Real Empress from a noble family

"Yummy!" It was so hot that he kept exhaling. But he couldn't help complimenting.

Then he looked at his wife guiltily. Qiu Yelan who was busy cooking on another stove didn't look back, "Got burned? It's your punishment for stealing food! Just this one more dish to be served. But you still couldn't wait! Drink some cold water!"

"It's because your cooking is so good!" Jiang Yashuang took the cold water from Su He and drank a mouthful. He felt his tongue was getting better. So, he approached Qiu Yelan and played up to her, "I'm here to help…"

Qiu Yelan was staring at the pot with rapt attention. Hearing that, she said, "Good. Pass me the salt!"

"Here!" Jiang Yashuang picked up a porcelain bowl without hesitation and handed it to her. Qiu Yelan took it over and was about to put things inside into the pot. Su He shouted, "Wait!"

Her voice was high and out of the blue. They were both scared and turned around at the same time.

"That's alum!" Su He reminded with caution, "The second one on the left of alum is salt!"

"…" Jiang Yashuang was frustrated. He handed the real salt in a hurry.

Qiu Yelan gave him a teasing look. She opened the salt bowl and sprinkled some salt in the pot. And then stirred the dish with a spatula. Jiang Yashuang gesticulated vigorously with his hand behind his back. Su He endured to smile and handed him a pair of long chopsticks.

Right when Qiu Yelan stopped stirring, Jiang Yashuang stuck the chopsticks into the pot without hesitation. And he volunteered, "Let me try it for you!"

"Be careful. It's hot!" Qiu Yelan was frustrated. The last dish was done. The servants would serve it. She took off the smock and went outside, "Do you have to be like this? When the dishes are served later, you can have as many as you want! Couldn't you wait for just a little while?"

"You go first. I'll urge them to serve the dishes!" Like when she was cooking, Jiang Yashuang was staring at the pot with rapt attention. He said without turning around. Qiu Yelan went to the inner chamber to fresh up. After washing away the cooking smell, when she came out again, she saw all the dishes were on the table. But the portions of each dish were smaller. And then she saw the oil stain at the corner of Jiang Yashuang's mouth which he didn't have time to wipe it out. She was frustrated for a while and then asked, "Can you still eat?"

Jiang Yashuang said proudly, "I can't get enough of your cooking!"

"I suddenly regret having promised to cook for you by myself…" Qiu Yelan sat down complaining and sighed, "You are so greedy now. Will you get fat? And then you won't be as good looking as now!"

Chunran and others all coughed. Jiang Yashuang looked at her for a while and smiled weirdly, "Don't worry. I won't let myself become ugly no matter how much I eat!"

"That's more like it!" Qiu Yelan was joking. And then she heard Jiang Yashuang muttering, "Don't think that I don't know! Did you agree to cook for me because of my good looking? If I become less attractive… Will you continue cooking for me? Don't think about slacking off!"

"Don't act like a foodie all the sudden!" Qiu Yelan was frustrated. After they finished eating, the servants offered them tea to rinse their mouths. And then the servants offered them tea to drink. She took over the teacup and played with it. Then she looked up and asked, "How about the thing this time?"

After she was off the hook, she heard that Marquess Qin summoned Jiang Yashuang right after he was off work. So, she went directly to the kitchen to cook in order to reward her husband. They hadn't shared their experiences yet.

"Didn't my grandmother have everything arranged?" Jiang Yashuang took a sip of his tea and said with a faint smile, "Anyway, grandfather thought that you were young and spirited. He asked me to guide you properly. In case someone takes advantage of you and you don't even know…"

"Just like this?" Qiu Yelan asked, "So, the grandfather thought the third branch was the one to blame?"

"Grandfather does feel disappointed about the third branch now… But he can't warn them in public. So, you are still the one to be punished. First, you need to invite Madame Miao to dinner to apologize to her in a few days." Jiang Yashuang said cynically, "Of course, second sister-in-law also needs to apologize to eighth sister-in-law… Oh. Grandfather said that I was not strict enough with you. So, I need to go to apologize with you."

Qiu Yelan didn't care, "Fine, I'll apologize. Right, Yayue isn't in the city. Only Madame Miao will go to apologize to Madame Tao Junior. Will Madame Tao Junior get other compensations? In fact, she is the most innocent one today."

"You'll be disappointed." Thinking of Jiang Yayue, Jiang Yashuang's look got more complicated. He said flatly, "Grandfather didn't ask Madame Miao to treat."

"How come!" Qiu Yelan was stunned and then angry, "Madame Tao Junior is the eldest sister-in-law of our branch! Madame Miao is nothing compared with her. This is outrageous!"

She liked Madame Tao Junior before because Madame Tao Junior was gentle and kind, who guided her the new daughter-in-law of the Jiang Family carefully. However, when Madame Miao wanted to hit her today, Madame Tao Junior stood in front of her. Although Qiu Yelan wasn't afraid of Madame Miao even without Madame Tao Junior shielding her and Madame Tao Junior might be sure that Madame Miao didn't dare to hit her, how could she bear to let this kind of sister-in-law keep being bullied?

She threw a tantrum for a while. Seeing that Jiang Yashuang was just smiling, she sent away the servants and approached him, "Madame Tao Junior suffered great humiliation for me today. Are you going to let it go just like that?"

Jiang Yashuang took a sip of tea and glanced at her, "Knowing that Madame Tao Junior did that for you and I also will do something for you… What should you do?"

Qiu Yelan leaned against his shoulder and put her arms around his neck. Then she kissed him on each cheek.

"Not… Very sincere!" Jiang Yashuang wasn't satisfied and leered at her, "This time is tricky… Right?"

Qiu Yelan hit his hand grumpily and shouted, "I'm serious!"

"Put on your best behavior tonight. And I'll tell you tomorrow!" Jiang Yashuang wasn't swayed and demanded calmly, "Don't play fox and don't fight back! It's non-negotiable!"

"You are over the line!" Qiu Yelan shook his arm with frustration and fawned, "Tell me… You never kept things from me before. Have you really gone bad?"

Jiang Yashuang turned sideways and kissed her neck for a while. Then he said with a smile, "Who's going to keep this from you? As long as you behave, I'll tell you tomorrow."

"You never asked me for anything before…"

"Was I such a gentleman?" Jiang Yashuang leered at her, "I remembered I have asked you for things many times…"

Qiu Yelan squinted, "Then you'd better think it through! Do you want benefits like this in the future or not?"

"You are married anyway," Jiang Yashuang obviously planned to show his true colors. He touched her cheeks and smiled, "If you don't want to give me the benefit, I'll take it myself… So, you have to behave, understand?"

"Okay, okay. Anything you need…" Qiu Yelan struggled for a bit and couldn't break free. She had an idea and nestled into his arms suddenly. She said prettily, "Please just tell me!"

Jiang Yashuang said with a smile, "No. I'll tell you tomorrow. Don't think of me as a fool. You agree so easily right now. But after I tell you, you definitely will deny!"

She clearly didn't have enough credit after all the bad things she had done.

Qiu Yelan was so depressed. She was about to say something. Jiang Yashuang rubbed against her cheeks and asked first, "Right. Did you mention He Shuijin to grandmother on purpose today?"

"Oh. Grandmother saw through me?" Qiu Yelan said so. But she didn't look like she cared, "We agreed to go after the first branch together. We can't do all the heavy lifting and get punished by the elders, and let the third branch profit from our conflict, can we?"

She continued, "I bet that Shuijin will come to me in a few days. And she will tell me that Madame Shi and Madame Zhang told her to sow discord today. As the youngest daughter-in-law of the third branch, she had to listen to them… She will expect that I'd better hate every one of the third branch except her!"

Jiang Yashuang reminded her before that He Shuijin was very scheming. And she would have been so stupid if she hadn't guarded against her at Madame Zhang's place today!

Although Qiu Yelan meant to humiliate the first branch, it didn't mean that she was happy to be played by He Shuijin.

She pretended to be worrying about Jiang Yadan just now. She didn't mean to hide it from Madame Tao. Anyway, since everyone participated in the fighting of the sisters-in-law get-together, no one could escape unscathed!

Jiang Yashuang smiled, "I thought you were close to her before. So, you would go easy on her and wouldn't expose her."

"She wants to be the good daughter-in-law of the third branch. Then I should think for our branch, should I?" Qiu Yelan puckered her lips and said flatly, "Otherwise, the elders will probably think that I'm block-headed. Didn't grandfather ask me not to be used by others?"

Jiang Qizheng invited her to go hiking at Jinxiu Slope at the beginning of last year. It was her first time to go there. Before they departed, He Shuijin got on her carriage and tried to be friends with her. But at the bottom of the Jinxiu Slope, Jiang Qiyun and Jiang Qisheng gave Qiu Yelan a hard time. Among all the companions, she was only familiar with Jiang Qizheng and He Shuijin.

But only Jiang Qizheng kept trying to help her.

He Shuijin kept her head down and pretended not to see or hear.

Instead, Zhuang Man stood up for her.

So, Qiu Yelan always considered Zhuang Man as her best friend.

He Shuijin surely had her own difficulties. As Jiang Qisheng's future sister-in-law back then, she couldn't humiliate her… However, Qiu Yelan also had her own difficulties in exposing her in front of Madame Tao. As the new daughter-in-law of the Jiang Family whose husband was the most valued offspring, if she didn't show her shrewdness, how disappointed the elders should be?

Especially, He Shuijin was good at managing the family and the money. As the youngest daughter-in-law of the third branch, she got to supervise the household instead of her two sisters-in-law right after she got married. As the daughters-in-law, Madame Tao Junior of the fourth branch was weak. And Sheng Shishui's origin was awkward. Qiu Yelan couldn't count on either of them. If she wasn't fierce, how could her branch keep a foothold among others?

She didn't think of competing with He Shuijin for supervising the household. First, it wasn't realistic. Second, she wasn't interested. However, she exposed He Shuijin's little scheme euphemistically which would let the elders know that she figured it out but didn't expose it to the public. Qiu Yelan didn't feel guilty doing so.

"I'm not blaming you. I just have those feelings. You know that she treated me like her own brother before. In the twinkling of an eye, although we aren't enemies, we begin to scheme against each other. I feel so sorry about this kind of change." Jiang Yashuang exhaled. Qiu Yelan just spent time with He Shuijin for two years. She didn't feel pressure because they spent time with each other courteously but without sincerity. Comparing to that, Jiang Yashuang who called her sister during his childhood felt no less affection for her than for Jiang Qizheng.

But he wasn't a sentimental person after all. Besides, they were just scheming against He Shuijin. They didn't have a conflict in nature. So, he was gloomy for a while. Then he moved on and smiled, "I knew you were too smart to suffer losses!"

They were in it together. And Qiu Yelan was thinking for their branch. Although Jiang Yashuang felt sorry for the alienation and estrangement between him and He Shuijin, he couldn't blame his wife. They were on the same side after all.

"Grandmother went to grandfather's place to talk about this just now? I wonder what those three of the third branch will say next time they meet in private." Qiu Yelan knew that he wasn't the silly type. She asked with care, "I don't mind. I'm just worried about Madame Tao Junior and Shishui getting implicated."

Jiang Yashuang smiled, "Grandmother just revealed it to me. How could she reveal it to the third branch? Trust me. Even if the third branch finds out that when grandmother talked to grandfather, she described them as the worst one, they still may not suspect you… After all, my grandfather favors the first branch more and my grandmother favors us more, which is a tacit truth in our family. Grandmother will make the third branch the scapegoat voluntarily without you telling her the truth!"

Qiu Yelan leaned against him and sighed with flagging interest, "Alas. I really have a lot to worry about as your wife!"

"What can you do about it?" Jiang Yashuang answered calmly, "Who let you covet my beauty? How could others not envy you for hogging such a handsome man like me? It's called a man's wealth is his own ruin… Who else should be worried but you?"

"…" Qiu Yelan turned around and bit his Adam's apple gently. She said angrily, "I won't be worried anymore! You will be worried about things yourself. I quit!"