Real Empress from a noble family

After getting out of Marquess Qin's Mansion, Jiang Yashuang went to Madame Tao's residence and told her what Marquess Qin said. He looked at Madame Tao with hope in the end, "Grandmother, the grandfather said that this thing is depended on you!"

"I know you are eager to get engaged. I'll send the official matchmaker tomorrow, okay?" Madame Tao tapped his forehead with her finger and scolded him with a smile, "I watched you grow up. But I never saw you so eager! She is not your wife yet. When she is, I wonder if I'm going to be cast aside?"

"Lanlan will be very nice to you…" Jiang Yashuang coaxed her in a hurry.

Madame Tao said with a smile, "Okay, okay, okay. I trust your judgement!" she patted his arm, "Why do you keep looking outside? Can't stay any longer? Eager to go to the Ruan Family to tell them the good news? Just go. While it's still early, hurry back. You haven't done your homework today, right?"

Jiang Yashaung was thrilled. He said sweetly, "I know you adore me the most!"

He went out after that. Watching his back as he hurried away, Madame Tao shook her head and said with a smile, "This naughty kid!"

Mom Hu approached with drinks. Madame Tao took it over and took a sip. She stopped smiling and asked in a low voice, "Qisheng still hasn't decided yet?"

Mom Hu had a frustrated look on her face, "Old Master Tianqi and Madame have different opinions. And they also need to consider Young Lady Qisheng's opinion. So, they haven't been able to decide yet."

"It's not that they can't decide!" Madame Tao put down the coloured glaze cup and dabbed the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief. She said with a sneer, "They just feel it's unfair that Chaohai wants Qisheng to marry someone faraway. But Jiang Tianao's daughter got to be a princess after she and Qisheng did the same thing. So, they drag their feet on purpose!"

Mom Hu sighed, "Old Master Tianqi is Marquess Qin's wife's eldest son after all. But Marquess Qin restrains him on everything to prevent him from surpassing Old Master Tianao. Old Master Tianqi's children also get implicated. It's inevitable that the third branch holds a grudge."

Madame Tao shook her head, "What's inevitable? Jiang Tianqi has grandiose aims but puny abilities! I gave him advice back then that since Jiang Tianao chose to be an officer in the government. If he didn't want to be suppressed by Jiang Tianao, he'd better join the army. In that case, it wouldn't put Chaohai in a difficult position. He also could have a better future… But he refused to listen because he didn't want to leave the easy life in Jing City behind! Now what? He is just Assistant Minister of War. Not even a Minister… He should know that Chaohai and Kunlun respect their eldest brother so much that as long as they are here no one in our family can compete with Jiang Tianao!"

Kunlun was Earl of Jibei Jiang Qianqiu's name after he became an adult.

Speaking of which, Madame Tao suddenly smiled, "Jiang Tianchi on the other hand is smart. He knew that with Jiang Tianao and Jiang Tianqi working in the government he couldn't surpass them no matter how capable he was. He pestered Kunlun to take him to the army. It has been hard in the army for decades. But Kunlun is about to come back to the city. He will have the Northern Army! Jiang Tianao and Jiang Tianqi both won't dare to trifle with him in the future!"

Mom Hu said with a smile, "That's why Princess Yongfu and Young Master Yashuang are the most blessed ones among all children in our family. Young Master Yashuang doesn't just have a smart father. He also got to be raised by you. If you didn't cultivate him, Old Master Tianchi is capable, but he still needs someone to teach his children. Otherwise…"

She hesitated at that point. And then she still asked, "It's just… Since you value the fourth branch, when the first branch spoiled Young Master Yadan, why did you… If you helped back then, even Madame Zhuang didn't know better, Old Master Tianchi would. How could he not be grateful?"

"That's not necessarily true!" Madame Tao sneered, "Don't you forget that Yadan was praised for his genius ever since he was a kid! How many times has Jiang Tianchi seen him when he was growing up? To set Jiang Tianchi's mind at ease in the army, the family letters were always telling the good news which always gave his eldest son an overly gushing praise! Especially before Madame Zhuang left, Yadan was at the cleverest and cutest age. If I intervened and got him back on track, how naive were you to think that the fourth branch would thank me? They probably would have thought that their kid was born to be a talent who could do something great without much effort. I should consider myself lucky that they didn't blame me for meddling!"

Speaking of which, she lowered her voice, "Besides, if it weren't for Yadan, why do you think Chaohai so decidedly let me raise Qizheng and Yashuang right after they got sent back? Kids who are raised by myself are the most reliable!"

Mom Hu was enlightened and said with admiration, "You are right. Especially now that Young Master Yashuang is versed in both polite letters and martial arts. And he is filial and sensible. With Young Master Yadan as the comparison, when Old Master Tianchi and his wife see them someday, they will so regret that they didn't let you raise Young Master Yadan back then!"

"Jiang Tianchi is a calculating and sophisticated man. Among all the children in the Jiang Family, only he has the stamina to build a career in the army," Madame Tao squinted and said flatly, "Madame Zhuang is not smart. But she is very vixenish! Chaohai has been taking that one in Kui County into consideration for these years and he knew that Yadan was a lost cause. So, he acquiesced that the first branch stopped others from telling Madame Zhuang about Yadan… Otherwise, considering her bad temper, she would have come back to the city and made a scene in the first branch a long time ago! However, they can't hide it forever. Just wait and see. Their clever eldest son turns into a loser because the first branch spoiled him too much. There is no way that the fourth branch will suck it up!"

Jiang Tianao had a smooth career because he had his two uncles' full support. And Marquess Qin's and Sir Jibei's confidence came from the Northern Army. Jiang Tianchi would be the next one to take charge of the Northern Army after them. His eldest son Jiang Yadan was considered as a talent at an early age… People could imagine that if Jiang Yadan were good at study and capable, how could Jiang Tianchi not help his son to become the Premier? When that time came, let alone help Jiang Tianao, it would be nice that he didn't blame Jiang Tianao for getting in the way!

Besides Jiang Tianchi had more than one son. When that time came, he would help his eldest son to become the Premier and the second son or the youngest son to join the army. In that case, he could control the court in both military and civil. Even the fourth branch couldn't inherit the title of Marquess Qin, she could also take all the good stuff and leave the Jiang Family's other members with scratches!

To avoid his cousin threatening his career, when Madame Zhuang went to Beijiang to be with her husband all by herself and entrusted Jiang Yadan to her husband's family, Jiang Tianao and his wife took the chance and turned their clever cousin into a playboy without hesitation!

However, what Madame Tao hated the most was not just that Jiang Tianao and his wife ruined Jiang Yadan. To be honest, she didn't feel so sorry for this grandson who was neither related to her nor spending a long time with her. What she hated was that Jiang Tianao's wife Madame Dou blamed her for Madame Dou's aunt failing to be Marquess Qin's second wife. So, while they were raising Jiang Yadan, they incited him to be hostile to the entire Tao Family!

"Qianbin is so virtuous. She never stopped Yadan from taking concubines. If that bitch Madame Dou didn't incite Yadan all the year around, even he didn't like Qianbin's appearance, Yadan couldn't have gone so far as to humiliate her again and again which made her suffer in silence!"

Every time Madame Tao thought of her beloved grandniece, she felt a rush of anger, "They have been married for ten years. The number of Yadan staying in Qianbin's room is few. How can Qianbin get pregnant? And Madame Dou always uses this against Qianbin… Chaohai always takes Jiang Qianshan into consideration and refuses to criticize the first branch which makes those two more and more out of control. However, Qiyun is married to Prince of Qi now, which means that she is at Tianluan's mercy from now on. If Madame Dou dares to bully Qianbin again, I will ask Tianluan to make her daughter pay! Our Family is a big family anyway. There is no shortage of women who can be Prince of Qi's second wife!"

Jiang Yashuang didn't know his grandmother's mixed feelings at that moment. He rushed to the Ruan Family excitedly. Qiu Jinglan was able to sit in the yard for a while with others' help at that moment. Ruan Ciyi and Qiu Yelan let the servants make a soft bed under the peach tree and pile up a few cushions on the bed for him to lean on.

It was late April at that moment. The peach blossoms had fallen off, leaving the yard with all leaves.

However, several pots of peony flowers were still in bloom down the stairs. They were contending in beauty and fascination which attracted relentless bees and butterflies.

Hearing that Jiang Yashuang was here, Ruan Ciyi looked at Qiu Yelan with a smile at once, "I wonder what he brings this time?"

Jiang Yashuang came to please Qiu Yelan every now and then before. Qiu Jinglan rebuked him a lot, "Aren't you going to take the imperial exam in autumn back at your hometown? Why do you keep coming here?"

Jiang Yashuang had thought that his future brother-in-law was concerned about his study at first. And he was moving. However, Qiu Jinglan continued, "If you fail at the exam because you are not good enough, your family will blame my sister! When you come here for no reason next time, Dongran will kick the doorman out who dares to open the door for you and we will never hire the doorman again!"

Jiang Yashuang who was heartbroken got kicked out of the Ruan Family like that. So, whenever he went to the Ruan Family after that, he always needed to find a reason to avoid being shut out.

So, Ruan Ciyi assumed that Jiang Yashuang was missing Qiu Yelan again. She didn't bother about Qiu Jinglan's identity for long. After all, no matter he was her half-brother or her cousin, it was good enough for her to have a brother. To be honest, she was more familiar with Qing Jinglan. She held him once when he was a kid.

Besides, Qiu Jinglan nearly died this time. Ruan Ciyi was so worried about him. She would do anything as long as he could get better… Focusing on that made her forget about the pain in her last marriage!

Qiu Jinglan was getting better. And Ruan Ciyi was regaining her girlhood temperament. She began to talk and laugh with her cousins.

Qiu Yelan was playing with a peony at that moment. Hearing what Ruan Ciyi said, she patted her and pretended to be angry, "Don't tease me!"

"Who is teasing you?" Ruan Ciyi smiled, "Isn't it the truth?"

Seeing that Qiu Jinglan was smiling and silent, Ruan Ciyi gave Qiu Yelan a sidelong glance. And then she said to Qiu Jinglan, "He looks sincere to me. If you want to send him back to study, don't be too mean. He looks pathetic getting rebuked by you!"

Hearing that, Qiu Jinglan smiled, "Ciyi, don't feel sorry for him. We can't take this lightly. He may be reasonable. But his family may not! We can't let Yelan take the blame before they get married!"

Ruan Ciyi sighed, "Big family indeed has a lot of gossips." Speaking of which, she looked at Qiu Yelan, "Listen to your brother more to avoid getting tricked by others after you get married!"

Qiu Yelan whined, "Aren't you guys sick of saying the same thing serval times a day?"

"If you weren't my sister, I wouldn't bother saying that to you!" Qiu Jinglan said flatly.

"You also say that serval times a day…" Qiu Yelan muttered to herself languidly.

Jiang Yashuang was led in at that moment. Seeing that he went in empty-handed and the young servant behind him also didn't bring anything, they all felt surprised.

"Hello, Ms. Ruan," after Jiang Yashuang went in, he greeted Ruan Ciyi and Qiu Jinglan in a hurry, "Jinglan, how is your wound?" And then he looked towards Qiu Yelan with love, "Do you like the preserved fruit I sent you before? If you don't like it, I'll send you another."

Qiu Yelan sensibly put on a reserved look in front of Qiu Jinglan and nodded coldly, "It's fine!"

"Why are you here again?" Although Ruan Ciyi became more outgoing, she was much quieter in front of outsiders. Qiu Jinglan waited for a while and she was still quiet. He frowned and asked flatly, "Didn't I tell you to stay at home and study? You should come here less. In case my sister gets the blame when you fail at the exam."

Jiang Yashuang said with a smile, "I'm here to tell you guys the good news." After saying that, he paused on purpose. However, Ruan Ciyi was silent. She didn't ask even she was curious. Qiu Jinglan needed to put on airs. He didn't say anything on purpose. Qiu Yelan wanted to ask. But her brother's stare made her silent.

Jiang Yashuang wasn't able to keep them in suspense. He said embarrassedly, "My grandmother will send the official matchmaker to the Prince's Mansion of Xihe to negotiate the marriage tomorrow!"

"Oh?" Hearing that Qiu Jinglan was relieved. Although Qiu Yelan was no longer engaged when she and Deng Yi were sentenced to "compulsory divorce", she and Jiang Yashuang had been together for years, there was no future for her if she didn't marry him. Without the Jiang Family proposing a marriage, although Qiu Jinglan didn't mention it, he was always afraid that there might be accidents.

Now after getting the confirmation, Qiu Jinglan was finally relieved!

Seeing that, Jiang Yashuang took the chance to ask, "Jinglan, I haven't seen Lanlan for a few days. Can I talk to her?"

"No!" However, Qiu Jinglan whose look was just getting better shook his head without thinking, "You guys aren't married yet and just made the decision. How can you guys spend time in private? Besides, if you don't have anything else to say, go back and study. Just like I used to say. There will be ample time. Don't implicate my sister!"

"…" Jiang Yashuang looked towards Qiu Yelan ruefully. And she gave him a "nothing I could do" look. They both sighed inwardly. Jiang Yashuang put on a fake smile, "You are right. Then… I'm leaving!"

"What should I do? I really want to punch this brother-in-law."