The fourth month was the season when peach and apricot blossoms were in full bloom.
Walking through the garden, Yuxi lamented, "It's a pity that there are no peach or apricot blossoms here, only lush green vegetables." If there were peach and apricot blossoms, they could be used to make porridge, soak in the bath, or even make tea.
Mama Lan, who was holding Zaozao, heard Yuxi's regret and questioned, "Madam, do you even have time to make peach blossom tea?" This peach blossom tea was not simply a matter of collecting and drying the blossoms. It took a lot of effort to make a good-looking peach blossom tea. It was not that Yuxi was incapable of making good peach blossom tea; she just didn't have the time.
Zijin stood by, suppressing a smile.
Mama Qu came in from outside and said, "Madam, the Fu family has sent an invitation inviting Madam to attend the Third Young Miss's birthday banquet." Now that the mourning period was over, it was permissible to drink alcohol and listen to music.
Yuxi accepted the invitation, looked at the date, and nodded. "Tell the messenger that I will be there." Considering the deep friendship between Fu Tian Lei and Yun Qing, she had to go.
Zijin said with great interest, "Madam, I heard that Fu Jian wanted Fu Tianlei to marry a second wife, but Da Nainai1 Fu disagreed, and it caused a big quarrel."
Yuxi smiled and asked, "Who did you hear that from? Was it Hongdou or Hongqi?" These two maids had decent personalities and diligently followed Mama Qu's teachings. Yuxi had a favourable impression of them.
Zijin pouted. "No, it was Yu Zhi." On ordinary days, when Yu Zhi had nothing to do at the Yun Residence, he liked to go out, much like Master Yang. Yuxi took advantage of this hobby of his and sent him out to gather information.
In truth, from Yuxi's perspective, Fu Jian was being unreasonable. Chen Shi was not incapable of bearing children, yet he was forcing Fu Tianlei to marry a second wife. Even if he genuinely wanted a grandson, he could have told his son to take a concubine without causing Chen Shi any trouble. Only because Chen Shi had no one left did he dare to make such a demand. Just like her Dasao2, Ye Shi, it was only because everyone knew she couldn't bear children that the Ye family agreed to let her husband take a second wife. Otherwise, Ye Shi would never have agreed to such a request.
Zijin snorted coldly. "I heard that when Fu Tianlei wanted to marry Chen Shi, he swore he would only marry her for the rest of his life. Now, hmph, that just shows that if you can believe a man's words, even a sow can climb a tree." She despised men who didn't keep their promises.
Mama Lan said, "If the families are not well matched, once problems arise, all the suffering and tears have to be swallowed by the wife alone." If the families were well matched, the bride's family could stand up for her. But if there were a significant difference, with the bride's family being weak, she would have to bear all the suffering.
Zijin thought that made sense and nodded. "If Yu Zhi dares to do something wrong to me, Master will break his legs first without me saying anything." That was why marrying someone on the same level reduced the risks significantly.
Yu Zhi was somehow shot while lying down3.
After walking for about a quarter an hour, Yuxi and Zaozao returned to the main courtyard. Zaozao was very reluctant to be taken away and held on tightly to Yuxi.
Yuxi smiled. "This little girl is becoming even more clingy." Even though Zaozao was very attached to her, Yuxi still asked Mama Lan to take her to Huo Changqing's side. Huo Changqing was already in the process of selecting people, and once the selection was complete, they would go to the Scholar Tree Estate.
There wasn't much going on that day, so Yuxi took care of household chores and then went into the study to practise her calligraphy. Before she could finish writing a character, Zijin rushed in from outside and reported, "Madam, something terrible has happened! Our grain has been stolen by bandits!"
Yuxi put down her brush and said, "You are still so impulsive. What if Jingbai and Meiyun follow your example in the future? Go out and come back in slowly." It seemed that she had been too lenient with Zijin in the past. If everyone under her followed Zijin's example, the inner courtyard would be chaotic.
Zijin walked out obediently. When she reached the door, she said softly, "Madam, I have something to report." She couldn't make the same mistake again; otherwise, it would be too embarrassing.
Yuxi instructed, "Come in!"
Zijin hung her head and spoke in a low voice, "Madam, more than 200,000 dan4 of grain that Han Baocai bought back from Taiyuan, Shanxi has been robbed by bandits."
Yuxi didn't panic at all. She said, "I know. The General will take care of it. You don't need to worry." With that, she lowered her head and continued practising her calligraphy.
Zijin hurriedly added, "According to the people who came back, Steward Han Baocai was injured." Seeing Yuxi look up at her, she quickly said, "But the injuries are not serious, just some minor cuts and bruises."
Just then, Yuxi lost focus, and a drop of ink fell on the white paper, ruining the character. She glared at Zijin. "Can't you just say everything at once? Why do you say half of it and leave the rest unsaid?"
Zijin certainly wouldn't say that she did it on purpose.🤣
Seeing that Yuxi was engrossed in calligraphy and ignoring her, Zijin returned to the front courtyard in frustration. She saw Master Yang lying on the rocking chair in the corridor, squinting his eyes and humming a tune leisurely.
Zijin sat on a wooden stool beside him and said, "Master, our grain has been stolen, and Madam doesn't seem worried." She couldn't believe that over 200,000 dan of grain had been stolen, and Madam wasn't even concerned. Should she say that her mistress was too calm or too careless?
Master Yang calmly replied, "There's an old saying, 'The Emperor is not worried, but his eunuchs are6.' You're currently in that situation."
