Real Empress from a noble family

All people in the Mansion of Prime Minister Xue had their dark secrets, while in Prince's Mansion of Xihe, a gloomy cloud was above it.

Since when Qiu Hongzhi came with his newly married wife Ding Qinghong back to her parents' home, they encountered Yang Yishi's committing suicide as she cut her throat in the Ding Family, Prince's Mansion had not been peaceful in the past few days.

Ding Qinghong greeted Princess Yang on this day, and she started to wipe tears after she went back room, "Yang Yishi ran to the Ding Family door and committed suicide. But she was not forced by me! By the way, I was getting splashed with blood on this great day, which was the only time I had in my life! She made me so unlucky, but I had never scolded her! However, my mother scolded me and talked about it every day for this matter! Even if Yang Yishi was her niece and she was in pain, shouldn't my husband and I call her 'mother'?"

Her trusted maid Zhenzhen went to close the door first, and then came back to persuade her, "Madame, please ignore her. We have inquired before that Princess Yang is not the biological mother of Young Master Qiu Hongzhi, so she always dislikes him. She did this clearly for transferring her anger on you!"

"But she is my mother-in-law, and I have to greet her every morning and evening. Further, I have to listen to whatever she says and smile obsequiously, so how can I ignore her?" Ding Qinghong was also pampered when she was raised in her family. Although she lost mother a few years ago, Madame Xue had always spoiled the juniors. So, she had never met a mean elder like Princess Yang. She felt OK for the first one or two times, but later, for more times, the grievances in her heart grew to be hard to bear.

However, unfortunately her own family, the Ding Family, now was also in a mess. So, even though Ding Qinghong wanted to send a message back and ask her grandmother to send some people to take a visit, and incidentally help her to face Princess Yang, she could hardly make it!

Ding Qinghong felt sadder, and she could not help but sighed, "Why am I so miserable?"

Zhenzhen was about to answer, but suddenly a sound of the outer door opening was sound. So, she quickly got up and asked, "Who?"

"Qinghong, you inside?" Qiu Hongzhi's voice was heard. Ding Qinghong and Zhenzhen hurriedly went out to welcome him, "My dear husband, you come back so early today?" Even in the day when they married, Qiu Hongzhi was also thinking about how to please Qiu Mengmin, and he went to the study room every day to read books, so that he could show his hardworking and studious qualities.

According to his returning time for recent days, he should be expected to be back one hour later. So, Ding Qinghong and her maids naturally couldn't help but wondered why he returned so early today.

But Qiu Hongzhi said to Zhenzhen, "You, leave for a while."

So, only this couple was left in the room, and he said, "I heard from servants that you looked not good when you came out from Princess's place. I'm worried, so I come back to have a look." He further asked with concern, "What's up? Does Princess make you awkward?"

Ding Qinghong was wronged at the moment, so when he asked, she almost cried out, "About Yang Yishi…."

"That was Yang Family's fault to not teach the girl well. We were all involved when we came back on that day!" Qiu Hongzhi said with a heavy face and sneered, "How could Princess blame you for this? She bullied you so much!" And he said, "I'm going to find my father!"

"Don't!" Ding Qinghong saw her husband defending her so firmly, so the grievances in her heart had mostly dispersed. She hurriedly holding him, said, "In the end, she is our mother. She is my mother-in-law, so this is very appropriate for her to blame me for anything. In addition, I heard that father looked not very well recently, so we'd better not bother him for this." The new wife let husband go to her father-in-law to complain about her mother-in-law only in few days after they married. Even if the father-in-law gave her face this time, people would say she was not virtuous if this was heard by outsiders!

Qiu Hongzhi was just talking superficially, so when she was holding him, he stopped. He comforted her with soft words and expression. As newly married couples, after a while, the bed-curtain was pulled down— however, outside the door Jin Chan looked angrily at Zhenzhen who was blocking the road, "I really have something very important to report to Young Master Qiu Hongzhi!"

