Yuxi opened her eyes to see Yun Qing sitting by the bed. Yun Qing's eyes were bloodshot, his beard was unkempt, and his appearance was quite alarming.
When Yun Qing saw Yuxi regain consciousness, he gently touched her forehead and softly asked, "Are you feeling any discomfort?" After hearing about Yuxi's attack while he was at the military camp, Yun Qing rushed back to the mansion. As he saw Yuxi lying in bed, her face pale as paper, he felt afraid—afraid that she might never wake up again. Even when facing life and death himself, he had never been as scared as he was today.
Yuxi's head was still dizzy, a lingering effect of the considerable blood loss. "I'm starving!" she declared, her empty stomach causing her considerable distress.
Yun Qing shouted loudly, "Someone, quickly, come here......"
When Mama Qu heard the urgent call, she felt her soul almost leave her body. When she entered the room and saw that Yuxi had woken up, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. When she heard Yuxi say she was hungry, she jogged out again and quickly brought a bowl of rice congee with red dates and longan🥣.
Yuxi found Mama Qu's behaviour a little strange, but at that moment, she lacked the energy to focus on anything else. After finishing the rice congee with red date and longan, she drifted back to sleep.
Yun Qing instructed, "Go get Physician Bai to examine Madam."
Physician Bai had been waiting in the front courtyard. Upon hearing that Madam had awakened, he immediately rushed over. After taking Madam's pulse and conducting a brief examination, Physician Bai concluded, "Madam has suffered considerable blood loss and is not in good spirits. As long as she is properly replenished, she will soon make a full recovery." Thankfully, Master Yang quickly administered the antidote pill to Madam and drained the poisoned blood as fast as possible. Otherwise, even if Madam had survived, she would have been left with severe and debilitating consequences.
Yun Qing said, "Wait in the front courtyard. Don't go back yet."
Physician Bai had no objections. Even without considering Yun Qing's current position as the leader of Yu City, he was originally hired by Duke Han specifically to look after Yuxi.
Knowing that Yuxi was in no immediate danger, Yun Qing instructed Mama Qu to remain by her side while he went out. When he reached the front courtyard, he summoned Xu Wu and inquired, "Have the assassin's accomplices been apprehended?" The assassin had already been slain by Master Yang, but it was certain that she had accomplices within the Charity Home. Both the Charity Home and the Qingming Hall had strict recruitment protocols to ensure that only people with impeccable backgrounds were admitted.
Xu Wu replied with a wry smile, "We have arrested a suspect, but she is not the assassin's accomplice." The assassin surnamed Zhang, was originally from Yu City but later moved to Xinping City after getting married. She returned to Yu City three months ago. It was Qin Shi, who worked in the kitchen of the Charity Home, who vouched for her employment there. Qin Shi had apparently received something of value from the assassin Zhang in exchange for facilitating her entry into the Charity Home.
Yun Qing said expressionlessly, "Arrest everyone involved." Since someone had dared to introduce an inappropriate person to work at the Charity Home, he would not let them go, whether they were innocent or not.
Xu Wu hesitated for a moment before asking, "General, should we arrest Miss Zhuye as well?" After all, Miss Zhuye was one of Madam's people, and it would not look good if she was arrested.
Disgust flickered in Yun Qi's eyes as he spoke, "If it weren't for her dereliction of duty and failure to conduct a proper investigation, this incident wouldn't have happened. Madam was the victim of an assassination attempt, and she bears an undeniable responsibility." Yuxi's excessive benevolence caused the maids and old women servants around her to have hearts bigger than the sky2. While he might have been lenient in the past to avoid upsetting Yuxi, this time, he would show no mercy.
When Xu Wu heard Yun Qing's order for ten military cane lashes as punishment, he didn't dare to object. He nodded. "Okay." In his mind, he was already planning to ask the soldiers to go easy on Zhuye, as ten military cane lashes would probably kill her. Xu Wu wasn't feeling sympathetic towards her, but he simply thought that if Zhuye died, Madam would undoubtedly be furious.
Yun Qing suppressed the anger in his heart and asked, "Have you found any clues about the person who disguised herself as Zijin before?" When Yuxi went to the Charity Home, someone disguised as Zijin managed to infiltrate Yun Residence. However, it was evident that the mastermind behind this hadn't anticipated the abundance of talented individuals at the Yun Residence.
The gatekeeper of the Yun Residence was a retired soldier named Old Zhang. Although he was not very agile, his hearing was excellent. When the fake Zijin approached the main gate, Old Zhang knew something was wrong as soon as he saw her. The assassin's disguise was quite good, and she looked very much like Zijin. It was impossible to tell the difference by sight alone. However, her steps were not right. Zijin walked as if she were carried by the wind3, which was also related to her personality. But this impostor walked very steadily, one step at a time, with a calm and powerful stride.
Old Zhang sensed something was wrong but didn't immediately call the guards to arrest the person. Instead, he stopped the individual and deliberately asked why she hadn't returned with Madam. Although the impostor's disguise was convincing, her voice didn't match. With both the footsteps and the voice mismatching, there was no need for further deliberation. Old Zhang directly ordered the guards to capture the person. The person had decent martial arts skills, and the two guards were no match for her. However, no matter how skilled she was, it was difficult to fight against multiple opponents. The numerous guards of the Yun Residence quickly subdued the person. Unexpectedly, the person committed suicide by biting her own tongue. Xu Wu had been at Yun Qing's side for many years, and no one understood the assassination attempt on Yun Qing better than their group. This person who chose to bite her own tongue was undoubtedly a su*cide soldier.
Xu Wu replied, "We have already investigated. This person also came from Yu City. However, unlike the assassin at the Charity Home, this one arrived only two days ago." The mastermind behind this was indeed malicious. He anticipated Madam would go to the Charity Home herself when she heard about the incident with the children. That way, he could arrange for someone at the Charity Home to harm Madam. He even found a person of similar height and build to Zijin to pose as Zijin and infiltrate the Yun Mansion. And this person's target was undoubtedly Zaozao.
Yun Qing's eyes shone with a bloodthirsty light as he spoke, "I want to see who dares to threaten the lives of my wife and daughter." No matter who it was, even if it was the King of Heaven himself if they dared to harm his wife and daughter, he would tear them to pieces.
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 the site stated, it has been taken without the translator's permission. Please don't support this kind of act.
Xu Wu nodded hastily. "General, rest assured, I have already sent a message to Prefect Tan, asking him to look into this. It's hard to say for sure what kind of clues he'll find." This assassin must have been in Xinping City for an extended period.
Recalling the situation in Xinping City, Yun Qing admitted that although Magistrate Tan was nominally in control, his subordinates often held his elbow back5. After some thought, he said, "Have Cui Mo select three hundred elite soldiers to go to Xinping City and assist Magistrate Tan in restoring order to the local public security." Yun Qing was sure the culprit was either in Yu City or Xinping City. Yu City was already under lockdown, and no one could leave without his permission. As for Xinping City, he saw this as an opportunity to eliminate all opposition forces and bring the city firmly under his control.
Xu Wu expressed some of his concerns: "If the court finds out about the unauthorised military deployment, it could be detrimental to you, General!" He feared that the Imperial Court officials might take advantage of the situation and cause trouble for them in the future.
Yun Qing sneered. "I simply sent Cui Mo to help Prefect Tan restore order in Xinping City, nothing more." This incident, in which Yuxi was targeted and Zaozao was almost harmed, had deeply affected him.
Seeing this, Xu Wu didn't dare to offer any more advice. Although it was said that the General's temper had improved after his marriage, he was well aware of the General's volatile nature. With such a critical incident happening this time, if they didn't give the General an outlet to vent his frustration, they would be the ones to suffer.
Zijin was also delighted to hear that Yuxi had woken up. However, since she injured herself at that moment, she couldn't visit Yuxi. "How is Madam? What did Physician Bai say? Is it serious?"
After understanding cause and effect, Yun Qing ordered Zijin to receive thirty lashes of the military cane for failing to protect her master. Zijin had no objection. She wouldn't object even if she were beaten to death, let alone thirty strokes. If she hadn't walked away and stayed by Madam's side, Madam wouldn't have been injured or poisoned. However, even though Zijin had no objections, Yu Zhi refused. He knew Zijin was at fault, but thirty lashes with the military cane would leave her either dead or disabled. Therefore, he requested to take the punishment on her behalf and willingly accepted the thirty lashes.
