Real Empress from a noble family

"Yeah, on the way, we…" Madame Dou Junior only said half of the sentence before she fell silent. She stared at the phoenix hairpin for a moment. Seeing Madame Zhang looking confused, Sheng Shishui looked down without saying anything. Madame Tao Junior was blushing. She pulled Qiu Yelan's sleeve with strength. Yet Qiu Yelan didn't do or say anything. She calmly smiled at Madame Dou Junior, "Isn't this hairpin beautiful, big sister-in-law? Grandfather gave it to me. I have been looking at it for the past two days. I couldn't help but put it on today."

It looked like the only thing missing showing her attitude was the word "provoke" on her face. Madame Dou Junior clearly understood it.

Let alone Madame Dou Junior, even Madame Miao, the wife of Jiang Yayue, who was wearing a yellow skirt, straightened her face. But they looked at each other and didn't answer Qiu Yelan. Instead, they looked at Madame Tao Junior who was in much stress and said coldly, "We didn't think thoroughly and came too early. Are we disturbing you? Should we go outside and wait?"

Madame Tao Junior said surprisingly, "No. Disturb us from what?"

"Shuijin's maid, Wan." Madame Miao said with a weird tone, "We thought you came early today to apologize to Shuijin again!"

"Speaking of which, He Shuijin, you didn't do this right. It isn't the first time Jiang Yadan made a mistake with women." Madame Dou Junior immediately picked up the topic. She posed the condescending attitude as the oldest sister-in-law and scolded, "After all, Madame Dou Junior is not like you. You keep a tight leash on Jiang Yaheng. Which man doesn't have an affair? Madame Dou Junior is so virtuous. She will give a title to Wan. Yet Wan is a mess. She committed suicide on the big day of Jiang Yashuang and Qiu Yelan! At least, she did think for you and killed herself outside! For this kind of naive maid, you went to speak for her…"

When He Shuijin heard Madame Miao speaking, her smile disappeared. Now her face went all green!

Madame Tao Junior wished she could find a place to escape. She looked down and didn't know what to say!

Qiu Yelan sighed in her heart. She thought Madame Tao Junior was a good person. She wouldn't bully anyone. But she was too nice! Anyone could bully her as they wanted!

She knew with the background of Sheng Shishui and the status of Jiang Yazhu in the Jiang Family, even if Sheng Shishui had spoken out, it would have been useless. So, she touched her phoenix hairpin. Without question, she gained a hateful look from Madame Dou Junior. She then said, "Your information is too outdated. Grandfather cleared out the matter with Wan on the evening I went to serve the tea. At then, everyone said they would forget this. Don't you know?"

Madame Dou Junior glanced at her without any expression, "Really? We didn't know. After all, no one told us. We just heard the servants saying that He Shuijin cried for a whole afternoon. Now, this is…"

"No wonder." Qiu Yelan interrupted her calmly, "After all, this is Marquess's Mansion's matter. It's not something that needs to be promoted. Why should we tell you intentionally?"

"You…" Madame Miao looked angry. Qiu Yelan was implying that they had exceeded their duties and meddled in other's affairs.

Madame Dou Junior's eyes went cold, "We can't take that! We heard that He Shuijin made a huge fuss the other day. We are worried that it will hurt the relationship of our wives in the Jiang Family. So, we mentioned it! If you think we are meddling with your business. Then we don't dare to say another thing to your side!"

She emphasized the word "Jiang Family", reminding Qiu Yelan that she was the oldest sister-in-law in this generation of the Jiang Family! There was nothing wrong with her scolding a younger brother's wife.

"Even the second uncle's wife, when we or our mother are present, she will ask us about it!" Madame Miao laughed coldly. She talked to Madame Zhuang Junior with a low voice and said, "Qiu Yelan is really imposing!"

"Looks like you need to discipline your servants!" Qiu Yelan said calmly, "He Shuijin did go to the grandmother that day. But who said she made a huge fuss? She served grandmother for half a day. How come the servants in the first branch said she cried for a whole afternoon? That was really ill-intentioned! It was implying that Shuijin didn't care about the grandmother! This kind of servants will truly hurt our relationship if they're not disciplined because they'll just get bolder!"

She looked at He Shuijin and said, "Why don't you tell us what happened that day?"

He Shuijin naturally went along with her, "Just like what you said. I did go to see the grandmother for Wan's matter. But it finished quite quickly. Then I chatted with grandmother and Madame Tao Junior. How come I was crying? You guys should know me by now. I like to chat and laugh since I was little. I've only cried a few times in my life!"

"Then why did Jiang Yashuang and Qiu Yelan come over in the evening?" Seeing them distorting the fact together, Madame Miao said angrily!

"Funny that you said that!" Qiu Yelan didn't even raise her eyes, "Can't we go to see grandmother when Madame Tao Junior and He Shuijin are there? Or do you have this rule in the Miao Family that when your sisters-in-law are with the elders, the younger brothers and their wives can't go to serve the elders?"

Madame Miao was furious, "You don't get to talk about my family rules!"

"Who cares about your family rules?!" Qiu Yelan immediately raised her volume to be higher than Madame Miao's, "But since the Jiang Family doesn't have this kind of rule, I'm not wrong! Your family has this kind of rule. Don't put in on the Jiang Family! My husband is Jiang Yashuang, not Miao Yashuang. You're my sister-in-law but that doesn't mean you can be unreasonable!"

Before Madame Dou Junior could say anything, she used the complaining card first, "That's just too much! I need to go to see grandmother and ask her to judge this! I also need to ask Aunt Yang that whether it is reasonable for the sister-in-law to use her family's rules to restrain her younger brother's wife. If I didn't know any better, I would think Jiang Yayue married into the Miao Family! Wait, that still doesn't mean I need to follow your rules! You're really over the line!"

"…!!!"

A moment ago, they were still just arguing. Now after a few sentences, Qiu Yelan was walking outside. Madame Zhang immediately went to grab her, "Calm down. I don't think Madame Miao is this inappropriate." The third branch didn't have a good relationship with the first branch. So, she would take every opportunity to belittle them, "She must have said the wrong thing because she is short-tempered!"

Madame Shi immediately echoed, "Exactly!" She then said to Madame Miao, "Just explain to Yelan. She is the daughter-in-law of the Jiang Family. She will never follow the rules of your Miao Family, right?"

He Shuijin said calmly, "Don't get angry, Yelan. Madame Miao is a straightforward person. She says whatever she doubts." She then turned to Madame Miao and sighed, "You'd rather trust what the servants overheard than believing me and Yelan. This… This really hurts our relationship!"

"You…!" Madame Miao could clearly see that the third branch looked like they were smoothing things over but actually they were being sarcastic. She was so furious that she started shaking. Madame Dou Junior gripped her hand with strength. She said with a deep voice, "Yelan, you're being too dramatic. We're waiting for you specially to have this party. When did Madame Miao say that you need to follow her family rules? You're intentionally twisting her meanings. Do you have some misunderstanding with Madame Miao? No matter what, we're all part of the Jiang Family now. Even if we used to have some problems, thinking about the bloodline of our husbands, I think we better solve it rather than holding the grudge. What do you think?"

Qiu Yelan complained in her heart. Madame Dou Junior was indeed the oldest daughter-in-law in the generation of grandchildren. She turned the situation their way with a couple of sentences and even blamed it on Qiu Yelan.

Looking at her kind look, which posed as the elders in the family and not wanted them to have any problems, Qiu Yelan cursed her and thought her "play dumb" in the heart and then said, "I'm so confused by what you said. I met Madame Miao on the day that I served the tea. What kind of misunderstanding can I have? Why did you just assume that we have a misunderstanding? Do you want us to have one? Otherwise, why would you say something ominous?"

"If you think this way, then we really don't dare to visit you anymore!" Madame Dou Junior looked angry. She then shook her head and said, "I just said some normal things. Yet you doubt me like this. How can we talk with you?"

"It's all just a misunderstanding. We're gathered here to have some fun." Madame Tao Junior didn't find her courage until now. She looked pleadingly at the two parties and said, "Why don't we just forget this and sit down?"

Madame Zhang actually hoped that Qiu Yelan and Madame Dou Junior would continue. The bigger their grudges the better.

But since Madame Tao Junior said that, they couldn't just continue watching. If this had gotten big and the words had gotten out, when Marquess Qin learned that the daughters-in-law in the third branch just stood by, he wouldn't have been happy.

Even though Marquess Qin wouldn't just say someone was not good, but if this had implicated the third branch, Madame He wouldn't have forgiven them.

So, she sighed regrettably in her heart and said, "Right, right! We're all family. Even if we have some small quarrel, after a couple of drinks, we'll all forget it. How can we take that seriously?"

She took the lead and Madame Shi, He Shuijin, and Mi Yinyin echoed. They persuaded and coaxed, pulled and grabbed. Finally, they put Qiu Yelan and the three from the first branch on the seats. Madame Zhang urged the servants to bring in the food and drink to cover up the conflict.

"You just came to the family, Yelan, I'll toast you!" When the drinks arrived, before Qiu Yelan toasted the sisters-in-law, Madame Zhuang Junior helplessly picked up the drink under the hint of Madame Dou Junior.

"I should toast you guys. How can I take your toast?" Qiu Yelan drank up and turned the cup upside down to show the empty cup to everyone.

Seeing how outright she was, Madame Dou Junior and Madame Miao's eyes blinked. They all held up the drink with a faint smile, "We're all family. There are not many rules of etiquette. You're just married. We should toast you. Wish you and Jiang Yashuang get old together and have a son soon!"

They then emptied the cup.

Qiu Yelan immediately followed.

Then Madame Miao said to propose another toast to Qiu Yelan. Qiu Yelan continued to empty it.

Madame Zhuang Junior who received the hint again held up the cup with a bitter smile, "You're really good at drinking. Another one?"

"How can I refuse you?" Qiu Yelan showed the empty cup cheerfully.

The three from the first branch toasted two rounds. Madame Dou Junior felt like she was already dizzy. But Qiu Yelan was still refreshing. She immediately knew that Qiu Yelan could drink like a fish.

"Can't I take her down here?" Madame Dou Junior gritted her teeth secretly, "This bitch is so arrogant! How can I take it if I don't teach her a lesson today?"

She thought quickly and pretended to be really drunk when she was just feeling tipsy. She stood up and staggered in front of Qiu Yelan with hazy eyes, "Ye… Yelan. I'll toast you another…"

Before she could finish, she fell on Qiu Yelan while holding the cup!