Real Empress from a Noble Family

Chapter 252 Where to Find A Five-star Brother?

After talking with Jiang Yashuang, Qiu Yelan temporarily set aside the defensive work of the Empress’s party, and hurriedly went for Empress Jiang to ask for leaving the Palace. She didn’t even have the time to return to Jiang’s residence and went straight to Green Villa.

Qiu Jinglan interrupted her persuasion unreservedly as expected, “the person who killed my father is my sworn foe. I have to avenge my father’s murder!”

The reason was awe-inspiring enough to gag all opponents, while Qiu Yelan ignored that and continued to persuade him. However, the result was that he repeated his idea.

“In that case, I’ll go with you together!” At last, Qiu Yelan was annoyed and slapped the table, “he is also my father, and I am also responsible. I want to go to the west with you!”

“Don’t make a scene!” Qiu Jinglan immediately put on a sullen face and reprimanded, “You’ve got married already...”

“Am I not my father’s daughter anymore after I got married?” Qiu Yelan sneered, “Am I not your sister anymore after I got married? Is it easy to bully me after I got married?”

Qiu Jinglan knew that she was going to be unreasonable immediately. If it were Jiang Yashuang here, he would definitely think about how to comfort his wife even if he knew that the more he comforted her, the more unreasonable she would be. While as her brother and a typical feudal patriarch, Qiu Jinglan just ignored that and flicked his sleeves, “it doesn’t matter if you really want to go with me. Anyway, you are Jiang Yashuang’s wife now, so he will agree and will arrange for some people to escort you. I don’t need to worry about that!”

“You!” Qiu Yelan stamped her foot in anger. How could Jiang Yashuang agree! If she went to tell him that, he would arrange for some people to supervise her!

“Brother, do you really have the heart to leave me alone?” Since her persuasion was fruitless, Qiu Yelan immediately changed the plan and started to act. She blinked with her long feather-like eyelashes slightly shaking, and her bright eyes suddenly became foggy. She burst into tears in a moment, painfully held Qiu Jinglan who wanted to leave, and said in a sad tone, “grandmother died, grandfather died, and father and mother died as well. I only have you now, but even you want to leave me now?”

Even though Qiu Jinglan knew she was pretending, he couldn’t help stopping his steps as expected. A distinct pain flashed across his face, and he suppressed his emotions before he could speak, “you have grown up and got married. I can barely look after you in the future... If I missed the opportunity this time, I don’t know how long it would take to get another chance to avenge my father’s death then.”

“Marquess Qin’s illness will be healed in a few days!” Qiu Yelan hurriedly said, “Really! And Prime Minister Xue has promised... As long as the Empress Dowager falls, Jiang Family won’t stop us from taking revenge on Kuang Family then!”

“You’re too naive!” Qiu Jinglan shook his head and smiled bitterly. He motioned her to let go of his sleeve, turned back and sat down in the hall, letting Qiu Yelan sit on the opposite side. He then said lightly, “if Marquess Qin was really seriously ill, I might have to consider whether to go west, so as not to lose my life in vain! But now that Marquess Qin is expected to recover and he can take charge at court on behalf of Jiang Family, isn’t it the best time for me to win over father’s and grandfather’s former subordinates in Western Army?”

Before Qiu Yelan spoke, he asked slowly, “the Seventh Prince wants to ascend the throne. Do you think it is possible if the matter of the Western Army is not solved? As you just said, you are also the daughter of our father, and our father was killed by Kuang Shihan. Do you think he will really trust and rely on Jiang Family? A life and death struggle... How can there be such a good thing for him?”

Qiu Yelan had nothing to say then. Actually, whether the hatred between the former Duke of Xihe and them existed or not, the Western Army must be settled if the Empress’ party wanted to be in power! Before she married Jiang Yashuang, Kuang Shihan might still surrender to Jiang Family. But the Commandery Princess whose whole family had been killed by him had become the wife of Marquess Qin’s grandson who he raised personally, so how dare Kuang Shihan rely on Jiang Family then?

In this case, if the Empress’s party wanted to seize power without losing vitality badly, they had to kill Kuang Shihan!

