Real Empress from a noble family

Jiang Yashuang was holding Whitey. He was a cat person and didn't want to throw it away. In this case, he couldn't spare a hand to take Qiu Yelan's attacks, so he just watched her dash to him and beat him. Although this little Commandery Princess studied some martial arts, she was still young. With her strength, he didn't feel hurt but felt fun seeing her face turned red with anger and her teeth gritted. Jiang Yashuang bent, put Whitey on the carpet, and kicked it gently to sign to it to go away. Then he stood up to grasp Qiu Yelan's wrists.

He was about to speak, but Qiu Yelan had a good self-defense skill which compensated her weak strength. Almost at the same time when he reached her wrists, she slipped from his hands and stepped on his boot hard, saying angrily, "How dare you hit me back?"

"I…." Jiang Yashuang tried to explain but Qiu Yelan wouldn't listen. She found he didn't care about her attacks and was angrier. She stepped on his boot again, "You didn't tell me that you felt no pain! You liar!"

This was pure nonsense. Should a man being beaten tell the attacker how to make him painful?

Jiang Yashuang couldn't stop smiling bitterly, "I'm not treating you like Yongfu now!" He did feel something special to Qiu Yelan, or else though he had a good temper, he would not tolerate her unreasonable and mischievous remarks again and again.

Because of their unexpected first meeting, he had always thought that his feelings for this little Commandery Princess were pure guilt and pity. Since the last time they were caught by Ruan Qingyan, Jiang Yadan had persuaded Jiang Yashuang to win Qiu Yelan's heart immediately after his injuries were healed in order to defend the Jiang Family men's "dignity". That was Jiang Yadan's logic of "It's ridiculous that we Jiang Family men can't seize a girl from the hand of a petty Hanlin Academy official!"

Jiang Yashuang knew that his brother's mind was filled 80% with women and 20% with how to fudge the senior family members' lectures, so he wouldn't mind his unreasonable talk. But as Jiang Yadan said too much to him, Jiang Yashuang sometimes agreed with one or two opinions and thought they made sense after consideration. Like Jiang Yadan said, if he really wanted to marry Qiu Yelan only out of responsibility and sympathy, then why he didn't let her marry Ruan Qingyan?

"Everyone knows how much Ruan cares about Commandery Princess Ningyi!" Jiang Yadan's words seemed to be still going around his head. "If I had my way, you should help her cancel the engagement with Deng Yi and let her marry Ruan Qingyan if you were really not into her and hoped her well!"

Jiang Yashuang thought it made sense. Even so, when he thought of letting Ruan Qingyan have Qiu Yelan, though he knew Ruan Qingyan would surely treat her well, he felt sad. Such feelings made him refuse the marriage with the Xue Family and choose not to tell Qiu Yelan almost by instinct.

At that time he hadn't known why he had done so, but now he understood, "Maybe I was waiting for a chance like today?"

Qiu Yelan called the doctor at noon and Jiang Yashuang arrived in the afternoon. Although there was only a wall between the two families for him to pass, he also had her own business to do and wouldn't call a doctor for no reason. If he hadn't told his servants to report the news about Qiu Yelan to him, how could he have come so soon?

Now he heard Qiu Yelan talking her "heart" out unexpectedly, Jiang Yashuang felt, as a man, he should not flinch!

Thus he said seriously, "I did treat you as Yongfu in the past, but now I have considered it…."

"How dare you say that? You are dead!" His words made Qiu Yelan who was angry by shame furious. She stepped on his feet seven or eight times and made his clean boots dirty but she still couldn't calm down. She found, with her current strength, if she didn't kick below the belt, she couldn't let Jiang Yashuang feel pain but her own fingers ached dully by his protecting internal force. So Qiu Yelan turned punching into pinching and aimed specially to Jiang Yashuang's side and the backs of his arms!

This was a female skill comparable to "crying, making troubles and hanging herself". Although Jiang Yashuang was an expert in martial arts, he couldn't take it and wanted her to stop. He begged for a long time but she only added force on him. Jiang Yashuang sighed and suddenly put two fingers out. Qiu Yelan saw it and thought he was going to be serious, so she tried to back at once in the hope of making a distance from him.

But they were so close to each other like a couple in love and with her weak strength, how could she move so quickly?

Thus, her left arm was attacked by Jiang Yashuang and she immediately felt weak and stumbled. By now, she was more upset with this attack. Her logic was that if she were unhappy, others couldn't smile! Especially when the other one was the person who made her unhappy!

So Qiu Yelan trampled on Jiang Yashuang's boots again, "How dare you! How dare you!"

Jiang Yashuang was upset. All of a sudden, he pulled her into his arms. Qiu Yelan was surprised and resisted, but she was too weak in front of Jiang Yashuang and was easily put on his lap with her arms held!

"Don't be so naughty. Let's have a good talk." Jiang Yashuang's softened voice came from above her head. The difference in height between them led to the result that when Qiu Yelan was sitting on his lap, the top of her head was braced right by his jaw. This position seemed to make chemistry but it only made Qiu Yelan desperate. Her response to it was to turn around suddenly and bite Jiang Yashuang heavily on his shoulder!

Jiang Yashuang, "…"

His expression changed several times from being shocked, but he didn't try to stop her. He just squinted and let her bite for a long time. After the extreme pain from the wound, a feeling of wetness spread gradually, and then came the warm liquid flowing down slowly… When Qiu Yelan stopped biting with anger, he looked at her lips red with his blood and asked flatly, "Why not continue?"

Qiu Yelan struggled but failed to break out of him. She said angrily, "I'm tired!"

"Now it's my turn." Jiang Yashuang bowed his head and looked down at her. They stared at each other as if they were competing. They could see themselves in each other's eyes. He came closer to her till their eyelashes could touch and said slowly, "Guess what I'm gonna do to you?"

Sensing the obvious danger in his tone, Qiu Yelan was not scared but wanted to hit back. Such a little wound for her was not a big deal, so she sneered, "You…." She just opened her mouth and was about to speak when Jiang Yashuang lowered his head and kissed her!

Qiu Yelan was stunned!

After a while, panting slightly, Jiang Yashuang let go of her. He curved the corner of his mouth which was tainted by blood and was just going to say something, but Qiu Yelan slapped him while wiping her lips in a fluster!

Jiang Yashuang didn't dodge but let her slap him. Yet Qiu Yelan became feeble by that abrupt kiss. She could feel that that slap didn't hurt him and was about to slap again when Jiang Yashuang said smilingly, "My turn again?"

Qiu Yelan was wild with anger, "Do you dare?"

After she said it, Jiang Yashuang held her tight and then kissed her sweet lips again without hesitation or shyness!

"You… Are you Jiang Yashuang?" Qiu Yelan was shocked once more! After a while, she struggled and screamed, "Who are you?"

How could that General Jiang who was shy when he was praised for being handsome did such an improper thing! Is he Jiang Yadan in disguise? Or are there also spirits that can change their appearance into anyone?

She was still thinking when Jiang Yashuang let loose of her and said with a half-smile, "Surely I am."

He didn't wait for Qiu Yelan's response but put his jaw on her head again and rubbed against it, saying slowly, "I also have a temper, but I don't like to lose temper."

Qiu Yelan was speechless for a moment. She couldn't push him away and was shivering with anger, "Fine! Then kill me! Or I won't let you get away unless I die!"

"You just like to say things contrary to your real thoughts." Jiang Yashuang laughed and looked at her with soft eyes smilingly, joking. "You won't let me get away. In other words, it means…" He put his mouth close to her ear and his warm male breath touched her neck, "You want to stay with me for the whole life?"

Obviously, Qiu Yelan's successive affectations and that "hate out of love" which sounded like a slip of her true heart got her into trouble. Her words now only made that impression deeper, "Stay with you for life? I only hope you die at once!"

Jiang Yashuang didn't mind at all and said, "The conflict between the Ding Family and the Yang Family is taken to the Imperial Court Assembly and my aunt has to deal with it. I guess she had no time for other things. When that thing is over, I will ask her to help you cancel the engagement with Deng Yi. At the latest, it will be the end of this year. Then we can be engaged as soon as your mourning period is over. You don't need to care about that Miss Xue. Even a princess in the palace can't marry me as she wants. Prime Minister Xue does have prestige in the court, but he is just an official. My family values him, but we don't need to spoil him!"

"I said I hope you die!"

"I think you have lost weight these days. For one thing, the weather is heated, for another, are you bothered by the rumors outside?" Jiang Yashuang went on saying. "My grandmother also can't stand the heat. I remember her cook has some recipes for appetizing dishes for summer. I will have the recipes copied and send them to you. Just try them. If it didn't work, I would think of other ways."

"Who wants to talk with you this rubbish?" Qiu Yelan shouted as she was driven crazy. "Did you hear me?"

Jiang Yashuang looked down at her pink little face as a result of anger and struggle and smiled significantly. "Sure. Go on."

"You shameless man!" Poor Qiu Yelan's accumulated vigor was depleted by his two distracting replies. Now Jiang Yashuang let her speak, but she only regained her energy and said through gritted teeth after quite a while of being speechless, "Let go of me! You and I will have a duel!"

"You won't win. And I won't duel with you." Jiang Yashuang rubbed her face with his cheek with a laugh. "Stop being naughty. I know you are upset. It's my fault. I should have told you about Miss Xue when I knew it. I promise that next time I will let you know such things and won't hide it from you. Is that OK?"

He was apparently cajoling her like a husband cajoling his wife. Both his movements and tone were so intimate. Qiu Yelan was more unhappy and felt helpless, "Let me go! I'm not your wife. How can you put your hand on me like this?"

"If you were eager to be my wife now, I could make it happen. As I said, my aunt has always liked me. Though she is busy now, if I begged her, which is once in a blue moon, she would agree." Jiang Yashuang said and smiled. "We will tell the outside that I like you and want to seize you from Deng Yi. Anyway, for one thing, my families don't care about such discussions; for another, some of my senior relatives love to see the Gu Family lose face."

Qiu Yelan almost felt powerless, "Are you and Jiang Yadan crazy? Why on earth do you think I'm eager to marry you?"

"No, no. You are not eager. It's me who's eager." his tone was like coaxing a child. "So just nurse your appetite and wait for me to seize you into Jiang Family."

"…" Somehow Qiu Yelan thought of Whitey that had been in his arms just now. She was speechless for a moment and burst into tears suddenly. This time she was not pretending. She was really crying with anger!