Real Empress from a noble family

Now that Qiu Yelan knew why Ruan Qingyan wanted to send her away, she refused to leave.

Two days later, when Ruan Qingyan came to urge her to leave, she told him directly, "I got to know that you were upset with the little bitch of the Xues. It shows that Prime Minister Xue is a failure in instructing his daughter and you are innocent. But it has nothing to do with me. Why should I leave?"

"Nonsense!" Ruan Qingyan did not admit and frowned, "Do you want to find a reason to stay with Jiang Yashuang?"

Qiu Yelan hummed, "If you don't trust me, you can still hire that Master Qiu to shadow me. I'll pay!"

Hearing this, Ruan Qingyan sighed, "That' not the reason. It's just a little incident. In fact, I want you to leave the city because the conflict between the Dings and the Yangs has already implicated Prime Minister Xue. A secret war is surging in the court and the party struggle is on the verge… Both the Dings and the Yangs are relatives by marriage of your family. I am afraid it's not safe for you to stay there now!"

"I have survived the toughest time." Qiu Yelan disagreed. "Besides, I know the truth now. I can hear the news about the situation in the city. If I stayed out, it would not be convenient to get any news and I would be worried."

Ruan Qingyan knew she was stubborn. He was a cousin after all. Qiu Yelan herself refused to leave and he could not send her away by force without the permission of Qiu Mengmin and his wife. After a long time of fruitless persuasion, he had no choice but to tell her not to contact Jiang Yashuang anymore and left uneasily with Qiu Yelan's promise.

This time, Qiu Yelan did not send anyone out for news. Holding the tea bowl, she was lost in thought. "My cousin had worked hard for many years before he became an official. What is Xue Fangmi? It's all because she has a good father. My cousin was humiliated by her in public just because of the decline of his family, and he had to put up with it!"

Then she thought, "Actually, Jiang Yashuang is a good person. With the power of his family, if I married him, my cousin would certainly benefit… Bah! What am I thinking?! An ignorant member of the princess party made me think of marrying a wealthy man to support myself! I am getting more and more degraded!"

Qiu Yelan shook her head and sighed, "It must be this kind of easy life that has made me less adventurous… But what can I do now in this situation?"

Displeased, she went to the school.

…

A few days passed. The news of the struggle in the court spread throughout the capital city. At this time in previous years, the Empress Dowager, the empress and the emperor had already gone to the palace in Mount Dizi for the summer.

But this year was an exception. There was a big avalanche in Mount Dizi at the end of last year. Yes, it was caused by Kang Jinzhang's shout. The summer residence of the Duke of Xihe in Mount Dizi was entirely buried. The Royal Palace not far away was also hit by the disaster. Although the palace was huge and not buried completely, many buildings were damaged.

The repair work had not been completed so far, so the royal family could not go there for the summer this year, let alone the officials in the court.

Political tension was cloaked under the hot weather.

The Duke of Xihe, who was in an awkward position in the struggle, was living a hard life under this circumstance.

Qiu Mengmin did not want to offend either side. It was better for him to turn a deaf ear. However, he was a Duke. Unlike Chu Xiao, Duke of Huainan, who could attend the court assembly as he wished, now that he was at the court, as the mutual relative of the Dings and the Yangs, who triggered the struggle, Qiu Mengmin couldn't just stand by!

So every time after the Court Assembly, Qiu Mengmin was so tired that he didn't want to say a word back at home.

And everyone in the family was spiritless.

Qiu Yelan did not care about Qiu Mengmin, but she was caring about Ruan Qingyan. She was not in a good mood either.

It was not noon yet. She hid herself in the cool room and was holding half a watermelon that had just been lifted from the well, eating a bit now and again. Suddenly the door was pushed open and in came Su He with a whirl of heat. She took a look at Chen Shui and Shi Ye who were serving in the room, "Your Grace, I have something to tell you."

Chen Shui and Shi Ye turned to Qiu Yelan. Qiu Yelan had always had a preference for Su He and treated her as a sister. She sent the other two away and said, "Weren't you out to buy two pots of jasmine? Why did you come back so late? I left half a watermelon for you in the well!"

Without saying thanks, Su He leaned forward and whispered, "Your Grace, it's no good news. I heard the Jiangs are arranging for General Jiang's marriage!"

Qiu Yelan froze for a moment and frowned slightly. If Jiang Yashuang were married, they would no longer be able to keep in close touch with each other. In that case, it would not be easy to find a backer who was nice to talk to and asked for a little… It would be a loss for her and she felt a little sour in the heart. She had no more appetite for the sweet and delicious watermelon….

"Women's desire for exclusivity! You don't want to marry him and you don't want him to marry anyone else?" Qiu Yelan thought to herself mockingly, "But cousin is right. He promised to wait until I am out of the mourning period… Now it's just a few days and he's going to make a proposal to somebody else."

She settled down, suppressed the jealousy and disappointment in her heart and said, "Whatever he does is none of my business!" As if to prove this, she dug a large spoonful of watermelon and stuffed it into her mouth!

Barely had she swallowed half of the melon when Su He said, "But the girl is Prime Minister Xue's youngest daughter Xue Fangmi!"

"Ahem… " Hearing the name, Qiu Yelan was so eager to ask that she was stuck by the melon and coughed over and again. Su He stepped forward and patted her on the back. After a long while, the flushed Qiu Lan recovered. She had no time to wipe the tears but asked, "Who?!"

"Xue Fangmi!" Su He picked up the teapot and poured a bowl of herbal tea to her, saying with a grievance, "Are you really willing to give General Jiang away to her? It is said that she likes General Jiang, but there was no hope of a marriage because of the different standpoints of the two families at the court. She would like to take advantage of this opportunity to fulfill her wish! The Jiangs don't care that she was the daughter of a concubine because of Prime Minister Xue!"

Qiu Yelan, who felt that Jiang Yashuang was unreliable, would otherwise say once more "It's none of my business." However, when she heard the name "Xue Fangmi," she was immediately filled with fighting spirit! There was no need for Su He to prod her. She gritted her teeth and said, "To fulfill her wish?! Damn it! As long as I am alive, never will she fulfill her wish!"

She immediately told Su He, "You go out and spread a message. Just say…" She looked at the watermelon in her hand, "I ate too much cold food and fell ill! Remember to fetch the doctor who treated my foot injury last time." The doctor was invited by the Jiangs.

Su He was overjoyed, "Your Grace, would you like me to go next door again?"

"No!" Although Qiu Yelan was full of thoughts on how to make Xue Fangmi unhappy, she was calm, so she said decisively, "I am nobler in identity than Xue Fangmi. But in terms of power, we are no match of Prime Minister Xue. In particular, there is no one behind me except my cousin. Now if I wanted to get involved, I could only bet on the moral integrity of Jiang Yashuang. So, why should I beg him?"

She sneered, "If Jiang Yashuang remembered his promises to me, even if we had no contact these days, he should care for me! If he did not care about my illness at all, then I shouldn't have to care about him. I'll just think how to cope with that little bitch!"

Then Su He asked, "Shall I prepare some snacks for the doctor?"

"No!" Qiu Yelan rejected her proposal again, "If Jiang Yashuang did not care, do you think the doctor would run over to tell him? In that case, why should I bend down before a doctor? If he cared, do you think the doctor who has served the Jiangs for many years would be partial to us just for the snacks? It would be embarrassing if he gave us away afterwards!"

"… Then I'll fetch the doctor." With two ideas rejected in succession by Qiu Yelamn, Su He blushed and retreated hurriedly.

After she left, Qiu Yelan felt a little uneasy when her excitement was over. "Could Su He be lying to me? I don't think she dare! But, even if it were true, if I did this, it would be troublesome if I didn't marry Jiang Yashuang in the future… Or shall I deal with Xue Fangmi without disturbing the Jiangs? But even He Shuijin is unfamiliar with the Xues, let alone me. Alas… The princess party is the most annoying!"

She hesitated and could not make up her mind until Su He came back with the doctor. Now that the doctor came, she had to see him first.

She was not ill, which, of course, could not be concealed from the doctor.

Hearing Su He said a lot of specious symptoms, the doctor pondered for a while and came to the conclusion of "sultry weather plus anxiety". He wrote a prescription for recuperating the spleen and liver, told her to keep an open mind… and left.

After the doctor left, Su He asked nervously, "Will he come? He will definitely come, right? If he didn't come, then…"

"What are you worried about? I'm not worried myself!" Qiu Yelan was hesitant and uneasy. She was upset to hear her noise and said grouchily, "Well, go ahead and do your job. I'm really tired… Let me get some sleep."

Su He answered, "I forgot it's inconvenient for him to come above board! I'm going out!"

Coming to the threshold, she snickered again, "You can rest assured. No one, including me, will be eavesdropping this time!"

Qiu Yelan laughed and scolded, "What are you saying! Isn't it still daytime."

After Su He left, Qiu Yelan continued to think about her marriage. The more she thought, the more vexed she was and the more difficult it was to make a decision. Finally she pulled the quilt. "Go to bed first and have enough sleep!"

When she woke up, it was already sunset. As it was midsummer, it was still bright outside, but inside the room it was dim.

Qiu Yelan got up and rubbed her eyes. Her summer dress, which she had not taken off before going to bed, slid down the shoulder on one side, revealing more than half of her body. Immediately she heard a reminder cough out of the bed canopy that was half rolled-up.

"Huh, are you here?" Qiu Yelan pulled up the dress casually and asked carelessly, "What's the matter?"