Liu Chun's feeling was indeed correct. Someone had read Yuxi's letter. It was sealed and put back into his arms after the culprit copied the letter. The copied letter reached the Crown Prince in the shortest time possible.
After reading the letter, the Crown Prince frowned and handed it to Chen Yu, Marquis Taining's shizi[1]. "Do you see anything fishy about this letter?" On the surface of the letter, it seemed Han Shi was not adapting to life in Yu City, and nothing was wrong with it. If the Crown Prince wanted to say so, this letter was just a lot of nonsense, but he was worried that there was a hidden secret.
Even Chen Yu couldn't make out the profound secret in the letter either. "I've heard my Father mention that this Han Shi is very intelligent. There is something wrong in this letter, but only someone who knows her can see it."
The Crown Prince thought for a moment and said, "No one should know Han Shi better than someone from the Han family." The letter was addressed to Han Jianming, who could have seen the problem inside the letter.
The Crown Prince was annoyed that he had repeatedly asked Han Jianming to join his side, but Han Jianming did not accept his olive branch[2], as if he was ready to hang out under the Yu family's tree.
Chen Yu suggested, "Jing Wangfei[3] and Han Shi grew up together and studied with the same teacher. She should know Han Shi no better than Han Jianming." Chen Yu meant that they could seek help from Jing Wangfei[3] in this matter. [T/C]
The Crown Prince shook his head. "There is no need to find Jing Wangfei[3]. Just go directly to Teacher Song, and you should take care of this matter personally." As a teacher who should have known her students best, it would be more appropriate to ask Teacher Song than Jing Wangfei[3].
Chen Yu naturally had no objection and went to find Teacher Song at once. When he saw Teacher Song, he asked bluntly, "Teacher Song, you are Fourth Miss Han's teacher. I believe you should know best what kind of person she is, right?"
Hearing this question, Teacher Song asked, "Why? Has she committed any crime?" Teacher Song knew that Yuxi couldn't have committed anything wrong; it would have been Yun Qing who did the offence and then implicated Yuxi.
After teaching Yuchen, Teacher Song bowed out after a long career and stopped teaching. She had saved up a lot of money and had set up some properties, and with the filial respect gifts given during New Year's day and other festivities by Yuchen and the other female students, she had no worries about money. Teacher Song grew all kinds of flowers and plants and brewed aromatic tea daily. One could imagine how comfortable her life had been.
Chen Yu shook his head. "No, I just want to know more about Fourth Miss Han."
Teacher Song smiled. Instead of answering his question, she asked, "I wonder what kind of tea Chen Shizi[1] would like to drink? It's rare for someone to come here. Care to taste the craft of my brewing skill?"
Chen Yu was a son of a noble family and knew quite a lot about the tea ceremony. But today, he was not here to discuss tea with Teacher Song. "Ma'am, this junior has taken some liberties in coming here this time. But at this moment, it's a matter of great importance. So I would like to ask Teacher Song to be able to answer my question."
Teacher Song looked at Chen Yu and stated, "Just say what you have to say. There is no need to beat around the bush with me here. As long as I know, I will tell you."
Chen Yu repeated the question he had asked earlier, "Ma'am, in your eyes, what kind of person is Fourth Miss Han?" If Han Shi were a woman who declared great righteousness, then she would definitely allow Yun Qing to side with the Crown Prince; if Han Shi were a woman who held grudges, then she would definitely not allow Yun Qing to defect to the Crown Prince.
Old Woman Ding brought over a cup of tea.
Teacher Song picked up the tea, uncovered the lid, blew it a few times gently, and then took a small sip. After putting down the cup, Teacher Song said unhurriedly, "That girl is brilliant. She will seize any opportunity she can to achieve her goal." Just like when she did not agree to take Han Yuxi as her disciple. Han Yuxi chose to be a guest student after knowing there was no hope of her being Teacher Song's disciple. As everyone knew, being a guest student would not bring a good reputation. If word got out, it would be bad for Han Yuxi's reputation, but unfortunately, she didn't care about any of this.
Chen Yu's expression turned grim as he asked, "Ma'am, do you mean that Han Yuxi is a scheming person?" If that were the case, that would be a real problem.
Teacher Song answered leisurely, "You're right to say it that way." This girl had been scheming since she was a child, and then with the careful training of Momo[5] Quan, even she could not see through it.
A noob translator, きつね, translated this noob translation. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.site. If you read this in another location other than site stated, it has been taken without the translator's permission. Please don't support this kind of act.
When Chen Yu heard this response, he instantly felt not good. "Then, how is her character?"
Teacher Song smiled gently. "Her character? I can't say it's good enough to be talked about, but I can't say it's the other way around, either. Let's just say that she will not cause any trouble."
After hearing this answer, Chen Yu's mood got even worse. "What if someone has messed with her? Say, for example, had done something bad to her before."
Teacher Song glanced at Chen Yu and inquired, "His Highness, the Crown Prince wants to draw Yun Qing in but worries that Han Yuxi will make a mess of it?" Since he had come to ask her about this matter, it was boring that he did not clarify and make things understandable from the beginning and was still trying to dodge the issue.
In response, Chen Yu no longer denied it and asked, "Ma'am, do you think Fourth Miss Han will interfere with this?" This was his primary purpose for coming here.
Teacher Song leaned back in her chair and told him, "Han Jingyan was extremely indifferent to Han Yuxi back then. After the Main House adopted Han Yuxi, she immediately broke off her relations with the Third House. Han Jingyan was her biological father, and she already had such an attitude. Will she let her husband defect to her enemy's son? Not to mention that Yun Qing also has deep blood feuds with the Song family?" Anyone else in their right mind would be cynical, not to mention that both husband and wife had enmity with the Song family. [T/C]
Chen Yu's face changed slightly.
Teacher Song didn't notice the change on Chen Yu's face as she continued, "It has become Song Guifei[7]'s biggest mistake for bestowing marriage between Han Yuxi and Yun Qing back then. Although I have never met with Yun Qing, based on the rumours outside, I guess he should be a man who can fight in a war, has a somewhat impulsive temperament, is not strategic enough, and does not know how to deal with people. Han Yuxi, on the other hand, is cool-headed, disciplined, an expert schemer, deeply cunning and ruthless. If these two people are married and given a chance, they will become a scourge to the Great Zhou Dynasty in the future."[T/C]
Chen Yu's heart jumped, and he questioned, "Isn't Teacher Song's opinion of Han Yuxi too high?"
Teacher Song chuckled. "You probably don't know that Han Jianming will consult with Han Yuxi when he encounters a difficult problem. Do you still think I have a high opinion after hearing that? What kind of person do you think Han Jianming is? He is the type that won't release the hawk until he has seen the hare[9]. Why would he be so nice to Han Yuxi? Do you think it's because of their deep brother-sister relationship?" It was just for the benefit. [T/C]
Chen Yu was still in a trance when he walked out. He never expected the woman who had almost become his dimei[11] to have such a cunning mind. Thinking about the broken engagement that year, Chen Yu let out a bitter smile. If Teacher Song's words were correct, then it must have been Han Yuxi who had insisted on withdrawing from the marriage back then.
Seeing the Crown Prince, Chen Yu relayed to him Teacher Song's words and said, "Your Highness, if all of Teacher Song's words are true, then we can no longer let Han Shi stay." Simply put, it meant that Yuxi had to be removed to eliminate future problems.
The Crown Prince pondered for a moment before saying, "We can't touch Han Shi for the time being. If we kill her, Yun Qing will completely be on the Yu family's side, and we will have to be passive then. We'll discuss everything when Du Wenshu returns." It was easy to kill Han Shi, but there would be a lot of trouble following her death.
Chen Yu thought for a moment before suggesting, "Even if we don't kill Han Shi, we should let her return to the capital. Separating them would not be that much of a hidden problem." And it was easy to get Han Shi killed in the capital. But in Yu City, it was much more difficult.[T/C]
Right after Teacher Song had sent Chen Yu off, she instantly went to Jing Wangfu[13]. Of all her students, her favourite was Yuchen, her last disciple.
When Yuchen heard that Teacher Song was coming over, she came out with her big belly. "Teacher, you should have notified me if you were coming so I could send someone to pick you up."
Teacher Song answered with a smile, "What's the point of making such a big fuss? I just came to see you." Many people were outside, so it was hard to talk about certain things.
After entering the house, Teacher Song said, "Chen Yu came to my side and asked such a question. I am afraid there is something wrong in the northwest." And this problem had a lot to do with Yun Qing.
Yuchen respected Teacher Song and treated her as an elder she could trust. She did not hide from Teacher Song and told her how the Yu family was trying to draw Yun Qing in and how the Crown Prince had asked her to be the go-between. "That letter I wrote was just a mere formality."
Teacher Song nodded, perceiving Yuchen's move as something that made sense. She then told Yuchen what she had said to Chen Yu. "The outcome will depend on the Crown Prince's next move."
Yuchen burst out, "Teacher, you are trying to put Yuxi to death!" When the Crown Prince heard these words, would Yuxi still have a life?
Teacher Song looked at Yuchen and said, "Do you think I'm an alarmist? If you think so, then you have learned everything for nothing. Not only are my words not alarmist, but if nothing were to happen to Yun Qing, my words would come true in less than ten years."
Yuchen looked at Teacher Song and asked, "Why are you so sure, Teacher? Yuxi does have an unpleasant temperament, but she is not yet capable of doing such a dangerous thing."
Teacher Song explained calmly, "A lot of things are not a matter of wanting or not wanting. Yun Qing is in a dangerous situation; if Yuxi and Yun Qing were separated, that would have been fine. But it is clear that they are very close as a couple and will soon have a child. So it isn't a question of whether she wants to or not. If she wants Yun Qing and their child to survive, there is no other way for them to go but this one." The Song family would not let Yun Qing go, let alone sit back and watch him grow big, so Yun Qing and Yuxi would always be in an unsafe situation. And if the couple wanted to survive well, there was no other way but to grow their strength to go against the Song family.
It wasn't that Yuchen didn't understand many things but that she was unwilling to look deeper into it. If Yuxi were honoured, the whole State Residence would be honoured. The same could be said the other way around. "Teacher, you shouldn't talk to Chen Yu about these things." If this matter went out, it would also significantly impact her.
Teacher Song said, "If I don't talk about this now, it will be too late if I do it later. Yuchen, the Fourth Miss has gone through so much. She has long since ceased to be the little girl who knelt and begged me to teach her over ten years ago." She wasn't quite sure what had become of Yuxi. But what was certain was that Yuxi had become more powerful and deeply hidden.
Footnotes Full List
- an heir of a noble family
- a symbol of peace
- wang=king, fei=consort
- This statement made me wonder if they had asked Yuchen, would she answer truthfully or try to make it like Yuxi wasn't vengeful?"
- a term for an elderly woman
- This makes me wonder why the Crown Prince or his aides never thought of this. Do they underestimate Yuxi too much? Although Yuxi's actions aren't that obvious, you can still see the signs. Women are very dangerous when they become vengeful. Not many people can just forgive and forget. Some people can still forgive but won't forget for a lifetime.
- noble consort
- But they won't be the one who brings down the dynasty, though. 🤷🏻♀️
- Chinese idiom: one doesn't act before one is sure to succeed
- I can't deny this, though. They are the same type of people and will use each other for their benefit. Han Jianming needs Yuxi's intelligence to raise his family's reputation, while Yuxi wants Han Jianming's influence for the safety of her own small family. Though, they won't think like Han Jingyan. Han Jingyan acts on his emotions and never truly cares about his family. To him, as long as his family members are beneficial for his career, he will treat them well. If not, he will cast them far, far away, or even worse, end their life before they can hinder his career advancement. That's what you call a ruthless person.
- younger brother's wife
- Chen Yu, do you think Yuxi will be willing to go back to the capital? Do you think she doesn't know what you're planning?
- wang=king, fu=residence
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi