Real Empress from a noble family

In the yard. After seeing He Shuijin go back to the Flower Hall, Jiang Yashuang smiled proudly. He put the silver notes into his pocket and walked out of the yard at ease.

At the corner, he met Jiang Yaheng staring at him angrily. Jiang Yashuang greeted him with a good mood, "Yaheng, you told me you are in a hurry to do something. Why are you still here?"

"Shame on you!" said Jiang Yaheng, dragging him to a quiet corner. "You are an adult. Did you complain to her about me? You go back and take back what you said now and explain it to her. Or I will kick your ass!"

"Are you kidding me? Yaheng. Your Kung Fu is even worse than Yadan. If we fought, you would be exhausted before I fight back. Right?"

This was a question that might kill a man!

Jiang Yaheng felt nervous, although he had felt nervous when hearing the dialogue. But now, he was more nervous, "All right. I am sorry. I shouldn't have come here to see the girl who attracts you… But you should be anger with me instead of reporting me to my girlfriend. What's more, you borrowed money from her! How dare you insult me like that!"

"I did not tell her you borrowed money recently. I said last time. You did borrow money from me last time." reminded Jiang Yashuang. "And the reason you told me was for your friend's birthday. Yadan told me later that your friend is from the 'Spring House' or 'Cuixiu House'…"

"Okay, stop. Stop talking!" warned Jiang Yaheng. He lowered his head, begging, "Please don't tell Shuijin about this. Please. She would kill me if she knew about it!"

"All right. Easy, bro. Shuijin always knows what she is doing. She won't kill you!" Jiang Yashuang tried to 'comfort'.

"I am your brother!" said Jiang Yaheng, jumping. "You really hate me so much?"

"You already heard what Shuijin would do." said Jiang Yashuang. Jiang Yashuang was always a hard worker and a good student. He was the best among his peers in terms of Kung Fu. Jiang Yashuang had known in the first place that Jiang Yaheng went back, overhearing what he said to He Shuijin despite being dark outside. He continued, "If you were me, what would you do?"

"I would… how could that be possible!" said Jiang Yaheng with a heavy sigh. He continued desperately, "I heard before that she has been in charge of the account book of our family since long ago. To others, it's okay, but to me, it's bad, very bad. Now, fair enough, in order to control me, she used our money to bribe our men! Five hundred taels of silver notes! Do you know how much a pretty girl in the brothel?"

Jiang Yashuang smiled dismissively, "So, you must be alert in the future. I remember that you once told me, 'Don't fight against money.' Right?"

Hearing his words, Jiang Yaheng was furious but he could do nothing, "Now, tell me. What do you want? I just peeped her for a second. Won't you let me go forever? When it comes to flirtation, I think Yadan is flirtier than me. In our family, everyone has lovers except you!"

"Yadan isn't afraid of his wife, but you are." said Jiang Yashuang firmly.

His words were like a sword stabbing into Jiang Yaheng's chest, "Who told you I am afraid of her? I… I just respect her!"

"Then respect her forever." said Jiang Yashuang dismissively. "Anyway, you have respected her since childhood, haven't you?"

"Our eldest brother is also afraid of his wife!" said Jiang Yaheng. Then he lowered voice, "Bro, you should be fair!"

"But our eldest brother's wife is not as generous as He Shuijin!" Jiang Yashuang said firmly, "And our eldest brother did not anger me!"

"…" Jiang Yaheng turned to be serious in a second, saying, "You must spare me a little from the five hundred taels of silver note. That is the money I borrow from you, okay?"

Looking at him, Jiang Yashuang said, managing to force a smile, "Really? How much do you want?"

"Three hundred… No, four hundred!" begged Jiang Yaheng. "I will repay you within ten days, I promise. And I will give you an extra fifty as interest!"

"No need! Here you are." Jiang Yashuang gave him four hundred slowly. "You repay it when you have enough money. Don't borrow money from your men. If grandfather or my aunt knew what you are doing, they would punish you… And, one more thing, stay away from my girlfriend…"

Taking the notes from Jiang Yashuang, Jiang Yaheng murmured, "Even when you are holding the wedding ceremony, I promise I won't peep her as she serves me tea!"

After Jiang Yaheng left, Jiang Tan came forward, holding an umbrella and walking Jiang Yashuang to his room. "Young master, why did you borrow money to him?"

From what he knew of Jiang Yashuang, he would not let Jiang Yaheng go so smoothly.

Jiang Yashuang said, "Do you think what he will use with the money? I bet he will send someone to go back to the town to buy expensive jewelry for He Shuijin. If He Shuijin asked him about the money, he could say he borrow money to buy a surprise present for her. He can say that he is afraid that I would tell He Shuijin his secret present, so he lied to borrow money for a friend's birthday!"

Jiang Tan got it, "Young master, I understand now. Although he did something terrible, you couldn't stand if he and the young lady couldn't get along well because of money. So, you borrowed him the money you just got from He Shuijin. You want to give him a chance to make up his mistake…"

"He Shuijin is a clever girl. All the silver notes she handed out have special marks. And, she is the boss of many shops selling antiques and precious jewelry, or she has a business relationship with the rest." said Jiang Yashuang. He looked at him with a smile and continued, "If she wanted to know where Jiang Yaheng bought the present, she might also know Yaheng used the money he got from me today… By then, Yaheng, not only cheated on her but also deceived him…"

Jiang Tan swallowed his mouth water and gave his respectful look to Jiang Yashuang. Then he changed the subject, "I guess Commandery Princess Ningyi has been in her room. Do you want to visit her?"

"No, I don't. She must be tired today." said Jiang Yashuang after a pause. "Let her sleep. We will live here for at least three days. I will meet her tomorrow if possible."

Although Jiang Yashuang was a considerable man and left Qiu Yelan to sleep, she did not have a good sleep at all. At 3 AM, all girls woke up except sick Mi Yinyin and the youngest Qiu Jinzhu. "They found Duchess of Huainan!"

Actually, on this matter alone, Jiang Qizheng and He Shuijin could deal with it. It's unnecessary to wake up all girls.

However, "In order to save Commandery Princess Lihui, Princess sacrificed herself. Commandery Princess Lihui is mad now. Your Highness and Young Lady He can't appease her. They said they hope all girls to go there helping comfort Commandery Princess Lihui."

Qiu Yelan was stunned. She immediately asked Chunran to dress her up while she grabbed a hairpin to fix her long hair. "How did that happen?"

"It was said that after Princess and Commandery Princess Lihui fell into the water, they saw a floating wood but it could only load one person. Princess pushed Commandery Princess Lihui up the wood and she loosened her hand. She was washed away by the water." the maid who came to send words said with a sigh. "Commandery Princess Lihui hoped that Princess could grab another floating wood… But when we found her, she already…"

Speaking of this, the maid paused for a second and then said in a low voice, "Concubine Mo is still missing and Mistress Kang is fine. She has been here. Your Grace… Do you want to see her later?"

"Go to see Commandery Princess Lihui first." said Qiu Yelan. She asked her maid to give her a tower full of cold water. She washed her face with cold water hard. Feeling awake, she stood up and said, "Let's go!"

Before they arrived at Commandery Princess Lihui's place, they heard hysterical cries from afar!

Qiu Yelan quickened her steps. After she entered the room, she saw a big mess in the originally magnificently furnished room.

The hairpins on Jiang Qizheng's and He Shuijin's heads were in disarray, and they were trying to stop Chu Yitong, who was getting up from the bed again and again to dash towards the door. They were comforting her, "Lihui, you must calm down. You've been in the water for so long. If you don't take care of yourself, you may be sick, and you may have a lingering illness. If so, Princess won't pardon you on heaven."

"We understand that you are sad. But you should also know that what Princess did was for you to survive. Lie down now… Your hand feels like ice now. Now, go and lie down!"

Qiu Yelan, who had been in the room, immediately asked Chunran to close the door. She rushed to Chu Yitong and held her, "Do you need tranquilizer soup?"

Hearing her words, Jiang Qizheng, who was busy stopping Chu Yitong to rush out, suddenly realized something. She gathered up the long hair that had fallen wholly loose and shouted at the door, "Go, and cook tranquilizer soup!"

"You don't know what happened. When Mistress Kang invited us to the Jinxiu Slope, my mother did not want to go. She planned to call in sick, not going there!" Jiang Qizheng's and He Shuijin's strength and skill in subduing a person were not comparable to that of Qiu Yelan's. No matter how hard Chu Yitong struggled, she couldn't get up, so she could only wail and cry out, "It was me who pestered my mother to come! It was me who killed my mother and Concubine Mo. It's all my fault."

"No, that's not true. We all did not expect it would rain cats and dogs before we set out." said He Shuijin. "We are also trapped over here because of the heavy rain? We are sorry to hear what's going on about Princess. Really sorry. But it has nothing to do with you! It is the river bank. It collapsed suddenly. We should ask the government to investigate who built the bank and hold the man accountable!"

Her words astonished Qiu Yelan. She thought to herself, "I wonder what Kang Lizhang wanted to talk with me. She did not have a chance to talk with me at the Jinxiu Slope. But, unfortunately, the flood killed Duchess of Huainan!"

As she was thinking about Kang Lizhang, Chu Yitong saw her with tears in her eyes. She struggled to get up, "It's you! Your sister, Kang Lizhang. She tried to prevail on my father to ask us to come here! My mother is dead now. Concubine Mo is missing. Are you and your sister happy now?"

"Commandery Princess Lihui, Don't say like that. My uncle already told me we did not have a niece being a concubine." said Qiu Yelan. She fully understood what Commandery Princess Lihui was feeling now. She was not angry about her words and said calmly, "And, Mistress Kang said she wanted to meet me at the Jinxiu Slope. But it was Commandery Princess who told me this message. I surely did not know why Mistress Kang wanted to meet me here."

Jiang Qizheng and He Shuijin echoed, "Commandery Princess Ningyi has nothing to do with the Mansion of Duke of Huainan all along. She mustn't conspire with Mistress Kang to hurt you. And we can prove that in the Jinxiu Slope, Commandery Princess Ningyi has been with us all the time. She did not meet Mistress Kang."

Chu Yitong was furious, "You are a team. You all stand on her side. Kang Lizhang thought that my father favored her. She definitely isn't willing to be a concubine! She must have bribed others to trap us. Why could bodyguards on their horses go through safely, but we couldn't. When we were going through that part, the bank slid suddenly? Why? She must have plotted the whole thing. She wanted to kill Concubine Mo, and my mother always was on her way…"

After finishing her long speech, she was suddenly unconscious!

Qiu Yelan withdrew her hand and said calmly, "If she continues being angry like this, she won't stop until she loses consciousness. She will definitely be very sick in the future even she has good health… We should let her sleep now."

Jiang Qizheng and He Shuijin nodded, "You guard over here. And don't let the tranquilizer soup get cold. Ask her to drink it when she wakes up… I am afraid that she may hurt herself due to sadness!"

After arranging everything, they asked all girls to get out, "We were here helping her, but things are getting worse… We need a plan."