When they arrived at the back hall, Ruan Ciyi was waiting neatly after receiving the news.
Over the past two years, the anger in her heart has gradually disappeared, and the depression in her brows is gone now, but her whole person is covered with a layer of sadness, and even when she smiles slightly, she seems to be crying - Qiu Yilan obediently finished the ceremony , calling her cousin to sit next to her: "Cousin, are you still looking good today?"
This is a lie with open eyes. Ruan Ciyi's complexion was ashen and her expression was weak. When contrasted by Qiu Yilan, who was as beautiful as a peach and plum, she was even more dejected.
Although there was no mirror in front of her at the moment, Ruan Ciyi still twitched the corner of her mouth and showed a clear wry smile: "That's just me - my cousin looks even more beautiful than the previous two days."
"After I was born in mourning, the two old mothers around me have been urging me to take nourishing food." Qiu Yilan said shamelessly, "Probably for this reason, although my cousin is in mourning, it is better to eat more nourishing food. So as not to lose your body and bones.”
Ruan Ciyi was listless and said perfunctorily: "That's what my cousin said."
Next, the two sisters chatted for a while, and Qiu Yilan became more and more boring as she talked, so she took the opportunity to say goodbye.
In fact, Ruan Ciyi has long been annoyed - she just doesn't want to see anyone and doesn't want to say anything. So he left a few token words and let her go.
When Qiu Yilan left, Ling Zui was still talking to Ruan Qingyan, so he didn't go ahead to talk.
On the way back to Prince Xihe's Mansion, Chunran suddenly remembered something: "Since the princess has shown her filial piety, shouldn't she buy some rouge and gouache? Otherwise, it would be too plain."
These words reminded Xia Ran, and he said: "It's time to pay back those. Anyway, Princess Princess is beautiful, and it's the same if she doesn't apply enough Zhudu. However, the hairpin rings need to be replaced. The previous silver hairpins and white jade are not suitable now. It's time to add color. Object."
The two maids said so, and Su He also wanted to join in the fun, so Qiu Yilan made the decision and asked the coachman to drive directly to the jewelry shop where all the ladies go.
Unexpectedly, as soon as we got off the bus, we met an acquaintance, Shui Jin.
Both of them were surprised. After greeting each other, He Shuijin noticed that Qiu Yilan was wearing a pink jacket and a crimson fairy skirt today, and his thoughts suddenly changed: "The princess has paid filial piety?"
"Yes, the maids all said that I should buy some jewelry, so I came over to take a look." Qiu Yilan nodded.
He Shuijin laughed when he heard this: "I'm telling you! I've never seen you here." She was originally leaving the shop, but now she took Qiu Yilan's arm and led her in, introducing her as she walked, looking very... Familiar, "I can't say that this is the best shop in Beijing, but when it comes to the freshness and sophistication of the style, I can guarantee that even those century-old brands can't compare to it."
Qiu Yilan smiled and said, "I asked the coachman to find a bigger shop for me. Now that I hear what you say, it seems that I have come to the right place." Now she wants to catch up with the fashionable clothes of aristocratic girls, so her first choice is freshness and style. Exquisite, as for the heirloom-level hairpin ring... What's the use of buying it now? Those are only worn when leaving the imperial court or receiving imperial orders. They are usually worn at the bottom of the box.
"Come with me, and I'll make sure you're satisfied!" After hearing this, He Shuijin's smile deepened, and he led her through the door without looking at the counters around him, and led her directly towards the back.
The woman looking after the store didn't stop them, but even saluted them.
Qiu Yilan came to her senses when she saw this: "Miss He, is this shop with you?"
"I drove it." He Shuijin said cheerfully, "But don't worry about me killing you. It's your first time here, so I'll give you the noodles first. If you feel good about it, come back next time - it won't happen after all. More expensive than elsewhere.”
Qiu Yilan looked at her as a professional female shopkeeper and felt a little bit amused: "You misunderstood, that's what I asked."
Although the eldest lady is known as "profit-seeking" and she is also interested in business, she obviously has the attitude of doing big business - this person knows the principle of long-term success, so even though she personally received the reception, in the end It is true that he did not show his sword and kill Qiu Yilan like a fat sheep.
He actually insisted on giving her a set of red gold headbands.
However, Qiu Yilan bought two large boxes of jewelry from her shop called "Linlangji" without even paying back the price... I believe she would have made a profit even if she gave the set of red gold hair and face as a gift.
He Shuijin was very enthusiastic when he sent her out, and even said that he would remind her of good things in the future - Qiu Yilan never cared much about such small money, and now she was qualified to say that two large boxes of jewelry were just small money. She paid more attention to the relationship with He Shuijin, so she gave a positive answer to He Shuijin's wish for her to spend money here for a long time in the future.
This made He Shuijin happy, and he reciprocated the news: "The Lian family who lives in Furong Lane in the west of the city seems to be your relative? There is a young widowed lady in that family. It is said that her charm is still there. I don't know if it will happen recently." What's the trouble?"
Qiu Yilan slowed down after hearing this and said in surprise: "You should be talking about the one I call aunt - but you don't know what kind of trouble it will be?" From the tone, it seems that Wang Lian's family has attracted someone to covet her.
This can't help but surprise Qiu Yilan. Lian Chen has already returned to his hometown. Now the people staying in Beijing are Lian Jianhai and Lian Jianhao, and the Wang Lian family has never returned. Although the Lian Jianhai brothers have not been promoted in the past two years, the family's relationship with the Xihe Palace and their connection with the Jiang family are no secret in Beijing - the Wang Lian family is considered beautiful, but She has not yet reached the point of overwhelming the country. Who would touch her regardless of these many threats
Is it the Gu family
Qiu Yilan immediately thought of Gu Yan: "Is this coming for me? Or is it my cousin? Is it related to the old picture Kang Lizhang mentioned?"
The more she thought about it, the more suspicious she felt that Gu Yan was not the one who told Shuijin: "This matter is not a secret. It's just that you have just made a filial piety, and you don't know about it before you go out and walk around. But you know it." You can’t say what I said during the interrogation.”
Qiu Yilan quickly promised—it was just a request from Shuijin, and she already knew in her heart: 9 out of 10 of them were from the Jiang family.
Sure enough, he said to Shuijin, "I heard it's Jiang Shiyi from the Jiang family's eldest house."
Qiu Yilan was confused: "Jiang Shiyi?"
"You haven't asked about the ranking of the Jiang family's children?" He Shuijin was a little surprised, but immediately said, "That's Jiang Yahong, his sister-in-law, who is also Jiujiu's uncle and cousin. You met her in Yunyi Tower back then - she is Zhuang Man, the youngest daughter of Guozi Siye."
How could I still remember something that happened so long ago? Especially during the incident at Yunyi Tower, Qiu Yilan could be said to have escaped unknowingly. She had no memory of the rich lady who was introduced to her before that conflict and who didn't say three sentences at all - Now she thought hard, and vaguely remembered that Zhuang Man was a young girl with black hair and fair skin, who seemed to be the same age as herself.
Well, this is not the point now. The point is that Jiang Yahong, who covets the Wang Lian family, already has a wife. Of course, even if he is still single, it is estimated that the Jiang family will not let him marry the Wang Lian family. And Wang Lian obviously didn't have the temperament to be willing to be a concubine - even if she was willing, the Lian family couldn't agree.
How can we say that the Lian family can be considered a family of officials now, but the daughter of the family has actually become a concubine. How will the Lian Jianhai brothers behave as people and officials in the future? You must know that any family with some integrity, even if the family is poor, will not let their daughter be brought up as a child. Kang Lizhang is an exception. Firstly, she is afraid that if she continues to stay in the Xihe Palace, she will lose her life. The so-called emergency medical treatment is indiscriminate. Secondly, although she is the cousin of the palace, her father's family is really not prominent. Of course, ordinary people do not want to be embarrassed, but It's so embarrassing... The pressure is far less than that of the official family.
So now Qiu Yilan has to solve this problem for Wang Lian - there is no way, Wang Qingqian has been studying with her for nearly a year. Although this little cousin is not all-rounded, there is nothing wrong with it except that she is a bit strong. She yells about her elder sister and younger sister all day long. Qiu Yilan can't just sit back and watch the tragedy of their orphaned daughter and widowed mother, right
Thanks to He Shuijin for reminding him, Qiu Yilan returned to Xihe Palace and was thinking about how to tell Jiang Yashuang about this matter when Wang Qingqian came.
Upon hearing the news, Qiu Yilan's heart skipped a beat!
"Sister Lan!" Wang Qingqian came in and said without even thinking about the courtesy, "My mother is missing!"
"Why did he disappear?" Qiu Yilan asked calmly. She suspected that Jiang Yahong couldn't seduce him and just kidnapped him. But she couldn't say this in front of Wang Qingqian, otherwise God knows she has such a bad temper. Will the little girl go directly to the Duke of Qin's mansion to scold Shanmen and demand Wang Lian's family back
Wang Qingqian said anxiously: "In the morning, when my mother went to visit my second aunt who had been suffering from cold for the past two days, my second aunt remembered that she owed some money to the powder shop, so she asked my mother to pay it back. As a result, as soon as my mother went out, I haven’t gone back yet!”
Qiu Yilan frowned and said, "Second cousin? She wants to pay back the money for the makeup store, so why can't she just send a servant? Why do you want Aunt Lian to go there?"
"I asked too!" Wang Qingqian said hurriedly, "Second aunt said that because she sent servants to get the makeup and powder, she was afraid that sending servants to settle the bill would enrich her own pockets, so it was my mother who went there in person!"
This explanation makes sense. After all, the Lian family is not as frugal as it was back then, but living in the capital where every inch of land is so precious, they really don't dare to waste it. Naturally, we can't tolerate the greed of servants - Qiu Yilan doesn't really care about such a small amount of money now. She will never go out to check the accounts with the shopkeepers just for fear of being manipulated by the servants.
Qiu Yilan pondered for a while and asked, "Have you reported to the official position?"
"No!" Wang Qingqian was obviously upset, "Originally I said I wanted to go, but my aunt said that if this matter was spread, my mother's reputation might be discussed. Mother hates being discussed about this... But if you don’t report it to the official, with so few people at home, there’s still no movement after so long! Sister Lan, is there anything you can do?”
When Qiu Yilan heard that "it's been so long", she couldn't sit still - don't let Jiang Yahong cook her rice!
Qiu Yilan couldn't trust anyone in the Jiang family except Jiang Yashuang!
So he quickly dismissed Wang Qingqian with a few words, called Su He, and told her to go to the next door with a solemn expression: "I remember that there are pheasants sent from the farm in the kitchen. I brought two to Princess Chunfu and said I Thanks for the pastry last time.”
In fact, the pastries were sent by Jiang Yashuang in the name of her sister.
Now Qiu Yilan said she wanted to thank her for the cakes, so she gave him a pheasant as a gift - "chicken" is homophonic to "ji".
After all, it was broad daylight. Qiu Yilan had no choice but to climb over the wall and run over to find someone. She could only hope that Jiang Yashuang would understand the hint.