Yuchen was the mistress in charge of the wangfu. Although it had only been a little over two months since she had entered the family, the wangfu was already under her control. So when she heard Momo Gui reported that Yuxi had suffered from an old illness and had been taken away unconscious by Ye Shi, her face went cold. When she found out that Momo Tian was seriously injured and blacked out, and two unconscious maids of unknown origin accompanied her, Yuchen didn't feel good.
Momo Gui walked in and said with a hideous expression, "Wangfei, I have already asked. The Fourth Miss had her lunch and was originally going to follow Da Nainai back. But Momo Tian, under the guise of Wangfei's name, said that Wangfei had something to give to Fourth Miss and called her back to the inner courtyard. Momo Tian was a person who had been closely serving Wangfei, so neither Da Nainai nor Fourth Miss suspected anything. As a result, it wasn't long before the Fourth Miss was carried out unconscious by Zijin on her back to find Da Nainai."
Yuchen didn't have to guess the origin of the injuries on Momo Tian and the two maids since she knew they were Zijin's works. Only a few people knew that Zijin had martial arts skills, and Yuchen happened to be one of them.
Momo Gui added, "I have already instructed, if anyone dares to say anything about this, they will be beaten to death with a stick." This time, it was not a small matter, and Momo Gui could not help but be cautious. The only one who could command Momo Tian was Song Guifei.
Yuchen asked Momo Gui, "Momo, what do you think of this incident? Why would Guifei want to take Yuxi's life?" Yuxi never went to the Emperor's palace and had stayed in residence all these days. Thus, Yuxi couldn't have offended the Guifei. So, for this matter, Yuchen felt that Yuxi should not be the main reason, but something else.
Yuchen's footing was too shallow, after all. She had only been married for a little over two months, and it was already good that she could be in control of the wangfu. Where would she have time to reach out to the Imperial Palace?
Momo Gui hesitated for a moment and said, "Niangniang, there were rumours that the Gongzhu was going to choose a fuma from the Imperial Examinations. But more than ten days have passed since the Palace Examinations, and there has been no movement from the Imperial Palace."
Yuchen reacted quickly by asking, "You mean Qinxin has taken a fancy to Chen Ran?"
Momo Gui nodded and said, "I've seen the Second Master Chen family before. He is an exquisite and handsome man. And what Gongzhu likes is exactly this type of man." To be precise, it was rare for girls not to like such a man when they saw one.
Yuchen frowned and said, "What you say is not unreasonable. But even if Qinxin took a fancy to Chen Ran, the most she could do was to make Chen Ran withdraw from his marriage with Yuxi, and there is no need for her to go as far as sending an assassin." It was not new for a gongzhu to steal someone else's marriage, and everyone was used to it. Not to mention a man who betrothed to another girl. Even if he was already married, a gongzhu could still snatch him as long as she liked. However, in most cases, the man was asked to break off his engagement or cast of his wife before the Emperor could sanction a marriage.
Momo Gui told Yuchen about this because she had heard rumours that the Gongzhu had fallen in love with a handsome and charming boy. She was worried at the time, but after waiting for a few days just to feel that the wind had dropped and the waves had subsided as she could hear no news of broken engagement from the Han family, she thought it was just a rumour and put it aside. It turned out that Guifei and Gongzhu had not given up at all but had been waiting for the right moment. "If my guess is correct, the Chen family must be unwilling to withdraw from the marriage. Niangniang, the Chen family is different from ordinary people. Marquis Taining is the Emperor's trusted official, and his shizi is a trusted subordinate of the 9th Prince. If the Chen family is unwilling to break off the engagement, there is nothing Guifei Niangniang, and the Gongzhu can do." The Chen family's people were not without any brains. If Chen Ran could not be an official because he married a princess, the Chen family would still have a promising future. There was no need to sacrifice a son with immense potential in exchange for benefits. The reasons for their refusal were readily available: Chen Ran had a fiancée and was about to get married.
Yuchen's expression kept on changing. "The Chen family disagrees with Chen Ran marrying the princess, and Guifei and Qinxin decided to kill Yuxi?"
Momo Gui had been in the palace for so many years and knew a bit of the nature of Song Guifei, whom she thought was an oppressive and brutal master. "As soon as the Fourth Miss dies, Guifei will be able to beg the Emperor to sanction a marriage between Gongzhu and Chen Ran. By then, even if the Chen family is unwilling, they still have to agree with it."
Yuchen sneered and said, "I have been wondering why they suddenly changed their minds when they clearly said before that they would hold His Highness' birthday banquet at the Imperial Palace. It turns out that they are waiting to execute their plan here!" If Yuxi had died in Jing Wangfu, the wangfu would have to take a tremendous responsibility. But Yuchen was once a young miss of the Han family, and the Han family could not possibly deal with her since she was a member of their own family. In the end, the matter would be left unresolved.
As Yuchen thought until here, she broke out in cold sweat. She knew very well how much Qiu Shi and her two tangge loved Yuxi. If Yuxi really died at the wangfu, and she not only failed to do justice to Yuxi but also helped to cover up, her two tangge would become estranged with her. Her half younger brothers were unreliable, and the only ones she could rely on were her two tangge. If she lost their help, how could she rely on the Marquis Pingqing alone to compete with Song Ce Fei?
Momo Gui knew that Yuchen was furious, but it was useless to be enraged over this matter since Wangfei could not take on Guifei for the time being. "Niangniang, we can only blame it on Fourth Miss' bad luck." Originally, she thought it was a good marriage, but she didn't expect the Gongzhu to notice Chen Ran just because of his striking look. One could only say that Great Master Liao Tong's words still came true, and the Fourth Miss did have a stroke of bad luck.
Yuchen instructed, "Send an Imperial Physician to the Han family." She didn't know how Yuxi was currently doing. She just hoped that she would not be terrified. [+]
Momo Gui answered by nodding her head. However, she guessed that Yuxi had just been so frightened of the wangfu that she had probably become a bird that had been startled by the mere twang of a bow and would not trust the Imperial Physician sent by the Imperial Palace. "Niangniang, what are you going to do about Momo Tian and the two maids?"
A flash of disgust passed through Yuchen's eyes. "Don't let them wake up again." If Momo Tian hadn't used her name, with Yuxi's cautiousness, she certainly wouldn't have been able to fool Yuxi. Such a two-timing servant was not even worthy of death.
Momo Gui nodded. She, too, felt that Momo Tian and the two maids could not be allowed to wake up. "They did not complete their task. Even if they died, Guifei would not look into their disappearance."
Feeling a little tired, Yuchen bid, "You can go!" She had a weak spirit and could not strain her mind. But it happened that someone could not see her live peacefully and must make such a mess in the wangfu. Guifei Niangniang truly didn't take the child in her belly seriously!
When Yuxi returned to the State Residence, she was still not fully recovered and had to let Zijin carry her back to the Taoran House. It was good that she had already changed her clothes in the carriage and hid the bloodied clothes. Otherwise, if she appeared in her bloody clothes at the State Residence, she would have scared people to death.
Lying on the bed, Yuxi said towards Zisu, "If Dage is in residence, please ask him to come over." In this state, she could not go to her Dage's study.
Zisu answered with red eyes, "Yes, I'll go now." She still didn't know what had happened and why her Miss looked like this when she had just returned from fetching something.
Zisu had just left the courtyard when she saw Qiu Shi walking briskly over to her.
When Qiu Shi saw Zisu, she asked, "What happened to Yuxi?" As soon as she heard an old woman servant report back that Yuxi could not even walk and was carried into the courtyard by a maid, she was so frightened that she rushed over.
Zisu shook her head and said, "This handmaiden doesn't know what happened."
When Qiu Shi heard this, she didn't have time to scold Zisu for not doing her job correctly and hurried into the house. If the maid didn't know, then she should ask the person concerned. When she entered the house, as soon as Qiu Shi saw Yuxi, she first asked about her physical condition. Seeing that Yuxi was only a little stiff and otherwise unhindered, she was relieved. "Yuxi, how did you get into this state?"
When Qiu Shi heard that Momo Tian wanted to kill Yuxi, she found it unbelievable. "Why would Momo Tian want to kill you? You have no enmity with her, so why would she do this?" There was no intersection between the two people at all. Thus there should not be any grudge between them ever.
Yuxi shook her head and said, "I don't know either. I want to ask Dage to find out what's going on." She was afraid that Qinxin Gongzhu had fallen in love with Chen Ran and the Chen family was unwilling to back out of the marriage. Hence, she had become a thorn in Qinxin Gongzhu's side and wished to get rid of her after that. Apart from that, she couldn't think of another reason for Momo Tian trying to kill her.
Qiu Shi nodded her head. "Let your Dage investigate this matter. I would like to see who is so lawless as to kill someone in the wangfu in broad daylight."
Ye Shi's face stiffened beside her. On the way here, she was also thinking about this matter. But after thinking about it, she felt that the case was not as simple as it appeared. Nine times out of ten, this matter involved the one in the Imperial Palace. After all, Momo Tian was given to Yuchen by that person, and Yuchen couldn't have killed Yuxi. If it was related to that person, what could the State Residence do to fight against her? Therefore, she couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for what happened to Yuxi.
Yuxi said, "Mother, this matter can be very complicated. So, we must not spread that I had been in an assassination attempt in the wangfu. If anyone asks about it, Mother should just say that my old illness has relapsed."
Qiu Shi argued fiercely, "No. Your wedding day is in ten days, so it would be unlucky to say that your old illness has returned. What will Marquis Taining's family think when they find out?" They might think that Yuxi was an unlucky person, or else, how could she have a relapse before her wedding? And it would make the Chen family suspect that Yuxi's health was not good!
Yuxi said with a wry smile, "Mother, that was the excuse we used when we were at the wangfu, and it's impossible for us to change our previous remark suddenly." If her suspicions were confirmed, she couldn't keep her marriage with the Chen family. She no longer thought about it anyway. She wanted to save her own life first—marriage and all that was not as important as her own life.
Since this matter had come to this, even if Qiu Shi was reluctant, there was no other way out. "I will explain properly to the Lady of Taining. I hope she won't mind."
Yuxi's eyes chilled at these words. If the Han family didn't know the details of this incident, could the Chen family didn't know about it too? But the Chen family knew that Qinxin Gongzhu had fallen in love with Chen Ran and wanted him to marry her. But they had withheld this information from the Han family. Otherwise, this incident would not have happened today.
There was no need for Yuxi to guess the Chen family's behaviour. It was nothing more than their fear that the people of the State Residence would break off the engagement when they heard this kind of news. At that time, Chen Ran had no choice but to marry the princess.
It was only at this time that Yuxi understood why Chen Ran's fiancée had died not long after his Palace Examination in his previous life. The truth was that the girl was killed by Song Guifei and Qinxin Gongzhu. She thought Chen Ran was a loving and righteous man who had kept mourning for his fiancée for three years. It turned out that the actual truth was surprisingly cruel.
Noob Translator's Musing
Not to mention a man betrothed to another girl. Even if he was already married, a gongzhu could still snatch him as long as she liked. However, in most cases, the man was asked to break off his engagement or cast of his wife before the Emperor could sanction a marriage.
きつね: Even a married man...
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi