Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

After dinner, Xiao Lan summoned Yueji and Moli to help her bathe. Watching them fetch water and scatter flower petals, Xiao Lan finally understood why "bathing" was called "showering" in ancient times and "taking a bath" in modern times. Just the preparation work—using the cleaning utensils, fetching water, and scattering flower petals—took almost an hour. After the bath, cleaning up would take at least two more hours. It was nothing like the modern saying that some men could take a "battle bath" in less than five minutes, including washing their hair and body. However, the long bath time was convenient for Yue'er. So today, the bath took an exceptionally long time, a full half hour. Then, after waiting for her hair to dry and getting ready, it took a total of two and a half hours. Not long after her hair was finished, her maternal grandmother, Granny Yu, rushed in and said, "Greetings, Miss Lan. Master and Madam have returned home and request your presence."

Xiao Lan knew her maternal grandfather would be returning that night. In her previous life, after Xiao Lan fell from the tree, although the bleeding had stopped, she remained unconscious. Her second aunt and aunt discussed it and immediately arranged for a fast horse to leave the city that very night to go to her uncle's house in Lingnan to inform her maternal grandfather. This granddaughter was the apple of their eye, even more important than their grandsons. The journey, including sending the message and returning, took less than two days, and the elderly couple returned, probably not even having time to properly hold their newborn great-grandchild.

Xiao Lan, accompanied by Yueji and Jasmine, followed Granny Yu into the main hall. There, seated in the main seats were her maternal grandparents, with her eldest and second maternal uncles to their left, and her second maternal aunt and aunt to her right. As Xiao Lan entered, she glanced at her aunt and saw her nod. She knew Yue'er had already informed her aunt of the upcoming plan, and with her aunt's cooperation, things would surely go much more smoothly. Xiao Lan nodded back to her aunt and slowly stepped forward to bow to her grandparents, saying, "Greetings, Grandparents. I'm sorry to have worried you." Jiang Chunlai looked at his little granddaughter as if she were Jiang Nihuang, his eyes filled with undisguised affection. "Good child, get up quickly. Seeing you're alright, Grandpa is relieved." Jiang Huangshi then added, "My Lanlan, my darling, how did you fall? Look how much weight you've lost since I was only gone a few days ago. Thankfully, Grandma is back, so I'll make sure you get some nourishment these next few days."

"Grandma, I haven't lost weight. My aunt and uncle are cooking all sorts of delicious food for me. Luckily, I don't have a big appetite, otherwise they would have stuffed me into a fatso."

Then he turned and walked up to Jiang Yanming, bowing respectfully: "Greetings, Uncle. How are your aunt, cousins, and other relatives?"

"It's all good, it's all good. Your cousin's wife just gave birth and can't go out easily. Your aunt was worried that your brother, a man, wouldn't be able to take good care of her, so she stayed home to look after her. When she heard that Lan'er had fallen and hurt herself, she asked me to bring you two boxes of tonics. I'll have someone deliver them to your yard in a bit."

"Thank you, Uncle and Aunt. Lan'er hasn't yet congratulated Uncle on the addition of a new member to your family and your promotion to grandfather."

"Good, good, good, congratulations to you too!" Jiang Yanming was quite traditional at heart, especially since his daughter-in-law had given birth to a grandson with her first child, he was overjoyed.

Then Xiao Lan paid her respects to her second uncle Jiang Chang'an, her second aunt Jiang Yaoshi, and her aunt Jiang Xiuzhi in turn, before sitting down next to her aunt. Her aunt took her hand and patted it twice, knowing that the matter was settled and could be resolved in one go.

Aunt rose and bowed to the two elders. "Father, Mother, I've been away for some time now. I'm worried about how the General must be managing the military camp and handling all the household affairs all by himself. It must be very tiring. Since Lanlan is going to Minglu Academy for her entrance exam in a few days, I'd like to take Yu'er with me back to the capital. That way, she'll have company on the journey."

Jiang Chunlai and Jiang Huangshi exchanged a glance. Jiang Chunlai spoke: "The capital and Shaozhou are quite far apart. You've come all this way, and I should have you stay longer, but as the grandmother of the General's Mansion who manages the household affairs, it's really not appropriate for you to be away for so long. So you and Yu'er should pack your things these next few days and return to the capital with Lan'er. It'll be more reassuring for your father to travel together with you."

Suddenly, Jiang Chunlai realized he couldn't see his granddaughter Wu Yuyu and was about to ask when the head maid rushed over. "Master and Madam, Miss Lan's maid and Granny Qian from the back courtyard got into a fight for some reason. They've been separated, but since the maid was brought by Miss Lan, I don't dare to handle it myself. I've come to ask for your permission. Everyone is waiting outside the courtyard now."

"What? Yue'er got into a fight with someone?" Xiao Lan stood up and bowed, saying, "Grandfather, Grandmother, Yue'er has grown up with me since she was little. I know her temperament and character. She is definitely not the type to cause trouble. Please ask Grandfather to call them over and ask them what happened."

After speaking, she looked at Madam Jiang, who exchanged glances with Jiang Chunlai. She then said to the head maid, "Bring the two who were fighting up here and ask them what happened."

Immediately, someone brought Yue'er and the kitchen manager, Granny Qian, over. Xiao Lan noticed that Yue'er's hair and clothes were somewhat disheveled, but thankfully there were no external injuries, which reassured her considerably. Before Yue'er could speak, Granny Qian knelt before Madam Jiang and said, "Madam, you know I've been in this household for over twenty years. I would never do anything dishonest or cunning. Miss Lan's maid said I stole Miss Lan's food, but I would never dare to do such a thing. Please, Master and Madam, investigate thoroughly." She was about to kowtow when Yue'er spoke up, "Grandmaster and Madam, my young lady loves to drink Yue Rong soup. Knowing that it's not easy to buy good fish maw in the capital, she asked me to ask Granny Liu, the purchasing manager, where she can buy better quality fish maw. She plans to buy more. Also, she asked me to check how much fish maw she's eaten in the past two weeks so I can purchase accordingly." To my surprise, I discovered that we had consumed six catties of fish maw in the past two weeks! One catty of fish maw can yield three catties of fish maw. Even if my young lady ate it at every meal, she couldn't finish it all. Besides, not to mention the recent past four days, she's had two bowel movements. For the first three days, my young lady was still unconscious, and we only made soup today. If this isn't embezzlement, what is it? The kitchen staff actually took advantage of my young lady's unconsciousness, using her name to embezzle food! I beg Madam Zu to do justice for my young lady. After saying this, Yue'er kowtowed to Madam Jiang Huang.

"Madam, I'm innocent!" Granny Qian quickly said, "This girl came up and said that I took Miss Lan's food without explaining what happened. Every time I received such valuable things, I handed them over to Jasmine in Miss's room. There's a receipt from the kitchen to prove it. I would never dare to take Miss's food."

"Oh, that's strange," Yue'er said to Jasmine, seemingly oblivious to her pale face. "Sister Jasmine, judging from what this old woman said, she gave you all six catties, but so far we've only eaten less than two catties, even though you always stewed a whole pot, and everyone else ate it all."

"Oh, you stew a whole pot of it? Does your young lady always ask for this much?" Jiang Xiuzhi asked.

"Of course not, Miss. It's Sister Jasmine who always says she's worried you won't have enough to eat. But every time you see such a big bowl, you don't want to eat anymore, so you give it all to us," Yue'er said casually.

At this moment, Jasmine quickly knelt down in front of Xiao Lan: Miss, I didn't mean it. I was just worried that you weren't eating enough. You've been so thin lately, and I was thinking of giving you some nourishment.

Looking at her innocent and naive appearance, Xiao Lan suddenly wanted to laugh, wondering why she hadn't noticed this side of her in her past life.