Zijin disliked Master Yang's lazy attitude the most and retorted, "Master, can't you speak clearly? Please don't just wave your bookbag around7."
Master Yang opened his eyes to look at the impatient Zijin and shook his head. "After lying in bed for so long, you still haven't learned your lesson. I should lock you up in the Buddhist Hall and make you copy the scriptures for a year. Maybe your temperament will be smoothed out by then."
After talking for a while, he still didn't get to the point. Zijin was so frustrated that she could stomp her feet. "Master, if you won't tell me, I'll leave."
Master Yang said helplessly, "Don't you know how to use your brain and think? Do you believe that the 100,000-strong army in the northwest survives on nothing? How could they let others steal their food?" Those bandits must have had a death wish for daring to steal the Northwest Army's grain and supplies.
Of course, Zijin knew that the Northwest Army was brave and skilled in battle and would not be easily defeated. "But there was no mobilisation order. They were not allowed to deploy troops, were they?"
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.
Master Yang looked up at the sky. How did he end up with such a foolish disciple? "Please make sure your future children don't turn out like you." If their children were as dim-witted as their parents, he would truly cry sorrowfully.
Zijin really wanted to turn around and leave.
Master Yang explained, "Do you even know what 'deploying troops' means? Deploying troops means sending soldiers out to fight in a war. When Yun Qing sends people out to retrieve the grain, that's not deploying troops, understand?"
Zijin felt that there was no difference!
After learning of the incident, Yun Qing personally went to the Dingbei Army and selected 600 elite soldiers to retrieve the grain from Long County, where it had been stolen by bandits.
It was already late at night when Yun Qing returned. Yuxi went over to him and asked, "Have you eaten?" When she saw that he hadn't, she quickly ordered the servants to bring out the dishes, and Mama Bai also stir-fried some garlic chives 📹.
After dinner and a short rest, Yun Qing went to take a bath. It was only when they were about to go to bed that Yuxi asked him, "Are you trying to win without fighting?"
Yun Qing nodded. "If they return the grain obediently, I won't pursue the matter. But if they dare not return it, 600 elite soldiers won't be enough. I'll send another 1,000." He would write a memorial to the capital during this time. Whatever he did, he couldn't leave any loopholes. It was because he had a guilty conscience that he always wanted to do things more carefully. If it were like before, Yun Qing wouldn't care so much and would directly send elite soldiers to wipe them out.
Yuxi smiled. Yun Qing was more meticulous in his actions now than before.
Yun Qing said, "They went on horseback, so it will take them ten days at most to reach Long County. If there are no delays, the grain should arrive by the middle of the fifth month."
Yuxi frowned. "It's already the fourth month, and the Imperial Court has only allocated 500,000 taels of silver, which is not enough to pay the soldiers' salaries. I'll write another memorial to urge them to send more funds." After a pause, she added, "The northern barbarians haven't made any significant moves this year." She wondered if it was because they had been severely weakened last year, so this year, they were only making small attacks and not sending a large army to the border.
Yun Qing said, "If your plan is successful and I become the Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu, I will wipe out the northern barbarians."
Yuxi's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly said, "If someone is killed on the battlefield, it's because their skills are inferior. There is no injustice in being killed. But women, children, and the elderly shouldn't be killed. Killing those who can't fight back is too cruel, and it's not good for your reputation." Yun Qing's reputation had been tarnished in his previous life for killing prisoners and massacring entire cities, including women, children, and the elderly. Yuxi couldn't let that happen again.
In the past, Yun Qing would have argued or ignored Yuxi's words. But now that he was a father himself, some of his views had changed. "All right, I won't kill women, children, and the elderly who can't fight back." If they resisted, he would still kill them without hesitation.
With this promise, Yuxi felt much more relieved.
After finishing their serious discussion, Yun Qing urged, "It's getting late. Let's sleep!" Yun Qing used to suffer from insomnia, and even when he fell asleep, he would have nightmares. Now, although his sleep was light and he could easily be woken up, it was much better than before. Every time he lay in bed, he could fall asleep quickly.
Yuxi nodded. "I'll blow out the lamp."
She got up and blew out the lamp. When she returned to bed, she didn't return to her side but snuggled into Yun Qing's arms. Yuxi had always been very reserved when it came to intimacy, never taking the initiative. This was because she had received a traditional education and felt uncomfortable with such matters. Today, being this proactive was already her limit.
It was rare for Yuxi to take the initiative, so Yun Qing naturally responded enthusiastically. As a result, the next day, Yuxi didn't wake up until the sun was high in the sky.
Footnotes Full List
- da=eldest, nainai=young mistress of a family
- eldest sister-in-law
- A Chinese idiom that means to be blamed or attacked for something you didn't do or to be caught in the crossfire of a conflict you had nothing to do with.
- a traditional unit of volume, esp. for grain, equal to 100 sheng (市升), and equivalent to 100 litres or 176 pints
- Zijin knows how to strike back at Yuxi.
- Chinese idiom: the observers are more anxious than the person involved
- fig. showing off one's learning (by quoting the classic)
きつね's Musing
"Please make sure your future children don't turn out like you." - Master Yang
Zijin and Yu Zhi's reaction:
It was rare for Yuxi to take the initiative, so Yun Qing naturally responded enthusiastically. As a result, the next day, Yuxi didn't wake up until the sun was high in the sky.
Mama Qu and Mama Lan's reaction:
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi