With Yuchen's marriage set in stone, Yuxi's marriage was also on the agenda. With the publicity that Yuchen had helped to spread, many people came to inquire about Yuxi. One family, in particular, pleased Qiu Shi: Yu Chunhao, the second di son of the Yu family's Second House.
Qiu Shi told Yuxi about this, "The Second Madam Yu is a Bodhisattva-like person whom you can get along with pretty well. The Sixth Master Yu family has a good nature and talent. At the age of sixteen, he already earned the title juren, so he will definitely be on the list of successful candidates at the next Imperial Examination."
When Yuxi heard that it was the Yu family, she was three times more than willing. No other than the Yu family's custom was exceptionally good, even better than that of the Jiang family. In addition, the Second Madam Yu was an easy person to get along with, while the Sixth Master Yu was good-natured and talented. So there should be no problem with the marriage. As for the Sixth Master Yu being three years older than her, that was fine. He had to prepare for the Imperial Examination in three years, and it would be a good time for them to get married after three years.
Thinking of this, Yuxi inquired, "Was it the Second Madam Yu who revealed this to Eldest Aunt?" It was rather unexpected that Yuchen's campaign for her would be so effective.
Qiu Shi smiled and nodded, "Yes! Who in the capital today doesn't know that my Yuxi is deft and can embroider double-sided embroidery at such a young age." Together with her ability to paint a drawing, Yuxi's reputation was now very high.
Yuxi hesitated for a moment and said, "I don't know what Grandmother and Father will think?" In this matter, the Old Lady and Han Jingyan had to give their approval in the end.
Qiu Shi said with a smile, "For such a good marriage, your father will certainly not object." Old Man Yu was still the Grand Chancellor, and if he could tie the knot with the Grand Chancellor's family, Old Third would certainly not refuse.
As Qiu Shi had expected, the Old Lady and Han Jingyan had no problem with the marriage. The only one who had an opinion was Han Jianming.
Han Jianming approached the Old Lady and said, "Grandmother, this marriage is not appropriate." After receiving the news, Han Jianming had someone check out the details of this Yu Chunhao, and he was not very happy with the man.
The Old Lady asked, "What's wrong?"
Han Jianming explained, "The Sixth Master Yu is a bit weak and somewhat ignorant of worldly affairs, so he is unsuitable for officialdom. Even if he becomes an official, he will not have any great prospects." The Yu family was good, and the Sixth Master had some talent himself, but he was not destined to reach a high position with his nature. For a child as intelligent as Yuxi to marry the Sixth Master Yu, her talents would just be wasted.
A deep gaze flashed across the Old Lady's eyes as she asked, "What kind of person do you think Yuxi should marry?" She guessed this grandson of hers had planned it for a long time.
Han Jianming said, "Yuxi is only thirteen this year, so it's not too late to wait until she reaches marriageable age before looking for someone else." The current Yuxi was still too young. [+]
The Old Lady was not Qiu Shi, who was so easily fooled. "Tell me, what exactly is your plan? If you don't tell me, there's no way I can convince your San Shu."
Seeing this situation, Han Jianming did not hide his intentions from the Old Lady and told her. According to Han Jianming, he wanted to marry Yuxi to a military officer who held military power. "With chaos already set in the world, by marrying her to the rising star of a military officer's family who holds military power, the Duke of the State's Residence will be able to reap the greatest benefits."
The Old Lady's pupils shrank, and her voice trembled a little, "What do you mean by the chaos already set in? What is the basis for this statement?"
After pondering for a moment, Han Jianming told the Old Lady about the 9th Prince's collusion with the Song family to betray the Yan family's army. "Now that the Emperor doesn't seem to care, the court is basically under the Song and Yu families. With these two families in power, the 9th Prince will undoubtedly be the next Emperor. But once the bad deed the 9th Prince had done back then is exposed, there will certainly be great chaos in the world."
Unlike Yuxi, the Old Lady had enough experience listening to Han Jianming to immediately ask, "Who was the person who handed over the evidence to Imperial Censor Duan?"
Han Jianming shook his head and said, "I can't find out." He had found some traces, but he did not dare to investigate further since his mole had been exposed. He feared being targeted by the 9th Prince. However, based on the traces he found, Han Jianming guessed that the person who had handed over the evidence to Imperial Censor Duan in the first place should be someone from the Yan family. The Yan family had not been completely exterminated. There was still someone who managed to escape, and this person, nine times out of ten, was Yan Wushuang, who had an excellent reputation back then.
The Old Lady was not that easy to fool and said, "Who exactly is it? Speak."
Han Jianming was silent for a moment and said, "It should be someone from the Yan family. The Yan family has been holding Liaodong for more than fifty years, and their forces are so intertwined that they are not that easy to be eliminated."
The Old Lady understood Han Jianming's concern. "Are you saying that the Yan family will rebel since they are not treated fairly? And once Liaodong is in turmoil, the Donghu people will take advantage of the chaos to move north, and then the world will be in chaos."
Han Jianming nodded his head and said, "That's the worst possible outcome."
The Old Lady did not look at Han Jianming and said, "You want to marry her to someone who holds military power. Do you have a candidate?" There was nothing wrong with Han Jianming's idea. The most reliable person in troubled times was the one who held military power. The idea was good, but the implementation was difficult. The rising stars of a martial arts family were not that easy to find. Moreover, if Yuchen married the 10th Prince, it would not be suitable to match Yuxi to a family with heavy military power, in case it would attract the jealousy of the 9th Prince.
Han Jianming shook his head and said, "Not yet, but Yuxi is still young, so she can still take her time." There were still more than two years to go before she reached marriageable age, so there was plenty of time to look around.
The Old Lady shook her head and said, "Ming-er, you are only talking about the worst possible outcome. Perhaps, things are not as bad as you think. What's more, what do you think Yuxi, a girl, can change even if she marries into a military family?"
Han Jianming was about to open his mouth. His Grandmother was not such a short-sighted person. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Grandmother, are you saying that you can't convince San Shu?"
The Old Lady nodded. "It's not that I can't help it, but these things can't be told to your San Shu." There was another thing she did not say. Even if she told this to Han Jingyan, he would not believe it. Taking a step back, even if her younger son believed her, he would not think that marrying Yuxi into a military house would change anything. At least by marrying her into the Yu family, her younger son could benefit directly.
Seeing this reaction, Han Jianming knew that the Old Lady didn't want to help him convince his San Shu. "Since Grandmother thinks the Yu family is good, then just forget it." It was the Old Lady and Han Jingyan who could decide on Yuxi's marriage. He was only a cousin and could not interfere with Yuxi's marriage. What's more, Han Jianming had learned from Qiu Shi's side that Yuxi herself felt that the marriage was a good one. Since this was the case, he would not want to be an evil person.
Since both families were interested, the wedding was soon on the agenda. After the marriage proposal and the birthday matching, the next step was presenting the betrothal gifts. After presenting, the betrothal gifts would be given. Once the betrothal gifts were given, the marriage would be finalised.
It was at this point that things went awry.
When Yuxi arrived at the Master Courtyard, she saw that Qiu Shi's face did not look very good. Yuxi walked over and asked, "Eldest Aunt, what's wrong?"
Qiu Shi replied with a stern face, "The Yu family said that yours and Sixth Master Yu's eight characters are incompatible, so the marriage is not going to work. Saying that you two eight characters are incompatible is just an excuse."
When Yuxi heard this, her face also turned a bit ugly. "Does Eldest Aunt know the reason?" It didn't matter if the marriage didn't work out, but they had to know why! If the other party just said a discrepancy between the eight characters, they would be playing them like monkeys! [+]
Qiu Shi shook her head and said, "The Yu family didn't say anything. I'm also having people inquire about it! This is also Aunt's fault for misjudging her. If I had known that Second Madam Yu was the kind of person whose words are not dependable, I would not have agreed that day."
Yuxi thought differently. "Eldest Aunt, it's better to find out why first!" Yuxi had met the Second Madam Yu, and she indeed had a generous nature. Yuxi also had the opportunity to meet the Sixth Master Yu family before the marriage proposal, and he was also, as Qiu Shi had said, a man of a gentle nature. With such a nature, the two, mother and son, would not do such things that would make people criticise them if they did not have any particular circumstances.
Qiu Shi thought about it for a while and also felt that Yuxi had a point. "I did ask, but the Second Madam Yu family wouldn't say anything. However, I must find out about this."
When Yuxi went out of the Master Courtyard and after thinking for a while, she didn't return to Taoran House but went to Tingyun Pavilion to find Yuchen instead. She requested, "San Jie, you have a wide range of people. Please help me find out what is going on?" Yuxi had no feelings for the Sixth Master Yu, but this matter was so strange that she could not just let it go unexplained.
Yuchen didn't know about this yet, and after hearing Yuxi's words, she agreed, "Okay, I'll have someone inquire about it. Si Mei, don't be anxious. It's just a matter of you two eight characters being incompatible. If this one doesn't work, there's another one." Yuxi was good at everything, and if she didn't have the Yu family, there were still others.
However, when Yuchen's people informed her of the news they had inquired about, her expression changed at once. Yuchen muttered to herself, "How could this be?"
Momo Gui asked from the side, "Miss, what's wrong?" After receiving the paper in Yuchen's hand and reading it, Momo Gui's face also changed colour. "What should we do now?"
Yuchen was silent for a long time before she instructed Shiqin, "Go and call the Fourth Miss here." This matter could not be hidden from Yuxi. Moreover, it could not be concealed even if she wanted to.
Yuxi couldn't help but laugh after hearing what Yuchen said, "Qinxin Gongzhu told Yu Xiyu that I have a bad fate?"
Yuchen shook her head and said, "It was actually Monk Liao Tong who said that. Qinxin accidentally told Eldest Miss Yu about this." When Qinxin Gongzhu told Yu Xiyu about it, the Second Madam Yu naturally became unwilling to marry her son to Yuxi after discovering it. Even a generous person would not dare to marry her son to a woman with a bad fate. The Second Madam Yu family was still a charitable person for not spreading it. She just politely refused the marriage on the grounds that the Yuxi and her son's eight characters were incompatible with each other.
Yuxi said with a smile, "San Jie, do you think that old bald donkey's words can be trusted? Wasn't he the one who said that Heshou Xianzhu had opened her all-knowing mind? Because of him, Heshou is currently at Wutai Mountain!"
Yuchen sighed slightly. "Yuxi, now it's not a matter of whether I believe it or not. It's the Second Madam Yu who believes it. Fortunately, she did not publicise this matter. But I'm worried that this won't stay hidden for so long." Good deeds did not go beyond the gate; evil deeds spread a thousand miles. This matter could not be hidden. Not to mention that when Qinxin Gongzhu told Yu Xiyu about it, she was accompanied by palace maids and Yu Xiyu's maid.
Yuxi looked at Yuchen and asked, "San Jie, let me ask you. Do you believe me?"
Yuchen shook her head and said, "I don't believe it." But it was useless when she didn't believe it. The monk's reputation was too great, and since it came from Qinxin Gongzhu's mouth, once these words got out, it was not a question of whether it would be difficult for Yuxi to get married in the future, but rather, she had no possibility to get married. No one would dare to marry a woman with a bad fate.
Yuxi smiled and said, "As long as San Jie doesn't believe it."
Noob Translator's Musing
That Gongzhu...
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi