Chapter 204: Chapter 206 - Scared (2)

きつねJune 30, 2021

Han Jingyan froze for a moment when he heard Jiang Wenrui say that he wanted to ask for his youngest son, Jiang Hongjin, to marry his Yuxi. But Han Jingyan quickly reacted and said with a smile, “My Mother has raised my two children since they were young. So on such a big matter, I must ask her first before I can reply to Jiang Xiong.”

Han Jingyan didn’t agree immediately because Jiang Hongjin had only obtained the title of xiuchai. His future was still unknown. Secondly, although Yuxi’s looks and talents were not as good as Yuchen’s, she was the best among her peers in the capital. Thirdly, Yuchen would soon be sanctioned for marriage. By then, Yuxi’s value would have risen, and he would not have to worry about finding a good in-law.

Jiang Wenrui said with a smile, “All right. Then, I’ll wait for good news from Jingyan Xiong.”

On his way back home, Han Jingyan was particularly curious. As far as he knew, Yuxi hadn’t even gone to the Jiang family’s banquet two days before. So how could the Jiang family’s people have taken a fancy to Yuxi? However, now was not the time to pursue this matter.

When he returned to the State Residence, Han Jingyan told the Old Lady about Jiang Wenrui’s proposal to marry Yuxi to his youngest son. “Mother, I said that I needed your consent for this and did not immediately agree to it.”

The Old Lady nodded and said, “The elder son of the Jiang family has made a name for himself, but the younger son is not even a juren at the moment. So it is not quite right to settle a marriage for now.” The Han family had carefully groomed their young misses for marriage that would bring benefits to the family. Jiang Hongjin was still too young even to have a prospect. If Jiang Hongfu was unsuccessful in becoming a jinshi, would they still have chosen Yuxi?

Han Jingyan also felt that it was not good to set up a marriage right now, but it would not also be good if he refused. “Jiang Daren’s future is just right. If we shrug it off, it will not be a good idea for us to offend him.” In the official world, it was better to have one more friend than one more enemy.

Old Lady Han felt that Han Jingyan’s concerns were proper, but if the Jiangs wanted a reason, it was also readily available. “Just tell the Jiangs that the respect for seniority was established a long time ago. Since Yuchen’s marriage has not yet been decided, Yuxi, as meimei, must not be ahead of her jiejie.” King Jing’s heart for Yuchen was clear to everyone, and Song Guifei was happy to see it happen. So as soon as the decree for the marriage was issued, Yuchen would be the prospective wangfei. Jiang Wenrui was so cunning that he wouldn’t cross them just because the proposed marriage hadn’t been achieved.

Han Jingyan thinks this was a good reason. Not only did it not offend anyone, but it also gave them a buffer time. Of course, it was not impossible to promise Yuxi to Jiang Hongjin, provided that Jiang Hongjin was a promising man and not a hopeless case.

Jiang Wenrui was a little disappointed to hear such a reply, but the good news was that the Han family did not want to settle the marriage now. Jiang Wenrui just wanted to get the word out first so that they could talk about the marriage later. As long as his son became a promising man, it was impossible for the Han family to push away the marriage proposal.

In response to Jiang Wenrui’s reaction, Han Jingyan didn’t say that they were utterly declining. He just smilingly said that he would wait until after Yuchen’s marriage was set. Han Jingyan’s response left room for them to manoeuvre in the future.

This was not even a verbal agreement between the two families. It could only say that the Jiang family had the intention, while the Han family was holding the wait-and-see approach. The Old Lady and Han Jingyan were tight-lipped on the Han family side, so naturally, no news would get out. But on the Jiang family’s side, Madam Jiang, Yu Shi, was the madam who managed the household. Thus, it was impossible to keep such a significant matter from her.

When Yu Shi heard the news from the maid she planted in the Old Madam’s courtyard, she froze. “What? Are they trying to match Fourth Miss Han to my Jin-er? Is this news reliable?” Let alone that she had no impression of this Fourth Miss Han, even Han Jingyan’s official rank was lower than his husband’s. How could she let her son marry such a girl? If she allowed this, her son would be pressured by Jiang Hongfu for the rest of his life, and she would never let such a thing happen. [+]

Old Woman Yue, Yu Shi’s trusted subordinate, said, “It’s reliable. If it were not confirmed, the news would not have been revealed. Madam, what should we do now?”

Yu Shi gritted her teeth as she said, “I’ll ask the Master myself when he returns.”

Old Woman Yue thought a little further ahead. “Let’s go and inquire about this Fourth Miss Han. It will be much easier to convince the Master later.”

Yu Shi was not familiar with Yuxi. She had only met her once last year, but she had forgotten what Han Yuxi even looked like. However, she did remember some of what Han Yuxi had done that day. “Go and get Qi-er to come over. I want to ask her personally!”

When Jiang Wenrui returned in the evening, Yu Shi had her trusted old woman servant invite him over. As soon as Yu Shi saw Jiang Wenrui, she asked, “Master, are you going to match Fourth Miss Han with Jin-er?”

Jiang Wenrui didn’t expect Yu Shi would know about it, and he didn’t have the intention to hide it from her. “Yes. Mother thinks that the Fourth Miss Han family is perfect, and she is very suitable for Jin-er.”

Yu Shi’s voice rose abruptly, “What’s appropriate? What is suitable? That girl is a spiteful and eccentric person, disobedient and unfilial to her elders, indifferent to her sisters and brothers. How can such a person be worthy of our Jin-er?”

His wife’s words were completely different from those of his mother. But it was clear that Jiang Wenrui believed his mother more and not Yu Shi. “Mother said that the child was open-minded and cheerful, a very good girl. How did that become the case coming from your mouth?”

Yu Shi was not stupid. How could she not know that she and Old Lady Jiang have different weights in her husband’s heart? “What good girl? Will a good girl suppress her stepmother? Master, Jin-er is my son, and I will never allow him to marry such a woman.” Yu Shi heard from Jiang Qi that Han Yuxi was such an outstanding person, which made her despise Yuxi even more. [T/N]

Jiang Wenrui was extremely annoyed. “Where did you hear all this nonsense? Jin-er is also my son. How could I intentionally harm him?”

Yu Shi said, “That’s not the point. The point is that such a woman would disturb our family spirit if she married him. Master, there is no way I will let my son marry her.”

Jiang Wenrui laughed in anger and said, “You don’t want him to marry that girl, while that other family won’t want their daughter to marry your son.”

Yu Shi could despise Han Yuxi, but the Han family had no right to dislike her son. “The Han family is just as superficial as the light on the donkey’s dung. Who are they to despise my Hong Jin?” Yu Shi was a shu daughter. She didn’t study much, and in her anger, she blurted out foul language. (Oh, you can despise Han Yuxi, but the Hans can’t dislike your son? ? Where did you get that logic, ‘Auntie’? And who gives you the merit to despise Yuxi? It’s not like the Han family begged your family to marry their daughter. It’s your family who has been asking for Yuxi to marry your son. Ceh~! She’s pissing me off. ?)

Jiang Wenrui said, “Once the Imperial Decree for the sanctioned marriage has been issued, the Third Miss Han will nail the title Jing Wangfei, so what’s the point for the Han family worrying about their Fourth Miss’ marriage? On the other hand, what does Hongjin have besides the rank xiuchai? What does he have that can make the Han family take a fancy to him?” Jiang Wenrui had to humble himself down.

If she hadn’t heard Jiang Qi’s words, she might have been a little tempted by the prospect of marrying Hongjin to the younger sister of a prospective wangfei. But after hearing Jiang Qi’s comments about Yuxi, she just couldn’t stand Yuxi. “Not to mention the fact that the Han family hasn’t produced a wangfei yet. Even if they did, I wouldn’t let my son marry Han Yuxi.” A wangfei was nothing. It was not like Yuxi would be the younger sister of an Empress. Moreover, Han Yuxi and Han Yuchen were not sisters from the same mother. [+]n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Seeing that Yu Shi could not be persuaded, Jiang Wenrui left the Master Courtyard in a rage. [T/N]

When the couple quarrelled, they quarrelled so fiercely that it was difficult for the people in the courtyard not to know about it. As a result, all the subordinates of the Jiang family knew that their Master and Madam had quarrelled over the Second Master’s marriage. And this, too, fell into the eyes of those who had their eyes on them.

A few days later, Yuxi also got the news. When she read the information in her hand, her eyes went big as copper bells as she muttered to herself, “How, how could this happen……” Old Madam Jiang had taken a fancy to her and wanted to match her with Jiang Hongjin.

At this time, Yuxi felt so regretful that she wished to bang her head against the wall. She must have been out of her mind at that time. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so nice to Old Madam Jiang. If she had misbehaved, Old Madam Jiang would not have looked at her favourably. But at this point, it would be unnecessary for her to feel regret. There was no pill for regret in this world. The most important thing was to get this matter settled.

After leaving the study, Yuxi immediately called for Zisu and instructed, “Have someone go see if Dage is in the front yard? If he is not there, have someone inform me when he returns. I have something to look for Dage.”

Zisu noticed the gloomy look on Yuxi’s face, and her heart beat so hard. Hence, she hurriedly answered, “Miss, I’ll go now.” It looked like something big was going on.

Han Jianming was not at the residence and did not return until it was almost dark in the evening. When he heard that Yuxi had something to seek him, he was a little surprised and said, “Go and get the Fourth Miss to come over.”

Yuxi sprinted to Han Jianming’s courtyard.

It was the first time Han Jianming had seen Yuxi so anxious that he asked, “What’s wrong? What has made you look so scared like this?”

Yuxi said, “Dage, the Jiang family has talked to my father about my marriage and wants to betroth me to Jiang Hongjin. Dage, you must help me stop this.”

Han Jianming laughed despite himself as he inquired, “I haven’t even heard of such a big thing. Where did you hear this news?” He felt that the aftermath of that nightmare was still very huge to Yuxi.

Yuxi said, “Dage, I’m not lying to you. It’s true. I guess Grandmother must have also known about this. Dage, you promised me that you would help me block the Jiang family’s marriage. Dage, you can’t go back on your words.” The Jiang family was the one that Yuxi was most afraid of right now. If she were to marry into the Jiang family, she would rather become a nun.

Looking at Yuxi’s attitude, Han Jianming put away the smile on his face and asked, “Where did you get the information from?”

Yuxi said, “The news came from the Jiang family. If my guess is correct, Master Jiang should have already mentioned this to Father. Given Father’s nature, he would have asked Grandmother.” After all, she had grown up under the Old Lady’s watch, so he would undoubtedly have asked her about the marriage.

Han Jianming had a smiling look on his face. “You have a very long hand. You have even reached out to the Jiang family. Tell me, when did you plant the people there.”

She would not tell him that she had put someone in the Jiang family seven years ago. She said, “It’s just that after the nightmare I had last time, I couldn’t have peace in mind that I spent a lot of money to bribe some of the Jiang family’s servants. At this time, it does come in handy.”

Han Jianming didn’t believe Yuxi’s words. It was simple. No matter whose family was talking about marriage, they wouldn’t say it aloud if the marriage didn’t work out. Therefore, the Jiang family’s underlings couldn’t hear such secret information. Only those who were close to them would get such confidential information. However, despite his suspicions, Han Jianming did not ask. “You don’t need to worry. I will help you solve this matter.” (Erm, Dage. This matter is already huge in the Jiang Residence. You can even try to ask the guard who guards the gate. I bet even he knows of this news.)[T/N]

Yuxi was half relieved to hear this assurance. For the rest, she would have to wait for a definite answer before she could finally feel at ease.