Real Empress from a noble family

The door opened with a creak.

Ruan Yi was leaning against the wall near the back door outside the Princess Royal's Mansion. Upon hearing the slight sound, he immediately awakened from his nap. He rubbed his eyes and looked over, just in time to see Qiu Jinglan stepping out.

"Young master!" Ruan Yi greeted and passed Qiu Jinglan the stove for warming hands, "It's freezing tonight!"

Qiu Jinglan waved his hand, "Keep it yourself. I'm okay." He sounded calm, but Ruan Yi vaguely saw his mouth tilt upwards into a smile with the help of the faint moonlight. Ruan Yi asked curiously, "Young master, how is Miss Ou?"

"It's all done." Qiu Jinglan understated, "Okay, let's go back! There is still something to do tomorrow."

Ruan Yi heaved a sigh of relief and smiled happily, "Has the young lady finally agreed to stop pestering you? That's so great! Let me see. It is time for the Han Family to give an accurate answer tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Should I have the hairpin left by your mother prepared first?"

"You should have the hairpin prepared. But it is not for the Mansion of the Han Family." Ruan Yi had already brought the horses over while speaking. Qiu Jinglan got on his horse, smiling faintly, "You need to send the hairpin here, to the Princess Royal's Mansion, and ask Chunfu Princess to pass it to Miss Ou."

"Huh?" Ruan Yi was getting on the horse when he heard the words, and he was so shocked that he almost fell off the horse! It was fortunate enough that he clenched the reins tightly and climbed onto the saddle finally. He asked with astonishment, "Young master, what do you mean?"

Qiu Jinglan laughed, "Can't you understand? I have changed my mind. I won't marry Miss Han. I will marry Miss Ou!"

"Why?" Ruan Yi felt it incomprehensible, "Didn't you always want Miss Ou not to pester you?" Ruan Yi thought in his mind, "You even fobbed off Chunfu Princess with excuses when she came personally to beg you to see Ou Qinglan. Though you finally succumbed to the entanglement of Chunfu Princess and agreed to meet Miss Ou tonight, how could you indeed change your mind after the meeting?"

Not only did Ruan Yi not understand, but also Jiang Qizheng and her husband felt at a loss at this moment. They stayed up and waited for fear that Ou Qinglan could not stand the stimulation. "Are you sure that you heard that right? Did he say that he would send someone to give us the token tomorrow instead of sending someone to escort you back to Jing City tomorrow? Or to deliver the token to the Mansion of the Han Family?"

Jiang Qizheng and her husband had been sighing and worried for Ou Qinglan in the room. Hearing the sounds that Ou Qinglan ran over from far and kept squealing all the way, Jiang Qizheng was so scared that she ran out barefoot without wearing her shoes, fearing that Ou Qinglan had gone out of her senses.

She pulled Ou Qinglan into the room and asked her nervously.

Sure enough, Ou Qinglan had gone crazy! She even began raving!

The ecstatic Ou Qinglan glared at them upon hearing their words, "What do you mean!"

"Oh, well," Seeing that Ou Qinglan got mad, Jiang Qizheng took a deep breath and forced a smile, "We… We are happy for you!"

According to the older man, a person in this condition must not be provoked again. The idea flashed into Chunfu Princess's mind. She calmly held Qiu Feng's hand, beckoning to him to be silent. She said in a soft voice, "Don't hurry! Tell me slowly! What's going on?"

"He said he would send a token tomorrow. When I return to Jing City, he will entrust Prime Minister Xue to propose marriage to me!" Ou Qinglan was so happy that she even couldn't stop laughing. Her bright eyes were like the crescent moon. "See, I told you I could marry him! Miss Han? Hua Shenshen? Peng Laiyue? What does it matter even if there are so many women? He is mine and no one can take him from me!"

The corners of Qiu Feng's mouth twitched, "Did he say he would marry you?"

"Sure!" Ou Qinglan raised her head proudly, "I want to return to Jing City right away! And then he will propose to me!" She pulled Jiang Qizheng's sleeve, "Are you willing to urge grand uncle to leave as soon as possible tomorrow? And then I can take a visit to your kid for you!"

What a silly girl! He just cheated you!

Qiu Feng and his wife looked at each other. There were sympathy and helplessness in their eyes, "If so… You go home and have a rest now. Tomorrow I will accompany you to see your grand uncle!"

"Ask Meng Tao to make a bowl of soup for her to calm down!" Jiang Qizheng sighed, "Qiu Jinglan has cheated her so that she will return to Jing City. There are more elders there who can comfort her. And if she arrives at Jing City, I guess Qiu Jinglan will get married. By that time, Xing has no choice but to give up!"

She was distracted. Suddenly Ou Qinglan yelled, "I forgot the most critical issue! Qi Zheng, do you know why he agreed?

"Why? Because he is cheating!" Jiang Qizheng was helpless as she thought in her mind, "But do I dare to tell you the truth when you're looking so happy? D*mn Qiu Jinglan, to extricate himself, he made up such a lie. But he lets us help him to cheat her. What can I say?"

They struggled for a while. Qiu Feng wanted to share his wife's care and burdens. So, he stammered, "Does conscience guide him?"

It was his actual words. From his point of view, Ou Qinglan's efforts for Qiu Jinglan deserved Qiu Jinglan's commitment!

But Ou Qinglan stared at him angrily because of his actual words. "Jinglan is always tolerant, generous, and high-toned. You can't defame him!"

"… Are you sure you mean Qiu Jinglan?" Qiu Feng asked incredulously. He thought, "Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but isn't that crazy? I have never done anything wrong in my life, but I dare not to brag myself like this!"

Jiang Qi Zheng quietly pulled her husband's sleeve. And then she whispered, "You know that she is addicted to Qiu Jinglan. Why bother to stimulate her again?" She was crazy. She couldn't say any words that judged Qiu Jinglan!

The couple looked at Ou Qinglan with sympathetic eyes again. Taking lessons from her husband, Jiang Qizheng told a lie, "I think it is because he is already interested in you. However, he is a man with ambition and backbone and so he does not want to be attached to the noble lady from the Northern Army. So, he refused you. But you met him personally tonight and he was so impressed by your sincerity. So…"

"That accounts for it!" Ou Qinglan was suddenly enlightened. "I thought he was suspicious of me! So, he didn't want to be attached to me!"

That would be strange, indeed!

Jiang Qizheng and Qiu Feng hummed in their mind at the same time. "Qiu Jinglan is not the guy who is unwilling to attach himself to anyone else. He is the guy who only cares about how rich and powerful his father-in-law will be. He even doesn't care about his wife's character and appearance!"

She even believed in such a lie. They were wondering whether she could be cured after she returned to Jing City.

Jiang Qizheng was so helpless that she wanted to sigh heavily. But she still had to force a smile and reply to her. "Yes, yes… It's getting late. Look at you. You don't even have a coat on a snowy day. Why did you take off your robe?" She reached for what seemed to be a wad of her robe. "Put it on. Meng Tao, go and get my fur coat. Let me take you back to your room. Can't we talk about it tomorrow?"

"No!" She didn't expect that Ou Qinglan raised her hands to keep her fingers away. She pouted to say, "This is Jinglan's robe. I am afraid that it may get wet by the night dew. Give me another one!"

"What?" Jiang Qizheng was shocked!

Qiu Feng almost knocked over his cup. The couple knew Qiu Jinglan well. If he just wanted to put off her, he might lie to her and coax her. But he would never do such a generous act that he took off his robe and put it on her at such midnight!

The reason was simple. Because of her status, he was not destined to play with her! In this case, unless he planned to marry her, Qiu Jinglan even wanted her to hate him. How could he do something like that to make her love him more?

"Xing said that Qiu Jinglan promised to marry her… Is it true? Not to coax her to leave Shazhou?"

The idea flashed across her mind. Jiang Qi Zheng took a deep breath. She remained calm, "Xing, where did you get this robe?"

"It was windy by the lake and so he helped me put it on!" Ou Qinglan smiled proudly. "After he left, I took off my robe and wrapped it for fear of getting it dirty."

"The lake is so far away from here. You could catch a cold easily without a fur coat. How dare you to take off your robe?" Jiang Qi Zheng's mouth twitched, "Thank god, you are not my daughter!" Jiang Qizheng thought angrily, "Or I would smack you!"

Qiu Feng coughed, "What did you talk about tonight? Can you tell us?" He winked at his wife. The point wasn't to blame the silly girl for not taking good care of herself! They needed to figure out what happened tonight. Was this girl crazy, or was she telling the truth?

"When he arrived…" Ou Qinglan was busy sharing her feelings and there was no way she could hide it. Thus, even without Jiang Qizheng's encouragement, she happily went on, "… And then he asked me whether I agreed on having them in our family."

Jiang Qizheng and Qiu Feng were surprised and said, "And then you agreed?" Both of them felt discouraged. Ou Qinglan was so in love with Qiu Jinglan that she disregarded her reputation and chopped her competitors. But it was so unfair that her efforts only received such returns.

"Of course not!" Ou Qinglan said, "Am I supposed to be such a generous person? Madame Zhuang has always taught me that the concubines are all sneaky and cannot be spared. I shouldn't let go of any one of them, even at the risk of making mistakes. How would I say yes to him about having concubines!"

"… And then?" The couple asked carefully. It did not sound to be a happy ending. So, how the h*ll did it still end so well?

"And then he laughed and said that it was too late and he had to return. He also said that he would send someone to take the token here tomorrow morning!" Ou Qinglan screamed excitedly, hugging Jiang Qizheng. "It's the hairpin of Princess Ruan, which he keeps with himself for his future wife after Ning Yi gave him. It's for his wife!"

Jiang Qizheng was finally saved from her tight hug by Qiu Feng's hand chop. She leaned against her husband and caught her breath, still confused, "What the h*ll has happened?"

Previously to persuade Qiu Jinglan to meet Ou Qinglan, she, the princess, had to visit him in person and flattered him as if she would bow down to beg him. But only after a couple of hours, Qiu Jinglan had a completely different attitude.

Who could understand the situation?

"Is it really true as my husband said that Qiu Jinglan had finally found out that his previous rejection to Xing was a total mistake?" Jiang Qizheng thought crazily, "But how come! He never made a mistake. So, what has happened?"

The poor couple thought about this for the whole night!

They discussed, guessed, and even had some spats. But they failed to find a plausible reason even until the sun rose.

In sharp contrast to them, Ou Qinglan, who was sent back to her own room unconsciously after being hit by Qiu Feng's hand chop, had a sound sleep with her lover's coat in her arms.

The next day midday, when Qiu Jinglan was doing the paperwork, he also listened to the report from Ren Ziyong, who sent the token to the Princess Royal's Mansion. He said, "Chunfu Princess couple and Lady Ou came and received the token. Lady Ou was for sure extremely happy. But Chunfu Princess couple did not look well, albeit friendly. So, I returned after some small talks."

"They deserved it!" Qiu Jinglan gestured for his servants to serve Ren Ziyong a cup of tea. And he mocked, "Previously, I was being nice and helping her and her husband get back together. But now, she has forgotten my kindness and helped others. How dare she think that I am such a pushover? I am just giving her some little punishment!"