YM778.TV Chapter 176 - Yujing’s Betrothal (1)
Chapter 176 : Yujing’s Betrothal (1)
Before Han Jianming left, he looked at Yuxi and advised, “Don’t do this again. A few more of this, my Mother will be scared to death by you.”
Yuxi listened rather sheepishly while feeling a twinge of guilt, “I, I don’t know how to tell Eldest Aunt. I’m afraid that Eldest Aunt will believe it and I’m also afraid that she won’t.” If Qiu Shi believed it, she would only make a big deal out of it. After all, this matter was something unfounded, and it would not be good for Qiu Shi to stir big trouble over it. If Qiu Shi didn’t believe it, it would only be a waste of time, so Yuxi simply didn’t say anything to Qiu Shi.
Han Jianming understood the meaning of Yuxi’s words that he immediately said, “If you have any problems in the future, just come to me directly. You ought to have confidence in me.”
Yuxi nodded, “Dage, there won’t be the next time.” It looked like Dage could see that she was faking it. Cough, it seemed that her acting skills were still not good enough. It needed to be improved.[T/N]
Seeing Yuxi’s appearance, Han Jianming smiled and pointed out, “If you were indeed so scared that you couldn’t even sleep or eat, how could you still have the spirit to ponder about the Duan family’s affairs.” In other words, it wasn’t that Yuxi’s acting skills were not good, but her performance just now had betrayed her somehow.[+]
Yuxi blushed a little.
Han Jianming did not blame Yuxi for this. He knew that she had always been wary of his Grandmother and his San Shu. There were causes and consequences in this world. After all, the way his Grandmother and San Shu had treated Yuxi before, and there had been no changes in their treatments towards her even now, if Yuxi could still trust the two without any hard feelings, then she would have been purely a stupid person, “You have been down for these few days. So you should go get some rest.” After saying that, he didn’t let Yuxi see him off either. He just went back on his own.[T/N].
Yuxi sat at the table, still thinking back on Han Jianming’s words. She now believed what Han Jianming had said, that the 9th Prince had played a part in the Tongcheng massacre that day. Just thinking about it made her feel cold all over. In order to achieve his own goals, he had put the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and common people at risk.
Yuxi laughed bitterly. In the eyes of the 9th Prince and the Song family, the generals and the common people were nothing more than mole cricket and ants. Who cared for the mere lives of mole cricket and ants, right? Yuxi muttered to herself, “Fortunately, in his last life, the 9th Prince was not the one who became the Emperor.” Otherwise, there would truly be chaos in the world. However, in this life, with Heshou Xianzhu as the variable, would the 9th Prince be able to escape that calamity by then, and thus ascend to the throne?
With Heshou around, there were too many variables in the future. Just no matter how the future would change, Yuxi made up her mind not to get herself involve with them. She was just a little shrimp (fig. small fry). Once she entered those people’s eyes, she wouldn’t even know how she died. However, if Heshou came again to cause them physical suffering at that time, she could remind Yuchen secretly. Yuxi felt that it was no luck that Yuchen had become the ultimate winner in her previous life. Even if Heshou lived for another life, she still would not be able to beat Yuchen.
With this in mind, Yuxi was not prepared to do much more. It was not for her to play with crafty plots and machinations that would kill people and even a whole lot of people.
Only after Zisu saw Han Jianming leave did she enter the courtyard. When she walked into the study, she spotted Yuxi sitting in her chair, still deep in thought. She breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Miss didn’t drill herself into the tip of the bull’s horn, everything else was fine. She didn’t disturb Yuxi and walked out gently. She asked the cook to prepare a sumptuous table of dishes, all of which Yuxi loved to eat.
The fact that Yuxi had recovered from her illness was soon known to everyone in the residence. After receiving the news, Yuchen immediately rushed to Taoran House.
When Yuxi saw Yuchen, she called out, “San Jie, let’s eat together!”
Yuchen just came over to make sure that Yuxi was indeed had become well. “I’ve just eaten, take your time. After you finish eating, let’s go out for a walk.” It was hard for Yuxi to untie the knot in her heart, so she should go out more and take a break.
Yuxi had locked herself up in the house for the past few days since she had broken down, so she agreed, “Okay.”
Yuchen turned her head and ordered Shiqin to bring over her flute to the garden. When Yuxi had finished her meal, she led Yuxi around the garden to look at the flowers.
Yuxi looked at the very depressed garden and said, “The last time I went to the Jiang Residence, Old Madam Jiang’s backyard was full of vegetables.” The backyard that was full of vegetables was much more vibrant than here.
Yuchen couldn’t help but laugh, “You can’t even keep your herbs alive but now want to grow vegetables?” Even if the garden was bleak, it was not for growing vegetables, or else the residence would be laughed at.
Yuxi coughed with surprise by this sentence. “San Jie, you are really scary.” She didn’t expect Yuchen could tell jokes too.
Yuchen and Yuxi talked about everything, but not about the Duan family. Yuchen was afraid that if she mentioned the Duan family again, it would cause Yuxi to feel sad once more and her old illness would recur.
As they were talking, Shiqin brought Yuchen’s flute over. She smiled as she asked, “What song do you want to hear? I’ll play it for you.”
Yuxi was not picky, “As long as it’s cheerful and relaxing, it’s fine.” It didn’t matter what the mood of the song was, as long as it was soothing to her ears.[+]
Yuchen played two particularly cheerful tunes.
After hearing these, Yuxi swore, “I must play the flute well from now on. When I am in a bad mood, I can just play the flute.”
Yuchen smiled a little and suggested, “Yuxi, come with me to see Grandmother! She has been worried because of your illness for these past few days.” The Old Lady was indeed a little worried. Although she did not like Yuxi, after so many years, eventually, she had developed a bit of affection towards Yuxi.
On their way to the Main Courtyard, the two ran into Qiu Yanfu. Neither of them took a liking to Qiu Yanfu and they immediately left after greeting her.
Qiu Yanfu’s maid, Yanyu, said, “Didn’t Miss say that Fourth Miss was sick? In what way does Fourth Miss look even like a sick person?”
Qiu Yanfu had no time to worry about Yuxi’s affairs. She had been annoyed with her marriage recently. Her aunt had found another candidate for her, a sixth-ranked official who was in his thirties. His eldest son was fifteen years old this year. If she married such a man, what could she expect in the future? But her aunt was furious at her refusal. Her aunt even said she would no longer care for her because of this.
Immediately upon seeing Qiu Yanfu’s reaction like this, Yanyu did not dare to speak anymore.
When Yuxi and Yuchen arrived at the Main Courtyard, the Old Lady looked at Yuxi, who was full of vitality, that she asked, “You girl, what happened to Duan’s family made you so scared?”
Yuchen noticed that Yuxi did not look right. She was afraid that Yuxi would have second thoughts, so she hurriedly changed the subject, “Grandmother, didn’t you say that your legs hurt these past few days? Why don’t you let Yuxi rub it for you?”
When the Old Lady saw Yuxi stand up and ready to go forward, she shook her head and said, “No, I might just as well let the maid help rub them. Your health has just gotten well. You should properly have a good rest at home for these few days.”
Yuchen didn’t quite agree with this as she said, “Grandmother, yesterday, the Song family sent us an invitation to attend their banquet. Yuxi has been bored with being cooped up at home for the past few days, so it’s right for her to go out for a walk.” Yuxi was sick at heart, not other illnesses, thus she should go out and walk more often.
If they were to go to another family, Yuxi would still be interested, but she would rather not go to the Song family. When she thought of what the Song family had done, she was downright disgusted. “I’m not well enough yet. It would be bad if I passed my illness to someone else. So, it’s better to wait until next time before I go out.”
Hearing this, Yuchen nodded and said, ”Alright then! You shouldn’t read these few days either. Just stay home and have a rest. If you’re getting bored, just come over to find me.”
Old Woman Luo said curiously, “I don’t know what Master Shizi said to the Fourth Miss that she was able to remove her heart disease at once.”
The Old Lady shook her head, “Even if I asked, I wouldn’t be able to find anything.” Although Ming-er was brought up by her, she could no longer influence him as the child had grown up and had his own ideas.
Old Woman Luo said, “Then this old servant will go and ask around. Though I’m not sure if I can find anything out.” In fact, it was Old Woman Luo herself who was a little curious and was eager to know how the Fourth Miss’ heart ailment had been removed by Master Shizi.
The Old Lady didn’t stop Old Woman Luo from inquiring, “You won’t be able to find anything out even if you go ask.”
Not only was Old Woman Luo, but even Momo Gui was also curious. She spoke with Yuchen, “I also wonder how did Master Shizi untie the knot in Fourth Miss’ heart?”
Yuchen said, “If Si Mei wanted to talk, she must have told me.” Obviously, Yuxi didn’t intend to tell her. And Yuchen was also not the kind of person who wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Momo Gui wondered, “Fourth Miss’ illness is very strange! That day when the bandits broke into the residence, she was able to fight them off with her maid, so how could that little matter of the Duan family frighten her?” She always felt that there was something else going on with Yuxi’s illness.
Yuchen thought Momo Gui was thinking too much, “No matter what the reason is, Yuxi was sick. It’s impossible to fake such things.”
Momo Gui didn’t think that Yuxi’s illness was fake. She just thought it was odd. But when she saw that Yuchen didn’t want her to talk about it, she had no choice but to keep her mouth shut.
Yuchen looked at Momo Gui and said, “I don’t know why you are treating Si Mei like a taboo. But I can assure you that Si Meimei won’t harm me.” It was unlikely for Yuxi to harm her. Hence, if she was trying too hard to find out what Yuxi was doing, it would only hurt the sisterly feelings between them.
Momo Gui said, “Miss, it is too early to say that!” Who could say what would happen in the future! She had seen many precedents of sisters turning against each other in the palace, so she honestly believed that Yuchen’s thought was too simple.
Yuchen did not understand why Momo Gui treated Yuxi like a taboo, “In the future, don’t say anything bad about Yuxi in front of me. Even if Yuxi really does something against me in the future, that will be in the future. At least for now, she won’t harm me.”
Momo Gui didn’t have any problem with Yuxi either. She just felt that Yuxi would become a threat to Yuchen in the future, and this feeling of hers was getting stronger over time. There was no reason for it, she just had this feeling. “Since Miss doesn’t want to hear it, then I won’t say anything in the future.” As Yuchen had said, the current Yuxi would certainly not harm Yuchen. Even if it was because Yuxi didn’t want to be blamed by the (Third) Lord or Wu Shi, it was still unlikely for Yuxi to harm her own Miss.
Once Yuxi came out of the Main Courtyard, she did not go to the Master Courtyard, but went straight back to the Taoran House. She did not do anything else but catch up on her sleep. In these past few days, she hadn’t eaten or slept well.
At the time Qiu Shi came over, Yuxi had not yet woken up. When Qiu Shi heard Zisu say that Yuxi had gotten well, she put both her hands together and cried out ‘Amitabha Buddha’. Then she said, “This child, her illness was so odd. The way it came and went was truly baffling.” She did ask her eldest son how he had unlocked Yuxi’s heart, but he wouldn’t say anything.
Before Qiu Shi left, she told Zisu, “When Yuxi wakes up, tell her, in a few days, I will take her to Lingshan Temple to offer incense.” She always felt that Yuxi’s luck was a bit strange. First Yuxi was inexplicably haunted by that evil spirit Heshou Xianzhu, and then she ran into something like that when she went to the Duan family. Qiu Shi thought that it was time to go to the temple to worship the Buddha just to ease her mind.
When Yuxi had been informed of it, she thought it was actually good for her to go to the temple to offer incense and pray for Xinrong.
Unfortunately, Qiu Shi had to take Yujing to the Song family banquet, but she then became ill because of the trouble Yujing had made while they were there. As a result, her visit to the mountain temple to burn incense had to be cancelled.