Chapter 212: Chapter 214 - Scandal (1)

On this day, a group of people came to the Red Date Villa. There were quite many people, with attendants crowding around.

Zisu hurriedly entered the house and informed Yuxi, who was reading a book, “Miss, Lady Shizi of Marquis Taining Residence has come over and brought a lot of things.”

Yuxi put the drawer back inside her study and instructed, “Fetch me that cerise coloured garment.” It was natural for her to greet the guest.

Mao Shi, the wife of the Marquis of Tai Ning, had been instructed by Ye Shi to come over to express their gratitude. As she walked along the rugged, stone-paved road, the old woman servant beside her said, “Da Nainai, I heard that this is the private property of the Fourth Miss Han. It’s not far from the capital and has mountains, its own water supplies and the scenery is nice. This property is worth a lot of silver!” [T/N]

Mao Shi laughed lightly: So what if it’s worth quite a bit of silver. “She is still a poor person who had been thrown out of her family’s home by her father.” Speaking of which, there were still rumours of Yuxi in the capital! [T/N]

The house that Yuxi lived in was a two-entrance residence that the previous hamlet head’s family used to live in. It was not comparable to the Taoran House, but it was still much wider than Yuxi’s previous Rose Courtyard.

Caidie guided Mao Shi into the parlour, where a maid brought in tea and cakes. In addition, she also brought over fruits. Because of their many varieties, they filled the table’s surface when they were laid on the table.

The tea was poured in glazed cups, through which one could clearly see the roses in the water, slowly blooming in a very beautiful way. Mao Shi couldn’t help but pick it up and take a sip, nodding her head in praise after drinking, “This scented tea has a unique taste.”

ROSE TEA

Caidie smiled and said, “This is my Miss’ own rose tea, which she drinks regularly.” Yuxi would occasionally drink scented tea, and the ones bought outside were not quite to her liking, so she would sometimes make some scented tea for herself, though the amount was minimal.

Mao Shi smiled. “Your Fourth Miss is really handy.” It was just a pity that Yuxi’s life was doomed to be unlucky with a reputation like that.

Yuxi was walking into the room just in time to hear Mao Shi’s words. After greeting Mao Shi, she smiled and said, “Thank you, Da Nainai Chen, for the appreciation.”

Mao Shi looked at Yuxi with astonishment on her face that she was unable to hide. In her imagination, Yuxi should have been sad, even if she was not in tears. But in front of her, Yuxi looked so alive and didn’t even look like she had been exiled.

Mao Shi quickly realised that she had lost her composure and said with a smile, “We were thankful for Fourth Miss’s help two days ago.”

Yuxi smilingly said, “Da Nainai is too polite. It was just as easy as lifting my finger. There is no need for Da Nainai to make a personal trip here.”

Mao Shi also felt that her mother-in-law was making a big deal out of it. She should have asked her stewardess to send Yuxi the gratitude token personally. However, she could only say this in her heart but did not show it on her face. “If it were not for Fourth Miss, the treatment for my younger brother-in-law might have been delayed. The physician said it was fortunate that it was delivered in time. Otherwise……” Otherwise, he would have burnt himself silly was not a good word for her to say. Too ominous.

Yuxi smiled a little and chatted with Mao Shi. After talking for a while, she said, “If Da Nainai doesn’t mind the shabbiness and simplicity of my place, please stay for lunch, Da Nainai!” At this hour, it was almost time for lunch.

Mao Shi politely declined. “Our hamlet is nearby, just a few steps away, so I won’t be a chatter some and bother Fourth Miss any longer.” Since Yuxi was currently at her hamlet, they had come over without placing an invitation in advance. It was a bit rude for them to bring gifts to her door like this.

Yuxi was just being polite. She didn’t mean to keep Mao Shi for lunch. She didn’t know Mao Shi well anyway. Mao Shi just happened to borrow her carriage for a while. Even if it wasn’t Chen Ran, but someone else had come asking to borrow it, she still wouldn’t have refused.

After seeing Mao Shi off, she returned to the table as the noon meal had been served. Although Yuxi had been sent to the hamlet, her quality of life had not decreased at all. This time, she brought her cook along with her.

Yuxi thought that when Mao Shi had sent her gratitude tokens, that was the end of the matter. But two days later, Chen Ran came over in person. When Chen Ran came, Yuxi happened to be walking in the woods. Well, she was outside watching the sunset, to be exact. [+]

Yuxi looked at Chen Ran with great surprise. Chen Ran was wearing a cyan coloured changshan, similar to the colour of a bamboo pole, and looked particularly thin. Compared to the time she had met him at Lingshan Temple before, not only had he lost a lot of weight, his look also seemed very poor. [T/N]

Chen Ran looked at Yuxi and was stunned for a moment. It wasn’t like anyone in the upper circles of the capital did not know why Yuxi was out of the State Residence. However, in front of him, Yuxi was wearing a lotus-coloured dress, and she combed her hair back in a zhuima bun, with a single jade hairpin between her bun. Her face was smooth and soft, her skin was white like snow, and her face emitted a lustrous glow. He couldn’t tell how beautiful she was. [T/N]

ZHUIMA BUN

It was the first time that Yuxi had been eyed by a male and felt uncomfortable all over. “Second Master Chen, I wonder what you are doing on my estate?”

Chen Ran didn’t notice that he was being rude at all and said, “I’ve come to thank you.”

Yuxi thought that the people of Marquis Tai Ning Residence were really funny. “Lady Shizi has already come to express her thanks and has sent a lot of gratitude tokens.” What Yuxi meant was that there was no need to come again when they had already given their thanks.

Chen Ran said, “They are them, and I am me.”

Yuxi was embarrassed. Aren’t you also a member of the Marquis Taining’s household? “Second Master Chen, I have received your thanks. Please go back!” Although many old women servants and maids were around her, Yuxi didn’t want to stay too long with Chen Ran. There were already enough to talk about her, and she didn’t want to add another layer to it.

Chen Ran still spoke as if he had not heard Yuxi’s words, “I want to have a word with you alone.” Seeing that Yuxi’s face did not look right, he added, “Just have a word with you alone here.”

If it wasn’t for the sake of her image, Yuxi truly wanted to spray Chen Ran’s face with blood. If people who didn’t know the details of the situation heard this, they would have thought that they were having an affair! Yuxi coldly said, “Just say what you have to say! If you don’t say anything, I will go back.”

Seeing this, Chen Ran said, “Did you know that my Dajie died?”

Yuxi felt that there was something wrong with this Chen Ran. She did sympathise with him for the loss of the Eldest Miss Chen. But to purposely come here to say this kind of thing, she found that amusing. “I heard about it, and please accept my condolences.”

Chen Ran next spoke about something else that baffled Yuxi. “My Dajie is not as strong as you.” If his Dajie had been as strong as Yuxi, she would not have died. Yuxi had a reputation of having a bad fate and being thrown out of her home because of it, but she still lived a good life, while Dajie had only suffered a slight setback and died of depression. His Dajie was a far cry from Yuxi.

Yuxi genuinely wanted to swear, but in order to keep up her image, she could only suppress the way she spoke, “Second Master Chen, the deceased are still the greatest.” Darn it, comparing her to a dead person was hatefully bad luck.

Yuxi indeed felt that she had a bad fate. First, she was targeted by Heshou Xianzhu for no reason, causing an unwarranted disaster. Then, she was stabbed by Qinxin, and her good marriage fell through, and now she had been provoked by this odd Chen Ran. What other reason for all of these other than her having a stroke of bad luck?

Chen Ran said to himself, “If it were you instead, you certainly wouldn’t take the matter into your heart.” Old Lady Jiang was right. Fourth Miss Han was broad-minded. Those who were broad-minded did not get tired of living.