Yun Qing, who was known for his strictness in the military, became even more furious when he saw this scene. He immediately ordered them both to receive forty lashes of the military cane each.
Luckily, Master Yang arrived in time; otherwise, both would have received forty lashes of the military cane. It was also Master Yang's intercession that forced Yun Qing to grant him this favour. In the end, to preserve Master Yang's dignity, Yun Qing ordered twenty lashes for both Zijin and Yu Zhi.🦊
Yun Qing's punishment extended beyond Zijin and Yu Zhi to include everyone who had accompanied Yuxi to the Charity Home, including Xu Wu and the other guards. However, due to Yun Residence's current need for manpower, Xu Wu and the guards' punishment was temporarily postponed and would be carried out in stages once the residence affairs were settled. None of the maids or old women servants who had accompanied the group escaped punishment, and they all received military floggings. Naturally, the punishment for the maids and old women servants was less severe than that for Zijin and Yu Zhi. The most severe punishment was ten lashes; the others received five lashes each.
Yun Qing's actions shocked all the residents' maids and old women servants. Even Mama Qu couldn't help but feel a little uneasy when she saw Yun Qing.
Mama Qu responded, "Madam has lost a lot of blood and is not feeling well. After eating a bowl of rice porridge with red dates and longan, she returned to sleep. Don't worry; Physician Bai said that Madam is not in danger and will recover in two or three months."
Zijin smiled wryly and said, "It's all my fault; I'm the one who made Madam be like this. I've let Madam down." Her master had warned her before that as Madam's personal bodyguard, she must always stay by Madam's side and never leave her, not even for a moment. However, she was often distracted by external matters and forgot her duties. Just like this time, she was only concerned with the safety of those children, forgetting that Madam's well-being was the most important thing.
Mama Qu actually thought Madam herself was also partly to blame for this incident. She had been too lenient with the people around her, first with Zisu and now with Zijin. If it weren't for Madam's leniency, they wouldn't have behaved so carelessly. "Zijin, you were indeed negligent this time. However, this incident can also serve as a lesson. You must never make such mistakes again in the future."
Zijin shook her head and promised, "There will be no next time." If there were to be another incident, there would be no need to wait for the General's punishment; she would take matters into her own hands.
After comforting Zijin, Mama Qu returned to the inner courtyard. Even before she entered the courtyard, she could hear Zaozao crying. Mama Qu knew that the child was crying because she wanted to be breastfed but couldn't. The original plan was to wean Zaozao at three months, but under the current circumstances, the child would suffer if they didn't find another solution.
When Mama Qu entered the room, she saw Mama Lan patiently coaxing Zaozao to eat minced meat. Although Zaozao was very reluctant to eat it, she was also too hungry and ate it while crying. Tears streamed down her round face, making her truly look unbearably pitiful.
Mama Qu spoke, "Mama Lan, Young Miss is only seven months old. We can't just wean her now. It's not good for the child's health to be weaned too early. Do you think we should get a wet nurse from outside?"
Mama Lan momentarily pondered and said, "Yangzi's wife's child is only six months old, so she must still breastfeed. Tell Guard Xu to send someone to bring Yangzi's wife to the residence. I think Young Miss will drink her milk."
Mama Qu nodded and went out to find Xu Wu.
Footnotes Full List
Longan: Longan has the effects of nourishing the blood and calming the nerves, strengthening the brain and improving intelligence, and nourishing the heart and spleen. It has excellent effects on people with weak physical and mental health, insomnia, and memory decline.
Red Dates: Sweet in taste and warm in nature, and they belong to the spleen and stomach meridians. They have the functions of replenishing qi, nourishing the blood, calming the nerves, and mitigating the effects of medicines. Modern pharmacology has found that red dates are rich in nutrients such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, organic acids, vitamin A, vitamin C, trace calcium, and various amino acids.
Image & information sources: Baidu- Chinese metaphor: overly ambitious
- describes a particular way of walking or moving, suggesting a lightness, gracefulness, or swiftness akin to being accompanied by a gentle breeze
Ah~ these two. His wife had nearly died, and these two still acted 'lovey-dovey' in front of him. He's already mad, people!- prevent sb. from doing sth
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi