Real Empress from a Noble Family

Chapter 51 Qiu Bo

“Help my cousin on the carriage!” Qiu Yelan held her handkerchief tightly and ordered loudly, “Call for a doctor! Hurry up!”

“Wait!” Qiu Family’s men saw that Ruan Qingyan was about to be lifted on the carriage. If he went back to General’s Mansion and completely covered up the old scar with the new scar in this attack, the threat letter would be useless.

Li Gui pushed Mrs. Pang out and Mrs. Pang quickly understood it. She grabbed Ruan Qingyan’s sleeve at once and said, “My poor son! I came all the way from the south to see you, but you were injured by that bad guy before we meet.... If you died, how should your brother and I tell your father when we meet him in the underworld....”

At this time, there was a way out for the carriage to send Ruan Qingyan to the doctor, but the watching crowd was still huge. Seeing Mrs. Pang wept, Qiu Yelan grabbed Mrs. Pang’s chignon and slapped her so hard that she became silent right away with half her face swelling.

“Get her!” The crowd was shocked by the scene where the girl who was here to meet Ruan Qingyan suddenly slapped the woman who claimed to be Ruan Qingyan’s mother. Qiu Yelan pointed at Mrs. Pang and said angrily to the two Yamen runner, “You didn’t see that my carriage was parked here and that woman thievishly came and lifted the curtain to peep. She didn’t leave until my maid told her off! I thought she didn’t know the rules but now I think she must be a cohort of those attackers who had hurt my cousin!”

The two Yamen runners were amazed by her words. One of them automatically touched his weapon at his waist!

“No!” Pang Biao and others wanted to explain but Qiu Yelan didn’t give them a chance!

She slapped Mrs. Pang once again and raised her voice angrily, “My uncle and aunt died ten years ago! How can you be my aunt and my cousin’s mother? Clearly, you thought I was just a little girl and wanted to mix things up as your cohorts didn’t killed my cousin! I tell you: my grandfather now only has one heir which is my cousin! If he died, my grandfather’s family would be over! If you dare to come one step closer, I will beat you to death right now!”

Pang Biao hurriedly took Mrs. Pang’s arms and glared at Qiu Yelan, “Commandery Princess Ningyi, you have gone too far! My mother was worried about my younger brother so she came over to see him! But you claimed that she wanted to harm him! Is it proper for a Commandery Princess to deny the relation between a mother and her son?”

Li Gui and his men also stepped forward. He bowed to the crowd and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we work for Censor-in-chief, Mr. Qiu, and I am a distant relative of Mrs. Pang and Mr. Pang. I can testify for them that Ruan Qingyan used to be called Pang Lu. He is indeed the youngest son of the Pang Family!”

The Yamen runner who believed Qiu Yelan’s words and was about to get Mrs. Pang a while ago now put his hand down when he heard the name of Qiu Dian. He said with suspicion, “I know you. You are Mr. Li who worked under Mr. Qiu!”

The crowd didn’t know who to believe and started buzzing with discussion.

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Qiu Yelan was trying hard to think of a way out. Suddenly she heard a charming and loud voice, “Say, this Commandery Princess claims that injured man is her cousin, while Mr. Li says he is a younger relative. That means neither side is an enemy of that young master. Then, why are you still quarreling here and leave him alone in the carriage?”

The crowd froze for a moment and looked to the direction where the voice came. It was a woman in a bright red brocade gown with a falling-off-the-horse bun on her head. She was about 20 years old and dressed as an unmarried girl.

This woman was ravishing and seemed to be wealthy as she wore many pieces of jewelry. Behind her, a young maid in pink with thin eyebrows and big eyes followed her with a basket covered by a piece of cloth; beside her, a scholar in lake blue brocade robe about 18 or 19 was taken by his arm by her. The scholar looked pale and seemed to be in need of a good rest after the exam.

“My younger brother is usually fit but now he can’t stand by himself and needs my help,” the woman saw the crowd was watching her but she was not shy at all. When she swung her handkerchief, the people near her smelled the fragrant air. She continued charmingly, “Not to say that young master was injured.”

“Thank you for your reminder!” Qiu Yelan said at once and urged the driver, “Hurry up! Move away!”

Then the crowd made way for them. A light flashed in Li Gui’s eyes and he said loudly, “We follow them too!”

“Right, we should make sure my brother is okay!” Pang Biao understood him immediately and took Mrs. Pang along!

That beautiful woman also took her brother near and said, “If your house is far away from here, I suppose you should send him to the clinic nearby. I know there is a Muxing Clinic on the next street and it is owned by an imperial doctor’s student who has great medical knowledge and skills.”

The examination hall was not near the General’s Mansion. But what Qiu Yelan worried about was whether Ruan Qingyan’s old scar could be covered up with the new one.

Li Gui and his men showed clearly that they would stick to the end. If the new scar couldn’t cover the old one, it would be all in vain!

When she was hesitating, Dongran’s voice came from inside the carriage, “Your Grace, young master has woken up and he demanded we go to Muxing Clinic!”

“Please guide us there,” seeing Li Gui and his men had surrounded the carriage and were watching closely into the carriage, Qiu Yelan knew that with Qiu Dian behind them and without the Jiang Family’s support, she couldn’t defeat them now. Besides, Ruan Qingyan himself asked her to go, she had to agree.

The beautiful woman invited her into her carriage, “Let your carriage follow ours. I also plan to go there to get some nutritious medicine for my brother.”

She didn’t finish her words but her brother’s mouth had twitched and his expression looked strange.

“Do you still fear taking medicine at your age?” the ravishing woman glanced at him at once with a half blaming, half charming smile. Then she said to Qiu Yelan smilingly, “My name is Qiu Bo and this is my brother, Qiu Nie. I didn’t hear clearly your title. May I know which Commandery Princess you are?”

Qiu Yelan thought the woman was weird: now that she knows I’m a Commandery Princess, she didn’t use honorific words as if she was also of noble origin; but her surname is “Qiu”, which may only belong to Duke of Xihe’s family.

“I’m Commandery Princess Ningyi,” she nodded to Qiu Bo and Qiu Nie. “My father is the late former Duke of Xihe.”

“Commandery Princess Ningyi,” Qiu Bo compressed her lips into a smile and took her on the carriage. “We have the same surname!”

Qiu Yelan also smiled, “What a coincidence. Thank you for your reminder just now.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Qiu Bo covered her mouth with her sleeve and her eyes squinted because of the smile. “I rarely have the chance to see noble people. Please forgive me if I had offended Your Grace.”

“Don’t mind that I’m noble,” Qiu Yelan sighed, “I’m just an orphan girl now.”

By now, Qiu Yelan tried to know where the two came from. Qiu Bo answered, “We used to live in the suburb of Jing City. When my brother was admitted into the Imperial College two years ago, we moved downtown. I don’t often go out and I don’t know many people. I just deal with domestic affairs and let Nie focus on studying.”

It seemed that she answered Qiu Yelan’s question, but indeed she didn’t tell who they were, not even whether they were from an official’s family.

Qiu Yelan started to suspect at once.

But now the carriage had stopped in front of Muxing Clinic. Li Gui and his men raced to help lift Ruan Qingyan off and send him into the clinic.

“I’m not used to being watched by others when I’m doing my job. Please go out,” Muxing Clinic’s doctor, Yuan Zhixing walked out and saw the half of Ruan Qingyan’s clothes were red with blood. He was a little shocked and urged his assistant to take his medical kit while driving people out.

Qiu Bo said, “Dr. Yuan is always like this.”

But neither Qiu Yelan nor Li Gui would listen.

They all found various excuses to stay here and watch.

Yuan Zhixing was angered by them and said, “Please call for other doctors!”

Qiu Bo hurried to mediate. At last, for fear of delaying the treatment, they all took one step back and left only Dongran and Li Gui there.

The waiting was killing the people outside.

Qiu Bo and Qiu Nie were relaxed because it was none of their business. Well, to be exact, it should be said that only Qiu Bo felt relaxed, mostly because she asked for a bowl of black medicine which made Qiu Nie frown immediately at a glance!

“Chunran, look! That young master Qiu fear taking medicine though he’s several years older than our Commandery Princess!” Qiu Yelan was worrying about Ruan Qingyan’s scar and had no time to notice Qiu Bo and Qiu Nie, but Su He was young and became distracted soon. She whispered to Chunran, “Like a baby....”

To be honest, her voice was really low. Even Qiu Yelan who was less than a Chinese foot away didn’t hear all of it, but some dozens of Chinese feet away, Qiu Nie suddenly turned around and looked at her coldly!

Su He and Chunran were shocked and shut their mouths automatically.

At the same time, Qiu Bo was laughing like a flower swung by the wind, even laughing her head off. She pressed him, “Take it! Look at your pale face. If you don’t take more nutrition, how can I feel reassured?”

Qiu Nie was silent for a while and called an assistant to come over. He pointed to Qiu Bo, “My sister is not well these days. Please also make her some nutritious medicine!”

He stressed, “It’s said that ‘Good medicine is bitter.’ Pick the bitterest medicine, however much it costs!”

Qiu Bo’s smile froze. She wanted to say something but was left behind Qiu Nie. He said in a lazy voice, “You care about me so much, so I should also care about you.”

“Ha-ha....” Qiu Bo laughed drily.

Qiu Yelan understood that Qiu Nie was provoking his sister and looked at them with amazement....

At this point, the door opened and Yuan Zhixing and Li Gui walked out one after another.

“Dr. Yuan, how’s my cousin?” Qiu Yelan was asking Yuan Zhixing about Ruan Qingyan, but she was actually watching Li Gui’s expression behind. But Li Gui’s face was calm and unreadable.

Yuan Zhixing said indifferently, “It’s only a flesh wound. Though deep, it won’t prevent him from attending the palace exam.”

“Thank you, Dr. Yuan,” Qiu Yelan resisted her anxiety and said. “And thanks for your kind words.” Yuan Zhixing had a way with words. He described Ruan Qingyan’s wound with “it won’t prevent him from attending the palace exam,” which was surely a kind of blessing words. After Qiu Yelan thanked him, she was about to question Li Gui directly when Dongran came out and said, “Just now, young master said he was thirsty and I gave him some water.”

She knew what Qiu Yelan most worried about and said, “Young master’s wound is not severe. Yet he has rarely been hurt and now he gets a scar without any provocation. The villain is so hateful!”

Qiu Yelan’s expression relaxed and accused angrily to Li Gui, “Juren Li, I highly suspect that the two people behind you are cohorts of the villain who hurt my cousin! Including you! I don’t know when my cousin offended you so that you harmed him so badly.” She didn’t wait for them to respond and ordered Chunran, “Tell the Yamen official! Censor-in-chief? Can a Censor-in-chief harm a scholar in broad daylight?”