Chapter 168: Chapter 169 - State Of Affair

By きつね At February 14, 2021 1 Comment

The two girls’ eyes met each other. The room was so quiet that one could even hear a pin being dropped.

Crane Head Melon

From the same family of gourd/squash. Does it look like a crane’s head? I read that when the fruit is tender, it will taste sweet and juicy like watermelon.

Image Credit | Crane Head Melon – 昆明信息港 via Baidu (鹤首瓜), Red-crowned Crane – China Considers Red-crowned Crane for National Bird via China.org.cn

Momo[+]wet nurse Gui stood at the door. She was originally listening to the two girls talking, but this time it was suddenly quiet inside. When she listened carefully, there was still no sound coming from the room at all, so she felt a little uneasy. She quickly asked someone to bring a pot of fruit and then called out, “Miss, the crane head melons have been cut. I’m going to bring them in.”

Momo[+]wet nurse Gui entered the room with the crane head melons and was puzzled to find that neither Yuxi nor Yuchen had spoken. Only when she heard Yuchen tell her to withdraw, she could not stay in the room any longer.

Yuxi waited for Momo[+]wet nurse Gui to withdraw before a smile appeared on her face as she said, “San Jie[+]san=third, jie=older sister, short form for Jiejie is thinking too much. I just find history and the art of war books interesting.”

Yuchen didn’t go round the curves and skirting the corners[+]Chinese idiom : speak in a roundabout way and said to Yuxi like how one opened the door and saw the mountain[+]Chinese idiom : come straight to the point, “Si Mei[+]si=fourth, mei=younger sister, short form for Meimei, it’s fine to read history and the art of war books as light reading, but there are some things we shouldn’t get involved in. Just because Grandmother and Father don’t say anything, it doesn’t mean that they don’t know about this.” She did not object for Yuxi to read history books, as she herself had read them, but reading art of war books, that was a bit of a problem. Yuxi often went to Dage[+]eldest brother’s courtyard after reading these books. What exactly she did there, her Grandmother and Father knew about it in their hearts. Only Yuxi thought she was being secretive about it.

When their talk had come to this point, there was no point for Yuxi to pretend to be stupid anymore. She laughed at herself and responded, “I didn’t expect that just a few trips to Dage[+]eldest brother’s place could bring the attention of my Grandmother and Father towards me.” When she was still here, she really couldn’t hide any secrets.

Yuxi had never wanted to hide anything from the Old Lady and Han Jingyan, but today, Yuchen’s words had reminded her. Her life and death were still in the hands of the Old Lady and Han Jingyan. Even if she had the backing of her Eldest Aunt and Dage[+]eldest brother, if they really wanted to do something to her, she could only suffer and had no way to resist. She had been living in comfort for so long that she had lost her sense of crisis.

When Yuchen caught sight of the sneer on Yuxi’s face, her heart felt a little depressed, “Si Mei[+]si=fourth, mei=younger sister, short form for Meimei, I am doing this for your own good. There are some things that once you get tainted with, you can’t get rid of them.” She didn’t know exactly what Yuxi was doing over at Dage[+]eldest brother’s place, but it was certain that it wouldn’t be good. At least it would not be good for Yuxi.

Yuxi sincerely said, “San Jie[+]san=third, jie=older sister, short form for Jiejie, thank you.” For Yuchen to be able to talk to her like this today, and to teach her how to play the flute, was indeed genuinely for her own good. It was just that she was also clear that compared to the Old Lady and Han Jingyan, she had to lean back in her relationship with Yuchen. Also because of this, she would never open her heart to Yuchen. Plus, the two of them were not even sharing the same route in life.

Yuchen didn’t need Yuxi’s gratitude, “Si Mei[+]si=fourth, mei=younger sister, short form for Meimei, I hope you don’t go to Dage[+]eldest brother’s place again. Dage[+]eldest brother is a man who does great things. What he does is not something we can get involved in.”

Yuxi smiled, nodded a little bit and said, “I know.” No matter what Yuchen did, it would always be good, and whatever she did would always be wrong and there would always be ulterior motives behind everything she did. Although she was helpless, this was the reality. She didn’t want to explain any more because she felt it would be unnecessary.[+]This noob translation was translated by a noob translator, きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.

Instead of staying in Tingyun Pavilion for dinner, Yuxi went back to Taoran House.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

At the time Momo[+]wet nurse Gui noticed Yuxi leave with a solemn expression, she went in and asked Yuchen, “Miss, what’s wrong with the Fourth Miss?”

Yuchen sighed slightly, “I told her that she shouldn’t go to Dage[+]eldest brother’s side so often. Her heart might not be feeling comfortable right now.” From the incident with Heshou Xianzhu[+]he = harmonious, shou = long life, xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank/usually granted to the daughter of a Junwang, it was clear that Dage[+]eldest brother had been acting too hastily, without even considering the consequences to others at all. If not, why would Jianjun and Jiancheng still be in bed even now? She was really worried that if Yuxi stayed with Dage[+]eldest brother for a long time, she would also become radical in her actions.

Momo[+]wet nurse Gui was startled, “Miss, how could you tell Fourth Miss about this? If you told her like this, won’t Fourth Miss be furious?” Anyone who knew that their private secrets had been pried open would surely not be happy.

Yuchen said with a wry smile, “I also hope she won’t go astray. Why was Fourth Sister unable to think properly? Dage[+]eldest brother is a shizi[+]an heir to a noble family. He can make mistakes and be able to correct them, but she doesn’t have that ability! If people knew that she is learning political tactics from Dage[+]eldest brother, who will dare to marry her in the future.” She was shocked when she first heard Momo[+]wet nurse Gui’s guess. She endured it for a long time, but in the end, she could not resist her worries and laid her cards on the table[+]have a showdown with Yuxi.

Momo[+]wet nurse Gui knew that Yuchen really treated Yuxi as her own sister. Otherwise, she would not have gone to such great lengths. “I hope Fourth Miss will understand this painstaking effort on Miss’ part.” She really felt that Yuxi did not know that her Miss was doing this for Yuxi’s own sake.

Coincidentally, Yuxi had just finished her dinner. Han Jianming sent someone over to call Yuxi to his study, saying he needed her help for something.

Seeing that Yuxi’s face was not right, Han Jianming was surprised that he asked, “What’s wrong? Why is your face looking this bad? Are you not feeling well?”

Yuxi shook her head and told him, “Today, San Jie[+]san=third, jie=older sister, short form for Jiejie told me that Grandmother and Father already know that I am learning political tactics from Dage[+]eldest brother. She advised me not to learn these things from Dage[+]eldest brother anymore, since this will be harmful to me.” Yuchen’s words were right. A woman who was too clever, and the kind that had her cleverness exposed, would indeed provoke suspicion and defensiveness from other people. It was an oversight on her part that she had not thought of before.

Han Jianming smiled, “What, scared? Want to back out?” It was true that Yuxi was learning about it, but she did not learn it from him, but practiced what she had learned from the books. Only this was something he hadn’t told to anyone, not even to his Grandmother.

Yuxi was silent for a moment before she confessed, “It’s not that I want to back out, but I don’t want to stand out. I’m a woman, not a man. If people know that I’m studying these things, it will be harmful to me. Even to the extent that it will be hard for the family whom I’m going to marry into in the future.” She could study it on her own without coming to Dage[+]eldest brother’s place which could attract other people’s eyes. She was the one who hadn’t thought it through before, and now, she hadn’t expected she would end up with such a big problem.

Han Jianming didn’t say anything as he turned around and took out a brocade box from the shelf. Yuxi thought it was a rare treasure, but didn’t expect that the brocade box contained a map.[+]This noob translation was translated by a noob translator, きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.

Yuxi was unable to make head or tail[+]Chinese idiom : baffled of his action. What was he going to do with the map?

Han Jianming laid the map out on the desk and pressed the four corners of the map with paperweights and inkstones. He drew a circle with his fingers and said, “This is the region of Liaodong.”

Yuxi looked at Han Jianming and wondered why he was telling her about Liaodong.

Han Jianming pointed to the place marked with the red dot, and said, “This is Tong City, and outside of Tong City, there are Donghu people. In the past few years, because of the struggle for the throne, the Donghu continued to have an internal strife. Just over a month ago, the new king of Donghu had put down the civil strife. Because of this, there will be no more peace for Liaodong.”

Yuxi couldn’t help but ask, “What does this have to do with me?”

Han Jianming didn’t respond to Yuxi’s question, but withdrew his hand and circled another place. Then he pointed to a red dot and said, “This is the northwest border town, Yu City. Every year, in spring and autumn, the northern barbarians will come to the border town to burn and rob. And the battle there has been unsatisfactory as there have been countless deaths and injuries.”

Yuxi understood his meaning. The so-called unsatisfactory was for their side to lose more and win less. As Han Jianming pointed to the southwest, she couldn’t help but ask, “It’s not peaceful there either?”

Han Jianming shook his head and explained, “The Miao and Qiang Rong in the southwest have rebelled. The Imperial Court had sent 100,000 troops there, but instead of destroying the rebels, they all had been totally wiped out.”

Yuxi opened her mouth, “Is the Imperial Court’s army so useless?” The Miao and Qiang Rong were both ethnic minorities with small populations. Even if the 100,000-strong army could not destroy them, the army should not have been totally wiped out. How bad must these armies be, to end up in such a state?

Han Jianming said, “The court’s taxes are getting less and less every year, while the expenses are getting more and more every year.” After a pause, he continued, “The expenditure of the Emperor and the harem alone accounted for one-fifth of the annual tax.”

Yuxi let out a long sigh. Even though she was not an official in the Imperial Court, she knew that the taxes from the state treasury should be spent on the army’s pay, provisions and officials’ salaries. Furthermore, it should also be used for agriculture irrigation works. The Emperor and the harem already used up a fifth of it, so how would the rest of the money be enough for the Imperial Court? However, Yuxi simply ignored the latter part of her sentence, since it was useless to pay close attention to it. No one dared to disagree with the amount of money used by the Emperor anyway. “Why is the tax getting less and less? Where have all the money gone?”

Han Jianming answered, “They all have been embezzled by corrupt officials.”

Yuxi often read history books, where they had recorded past peasant uprisings. Which peasants could survive when the corrupted officials tax them by force and extort levies? To these peasants, since they had no way to survive, there was no doubt that raising to rebel would lead them a way out. Therefore, they all rose in rebellion. “Wouldn’t the people revolt if they had no way to live?”

Han Jianming felt that Yuxi’s time spent on reading history books had not been in vain, “A rebellion had sparked in Henan at the beginning of the year because of corrupt officials imposing excessive taxes, but those people had all been eliminated by the Imperial Army.”

Yuxi was rather horrified. “How come I’ve never even heard of such a big deal?” After saying that, she knew she had been foolish and let out a bitter laugh. It was indeed a big deal, but because it was not something honourable to be mentioned, the news was suppressed and not allowed to be revealed. It was only natural that a girl from deep boudoir like her would not have heard of it.

After listening to all this, Yuxi seemed to understand what Han Jianming was going to say to her, “What Dage[+]eldest brother meant, the world is going to be in chaos?”

Han Jianming shook his head and said, “Not yet. But if this goes on, the world will be in chaos sooner or later.” It was because he was worried about the future chaos that he wanted Han Jianye to marry the girl from the Lu family. When the world was in chaos, by holding the military power would he be able to save his family and himself.

Yuxi thought for a moment and gave out her opinion, “I have met the 9th Prince, and he is a very skillful person. If he succeeds to the throne, he should be able to control the situation!”

Han Jianming also knew that the 9th Prince was a very skilled person. “No one knows the future. Whether the 9th Prince can successfully ascend to the throne or not is still in a question.” At this point, he turned the conversation around as he asked, “After listening to all of these, what do you think?”

Yuxi shook her head and stated, “I don’t have any thoughts on it. For the world to be in chaos, it is still too far away in the future for me. Even if it does happen this moment, it won’t affect me for a while. But if I don’t shy away from this topic, this will upset Grandmother and Father. And if I can’t eat it all, I’ll have to take it home[+]Chinese idiom : one will have to take the consequences. Dage[+]eldest brother, I can’t often come to your side anymore.” By avoiding upsetting the Old Lady and Han Jingyan was the best thing she should have done. Mainly because Yuxi was worried that if she was exposed, it would be difficult to talk about her future marriage. She had memorised medical books and studied the art of war just in case. However, deep down, she still hoped that she could marry into a good family and live the rest of her life with her future husband and children.

As for the world being in chaos, it wasn’t even in chaos when she died in her last life. Well, there were refugees everywhere, but the capital was still too peaceful.

Han Jianming didn’t force her and comforted her with a smile, “It’s fine if you can’t come over.” After saying that, he handed a few books on the desk to Yuxi and said, “Take these books back and read them. Once you’re done, have someone inform me. I’ll change them for you.”

Yuxi took those few books with both hands and nodded without even looking at what they were, “Yes, I’ll read them when I get back.”

PS (Author) : O(∩_∩)O~, guess what book Dage[+]eldest brother has given to Yuxi?

きつね : Well…another books on art of wars? It’s not like he will be giving her books on romance, right? Wait… isn’t the book ‘The Three Kingdoms’ also about war and romance? Can it be…?