Hearing that, Qiu Yelan was dazed and said hurriedly, “I’m all ears.”

“Sit down!” Madame Tao looked around and every servant left.

Seeing this, Qiu Yelan couldn’t help but think, “Do you want me to do something like persuading County Princess Duanrou to marry the Duke of Puyang again?”

The Jiang Family had done enough bad things!

When she was thinking, she suddenly heard Madame Tao asking, “Before the Lunar New Year’s Eve Dinner, you saw someone tossing something underneath the flower tree near you and Fubing. Do you still remember what it looked like?”

Did she want to ask this?

Qiu Yelan was relieved. She said, “I don’t really remember that. Because I heard the sound first and looked back. At that time, it was already underneath the tree. It was snowy, windy, and dark. I didn’t see it.”

“Didn’t Fubing say you didn’t see it clearly and it was a reflection of the snow?” Madame Tao thought for a while and said, “Could it be some kind of jewelry?”

How could jewelry be related to the poisoning of the Emperor? Qiu Yelan thought for a while and said, “I think Cousin Xin probably didn’t see anything. Even though she could see that thing being tossed under the tree from where she was standing, she was laughing and talking with me. She probably didn’t even look at anywhere else!”

Madame Tao understood what she meant. Xin Fubing was just a normal girl, unlike Qiu Yelan who knew martial art and could hear and see better than normal people. So she might not notice what Qiu Yelan noticed.

Madame Tao fell silent for a long time. Qiu Yelan couldn’t help but ask, “Grandma, can we get near to that tree now?”

She thought since Madame Tao was asking her what that person tossed under the tree, the Empress party clearly knew this but they couldn’t get it. Thus, they needed to ask her to make sure what that was to deduce whether it was related to the Emperor being poisoned and what happened.

“We could get near it,” out of surprise, Madame Tao shook her head, “But we sent people and searched it for three times. Yet nothing was found!”

Qiu Yelan was surprised, “How so?” She shouldn’t hear it wrong, especially that piece of clothes which she saw with her own eyes. She was definitely not wrong!

Madame Tao didn’t question her and said, “But we are basically sure who threw that thing!”

Qiu Yelan asked hurriedly, “Who?”

“It was Emperor’s servant, Liang Xiaogeng. After investigation, we found out he was the only one who had time to throw something there.” Madame Tao wasn’t happy because of this progress, “But on the first day of the lunar month, when your aunt and Empress Dowager were questioning the servants, he killed himself after some torture!”

“…” Qiu Yelan was speechless.

Madame Tao sighed. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers, “After he died, everyone knew something was wrong with him! But we checked him up and got nothing! If it wasn’t Empress Dowager being crazy, we don’t know who could do something like this! You should know that even though Maid Lin is not that smart, she never made any big mistake during these years of taking charge of the Imperial Harem on behalf of Tianluan!”

Qiu Yelan thought for a while and didn’t find anything to say, so she kept silent.

Seeing that, Madame Tao waved her head disappointedly, “I have no more questions. You can go!”

When she came back to her residence, Jiang Yashuang was still at the front. It was quite cold. The hallway where the maids usually loved to gather in was now empty. The spacious yard now looked a bit desolate.

Qiu Yelan dazed for a while in front of the window and suddenly thought, “Did Jiang Qizheng come back yesterday?” The second day of the first lunar month was usually the time when a married woman would come home with her husband.

“Did you forget that at the dinner the Princess rushed to come and twisted her foot?” Su He reminded her with a clear voice, “But her husband came yesterday. It’s just he didn’t stay for long.”

“Qiu Feng?” Qiu Yelan frowned. She thought that since Qiu Feng was married, he only came to the Jiang Family once. He couldn’t see eye to eye with most of the people in the Jiang Family and the people with which the Jiang Family was associated. This time he came on his own with presents… Qiu Yelan didn’t know whether he was forced by Jiang Qizheng or they got better.

She hoped it was the latter. But it was hard to tell.

Thinking about it for a while, she called Su He, “Prepare a gift for Jiang Qizheng. I’ll ask grandma tomorrow if I can go to visit her.”

Su He answered and went on. Looking at her jumping around, Qiu Yelan thought, “Last time I called in the guards to ask them questions and Jiang Yashuang saw it. I pretended it was to set him up with Su He. But now, they are at the age to get married. What should I do?”

She was going to get married after she was eighteen, but Jiang Yashuang didn’t agree, so she was married at sixteen.

Su He was the same age as her. Now she was also sixteen. For a maid, even if she was not married at this age, she should already have found marriage. Otherwise, she wouldn’t get a good one. Qiu Yelan suddenly felt so torn, “Biologically speaking, I should keep her around for some years. But the convention now…” If Qiu Yelan kept her around, it would actually be bad for her.

“I’ll think about it after the first lunar month!” Qiu Yelan couldn’t make her mind, so she just decided to forget about it now. She leaned on the bed, watching the snowfall outside the window. Her thoughts drifted, “I wonder how far away brother is from Shazhou?”

You are reading story Real Empress from a Noble Family at novel35.com

A thousand miles away on a sandhill, Qiu Jinglan who pretended to be a fur dealer looked through the snow at the lonely city not far away, which was underneath the mountain.

In the roaring wind and snow, there were some dimed and blinking lights. They helped him identify the vague silhouette within his eyesight. It was indeed his destination.

Shazhou was the biggest city in Xijiang, Darui.

Going down from the sandhill and walking on the road along the mountain, a person would only take half a day to get to the gate of Shazhou if there was no snow or wind.

But Qiu Jinglan knew if he really went down this hill, he would never get to Shazhou in his life.

Ruan Yi who was in full armor stood behind him carefully. He stayed vigilant, standing and guarding on enemies that could show up anytime.

“The former Left Dharma Protector told me to look to the west on the sandhill when it is the best day in springtime, and the farthest place I could see is where my father died in the battle.” Even though snow and wind were roaring, Qiu Jinglan’s voice was still clearly heard by Ruan Yi. He listened seriously.

“That land is soaked with my uncles’ and cousins’ blood. Even though I couldn’t see it clearly now with the snow, I know it’s not far away from Shazhou. At least you can see Shazhou from there.” He sounded indifferent as if he didn’t care, but there wasn’t any emotion on his face or in his eyes, “The former Left Dharma Protector made me swear that even if I couldn’t revenge for them, I would come here to pay my respect…”

After saying that, he curled up his lips, “Now I can only pay my respect in distance!”

Ruan Yi was about to talk, yet he suddenly heard a cold voice, “I know it wasn’t easy for you to come here. You lost most of your men on the road. With what you have now, you’re just dreaming of getting into Shazhou! So I’ll show you some pity. Let you pay your respect here… Then if you let me take your head easily, maybe I’ll give you a grave if I feel happy!”

“Come out!” Hearing this voice, Ruan Yi who was on guard suddenly changed his expression!

But when he shot some arrows around, he could only hear them rushing through the wind and falling on the snowy ground. Clearly, he didn’t hit anyone!

“You want to fight me? What a joke!” This gloomy person couldn’t stop laughing. Suddenly Qiu Jinglan pushed Ruan Yi away with his hand. A stream of sharp light passed through the place where Ruan Yi just stood!

Ruan Yi fell on the snow, looked at that stream of light, and said in a scared voice, “If young master hadn’t saved me, I would have already been dead!”

“You are indeed the blood of General Ruan and former Duke of Xihe! Interesting!” Seeing Qiu Jinglan saving Ruan Yi, that person just laughed more, “It’s not easy for you to get here at such a young age. Too bad. you aren’t lucky enough! This is as far as you could get!”

When it was a life and death moment on the sandhill, in the military camps which were located in the direction that Qiu Jinglan was looking at, Kuang Qingwu was holding a steaming teacup, dressed all casually. He asked Zheng peacefully, “Were they XingKang’s people who went?”

In this tent, everyone only knew the Kuang Family, not the royal family. But Zheng still sighed, “You’d better call her mother since we are here!”

He knew Kuang Qingwu probably wouldn’t listen, so he just said that and didn’t ask for anything more. He answered the question, “The team is led by one of the eunuchs who is with Xingkang Grand Princess. Accordingly, they are the best talents of Empress Dowager Gu. If Princess Royal didn’t marry here, Empress Dowager wouldn’t give her them.”

“I’m guessing that the whole team, especially that leading eunuch, is all for that person?” Kuang Qingwu laughed coldly. When saying “that person”, he looked at the main tent with disgust, “So will Qiu Jinglan surely die today?”

Zheng was about to speak, yet Mr. Leshan who was leaning on the small table in the near distance and playing Chinese chess against himself suddenly looked up and said, “We’re sure he’s on the hill. It’s not a big hill, but also not small. Now the snow is so heavy. It’s easy to lose him… Why did we only send out Xingkang Grand Princess’s people?”

“Maybe he feels guilty!” Kuang Qingwu laughed coldly, talking about his father in a mean tone.

The muscle on Zheng’s face jumped. He said quietly, “Master once swore to that person that he wouldn’t hurt her blood. Qiu Jinglan came all the way here. The people who ambushed him were all not sent by Master. Besides Xingkang Grand Princess and Empress Dowager Gu, most people are the ones who want to flatter Master.”

Kuang Qingwu fell silent for a while. When he heard Zheng saying “that person”, he knew it was Princess Ruan.

What time was it now? Was he still thinking about that woman?

If he liked her so much, why did he do all this?

Vicious words were about to jump out of his mouth, but Kuang Qingwu thought for a while. He looked up and asked Mr. Leshan, “Do you mean we should go, too?” Comparing to making fun of his father, he valued understanding what Mr. Leshan meant more.

“It’s quite dangerous. You’re not strong enough. If you go, you’re a liability. I don’t have any ability to fight. If I go out in this weather, I’ll also be a burden.” Mr. Leshan didn’t look up, “I just think we need to get everyone we can use now to make sure Qiu Jinglan will die. That’s the most important thing!”

During this whole year in Jing City, Kuang Qingwu was used to hearing all his advice. Now thinking for a while, he stood up and said, “I’ll go and ask!”

He was going to force Kuang Shihan to send his men out in case that Xingkang Grand Princess’s people failed.

Zheng opened his mouth. He knew mentioning Princess Ruan in front of Kuang Shihan was taboo. Even someone like him didn’t dare to.

But if Kuang Qingwu went, he would surely mention it!

Not only mentioning, but he might also want to see Kuang Shihan’s painful face when being busted, judging by how quickly he agreed with what Mr. Leshan said!

“But at least Young Prince will speak to Master.” Zheng wanted to stop him, but he gave up after thinking, “Master has been feeling sorry for so many years. Now Young Prince is the one he counts on. After all, he’s more important than that one. Maybe it’s better for them to clear things up after some fight.”

But he didn’t notice that after Kuang Qingwu went to find Kuang Shihan, Mr. Leshan suddenly went against the rules of Chinese chess and used the pawn to take out the chief by directly going over the line!