However, how could Qiu Jinglan, whose family broke up out of Kuang Shihan, give up the opportunity to kill his enemy personally?

“Even if Marquess Qin is alright, if Jiang Family could really be in its element in Western Army, why should you take risks then?” After she thought for a while, she insisted, “If Jiang Family had no say in Western Army, how could they help you then?”

Qiu Jinglan smiled, and his eyes softened, “Silly girl, you think I rely on Jiang Family for everything?” He narrowed his eyes slightly and reminded softly, “How did I leave the Mansion by feigning death?”

Qiu Yelan paused, “Tianya... But after so many years, even if you had a foundation there at the beginning, it must have been shaken after Kuang Shihan held power.”

In fact, there was still one word remaining unsaid. If “Tianya” had been really all-pervasive, how could their father have been assassinated before? It could be seen that when the former Duke of Xihe was there, Tianya was not as powerful in the Western Army as they thought.

“Our ancestors founded ‘Tianya’ because they feared that Tian Family cast us aside when they were served their purposes, but they didn’t do that. Our ancestors had thought about disbanding ‘Tianya’, but they formed it secretly before, so they feared that the mergence of the Mansions would be delayed when it was disbanded and Tian Family knew that.” Qiu Jinglian caught the meaning of her words, hesitated for a while, and then talked about “Tianya” in detail with her for the first time, “so they told the inferiors not to treat ‘Tianya’ as an important industry but to concentrate on the bright ones, so that after a long time, we could gradually break away from it.”

“Actually, from the founding of the country until our father’s death on the battlefield, Prince’s Mansion of Xihe didn’t need ‘Tianya’ to do anything. And the money there was not necessary for the Prince’s Mansion as well.”

“So before I was taken to ‘Tianya’, I just took people’s money and helped them out of trouble, and never took the initiative to assist Prince’s Mansion of Xihe.”

Hearing his words, Qiu Yelan understood the whole ins and outs then. The organization set up in order to seize state power started out by spying and assassinating, but the person who founded it failed to become the emperor but just got the title of Prince. In order to prevent the emperor from turning against him ruthlessly, he left something for himself secretly.

However, the emperor was never ruthless. So the existence of the organization was a hot potato then. Holding it in his hand would do no good to him, and if it was found by others, the emperor might suspect him.

The ancestors of Qiu Family, who had no way to back down, reduced their business then and adjusted it to a profit-oriented organization of killers in Jianghu. Judging from the reputation of ‘Tianya’ at this time, the transformation was obviously successful.

Even so, the ancestors of Qiu Family were still worried that their hereditary title of nobility would be affected. Therefore, Qiu Jinglan clearly told Qiu Qian before that there had never been a Duke of Xihe who had spent a lot of time on “Tianya” and they even deliberately ignored it.

In this way, even if it were exposed one day, they would still have room to pass the buck.

In other words, before the death of Qiu Zhongyan, the main use of “Tianya” was making money rather than assisting Prince’s Mansion of Xihe.

“No wonder that Kuang Shihan was able to murder my father before. I wondered before why such a high-profile killer organization was not even able to protect the proprietor behind the scenes since ‘Tianya’ was doing business so well. Jiang Yashuang recommended me to look for them when he didn’t know it before. And when Tao Family wanted to kill An Zhenshang, they also asked them for help.” Qiu Yelan was enlightened suddenly, but she was not happy. Because it meant she had lost another reason to persuade Qiu Jinglan.

It gave Qiu Jinglan one more reason to persuade her in turn, “since our father died, the former Left Dharma Protector immediately launched a layout for the Western Army. Do you remember that when Mei Xue and Qiu Qian hijacked you before, they said there were tens of millions of tael in Tianya’s account?”

Qiu Yelan said, “Yes. You intend to take them all to pave the way in the Western Army?”

“You should know that when I feigned death and left the Mansion, grandmother and mother almost gave me all the property to take away. Even their dowries were secretly sold out!” Qiu Jinglan said in a melancholy tone, “Outsiders count the property of Prince’s Mansion of Xihe and think it can total tens of millions... But outsiders don’t know about ‘Tianya’!”

Qiu Yelan thought for a while and said in surprise, “you mean the savings of ‘Tianya’ over the years...” Tens of million was just the property of Prince’s Mansion of Xihe in the open. “Tianya” was an organization that took people’s money and helped them out of trouble, so how could its benefits be small since the dynasty began!

It was even more profitable than Prince’s Mansion of Xihe!

After all, Prince’s Mansion of Xihe did not want people to know the relationship between “Tianya” and itself. Although some income would be saved into Prince’s Mansion of Xihe. Because not all of the income. On the one hand, such a large number was easy to be suspicious. On the other hand, Prince’s Mansion of Xihe never had a problem with its account, so this channel of money was dispensable to it.

While at this time Prince’s Mansion of Xihe had already been an empty building, and “Tianya” only had tens of millions on its account... So?

“Take it all to pave the way for revenge!” Qiu Jinglan’s eyes flashed with a cold light. Then he said lightly, “otherwise, why did I know that my teacher was exactly the chief examiner three years ago? Why did I ignore all other playboys but just get close to Ling Zui who was kind-hearted and able to help me after I arrived at Jing City? And why did I hobnob and then recall Sister Ruan’s family immediately?”

He looked at his younger sister and said, “My preparation and foundation in the court and the Western Army are much deeper than you think. As for how deep they are, it’s sort of a long story. What’s more, you shouldn’t bear that...”

“So I can’t do anything?” Qiu Yelan couldn’t think of anything else that could convince him, so she said soullessly.

Seeing this, Qiu Jinglan comforted her, “how would you have nothing to do? I will find a way to get Sister Ruan married after the mourning period, so that I can go to the west without additional worries. Although I will try my best to choose a good man for her, you will have to help her if the man doesn’t treat her well. As the old saying goes, you may know a person’s face but not his mind.”

“Of course.” Qiu Yelan said listlessly, “but I still don’t want you to go to the west. I still think it’s too dangerous... Kuang Shihan is not concerned about face-saving. No matter how much money you spend there and no matter how deep your foundation is, it is in the dark after all. What if he sends picked troops to attack you shamelessly?”

Qiu Jinglan sneered and said, “I know how shameless he is, and I have my own countermeasures. Remember, besides taking good care of your big sister in the future, you have to take care of yourself!”

“What?” Qiu Yelan was at a loss.

“Even Jiang Yadan, such a dandy, is liked by girls and they are trying their best to grab the position of your eighth sister-in-law.” Qiu Jinglan said solemnly, “let alone your husband Jiang Yashuang, who is handsome, good-tempered and adept with both the pen and the sword.”

Qiu Yelan had chest tightness then, “Jiang Yashuang is different from Jiang Yadan!” If he were the same as Jiang Yadan, I couldn’t help killing him!

Qiu Jinglan sneered, “If he dared to follow Jiang Yadan’s example, I would naturally find a way to change my brother-in-law! However, the trees may prefer calm, but the wind will not subside. Given Jiang Family’s prominence and Jiang Yashuang’s status in Jiang Family, even if he just wants you, I’m afraid there are still many girls who want to get him shamelessly! I can keep an eye on him for you when I am in Jing City, but after I leave.”

So, if your brother-in-law was not good, your solution was not to persuade him to correct his evils and try to maintain the integrity of your sister’s family, but to replace him directly?

At this moment, Qiu Yelan thought of a distant memory, “Honey, the products sold in our store will be replaced with new ones if there is a quality problem! No need to repair! Replace directly!”

Qiu Jinglan’s worries were not over yet. “I’ll ask Ling Zui to take care of you on my behalf. If someone shameless disturbs you and Jiang Yashuang, just tell him! If he can’t solve it, he will send someone to the west to tell me.”

So Qiu Yelan thought of another sentence then. “Honey, our store is worry-free after sales. If you are not satisfied, we will serve you until you are satisfied!”

He was such a five-star brother! Qiu Jinglan, who felt that he had basically convinced his younger sister, was surprised to see her suddenly burst into tears then. She threw herself on him, clinging to him and crying, “I just don’t want you to take risks anyway!”