“You b*st*rd! You are Caidie?” Looking at her face that resembled Sun Baozhen, Old Madam Sun, who was leaning on a rosewood crutch with a dragon head carving, used its end as a weapon to poke Caidie’s face. But the crutch was gripped by Leng Shuang who suddenly appeared.
“Old Madam Sun,” Qin Yunuan walked towards her with a smile, “You had spent so much time to train Caidie, eager to make her look as much similar to Sun Baozhen as possible. I know that you have more alternates. The reason why Caidie could stay is that even you cannot tell them apart just by the appearance and facial expression. You take it as a success, but it can also be a danger.”
Old Madam Sun scolded in rage, “Caidie, have you forgotten who saved you from the brothel? We have raised you for so many years, how could you return kindness with ingratitude?”
“Sure, you had raised her. But you people of the Sun Family all take her as a substitute to Sun Baozhen. You never cared about her feelings. Everyone is special and not a substitute for others.” Qin Yunuan stepped forward to protect Caidie. That night, when she saw the face of Caidie that was exactly the same as Sun Baozhen, she was shocked at first. But then the overcautious look in Caidie’s eyes reminded her of Tong. Her eyes were also filled with horror, worries, and confusion when mother first took her back. Then, Qin Yunuan knew that she could take advantage of her desire for freedom and independent personality.
“Where’s Baozhen? What happened to my child?” Madam Sun lost her wits.
Leng Changxi said coldly, “Dead.”
Madam Sun fell to the ground suddenly, looking quite at a loss. For her, that news was like a bolt from the blue.
“Humph,” Old Madam sneered, “So, you thought you had defeated me?”
Qin Yunuan squinted at Old Madam Sun, “Or what?”
In the last few decades, the Sun Family had used all kinds of shameful means to seize the treasure maps from the Ge Family and the Meng Family. They had won every time. But now, the direction of the wind was about to change.
It was still raining outside the window. But it was no longer the violent storm, just a patter of rain.
Leng Changxi stepped forward, “Mrs. Sun, the Sun Family is now suspected of murdering the head of the Ge Family and killing the widow of General Meng Zhen. You’d better submit.”
“Submit?” Old Madam Sun looked at Madam Sun who had fainted when she heard the sad news, and then she grinned viciously, “Even though I had lost, you may not win either. You also want the three maps, don’t you? I’m telling you: I will not give it to you, and you will never find them.” Her mouth started to bleed while she was speaking. Suddenly, blood gushed out like streams.
“That old woman had taken poison.” Leng Changxi came to her at once, trying to open her mouth, but it was too late. The smile on her face was weird, and she kept looking at Qin Yunuan, “Qin Yunuan, right? I remember you. We shall fight in the next life.”
At this time, a messenger from Prince Ning’s Mansion came to report.
“Third Young Master, Third Young Madam, something happened! Old Madam is dying!”
Hearing about this, Old Madam Sun, who was lying on the ground, suddenly became pleased. She exclaimed with her last strength, “Well, well! Ge Yunying, I’m dying, and you are also dying. Let’s meet at the Acheron. This time, let’s see who would win.”
Leng Changxi frowned. Having instructed Leng Wu to clean up the mess and not let go of any clues, he called his personal mount that could travel thousands of miles a day. It was still raining outside, and his cloak was soaked by the raindrops.
“Changxi, I’ll come with you.” Qin Yunuan also got out of the shabby temple behind him. Seeing her wet hair, Leng Changxi felt sorry and did not want her to go on a bumpy journey with him.
“Old Madam has taken care of me a lot. This might be our last meet, and I don’t want to miss.” Qin Yunuan really meant it. She had learned a lot from Old Madam. During her early days in the mansion, Princess Ning was the most thoughtful and tender person for her. But she turned out to be a malicious person who had tried to kill Qin Yunuan all the time. Old Madam seemed to make things difficult for her, but whenever Qin Yunuan got into danger, she would do whatever she could do to help.
In the Lotus Fragrance Courtyard of Prince Ning’s Mansion, maids and nannies were busy hurrying to and fro. Prince Ning had been here already, and Doctor Sun was also fetched earlier. But after looking at Old Madam’s face and feeling her pulse, Doctor Sun only said that they should prepare for the funeral.
Prince Ning had a deep bond with Old Madam as he was her oldest son. Right now, his face covered with tears, but Old Madam still refused any visits, until Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi rushed back.
Yuanyang was waiting by the door. Seeing that Qin Yunuan had come, she wept from sorrow, “Third Young Madam, Old Madam has been waiting for you.”
Leng Changxi slowly loosened his grip on Qin Yunuan’s hand. Sun Miaoyang also stepped forward and said, “Four hours ago, Old Madam’s pupils had begun to dilate. Now, I am afraid that it should be a momentary recovery of consciousness.”
Qin Yunuan entered the room, holding her breath. The hanging curtains were still the same, but there was a wisp of herbal fragrance in the air. Passing through the silk curtains, Qin Yunuan saw Old Madam lying on the bed, breathing feebly. Her eyes were closed. This time, she was not resting for a while. She was sleeping so peacefully as if her eyes would never open up again.
“Old Madam,” Qin Yunuan called her softly.
Old Madam did not answer for a long time. Qin Yunuan waited quietly for a while, and Old Madam finally opened her dry lips slightly, “You come. I have something to give you.”
Qin Yunuan lowered her head, “Old Madam, you have given so much to me. I’m afraid that I could not bear your giving anymore.” From the management power to the part of the treasure map of the Leng Family, these things had shown that Old Madam was giving more trust to Qin Yunuan.
“This time, it is different.” Old Madam tilted, hinting that there was something under her pillow. Qin Yunuan reached into there, only to find a flower sachet.
“This is from my sister when I came into the palace last time. She told me that she had kept something in reserve. If I really want the Sun Family to be destroyed, I can use the things in the flower sachet. That would be her compensation for her betrayal to the Ge Family.” To destroy the Sun Family was the lifelong belief for Old Madam.
Qin Yunuan squeezed the sachet tightly bending her lips to her ears and said softly, “Old Madam, the days of the Sun Family is numbered. It won’t be long before they collapse completely.”
Old Madam’s eyes were lit, and she suddenly said, “Choosing you, is the right choice.” She drew her last breath after this. No matter how hard Qin Yunuan and Yuanyang called her, there was no response.
The Old Madam of Prince Ning’s Mansion passed away.
And the Old Madam of the Sun Family also perished.
All the rest of the Sun Family were taken into custody.
Suddenly, the political wind in the imperial court changed its direction. Luckily, Jinling was still under the guard of its Young Marquis, so things were not messed up. In the imperial palace, Queen Mother lit a holy lamp and chanted sutras every day to pray for her sister, Old Madam in Prince Ning’s Mansion.
This day, Maner paid a visit to Prince Ning’s Mansion as Shang Chunman. She had been married for half a month.
“Queen Mother and Old Madam were sisters after all. They had intrigued against each other for such a long time. It finally came to an end.” Maner was coiling for Qin Yunuan. It had become a habit for her to do those things for Qin Yunuan.
Ting Xue and Xi’er were serving tea and milling the ink stick besides. It was not often for them to gather together, chatting and gossiping like before.
“Sisters’ quarrels are soon mended,” Ting Xue remarked.
“I don’t think so,” Xi’er was straight forward, “I think Second Young Madam of the East Garden is difficult to deal with. She is our madam’s blood sister, but these days, she was irritating our madam, relying on her pregnancy. Yesterday, she asked us for blood cubilose. And today, she said she felt that the incense burner in our madam’s room is better than hers. How could she do that?”
Recently, Qin Yuwan did make some troubles as she was pregnant. But Qin Yunuan was not annoyed because she did not have the energy to pay attention to such a small role, and she became very sensitive after pregnancy. Qin Yunuan did not want to get herself into trouble.
A maid outside the house came in to report that Miss Dou came.
Qin Yunuan raised his eyebrows slightly. Ever since the Sun Family was held in custody, all the people who had relations with them became hot potatoes whom people were shunning from. But Dou Meishuang was an exception. That day, she had risked her life to put off the attack for Qin Yunuan. No matter she really cared about Qin Yunuan or not, they could not drive her out of the mansion now.
Dou Meishuang was not a simple person. From the downfall of the Dou Family, the Qin Family, and Sun Family, Dou Meishuang was like a flexible loach. As long as there was a place that could hide dirt, she could find it and made a good living.
“Let her in.” Qin Yunuan was still tidying silk threads, without even looking up.
A melodious voice arose from the outside.
“Oh, you are also here, Ms. Shang. Well, look at my poor memory. I should have called you Mrs. Leng.” Dou Meishuang beamed. She did not look as grey as before when she was resting to recover.
Maner stood up and greeted her.
Then, Dou Meishuang smiled and said to Qin Yunuan, “This time, I come here for you, my dear cousin. Your sister has been pregnant for six months, but she has been grounded. I wanted to make some hometown snacks for her to relieve her boredom. But I don’t know what she likes. That’s why I’m here.”
Qin Yunuan squinted at her, looking calmly. “If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about so many things. Second Sister has her nannies to take care of her.”
Dou Meishuang shook her head, “That’s not enough. Now she was grounded, and those nannies were snobbish. They won’t take care of her with their hearts.”
“Humph,” Qin Yunuan was straight forward, “Then I shall ask you, cousin. Though the Dou Family had been confiscated and the males have been exiled, you still have some basement in Hangzhou. But why you would rather stay in other people’s place than coming back to Hangzhou?”
Dou Meishuang put on a sorrowful look, “Oh, my cousin, are you driving me out?”
“I dare not,” Qin Yunuan did not look up, “But if you want to come into my place, you’d better get rid of Ningxianglu. I don’t use those useless things. But my nose could tell apart.”
After all, Ningxianglu was an aphrodisiac！
