill, and the sixteenth sister-in-law is pregnant, so I really have no time to take care of other things. And I am so young, so I don’t know much about these things… I can’t even act as an assistant. Third auntie, I really can’t do it. Please don’t give me a hard time.”

She refused her on the grounds of Madame Tao Junior and Sheng Shishui. Madame Zhuang was not in Jing City, so as a daughter-in-law of the fourth branch, she should give priority to her sisters-in-law. In this way, she seemed to value family affection more than power by refusing the position of housekeeper. Madame He had nothing to say then. She forced a smile and praised her for her kindness, and then let her leave.

After Qiu Yelan left, Madame He put on a sulky face, “I’ve thought she will agree with that since she is young, and she seemed very competitive in the conflict with the first branch before. But she doesn’t want to show off now… What should I do now?”

Her closest old maidservant also felt troublesome, “Among the young ladies, nobody can be compared with the fourteenth madame in terms of housekeeping. However, she had a threatened abortion, so she can’t overwork herself…”

“She looks steady always. Why she even didn’t find she was pregnant this time?” Madame He was agitated. Since Marquess Qin reappeared to preside over the overall situation, which raised the morale of the Empress’ party and also meant the fight for the position of Crown Prince turned white-hot, it was just time for He Shuijin and the third branch to show themselves when money was flowing like water.

However, He Shuijin just got pregnant at the moment, and she didn’t even find it out until she had a stomachache due to days of fatigue! The doctor sternly told her not to worry about anything, and she couldn’t even read the account books. Jiang Family without He Shuijin was just like the Empress’ party without Marquess Qin!

It was imaginable how big a blow it was!

“The old master got ill so suddenly. These days, our family has been under great pressure. Since the fourteenth madame is in charge of the family affairs, her pressure is…” Madame He had always been jealous of her niece. He Shuijin was pregnant this time, so Madame He’s words were really heartbreaking. Thus, even her closest old maidservant couldn’t help speaking for He Shuijin. Of course, the large amount of money He Shuijin usually gave her in private was also an important reason.

Madame He frowned after hearing what the old maidservant said, and finally she softened her tone and said, “I am just worried about her!”

After all, the baby in He Shuijin’s belly was her official grandson, so her words were also sincere.

However, in addition to her sincere worry for He Shuijin, she thought, “Shuijin and Heng’er are still young, and they two have always been in good health. In fact, they don’t have to bear a child so early… How good would it be for them to have a child after this critical period?”

After that, she couldn’t help thinking about it more deeply, “The first branch has always been favored by father. The fourth branch has made great contributions before. The sixth branch has the only son of the youngest uncle, so even if they do nothing, father won’t forget them if there is anything great… It’s a rare opportunity for our third branch to show ourselves in front of father. Will we just miss it? The child… With the trueborn son and his official wife here, I will have an official grandson sooner or later… Besides, there are always little children who die young in families, let alone those who haven’t been born…”

Madame He felt her heart beating faster and faster. She knew that this kind of thinking was too cruel, and it also violated morality. But thinking about her official grandsons who were given birth to by Madame Shi and Madame Zhang, she didn’t seem to be lack of grandsons… While as for the internal strife in Jiang Family, as the eldest son of Marquess Qin, the master of the third branch had a tendency to be suppressed by his brothers…

If they missed such a major event at this time, would they have a chance to grab the limelight again in the future?

“The baby in her belly is young, and if she had an abortion, she could get up after resting for ten days or a half month. But if she gave birth to the baby, it would take at least one year. Then the overall situation may have been settled by then…” Madame He bit her lip. It was a sensitive thing, so she couldn’t even discuss it with her closest old maidservant. After all, the old maidservant came here with her from her natal family. If she accidentally revealed it to He Family one day later, not only He Shuijin but also the whole He Family would not let her go!

“I have to think about it… I have to think about it carefully!”