Real Empress from a noble family

However, although Qiu Yelan rushed towards the back hall as soon as she received the news, she was a little late.

When she arrived, Qiu Feng had been taken to Jiang Yazhu and Sheng Shishui's house to see his son.

Qiu Yelan saw that only Mrs. Hu came out to tell the news and the bead curtain of Madame Tao's inner room was closed. She also vaguely heard that there were comforting words of subordinates. As such, she sighed in her heart and asked in a low voice, "Is my grandmother all right?"

Mrs. Hu smiled bitterly, "When the news first went out, Madame Tao often cried in the night… She heard nothing from anyone these days. How could she not know that in her heart? If it hadn't been for the filial piety of the sixteenth madame, who often brought young master over to cheer her up, I'm afraid Madame Tao would have fallen ill. However, Chunfu Princess's husband rushed back at this moment…"

She shook her head, "I have sent someone to invite a doctor. If you want to ask Chunfu Princess's husband something, just go to the sixteenth madame's place!"

Qiu Yelan would like to go there immediately. But as Mrs. Hu told her that the doctor was going to make the diagnosis for Madame Tao, how could she, a granddaughter-in-law, walk away? So, she said, "I will wait until the doctor finishes up with my grandmother. That's how I can feel reassured."

A few moments later the doctor arrived while the result of the diagnosis for Madame Tao was not good. At Madame Tao's age, whether she was happy or not had a great influence on her health. What happened to Jiang Qizheng and others was a big blow to her. And then she was jarred by Qiu Feng's sudden return. Although the doctor had put it politely, Qiu Yelan recognized it, "Grandmother may be sick for a few days!"

Even so, when Mrs. Hu saw the doctor off, Madame Tao called Qiu Yelan to her and told, "We said before that Qiu Feng was in Shazhou to give your brother a hand and that was why Zheng went towards the west. Now that he has come back, there has to be an explanation to back up this story!"

As she said it, her tears fell down again. After all, Madame Tao had watched Jiang Qizheng grow up. The girl was so meek that she never disobeyed Madame Tao in anything other than her marriage. But she "died" at such a young age. How could Madame Tao not feel sad?

Madame Tao sniffed and continued, "That Qiu Feng left for a year must be discussed later! But there is something that you should let Yashuang know. Zheng's death was such a tragedy that she should not be talked about by others after death! Not to mention that she has left a child. For the sake of her kid, at least when in public… Tell Yashuang, he must make a comprehensive arrangement!"

"I get it!" Qiu Yelan's mind was in turmoil and she whispered, "I promise that no one will talk about my eighteenth sister and her son!"

"Go ahead. I'm tired!" Madame Tao shook her hand and said wearily.

As Qiu Yelan asked for leave and walked out, she took a deep breath and told Su He, "Go to my sixteenth sister-in-law's place and tell Qiu Feng to go to Shazhou immediately!"

"Madame, if young master knows about it…" Su He was not stupid and she understood what Qiu Yelan meant at once. She knew that Qiu Yelan wanted to have Qiu Feng avoid meeting Jiang Yashuang. Since the news that Jiang Qizheng and the other two died tragically had gone out to Jing City, Jiang Yashuang didn't cry in front of people. But in private, he went to Jiang Qizheng's yard and stood outside for a long moment almost every day to remember his sister.

At this very juncture, Qiu Feng, who made Jiang Qizheng "die" indirectly, came back. With great anger, Jiang Yashuang would probably kill him!

So, Su He was worried that if Qiu Yelan let Qiu Feng go, the couple's relationship would go sour when Jiang Yashuang knew it.

"My grandmother told that we said before that Qiu Feng was in Shazhou and that was why my eighteenth sister went towards the west… We have to finish this story!" Qiu Yelan said in a hollow voice, "So, tell Qiu Feng to go to Shazhou immediately! And just say to others that he comes back to tell something urgent. As he finishes it, he is going to return to Shazhou to find my eighteenth sister and come back with her!"

Hearing that Madame Tao had given the word, which could be used as a cover, Su He was relieved. And then she took the order and left!

Qiu Yelan came back to her yard. But when she just changed her clothes and took a sip of tea, she saw Su He come in furiously, "Madame! I have never seen such a person! He doesn't appreciate your kindness at all! He refuses to leave and comes here, saying that he has something to tell you!"

Qiu Yelan's tea bowl was shaken a little and she hurried to casually place it on the table, "Is Qiu Feng now at the front?"

"Yes! He…" Even before Su He finished what she wanted to say, she was interrupted, "Invite him to the Flower Hall!"

Qiu Yelan knew how Qiu Feng was. As he refused to leave, she couldn't push him out of Jing City! So, it would be better to go and ask him for the truth in person before Jiang Yashuang returned! As such, she would know what to do if she needed to persuade Jiang Yashuang or something!

Upon entering the Flower Hall, she was stunned. Su He said before that Qiu Feng had lost a lot of weight and looked like a different person. She thought he was just tired. But when she saw him, she found that Qiu Feng, who was thin, was now so skinny. How horrific he looked!

"What happened to you?" Qiu Yelan was shocked and also suspicious, "Where have you been in the past year?"

Qiu Feng seemed to have known what happened to Jiang Qizheng as he looked grieved and regretful. He said drily, "I have… buried my master!"

"Your master?" Qiu Yelan felt stunned, "Why didn't you tell the princess before you left?"

Ever since that, Qiu Yelan could not understand how Qiu Feng, who always faced problems with integrity, could do such a heartless thing. Qiu Yelan thought in her mind, "No matter how unsatisfied you are with this marriage, you are a man! How could you walk away without speaking? And since that you left a letter, why did you have to lie?"

If he didn't say that he went to Shazhou to help Qiu Jinglan, Jiang Qizheng wouldn't have gone to find her husband, let alone lose her life for that!

"When my master found out I married Qizheng, he told me not to say a word about him!" Qiu Feng said darkly, "So, when I received the news that he had something urgent and asked me to return to my school, I couldn't find any other reason. And I used your brother as a cover. I thought I would be back in three or five months. And If I had found someone sometime to tell your brother and let him finish this story for me, I would have covered it up. But unexpectedly… When I went back, I realized why my master asked me to go back. He was sick!"

Without his speaking, Qiu Yelan knew the rest. His master had been ill ever since. Qiu Feng looked after his ill master and then took care of things after his death… He came back as everything was settled.

She was puzzled and asked, "But why did we not hear from you during that time? If you had asked my brother to send several letters here, I believe that the princess wouldn't have left her baby and gone to Shazhou for you!"

After a long silence, Qiu Feng said, "I told others in the Jiang Family that my master lived in the middle of nowhere and there was no one else. When I met my master, I was busy taking care of him and had no time to have someone take a letter for me."

"What are you going to tell me?" Qiu Yelan set her mouth in a line.

"My master passed away within ten days of my return!" Qiu Yelan said tonelessly, "When he was dying, he told me that he had chosen a grave for himself. But as I buried him to where he said, I was trapped by magic circles around there… I was not able to escape until recently!"

He glanced at the nearby black glaze bottle decorated with gold pattern, whose bright body revealed his worn-out face. And he laughed to himself, "Half the reason why I look like this was my sorrow. But another half the reason was that there was nothing else but little food. I had never known that my master could draw magic circles. He never mentioned that and I didn't know. If I hadn't been lucky enough to find a way to live, I would have probably still been there."

Qiu Yelan found it hard to believe, "Why did your master do that?"

"Didn't your brother mention it to you?" But after hearing that, Qiu Feng stared hard at her and asked in a deep voice.

Qiu Yelan said blankly, "My brother? No! I didn't know what happened to your master until today. I even didn't know that you wanted to kill him and how you were coaxed back!"

Qiu Feng was silent for a moment and then said, "I will go to Shazhou and ask him in person."

"What does that have to do with my brother?" Qiu Yelan looked at him, puzzled, "Is your master… also the master of my brother?"

Qiu Feng glanced at her, "No. My master is a famous master in the field of martial arts in the south. Although your brother grew up in the south, as far as I know, my master retired before your brother was born. I was found by my master and accepted as a student one or two years before his retirement. My master had not left the place where he lived since when he retired, which is hundreds of miles away from where your brother grew up! I don't think they've ever met!"

"So, you come to my brother and ask him for help to figure out the whole story, right?" Qiu Yelan mused.

"When your brother talked about poems and articles with Qiu Nie, they happened to change the subject and mention magic circles." Qiu Feng said with a disinterested look, "For the previous Left Dharma Protector of Tianya, I had been finding some basis for charges against him. So, I paid much attention to every sentence and every movement of him! Even though it seemed like random words, I kept them in mind."

Qiu Yelan was startled.

Qiu Feng said, "The reason why I could escape from my master's magic circles lies in those words!"

Qiu Yelan stared at him, "What could it mean?" The whole story of Qiu Jinglan was complicated. He hadn't regained his real name and it seemed that he would never be able to make it in all his life. Did Qiu Feng also have a difficult and complicated background?

Qiu Feng was clearly not in the mood to discuss it in detail with her. He said coldly, "Since you know nothing about that, I'm going to Shazhou now…" He looked at the yard of Jiang Yazhu and his wife with fleeting sorrow in his eyes, "The boy… Please look after him for a few days! When I take his mother back…"

"It is your fault. My eighteenth sister has died. And do you expect to take her only kid away?" As Qiu Feng hadn't finished what he said, a cold voice came suddenly out from the outside of the hall.

Qiu Yelan screwed up her face. Sure enough, Jiang Yashuang, whose face was dark, strode into the hall. And he looked at Qiu Feng murderously, "You don't have to go anywhere. Waiting to be buried with my eighteenth sister is the only thing you should do and you can do!"

"Yashuang!" Qiu Yelan stood up and wanted to say something. But she was stopped by the icy glare from her husband!

"Qizheng died because of me. It is right that I go and get her back," Qiu Feng gave Jiang Yashuang a level look and said tonelessly, "If you don't trust me, you can send enough manpower to go with me!"

Jiang Yashuang sneered and said, "Get my eighteenth sister back… Do you think you are qualified? For a whole year, you didn't give her a message let alone a letter! If it hadn't been for my grandmother's protection, my eighteenth sister wouldn't have been able to hold on!"

He pointed toward the yard where Jiang Qizheng lived and said slowly, "Soon after you left, my eighteenth sister got pregnant! It was a great thing while you were nowhere to be seen! Do you know how sad she was in her heart as she listened to people's congratulations and forced a smile to explain for you?"

"Lanlan also gets pregnant recently. I recruit a group of staff urgently and leave most of my business behind. Even though I spend most of my time with her, I cannot be reassured! You are so careless. Since you married my eighteenth sister, didn't you think that you would have a baby this past year?"

"Last August my eighth sister-in-law died in childbirth. And the due date of my eighteenth sister was a few days after that of my eighth sister-in-law! You can imagine how fearful my eighteenth sister was! When the old maidservant who helped with the childbirth came out and said that mother and baby were both safe, my grandmother felt so weak that she nearly slumped on the ground! I was also wet with perspiration outside the door! Even so, my eighteenth sister wasn't willing to speak ill of you!"

"I know that you were not willing to marry my eighteenth sister. Despite so much anguish she suffered, she didn't even mention a word to her family. And she ordered the whole mansion of the princess to keep their mouths shut! It can be observed how much she cares for you! If you want to divorce her, will she refuse you?" Jiang Yashuang looked at his brother-in-law with red eyes, "Qiu Feng! Master Qiu! Do you think you are qualified to get my eighteenth sister back?"