Chapter 107 Do You Think I Want to Marry Only for the Wealth?!
The next day, the Jiang Yadan and Jiang Yashuang came to the door as expectation.
From beginning to end, Jiang Yashuang only said three sentences to Qiu Mengmin —
“Both pieces of dowry of Old Princess Lian and Princess Ruan, together with the earnings of it for these years, you pay it with the market price to Commandery Princess Ningyi!”
“I’m not discussing it with you. I ask you to do as I said!”
“Go to h.e.l.l if you couldn’t do it!”
Qiu Mengmin, who even didn’t have a second to greet, was dumb there and he couldn’t believe what he just heard!
“I am hereditary n.o.ble…”
“No more hereditary n.o.ble once you all die.” Jiang Yadan, who started drinking tea from him entering the door until this moment, said as it was a tiny stuff, “I said that your heart is too soft. Why are you wasting time on him? Anyway, this Prince’s Mansion just has so few people. If these father and son were dead, then the dowry would be returned to Commandery Princess Ningyi, and we could also make a fortune as well!”
Qiu Mengmin’s face turned blue, “What a Jiang Family! What a Marquess Qin’s Family! Even the Prince’s Mansion that honored by Gaozong emperor is regarded as trash! Does Darui belong to the Jiang Family! I’ll enter the palace to ask Empress Dowager to….”
“Go into the palace?! My younger brother tried to save your face. But, are you truly shameless?” Jiang Yadan raised his hand and turned over the table, breaking porcelain and tea splashing. “You made a servant take the blame last time on Imperial Court. This time, you again embezzled the industry left by the Old Princess Lian and Princess Ruan leaving to the Commandery Princess Ningyi. Let me see who else can you blame on?! There are a lot of things presented by the royal family. Merely based on this, how you think you could still keep the t.i.tle of the Duke?! Without the n.o.ble t.i.tle, is there any difference between you and a piece of s.h.i.t?!”
Jiang Gan, who stood behind him, chuckled, “Young master, don’t forget that the Sixth Commandery Princess of Prince’s Mansion of Xihe is said to be pretty.”
“She’s yours later.” Jiang Yadan looked around unscrupulously and sneered, “My brother considered about Commandery Princess Ningyi’s dignity, as long as you return what Commandery Princess’s belongings — if you didn’t want to, we could wait for this Prince’s Mansion to be closed down, then we could return it to Commandery Princess as well.”
Qiu Mengmin took a few deep breaths before squeezing some words through the teeth, “I have no intention to take my niece’s deserving property! I have been packing up for these days….”
“No more nonsense!” A sullen look shaded Jiang Yadan’s face instantly, “In three days, return all the industry back to Commandery Princess Ningyi. And we’re done. If there’s any problem or you play any tricks later, I’ll let Feng Rugui first take Qiu Hongzhi away. And if you still refuse to pay off after burying your oldest son’s body. Huh… then you’re just ready to reunite the family in h.e.l.l!”
… After listening to Su He’s vivid description, Qiu Yelan was dumbfounded, “ Jiang Family’s children are so overbearing?!” Even the royal family could not be as arrogant as them!
Chunran and others were also wearing an inconceivable expression, “Prince’s Mansion of Xihe is declining, but it is still a hereditary n.o.ble family — how could these two young masters of Jiang Family talk about exterminating their entire family so easily?!”
So Qiu Yelan postponed the matter that night, dressed up seriously and waiting for Jiang Yashuang to come over and explain to her…. But she waited and waited, and she couldn’t see him even until midnight. She felt anxious, so she hurriedly made the decision. Changing the clothes, she went to cross the high wall again. Secretly going to Jiang Yashuang’s room, Jiang Yashuang’s was greatly shocked and got up from bed!
“How could you come here so late? Did anything happen?” Jiang Yashuang looked at her in surprise, “Does Qiu Mengmin do something bad in desperation? How could he?”
Qiu Yelan complained, “Why didn’t you come to my place today?”
Jiang Yashuang was relieved, and said a little embarra.s.sedly, “I went to Prince’s Mansion of Xihe today, and I didn’t finish homework in the daytime, so I have to make up at night…. After finishing all these, I suppose the time is late, I think you have settled and slept, so I don’t come to disturb you.”
How poor a student was!
Qiu Yelan gave him a sympathetic look and said, “I heard servants telling about your journey to Prince’s Mansion today — How could you treat my uncle so irreverently, so does it matter?”
Jiang Yashuang’s face showed his att.i.tude of taking it for granted, “Go straight to save time, my family has always been like this.”
“… Emmm, to threaten him about killing the whole family… seems too straight?” Qiu Yelan looked dumbfounded for a long time, and said, “Anyhow, he’s still a n.o.ble?”
Jiang Yashuang disagreed and said, “He has no power in hand and also with no deep foundation… so you know he has only the name. Besides, this time he has no reason to do this. If the trouble were taken seriously, the Empress Dowager Gu could even not guarantee that he would not be unduked.”
All right, the n.o.bles who had only honorable t.i.tle but no strength were paper tigers.
Qiu Yelan silently shed tears of sadness for herself, and suddenly said, “Why didn’t you just let him unduked?”
“Then Empress Dowager Gu would be happy.” Jiang Yashuang chuckled lightly. “The husband of Empress Dowager’s daughter Princess Xingkang, Marquess Zhang, Kuang Shihan, is now in the post of general of Zhenxi. And it was your grandfather General Ruan’s position. This army of Zhenxi was cast by your grandfather Duke of Xihe and General Ruan. Even if Kuang Shihan has been cultivating loyal followers in the dozens of years, it is still impossible to replace the entire army. So, there are always people who are still loyal to your family.”
“Wait! You mean, after my grandfather was defeated that year, he was succeeded by Empress Dowager Gu’s son-in-law?!” Qiu Yelan’s face changed, “What had he done before then?”
Jiang Yashuang glanced at her, “He was also one of the generals of Zhenxi Army, only under General Ruan, and he was even higher than your father’s status in the army… This was because General Ruan and the old Duke of Xihe stipulated that all positions would be taken in the military only based on talents, instead of any status.”
Qiu Yelan’s complexion changed for a moment, then she asked, “My grandfather was defeated at that time… did this related Kuang Shihan being the general of Zhenxi later?”
“If General Ruan was not disastrously defeated, and his children and grandchildren were not completely dead and wounded, even though Kuang Shihan was the second highest position in the army in that time only below the General Ruan, he would have been absolutely impossible to control Zhenxi army like this now.” Jiang Yashuang said calmly, “It’s an obvious thing — Further, it was General Ruan who brought Kuang Shihan up, otherwise General Ruan wouldn’t close the door and refuse to meet with any guest after being punished, even to some many years old fellows.”
“No wonder General’s Mansion is so cold and cheerless that we could meet no one during the holidays.” Qiu Yelan bit her lip and thought quickly. “Obviously, if Jiang Yashuang didn’t lie to me, the previous General Ruan’s failure should blame on Empress Dowager Gu. The purpose of her was to fight for the forces in the army and to contend with the Jiang Family. Zhenbei Army has Sir Jibei and the Great General of North, Empress Dowager Gu can’t even get into it, so she hit the idea of the Zhenxi Army! Poor General Ruan! He devoted his whole life to the country on the battlefield, but he finally fell because of the dirty politics!”
Thinking of it here, she felt a little strange, “Since this Kuang Shihan was taught by General Ruan, why didn’t Empress Dowager Gu directly cozy up to General Ruan? General Ruan was said to have a bad relationship with Marquess Qin, why didn’t he be friend with Empress Dowager? Even if he didn’t agree to be friend, he should be a neutral party…. Isn’t Xue Chang be neutral now? Was my grandfather’s political talent so poor?”
Seeing Qiu Yelan pondering, Jiang Yashuang said softly, “Since Princess Ruan didn’t tell you about these past events, I think you don’t have to care about it so much after knowing it…. Further, Kuang Shihan is so strong and powerful now, even though Jiang Family could not definitely prevail over him. So it’s not a simple matter to counter with him. We’d better prepare for it gradually.”
Then he added, “So, we actually don’t want to unduke Qiu Mengmin, unless this is the last choice. Although Empress Dowager Gu can’t let him restore Prince’s Mansion of Xihe’s influence on the Zhenxi Army, keeping him always allows Empress Dowager Gu and Kuang Shihan do not dare to believe the Zhenxi Army.”
Qiu Yelan frowned, “Don’t dare to believe it? However, my father Prince, my uncle, cousin, so many people had died in the battlefield. Was it really our two families are so unblessed and unlucky? I think it should be my grandfather, he should not believe in Zhenxi army.”
Jiang Yashuang shook his head, “You are too underestimating your two families’ power! Let me tell you the truth, just Prince’s Mansion of Xihe, how much of its industry today, you have any idea about it?”
“Two or three million taels I guess.” Qiu Yelan said, “That’s what I heard.”
“Outsiders know this number.” Jiang Yashuang said, “But is it possible? Prince’s Mansion of Xihe was not ent.i.tle the n.o.ble name by Emperor Gaozu, but everyone knows it is because the aged emperor deliberately leaving this chance to show the trust and honor to the young successor Gaozong. From Emperor Gaozong to the former emperor to the present emperor, apart from the eleven years since the death of your father, the royal rewards had never been stopped. Also, no prodigal children squandering the family fortune. So, only considering the general’s salary and other awards granted by emperors, it should be more than this number.”
Qiu Yelan frowned, “Are you saying that Prince’s Mansion of Xihe concealing many industries secretly in the dark?”
“Not ‘many’, but I mean ‘the most of it’ may be hidden in the dark.” Jiang Yashuang said, “This has been guessed by people for decades. After all, the ancestor of Prince’s Mansion of Xihe was a famous general at the founding of the country. You know the war, the rule is after seizing the city and looting the land, as the general, you will always be able to share some benefits…. Also, Qiu Family has never had a big family. Since the establishment of the Prince ’s Mansion of Xihe, at most it had only three sons in a generation, and there is rule that children who were gave birth by concubines cannot share the wealth of the family. I remember that someone in my family had calculated for your family before, that your family’s real amount of wealth, is more than dozens of million?”
When he said this, Qiu Yelan looked at him strangely, and he was surprised, “What’s up?”
“… Nothing.” Qiu Yelan turned away her eyes immediately.
But Jiang Yashuang understood in an instant that his gentle smile at the corner of his mouth could not help but freeze, and he said in a deep voice, “Do you think I propose a marriage to you just for the industry of Prince’s Mansion of Xihe?!”
“You think too much, I am merely surprised that Prince’s Mansion actually hid so many industries, but I have never heard.” Qiu Yelan grumbled slightly on the face, but secretly thought, “I am wondering why you insist so much to take care of this matter, now the answer is you are going for this great wealth!”
Although she had long suspected that Jiang Yashuang insisted on being responsible for her is for some unknown reasons, but after discovering it, she still felt a little sorrowful, her beautiful appearance and smart could still not competing with the great wealth… and Jiang Yashuang had never admitted that he loved her even once…. Even if she hasn’t grown to the most amorous age, but how could she be so unattractive?
Such a sense of failure….
She complained from deep of her heart here, but she just listened to Jiang Yashuang’s coldly saying, “If I, or Jiang Family wanted to seize the property of Prince’s Mansion of Xihe, there would be countless opportunities in the past eleven years! I don’t need to take my life-long event as the price!”
Looking at his expression of “you are insulting me,” Qiu Yelan hummed in her heart and said, “You really think too much, I don’t even know where those industries are. If I couldn’t take it, how could you get them? Mere three million taels, I think it’s not worthy for you to care about it.”
Jiang Yashuang gave her a deep look, apparently disbelieving her explanation, and he only coldly said, “The night is deep, I send you back!”
Actually he directly asked her to leave!
Qiu Yelan secretly gritted her teeth, “No need, I’ll go by myself!”
Why it was you who were angry— to think about the process of you bringing up proposal, why shouldn’t I doubt you!