The weather was gloomy, and snowflakes were fluttering in masses. A layer of pristine white coloured snow now decorated the originally barren winter world, which was exceptionally beautiful.
It was such a cold day, but Yuxi was sweating profusely. Taking the towel from Caidie's hand, Yuxi wiped the beads of sweat from her face. In the past, when she had finished two sets of wuqinxi in winter, her forehead would at most begin to sweat. But now, she was sweating even more than when she was in summer. It was good that Momo Quan said it was because Yuxi was well that she was like this. After seeing the Imperial Doctor, who said the same thing, Yuxi was relieved.
Caidie told Yuxi from beside her, "Miss, last night Concubine Mei felt that her stomach was out of sorts and had immediately requested for a physician." The three maids around Yuxi each had their own sources of information. Thus Yuxi would be the first to know all the news from the residence because of them.
Yuxi wiped her sweat and asked, "How is she now?"
Caidie reported, "It was said that she had eaten something unclean. But the physician came in time and managed to save the child. However, the physician said that this child should be nurtured properly, or the foetus will easily fall."
Yuxi sneered and said, "She really does things recklessly." With Qiu Shi's present identity, Qiu Shi wouldn't even care about the child inside Concubine Mei's belly at all. Even if Concubine Mei gave birth to a son, could the child threaten Han Jianming's position? What a joke. So, nine times out of ten, Concubine Mei did this herself.
When Zisu heard this, she was a little worried, and she asked, "Will the Duke of State look for trouble with the Lady?" She was not afraid of anything else, but she was worried that the Duke would bring trouble to the First Lady again over a concubine.
Yuxi was also a bit speechless about this father of hers, the Duke of State. "If he wants to make a scene, then just let him make a scene. It's not like Mother will suffer anyway. There is no need to prepare breakfast. I will go to the Master Courtyard to eat." Qiu Shi had never lost a fight with the Duke, but she would be alone, sulking in the house afterwards. Yuxi didn't even need to guess that Qiu Shi must not be able to eat again this morning.
When Yuxi arrived at the Master Courtyard, Mama Li told Yuxi that Qiu Shi had not yet eaten her breakfast. Yuxi asked Mama Li, "Was there a lot of noise?"
Mama Li shook her head. "It's okay. After saying a few words, the Duke of State went out in a huff." Back then, when Concubine Rong was still alive, the two couples would fight now and then. It was only after Concubine Rong's death that things quieted down. But now, there was another Concubine Mei.
Yuxi gave a slight nod.
Mama Li said, "The Lady should not spend so much time thinking about it. It's not good for her health if she goes on like this." Anger hurt the body, and Qiu Shi had suffered a lot of anger when she was younger. So her body had fallen into many problems. At that time, she was still young and had a good foundation. Thus Qiu Shi didn't care about such minor issues. But because Yuxi had studied pharmacology, she was troubled about this and often reminded Qiu Shi about it. After Qiu Shi considered it, she listened to Yuxi and took medicine to take care of her body. After a few years, she was able to maintain her health very well. However, if she continued to sulk every day and could not eat or sleep well, no amount of regulating would help.
Yuxi shook her head helplessly and said, "What can we do if Mother can't think of it herself? We can only advise her more." Qiu Shi was already forty years old and had grandchildren, but Yuxi didn't know why she was still this angry.
Mama Li was also a bit powerless. She didn't know how much she had persuaded Qiu Shi, but she still couldn't do it. If it was any other matter, she could still ask the Fourth Miss to help her solve it. But for this kind of thing, if the Lady couldn't think of it herself, even the Fourth Miss couldn't solve it even if she was so capable.
Yuxi stayed with Qiu Shi for most of the day, and after she left, Qiu Shi told Mama Li, "This child will be leaving the residence in a few months. I don't want her to leave." She didn't want her sweet daughter to marry. She regretted that she didn't set her wedding date a bit later and kept her in residence for two more years. [T/N]
Knowing what Qiu Shi was thinking, Mama Li just went along with her and said, "Yes! The Fourth Miss is truly filial." Anyway, the wedding date had already been set, and it was impossible to change it even if they spoke more about it.
Qiu Shi said, "When Yuxi is married, I'll go and stay in another courtyard for a while. I'll come back when the Lord Duke leaves." If they couldn't see each other, there would be no conflict. If there were no conflict, there would be no more anger.
Mama Li was surprised and delighted. "My Lady has figured it out?" If Mama Li had to say so, there was no need for her Lady to be annoyed with Duke Han. It had been more than twenty years, and there was no way for her Lady to still don't know what kind of moral character the Duke had. To be angry with him would be the same as being mad at herself.
Qiu Shi confessed, "I don't understand what you guys are saying, but there are some things that I can't do just by thinking about them. So the best thing for me to do is to avoid it and keep my eyes off it." It was mainly because she had seen how worried Yuxi was when it came to her and felt a bit guilty. So now, she was trying to change herself a bit.
Mama Li said, "That's fine. My Lady has been working tirelessly for so many years. It is time for my Lady to rest. I've heard that the other courtyard is especially cool in the summer."
Qiu Shi uttered, "That other courtyard hasn't been lived in for so many years, so let's go and have a rest there during spring." The other courtyard Qiu Shi referred to was the Duke of the State's yard in Xishan, a property belonging to the Duke.
Yuxi went out of the Master Courtyard and did not return to the Taoran House but suggested with a smile, "Let's go to the garden and see if San Jie is collecting snow water from wintersweet flowers." In the past, at this time of year, Yuchen would go and collect snow water from wintersweet flowers to make tea.
Caidie said, "Miss, the Third Miss must also be thinking of making tea with snow water, but she probably won't go there personally." This year was different from previous years. The Third Miss was getting married in the upcoming second lunar month, and the people around her would definitely not let her out. If she got a cold, it would be no laughing matter.
Hearing this, Yuxi also felt that, in all probability, Yuchen would not go to the garden. She smilingly said, "She can't do this or that just because she's going to get married. Now, she can only stay inside her house."
Caidie proposed, "Miss, shall we go back?" On such a cold day, only her Miss would be walking around outside. For everyone else, who wouldn't want to hunker down inside the house while warming themselves by the fire?
Yuxi shook her head and instructed the little maid following her, "Go and tell Zisu to bring two clay pots over. I want to collect snow water." Chen Ran was a good and elegant person, and she couldn't be too worldly. She had to cultivate an interest in that area as well. [T/N]
Caidie screamed in her heart.
When Yuxi arrived at the place where wintersweet was in bloom in the garden, she smiled. "There's indeed no one here!" There were so many scruples before even getting married. There would be so many rules after getting married, and even less freedom for oneself. Yuxi couldn't help but be thankful. Fortunately, she was not married into the royal family, nor was she marrying the first di son. Otherwise, there would be no more leisure time for herself. [+]
It didn't take long for Zisu to bring over two sky white porcelain jars. It took the whole group more than half an hour to collect the snow water, and yet, they couldn't even fill in one porcelain jar!
Yuxi's sleeves were getting a little wet. "Well, this is enough to use for a few times. So I won't collect any more." Collecting snow water to make tea was elegant, but the process was excruciating. Yuxi made up her mind that she would never do such a tiresome and painful thing again.
On the way back, Yuxi accidentally bumped into Qiu Yanfu. Qiu Yanfu was wearing a light blue chang ao and a long moon white skirt. She combed her hair into a duoma bun with two emerald hairpins inserted into it. She was dressed in a simple way, which suited her current status.
Duoma Bun
Qiu Yanfu also did not expect to meet Yuxi on the road. Although she was surprised, she did not forget her due courtesy, so she curtsied and gave Yuxi a bow while greeting, "Fourth Miss."
With a slight nod, Yuxi took her maids and left. In the past, Yuxi had been very hostile to Qiu Yanfu because she always feared that Qiu Yanfu would harm Han Jianye. Now, Qiu Yanfu was only Han Jianye's concubine, so she could no longer make any big waves. Therefore, even if Yuxi knew that Qiu Yanfu had returned, she did not take it to heart.
The little maid beside Qiu Yanfu, Taohua, noticed that Qiu Yanfu was frozen for a while and didn't move to leave, so Taohua spoke, "Concubine Qiu, we should go back." Qiu Yanfu's former personal maids, Yanxia and Yanyu, were reassigned by Lu Xiu before her return. Nowadays, the people around Qiu Yanfu were arranged mainly by Lu Xiu. Qiu Yanfu was not stupid and knew that Lu Xiu was guarding against her. But even if she knew, she still had to cooperate. She could still see her future when she came back. If she could not come back, she would have to stay and die in the hamlet for the rest of her life.
Qiu Yanfu's previous thoughts had long since been worn down to nothing in the past few years. Now she just wanted to live a good life under the eyes of Lu Xiu and have a child so that she could have someone to fall back on in her old age.
After the New Year, the first month was all about visiting relatives. When Yuxi was much younger, she would follow Han Jianming and his brother to visit their relatives. But when she grew older, she was no longer interested in going.
Zisu looked at Yuxi, who had a sullen look and asked, "Miss, what's wrong with you?" Everyone was happy and cheerful in the first month of the year, but her Miss looked unhappy.
Yuxi confessed, "I don't have much time left to stay at home." A strong feeling of reluctance welled up in her heart at the thought of getting married in five more months. Such sentiments were still relatively new to Yuxi. Her marriage had been so abrupt in her previous life, making her so uneasy that there was no room for her to feel reluctance. Now it was different. The family around her had been so good to her that she couldn't bear to part with them.
Zisu doesn't know what else to say anymore.
After the first lunar month, Han Jingdong, Duke Han of the State, submitted a formally folded booklet on giving up his title. This booklet caused a thousand layers of waves in the State Residence.
After Yuxi got the news, she blinked. She didn't expect Dage to be so fast! He managed to do it in such a short time.
Zisu looked at Yuxi and asked, "Miss, the Lord Duke is still full of life. How could he suddenly think of giving up his title?" Usually, it was only when a person died that the title would automatically fall to the heir. It was rare for someone like the Duke of State to give up his title voluntarily. Zisu asked this question, mainly because she suspected that this matter had something to do with Yuxi. Although there was no proof, this was Zisu's intuition.
Yuxi smiled, "Only Father himself knows about this. However, for him to give up the title will not affect the residence. Father has never been in charge of it anyway, and the real head of the residence has always been Dage."
Zisu argued, "That's what they say, but in the end, it's going to be different. I don't know what the Old Lady thinks about this?" Zisu was not worried about anything else, but if the Old Lady found out that this had been Yuxi's work, the Old Lady would not look kindly on Miss.
Yuxi was not worried at all. Not to mention that her Dage would not snitch on her, and even if he did, she would soon be married to the Chen family anyway. No matter how angry the Old Lady would be, she wouldn't punish her. She could only scold her. Yuxi smiled and said, "What the Old Lady thinks is her business." The formally folded booklet had been submitted to the Emperor, and the Old Lady couldn't stop it if she wanted to. Yuxi only hoped that her Dage would be able to inherit the title successfully.
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi