Chapter 148 Win Aggressively
Sure enough, Xue Fangmi and Xue Nongqing were invited here in a moment later. Xue Fangmi, who came in first, wore an ethereal crimson skirt with white silk on her arms, dressed up brightly, and smiled before saying words, “I heard that you are having a compet.i.tion here. I’m curious and want to join the fun. I don’t know if it’s all right.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Gu E’nuo agreed before she finished her words, “It’s fun when there are many people.” She squinted at Jiang Qizheng, “Chunfu, what do you think?”
Jiang Qizheng said with a sullen face, “Okay. When we finish the game, we will find two people to compete with Miss Xue Fangmi.
“Chunfu, it’s boring for you to say that.” Gu E’nuo said leisurely, “We come out for an outing, not for a compet.i.tion. You see that the sun has risen so high. We don’t even go up the Jinxiu Slope. How long will the game last? Why don’t you just let Miss Xue Fangmi join us?”
Zhuang Man sneered and said, “No wonder you want to compete in filling in the words, it turns out that you prepared Xue Fangmi as an external a.s.sistance a long time ago? When does the Prime Minister Xue get together with the Prince’s Mansion of Guangyang? This is really…”
“Miss Zhuang, don’t talk nonsense.” Xue Fangmi blamed, “When we have a compet.i.tion between womenfolks, why does it have anything to do with the elders? I never ask what happened imperial government. Does Miss Zhuang always care about the imperial government when you are at home?” Without waiting for Zhuang Man to answer, she turned her eyes to Qiu Yelan, “This young lady is very strange. I don’t know who she is.”
Qiu Yelan was worried about not having a chance to trouble her. After hearing her words, she immediately opened the domineering Commandery Princess mode and said indifferently, “Who is the young lady?”
“She is the Commandery Princess Ningyi of the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe!” Zhuang Man sneered and said, “Do you think she doesn’t have a t.i.tle like you?”
Xue Fangmi frowned, and then smiled again, “The Commandery Princess Ningyi, you have just finished your mourning period. Is it the first time to come out today? We haven’t met before, so don’t blame…”
“Who is she?” She hadn’t finished her explanation, Qiu Yelan suddenly turned her head and asked Zhuang Man, “Listen to what you meant. She’s not a princess or a Commandery Princess. Why doesn’t she salute me?”
Zhuang Man told the truth, “I think she looks down on you.”
“That’s not true.” Xue Nongqing hastened to salute Qiu Yelan after hearing what she said, saying, “How can we be disrespectful to Your Grace? It’s really…” She hesitated for a while to find the right words, “It is Your Grace who is so beautiful that we are so stunned, and we don’t come to our senses.”
It was good for her not to say this. As soon as she said this, Xue Fangmi was angrier, “Jiang Yashuang took a fancy to this face. Is that why he refused to get married?” Two years later, she was still unmarried.
Although this was because Xuesun resented her for ruining Xue Nongqing’s marriage, and she refused to let her marry as her daughter did not find a suitable person. If it had not been for Qiu Yelan, she might have been the 19th young lady of the Jiang family.
So she didn’t want to salute Qiu Yelan. She simply helped her forehead and said, “Oops. Look at my body. I just walked a few more steps, but it turns out to be…”
“Aunt, are you okay?” The simple Xue Nongqing believed it and hurriedly helped her to sit down on the nearby blanket. She asked with concern, “Are you tired?”
Qiu Yelan sneered in her heart. She frowned and asked Xue Nongqing, “Miss Nongqing, how is your aunt’s journey?”
Xue Nongqing said, “Good, but now…”
“You can see that Miss Xue Fangmi, her cheeks are flushed. Her face is white, and she is short of breath. According to the medical books, it seems to be a heart attack, right?” Qiu Yelan said seriously, “How could she come out for an outing if she had this kind of disease? This could lead to sudden death.”
“What?!” Xue Nongqing was startled and nervous, “Auntie has always been fine. How could this happen?”
Zhuang Man added, “She’s probably afraid you’re worried. But Miss Xue, if you have a disease, you have to treat it. Are you afraid of treatment?”
“How can you do this, my little Aunt?” The simplicity of Xue Nongqing was that she didn’t doubt people at all. Hearing what Qiu Yelan and Zhuang Man said again and again as if it were true, her tears immediately fell, “Let’s hurry back to the Jing City. I’ll get you the best doctor…”
Xue Fangmi, who was pretending to be weak and expected her to cheat on her behalf, was almost angry to death. Fortunately, her real ally was Gu E’nuo today. Duan Wenji came out at this time, saying, “Commandery Princess Ningyi, you should be careful what you say. A woman’s health involves marriage. You talk such nonsense. If the Xue family knew it, they would not forgive you easily.”
“Don’t talk nonsense if you study less.” Qiu Yelan sneered. “If you don’t believe it, go home and look through the medical books.”
Gu E’nuo’s face was gloomy, “Today, everyone here has flushed cheeks and has snow-white skin. All the people put on rouge after putting on the powder. Commandery Princess Ningyi, don’t you have eyes?”
“But the others don’t say they are not feeling well.” Qiu Yelan swept her hairs on the temples as if nothing had happened and smiled sweetly at her, “As you heard it just now, Miss Xue Fangmi used to be in good health, but now she is suddenly not well… According to reason, everyone just walked here, right? Is everybody tired? No! All of us are the rich and young ladies. Why is Miss Xue Fangmi’s health so poor? Apparently she has a hidden disease! I am also afraid that if she kept it a secret for a long time, her illness would become more and more difficult to treat. In the end, it is the Xue family who will feel sorry for her.”
“My young lady just got up late this morning, and she didn’t have breakfast because she asked Miss Nongqing to go out with her.” At this moment, the maid, Xi Zhi, behind Xue Fangmi said, “She has eaten a piece of cake and felt better at this time.”
Xue Fangmi wiped the corners of her mouth with a veil and smiled apologetically at the people around her, “It’s my fault. I scared you.” She looked at Qiu Yelan again, “My body is not sick. I often ask the doctor to feel my pulse. As we all know, the medical profession is profound. The Commandery Princess Ningyi, how many medical books have you read? Isn’t it unkind of you to scare my niece with such nonsense?”
Qiu Yelan slowly said, “I am not familiar with you. How do I know your face is all made of powder? How do I know you don’t care about seeing a doctor? I know that Miss Nongqing in your family is a kind person. In case you’re sick and you don’t tell her, if you had an accident here today and asked Miss Nongqing to worry for you, you would bully honest person too much, wouldn’t you?”
Her words were intended to annoy Xue Fangmi, but the servant Xuesun arranged for Xue Nongqing frowned, “That is right. She is in good health and suddenly feels uncomfortable. Later, she might have to tell the master with Nan, complaining that the eldest lady doesn’t care about her!” When she thought about it, she kept it in mind and decided to go back to please Xuesun. Anyway, everyone knew that Xuesun hated her aunt. She wanted to have a reason to torture her.
After hearing what she said, Xue Fangmi was angry for a while. She almost burst into abuse.
It happened that Qiu Yelan wasn’t angry. She turned her head and said to Jiang Qizheng, “Let’s go up the Jinxiu Slope quickly? It’s getting late.”
Jiang Qizheng thought of the countermeasure at this time and said, “Since Shou’an, you have invited Miss Xue Fangmi to help you, we are not without help.” She ordered, “Go back to the Jing City and invite Madam Shao. Compared with a weak woman like Xue Fangmi who had a powerful family and a father to rely on, Shao Yuemei was really wise and talented.
“Go back to the Jing City to invite someone?” Gu E’nuo frowned, “Why don’t we all go back? How long do we have to wait?”
Qiu Yelan suddenly said, “In fact, you don’t have to go back to the Jing City to invite her.” She smiled and dragged Jiang Qizheng to the corner to talk, “Xue Fangmi enjoys undeserved fame. She is no big deal. In my eyes, she is just a country chicken or a dog. She has nothing to be afraid of. Only her ident.i.ty gives me a headache.”
Jiang Qizheng said in shock, “You said Xue Fangmi has nothing to fear. Although her ranking as the most talented woman in the Jing City is a bit fake, she can also be regarded as one of the most talented women of our generation of n.o.ble girls.” Jiang Qizheng might not be sure of the rest of her, but her literary talent… She had been Shao Yuemei’s apprentice for two years. Couldn’t she see that? She was no big deal.
“It’s useless for her to be the most talented woman in Darui.” Qiu Yelan sneered. She was already familiar with the 300 Chinese Poems and Yuan verse. Only one or two talented women or men were rubbish.
After confidently ensuring that she could win, she discussed with Jiang Qizheng, “Ask Xue Nongqing to come to our side later, okay?”
“Are you worried that if you compete directly with Xue Fangmi, it will affect your cousin?” Jiang Qizheng said clearly, “It is no problem. I haven’t heard that the Prime Minister Xue’s position has changed recently. If Xue Fangmi did this today, I don’t know if she would be beaten to death by the Prime Minister Xue when she goes back. Instead, if we asked Xue Nongqing to come to our side, the Prime Minister Xue would not be so embarra.s.sed.”
“I guess Xue Fangmi thinks the same way, but we don’t give her a chance to talk it first.” Qiu Yelan winked at her, “For the past two years, she has been disciplined by Mrs. Sun, the mother of Xue Nongqing. I can expect Mrs. Sun to owe me a favor.” Xue Chang gave his daughter to his wife for discipline before. He completely gave her power, but in this way, she still got into trouble. Xuesun must bear the responsibility for poor discipline.
Qiu Yelan first proposed to ask Xue Nongqing to come over, so that Gu E’nuo and Jiang Qizheng had Xue Family’s people on both sides. Xue Chang would not be suspected of being biased towards the Empress Dowager Party. Not only Mrs. Sun, but also Xue Chang himself should thank it.
Jiang Qizheng understood, “I guarantee that the Xue Family will know that you came up with this idea.” Anyway, the Xue Family would not be grateful to the Jiang Family. It would be better to give Qiu Yelan a face and send a favor to Ruan Qingyan.
After they had negotiated, Jiang Qizheng asked for business, “Since you have to play this game, you are obviously prepared… But I don’t know what you have prepared, so that I can tell them the rules.”
Qiu Yelan said with a smile, “Anyway, we can win. Why don’t we win aggressively?”
“Ah?” Jiang Qizheng was stupefied.
“Let them choose the topic.” Qiu Yelan said, “Let’s just have the rhyme with no word limit.”
Jiang Qizheng was shocked. She looked behind her and said in her ear, “Is it Ruan Chunjun who wrote some wonderful words for you to memorize?”
Qiu Yelan was speechless for a while, “Am I that kind of person?” Jiang Qizheng suspected that her literary talent was not good just now, but she agreed to let her play the game without much opposition. She didn’t think that she had been hiding her strength, but that she could rely on Ruan Qingyan.
Jiang Qizheng had no time to apologize and asked, “Then how do you win Xue Fangmi?”
“Can you win her?” Qiu Yelan said without waiting for her answer, “I don’t have time to tell you the details at this time, so just trust me for once, okay? This is my first outing out of the Jing City. I definitely don’t want to be driven back in frustration.” How did I win? Did I have to tell you that I have a good memory? I still remembered the words I memorized in my previous life, and then I had to rely on these memories to crush Xue Fangmi.
Jiang Qizheng looked at her suspiciously for a while, saying, “Okay. But it doesn’t matter if you lose. Don’t use the Ruan Chunjun’s poems that have been spread to the outside.”
So she still suspected that Qiu Yelan’s confidence in victory came from Ruan Qingyan, who was 18 years old when he pa.s.sed the Metropolitan Exam.
Qiu Yelan spit blood secretly. She didn’t bother to tell her more and said, “I see. Go and tell them the rules. You can speak aggressively.”
Although she told her again and again, it was a pity that Jiang Qizheng was worried that she would lose. Not only did she declare war so insipidly, but she even gave her enough dignity. It just sounded like a lack of strength.