Real Empress from a noble family

The maids hesitantly closed the door. In the meantime, Qiu Yelan shook off Ou Qinglan's hand and said, "Miss Ou, my brother is not well now. Could you please go back first? I am not in a mood entertaining you!"

If Qiu Jinglan were fine now, she wouldn't have minded having a few words with this lady who was determined to be her sister-in-law. But now that Qiu Jinglan was still in danger, Qiu Yelan felt upset. She was really not in a mood to talk with her!

Ou Qinglan realized her displeasure and said, "I just… just want to know how is your brother… no offense!"

"He's not well." Qiu Yelan emphasized again. "We're all worried about him right now, so we really are not in the mood for entertainment."

"What's going on with him now?" Ou Qinglan wanted to know more. "I was so stressed out yesterday. I actually fainted! I have been at home when I woke up… I just heard that your brother was badly hurt! I… I've worried about all night…"

How could Qiu Yelan be in the mood to tell her everything? So, she just said, "Anyway, you go home now! Let's talk about this in a few days, okay?"

Ou Qinglan was stunned for a moment before understanding that if she continued to ask questions like this, she would probably offend her. She said disappointedly, "Fine!"

It was destined to be a day when something was going to happen - Ou Qinglan agreed to leave, and although Qiu Yelan was impatient, she had to send her out.

When they both stepped over the threshold, the two carriages stopped on the road downstairs of the stone steps at the same time!

Then, almost at the same time, two pretty ladies jumped out of the carriages. As soon as they got out, they were pointing and shouting at each other…

One of them said, "You are such a jinx! You've been showing your stern face all day. It must be your fault so that something happened to Qingyan this time! You still have the nerve to come!"

The other said, "Are you deaf? Did you hear the news spread everywhere? The fact that Ruan was assassinated this time must have been ordered by the mastermind behind you. It must be you, the vixen. You are not happy that Ruan didn't want you anymore and you deliberately made this!"

The former began to rage, "Bitch! I wouldn't hurt Ruan! And why do you say he doesn't want me anymore? He hasn't spoken to me since his mourning period, but he hasn't spoken to you either!"

The latter sneered, "Since you know that I haven't seen Qingyan for some days, how is that my fault!"

Fighting for a while, they finally noticed Qiu Yelan and Ou Qinglan on the steps, who were saying goodbye to each other. Immediately, one began to comb her hair and the other began to adjust her skirt. Then the two of them came up to pay their respects: "Your Grace, nice to see you!"

Qiu Yelan looked at the two, Hua Shenshen and Penglai Yue. After two years, they are more and more delicate but colder. Then, she looked at the suspicious-looking Ou Qinglan. She felt so upset, "Stand up. What are you doing over here?"

"I've heard that Ruan was assassinated and wounded quite badly! I haven't slept all night and I'm really worried!" Hua Shenshen clutched her handkerchief. Her tears flew out all of a sudden and she looked poor, "So, I summoned up the courage to come over and inquire about his situation…"

While Penglai Yue was cold, Hua Shenshen was outgoing, who could laugh and cry whenever she wanted to. At this time, Penglai Yue also frowned, showing her anxiety.

After seeing this, if Ou Qinglan didn't know that these two were her rivals, she wouldn't be a straight person but a fool. Her face immediately changed. She snapped, "Who are you two? What is your relationship with young master Ruan?!"

After hearing her words, Hua Shenshen and Penglai Yue froze for a while and looked at her oddly - by the way she was dressed and her demeanor, they thought that she must a daughter of a decent family. Because she wore plain clothes, they couldn't judge her title from the clothes, but… even if she did have a title, these two were the stars of the top brothels in the capital. They also have their own pride. In particular, although Ou Qinglan's words were full of jealousy, when she said "young master Ruan", it demonstrated that she was not so close to the one who was assassinated!

She's not as close as they were. They could call him "Ruan".

So, Hua Shenshen and Penglai Yue both ignored her in a rare unanimous manner. They continued to beg Qiu Yelan, "Please tell us something about Ruan…"

Ou Qinglan couldn't help but be furious!

She had even beaten her own brother since he was a child, not to mention these two women who were not decent people at the first sight.

She immediately untied the whip at her waist and lashed it down at the two, "How dare you! You turned a deaf ear to my question!"

Qiu Yelan frowned and raised her hand to hold her wrist. Thanks to her, Hua Shenshen and Penglai Yue avoided the danger of the sudden disfigurement on their faces, "Miss Ou, we are at the gate of the Ruan Family!" Although she didn't like the two coming over at this time, they had good intentions. If they were disfigured on the spot by jealous Ou Qinglan, the Ruan Family would inevitably be gossiped in the future!

Ou Qinglan bit her lip and apologized to her. Then she glared at those two and sneered, "For the sake of Yelan, I'll spare you this time! Next time you dare to defy me, I will kill you two!"

Both Hua Shenshen and Penglai Yue had resentment in their eyes. It was just that their identity and Kung Fu were lower than hers, and they had to be humble, "Yes, lady!"

"Get out of here!" Ou Qinglan snapped, "Don't you know that the Ruan Family's mourning period hasn't been over yet? You guys are running over here at this time because you're afraid that you won't cause trouble for Mr. Ruan?!"

Seeing that these two were still hesitant to leave, Qiu Yelan sighed quietly and said, "My brother is not very well nowadays, but I think he will be fine in several days."

Girls like Hua Shenshen and Penglai Yue, who lived in a brothel, were very good at guessing what people were thinking. As soon as they heard it, they knew that the next two days were the most crucial two days for Ruan. Upon hearing that, their faces fell. One of them said, "Ruan is a good man. He'll be fine!"

The other one said, "When I go back, I will hand out food for those who are homeless. Pray for Ruan!"

After the two left while thanking Ou Yelan for informing them, Ou Qinglan asked Qiu Yelan in a low voice, "Who are they?"

Because she had acted viciously before, Qiu Yelan's impression of her was even worse. So, she said indifferently, "Oh, just two of the many people my brother knew before."

"That's it?" Ou Qinglan was startled, "Does such a person… He knows many?"

Qiu Yelan guessed that Qiu Jinglan once told her that he had no interest in Ou Qinglan. So, she wasn't afraid to tell her the truth, "My brother has always been familiar with people like them, but it's only in these two years that he has been in his mourning period, so he did not contact them frequently as usual."

As expected, previously energetic Ou Qinglan was suddenly dumbfounded, and her originally bright eyes dimmed, "That's the case? "

Ou Qinglan pursed her lips, "So, my brother is actually not as good as you think."

Ou Qinglan was silent for a moment and said, "I'm going back."

"Take care." Naturally, Ou Qinglan would not ask her to stay one more minute.

Surprisingly, Ou Qinglan took a few steps and then suddenly turned back, "I'll go back and think. I might still come."

It took Qiu Jinglan a moment to understand what she meant. Although she was disappointed, she wasn't going to give up on Qiu Jinglan yet - She was so stubborn that Qiu Jinglan didn't even know what to say.

Ou Qinglan, however, had no intention of asking her to answer. After saying this, she turned around and sullenly got on her carriage and left.

After seeing her off, Qiu Jinglan returned to the backyard where she met Ling Zui. He exited the house with a frown where Qiu Jinglan was lying.

"How's my brother?" She asked promptly. "I can't go in there as I am a girl."

"He still has a fever, and his body feels hot," Ling Zui sighed. "But I can see that the two old soldiers are extremely experienced. They take care of him well. So, I was just standing aside and watching."

Qiu Jinglan said nothing. She knew the implications of Ling Zui's words - with this kind of care, if Qiu Jinglan couldn't get through it, there was really nothing else they could do.

"You also take care of yourself," Ling Zui was also silent for a while and said softly, "Your brother can't take care of you right now. Keep an eye on yourself, otherwise you will be sick while he is healing. By then, he'll have to worry about you again even if he's not healed."

"Thanks," Qiu Jinglan lowered her head.

Ling Zui said after exhaling, "I'll go home and ask my mother if there's anything we can help now!"

"The thing about Kuang Qingwu?" Qiu Yelan reminded.

Ling Zui sneered, "Nobody now cares about such a trivial matter nowadays… Well, by the way, once your brother is recovered, I'll have to ask him what I've done wrong to him after we've been friends for so long! He hid it from everybody including me! Is it in his eyes that I'm the kind of person who sells friends for glory, or that I'm someone who can't keep secrets?!"

Ou Qinglan was stunned, "You've… have known it?!" Just now, Ou Qinglan still called "young master Ruan", and Hua Shenshen and Penglai Yue also called her "Ruan". She thought that the brother-sister relationship she shouted out in anger yesterday hadn't even been spread!

Ling Zui sniffed and gave her a blank look, "Jiang Yashuang sent me the news. So, you don't want me to know either? Jiang Yashuang didn't even follow your intention. That's interesting!"

"Oh, it's Jiang Yashuang," Qiu Yelan understood. She shook her head and said, "No, I was just a little surprised. I thought nobody else knew it."

"I don't care if somebody else knows," Ling Zui sneered. He continued, "Anyway, when your brother gets better, I'm not done with him until he gives me an explanation!"

Qiu Yelan forced a smile, "Yes, I'll make sure to have him apologize to you later… as long as he gets better!"

Hearing this, Ling Zui suddenly felt sad and said, "He'll get better, otherwise how can he repay me?"

Both of them were preoccupied, and after a few brief words, Ling Zui took his leave.

Since he was no stranger to the Ruan Family, Qiu Yelan didn't send him off and went inside.

In the meantime, Ruan Ciyi was already outside the room, staring dumbly at the potted landscape not far away, unaware of her arrival.

She woke up only when Qiu Yelan went up and called her, "Cousin Qiu? You're back? Has General Jiang gone?"

"He's gone," Qiu Yelan responded and suddenly noticed that she didn't look quite right. Qiu Yelan immediately went up to test her forehead temperature. She said in surprise, "Ciyi, are you sick?"

Ruan Ciyi's lips were white, but her cheeks were as red as fire. When she heard her words, Ruan Ciyi touched her forehead and said, "Ah, not serious."

"It's serious. You've got a high fever!" Qiu Yelan had a headache but she couldn't say anything - her brother was still struggling for his life, but her cousin got a high fever too!

She immediately ordered her maid to help Ruan Ciyi back to her own room, and then commanded, "Go to the Cuiwei Pavilion and get Dr. Qi!"

"No need to get Dr. Qi," Ruan Ciyi didn't have much strength at this point, but she insisted, "He was busy until midnight for Qingyan yesterday, and he's only been asleep for a short while. He's old - don't tire him out. Or, he won't be able to treat Qingyan!"

"Then go out and get a doctor!" Qiu Yelan said after thinking about it - not to mention that everything took priority over Qiu Jinglan, but if Qi Shuluo was not in good spirits, he might make mistakes when treating Qiu Jinglan.

The maid said yes and left. But then something happened - A young servant ran into the room and reported, "Young Prince of Marquess Zhang came to see the young master!"