Chapter 57 The Conspiracy Arising out of the PoisonYoumianxiang

“I am having sent all the servants out. Now, what do you want to say, say it. What do you want to do, do it.” said Madame Lu, looking at the closing door, putting down her tea.

Qiu Yelan did not want to beat about the bush anymore. She said bluntly, “Did you kill my brother?”

Madame Lu answered her coldly, “Nonsense. We all know that his poor fate contributed to his premature death.”

“But your grandson told me this when he was alive,” said Qiu Yelan. Her words shocked Madame Lu. She stood up abruptly, pointing at her and saying inconceivably, “You… you! Yuqing has been always saying you killed Jinzhang. Is it true?”

Although Madame Lu once said to Qiu Mengmin that she thought it was Qiu Yelan who killed Kang Jinzhang. However, all the people in the Prince’s Mansion thought that Kang Jinzhang was buried due to avalanche. Nobody realized that Qiu Yelan, twelve years old at that time had the power to kill his cousin, seventeen years old and far taller.

Qiu Yelan continued coldly, “You killed my brother. And you have bullied and humiliated my mother and me for so many years. You even forced me to marry a man I dislike. And you instigated Kang Jinzhang to date me — I had motivations to kill him.”

Madame Lu stood still for a while. She attempted to calm herself down. She sat down on the chair, saying, “You are truly a granddaughter of old Princess. You are shameless even you hurt others.”

“You are so wrong. If old Princess did something offensive, You three have died many years ago. If so, there is no remote chance for you to bully and humiliate my mother and me so long,” said Qiu Yelan, adding “You just remember that old Princess deported you. Why did you think of what you have done to us? Answer me. Why is my father, as the only trueborn, younger than your son?”

Madame Lu turned angrily, saying, “You should blame old Princess, she can’t have children.”

“It sounded like you are so innocent!” said Qiu Yelan coldly, adding “I have investigated. The date your son was born was half a year earlier than the date old Princess married my father. You have been pregnant before old Princess got married! Due to your love affair with my father, old Princess got furious at Prince. She just forgave him years later with the help of the elders. And then she got pregnant. The baby was my father. This was the reason why my father is younger than your son. Old Princess surely could have children.”

She continued, “After you did all these terrible things, old Princess did not part you from your son, nor did she kill you when you were giving birth. She would not have deported you if you did not have my father’s child, Qiu Yuqing. She even gave you money for deportation. You used this sum of money to live in the capital. At that time, Mr. Lian, father of old Princess, did not retire. If they wanted to kill you, you three have died at no costs! Now you still thought she was mean to you? I thought that she was so nice to you that you had chances to do those terrible things!”

“Why?” screamed Madame Lu. Realizing that her plot was exposed, she paused for a while with tears falling. “You are attempting to obfuscate me. My son and my daughter are also Prince’s children. Why does Qiu Zhongyan have the chance to own the whole Prince’s Mansion? Why should we leave the Prince’s Mansion with a small sum of money?”

“Wow, you are really skilled at pretending to be innocent,” said Qiu Yelan, smiling. “Mrs. Li has told me clearly that Qiu Family, from ancient times, prefers trueborn sons to bastards. Bastards can get nothing important unless there are no trueborn son. This is documented in the family rules. If you can’t read, your son, as Duke of Xihe so many years, never mentioned this to you? All bastards before followed the rules. Old Princess just did what the rules told her. If you felt unfair, you should talk with Qiu Family’s ancestors. Ha, ha, ha.”

With tears falling down her cheeks, Madame Lu said, “You are born to be a Princess. In your mind, people like us are inferior! But we all have parents! I just wanted to have a family, but why did old Princess bully and humiliate us?”

After saying this, she smiled coldly, adding “Do you think your grandmother is a good person? Let me tell you something. Your father, he should have been the third child, but his older brother, the bastard’s mother died when she was giving birth, thus raised by old Princess. Everything was usual in the first two years. But when your father was one week old, his older brother, the bastard, died out of the blue! I guessed old Princess might kill him. However, your grandfather felt sorry for her due to Qiu Mengmin. Seeing that he declared that his son died because of major illness.”

Hearing of this, Qiu Yelan said, “First of all, dare you to say that you did not hope that kid to die at that time? Second, as my grandfather was willing to declare his second son died because of illness. I thought that he also was willing to declare his bastard son died because of illness? If old Princess did fear that the bastard she raised would be on my father’s way of career, I think your son, the so-called the first son of the family, should have died hundreds of times. I am guessing you played tricks that frightened old Princess, so that she let you three go and be alive.”

Looking at speechless Madame Lu, Qiu Yelan laughed, “The rightest thing old Princess did in her life was to deport you! Thank goddess, you did not have the title of nobility. If you got one, you would have had privileges to walk around in the Palace, cooked up stories and tarnished old Princess’s fame. If my guess is true, my bad reputation as a girl who contributed to the deaths of my father, my brothers, my grandmother, and my mother who died last year was spread by you!”

Hearing of this, Madame Lu said with a different tone, “I was born in a poor family, but I long for wealth. How can I be a rich woman if I did not do something? Just because I was born in a poor family, I was doomed to be a servant?”

“Whoa. You mean you are a good woman?” said Qiu Yelan, scornfully. “You have done something terrible, you deserved who you are now!”

“Your grandmother has bullied and humiliated us for so many years. I just dealt with you as the same as she did to us.” said Madame Lu, coldly, and then added, “So you should not hate us. We just did what we had to.”

Qiu Yelan began to laugh, “Now I command you to slap yourself 5 times. Or I will tell rogues that there is a mole on her back waist!”

Seeing Madame Lu constrain her temper, she clenched her fists and said, “Or I strip you and check whether there is a mole on your body? And let everybody know that the woman my uncle support in the Prince’s Mansion is a bitch.”

“… We did not treat you like this, never!!!” said Madame Lu in a low voice, taking a deep breath. Her face turned pale.

“That is because my mother protected me from you when she was alive. And, you forced me to marry Deng Yi — Empress Dowager’s grandson. If my reputation was ruined by rumors of cheating Deng Yi, do you think that Gu Family will let me go?”

Qiu Yelan looked at her coldly but sternly. No sympathy in her eyes. She continued, “You even forced me to go to the Mount Dizi. You planned to let me land in Kang Jinzhang’s trap. If my reputation was ruined, I might be punished by Deng Yi. I even have no chance to defend myself but to suicide! You hated old Princess, So, you wish I would die painfully. You hope I will be humiliated by others and feel desperate. You said my death is a happy ending to everyone. And then you will feel satisfied, right?”

Speaking of this, she smiled and continued, “So, you know what. Comparing with your mean heart, I am a nice girl! I am even touched by my kindness that I have mercy on you and let you still be alive until now.”

Madame Lu kept silent for a while and then said, “As you have known everything, why did you need me to tell you? You are here just because you want to know the cause of Qiu Jinglan’s death? Do you think that I would tell you that he died not because of an accident?”

“Oh, I am here not for that.” Qiu Yelan said, adding, “As a matter of fact, what I want to know is about the poison Youmianxiang!”

Hearing of her words, Madame Lu’s pupils contracted intensely!

“You used this poison to kill my mother and my grandfather,” said Qiu Yelan. She observed her reaction while saying, “You think that I don’t know what you did?”

Madame Lu said nothing with a poked face.

Qiu Yelan noticed her reaction. She continued, “My mother has given me the evidence. I am guessing you don’t want to live any longer, right?”

Unexpectedly, her words trigger a controversial reflection. Madame Lu looked at her with a fake smile, saying, “I am sure she would not give you that evidence unless she was crazy. If she did, girl, listen to me. Throw it away or destroy it as early as possible. Or you will die unknowing the reason.”

Qiu Yelan responded quickly, “What you said, in my eyes, is crocodile tears. You are afraid you may get into trouble because I have the evidence regarding poison Youmianxiang.”

Madame Lu frowned.

“You’d better tell me the truth. Or one day, I suddenly miss my mother intensely plus I am too young to keep a secret. I may disclose your secrets… Ha, ha! You know what, I do not have other family members already. You want to die with me in one day?” said Qiu Yelan, coldly, adding, “Well, well. you have seen what I was able to do. I am not threatening you!”

Madame Lu raised his hand adjusting a golden hairpin near her one ear. She looked at her with sympathy, saying, “Well, of course not. I am sure I will tell you the truth sooner or later. I am just thinking about how to express myself.”

Noticing her strange facial expression, Qiu Yelan felt daunted but she said, “You tell me the truth now. It’s pointless to think about how to say? Do you think I am a kid, easy to be hoaxed?”

“Ok, I will be straight — the poison Youmianxiang was made secretly when the former emperor abolished crown prince,” said Madame Lu, looking weird. Her words frightened Qiu Yelan. Madame Lu continued, “The abolished crown prince was talented. He was indulged in governance, poems and spices. The spices he made at that time outpaced many, thus he always sent his spices to concubines….”

Speaking of this, Madame Lu paused suddenly looking at Qiu Yelan.

Qiu Yelan took a deep breath, saying, “So, to make the poison Youmianxiang was related to the crime of killing the emperor committed by the abolished prince? But, as I know, his crime had been disclosed already. Why was it a taboo?”

Madame Lu continued meaningfully, “Because the former emperor abolished crown prince, and years later, before the former emperor died, an imperial doctor blurted out that the smell in the room was like the smell of the poison Youmianxiang — hours later, the doctor was killed for no reasons.”

If the first prince of the former emperor was abolished because of the poison Youmianxiang which, subsequently, gave trouble to the East Palace, The poison Youmianxiang was impossible to be seen in the Palace again. That was ridiculous that it was seen in the bedroom of the former emperor? In particular, the doctor who just blurted out something smelled like the poison Youmianxiang was killed, even his family members were killed due to this. What the doctor said confirmed that the poison Youmianxiang was truly seen in the Palace.

That is to say, both the abolished crown prince and the former emperor died because of the poison Youmianxiang!

As for the killer — the incumbent emperor was only 7 years old when he ascended the throne. Empress Dowager Gu, the mother of this 7 years old emperor, had acted as regent since then. It was clear now who was the person who vilified the abolish prince and killed the former emperor.

“Well, all the things were related to the legitimacy of the incumbent emperor,” said Qiu Yelan, having had seen through the whole thing. “Now, I understand why Jiang Yashuang invited Qi Shuluo to the General’s Mansion and he dared not to say anything — but now, the two queens are fighting for power. However, their power hail from the emperor! If the emperor is challenged by rumors, they will end up being nothing at all. So, it is not strange why Princess Ruan asked me repeatedly not to say anything about ‘the poison Youmianxiang’.”

She raised her head looking at Madame Lu, “Why do you have this poison?”

Madame Lu looked at her, laughably, “I already have told you enough. Do you really think I will tell you everything I know?”

“You reminded me!” said Qiu Yelan, nodding and adding, “I just ordered you to slap yourself 5 times but you have yet to do it. Now I add it to 10 times. Will you do it yourself or if you not….” said Qiu Yelan. She stood up abruptly, lifting her leg and kicked Madame Lu. Madame Lu fell on the ground. She continued coldly, “You want me to strip off you and find a pimp for you, do you? I will tell the world what you have done.” Although Deng Yi sold off Empress Dowager Gu’s creation, it was shameful to set it aside.

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