Chapter 101 Diversion. Pull the Plug (1)
Under the cover of Ruan Qingyan, Qiu Yelan finally ate meat for once. She was reluctant to leave the General’s Mansion. Her heart was filled with grat.i.tude to her brother, “How nice my cousin is! He is definitely the best cousin in the world!”
“I’ve been worrying about the child for so long. It is not as good as letting her eat meat.” By contrast, Ruan Qingyan was not in a good mood as she was. After seeing off Qiu Yelan, he sighed to Dongran, “If I had known this, I should have laid down the rules for her. If she were obedient, I would often ask her to come here and quietly cook a meat meal for her. If she were disobedient, there would only be green vegetables and tofu!”
Dongran covered her mouth and laughed, “Your Grace is still growing up, she inevitably had some desire for food.”
“Next time she comes here, let her take the parrot away. I’ve taught it two auspicious words. It’s not easy for me. As a result, she has stared at it for a while. It is so scared that it dares not to scream.” Ruan Qingyan shook his head. Instead of talking about Qiu Yelan, he asked, “What’s going on with the Yang family?”
Dongran also reined in her smile and replied earnestly, “Yang Hao, the father of Yang Yifu, has already known that the death of his daughter was caused by his niece. But Yang Hao was ignorant and unskilled. He relied on his brother Yang Tao to support him to where he is today… Yang Tao promised that he would help him find a good job. He also gave him a pair of twin sisters in private. After all, his daughter is dead, and Yang Hao has promised to take over the matter for the first branch of the Yang family.”
At this point, she was a little worried, “In this way, even if Yang Yishi was exposed, I am afraid the matter would be taken over by Yang Hao.”
Ruan Qingyan snorted, “Isn’t Yang Yifu ‘s biological mother still alive?”
“Luan loves her own flesh and blood deadly. She has been lying in bed these days and can’t get up… But she is just a concubine, not to mention that she has long been out of favor.” Dongran said, “What’s more, although she wanted Yang Yishi to die, she doesn’t have great courage. Otherwise…”
Ruan Qingyan said quietly, “Let Luan wake up! Now she has fallen out of favor. She is just a concubine. There is a ready-made reason that she follows in her daughter’s footsteps when she can’t get over it because her own daughter has done something shameful. The Yang family has already killed Yang Yifu. Who cares about her?”
Dongran replied hurriedly.
“As for the Yang family, let Luan herself wonder whether she is going to die with her only biological daughter, Yang Yishi, or avenge themselves before she is labeled as ashamed and self-inflicted suicide.” Ruan Qingyan sneered, “What about the Ding family? What’s going on now?”
“The price charged by Ding Hanlin’s favorite concubine Ge is much higher than the amount you set.” Dongran frowned slightly, “Actually… I think the Ding family is different from the Yang family. Last time there was a dispute in the imperial court. The Ding family didn’t do anything, so we might as well concentrate on dealing with the Yang family.”
In fact, Ruan Qingyan deliberately let Qiu Yelan leave this time so that he could clean up the Yang family, but his purpose was not simply to avenge the rude remarks made by the three young ladies of the Yang family against Qiu Yelan at the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe last time. It was just by the way. He was mainly for the dowry.
He didn’t want to have any more accidents like Mrs. Guan and Dongyao. So before he went there, he planned to help Qiu Mengmin’s wife and wife-to-be find something to do, so that they would not be idle to help one by one at that time.
After listening to Dongran’s advice, Ruan Qingyan shook his head, “Not only have I not become a member of Prime Minister Xue, but you also forget that Prime Minister Xue and the Ding family are also related by marriage. Although the Ding family has always followed Prime Minister Xue in political affairs, they are different in family affairs.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, “Especially I have just entered the circle of Prime Minister Xue now. I don’t have a solid foundation. If I don’t try to keep the Ding family from talking, when I fall out with Qiu Mengmin, the Ding family will come here and ask me to do him a favor. Do you want me to agree or disagree? If I agreed, what about my sister’s estate? If I disagreed, wouldn’t I get into hatred with others as soon as I enter the official career?”
Dongran thought that Ruan Qingyan had made a feud with the Empress Dowager Gu because of Qiu Yelan. If he offended the examiner’s in-laws again, even if he had more tricks, it would be difficult for him to live in the future.
She thought for a while and said, “Then… promise Ge?”
Ruan Qingyan shook his head and said, “She is only a concubine. How dare she charge too much? Give her 10% of the amount I originally ordered. Tell her that if she agreed, the matter would be over this time. If not, Ding Hanlin has many concubines beside her.”
“But the other concubines are not as favored as her.” Dongran reminded, “Especially since Ding Hanlin’s wife had died three years ago, he has never had a wife. Ge has always been in charge of the backyard. Although she is a concubine, actually, she’s no different from his wife.”
“She’s just a concubine.” Ruan Qingyan said coldly, “Take 90% of the amount originally intended to be given to Ge and go to find the young lady in the mansion of Qiao Chengbo to ask her for help. Let Ding Hanlin have a wife as soon as possible, and he must let the daughter of the official family be his wife who had better have the means and courage, and she can’t tolerate others!”
Dongran understood what he meant and asked, “At that time, can Ge’s nemesis be his wife?”
“It’s okay to do this as long as she doesn’t guess us to do it.” Ruan Qingyan said indifferently, “Although the young lady of the He family attaches great importance to profits and wealth, she is well versed in the way of business. She always keeps her word. As long as she takes the money, we don’t have to worry about it.”
“Since you can control Ge, can you do something to that Miss Ding?” Dongran asked again, “After all, she will be the Commandery Princess’s sister-in-law after May.”
Ruan Qingyan shook his head, “When she arrived at the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe, it was not impossible for me to handle her. We don’t have to rush to do it so as not to be suspected of my sister.”
Dongran said, “Yes.” After thinking for a while, she said, “The housewarming of the Lian Family came to an end a few days ago. They had sent someone to ask you about the day when you went to Prince’s Mansion of Xihe. Now the Commandery Princess has returned…. At this time?”
“Five days later.” Ruan Qingyan narrowed his eyes and said, “There is still a month to go before Miss Ding gets married. If I put it off any longer, it would destroy the happiness of the Ding family in marrying their daughter. Apart from forming a grudge, it seems to me that the Lian Family has been a little timid recently. If I put it off any longer, there would be trouble.”
Dongran sighed, “I think they left the Jiang’s residence. No Jiang’s family can spread messages in front of them all day long. They are afraid of offending many people and losing their official position again.” She didn’t say the rest. When the Lian Family went to the Jing City this time, the first thing was that they did not dare to disobey the Jiang family’s meaning, and the second thing was that they wanted to be reused.
Now that both Lian Jianhai and Lian Jianhao had official positions, they wanted to be stable. Especially w.a.n.g Qingqian failed to enter the boudoir school of the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe. Although Lian Ding believed that Ruan Qingyan and his sisters are good for w.a.n.g Qingqian, Lian Chen and others may not think so. There was more or less a gap here, and the bad reputation of Qiu Yelan had shaken the confidence of the Lian Family to support her.
Lian Chen made a full promise before, so he was embarra.s.sed to step down at this time.
If they didn’t get things done while they were hesitating, Lian Chen would put it off. It was not easy for them to borrow his seniority again.
The reason why Ruan Qingyan tried to find trouble for the Yang family and the Ding family before falling out was that he was afraid that when the two families greeted each other, the Lian family did not make efforts. When Qiu Mengmin saw the flaws, there would be a lot of troubles.
“The Yang family asked Luan to think carefully. If she can’t figure it out, let the first branch of the Yang Family pretend to wake her up.” Ruan Qingyan meditated for a moment and said, “If Ge heard that Ding Hanlin is going to remarry after the death of his wife, and she still wouldn’t act.” His face was expressionless, “Then drag her into it!”
Dongran said, “Okay!”
Qiu Yelan had no idea that her cousin had made such painstaking plans. When she returned to the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe, she proudly summoned Sheng Shishui and announced that she did not intend to interfere in the affairs of the Yang family. She also warned her not to slander her cousin by hearsay.
Sheng Shishui heard the words. A look of surprise flashed across her face, “Are you saying that the person dating Yang Yishi is not the young General Ruan?”
“How talented my cousin is!” Qiu Yelan sneered, “Yang Yishi is not worthy of my cousin from head to toe. The two famous prost.i.tutes sought after by countless people in the Jing City want to run with my cousin when they see him. When it comes to seducing people, what is Yang Yishi?”
Sheng Shishui also had a bad relationship with Yang Yishi. She naturally had no problem when Qiu Yelan took famous prost.i.tutes to belittle Yang Yishi. She said thoughtfully, “If that was the case, someone might try to frame the young General Ruan on purpose.”
Qiu Yelan disdainfully said, “My cousin’s itinerary is available for reference these days. Want to frame…” At this point, she frowned slightly, but Sheng Shishui said first, “If this was the case, then someone might want to deal with Yang Family.”
“So what are you going to do? Do you want to report the news to the Yang Family?” Although Qiu Yelan didn’t know the movement of Ruan Qingyan these days, at this point she also noticed that it was not Ruan Qingyan who had an affair with Ruan Qingyan. However, it might not really have nothing to do with him. Sheng Shishui who also came to her senses was on the alert.
However, Sheng Shishui smiled softly, “Your Grace, you are kidding me. Not to mention that my aunt and cousin Yishi never want to see me, even if they were willing to let me in, I went to remind them of this, which would be tantamount to telling them that I know about Yang Yishi’s matter? What will happen to me then?”
Qiu Yelan hummed, “You’re not so confused!” In order to keep the reputation of Yang Yishi, Yang Yifu, another young lady of the Yang family had been killed by herself. What was Sheng Shishui?
“I just want to earn some private property in the future.” Sheng Shishui smiled calmly, “Of course, I dare not to touch anything that is too dangerous.” When she said this, she pursed her lips, “Unfortunately, I don’t know who is targeting the Yang family this time, otherwise I can volunteer to help you. Maybe I can share some of the hard money.”
Qiu Yelan glanced at her, “If Yang Yishi were exposed, it would be bad for her and your aunt, and even the Lu family would be affected, right?”
Sheng Shishui said as if nothing had happened, “I once fell into the pool when I was five years old. If I hadn’t dressed less in the summer and hadn’t struggled to float again, I would have almost died.”
“Oh?”
“If I fell by myself, or someone accidentally pushed me. I wouldn’t care.” Sheng Shishui sneered, “But my aunt watched Yang Yishi push me down. After that, my grandmother scolded them. They said that anyway, I lived to embarra.s.s the Lu family and made them lose face because of my background and it would be better to drown me so that they could rest a.s.sured… Your Grace, why do you think I can’t betray them?”
She bit her lips, “As for the Lu family, anyway, there is a person like me, so the Lu family’s face has been lost for once. And even if I don’t worry about it this time, will the Yang family be all right? Your Grace, you also said that if Yang Yishi was really a good one, could the adulterer force her in front of many maids and old maidservants around her? It is her own fault.”
Qiu Yelan said noncommittally, “Unfortunately, I don’t know who the person behind this scene is. Otherwise, I don’t mind showing you a way to make money.”
Sheng Shishui regained the quiet and dignified smile in a blink of an eye, “Do you think that if I helped first, would they give me something good over there?”
“How do I know?” Qiu Yelan said lazily, “However, if you didn’t help, I’m sure they wouldn’t give you any benefit over there. If you helped, I’m not sure if you could get some benefits.”
“Your Grace, you’re right.” Sheng Shishui smiled and got up to say goodbye, “It’s getting late. I have to go back to accompany my grandmother.”