Zhenzhen sneered coldly, "The young master is now inside with the young lady, dare you bother them?"

"Okay! That's what you say!" Jin Chan bit her lip and said angrily, "If there is something wrong, don't blame me!"

Zhenzhen snorted, "How do I know what you are saying? Anyway, you haven't told me, and you stop wondering pull me down!"

After quarrelling for a while, Jin Chan couldn't help but talked about the situation, "The Princess is now following Prince's order to calculate how much we have to pay back to Commandery Princess Ningyi— however, Young Master is not taking care of it at present, so who knows how much Princess would feather her own nest?!"

Zhenzhen was a little nervous at first, but she was relieved after she heard the words. She said with a sneer, "Will there be no record of the industries of our mansion? If Princess was able to do something, she would have done it. Why she has to find opportunities for now?"

Jin Chan angrily said, "You know nothing! After Lu… Prince's mother died, Young Master Qiu Hongzhi manage the whole mansion for some days, and he had not returned the keys and account books back to the Princess until he married. So, what if the Princess does something on the account book this time and traps Young Master Qiu Hongzhi into trouble?!"

But these words couldn't scare Zhenzhen. She replied, "Don't try to find any reason to meet Young Master Qiu Hongzhi— you can't even make me deceived by these bullshits. Does it so easy to tamper with the account book? You think Young Master stupid? Plus, the keys and account books had been returned to the Princess such a long time ago. Princess didn't say anything then, so did she find it interesting to talk about this matter now?"

Jin Chan's purpose was unveiled, and she didn't dare to go into the room directly, so she left despondingly.

Before she went outside, she heard the door open with "squeak." Qiu Hongzhi's voice was dumb and he asked servants to come in and serve—she suddenly felt sour in her heart and couldn't help but want to look back. However, she reminded herself that these days, since Ding Qinghong married into the mansion, Qiu Hongzhi turned to be indifferent to her every time she saw him. He made it clear that he must be affectionate and cultivate love with his wife. Thus, she thought that she might be ignored even if she actively got close to him, so at last, she angrily stamped and left.

Jin Chan was in a panic and did not know where she had passed. When she settled back into her concentration, she saw Kang Lizhang holding an ivory fan and was leaning her chin against it. She stood thoughtfully not far away, staring at her up and down.

"Why you are here, too?" Jin Chan saw her, feeling a little worse, and coldly snorted.

Kang Lizhang didn't to reply her some weird words, but instead, she smiled happily, "How does it feel to fall out of favor?"

"You!!!" Jin Chan changed her face with anger.

"If I were you, I wouldn't have the leisure to provoke someone who wouldn't compete with you at all, but rather think about it, how can I still be in the cousin's room in the future?" Kang Lizhang said lazily, "In addition that Ding Qinghong is far better than you on appearance, just because her father is Ding Hanlin and her grandmother is the sister of Prime Minister Xue, cousin would fully give her face! You, a maid that bought by five taels of silver, and worked hard to serve cousin. How dare you compare yourself with her? You deserve it?!"

Jin Chan shivered with anger, "No matter how bad, I'm still better than you! No one wants you!" said her in a trembling voice.

This one sentence made Kang Lizhang also changed her expression, but Jin Chan did not stop. She continued to say, "To talk about the taste of being out of favor, since Lu passed away— Did cousin taste it before me?"

After hearing this, Kang Lizhang already had a killing intent leaking from her eyes. There was no one around, Jin Chan was also a little scared in heart, so she found herself a step, "I have to serve masters, so I'm not as free as you. I'm leaving!" And she left quickly.

Here remained Kang Lizhang biting her lip, and watching her go away with a very bitter feeling… After a long time, Kang Lizhang whispered, "Even a maid of a house doesn't respect me in her eyes. How could my life be in the future?! I'd better take a risk, maybe…." Her slim fingers clenched the bluestone token in her sleeve, "Tonight… I must go to the north of the city!"

Ding Qinghong was wronged, Jin Chan was lost, Kang Lizhang felt hatred…. As to Qiu Yelan, who was receiving industries in recent days, was in a bad mood at the moment, too.

The reason was very simple. Ruan Qingyan had mostly recovered and he came to the door.

He was invited by Qiu Mengmin and his wife. The original intention of them was to explore what was left by the old Princess were problematic or valuable. However, Ruan Qingyan was indifferent from beginning to end with almost no expression on face, and he just immersed himself into the work to check whether the things Prince's Mansion had paid Qiu Yelan had problems, or whether they were really worth the price that they claimed… He barely replied Qiu Mengmin and his wife, so they actually observed and found nothing.

"I think Lian Jianhai reminded him when he went back." Qiu Mengmin couple held preconceived views and thought so.

"I haven't met with my cousin for a few days, and I heard that she was injured. So, I wanted to visit her." At about noon, when Qiu Mengmin was about to ask him to have lunch in the mansion, Ruan Qingyan suddenly put down the booklet and said.

Qiu Mengmin pondered for a while, "Ruan Hanlin, please help yourself."

He had found no clue in the whole morning, so he thought he may still find nothing even after they take a meal together. Thus, it was useless to force him to stay here.

As a result, Ruan Qingyan went to Qiu Yelan's yard.

Qiu Yelan, who was like sitting on a chair that full of needles after taking him to the mansion, now tremblingly and servantly greeted him, accompanying him walking into the main hall and pouring water for him in person. And finally, she dare not to sit, but stood respectfully and tactfully nearby, waiting for his orders.

"How about your foot?" Ruan Qingyan took the tea but didn't drink it, just holding it in his hands and looking at her coldly.

Qiu Yelan was wailing and shouting deep in her heart, but she quickly made a pleasing smile on face.

It took a long time for Ruan Qingyan to ask such a question.

Although his tone was still cold, Qiu Yelan heard the concerns in it sensitively. "Fortunately he was still caring about me!" She suddenly recovered her spirit and entered a pitiful state, "Haven't fully recovered. I still feel ankles sore after walking for a few steps."

However, Ruan Qingyan said with a blank face, "You deserve it, blame yourself!"

"…" Could you be meaner?! I really found that you cared about me, Okay! Qiu Yelan silently swallowed her tears and turned into a weak and desperate state, and she said desolately, "If my feet are really lame, I… I don't want to live anymore!"

Ruan Qingyan was furious immediately after hearing this! But after this great anger, he suddenly calmed down again. He opened the tea bowl and took a sip, then put it back on the table. Then, he asked slowly, "Oh? In which way you choose to die? Do you want to jump into the lotus pond, or hit the stone lion at the door, or call servants to buy arsenic and make you poisonous bibimbap?"

Qiu Yelan secretly sighed in heart, "How could he be this? I have only used two times for this trick, and this is the third time— why is it invalidated?" This is a must-kill! How can it be useless so fast!

Seeing her keeping silent, Ruan Qingyan said slowly, "Well, I'll give you an idea…" He said as he took off a delicate dagger from his waist. "Bang," he slapped it on the table, clenching his teeth said, "You stabbed me with this dagger, and then went to General's Mansion to kill your grandfather, and then waited for the governors to sentence your death?! Huh?!"

Qiu Yelan shrank her head and knelt down to her legs very decisively, hugged his knees and began to cry, "I'm wrong, cousin! I would never say that again! Woo… cousin, you have to believe me, this time I really know that I'm so, so, so wrong and I can't be wrong more! Could you stop scaring me like this? Woo… how could I hurt grandfather and you… woo…."

Ruan Qingyan looked at her coldly. After a long while, he looked like very tired and he said, "Didn't you hurt grandfather and me? Grandfather didn't know anything now, I mean maybe. But for what you've done recently, any of which was like stabbing me on my heart!"

"WTF! This tone… still can't pass?!"

Qiu Yelan, who was rubbing tears and snots on his robe, softening her legs and sitting on the ground, thought desperately, "How can I muddle through this now?!"