The muscles on Li Gui's face twitched, but he immediately regained his composure. He bowed his head towards Qiu Yilan and said, "Princess Ningyi, this is a misunderstanding! I am somewhat distantly related to the Pang family, but I have never met Pang Lu. I didn’t know that they had identified the wrong person - but Pang Biao and his son came to Beijing only to find Pang Lu, and they could not be the accomplices of the murderer who stabbed Mr. Ruan. "
At this time, Zhao Huairen, another retainer of the Qiu family who came with him, also said: "My family's benefactor is the censor of the dynasty, and we all have fame. How can someone who has read the books of sages condone relatives and friends to commit crimes? It’s just a misunderstanding today.”
"Don't tell me these things." Qiu Yilan saw that they wanted to make big things into trivial matters, but of course she was not willing to agree easily. She sneered and said, "Li Gui, you brought this mother and son with you. Come to the door! Just now at the gate of the Gongyuan, you kept saying that I prevented the mother and son from recognizing each other - that's fine, but my cousin was assassinated just after leaving the Gongyuan. Is this the case? "
"But this matter has nothing to do with me waiting..."
"You said it doesn't matter if it doesn't matter?!" Qiu Yilan was furious, "Then you said before that my cousin must be some kind of Pang family member?!"
Li Gui frowned: "This is a misunderstanding..."
"Misunderstanding?! There are so many people in Beijing, why don't you misunderstand others but misunderstand my cousin? It's obviously because my grandfather is seriously ill and the Ruan family has few heirs, so you came here to try to blackmail the Ruan family!" Qiu Yilan said aside He cried as he slapped his hat on, "My grandfather has become so ill. It's all thanks to my cousin's careful service that he can survive until now. This is what the old doctor Qi said personally last time. You guys clearly want to exterminate Ruan The whole family is full! Why did the Ruan family offend you to do such a heavy trick!"
These words made Li Gui and others feel angry: "The princess is really sharp-tongued! But it was just a misunderstanding, and she was even charged with destroying the entire Ruan family! It's really unreasonable!"
"It's obvious that you fabricated lies before to coerce me, so you poisoned my cousin!" Qiu Yilan raised her sleeves and wiped her face, saying loudly, "If you want to use such a cruel method to use a misunderstanding to bring it away, you think it's Da Rui Did you write the law?"
"Da Rui Lu was not written by us, but it was not written by you, Princess! What evidence does Princess have that we murdered Ruan Qingyan? Is it still reasonable to keep slandering us!?" Zhao Huairen shook his sleeves angrily, " It’s really difficult for villains and women..."
Before he finished the next word "raise", Qiu Yilan's face suddenly darkened, and she pointed at Zhao Huairen and shouted: "You colluded with the murderers to harm my cousin, and now you actually beat me up and scolded the princess?! Are you like this? Shameless, does your father-in-law know?"
Before she finished speaking, she picked up a gilt incense burner and smashed it at Zhao Huairen's head: "You lawless thing! Beat me!"
Li Gui actually had the upper hand in terms of manpower, but Qiu Yilan charged into the battle in person. How could men like Li Gui dare to touch a princess in public? ! Pang Xu is a woman, but this little princess has extraordinary skills. She grabs a fly whisk with one hand and lifts the train of her skirt with the other hand. She moves with such nimble steps and strikes so viciously that one person whipped Li Gui and the others so painfully that they all ran away with their heads in their hands!
Seeing this scene, Qiu Bo and Qiu Nie, who were drinking decoction in the same room, couldn't help but be stunned.
"This...?" Qiu Bo was stunned for a moment and looked at his younger brother.
Qiu Nie looked at Qiu Yilan with interest, his pupils shrank slightly, and said, "That little princess is not simple."
"I mean what should we do now?" Qiu Bo said speechlessly.
"On one side is the general's palace and the princess, and on the other side is the imperial censor. Why are commoners like us joining in the fun?" Qiunie smiled lazily, and poured the soup he just took two sips of with a grin on his face onto a pot of azaleas nearby, " Just pay for the medicine and leave! Don’t be dragged into this, you won’t even know how you died!”
Qiu Bo glanced at him charmingly and shouted: "Are you afraid?"
"If you don't leave, I'll leave." Qiu Nie clicked his tongue and stood up - in order to prevent Li Gui and others from escaping, Qiu Yilan called his servants to block the door from the beginning - but he did not ask the servants of Ruan Mansion to give way. Instead, he held the window lattice nearby and turned over neatly to the corridor outside.
Chunran and the others didn't think anything of it, but Qiu Yilan, who was forced to develop the habit of seeing and listening in all directions during the apocalypse, felt a shiver in her heart!
"This man landed so lightly!" She remembered that the corridor outside was elevated, about half a foot above the ground. Although Qiu Nie was thin, he was tall. Normally, he should have made some noise when he fell into the corridor - but Qiu Yilan didn't hear any sound until he took a few steps!
"There's something wrong with these two siblings!" She saw Qiu Bo also holding up her skirt and flipping out of the window - nothing was wrong with her. However, Qiu Yilan was already interested in these two siblings, "I don't know if they are enemies or friends. ? Or just a passer-by?"
At this time, Li Gui and others had their faces covered with blood. Seeing that Qiu Yilan had no intention of giving up, they simply got worried, lay down on the ground, and shouted, "Kill!"
"How dare you touch my cousin with such little prowess!" Qiu Yilan sneered and threw the whisk at him, "If you want to die, you can do it!" She called the servant, "Search their money and compensate Dr. Yuan! "
Then he said, "Don't let them leave yet. I'll go in and see my cousin."
As soon as she entered the inner room, the pale Ruan Qingyan scolded: "Are you acting like a girl? If you want to do something, why don't you call the maid to come in? You actually do it yourself - this is going to spread... No, what are you doing? Are there any girls like you who always hit people?”
"If I don't do it myself, what can Su He and Chun Ran, two maids with delicate bodies and easy to push down, do? It would be great if they don't get taken advantage of!" Qiu Yilan cursed in her heart and mouth. Then he quickly changed the topic: "Now that we have fought, how will it end?"
Ruan Qingyan looked at her humbly admitting her mistake without repenting, rubbed her forehead, and sighed helplessly: "Just say that you thought they were related to the murderer who stabbed me, and you were worried that my grandfather couldn't bear the blow, so you did it in anger. Say goodbye. Be filial, don’t let anyone take advantage of you!”
Fortunately, the Ruan family is now in control. Even if Li Gui and others are beaten, the Ruan family still has a reason to let Qiu Yilan escape.
What Ruan Qingyan is worried about now is, "It seems that the Lian family will arrive in the capital tomorrow or the day after? I'm afraid I won't be able to go to the court this time."
His new injury could completely cover up the old one, but it was really not serious. A large piece of his skin and flesh was shoveled off, and he bled a lot. Yuan Zhixing said that he would not miss his palace examination - the palace examination was in the middle of March. .
"Cousin, just rest in peace and recuperate, why do you think I'm easy to bully?" Qiu Yilan said hurriedly, "Just don't forget to tell me if you have any trump cards, so that I won't be caught off guard."
Ruan Qingyan muttered: "There are no more, just those two letters - but after so many years, I am afraid of any accidents."
"Actually, there shouldn't be any accidents." Qiu Yilan thought for a while and said, "Otherwise, why would the Queen Mother find Pang Xu and her son to deal with you? It can be seen that they have no hope at all based on the Lian family's letter, so they have to Find another way.”
Her prediction was indeed correct.
Two days later, Princess Xihe's younger brother Lian Chen and his nephew arrived in Beijing under the escort of personnel sent by the Jiang family.
The Lian family's properties in Beijing were sold as early as after the death of Mr. Lian, when the whole family returned to their hometown.
Qiu Yilan originally planned to organize a few courtyards in the general's mansion to entertain them, but when she received the news that the Lian family had arrived, Lian Chen and his party had already been accommodated in the Jiang family's villa.
The servant of the Jiang family who came to inform her politely explained that this was because General Ruan was in poor health and was afraid that the Lian family would come to disturb her. There happened to be a lot of empty rooms in the Jiang family, so he made arrangements for her.
Of course Qiu Yilan would have no objection to this - considering the relationship, it would actually be a bit embarrassing for the Lian family to live in the General's Mansion. After all, the Lian family and the Ruan family are not directly related. In fact, the Xihe Palace is the one that should receive the Lian family the most.
However, Qiu Mengmin, who is now the head of the Xihe Palace, is the person the Lian family wants to accuse when they go to Beijing this time. Of course, the Lian family will not go to the palace.
"But I don't know where the other courtyard is. When can I visit the elders?" Qiu Yilan asked the servants of the Jiang family.
"If it's convenient for you, I can do it tomorrow. The younger one will come to pick you up by then." The servant said.
Qiu Yilan readily agreed. The next day was an odd day and there was no court meeting, so she could get acquainted with the Lian family.
The next day, the servants of the Jiang family arrived at the General's Mansion on time, and took Qiu Yilan to the other courtyard where the Lian family was accommodated. When they got off the car, they saw a young man in blue shirt coming up to him, and asked with a smile: "Is she the cousin of the Qiu family? My name is Lian Ding, and my grandfather is your uncle."
"Hello, Cousin Lian!" Qiu Yilan hurriedly greeted him. Lian Ding looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, with slightly dark complexion, but broad eyebrows and regular facial features. Although he had just been on his way, he was in high spirits.
He led Qiu Yilan to meet Lian Chen and others. On the way, he lamented the death of Princess Ruan, and asked her about her current situation - the other courtyard was only so big after all. After a few pleasantries, they arrived at the main room.
There are two servants guarding in front of the main house. They are both tall and burly, with bright eyes. Eighty-nine out of ten of them are the guards sent by the Jiang family here.
After entering the door and walking around the screen, I saw an old man sitting at the top, wearing a round-neck robe with green ground branches and four seasons floral patterns, and a soft robe on his head.
Lian Ding's appearance is 80% similar to that of this old man. It's obvious that this is Lian Chen.
Qiu Yilan hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "My uncle has had a hard journey."
Lian Chen called out kindly, stroking his long gray beard and introducing the two people sitting next to her: "These are your second and third cousins."
"Two uncles have worked hard too." Qiu Yilan saluted the two cousins again.
Seeing that she had no pretensions to being a princess, the Lian family became more friendly and showed a sense of intimacy: "We went back to Lanxi more than ten years ago. We only know that your grandmother went there eleven years ago, and there was no contact or contact with her after that. Knowing what has happened, I recently received a message from the Duke of Qin, and I learned that you have suffered a great injustice at the hands of your uncle and aunt. It is our fault. If we often send people to visit you in the capital, why is it like this? ?”
"Uncle, you are serious." This was just a remark. When the old man of the Lian family, the father of Princess Xihe, was here, he was the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. The Lian family was a serious and powerful family. It was easy to seek justice for Princess Ruan and her daughter. .
Unfortunately, the descendants of the old Lian family are unworthy, and no one has been awarded a Jinshi so far. So they just relied on the old man Lian to get some official titles. How can he win over Qiu Mengmin after he takes the title? But of course Qiu Yilan would not try to dismantle this problem, but said, "The two places are so far apart. It is already very difficult for you and your cousins to come this time. We have not been able to send news over here in the past, so how can we Is it your fault?"
"I've suffered so much for you kid over the years." Lian Chen sighed heavily.
The two sides chatted for a while, and after asking each other about their current situation, Lian Chen did not delay any longer and mentioned the issue of the letter directly: "It has been sent to the Duke of Qin's Mansion for preservation, so as not to be coveted by Xiao Xiao. I will present it to the court tomorrow. , for the civil and military witnesses of the Manchu Dynasty.”
"Thank you, uncle." Qiu Yilan breathed a sigh of relief after receiving this confidence - now let's see how Qiu Mengmin still denies it!
... After she left, Lian Chen narrowed his eyes: "What do you think of this child?"
"You're not that old, but you have a certain amount of progress and retreat. It's not like the Jiang family said that you have been bullied all the time." Lian Jianhao, who is slightly older and the son of the eldest son, said after thinking deeply.
Lian Chen's son Lian Jianhai waited for his cousin to speak before he said: "His mother, Princess Ruan, is the daughter of General Ruan. When General Ruan was in the army, his prestige was only lower than that of Duke Qin. Even if the situation is not good, I think he will come. It is impossible for the daughter of a general to raise an only daughter to be nothing but a nuisance."
"Then we have to change our previous plan." Lian Chen nodded and said, "This child is not as easy to coax as we expected."
"Brother-in-law, why don't you wait until this matter is over?" Lian Jianhao said, "Today is just the first time we meet each other. Maybe the Ruan family has taught her how to deal with it since they knew we were about to enter the capital? It's not that the heir of Old General Ruan, You’re only eighteen years old and you took part in the examination?”
Lian Chen thought for a while and said: "Let's do it this way. The only plan now is to seek justice for your aunt first!"