Chapter 36 What Does “Try Peaceful Means Before Resorting to Force” Mean?

“Thank you for arriving in time,” after Chu Weize and Chu Weizhou left, Qiu Yelan stopped pretending to be pity. She walked out from behind Jiang Yashuang. She curtseyed and said with a smile, “Otherwise, as an insignificant Commandery Princess, how could I stand up to Prince of Yan and Prince of Zhou?”

She had a lot of things to deal with recently. Girls at her age were normally a little skinny at this time. Now she was so skinny that her lower jaw was pointy which made her face look more exquisite and delicate. Especially her eyes looked like peach blossom which made her always seem loving and tender even when she looked at people angrily. Now that she smiled which made her seem more loving and tender.

As sophisticated as he was, Jiang Yashuang was still stunned by her beauty for a moment. Then he said with a smile, “You are welcome. Prince of Yan and Prince of Zhou may not be as glib as you.”

“Prince of Zhou and Prince of Yan stand high above the masses. If I don’t have the Empress’s blessing, how am I qualified to talk back to them? Does it matter in this kind of situation that I’m glib or not?” Qiu Yelan smiled and said, “If you weren’t here, how would Prince of Yan give me six thousand taels of silver so easily?”

Jiang Yashuang smiled and said, “Thanks to your shrewdness. You seized the chance to trick him,” he changed the topic and said, “What happened today was so sudden. I came at short notice and just in time to bump into Prince of Yan on the road. I wonder if you knew why this happened?”

Qiu Yelan looked at the family which was in mourning in the corner and instructed He Zifu, “Take care of them!” After He Zifu dragged them out while shouting, she said seriously, “Please enlighten me.”

“April 9th is the date of the Courtesan Competition in the city,” Jiang Yashuang said flatly, “Prince of Zhou and Young Earl Ling are competing with each other this time. It is said that your cousin and Young Earl Ling were friends. It’s inconvenient for him to participate in this kind of activity because he is in mourning now. But he definitely has been helping Young Earl Ling in private. And your cousin bought Renqing Pharmacy after he arrived in the city when he was not Ruan Family’s heir.”

Qiu Yelan had a little headache, “In this case, this kind of thing will happen again?” She understood why Jiang Yashuang explained this so directly. This was Ruan Qingyan’s personal matter. Jiang Yashuang stood up for them today. Because the timing of this thing and people involving in it could be misinterpreted as Empress Dowager’s clique challenging Empress’s clique.

Once Prince of Zhou came to his senses and avoided this kind of misunderstanding, Jiang Yashuang might not be willing to help them anymore. He was the biological grandson of the Emperor’s father-in-law and Empress’s biological nephew after all. It was normal that he bustled around helping the Empress and Jiang Family. How could he bustle around for Ruan Qingyan’s personal matter?

And Prince of Zhou was a prince anyway who also had a Duke title. How could he get suppressed unless by someone like Jiang Yashuang?

Just like Qiu Yelan thought after she asked tentatively, Jiang Yashuang smiled and said flatly, “After you got back, you’d better tell your cousin to notify Young Earl Ling.”

Qiu Yelan bit her petal-like lips and thought for a while. She said suddenly, “I almost forgot. You saved and escorted my old servants Qu Shan and his family to General’s Mansion two days ago. Thank you so much!”

“Oh. I just happened to meet them when I was on a tour. You are welcome,” Jiang Yashuang smiled slightly. He was graceful. There was no mundanity in his grace let alone intention to kill. He said elegantly, “It was just bad luck for those people who wanted to kill them.”

“Qu Shan and his family were indeed lucky. That’s why they could meet you,” Qiu Yelan seemed to be thinking about something, “However, when my mother died, my uncle sold all the servants. Not everyone is as lucky as Qu Shan and his family.”

Jiang Yashuang smiled and looked at her quietly.

It made Qiu Yelan feel that he had seen through her. She paused for a while and continued, “Will those people who went after Qu Shan and his family be afraid of his luck? And will they approach from another angle? Marquess Qin is famous after all. Since they were defeated by you, it’s normal that they are afraid of doing this again. And they may think of something else.”

Seeing Jiang Yashuang was still just smiling, Qiu Yelan simply said all she wanted to say, “Qu Shan and his family almost got killed two days ago. Now Ruan Family’s shop got slandered and smashed. How can it be a coincidence? In my opinion, it’s most definitely that the same group did it, right?”

“If it was the same group, what do you plan to do?” Jiang Yashuang asked with a smile.

Qiu Yelan looked at him with hope, “Always being bullied. I have had enough. I think it’s time to teach them a lesson?”

Jiang Yashuang said significantly, “It depends on how you do it.”

“You mean?” Qiu Yelan asked in a hurry.

Jiang Yashuang said nothing. He just smiled and said, “Make the decision yourself,” he looked outside, “It’s snowing again. I need to get back.”

“I have got you delayed, young General. Goodbye,” Qiu Yelan walked him to the door and watched him getting on his horse. Then she turned around. Her face went dark and she instructed, “Manager He, you stay and clean this up. Go get me some of grandfather’s medicine from the back. The damaged one is also okay. Others follow me to the Prince’s Mansion of Xihe later.”

