Chapter 199: Chapter 201 - Meeting Again

When Han Jianming heard Ye Shi wanted to select a candidate from the Ye family side branch as his second room, he asked, “What was Mother’s idea on this?”

Ye Shi’s face stiffened. Why did he need to know what his mother’s idea was? Now they were talking as a couple. What was the point of bringing up her mother-in-law? “Mother’s idea was to find a girl from a common family, with a stainless family background.”

Han Jianming initially thought that his mother’s idea would be a good one, but thinking about Lu Xiu, if he found a girl from a common family, she probably wouldn’t be able to survive long if she married into the State Residence. After a moment’s thought, Han Jianming said, “Let’s put this aside for a while.” He wanted to choose his own candidate for the second room. She didn’t need to be pretty but must be smart and calm.

Ye Shi couldn’t understand Han Jianming’s thoughts, and she asked tentatively, “Master Shizi, Er Dimei is already pregnant. However, Master only has Qiqi as your bloodline right now, so I’m anxious.”

Han Jianming smiled a little. “No matter how anxious you are, there is no hurry. Speaking of which, Er Dimei’s pregnancy is a great joy for our family, so you, as her Dasao, should take care of her more.”

Ye Shi’s eyelids jumped. Master Shizi never gossiped. What he said must have connotations within it. She pressed down the strange feeling in her heart and said with a smile, “Look at what Master is saying. I will surely take good care of my Dimei without the need for Master to remind me.”

Han Jianming whispered, “I always feel at ease when you do things.” Then he squinted his eyes and let out an even breathing sound after a while.

When Ye Shi saw Han Jianming sleeping, she thought that recently Master Shizi had not been as trusting of her as he had been in the past. Her heart became like a well in which she drew up seven buckets and dropped down eight buckets. It was just that it was useless for her to think about it anymore. Han Jianming was not only her husband but also the one in charge of the family. What he said could not be refuted even by her mother-in-law, not to mention her.

Qiu Shi typically leaned towards her oldest son. Hence, when she heard Han Jianming say to let the matter go for now, without even asking why, she just nodded and said, “Since Ming-er said to let it aside, then set it aside!” There must be a reason for her son to do so, so she, as the mother, would not add to her son’s troubles.

With Han Jianming’s words, the matter of taking a noble concubine was put on hold. Apart from the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, no one else knew about it, including Yuxi. However, Yuxi did not like to get to the root of things unrelated to her. As no one mentioned it, she was happy to have a quiet time at the residence.

When Qiu Shi was finally free, she remembered that there was still one thing she hadn’t done. She immediately looked for Yuxi and said, “When you were sick last year, I said that I would take you to Lingshan to offer incense when you got well. This has never been fulfilled, so I would like to pick a time to go to the Lingshan Temple one of these days to fulfil this wish.”

Yuxi had lived a new life, and that had made her in awe of Bodhisattvas and supernatural beings. So, after hearing Qiu Shi’s words, she nodded and said, “All right. Carefully setting an auspicious date does not beat seizing an opportunity. Let’s do it tomorrow!” These days, Qiu Shi had been somewhat idle. But in a few days, she would have to start preparing for Yuru’s marriage, and there would be no more time after that.

Qiu Shi was dumbfounded and laughed. “You, this girl. If you don’t mind me telling you, it seems like you’re more anxious about this than I do! If you think tomorrow is a good day, then tomorrow it will be. I think tomorrow will be a good day.”

The following morning, the sky was cloudless, and it looked like a beautiful sunny day.

Yuxi started to freshen up after her morning exercise. Since she was going to the mountains to offer incense, she did not need to dress up in a fancy way, as long as she looked presentable. Yuxi chose a moon-white dress and wore a pair of crystal lotus hairpins on her head and a white jade bracelet on her wrist.

After she had freshened up, Yuxi looked in the mirror and smiled a little. She used to like to wear bright coloured clothes, which made her look particularly energetic and vibrant. It was the first time she was groomed in such a plain outfit, yet she felt good.

Zisu looked at Yuxi carefully and praised, “Miss is looking so pretty like this.”

Yuxi laughed a little and said, “Go ahead and praise me as much as you can! Be careful. If one day you praise me so much until I float in the air and can’t come down, then it would be terrible.”

Zisu didn’t have this worry as she said, “I wish Miss would be happy because of my praise!” The problem was, no matter how much praise the maids around Yuxi praised her, she seemed like she never heard any of it. She always looked so calm, as if she couldn’t even see it herself.

Yuxi smiled a little and said, “Bingmei, let’s go to the Master Courtyard.” Recently, Yuxi had been taking Bingmei with her whenever she went out. Yuxi had kept on taking Bingmei out recently. Firstly, she wanted to show that she had put her in an important position, and secondly, she also wanted to exercise Bingmei’s abilities. [+]

When they reached the Master Courtyard, Qiu Shi looked at Yuxi and praised her with a smile, “Even when you’re wearing something like this, you look pretty too.” So people said that at the age of a flower, one would look good in anything.

After breakfast, the two of them went to Lingshan Temple. Along the way, Qiu Shi told Yuxi quite a few stories about the legend of the temple. The truth was, Yuxi had heard many of these stories, but she still made a show of listening to each of her aunt’s words, which satisfied Qiu Shi’s desire to tell her.

After riding for a shichen and a half, they finally got to the mountain. When they got out of the carriage, Yuxi let out a complaint, “It would be better if the road could be repaired a bit smoother.”

Qiu Shi quickly stopped Yuxi and said, “You must refrain from speaking like that before Buddha. You’re only tired from riding in a carriage, while others have to walk from the bottom of the mountain to go up!”

Yuxi was surprised that she asked, “Who is it? How can they even walk on this kind of road?” A shichen wouldn’t be enough to walk from the foot of the mountain to the temple. Moreover, the mountain road was so rough and uneven. For them to walk this far, their feet must have hurt badly.

Qiu Shi coughed and said, “Anyway, as long as you know that they are people who have to do it, so let’s go and offer incense. When you get in front of Bodhisattva later, you can’t talk nonsense.”

Yuxi was speechless. She was only complaining about the mountain path. When did she talk nonsense! Fine, I’ll make sure I won’t say half a word when I get into the main hall later.

After bowing and offering incense to the Bodhisattvas and worshipping all of them, it was already time for lunch. The vegetarian food at Lingshan Temple was good but much inferior to that of the Huangzhi Temple, famous for its ingredients. Of course, Yuxi had never eaten vegetarian food at the Huangzhi Temple, not in her previous life, and she probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to do so in this life. She had already made up her mind not to go to that temple. Ever since Monk Liao Tong gave false testimony for Heshou Xianzhu, Yuxi had been disgusted with the Huangzhi Temple.

After lunch, Qiu Shi was very tired. “I’ll take a rest first. If you want to walk around a bit, make sure you come back in half a shichen. We are going back at that time.”

Yuxi nodded and smiled, “San Jie asked me to fetch her a jug of spring water for her to make tea. Half a shichen is enough for a round trip.”

Qiu Shi wasn’t fussy either as she said, “Then go and return quickly.”

‘Clear Spring Water Pond’ was a well-known spring in the capital. Not only Lu Xiu’s grandmother, who often came here to fetch and bring the water home but so did other families.

Yuxi filled a jug of the spring water and walked up when she saw a young man walking towards her. When she saw him, she was a little embarrassed. She was embarrassed not because she had met Chen Ran once more but because Chen Ran was also wearing a deep moon-white brocade robe. The last time they met, she and Chen Ran were wearing the same colour clothes, and this time they were wearing the same colour clothes again.

When Chen Ran saw Yuxi, he was also a bit surprised. Who wouldn’t be surprised? This had been the third time they met. If it were another woman, he would have thought that she had inquired about his whereabouts for a coincidental encounter, but when it was Yuxi, he had no such doubts. It was because Yuxi looked too open, and she seemed a bit disgusted when she saw him. [T/N]

Yuxi silently cursed in her heart, but she didn’t dare to show half of them on her face. “Greetings, Second Master Chen. I’ll leave you alone for you to fetch the water.” The Chen family was simply closed to the Emperor’s heart with Marquis Chen reinstated by the Emperor, and Master Shizi Chen was the 9th Prince’s confidant. For the Han family, they were nowhere near as good as the Chens were. Therefore, they must not offend the Chen family.

Yuxi, who wanted to get away from Second Master Chen much earlier, obviously did not notice that her expression of dying to flee was looking rather amusing to Second Master Chen. [+]

Chen Ran asked, “I heard that Fourth Miss had learned the flute. Is this true?”

Yuxi didn’t know why Chen Ran would ask her that, but she still nodded honestly and replied, “Yes, I have learnt the flute. Why?”

Chen Ran smiled and said, “I have also learnt the flute for a few days. If Fourth Miss doesn’t mind, I would like to exchange with Fourth Miss.” He had heard that Fourth Miss Han was very good at painting and chess. She was also good at embroidery, so she must not be bad at musical instruments either.

Chen Ran’s personal servant, Ah Li, was astonished. When had his young master been so talkative? What was more, he was talking to a girl.

Yuxi’s face darkened as she said, “Second Master Chen has found the wrong person. Although I have learnt the flute, I have only learnt it for a few days. I have not even completely learnt the basics of it.” After a pause, she continued, “Second Master Chen, if there is nothing else, I have to return.”

When Chen Ran listened to Yuxi’s unkind words, he came to his senses and realised that his words just now were a bit rash. The two of them had only met each other twice, and they were not even acquaintances. So how could a girl agree to share her experience of playing the flute with him? At once, he apologised to Yuxi, “I was abrupt just now, please forgive me.”

Yuxi’s mouth twitched. She by no means believed that Chen Ran was unintentional. This guy might be teasing her on purpose! Thinking of this, Yuxi spoke a little rudely, “Uh-huh, I hope you won’t stop a girl next time you meet her and say something about exchanging flutes.” Fancy that, she used to think Chen Ran was nice. It seemed that she was also judging people by their appearance. It seemed like this Chen Ran indeed had a gilded exterior but was shabby and ruined on the inside. Fortunately, the Second Lady Zhou’s calculations did not come true, or Zhou Shiya would have been out of luck.

Chen Ran looked at Yuxi, who was walking away and laughed lightly. “That was interesting.”

Ah Li sadly said, “Second Master, I hope there won’t be the next time. Otherwise, it would be as bad as being treated like Deng Tuzi.” If the Second Master were treated like Deng Tuzi, Ah Li didn’t know if he would get beaten up. He didn’t want to go back and get himself a beating. More importantly, if he ruined the Second Master’s reputation, he would suffer along with him.

Chen Ran smiled and said, “You are overthinking the matter.” The person whom Old Lady Jiang had strongly praised must have had his or her merits. How could he just turn that person away with a single word?

Huanglian

It was said that it tasted really bitter but good for diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal fullness, jaundice, high fever coma, toothache, diabetes and eczema. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Image Caption: 百问中文 (黄连的作用和功效, Jan 7th, 2017)

Ah Li did not know what his master was thinking. When he saw Chen Ran smile, he was as worried as if he had eaten a huanglian, where he had a belly full of bitterness with no way to pour it out.

Once they went to another place, Bingmei looked at Yuxi with a surprised face and asked, “Is Miss saying that the handsome young man just now is Second Master Chen?”

Yuxi was a little surprised. “You’ve also heard of him?”

Bingmei didn’t understand why Yuxi was asking her about this. “Miss, many people know about Second Master Chen. All the mama in residence knows about him!”

Yuxi shook her head a little. “The rumours don’t match the reality.” Chen Ran’s talent might be good, but she would not give an opinion on his character.

Bingmei said with a smile, “Miss, I heard that Second Master Chen plays the flute so well that even the musicians in the palace are not as good as him!”

Seeing that Bingmei had something else to say, Yuxi hurriedly urged, “Let’s go now, Eldest Aunt is probably already awake and waiting for us!” If she let Bingmei continue to talk, she might speak continuously from the temple to the residence.