Chapter 63 Premiership for You, Dowry Returned to Me

At Jiang’s residence, Lian Chen was surprised when he saw Qiu Yelan. “I thought you are out of town,” said he.

“I’ve been to the old Princess’s and my mother’s tombs for a while,” said Qiu Yelan. Old Princess Lian’s tomb was close to Princess Ruan’s. Qiu Yelan wanted to say something privately to Princess Ruan. She commanded Su He and others to sweep the tomb. How could she not feel shame when she said so? “When I was coming back, I forgot to say goodbye to my uncle.”

“Sure. I should have been there too,” said Lian Chen, stroking his long beard. He sighed and continued, “Now we all know how mean Qiu Mengmin is. Lu suicided for fearing the punishment. So, it sounded reasonable for you to mourn them….”

Hearing what he said, Qiu Yelan was shocked and said, “Lu suicided because of fearing for the punishment?”

“This has been concluded by the judge,” smiled Lian Jianhao.

Qiu Yelan understood that this must be the conclusion of Empress Jiang’s instead of the judge’s. She asked immediately, “What about my uncle?”

“Because Qiu Mengmin’s two sons refused to succeed to the title, Empress Dowager concluded that Duke of Xihe has no other offspring to succeed the title. She insisted that Qiu Mengmin must resume as the Duke of Xihe,” said Lian Jianhai, adding, “But he was fined a decade’s salary by the Empress and revoke his other titles apart from the title of the nobility….”

Speaking of this, Lian Jianhai reminded her, “Empress must have rewarded you when you were out of town. When did you come back? You haven’t been to the Prince’s Mansion yet, have you? I suggest that you write a thank-you letter to the Emperor.”

“Thanks for your heads-up,” said Qiu Yelan, nodding. She was wondering why Empress Jiang resumed his post so easily. There must have something uncovered. So, she asked, “This time, I could vindicate my grandmother. Thanks for you all coming here testifying and helping me out.”

“That’s not a big deal. Your grandmother is my sister. It is my responsibility to defend you,” said Lian Chen, adding, “Over the past years, because we parted miles away, I even had no chance to protect you which caused your grandmother and you to be bullied and humiliated. I deeply regret that. So, no need to say thank you.”

Qiu Yelan, of course, would say that it deserved to thank everybody who had offered help, in particular, Lian Family — They had already had this small talk for a while. And then she went to the point, “Although Lu died because of fear, she was your biological mother. As she had passed away, I thought that you must harbor resentment against me in your heart.”

She bit her lips, looking at Lian Chen and saying, “Hoping you can remind me of the things that I may infuriate you in the future.”

“Sure, it is a problem,” said Lian Chen, looking at Lian Jianhao and Lian Jianhai, adding, “As there is no womenfolk serving you over here from your family, I am thinking that you have to leave and find another place to live.”

He thought for a while and continued, “How about this? I will ask your two uncles to stay with you now. And later, I will send somebody to pick your aunts. They can visit you from time to time. I don’t think that Qiu Mengmin dares to bully or humiliate you when they are around.”

Lian Jianhao seemed to have something to say.

Lian Chen looked at him, saying, “Anything wrong?”

“Although they can often visit her, it cannot solve the rooted problem,” said Lian Jianhao with hesitation, adding, “Apart from Qiu Mengmin, there are only women left in the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe. It is unreasonable for the servants who do not stand on Prince’s side but support the young Commandery Princess, isn’t it?”

Qiu Yelan frowned, seeming like being anxious.

“Do you have any plan?” questioned Lian Chen.

“Since my sister’s husband died, she swore that she would not remarry and she will only focus on her kid. Nothing else….”

What she said reminded Lian Chen. He turned to Qiu Yelan and said, “Your aunt was raised by your grandmother with a good education. She and her husband were good and nice people. It was a pity that her husband died so early. He went to attend the provincial examination and then vomited blood. He died soon after the examination. He even got third place at that examination … They only had a daughter named Qingqian. If I am guessing right, she is one year younger than you.”

The point is, “Your aunt missed your uncle so much and considering that Qingqian is still young, despite her husband died in his twenties, she still did not intend to marry again. At the beginning of last year, the countryside official even erected a memorial archway for her.”

The people of Darui had an open mind. Divorce and remarry were not unusual in this country. Due to this reason, there were few memorial archways in the country. The memorial archway played a tremendous role somehow in the country. Despite Mrs. Lian had no title of nobility on her, she was respected by the people because of the memorial archway.

It was explicit that the meaning of Lian Family was: They hoped Qiu Yelan would ask Mrs. Lian to move to the capital, living in the Prince’s Mansion.

Above all, Mrs. Lian and Qiu Mengmin were of the same generation. She was also the niece of Qiu Mengmin’s mother. If she could make no big mistakes, Qiu Mengmin would not frame her. In particular, she was one of the representatives of the virtuous women. Even Princess Yang must restrain herself before her.

With the help of Mrs. Lian, Qiu Yelan would enjoy peaceful times — yet, who could ensure that something else would not happen to her?

Qiu Yelan had never met Mrs. Lian before. She was worried that whether this aunt was a strict and pedantic woman. If she was, that meant Qiu Yelan caged herself by inviting this woman. And then, it would be hard to get rid of her and probably would infuriate Lian Family as well.

Thinking of this, Qiu Yelan said calmly, “I am so impressed by Aunt Lian’s bearing!” That was all she said, nothing more.

Hearing of her words, Lian Chen stroked his beard, looking at Lian Jianhao and Lian Jianhai — They had realized that Qiu Yelan, despite 13 years old then, seemed much maturer than her age. Not feeling disappointed, Lian Chen said gently, “Your aunt is a nice lady with a kind heart. Her daughter is also a good girl. If she comes here living with you, you may enjoy the days with them.”

“That’s perfect,” said Qiu Yelan, smiling. But she still said nothing more.

Lian Chen realized that even she knew that she would encounter many troubles living alone in the Prince’s Mansion, she would not agree to live with her aunt until she had met her aunt.

So, he left it behind and changed the topic, “I heard that General Ruan’s grandson has passed the metropolitan examination, congrats to him!”

Nobody would reject to share the good news, in particular, from a relative who was skilled at study — Qiu Yelan also fell into this sphere. So, she smiled and said, “Cousin Ruan does excel at study.”

“I heard that your cousin is the youngest examinee among all,” said Lian Ding, who was standing beside them and kept silent. He suddenly broke his silence, adding, “As for this, I am 2 years younger than him, but I am even not a Xiucai. What a shame!”

“How could you compete with junior General Ruan?” said Lian Jianhai, smiling.

Qiu Yelan thought to herself: As the young master of Jiang Family and the son of Great General of North who was in charge of a majority of troops, Jiang Yashuang, of course, would be called General Jiang even if he was born with nothing.

However, on the other hand, Ruan Qingyan, as the only grandson of General Ruan’s, passed the examination. Until this moment, people realized that he was a child of a General.

To meditate and relieve Lian Jianhai’s son, Lian Chen said to Qiu Yelan, “There may be many visitors in the coming days in the General Ruan’ mansion. You have been living in his mansion by far. Is it okay still?”

“I have asked my servants to move my stuff to the Prince’s Mansion while the Imperial Court was over that day,” said Qiu Yelan.

“Please take care,” said Lian Chen, frowning. “We should always keep an eye on everything… Above all, your uncle is Prince. Well, as we hastened to move, we forget to take some womenfolk with us, or we can leave several for you.”

“No need to worry about me. Lu just died for fear days ago. If my uncle is angry at me now, I guess he would leave me alone recently. If he punishes me, he will defy Empress,” said Qiu Yelan, smiling. “I, actually, came here because of big trouble. I need your help!” continued she.

“What is it?” said Lian Chen, shockingly.

“Well, you know that my grandmother and my mother have died. I have no immediate family members in the world,” sighed Qiu Yelan. “Their dowry, in general, should be inherited by me — for your record, I am not a greedy person. I am thinking that the dowry is the remains of my family members. It is unjustifiable to give it to others. When my mother was severely ill, my aunts have taken some stuff from us… I was worried that some people who do not know the whole story may think I am not a good remains keeper.”

Hearing of this, Lian Family members turned pale. One said, “It is not about your greed. Nobody should occupy a girl’s dowry except her kid! This has been a rule since long ago. It is also a rule documented in the laws of Darui! How dare the members of the Prince’s Mansion who not only disobeyed the will of old Princess but also grasp old Princess’s stuff?”

Lian Ding was furious and said, “Grandpa, they even dare to defy my grandmother’s will and has supported Lu in the Prince’s Mansion for over ten years. It’s impossible for them, of course, to stay away from my aunts’ stuff! What they did was a tremendous humiliation for my sister Qiu Yelan.”

“So, what stuff on earth has been taken by them? Did you check the list?” said Lian Chen, angrily. He did not seem like in a hurry — Anyone could judge who was right and who was wrong in this conflict. Standing on the right side, Lian Chen was not worried about the result. Anyway, the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe still existed. He could ask them to compensate for the loss if any.

Qiu Yelan said helplessly, “The key part is that I don’t have the list of my grandmother’s and my mother’s dowry. I even did not see any sheet. I have asked the servants of my mother’s. They told me they had not seen it before. I used to suspect that the sheet was taken by my aunts. Yet they even once ask me to give them the sheet! I can’t judge whether they were lying or not.”

“It’s not a big deal,” said Lian Chen, frowning. He ended up being happy and said, “We have one copy of the sheet of old Princess’s dowry. Although we forgot to take it with us this time. I think that we can send somebody back and fetch it for us.”

“I don’t think it is safe on the way forth and back…” reminded Lian Ding.

There had been Many Jiang Family’s Men of Sacrifice who died along the roads. Thinking of this, Lian Chen was anxious gravely.

This was the reason why Qiu Yelan hurried to come over here discussing it with Lian Family — Many servants of Jiang Family had died for protecting the persons and mails walking to the capital. Hundreds of men died, of course, would scare away those for the task.

Even if Empress Dowager Gu did not care about the sheet of the dowry, Lian Family could not beat up the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe in terms of force.

She was planning to say that Qiu Mengmin and his wife were “lying on the bed due to illness”, we should go and return as soon as possible… Before she said so, Lian Jianhai asked, “I heard days ago from Lian Ding that he had seen Master Qiu in the capital.”

“You are right!” said Lian Ding, being happy. “How could I forget Master Qiu? If he can do us a big favor. We will be fine on the way if there are not many mobs.”

Qiu Yelan said surprisingly, “Master Qiu?”

“He is something like a cowboy,” explained Lian Jianhao. “He was born in a family of a scholar. No idea why he became a cowboy wandering in the world…”

“Uncle, Master Qiu once said that a man should read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles,” said Lian Ding. He seemed like admiring him very much. He even planned to argue with Lian Jianhao about his heroism. “Master Qiu is still at his young age, uncle. How could you know he will not take the examinations in the future? And, Master Qiu is a vigorous and unrestrained man. He has helped many people when he was traveling around. In my opinion, He is better than many…”

Lian Jianhai frowned and yelled, “Shut up and behave yourself!”

Lian Jianhao said immediately it was fine — Lian Chen did not intend to be involved in the children’s spat and said to Qiu Yelan, “Years ago, I heard that a number of murder cases occurred in Lanxi. The suspect had gone away when they confirmed who did them. The family members of the victims, however, did not give up. They invited Master Qiu to break the cases — It was so impressive that this man beheaded the suspect within months and sent it to the locals. More interesting was that this man did not take away all the bonus, instead, he shared the majority of his money with the family members of victims and left himself only a small sum.”

Lian Ding said excitedly, “He has been to our house before!”

“And your uncle thought that he was born in the family of a scholar. Thus, he borrowed some books to him and allowed him to stay at home for months,” said Lian Chen, stroking his beard. “So, we met him before and we may have been friends ever since… This man enjoyed a good reputation and is skilled at Kung Fu. If he could lend us a hand, we will be safer along the way… But I think…”

“But what?” asked Qiu Yelan curiously. They suddenly all talked about a terrific cowboy who she was eager to meet.

“But nobody knows his background,” said Lian Chen. “Master Qiu is not his real name. He got this name years ago. At that moment, he was standing against rails on the second floor of a hotel, looking at the falling leaves. He was asked his name and he said casually “Qiu Feng”. It sounded not like a real name somehow. We only have one copy of the sheet of dowry. In case this man is not the man we can depend on…”