Marquis Taining was not without demands. Only this request of his was not excessive. "Duke Han, can I hope for this broken engagement to be announced after three days?"
Han Jianming did not ask why. Even without him asking, he knew that Marquis Taining needed time to settle the matter of Qinxin Gongzhu. Could the issue regarding Qinxin Gongzhu be solved within three days? Han Jianming didn't plan to ask. Even if he asked, it wasn't like Marquis Taining would answer it anyway. "Okay." Marquis Taining had been so forthcoming. It would have been too unkind of him to refuse even this simple request.
Just then, Marquis Taining's attendant outside called out, "My Lord, the Second Young Master requests to see you."
After Chen Ran entered the room, he first bowed to the two men and then asked Marquis Taining, "Father, are you two discussing to break off the engagement?" These days, he had been thinking about how to solve this crisis perfectly. As the saying went, you could win every battle when you fought by knowing your enemies and yourself well. These days, he had really been trying to figure something out.
Marquis Taining nodded and replied, "Duke Han has come to discuss breaking the engagement, and I have agreed." How could he not know that his son had a favourable impression of Han Yuxi?
Chen Ran stated, "I have already thought of a solution."
Han Jianming was a little surprised, but how the Taining Residence resolved this matter was irrelevant to the Han family. He had already come to their door to withdraw the marriage. There was no more room for them to turn back. "Lord Marquis, I will go back first. After three days, I will return the betrothal gifts."
Chen Ran did not want to give up. He rarely met such a person to his liking. Thus, he could not just give up so easily. So Chen Ran asked, "Duke Han, if my guess is right, Fourth Miss should not know about this, right?" He had gotten along well with Yuxi in the past two years, and Yuxi was so brilliant that she couldn't possibly be unaware that it would be difficult for her to find a good family to marry into after she broke her engagement. Therefore, Chen Ran thought Yuxi didn't know about this at all. Even if she knew, she would definitely disagree.
Han Jianming responded with an unchanged expression, "It's true that my Si Mei doesn't know about this. But my mother has made up her mind, and no one can change it." Although it was genuinely Yuxi, who first proposed to withdraw from the marriage, this was something that he must never say to anyone.
Chen Ran said, "If Fourth Miss disagree to withdraw from the marriage, what will Lord Duke do?"
Han Jianming felt that Chen Ran had a very unreasoning passion even though it was rather subtle as he answered, "My Si Mei listens to my mother the most. Since my mother has said to withdraw the marriage, she will not disobey her." At this time, Han Jianming had become a good, precious child of his mother since his mouth kept talking about 'my mother this and my mother that' as if he had no opinion of his own.
Chen Ran said, "I know that Aunt wants to do this because Fourth Miss was almost killed, and she doesn't want to put her in danger again. But as I said earlier, I have already thought of a solution. I believe that once the matter is resolved, Aunt will no longer agree to break our engagement."
Han Jianming shook his head and said, "Second Young Master, I am very touched by your intention towards my Si Mei. Except that you and she are not destined to be together." The spoken words were like spilt water where one could not take them back. He had already come to their door to break off this betrothal. Although they did it for a solid reason, in the eyes of the Chen family, they were people with whom they could not share their hardship. If the Han also went back on their own words, people would despise them even more.
Marquis Taining suddenly spoke, "Duke Han, although it is said that marriage is a matter of parents' orders and matchmakers' words, the marriage has been arranged for more than two years, and the two children have developed feelings for each other. It is not right for us to withdraw from this marriage without asking their opinion. Just let the two children meet. If they insist on going against this idea, then we can't just break the mandarin ducks apart." He would say something like this because he expected Yuxi to insist on withdrawing from the marriage. Once the two met this time, they would be done for good. If not, with his son's nature, he would surely be unwilling to give her up, and when that time came, there was no telling what trick would he come up with.
Han Jianming refused without thinking. "Lord Marquis, Second Young Master, my Si Mei is very weak right now and, the physician said she needs to rest."
Chen Ran pled, "I won't bother her for long. I just want to ask Fourth Miss a few questions." He didn't want to give up. If he withdrew from the marriage, it would be impossible to find a woman who was to his liking.
Marquis Taining begged, "Duke Han, for the sake of the boy's sincerity, please fulfil his request!" His son's aesthetics were too strange. He did not want a gentle and virtuous girl. Instead, he fell for someone deeply hidden in the dark like Fourth Miss Han.
When all was said and done, if Han Jianming refused again, it would appear as if he was too unfeeling. He nodded and said, "Okay, I can arrange this." To arrange the meeting during the daytime was not possible since they would be seen. Hence, he could only choose nighttime. Then, he would have Chen Ran disguised as his page to meet Yuxi.
Chen Ran naturally felt that the sooner, the better. So Han Jianming set it to that evening instead.
There were only two people left in the study, the father and son. Marquis Taining asked the same question he had asked the Lady of Taining yesterday, "Ran-er, how much do you know about Fourth Miss Han?"
Chen Ran did not answer with something useless such as she could write, draw and embroider superbly. He spoke of something useful in lieu. "I know a lot. The Fourth Miss Han is intelligent, capable, calm, strong-willed and sees problems thoroughly."
Marquis Taining did not expect his son to know Fourth Miss Han quite well that he asked, "Can you subdue such a person?"
Chen Ran did not answer Marquis Taining's question but said, "Father, you know better than me how imperfect the world is now. There is no telling when this world will be in chaos, and when that time comes, who knows what will happen to the Chen family?" How many great families had perished in troubled times? Although the Chen family was living well right now, there was no guarantee that it could maintain this way during turbulent days.
Marquis Taining did not expect Chen Ran to think so far ahead. "Aren't you thinking too highly of her?"
Chen Ran said, "Father, Fourth Miss Han knows pharmacology and has a trusted subordinate with outstanding martial arts around her. Even without the shelter of her family, she already has enough to protect herself in troubled times." If Chen Ran knew that Yuxi liked to read history books, and the books never left her hand, it was estimated that his evaluation of her would be much higher.
Marquis Taining was very pleased. He was pleased that his son looked at things in the long run. "Since you know Fourth Miss Han so well, you should also know that the matter of breaking the engagement must have been her idea."
Chen Ran nodded and said, "I've already figured it out. I believe that as long as we resolve the matter regarding Qinxin Gongzhu, she will not continue her plan to withdraw from this marriage." After two years together, he still had this confidence.
Even if Marquis Taining thought Han Yuxi was good after hearing his son's words, she was not the only one in the world, and it was not impossible to find something similar. So, he changed the subject and inquired, "You just said you thought of a solution. What is it?" [T/R]
Chen Ran's method was very simple. "Father, these days, I got a lot of information about Qinxin Gongzhu from Dage. I found that she likes pretty things and pretty people, even to the point of obsession." As far as Chen Ran knew, what Qinxin Gongzhu used and ate was very elaborate and unique, and, well, not to mention how luxurious they were. Besides, the palace maids and eunuchs around her were all outstanding in appearance. It was also fortunate that Qinxin Gongzhu's own look was exceptional. Otherwise, her features would have been suppressed by her own palace maids.
Hearing this, Marquis Taining asked, "Do you mean that Qinxin Gongzhu wants to marry you, not because she sees you as a person, but thinks that you are very good looking and you just so happen to catch her eye?" After saying that, he glanced at his son. He had to say that his son was indeed very good-looking and had inherited all his and his wife's good qualities. Only, why did he feel that he was a bit childish?
Chen Ran chuckled. "Father, we can't think of Qinxin Gongzhu with our common sense." To put it nicely, Qinxin Gongzhu was raised by Song Guifei to be innocent, beautiful and lovely; to put it more unpleasantly, she was a stupid woman who had no brain and acted only on her own preference. [T/C]
When Marquis Taining listened to Chen Ran's analysis, he lowered his head and thought for a while, then let out a bitter smile. He had to admit that his son seemed to have a point. "What do you plan to do?"
Chen Ran's solution was straightforward: to have the physician prepare a prescription for him that could make something grow on his face that would make him ugly, and then coincidentally meet Qinxin Gongzhu in the palace. Of course, how to coincidentally meet her would have to be done with his father's help.
Marquis Taining nodded a little and said, "Then let's give it a try."
As luck would have it, there was no moon and not even stars that day. Chen Ran kept his head down all the time and followed behind Han Jianming without looking around.
Han Jianming arranged the meeting place to be in Yuxi's yard. After entering the courtyard, Chen Ran saw Yuxi. At this time, Yuxi was wrapped tightly in a chair, and her face was pale. Under the dim light, she was looking less daring, and he estimated that she had been scared to death.
Han Jianming muttered in his heart, what is this girl doing by making herself look like this?
Chen Ran was naturally shocked to see Yuxi in this state. But he quickly regained his composure and apologised, "Fourth Miss, I'm sorry for making you suffer because of me."
Yuxi spoke hoarsely, "Since things have come to this, it is useless to talk more. Second Master Chen has insisted on seeing me. What is it about?" Since her family had already told the Chen family that they would withdraw from the marriage, there was no need for the two of them to meet. However, Yuxi also knew of Han Jianming's concern. He did not want to feud with the Chen family, so he made concessions. In this regard, she also understood. It was only a meeting, and there was nothing for her to lose. As for what Chen Ran would redeem from this meeting, all she knew was, the Chen family people would have been disgusted with her after this incident. It wasn't like she did not have any brain. How could she agree to this marriage once more? [+]
Chen Ran stated, "Today, Duke Han came to our door to withdraw the marriage. I'm afraid I have to disagree. I know why Aunt wants to do so. She is afraid that you will be hurt again, but I have found a solution. When these things resolve, it will then be fine."
Yuxi didn't even bother to ask such a stupid question, 'what if in case you couldn't solve it'. She just said, "My mother didn't want it to happen where the white-haired person has to send off the black-haired person, so she forced my Dage to go to the Chen family to withdraw from the marriage. Although there was a reason for this incident, it was wrong of us not only to fail to help when you are in trouble but take our move to withdraw from the marriage instead. At this point, I would like to apologise to you solemnly." After saying that, supported by Zisu, she gave Chen Ran a half-bow.
Chen Ran wanted to go forward to block it but was stopped by Momo Quan. Meeting between the two of you was fine, but moving your hands and feet is not.
After Yuxi finished her bow, she whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm just not lucky enough to be with you. I believe you can marry a better girl than me in the future."
Chen Ran was not stupid. How could he not see that Yuxi had given up on him? He could not help but ask, "Why?" They obviously got along very well these two years, and she had made those gifts given to him with great care. But why did she give up so quickly now? Weren't they the most suitable for each other?
Yuxi was silent for half a second before asking, "You said you had found a way to solve Qinxin Gongzhu's problem? Then I ask you. What if your method doesn't work?"
Chen Ran answered with certainty, "My method definitely works."
Yuxi smiled a little. This smile of hers made her look even more eerie and terrifying. "Second Master Chen, if your current method works, you can get rid of Qinxin Gongzhu. If your method doesn't work, you'll be able to get rid of her just the same when I die. So, whatever method you use, it will still work perfectly fine for you."
Chen Ran's face turned ugly as he asked, "Is that how you see me?"
Yuxi did not answer Chen Ran's question but said, "Second Master Chen, if you can promise me one thing, I will not withdraw from this marriage."
Chen Ran did not feel that what Yuxi said would be anything good. He was sure when he heard Yuxi say, "If you can go before the Emperor and say that you want to marry only me in this life. If anything happens to me, you will never marry another wife or have any concubine as you will just keep watch over my memorial tablet for your whole life." Saying these kinds of things in front of the Emperor was equivalent to announcing to the whole world. Once Chen Ran remarried, took concubines or even a tongfang, not to mention the crime of deceiving the Emperor, he would also be disgraced by scholars for being a hypocrite.
Chen Ran said, "Fourth Miss, I can't promise to this request of yours."
Han Jianming was not surprised to hear Chen Ran's words. What man would dare to make such a promise! But Yuxi indeed dared to ask for something like this.
There was no ripple or joy in Yuxi's face as she said, "Second Master Chen, you......" Initially, she wanted to say, if you can not even promise me this request, so why should I gamble with my own life for you? Unfortunately, after only saying these four words, she began to cough. The more she coughed, the more she couldn't speak at the end.
Momo Quan gently patted Yuxi's back. Then, she had Zijin help Yuxi to get into the house. This time, she turned to Chen Ran and said, "Second Master Chen, my Miss almost died twice, and this time she was lucky to get her life back, but it will take her two to three years to recover. Second Master Chen, the Han family does not owe you anything for withdrawing from this marriage. On the contrary, you have caused my Miss to suffer so much. It is you who owe her. If you hadn't gotten her into trouble, she wouldn't be in this state." In the end, the older the ginger, the spicier it would become. She instantly put themselves in a good position.
Chen Ran responded, "I know that I've dragged down Fourth Miss Han, so I want to make it up to her properly in the future."
Momo Quan snickered. "Second Master Chen, there are some things that I have left unsaid because I do not want everyone's face to look unsightly. The fact that you did not tell us that Qinxin Gongzhu was going to recruit you as fuma, let alone the fact that she almost killed my Miss in Jing Wangfu. You know very well that my Miss has continuously suffered because of you. However, from the first accident until now, Taining Residence didn't even send a single person to come to our door to appease us. Now, you can still come to my Miss and ask her not to withdraw her marriage? It was also my Miss who was kind-hearted and felt it was unkind of her to withdraw from the marriage at this juncture. But if I were to say, if we had withdrawn the marriage after the incident at the wangfu, would my Miss have to suffer right now?" If Han Jianming had agreed to break this engagement at that time, this incident would not have happened. [T/C]
The news of the incident where Yuxi was almost killed in the wangfu had been blocked by Yuchen. Therefore, people outside did not know about it. Nevertheless, the Chen family was aware of it, yet they didn't even visit her to show their concerns.
Chen Ran now knew that there was no more room for him to manoeuvre to save this engagement from breaking apart.
Yuxi's Plan
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi