In the seventh lunar month, the days would be too hot until one had difficulty breathing. On such a hot day, drinking a bowl of baobing couldn't be more refreshing.
After eating a bowl of red bean milk ice, Heshou Xianzhu handed the bowl to her maid, Bing Lan, "Share the rest!" Heshou Xianzhu was very generous to the maids around her. No matter what good things she had, as long as the girl was a maid around her, that maid would also have them.
Jade Mat
It was said that it was quite cool when you sit on this during summer or hot days.
Image Credit | ratalious via carousell
It was said that it was quite cool when you sit on this during summer or hot days.
Image Credit | ratalious via carousell
While looking at the account book, her maid, Ah Bao, hurriedly came over and exclaimed, Xianzhu, this is bad. Eldest Lord has been beaten."
Heshou Xianzhu stood up and asked, "Who hit him?" Her Gege was really a good-for-nothing. Not only was he terrible in civil or military matters, but he also liked to cause trouble. For this reason, she didn't know how much trouble he had caused. Since her return, she didn't even remember how many times she had tried to persuade him. Unfortunately, none had ever worked. Instead, he would repeatedly seek her just for money. When she lacked money on hand, he would run to her shop to ask some. This made her so angry that she wished she could just tie this person at home, preventing him from going out.
Ah Bao replied, "He was beaten by the Fourth Lord of the Yu family." The Fourth Lord of the Yu family, born as the third di son of Old Lord Yu, was also one of the tyrants in the capital. However, the little overlord Fourth Lord Yu was different from Qiao Meng. This person liked to fight local ruffians and bullied those idle groups instead of robbing women and bullying the weak like Qiao Meng.
When Heshou Xianzhu heard that the culprit was from the Yu family, her face turned quite ugly. Even the Emperor had to give in to some degree towards Prime Minister Yu. Also, because of Prime Minister Yu, the Yu family had walked taller than other families. She asked again, "How did the fight start?"
Ah Bao lowered her head and told her, "Eldest Lord took a fancy to a peasant woman selling vegetables in the street and wanted to grab her money..." After stopping here, she continued to say, "The peasant woman was unwilling. Thus Eldest Lord grabbed her money even more violently. It happened that Fourth Lord Yu had caught his act, so the two people fought." Fourth Lord Yu despised Qiao Meng's behaviour very much. As a result, when he met with this injustice, he started to beat Qiao Meng up. [+]
Heshou Xianzhu hated that she couldn't slap her Gege twice, but she would not look into this matter for the time being. "Where is Dage right now?"
Ah Bao's voice was as small as a mosquito, "He's been carried back, and Gongzhu had asked someone to invite a physician." Even an Imperial Physician was already hard enough for them to invite.
Heshou Xianzhu hurried over. As soon as she reached their courtyard entrance, she heard a scream like a pig had been slaughtered, "It hurts like hell, don't you know how to be gentle? Ah..."
Although Fourth Lord Yu was very harsh and unreasonable, he also knew how to handle fights between his peers. As long as they didn't result in fatalities or serious injuries, it was not a big deal. But if it did, it would start a feud. Hence, Qiao Meng only suffered superficial injuries, and his life was not in danger.
After Heshou Xianzhu knew what was going on, she weighed it up in her heart and said to Qingyang Gongzhu, "Mother, it's not a good idea for Gege to go on like this."
Qingyang Gongzhu also had a headache, "Do you have a way?" Twice every three days, she had to help with the aftermath of every accident that had befallen her family, and she was already tired from doing this too often.
Heshou Xianzhu meant to put Qiao Meng in the military camp for his protection, "Mother, it's time for Dage to suffer. Otherwise, if this continues, Dage's life will be done for."
Qingyang Gongzhu shook her head without even thinking about it, "No, your Dage can't bear the suffering. He will surely run back after staying there for only a day." No one knew her son better than his mother, so how could she not know her own son's temper? If she really sent him to the army camp, he would definitely hate Heshou for it.
Heshou also knew what her mother just said was right. "Then marry him with a stern daughter-in-law so she can take care of him." In her last life, Qiao Meng married at the age of 16, and within a year, his wife passed away simply from having excess anger towards him. Since then, all respectable families in the capital were reluctant to marry their daughters to him. While factions in the palace wanted to curry favour with the Gongzhu's mansion, Qingyang Gongzhu didn't like it, so she dragged on this matter for two years.
Qingyang Gongzhu was rather hesitant with this idea.
When Heshou looked at her mother's reaction, her anger erupted, "Mother, you can't indulge Dage any longer. At this rate, Dage's life will really be ruined." The fact that her Dage would become like this today was all due to her mother spoiling him.[+]
Qingyang Gongzhu looked at her angry daughter and asked, "Then tell me, which girl do you want your Gege to marry?"
Heshou Xianzhu already had a candidate in her mind, "Tang Xin, General Zhennan's second di daughter."
Qingyang Gongzhu glared at her daughter ferociously and asked, "Do you have a grudge against your Dage or something? You actually expect your Dage to marry someone like that tigress?" Tang Xin was a sweet name, but the actual person was tall, very hot-tempered and had rough conduct. She was a renowned tigress in the capital. She was already eighteen this year and hadn't yet been matched to any family.
No matter what Heshou Xianzhu said, they didn't make sense to Qingyang Gongzhu. In the end, Heshou Xianzhu went back to her courtyard with a dejected face.
In the afternoon, Old Lady Yu came to apologise with Fourth Lord Yu and many medicinal supplements.
Although Qingyang Gongzhu was annoyed, she didn't throw away Old Lady Yu's face. Speaking of which, Fourth Lord Yu was five years younger than Qiao Meng, and what's more disgraceful for her was to have her son being the one who had to be carried back after a beating.
This matter, whether to Qingyang Gongzhu or Heshou Xianzhu, all thought that this was the end of the matter. But they never expected that this was the prelude to a storm.
First, the Imperial Censor impeached Qiao Meng with all kinds of wicked conduct, especially for grabbing an ordinary woman by force and treating human's life as grass. Then, someone impeached the current Old Lord Qiao for accepting bribes and neglecting his duties. After that, a story about Third Old Lord Qiao practising usury and smuggling broke out...as long as the Qiao family members had broken the law, all would be dragged out.
Heshou Xianzhu felt something wrong with all these since the situations were clearly aimed at the Qiao family. Before she could find the mastermind behind these incidents, something happened in Gongzhu's mansion.
Bing Lan hurried over and called out, "Xianzhu, this is not good. Gongzhu has beaten up Fuma." The reason why Qingyang Gongzhu beat Fuma was very simple. It was because Second Lord Qiao (Fuma) had raised a mistress outside, which was exposed by someone today.
Heshou Xianzhu stared at her, "What did you say? My father has a mistress outside?" This didn't even happen in her last life. What the hell was going on here right now?
What awaited Heshou Xianzhu when she rushed to the Master Courtyard was the sight of her father kneeling on the ground with a bloody nose and a swollen face. Heshou Xianzhu let out a sigh of relief as she stepped forward and said, "Mother, the Qiao family members have met with mishap one after another. I think someone is specifically targeting our Qiao family."
Qingyang Gongzhu wondered, "Who would be targeting our Qiao family?"
Heshou Xianzhu could only shake her head as she said, "Mother, first Dage was impeached, followed by Dabo, then San Shu and the others. Even several Tangge and Tangdi were not spared. Someone wants to bring down the Qiao family. I've already sent people to investigate, and we'll have the news soon."
Qingyang Gongzhu said with a cold face, "I like to see who is acting behind the scenes." Qingyang Gongzhu was not a fool. What the other party did so obviously was simply wanting to kill the Qiao family. She wanted to see who had eaten a bear heart and a leopard gall to even dare to move the soil where Tai Sui (God of the Year) presided.
The culprit, Han Jianming, did all these with no intention of hiding them. As long as one set one's mind on them, one could find out about him soon enough.
That evening, Qingyang Gongzhu knew that everything happened because of Han Jianming's ruthless hand. She frowned and said, "Qiao family and Han family have always been like river water does not interfere with well water. Why did the Han family have to do such a harsh thing this time around?" She wasn't particularly a smart person, but she was also not a fool. The Han family couldn’t become enemies with the Qiao family for no reason. Therefore, something must have happened.
A chill rose in Heshou Xianzhu's heart when she knew that the mastermind behind the scenes was the Han family. However, she soon calmed herself down again. She had done that matter in such secrecy that it was impossible for the Han family to find out about it. As for whether it could have been because of Han Yuxi having told them about it, her words were only empty promises, with no supporting evidence. No one would believe what she said.
Heshou despised Yuxi from the bottom of her heart. It was because Yuxi didn't use the advantage that came from her rebirth. She pretended to be naive with that blank stare of her instead. Since you had been given another life, you should live it vigorously and create an extremely wonderful life.
Naturally, Han Jianming's action of this magnitude had alarmed many people. The Han future in-laws, the Lu family, also paid close attention to this matter. When Second Lord Lu knew about this matter, he immediately had his son call Han Jianye over and asked, "What did the Qiao family do this time to make you people make such a deadly move? You have to know that the Qiao family has Qingyang Gongzhu, and Heshou Xianzhu was praised by the Emperor himself as auspicious some days ago. What are you guys thinking, stirring the Qiao family at this time?"
Han Jianye didn't hide it. He told him about what Heshou Xianzhu had done. Then he said with resentment, "We, the Han family, will not rest in fighting the Qiao family until we die."
Second Lord Lu was also a man of experience, but after hearing what Han Jianye had said, he still looked incredulous, "Do you have any proof?"
Han Jianye nodded and said, "For such a big matter, we wouldn't have done it if it weren't for all the human testimony and material evidence that we have."
Second Lord Lu still found it unbelievable, "Why did Heshou Xianzhu do that? As far as I know, the Qiao family doesn't have a deep hatred with the Han family." Unless the two families had a deadly grudge, they would never do such a thing. Even if the two families had a deadly feud, they would have to get rid of the enemy's family's men first. As long as all the adult males of the said family were dead, it would be a simple matter to clean up the women family members next. This kind of behaviour from Heshou Xianzhu was hard for him to understand.
Han Jianye shook his head and said, "We don't know either. But no matter what the reason is, this revenge is something we must avenge."
Second Lord Lu didn't say a word. No one with the slightest bit of blood in their veins would have treated what Heshou Xianzhu did as if nothing had happened. "Don't you still need to find out why Heshou Xianzhu has done this?"
Han Jianye hesitated and said, "My Dage and I have already asked my grandmother and my San Shu. They both said that we have always been like river water does not interfere with well water with the Qiao family. Later, my San Meimei was aware of this matter and had made ridiculous speculation."
Second Lord Lu couldn't help but ask, "What speculation?"
Han Jianye explained, "Heshou Xianzhu was hostile to my San Meimei when she first met her. The thief also admitted that Heshou Xianzhu had ordered them to kill my San Meimei during the unrest." Yuxi was worried that stirring up a fire would only burn herself, so she urged them to weaken her existence. Han Jianming and the others had considered it for a moment and thought it would be better to use Yuchen as an intro. After all, Yuchen's reputation was already out there, so it would be more convincing to use her as an intro.
Second Master Lu didn't say anything and listened to Han Jianye continue, "Not long ago, Great Master Liao Tong said that Heshou Xianzhu had opened her all-knowing mind so she could foretell good or bad fortune beforehand. We suspect that Heshou Xianzhu might have known that my San Meimei's existence would be unfavourable to her in the future. Thus she made the first move."
Second Lord Lu slapped his palm on the table, "Ridiculous. You guys believe the nonsense said by that bald donkey?" If the monks said that killing was a sin, wouldn't the soldiers who fought to protect and defend the country be guilty of all sins? But without these soldiers, could there be a peaceful day in the country right now?
Han Jianye responded, "Other than that reason, we couldn't think of any reason why Heshou Xianzhu would pay bandits to come to my home, just to kill and set fire to it."
Second Lord Lu preferred to believe a feud between the two families rather than such nonsense. But he couldn't say that Han Jianye was wrong. This matter was bizarre in every way. "I'll look into this matter for you."
PS: June has done her best. How it will turn out, just look at the sky...
Noob Translator's Musing
One of their plans has worked. So next will be Yuxi's plan. Havoc in the capital will come soon. Jeng jeng jeng jeng.
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi