The Old Lady twirled the Buddhist beads in her hand and did not speak. None of the other three people in the room spoke either, and the room was deadly silent.
Finally, it was Han Jingyan who spoke first. He looked at Qiu Shi, whose eyes were red and swollen, and asked, "Dasao, what are you going to do about this matter?"
Qiu Shi was furious. "What else do you think can be done? There are still more than ten days before Jianye's wedding, and when something like this happens at this juncture, what do you want the Lu family to think?"
If Yuxi were there, she would have been speechless once again. Now in this circumstance, it was time for them to think about solving the problem, not venting one's anger.
The Old Lady stopped turning the Buddhist beads and asked, "Tell me, Eldest Daughter-in-law! What do you want to do? Let it out so we can hear it."
Qiu Shi wiped a handful of non-existent tears and said, "*Mother, what do you think we should do?"
The Old Lady did not tell her the method she had thought of. She asked Wu Shi instead, "What do you think?" Had she known that rumours were circulating in the residence that Qiu Yanfu had other thoughts about Jianye, she would have sent her away. If she had sent her away, this matter would not have happened.
Wu Shi had been humiliated today. Her niece had climbed into the bed of her soon-to-be-married nephew, and there was nothing more humiliating than this. "It's up to **Mother."
Han Jingyan's eyes went cold when he heard the way Wu Shi called his *Mother. Dasao called her *Mother, but Wu Shi called her **Mother, no wonder *Mother didn't like her. One could tell what was in a person's heart from the way they called a person.
When the Old Lady heard this, she didn't know why she suddenly felt angry. "I already have one foot in the coffin, and yet, you're still pushing the matters onto me. Can't you solve these yourselves? What's going to happen when I die?"
It was the first time Qiu Shi had ever seen the Old Lady angry, so she stood up and said, "*Mother, I don't want to make you angry either. But this is too special. If it were a maid in the residence who did such a thing, I would have killed her and not bothered *Mother. But this slut is San Dimei's niece, so I don't know what to do with her." Qiu Yanfu was Wu Shi's niece, a girl from a respectable family, so she had to be dealt with properly, not too light and not too heavy either.
The Old Lady thought Qiu Shi's words were reasonable. Seeing Wu Shi's bowed head, the Old Lady knew it was useless to ask her again. Thus she directly asked Han Jingyan, "How do you think we should handle this matter?"
Han Jingyan's answer was simple, "Send her back to Hebei, and in addition, give some compensation to the Qiu family." This answer of his was the most straightforward and least troublesome method.
The Old Lady also thought this method was suitable, but there were consequences to it. If the Qiu family disagreed and made a scene, it would not be good for Jianye's reputation when the time came.
Han Jingyan shook his head and said, "No. As long as they are given enough benefits, the Qiu family will not cause any trouble." Business people were keen on profits. So long as they were given enough benefits, not to mention one daughter, they didn't even mind losing all their daughters.
Wu Shi's face was frighteningly white.
Just at this time, there was a commotion outside. The Old Lady looked ugly and asked the servants who were outside, "Who is making noise outside?" Nowadays, the Old Lady couldn't use the people around her to her advantage. The main reason was that there was too much of a disconnect between her and them. Plus, the people she liked had all lost their lives on the night of the palace rebellion.[+]
Old Woman Luo walked in and said, "It's Liuyue, First Lady’s maid. She said that Miss Biao Qiu had not been given child-avoidance soup. Thus she came over to ask the First Lady if she should give it."
Qiu Shi instantly jolted awake. She was so focused on venting her anger that she had forgotten such an important matter. "Hurry up. Hurry up and give that slut the child-avoidance soup."
The Old Lady didn't know what kind of mood she was in now. When things went wrong, Qiu Shi knew how to vent her anger, but how could she forget such a significant matter? When the Old Lady was 100 years old, could she feel comfortable leaving this family to Qiu Shi? The answer was obviously no. "This matter is settled. We will send that girl away in the next two days."
Qiu Shi looked at Han Jingyan with some hesitation and asked, "Can you guarantee that the Qiu family won't make a scene about this matter, San Di? If this comes out, it will affect Jianye's career."
Han Jingyan promised, "I can guarantee that the Qiu family won't cause any problem.”
Qiu Shi still couldn't make up her mind and said, "I have to ask Jianming about this matter." She could not trust Han Jingyan, and she had to ask her eldest son, who was the backbone of the family before she could feel at ease.
The Old Lady also had some hesitation. Jianye looked like he had a promising career ahead of him. If Jianye were to be ruined just because of this matter, it would be unacceptable. "Let's ask Jianming and Jianye for their opinion on this matter!"
Han Jingyan's face was hideous, but he still gave a face to his mother's decision, "Then let’s ask for Jianming’s opinion on this!"
As for the Wu Shi, she was simply being ignored by everyone.
Mama Li took Liuyue to Shuixiang Courtyard. Yanxia and Yanyu tried to pull her out but were kicked to the ground by Mama Li's people, and then they went into the bedroom.
Qiu Yanfu was also a practical person. Since she knew she could not escape, she honestly finished both bowls of the child-avoidance soups. Amid Mama Li's cold stare, she closed her eyes again and went back to bed. The hangover soup she had sent last night had medicine in it. Since Han Jianye's health was so good, she had been tossed around by him for most of the night. Then, she had been ripped apart by Qiu Shi early that morning. Now she had no strength left.
Mama Li coldly snorted and took Liuyue out. After leaving Shuixiang Courtyard, Mama Li asked in a low voice, "What's the matter with the child-avoidance soup?" She did not believe that Liuyue would be this meticulous.
Liuyue also did not hide it. She answered with a low voice, "It was the Fourth Miss who had reminded this handmaiden. Only then did this handmaiden remember that slut had not been given with child-avoidance soup."
Mama Li had always been calm, but this time she was furious. She had raised the Second Master together with the First Lady and felt no less affectionate towards him than her son. Now that Second Master’s marriage was just around the corner, unexpectedly, a wicked trick like this had happened. Back then, she was all set to rip off Qiu Yanfu’s heart. It was also because she lost her common sense that led to such a huge oversight.
Hearing this, Mama Li warned, "Don't tell anyone about this. Even if you are being asked, you have to bite the bullet and say that you suddenly thought of it, understand?"
Liuyue wondered, "Why, Mama?"
Mama Li explained, "The Third House has lost so much face that the Third Lord was so angry that his face has turned blue. If he knows that the Fourth Miss had reminded you the matter regarding the child-avoidance soup, it is not possible that he will take out his anger on her." This was not the first time that such a thing had happened.
Liuyue didn't understand. "Mama, Fourth Miss is a filial and understanding person. How can the Third Lord treat the Fourth Miss like this?" She wholeheartedly felt enraged at the injustice done to Yuxi. How could there be such a biased father!
Mama Li had followed Qiu Shi when Qiu Shi married into the family. Thus she knew more about the matter and explained, "The Fourth Miss had suffered a lot because of the late Lady Ning Shi." Ning Shi’s dishonourable entrance had disgusted the Third Lord to the core, causing him not to have any good face for the Fourth Miss either.
Because Han Jingyan wanted to send Qiu Yanfu back to Hebei, although they had not decided on the matter, Qiu Shi's anger had eased a lot. When she returned to the Master Courtyard, she didn't look so ugly any longer.[+]
Ye Shi looked suspiciously at her and asked, "Mother, I've heard about Er Di’s matter. What will the Lu family think if such a thing comes out at this juncture?"
Qiu Shi did not even detect that Ye Shi sounded her out. "In a few days, that person will be sent away, and the Lu family will know nothing about this."
Ye Shi was surprised. "Send away? Mother, do you want to send Qiu Yanfu back to Hebei? But won't sending Qiu Yanfu back to Hebei be detrimental to Er Di's reputation? Er Di is going to be a career man in the future. By carrying a reputation of being irresponsible will be a hindrance to his career." She wasn’t just saying frightening words to scare people. As soon as this matter went out, Han Jianye would suffer a great impact. On the contrary, if he took Qiu Yanfu as his concubine, it would not affect him much.
Mama Li was sharper than Qiu Shi. She always felt that Da Nainai harbour malicious intentions, so she said, "Da Nainai is mistaken. My Lady wants to send Qiu Yanfu to the family hamlet first and then hand her over to the Er Nainai for disposal after she has married into the family."
Ye Shi gave out a cry, "Then that's my mistake."
After the end of the matter, Ye Shi left the Master Courtyard with her maids. Halfway through, she muttered a few words towards her personal maid and then went back to Songxiang Courtyard.
After all the commotion, it was time for lunch. The kitchen also did not withhold any food from Qiu Yanfu. She had been sent the usual food, where all had been freshly made on the same day, and they did not send her any rancid rice and dishes.
The person who delivered the food was a young maid. After bringing out the food from the food box, she muttered a few words to Yanxia and then went back with an empty food box.
Yanxia's face changed greatly. She trotted into the bedroom and told Qiu Yanfu, "Miss, this is bad. The First Lady Han said she wanted to send Miss back to Hebei."
Qiu Yanfu was lying on the bed when she heard this piece of news. She opened her eyes and looked at Yanxia before asking, "Who did you get this news from?"
Yanxia told her that she heard it from a young maid. [T/N]
Qiu Yanyu asked softly, "I told you how things went so well with my matter. Do you know who it was?" She had already noticed that someone was helping her from behind the scenes.
Yanxia shook her head.
Qiu Yanfu leaned back on the pillow and thought for a while. Only a few people were in power in the residence, and those who could know about this so quickly could be counted with a few fingers. Qiu Yanfu's eyes suddenly lit up brightly. "It's Da Nainai." She could immediately rule out the Old Lady and Qiu Shi. In addition, Yuchen and Yuxi would certainly not help her, which left only Ye Shi.
Yanxia also found this deduction plausible. "Why would Da Nainai want to help Miss?"
Qiu Yanfu explained, "It should be because of Lu Shi. Lu Shi was originally going to marry into the Ye family, and now that she's going to marry into the Han family, Da Nainai must be disgusted with this matter." Since Da Nainai hated Lu Shi, she would feel nauseated every time she thought of Lu Shi, which was good for Qiu Yanfu.
“Miss, what shall we do now?” asked Yanxia.
Qiu Yanfu thought of Han Jianye. According to the news she had heard in the past two years, Han Jianye was a man with a remarkable sense of loyalty and responsibility. Even if she had schemed against him, in the end, she had given her innocence to him. With his temperament, he certainly wouldn't let her go back to Hebei. As she thought this way, Qiu Yanfu suddenly had an idea and muttered a few words in Yanxia's ear.
After hearing her Miss’s words, Yanxia immediately walked out.
Noob Translator's Musing
Idiot, Ye Shi! 😤
*Niang (娘) and **Muqin (母親) both mean 'mother'. Except that *Niang (娘) is an old word for mother and less formal than **Muqin (母親). In short, *Niang (娘) is like 'mum' in English. **Muqin (母親) is a formal version of 'mother'.
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi