As Yuxi and her entourage walked into the garden, a gust of autumn wind blew past them with waves of light flower fragrance greeting them along the pavement. Although it was already late autumn, with the moisture from the drizzle, the garden also appeared particularly lively.
Yuxi was marvelling at the chrysanthemums when she saw Yujing coming over with her two maids. She cheerfully greeted her, "Er Jie[1]."
As soon as Yujing saw Yuxi, her eyes were filled with resentment. If it weren't for Yuxi, how would Teacher Song know about her fraud? Now, she had lost the chance to learn from Teacher Song and had been locked up for so long. She shouted to the maids around Yuxi, "All of you get out of here!"
Mama Shen, Hongshan and others looked at Yujing's appearance. How could they dare to go away? What if once they were far away, their Miss suffered losses?
Yujing saw that not only Yuxi did not move, but even the maids and old women around her also did not dare to move. Her anger became even more intense. "Get the hell out of here!" If they didn't leave, they would make this dead girl (Yuxi) look good.
Yuxi ignored Yujing and said, "Let's go back!" It was hard for her to get out for a walk to relax. As a result, despite the garden being so big, she still managed to accidentally meet Yujing. It was an unlucky year for her.
Yujing had disliked Yuchen, who always had a faint look of never putting people in her eyes for a long time. With Yuchen's perfect background and the Old Lady protecting her, even if Yujing was so angry, she dared not do anything to Yuchen. However, Yuxi was different. She used to see Yuxi hide before, but now she dared to ignore her. How could she tolerate this? She rushed forward and grabbed Yuxi's arm. "You're not allowed to go."
Yuxi also became angry as she watched Yujing grab her arm. "What are you doing?"
While they were in Magnolia Courtyard, Yujing had to be patient because she was afraid of Teacher Song. Since she could not go there nowadays, why should she be like that anymore? She said with a smile, "What do you say I will do, you, the bearer of ill luck?" After that, she gave Yuxi a strong push.
Since Yuxi didn't put on guard against Yujing, she didn't realise when Yujing suddenly went crazy and pushed her. There was water on top of the blue brick just behind her. She slipped on it and fell to the ground.
Everyone was stunned.
Yuxi cried in pain on the ground while Yujing only snorted coldly. "That's a pretty good one." After saying this, she returned to her courtyard without paying more attention to Yuxi.
Yunqi and Yunbo were terrified. Yunqi said with great courage, "Miss, let's go and see how Fourth Miss is doing." Yujing didn't realise the consequence of what she had done just now, but the two maids knew clearly that Yuxi was not the same girl who had been easily bullied by her Miss before. Moreover, the Old Lady's attitude towards the Fourth Miss had changed. This time their Miss would not get good results.
Yujing snorted coldly. "What is there to see? It was just a push, and it won't kill her." Her attitude was not without reason. At the beginning of the year, she pushed Yuxi down the steps. Yuxi fell to the ground and just wiped her bloody arm. As a result, Yujing was reprimanded only a few times and nothing else.
Yunqi looked at Yujing's attitude and became more worried. It was merely that Yujing had a terrible temper. If you irritated her too much, she would grab something and try to kill you. Therefore, Yunqi became even more worried. In the end, she didn't dare to continue persuading Yujing.
Mama Shen was the first to react by rushing to Yuxi's side and anxiously asking, "Miss, what's wrong with you?"
Yuxi's other body parts were fine, but one of her legs was particularly painful. "Mama Shen, my leg hurt." Her foot was probably sprained.
Mama Shen wanted to lift and carry Yuxi up, but she accidentally touched her injured leg. Yuxi immediately painfully cried, "The pain is killing me. It won't work this way."
Mama Shen called out to Hongshan, standing foolishly on one side, "Go find the Lady and tell her that Miss' leg is injured." Then she turned to Yuxi, "Miss, please endure. The physician will come in a minute."
With this situation, Hongshan couldn't care less for her image as she ran to the Master Courtyard.
Mama Shen saw Yuxi, who screamed when she touched her, and thought for a moment and ordered nearby maids, "Go and bring over the soft couch." Since she couldn't hold her, she could only carry her back.
Qiu Shi was talking to her stewardess when she heard Hongshan come over. Seeing Hongshan come in with red eyes, she hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
Hongshan quickly answered, "Please, my Lady, can you get a physician for our Miss?"
Qiu Shi was shocked. "What's happened? She was fine just now. How come such a big thing happened to her?"
In a few words, Hongshan explained the conflict that happened just now to Qiu Shi.
Hearing this incident, Qiu Shi was furious that Yujing had become even more domineering. However, rather than looking into Yujing's responsibility regarding the conflict, she immediately sent for a physician and rushed to Rose Courtyard to see Yuxi.
When Yuxi saw Qiu Shi, she embraced her and cried, "Eldest Aunt, my leg hurt so much. Eldest Aunt, is my leg broken? Eldest Aunt, am I going to be crippled?" She used to hide and cry when she was wronged, but now she was no longer stupid. If she felt wronged, she had to say it out. She would stop crying under the covers.
When the maids and the old women around her heard such mournful weeping, their hearts were filled with bitter feelings. While Moju and Motao just directly cried.
Qiu Shi hugged and comforted her, "Nonsense, the physician will cure you. Bear with me. The physician will come soon."
Yuxi cried herself hoarse when the physician finally arrived. Good at treating bone injuries in the capital, the physician examined Yuxi's leg and reported, "The girl has sprained her leg muscles."
Qiu Shi asked, "Mister Physician, I heard that this kind of injury needed one hundred days to heal. Does this mean the child has to stay in bed for three months?"
The physician looked at Yuxi's eyes, which were as red as rabbits as if they were asking him to appease her. "No, the girl just twisted her muscles. Not hurting or breaking any bones. So, don't worry."
"Ah..." A shrill cry resounded three li[2] away, making the birds on top of the trees flutter and fly away disorderly. Hearing this sad cry, the people in Rose Courtyard were all feeling wretched in their hearts.
Qiu Shi looked at the fainted Yuxi and became worried. "Mister Physician, didn't you say it would be alright?"
The physician also didn't think Yuxi was faking. The young misses from prominent families were all very delicate, so it was customary for them not to be able to bear such pain, and it was not even surprising for them to faint. "Don't worry, my Lady. The girl passed out because of pain, and she will be fine when she wakes up."
When Yuxi woke up, she saw her left foot wrapped up like a zongzi[3], so she grabbed Moju sitting by the bed and asked, "How is my leg?"
If anyone is interested in making zongzi, you can watch this:
Moju hurriedly answered, "Miss, don't worry. The physician said so long as you take medication for your injured leg muscles, you will only need to take a good rest for 2 days."
Yuxi looked at her leg and asked, "Then, what did Grandmother say?" If Yujing were not taught a lesson this time, she would never let this matter be dropped.
Moju also hated Yujing. "The Old Lady had locked Second Miss in the family's Buddhist temple and ordered her to copy Buddhist scriptures."
First, Concubine Rong nearly caused Yuxi to lose her life; now, Yujing had come to provoke her. Yuxi hated them both. However, it was impossible to deal with them currently. Not to mention, she couldn't do so as long as Mama Shen and Hongshan were still beside her. Ah~ she was too weak. Yuxi wanted to avenge herself but could not do so. She had lived a lifetime in vain.
Qiu Shi was also quite furious about this incident. She thought that the Old Lady's punishment was too light. If Yujing bullied Yuchen, she didn't believe the Old Lady would only punish her by copying Buddhist scriptures.
Mama Li felt that this was still good. At least this time, Yujing was locked up in their family's Buddhist temple. Last time, if she had to say, the situation with Yujing was without pain or itch[4]. "My Lady, our top priority right now is the piece of meat in Concubine Rong's stomach." Concubine Rong had been favoured so much these few years. Concubine Lian had snatched some of the favours with so much difficulty this time. If Concubine Rong gave birth to a son, she would rise once more and become more arrogant.
Qiu Shi shook her head. "We could not get involved in this matter." Deep down, she also hoped that Concubine Rong would not be able to retain the child, but she could not do it. There were too few children in the official residence, and the Old Lady valued every child.
Mama Li sighed in her heart. Her Master was too kind and constantly worried about the Old Lady. She could not do anything because of it.
In the evening, Qiu Shi went to Rose Courtyard to visit Yuxi. When she arrived there, she saw Yuxi lying on the bed, reading a book. She was so absorbed that she didn't even notice that Qiu Shi had entered her room.
Qiu Shi felt somewhat sorry for her as she said, "You should have a good rest since you just injured your leg, but you're reading books instead."
Yuxi shook her head and replied, "I can't sleep anyway, so I might as well do some reviews on books I've learnt. Otherwise, when Teacher Song returns for spot checks during class, I will suffer the consequences."
Qiu Shi was somewhat surprised. "Why do you need to go to school when your leg is already like this? Just ask Teacher Song for a leave of absence."
Yuxi said with a smile, "I just hurt my leg. It does not interfere with me listening to lectures and writing." It wouldn't get in the way of her listening in class like this, but she wouldn't be able to finish her homework. However, she felt that Teacher Song would not be so harsh to her just because of this.
Qiu Shi touched Yuxi's head, and her heart filled with mixed feelings.
Yuxi looked at Qiu Shi's face and said, "Eldest Aunt, she gave me a cut on my head last year, bruised my arm at the beginning of the year, and now she twisted my leg. I wonder if Er Jie[1] will kill me next time." These matters were nevertheless told by Moju. She didn't remember any of these at all. Otherwise, she wouldn't have spent twenty years of her previous life being unguarded against Yujing.
After hearing Yuxi's words, Qiu Shi felt terrible in her heart. "You don't have to worry. The Old Lady has locked up the Second Girl in the family's Buddhist temple. This time around, she has undoubtedly been taught a lesson."
Yuxi said all these not to gain sympathy but for a purpose, "Eldest Aunt, I want a strong servant girl, preferably the one that has been bought from outside." If she had to choose one from among the children of the family servants, it was estimated that the maid wouldn't dare to touch a hair of Yujing because of some misgivings. If she bought a maid from outside, held on to her and trained her by herself, the maid would be very obedient to her.
Qiu Shi hesitated, but under Yuxi's pleading, she finally agreed. "When you meet the right one, you can redeem her. Aunt will send you the maid life contract in due course."
Yuxi was busily nodding. Holding the other person's life contract in her hand was tantamount to her controlling that person's life and fighting power. That person was entirely hers.
Footnotes Full List
- er=second, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie
- an ancient Chinese measurement for length, approximately 500m
- glutinous rice dumpling
- Chinese idiom: not getting to any matter of substance
Noob Translator's Musing
I'm so exhausted from work.
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi