Chapter 16

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Qiao Ruoyun was surprised when she saw Jinniang. “Shouldn’t you be at the Spring Hunt Paddock? Why are you here?”

Qiao Jinniang said, “I don’t know anyone in North Mountain, and I don’t know how to hunt. I was bored all day long, so after getting the message from the people of the Qin family, I came over with Princess Fulu. Why do you become so thin?”

A mammy on the side cried. “Miss doesn’t eat or drink these days. The doctor just came and said that Miss might die in a few days…”

Princess Fulu said with red eyes, “Mrs. Qin, I shouldn’t have said those words to you on that day. I just wanted to laugh at Qin Miaomiao. I didn’t mean anything else…”

Seeing Qiao Ruoyun look like a mere bag of bones, Princess Fulu felt extremely guilty.

Qiao Ruoyun said with dull eyes, “Princess, you’re not to blame. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the same words. Even if you don’t say it, others will.”

Looking at Qiao Ruoyun’s worried look, Qiao Jinniang said, “Why do you have to take those people’s words to heart, Sister? Are you blaming Mom and Dad for having humble origins?

“Although they were not nobles, they treated me very well. I don’t allow anyone to look down on them or you…

“If you even look down on them, how sad they will be in heaven.”

Qiao Ruoyun said in a small voice, “I never look down on them…”

Qiao Jinniang came up and wiped Qiao Ruoyun’s tears. “So don’t be sad. They have long redeemed themselves from slavery, and they are not humble. Sister, don’t care about birthright so much.

“If you don’t eat or drink, you’re ruining your own health.

“If Mom and Dad knew about this, they would be sad and worried about you in heaven.”

Qiao Ruoyun said bitterly, “Jinniang, you haven’t been married, so you don’t understand the difficulties of a married woman…”

“Thank you for visiting me, but you should go back to North Mountain as soon as possible!”

Qiao Jinniang frowned and asked, “Did the people of the Qin family bully you?”

“You’re the eldest daughter of the Duke Anyuan’s Mansion, which has been recorded in their genealogy, and you’re their eldest son’s wife. If they bully you, the Duke Anyuan’s Mansion will definitely uphold justice for you!”

As soon as Qiao Jinniang said so, a woman came in from outside.

“Phew, the real daughter of the Duke Anyuan’s Mansion really talks big!”

“My cousin is supposed to marry the real eldest daughter of the Duke Anyuan’s Mansion, but now, what is Qiao Ruoyun’s identity?”

Seeing this woman wearing silk and jewels, Qiao Jinniang guessed she was probably not a servant.

Qiao Ruoyun sat up with difficulty and asked, “What are you doing here? Don’t you know your identity? How dare you come and make trouble here?”

Yuzhui saluted without any respect and said, “Madam, do you still consider yourself as the daughter of a duke? But you’re nothing but a servant’s daughter…”

Qiao Jinniang got up and asked, “Are you a concubine of my brother-in-law?”

Yuzhui said arrogantly, “I’m his concubine maid!”

Qiao Jinniang chuckled when she heard the words “concubine maid”.

Over the years, many people tried to persuade her foster father to get a concubine maid to give birth to a son so as to inherit the family business, but her foster father refused.

He said that there was no need to ruin an innocent girl’s life.

Qiao Jinniang was still young at the time, so after hearing that, she went to ask one of her friends, Miss Xie, what a concubine maid was.

The Xie Family was one of the most powerful families in Lin’an, and Miss Xie had been taught how to manage a big family since she was a child.

Miss Xie loved the pastries she made, so she was never stingy to teach Qiao Jinniang this kind of knowledge. She explained to her the difference between a concubine and a concubine maid.

A concubine had more or less the status of a master, while a concubine maid was still a maid, and her master could even kill her.

In the Duke Qin’s Mansion, a mere concubine maid dared to speak to the mistress like this. If it weren’t for the fact that the other masters looked down on the mistress, would a maid dare to do this?

Qiao Jinniang couldn’t do anything in the Duke Qin’s Mansion, and she was not in a position to do so.

But if she waited two days for the Duchess to come over, Qiao Ruoyun would defintely be tortured to death.

Qiao Jinniang walked to Princess Fulu and whispered to her, “Princess, if you do me a favor, the best private room in the Tasty Pavilion will be yours and all the drinks will be free for you.”

Princess Fulu could guess that the restaurant’s business must be very good with Qiao Jinniang’s culinary skills. Besides, she had played a part in Qiao Ruoyun’s tragedy.

“I haven’t seen Ruoyun for a long time, and I really miss her. It just so happens that the Princess Mansion has no guests today. I want to invite her to the Princess Mansion today!”

Qiao Ruoyun looked at Princess Fulu in shock, but Qiao Jinniang nodded at her.

Princess Fulu had always been free-willed and capricious, and was a mortal enemy with Miss Qin. No matter what she did, the people of the Qin family wouldn’t be surprised.

A little maid in the courtyard hurried to the courtyard of the Duchess Dowager Qin.

The Duchess Dowager was drinking medicine, and when she saw the little maid hurry in, she snapped, “Watch your manners! How is Qin Ruoyun doing now?”

It happened that Qin Shu and Duke Anyuan were not in Chang’an these days, so this was the best time to make Qiao Ruoyun die.

It was simply a disgrace for a slave’s daughter to be the next Duchess Qin!

The little maid kowtowed and said, “Old Madam, Princess Fulu wants to take Madam away!”

“Fulu? Why is she here? Why does she want to take Qin Ruoyun away?”

A ferocious gleam flashed across Duchess Dowager Qin’s eyes. Qiao Ruoyun was already dying. If Yuzhui went to anger her every day, she would not be able to survive until the people of the Duke Anyuan’s Mansion came.

Even though the people of the Duke Anyuan’s Mansion would definitely confront them, she could just say that Qiao Ruoyun had died because she was too pressured to eat and drink, and her death had nothing to do with the Duke Qin’s Mansion.

Even if the Duke Anyuan’s Mansion was angry, they had no evidence to blame the Qin family.

The Duchess Dowager hurriedly stood up with a crutch and tried to stop Fulu, but Fulu was very quick and had already taken Qiao Ruoyun into her carriage.

To be exact, she had her carriage stop directly in front of Qin Ruoyun’s courtyard.

After getting on the carriage, Fulu asked Qiao Jinniang, “Shall I really take Ruoyun to my home?”

Qiao Jinniang said, “Of course not. She had just had a miscarriage. Your mother might think she would bring bad luck to the Princess Mansion. Please circle around the Princess Mansion to let the people of the Qin family believe that she is in the Princess Mansion, and then send her to the Duke Anyuan’s Mansion.”

Fulu said, “I don’t think she’ll bring bad luck, neither do my parents.”

Qiao Ruoyun said weakly, “Sister, why are you taking me out of the Qin family?”

Qiao Jinniang said, “Can’t you still realize it? You are seriously ill, but even a mere concubine maid dares to laugh at you, and your mammies have no authority at all.

“Although it’s not cold now, there is still cold wind at night. You’ve just had a miscarriage, but the windows and doors in your room are all wide open.

“You’ve just had a miscarriage, and you couldn’t eat anything these days. What’s worse, this concubine maid provokes and mocks you every day. In such an environment, how long can you hold on?

“If you don’t leave there, when Mother comes back, I am afraid what awaits her will be your corpse.”

Princess Fulu said in surprise: “This, this… how can it be?”

“How do you know that?”

Qiao Jinniang said, “Although I didn’t grow up in a big family, I ran a restaurant. This kind of thing is not uncommon in big families in the South. In a battle between women, sometimes they don’t need to poison or kill their enemies with a knife. They can just kill with dirty tricks instead.

“If the Qin family really regards you as their family member, how could they let a concubine maid bully you?

“And Qin Shu, your husband, I don’t think he is a good husband! How can he indulge his concubine maid like this? Men are all b*stards!”