Real Empress from a noble family

"Yelan, I am sorry about what happened yesterday!" He Shuijin said, saying sorry to her when walking into the Flower Hall.

Qiu Yelan hurried to hold her arm, saying, "Shuijin, don't mention it! It's none of your business. It was Madame Dou Junior and Madame Miao who don't like me."

"What you said hurts my feelings!" He Shuijin said with red eyes. She was almost crying. "I knew that Madame Dou Junior and Madame Miao don't like you. However, they did not mention the phoenix hairpin. It was obvious that they did not want to look into it! Actually, it was us who did not hold it very well, which made the conflict severer. We even did not attempt to help you out. But we fueled it! If Madame Shi, Madame Zhang and I had tried to appease it, Madame Tao Junior would not have been wronged. We know, you just got married. If we had handled it well, you would not have been scolded by parents."

Qiu Yelan thought that you were pretending to be a good girl and it was because the whole third branch who should be blamed for the conflict. You wanted to remind me that I should not hate you if I wanted to.

She said dismissively, "I know you have the difficulties that you don't want to mention. But, Madame Shi, Madame Zhang and you are in the same branch. You must have made them angry about you when you began to be in charge of the house over them. They started the fight yesterday. If you had not echoed them, you might have offended them."

He Shuijin paused. Obviously, her prepared words had been spoken out by Qiu Yelan. Hence, all of a sudden, she had nothing to say.

Thanked her quick response, she got an idea when she was wiping her tears. She said, "Yelan, thanks for your consideration. What you said dwarfed me! But I believe that this thing is not over. If we only had to deal with Madame Shi and Madame Zhang, I would not have put you on the spot. We have a good and deep relationship and I am not a girl who is afraid of trouble haunting over me!"

Hearing her words, Qiu Yelan showed her surprise, "Oh? Shuijin, what do you mean? Is there anything I don't know?"

"You are right!" He Shuijin was pleased to see her surprise. This meant that the initiative of the talking between them was back to her hand again. Hence, she became calmer and continued to say, "Over the past months, as for the biggest thing in the court, I think you have known it, right?"

"The biggest thing… Is it the fight for the status of the crown prince?" Qiu Yelan said, squinting. She almost had known what He Shuijin wanted to say.

Surely, He Shuijin nodded, saying, "That is the exact thing I am talking about!"

"But it is a thing in the court. I don't think it has something related to the battle in the Imperial Harem?" Qiu Yelan asked.

"Yashuang did not tell you what's going on?" He Shuijin asked for confirmation. Seeing her shaking her head, she said with relief, "I guess he thought that you couple got married not long ago. He did not want to bother you with those things…" After all, Jiang Yashuang was born and raised in her family. She also knew that Qiu Yelan was not a gentle girl. So, she found a good reason for Jiang Yashuang, trying to get him not to be blamed by Qiu Yelan later. She continued, "As a matter of fact, I don't know much about the thing. I just heard a little from my mother. Yashuang might have done something great in the fight for the status of the crown prince!"

"Thanks to his contribution, we all think that the status of the Jiang Family will be stable! I think you two will be rewarded a lion share for his contribution." He Shuijin sighed. "But there have been many seniors in the court. If the government creates one more senior position, it may devalue the positions. Hence, when one gets a big one, the others, of course, will get less. Against this background, many people hope Yashuang and you make mistakes! So, they can find a reason to grab your rewards!"

Qiu Yelan frowned, "I don't know this!" She thought for a second and asked, "Shuijin, so, about what happened yesterday, you, Madame Shi and Madame Zhang were intentionally to let me fight with the first branch… Is it because, I guess, our third aunt asked you to do it? So, you did not defy her, right?"

"… I don't dare agree with what you guessed," said He Shuijin, pausing for a while. "Anyway, I have noticed that there is a rumor circulating in our family. That is: the fourth branch, Yadan and Yazhu, they all… Among them, only Yashuang can win credits for the Jiang Family! He is young but gets the lion share of the rewards… It… shames other branches…"

"Wow, very impressive. You are truly a girl who could be in charge of the Marquess Qin's family before getting married! You even dare betray your mother-in-law and your aunt!" Qiu Yelan thought, frowning. However, she did not show her anxiety to her. She continued to think, "If I believe what you said, I will be in your trap. I must think that there will be no good person in the family at all?!"

After hearing He Shuijin's words, she confirmed that she had known what He Shuijin planned. As she just got married and knew the Jiang Family not well, He Shuijin must have planned to seize the chance to frighten her to death and make Qiu Yelan seek help from her. And at last, He Shuijin could get Qiu Yelan to stand at the side of her.

"She might also have planned that I could be her helper someday and teach somebody a lesson. After I kick somebody's ass, she could stand out, scolding me for what I did. And she also must have planned that I would thank for her favor…" Qiu Yelan was guessing what He Shuijin had planned. "A girl under 20s is so shrewd. No wonder she could arrange everything in the family in order. Even Madame Shi and Madame Zhang are not convinced, they can do nothing about her!"

"But Shuijin, you calculated everything but left one. The big reward Yashuang got from the fight for the status of the crown prince is attributed to… Okay, it was because I saved Xue Nongying's life, which made Xue Chang stand firmly on the opposite of Empress Dowager Gu with the disguise of the neutral party," thought Qiu Yelan, squinting. "But, whatever, it is a big secret. The people from the Jiang Family who could attend the court meeting or involved in the fight must have known it. They would be unlikely to tell this secret to their indoor wives!"

She mulled over for a second and said slowly, "Oh, I see. That means uncles and brothers of the family. They are unhappy about Yashuang?"

He Shuijin sighed, "The Jiang Family is so big. You know, there are many things out of our control… Take me as an example, why could I be in charge of the Marquess's Mansion's account before getting married? At that time, it was my mother who was in charge of it. But the brothers squandered a big sum of money every year, which made a big hole in the account. My mother was afraid that the seniors would slam her. So, she secretly sold her dowry to fill the hole. Unfortunately, in less than two years, she could not afford it any longer… My mother was so worried that she rushed back to the He Family, crying about the account to my grandma. I accidentally overheard what she said and gave her ideas. She followed my ideas, and finally, she turned losses into profit. And then, I was engaged to Jiang Yaheng!"

"They urged me to check the account all the time… And then, my mother was ill. Because of this, she told my grandmother that I was capable of being in charge of the account!" He Shuijin said, biting her lip. "Since then, Madame Shi and Madame Zhang have been unhappy about me! But I dared not offend them. If they could be in charge of the account, it would be a relief for me. You know, I have my business to run!"

Qiu Yelan nodded without saying a word, showing that she understood her feelings. But she thought, "If somebody, for example, it was Jiang Yadan in the Jiang Family, who squandered a lot of money, why did your mother use her own dowry to fill the hole? Part of the money must be squandered by her husband and son. They must have squandered the most! Madame He must be afraid that Marquess Qin would accuse her of her failure in the account. So, she had to burden all sufferings and used her dowry to fill the hole. And later, she found that you, He Shuijin, knew much about how to run business. She, of course, would not be stupid to let you go as she was caught in the hot pot!"

Actually, He Shuijin was a pathetic girl in the family. She gave her aunt good ideas, but she finally became the daughter-in-law of her own aunt. Fortunately, Jiang Yaheng treated her nicely. Or her marriage could be assumed as a tragedy.

"So, Yelan, you and Yashuang must take care of yourselves!" He Shuijin said, pursing her lips. She continued to say, "Not long ago, about what happened to Wan, I thought only the first branch would argue with you about the phoenix hairpin. Recently, I heard that all family members are unhappy about you two… Please, promise me, you won't spread what I told you today. Even some words you leak to others will kill me!"

"Mum's the word! Shuijin. I won't say a word to others!" Qiu Yelan said promptly. "You have done much for us. If I betray you, I must be an animal."

He Shuijin smiled, "I've been watching Yashuang growing up. I treat him like my brother! As for you, although our first meeting was two or three years ago, I already treated you like a mind-like person." She sighed and continued, "And, to be honest, although my mother asked me to be in charge of the account, she always feels sorry to Madame Shi and Madame Zhang… I am living in the third branch, but I do not have a soulmate there! I used to talk with Qizheng before she got married. Now, she left, and I… I have nowhere to go but your place. I am hoping that you won't kick me out of your room."

"Don't say that. I welcome you to come here. You know what, you can be my mentor, teaching me how to live in the family." Qiu Yelan said, adding, "As you mentioned the attitude of the family, in my opinion, I think they are unduly impatient!"

He Shuijin was surprised, "You mean?"

"The rewards for contribution in the fight for the status of the crown prince, in principle, will be determined by grandfather and Her Majesty. But the other family members have already planned to suppress us. Do you think grandfather and Her Majesty did not know their plan?" Qiu Yelan said dismissively. "Maybe, grandfather and Her Majesty will comfort us with a reward at last because what they did to us! If I had known their plan earlier, I would have pushed away Madame Tao Junior and got that slap myself!"

"If you got that slap, Yashuang must be heartbroken," He Shuijin said with a flash in her eyes. She added with a smile, "It's late now. I have something else to deal with in my home… See you around!"

"See you then!" Qiu Yelan walked her to the gate. They continued some small words until she got into her sedan. Qiu Yelan then went back slowly with a happy face.

Su He, who was standing beside them and serving tea, asked promptly when Qiu Yelan walked into the room, "About the thing Mrs. He said…"

"I have said it. They are too impatient!" Qiu Yelan grunted. She sat on the bed, taking Fufang tea handed by Su He and sipping it. She whispered, "Now I see that what happened to Wan is a disguise! The first branch started the trouble explicitly and the third branch fueled it implicitly. Their goal is nothing but to force us, the fourth branch to make mistakes. So, they can gain good reasons to cut the share of our rewards. You think about it. Although He Shuijin and I know each other well, we are not that well! I actually do not know her personality. Seeing I slapped Madame Miao without hesitation, she might realize I am not a person who should be provoked!"

He Shuijin's deduction was not an arbitrary one. Anyone who could hold back the provocation would not go there, begging to be slapped in the face intentionally in the knowledge that the first branch grudged about the phoenix hairpin rewarded by Marquess Qin.

What was more, in the sisters-in-law's party, Qiu Yelan did slap Madame Miao in the face.

"I think, it will be better I offend everyone in the family after knowing that they all are unhappy about my husband!" Qiu Yelan said dismissively, adding, "Even though I can't offend them all at once, I will do it gradually…"

Su He was stunned after hearing her words, "But you said before that the third branch wanted to win us over?"

"After we offend as many as they wished and our rewards share is cut off, the third branch will stand out, trying to be nice to us. That's what they planned to do! What's more, the third aunt doesn't know what's going on. So does the third uncle? Why did they say nothing and let them be trapped? That is because what they planned is also the third uncle planned!" Qiu Yelan said, pushing away Whitey who jumped and rested on her thighs. "It's so hot. Go away, you cat!"

Su He, after holding the Persian cat, expressed her dissatisfaction, "I remembered in winter, you did not say so. At that time, you wanted to keep him on your thighs all the time!"

"Sure. But now it is summer. He is useless now!" Qiu Yelan said, pushing away Nianxue who also wanted to rest on her thighs. "Send them to me when it becomes cold!"

"…" Su He was speechless. She stroked Whitey's head, deciding to talk about something else. "Anyway, although Shuijin is a calculating girl, what she talked about was true? Is it real that each branch is unhappy about us now?"

Not taking it seriously, Qiu Yelan replied, "Yes, that's true. So what? What I told her is also true. As long as grandfather and Her Majesty control the family, nothing else is important." She squinted, adding, "What's more, we don't know who the winner will be in the battle. Nobody can guess out the result until the last minute."

Meanwhile, in the third branch's room, Madame He was instructing He Shuijin, "… It is not the best way to win Qiu Yelan over. The key to the problem is how to win your grandfather!"