Zisu’s face paled at these words. “Second Master Chen, even if the Marquis Taining Residence is powerful, you can’t bully us like this.”

Yuxi was too lazy to bother with words and said, “Don’t pay any attention to him. It is estimated that he has burned his brain and become insane. Let’s just go back.”

Seeing that Yuxi was ready to leave, Chen Ran said, “Fourth Miss Han, I honestly have some words to say to you alone. If you don’t mind, then I’ll say them in front of everyone.”

She had been a bit of a baozi in her previous life, but she hadn’t met so many inexplicable people. But she had her scruples. She could see that Chen Ran was acting very differently from the average person. He had been hiding it well, or rather, the people in the Marquis Taining’s household helped to hide it well enough that not even a word got out.

Yuxi sighed and said towards the two maids, two old women servants and her two personal attendants beside her, “Back off ten steps away.” It wasn’t that she was afraid of Chen Ran, but she couldn’t argue with such a person who had a very different brain.

Chen Ran said, “Tell them to withdraw fifty paces away.”

Yuxi sneered, “I’m not going to tell them that.” He genuinely thought she was afraid of him? She would let her attendants beat him up if he made her angry.

When the person beside them had been pushed back, Yuxi looked at Chen Ran and asked, “What do you want to say?” She wanted to see what this man had to say to her. [+]

Chen Ran said, “Please don’t take what I said just now to heart. I just thought that if my Jie could be like you and think about everything, she would not have passed away so early. I didn’t mean anything else, so please don’t think too much of it.”

Alright, he finally spoke in human words. Yuxi looked a little more relaxed and said, “The dead have passed away, but the living has to continue to live. Take care of yourself! There is still a month to go before the autumn exams. How can you take it in this state?” The exams were also physically exhausting.

Chen Ran looked at Yuxi and spoke from the bottom of his heart, “Thank you.”

Yuxi said, “In fact, you don’t need to blame yourself. The responsibility for this matter does not lie with you.” No one could be blamed for what happened to Chen Xue, not even Chen Ran.

Chen Ran smiled bitterly, “I know, I just feel so useless. There was nothing I could do but watch her life fade away little by little.” This was the second time he experienced this feeling of helplessness.

Yuxi was silent. In fact, Marquis Taining was only half responsible for Chen Xue’s death, and Chen Xue, herself, also held half of the responsibility for it. Even the lowly cricket and ant clung to their life, let alone a human being. If one didn’t cherish one’s own life, how could one expect others to do so? Besides, in this connection, one could see Eldest Miss Chen’s true temperament from the way she couldn’t think straight when she encountered this single unsatisfactory situation. She was the type of person who could not withstand any ups and downs. But in this life, one could never have smooth sailing!

Chen Ran looked up at the calm-looking Yuxi and said half-heartedly, “You are absolutely different from ordinary people.” It was not without reason that Old Madam Jiang had spoken so highly of Yuxi that day.

The sympathy that had just surfaced was instantly suppressed, as Yuxi said indifferently, “If Second Master Chen has nothing else to say, I am going back.” After saying that, without waiting for Chen Ran’s reply, she turned around and left.

Once Yuxi reached Zisu’s side, she cast a glance at Chen Ran’s personal page and then say to Chen Ran, “I won’t argue with you this time around because you are the Second Master of Marquis Taining Residence. If there is such a thing next time, don’t blame me for being rude.” These words were not for Chen Ran but his page. She believed that this would soon reach the Lady of Taining’s ears. If the Lady of Taining couldn’t be restrained, then, Yuxi would let her entourage beat him the next time they met out of the resentment she had in her heart.

Chen Ran said, “I believe that you will not argue with me next time.”

Yuxi’s heart jumped at his words, and she always felt that something was wrong. But she couldn’t tell what was wrong. She couldn’t ask him for information. In the end, she could only watch as Chen Ran left with his page.