Su He said in surprise, “Your Grace, our things are still in the General’s Mansion waiting to be unpacked. Why are we going back to Prince’s Mansion?”

“Who says I’m going back?” Qiu Yelan said coldly, “I’m going to ask my good uncle and aunt. Why are they so vicious and ruthless that they even went after grandfather’s crucial medicine? Do they hate grandmother so much that they vent their anger on my grandfather?”

“Oh!” Su He exclaimed, “Prince and others?”

“Your Grace, these are all for old General,” while they were talking, He Zifu approached holding a few medicine boxes which were covered with footprints and about to fall apart, “A lot of the medicine inside the boxes are gone!” He lowered his voice, “But the concealed compartment wasn’t being found. I crushed some cheapest medicine and put it in!”

Qiu Yelan looked at him approvingly, “Don’t worry. Someone will change it into the best kind for us!”

“I’m unworthy of young master’s and your trust,” He Zifu lowered his head. He didn’t hide the hatred in his tone, “But my father and I worked hard for decades to build Renqing Pharmacy’s reputation. I only hope that sow the wind and reap the whirlwind!”

A carriage came out from the corner after Qiu Yelan and her maids left. The maid lifted a corner of the unimpressive dark-colored curtain cautiously. Behind the curtain, Hua Shenshen whose hair was shaped like lily wore a gorgeous outfit with heavy makeup. She was beautiful like a peony. However, she gritted her teeth, “Shameless b*tch! Ruan is so good to her. But she still has an affair with Jiang Yashuang….”

The maid comforted, “Commandery Princess Ningyi is engaged….”

“Is there anyone in the city who doesn’t know that Deng Yi prefers men to women?” Hua Shenshen sneered, “In my opinion, Qiu Yelan just wants to use Ruan to get out of her engagement. Otherwise, why does she stay in General’s Mansion instead of going back to Prince’s Mansion of Xihe during the holiday? Ruan and I was fine. Why does he help that pretentious little b*tch Penglai Yue instead of me this time? It must be Qiu Yelan who slandered me in front of Ruan because she envies me.”

“I thought Ruan would be here. So, I dressed up and waited here on purpose…. But it’s still worth my trip that I found out about Qiu Yelan and Jiang Yashuang having an affair behind Ruan’s back.” Hua Shenshen bit her lips, “Let’s go back first. Let me think about how to deal with her. Dare to steal my man!”

Just because Qiu Yelan walked Jiang Yashuang out. And she got a despiteful rival somehow. She didn’t know this yet. And of course, she wouldn’t care about her or anyone else like her.

She was explaining to Su He, Chunran and others about her reason for this trip, “It is an exception that General Jiang stands up for us against Prince of Zhou today. He may not help us anymore.”

Su He, Chunran and others said nervously, “What should we do?”

“So, we need to go to Prince’s Mansion of Xihe now!” Qiu Yelan had a serious look, “General Jiang is not willing to keep helping us with this. Because it’s cousin’s personal matter. It almost has nothing to do with Jiang Family. If we want him to keep helping us, then we need to connect Jiang Family with this thing!”

Su He was lost in a fog. Chunran and Xiaran were indeed two years older. And also, they had seen a lot along the way coming with Ruan Qingyan from distant South to the capital city. Giving some thoughts, Chunran asked tentatively, “Your Grace, do you mean that we can connect Jiang Family to this thing if we go to Prince’s Mansion of Xihe now?”

“Yes!” Qiu Yelan said with a sneer, “Renqing Pharmacy was slandered and smashed. Even grandfather’s medicine was ruined….”

She pointed to the boxes which were held by the maids cautiously to prevent the broken pieces from falling, “Prince of Zhou denied that he did this. And of course, he won’t admit that he put that family to it. However, that family won’t look for trouble in Renqing Pharmacy for no reason, right? Of course, there is a reason! And the reason is that Qiu Mengmin vents his anger on Ruan Family! He is behind this!”

Su He said subconsciously, “But what if that family doesn’t admit that Prince put them to it?”

“So, I consulted General Jiang just now,” Qiu Yelan said, “Governor Feng Rugui was Jiang Family’s follower. General Jiang made Prince of Yan agree to let him investigate this case. If he can’t even get an appropriate testimony, then Jiang Family put him in the governor position for nothing! Since General Jiang connive at me to do this, he surely will prepare us the testimony!”

Chunran and Xiaran looked at each other. They cheered up and said, “Then what should we do?”

Su He said angrily, “Old maidservant Fan who serves Lady Yuqing and old maidservant Sun who is in charge are both evil! They used to bully Commandery Princess a lot. We must teach them a lesson this time!”

“Old maidservants can wait. After we deal with their masters, what differences will they make?” Qiu Yelan touched Su He’s little head and said, “Qiu Mengmin is my uncle after all. Even I need to seek justice for my grandfather, I can’t let him accuse me of being disrespectful. So, we will try peaceful means before resorting to force this time!”

Su He asked in a hurry, “What does ‘try peaceful means before resorting to force’ mean?”

“We will try peaceful means in public and resort to force in private!” Qiu Yelan said firmly.

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