Han Jianming relayed the Chen family's idea to Yuxi, and after he finished informing her, he said, "Yuxi, this is already the Chen family's greatest sincerity. We'll be the unreasonable ones if we still want back out of the marriage." The Chen family had already taken a big step backwards by offering to let Chen Ran leave the capital.
Yuxi had returned to normal by this time, and she had suppressed her negative emotions. When Han Jianming came, she was still holding a book in her hand. After listening to Han Jianming's words, she stated, "Dage, this method treats the symptoms but not the root cause." With Song Guifei's sinister nature, she still wouldn't let Yuxi go even if Yuxi followed Chen Ran out of the capital to fill a position. Not to mention that she also injured three of Song Guifei's people.
Han Jianming responded, "There is nothing else we can do. Before you get married, you should not go out again. You should stay inside your place even after marrying into the Chen family. After three or five years, this matter will be over."
Yuxi asked with a bitter smile, "Is there no other way?"
Han Jianming shook his head and said, "Yuxi, a marriage is for the sake of amity between Qin and Jin, not to start a feud. The Chen family is so sincere. It would be too heartless of us if we still want to withdraw from the marriage."
Yuxi didn't expect Han Jianming to say that to her that. She froze for a moment.
Han Jianming continued, "Yuxi, I know you are frightened. But the Chen family is also a victim of this incident. Have you ever thought that Chen Ran will have to marry the princess once you break off your marriage? A fuma cannot become an official. Once Chen Ran becomes a fuma, his life is officially ruined. Yuxi, people can not live only for themselves. We should also consider other people. Besides, no one likes a person who can only share wealth but not when in hardship." If the Han family destroyed this marriage connection in this situation, they would lose their moral righteousness. Without moral righteousness, who would dare to befriend them in the future? It was impossible to clap with only one hand. A family couldn't even revitalize itself forever without any helping hand.
Yuxi heard the meaning behind Han Jianming's words, but she couldn't blame Dage for it. She was the one who didn't make it clear on this matter. At that moment, Yuxi asked with a wry smile, "Dage, why do you think that the matter of Song Guifei's assassination attempt on me has nothing to do with the Chen family, and why do you think that they are also innocent victims in this?"
Although Han Jianming's heart ached for Yuxi, he could not say something against his own words. The Chen family was indeed innocent in this matter. And it was perfectly reasonable for the Chen family not to break off the engagement.
A mocking smile flashed on Yuxi's face. "Dage, do you truly think the Chen family didn't know what Song Guifei would do to me? Marquis Taining is the Emperor's confidant, who often walks among the people of the Imperial Palace. Do you believe this person will not know that Song Guifei has the kind of nature where she will not give up until she achieves her goal? How could he not know that once the Chen family refused her marriage proposal, she would immediately plan on how to deal with me the moment the Chen family turned their head around?" Seeing that Han Jianming did not say anything, Yuxi continued, "Dage, the Chen family is not ignorant of this matter. In their eyes, my death is insignificant. They will let Chen Ran continue to marry me as long as I'm alive. If something happened and I died, they would Chen Ran politely refuse to marry the princess in the name of mourning for me."
Han Jianming gave out a bitter smile. Yuxi's analysis was reasonable. For the Chen family, it didn't make any difference whether Yuxi was dead or alive as long as they didn't break off this wedding. But they couldn't retreat from this marriage even if he was clear regarding this matter. Outsiders did not know the inside story. If they broke the wedding, people would only think they could share prosperity and immediately break off their friendship when the other family was in hardship. "Yuxi, I have seen you and Chen Ran get along very well in the past two years." He didn't continue the rest of his words, questioning how easy it was for Yuxi to speak of withdrawing from her marriage without even thinking of Chen Ran's mutual affection he had for her.
Yuxi's expression did not fluctuate even for a bit as she said, "Chen Ran thinks I am suitable to be his wife, and I also think he is a perfect marriage partner, that's all. My death will not affect him; he will even earn a good name mourning for me. When the matter is over, he is still the elegant, out-of-this-world tanhua-titled gentleman who won't face any delay in his career as an official or his marriage. As for me, my death will not even be worth a penny, and even if it is brought up later, it will only be for people to say that I was such an unlucky girl." What she said was a true reflection of Chen Ran's fiancée in his previous life. Chen Ran avoided Qinxin Gongzhu with the help of the girl's death and earned himself a good reputation for being affectionate and righteous. After the crisis had passed, Chen Ran was still a young and promising young talent with unlimited career opportunities, and as usual, he would marry a famous noblewoman. And even if others mentioned the dead girl, it was only for the others to cry out how unlucky the girl was. And she, unwilling to repeat that girl's mistake, somehow became Chen Ran's stepping stone.
Han Jianming spoke with a wry smile, "Yuxi, sometimes I honestly don't know whether it's good or bad for you to read so many books?" Being too observant was actually not a good thing.
Yuxi could care less about the gossip outside, but she couldn't let Han Jianming also think she was being heartless and unrighteous. It was because Han Jianming was her biggest supporter. "Dage, I know it's not easy to withdraw from the marriage. This time, I will stay in the courtyard all the time and won't go anywhere. I just hope that I can spend this period peacefully!" According to Momo Quan's words, her hope was very slim.
Seeing this, Han Jianming also breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Does Si Mei sense any danger while in the wangfu this time?" If not, why else would she have taken Zijin with her?
Yuxi did not hide it from Han Jianming. She nodded and said, "Two days ago, I felt quite uneasy and always felt that something bad was going to happen. Just in case, I decided to take Zijin with me when I went to Jing Wangfu."
Han Jianming commented, "I didn't expect Si Mei to be able to foretell good fortune and bad luck." He always said there was no such thing as coincidence, and it was exactly as he had predicted. He did not expect that Yuxi could indeed foretell good and bad fortune.
Yuxi couldn't help laughing as she denied his claim, "What kind of foretelling is this? It's just my intuition." It was just her intuition. If she could predict good and bad fortune, she would not have gone to the wangfu that day. It was just that others would not take her intuition seriously, while she would treat it with caution.
Han Jianming left after informing Yuxi. Before leaving, he assured her, "Yuxi, you don't have to worry. You will be fine at home."
Yuxi answered dryly, "I hope so!"
Not long after Han Jianming left, Momo Quan came in. Looking at Yuxi's face, which was no longer as messy as it was yesterday, Momo Quan's eyes flashed with relief. So it was not a bad thing to have more setbacks when one was still young.
When Yuxi saw Momo Quan, she expressed her worry. "Momo, Song Guifei will not give up so easily. I'm sure she can't blatantly strike at me while I'm in residence. I worry that she will use the people around me to do it." Yuxi knew so much about Song Guifei, also due to Momo Quan. When Momo Quan revealed the things about the Imperial Palace that day, she naturally pointed out Song Guifei's domineering character. [+]
How could Momo Quan not know of Song Guifei's character? As far as the nature of Song Guifei was concerned, she would use any means to get whatever she wanted. Though when Momo Quan pointed them out, she didn't expect something to happen to Yuxi herself. "Miss doesn't have to worry about Zisu and Zijin. As for Caidie, Xuntao and Guo Daniang, I will remind them after this." Others couldn't find Zisu and Zijin's family in a short time, while the other three had families in the capital. If one still had alive family members, they would become one's weaknesses. The palace people were the best at catching people's fatal weaknesses.
Yuxi was also anxious about this. "Tell Guo Daniang and Caidie the truth, and have them instruct their family to be more cautious these days." After saying this, she looked at Momo Quan and said, "Momo, don't forget about your own family."
Momo Quan smiled and said, "I have already asked my nephew and the others to take the children to Red Jujube Hamlet." She had sent a letter yesterday, asking her nephew and grandnephews to go to Red Jujube Hamlet. Red Jujube Hamlet was Yuxi's territory, and it was in the countryside, so it wasn't easy to catch them.
After reminding Momo Quan and listening to the action she had taken, Yuxi nodded and uttered, "That's good. I just hope they won't be implicated."
For five days in a row, it was all tranquil. Yuxi had cowered in her courtyard these five days and did not even walk a step to the Main Courtyard.
After Yuxi finished a small bowl of fish soup, she said to Momo Quan, "Momo Quan, it's been calm and quiet these five days. There are seven more days until the wedding. Do Momo think Song Guifei will not make her move or is this just the calm before the storm?" Deep in her heart, Yuxi also hoped that Song Guifei would give up. After all, who knew if she would still be so lucky to escape this time.
Momo Quan calmly said, "She will surely make her move before Miss gets married." This peaceful period was the calm before the storm.
Yuxi looked at Momo Quan and asked a question hidden in her heart for a long time. "Does Momo have a grunge against Song Guifei?" From Momo Quan's words, it was not difficult to hear her dislike for Song Guifei. Moreover, she was sure that Guifei Song would make a move, which made Yuxi feel there should be a particular reason for it.
Momo Quan explained after a moment of silence. "When I first entered the palace, I didn't know anything. At that time, I made several mistakes while on duty and almost got killed. It was the Stewardess Aunty who helped me. And because she accidentally soiled Song Shi's clothes in the back garden, she was ordered to be caned to death."
Yuxi did not even ask why the Stewardess Aunty could suddenly soil Song Guifei's clothes. She only knew that even the person who accidentally soiled Song Guifei's clothes was caned to death, not to mention her, the one who got in the way of Song Guifei's precious daughter. There was no way Song Guifei would spare her unless the sun suddenly came out of the west. Since then, the only remaining trace of her hope for good luck in her heart was gone.
Momo Quan's words soon came true. The next day at noon, Guo Daniang knelt on the ground while crying bitterly. "Miss, please save my son!" Guo Daniang's son had been taken away by unknown people. The man who took her son gave her a medicine packet and asked her to put it in Yuxi's food. If she didn't do it, he would kill her son. With Momo Quan's previous caution, where would Guo Daniang dare to put medicine in Yuxi's food? Once she drugged her Miss, and she was gone, her son still wouldn't survive even if he were saved. In addition, she still had her daughter-in-law, grandson and two daughters in her family. The price was so heavy that she did not dare to take any risk. Therefore, she hoped Yuxi could help save her son by making this confession.
After listening to Guo Daniang's cry, Yuxi was silent for half a second. Then she asked Guo Daniang to withdraw first, while she asked Momo Quan. "Momo, is there a kind of medicine that can make people look like they have been poisoned after eating it?"
Momo Quan answered without even thinking, "No."
Yuxi looked down and thought for a moment and said, "Momo Quan, Song Guifei only wants me to give way to Qinxin Gongzhu. Whether I am dead or alive is unimportant to her, right?"
Momo Quan nodded her head. Fortunately, Yuxi did not ask her to prepare poisonous drugs. Otherwise, that would have been a foolish action. To Song Guifei, as long as Yuxi didn't get in Qinxin Gongzhu's way, it didn't matter whether Yuxi was alive or dead to her.
Noob Translator's Musing
Momo Quan explained after a moment of silence. "When I first entered the palace, I didn't know anything. At that time, I made several mistakes while on duty and almost got killed. It was the Stewardess Aunty who helped me. And because she accidentally soiled Song Shi's clothes in the back garden, she was ordered to be caned to death."
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi