As usual, Mrs. Zhang sent the sisters out on behalf of the third wife.
After the door opened, Jiang Yashuang was already waiting at the foot of the steps as she had been the past few days.
Because it was snowing, I held an umbrella. I didn't let Jiang Tan take it, but held it myself. Jiang Tan stood not far away wearing a raincoat with hands hanging down. Both the master and the servant are tall men. Their tall and straight postures in the snow remind people of the various beautiful and elegant trees described in the book.
It was already dark by this time, and the lantern hanging in front of the door of the third room was dimly illuminated by the wind and snow. Under the dim light, Jiang Yashuang turned his head when he heard the sound of opening the door. His face was like jade, his dark eyebrows and starry eyes, and his thin lips were slightly hooked. At that moment, his face was dimmed as if in the spring breeze. Not far behind him, the snow was blooming against the wind. The garden is full of red plums.
Such a good son-in-law and so considerate.
Mrs. Zhang and others were really envious and jealous, and they all complained, both truthfully and falsely: "Nineteenth came to pick up someone again? We're afraid we'll eat Nineteenth's younger siblings!"
Jiang Yashuang stepped forward with a smile to greet her sisters-in-law, then helped her wife who was hurriedly walking down the steps, and then smiled and said: "Where? My grandfather just summoned me, and I passed by here when I came back. I guess everyone in Chenguang has almost finished their work, so... Wait here for a while.”
Zhang and others didn't believe it: "You come to pick people up every day, do you think we don't know? Are you still making excuses to make it difficult for your sisters-in-law to see you coming to pick them up?"
Xiao Zhuang joked: "The young couple are embarrassed, so they start making excuses?"
"It's really my grandfather who summoned me. My sisters-in-law don't believe it. Ask the guards!" Jiang Yashuang pointed to the soldiers on both sides. Those soldiers looked at them without squinting and had expressionless faces, but they didn't mean to give him any evidence. Zhang and others The laughter became even louder: “Anyway, we see you coming to pick up people every day!”
"It's rain or shine, the idiom says it's rain or shine, how can I compare with you?"
"Even my grandfather brought it up to cover it up? Huh? Let's not talk about them anymore. The 19th brother will be really annoyed... Haha!"
Qiu Yilan felt sweet in her heart - with her integrity, if she wasn't pretending, there would be no pressure on this level of teasing. At present, she didn't feel the need to enter shy mode, so she didn't even blush, and stood aside with a smile and listened. Jiang Yashuang's serious explanation - Jiang Yashuang soon realized that although he was very eloquent, it was completely unwise for one person to argue with a group of sisters-in-law...
So he simply chose to call it quits: "It's getting late, don't delay my sisters-in-law's return!"
After saying that, he cupped his hands, grabbed Qiu Yilan and ran away!
The two of them had walked for a while, and they could still hear laughter coming from the door of the third bedroom. Qiu Yilan saw her husband walking away hurriedly, and couldn't help laughing: "You are afraid of their ridicule, so don't come to pick her up in the future." Well, it’s just at home anyway, just a few steps away!”
"Isn't it all you?" Jiang Yashuang squeezed her hand bitterly and said, "I won't sit in a nice soft sedan and have to walk back and forth. It's windy and snowy, even if most places have sealed corridors. , but there are also some sections of mud and snow. It was already bright when we came in the morning, so that’s fine. Now it’s dark when we go back, and the lanterns can’t illuminate very well. What if I don’t come to pick you up? What if you fall? ?”
"You can't move at home all day long. If you go to the third room and sit in a sedan, your bones will be rusty!" Qiu Yilan smiled and leaned against him, "Okay, okay, I know you feel sorry for me... Go back. I’ll cook you two dishes. What do you want to eat?”
Jiang Yashuang glanced at her softly, thought for a while but shook her head: "You have been too busy these days. You should take a rest after you go back, so as not to be exhausted... wait until this busy period is over."
The two returned to their own yard sweetly, and had a sweet dinner together. After washing up, they returned to the inner room. After checking in, they naturally had another sweet time... After that, Qiu Yilan lay weakly in her husband's arms. Jiang Yashuang reluctantly let her go after she asked for mercy.
Young couples have good energy, and they don't feel sleepy after being romantically involved, so they naturally have some private conversations.
After flirting for a while, Qiu Yilan thought of the joke Xiaozhuang told and felt uneasy. After thinking about it, she tentatively mentioned it to her husband: "I heard Sister-in-law Eleven say today that the three prime ministers Taking the lead in the investigation of the real culprit, no matter how big or small, even the Queen Mother Ye asked for an extra basket of eggs in the twelfth lunar month of last year? "
"There is such a thing." Whether Jiang Yashuang is a man or a disciple that Duke Qin and Queen Jiang have cultivated, he knows more about it than Xiaozhuang does. This matter is not something that cannot be told to his wife. Since Jiang Yahong told Xiaozhuang, now when Qiu Yilan asked, he did not hide it and revealed everything, "The Queen Mother Ye can be said to have been living an ignoble life these years. Although she said Now Empress Dowager Gu no longer wanted her life, but she still lived cautiously just in case. Regarding the rules, Fourth Aunt also gave her whatever she wanted and never said much. I remember that in the past few years, the palace officials were greedy for bribes. She did not want to say anything about it even though she was hungry for several days. People around her still couldn't stand it, so she quietly went to Bei Que Palace to report it to her fourth aunt, who only found out about this sudden request. This was the first time since this dynasty. , It’s an extraordinary period, so the prime ministers naturally have to ask.”
Seeing his wife biting her lip, as if thinking hard, he asked in surprise, "What? Do you think there is a problem with this?"
"No!" Qiu Yilan immediately denied, "I just thought of the eleventh sister-in-law lamenting that it was not surprising that Queen Mother Ye wanted to eat something soft as she was getting old, but the three prime ministers asked her like this - as you said, This Queen Mother doesn't like to trouble people, so she may not even dare to ask for eggs next time. Thinking that she was the successor of the late Emperor and the former Lord of the Sixth Palace, even Queen Mother Gu had to bow respectfully when she saw her... Now that it has fallen to this point, it is really..."
"Everything in the world is impermanent." Jiang Yashuang smiled faintly, lowered his head and kissed her forehead, "Our family is now rich and proud. Once it loses power, the Dou family is an example. Therefore, no matter what means I use, I will help the elders to keep it." This wealth will prevent the people and things I love from being trampled by others!”
Qiu Yilan leaned against his chest and smiled: "Come on!"
That night, Jiang Yashuang was perfunctory. When she got up the next morning, Jiang Yashuang left first as usual and went to the study to serve Duke Qin's pen and ink. In fact, he also went to watch Duke Qin handle official documents and interact with people.
After Qiu Yilan washed up, she saw that she still had some time to leave the third room. She was stunned for a while, and then told Su He, who was looking at her worriedly: "Let Mother Li steam the red date cake at noon, steam more, and then each room will have its own Send some to everyone.”
Su He calculated it and said in surprise: "So many?!" He then confirmed, "Each house should be paid back, each house...but I don't know which house to give it to?"
"The eldest cousin and Uncle Zhuang must not miss it, and the same goes for the Jibei Marquis' Mansion." Qiu Yilan rubbed the center of her eyebrows, "The Xihe Prince's Mansion... give one as well. Then there are the Xin family, Princess Chunfu's Mansion, and Qiyang The Prince’s Mansion—oh, and Uncle Lian’s side!”
She was too lazy to care about the natal families of her sisters-in-law. The original purpose of steaming cakes this time was the Qiyang County Prince's Palace.
So after Su He was asked to call Mother Li to prepare red date cakes, she called Xia Ran to come over and whispered: "The health of the prince and his wife of Qiyang County has never been very good. Duanrou has a filial piety. She used to stay in the palace during summer vacation. Here, she asked me for cooking skills. I was busy and didn’t have time to remind her carefully. This time, you can deliver the pastries from Qiyang County Prince’s Palace and tell her that I know a few private dishes here that are good for the body. Try to get her to come over! It’s best to come over as soon as possible!”
Xia Ran nodded: "My servant will definitely do it!"
This is the advantage of Xia Ran - he knows what to ask and what not to ask. If it were Su Heyi, he would definitely try to get to the bottom of it - well, Su He was also very well-behaved, but it was Qiu Yilan who spoiled her. . Now if I want to do something I don’t want to explain, I have to send this little girl away first...
"It's better to find a husband for her and marry her off!" Qiu Yilan couldn't help but think about it, but, "I'm still a little bit reluctant to let go... This beautiful and lovely little girl has been with me for so many years, and now I want to be taken away by someone else... tsk tsk." ! I finally understand how people feel about marrying their daughter!”
When she thought about marrying her daughter, she also thought about Jiang Qizheng—she wanted to visit Princess Chunfu's mansion two days ago, but she was stopped by Mrs. Tao.
The reason is: "Zheng'er and his wife are the only ones in the princess's residence. You are a female family member. It will definitely not be your consort who will receive you when you come over. The consort will have to avoid you. You don't want to think that Zheng'er has injured his foot and has to work hard to entertain you. You It’s just a visit. Isn’t this causing trouble? I’ve already sent people to visit and express my gratitude to my parents, so don’t worry about it!”
Qiu Yilan could only rejoice that the people sent by the old lady didn't find anything wrong, and at the same time, she blamed herself depressedly for not thinking carefully enough, so she resigned...
"This is such a troublesome husband's family!" She shook her head and lay weakly on the table, "Okay, what should we do now? Empress Dowager Ye... Egg... Three Prime Ministers... How can the Prime Minister not have any intuition if he can get through it? What? It seems ridiculous that they checked it, but it may not be a mistake! It’s just that... maybe they don’t know some common sense? "
But even though Qiu Yilan had a premonition that she seemed to have touched the key point of the emperor's poisoning, she didn't want to tell Jiang Yashuang or any of her husband's family immediately - because according to her assumption, Queen Mother Ye would never be able to escape the relationship!
She has never met the Queen Mother Ye, but ever since she learned about Youmianxiang, the bloodline of the Ye family has really made people feel bitter - the Queen Mother Ye, Qiyang County Prince and his wife, Chu Chunxiao... This family is so miserable!
If Queen Mother Ye is involved in poisoning the emperor again, even if she has been protected by the Jiang family all these years, in order to prevent the Queen Mother's party from blaming the real culprit behind the scenes on the Jiang family, the Jiang family will not hand her over openly, and they will definitely He will kill her secretly... lest she target Queen Jiang one day!
"Chu Chunxiao shouldn't be harmed. After all, Empress Jiang still needs her and Xiao Su to form a couple..." Qiu Yilan rubbed her forehead in worry, "But it's hard to say that Qiyang County Prince and his wife are a couple. Qiyang County Prince is a Fool, but the Jiang family has done many evil things, will they show mercy just because he is a fool? Although the princess of Qiyang County is the daughter of the Jiang family, the Jiang family could marry her to the prince of Qiyang County in the first place, even if it was Dou. It’s his plan, but is he married? It shows that the Jiang family doesn’t care about this daughter very much! Queen Mother Ye must have had a conspiracy to survive for so many years, but it seems that she was forced to do something about Chu Chunxiao’s marriage this time. It’s because of that!”
So from a personal emotional point of view, Qiu Yilan was really unwilling to expose the Queen Mother.
But she also has to think about herself—what does Queen Mother Ye want to do? ! Does she have any other back-ups, and what kind of harm will she cause to the Jiang family and the Queen's Party? !
It was impossible for Qiu Yilan to sympathize with Queen Mother Ye to the point of being tricked by her into the Dou family... This was why she hoped that Xia Ran could lure Chu Chunxiao over. She didn't have time to visit Qiyang County Prince's Mansion now, so she just Now that Chu Chunxiao is here, the niece of the county lord is the only one who can see Queen Mother Ye more often at present!