Chapter 284: Chapter 286 - A Sadness And A Joy (1)

Caidie walked in from outside and said, “Miss, the First Lady and Second Lady Zhou have come to visit Miss.” Since they had come for the newly born son’s first bath ceremony, it was customary to drop by to see the sick Yuxi.

Yuxi leaned against the head of the bed and put the pillow behind her back. “Invite them in.”.

First Lady Zhou looked at Yuxi and said softly, “My child, you have suffered.”.

Yuxi did not even pretend to be weak. She just smiled and said, “Thank you for coming to see me. I am much better now.” Everyone knew the cause of the matter, so there was no need to pretend to be sickly.

Second Lady Zhou was surprised to see that Yuxi was looking well. If it were her Shiya, she wouldn’t have been able to cope with such an event, but this girl still looked breezy. The Second Lady Zhou said, “Yuxi, your Shiya Biaojie is not feeling well these days, so I didn’t let her come over. When she gets better, I’ll let her come over to see you.”.

Yuxi smiled a little as she said, “Please just tell Shiya to get well. I’m alright here.” Not to mention that she did not believe that Zhou Shiya was not feeling well. Even if she was not feeling well, there was no way she could not even write her a letter. To put it bluntly, Zhou Shiya would only be around her when she had something to gain and shun her when her reputation would only ruin hers as well.

When the Second Lady Zhou noticed the smile on Yuxi’s face was without the slightest hint of fake at all, her heart chilled. If Yuxi had been cold towards them, she would have thought it was expected, but now it was not normal at all. The Second Lady Zhou thought that just because of her daughter’s temper, it would be better for her daughter to stop interacting with Yuxi. Otherwise, who knew what else she would suffer in the future. Even though her mind was thinking of this, her face didn’t show anything. She said with a smile, “Such a good girl. You should also take good care of your illness.”.

Yuxi smiled and nodded her head.

Once the First Lady Zhou left Taoran House, she whispered, “I always feel that this child has turned much different from before. It seems like she has become more constrained.”.

The Second Lady Zhou responded, “Of course she will change after experiencing such a thing.” If one was to ask Second Lady Zhou, it was not that Yuxi had become more constrained, but she had become much more undemonstrative. So undemonstrative that she could not even tell if Yuxi was truly happy or sad, which caused the Second Lady Zhou to be scared of her.

Yuxi did not know that the Second Lady Zhou had raised her guard against her to another level. However, even if she did know, she couldn’t care less.

Not long after Chang’s first bath ceremony, news reached the capital that the northwest had suffered a great defeat, with tens of thousands of dead and wounded. The one defending the city, Marshal Qin, had died after being seriously injured.

Yuxi was very surprised to hear this news. However, no matter how surprised she was, no one would understand this if she told the people around her. Hence, she had to wait patiently until that evening to ask her Dage personally.

A maid from Qiu Shi’s side came over and told her, “Miss, my Lady asks you to come over.”.

When Yuxi arrived at the Master Courtyard, she realised that Qiu Shi had a visitor. When she realised that it was the First Madam of the Qiu family, Xiao Shi, she walked up and greeted her. “Greeting, Jiumu.”

Xiao Shi looked at Yuxi and inquired after her with a very kind smile, “I heard from your mother that you have recovered?” In fact, just by looking at Yuxi’s physique, one could tell that she was in good health!.

Yuxi smiled and answered, “My health is already greatly healed.”.

Xiao Shi asked Yuxi many questions with great concern, and although Yuxi felt puzzled with all these questions, she still replied to each of them seriously.

Qiu Shi urged with a smile, “Yuxi, you should go back first!”.

Yuxi was confused. What was her mother doing by calling her to come here and then telling her to go back? This was odd! But soon, Yuxi knew Qiu Shi’s purpose in asking her to make this trip. It turned out that she wanted the First Madam Qiu family to match her to her youngest son, Qiu Lei.

When Yuxi heard Qiu Shi’s words, she froze in her tracks. In her last life, she and Qiu Lei had almost betrothed, but Jiang Hongjin had ended up stirring things up. She had never thought that she would be matched with Qiu Lei again after such a big detour. Yuxi’s feeling was very subtle.

When Qiu Shi saw that Yuxi was in a daze, she asked, “What’s wrong? You don’t think your San Biaoge is good enough?” If Yuxi had not withdrawn from her marriage, Qiu Shi would have rejected Dasao’s proposal on the spot. But after all, Yuxi had broken her engagement, and that Qiu child was not bad in every way, so she was a little hesitant.

Yuxi came back to her senses and shook her head, “No, it’s just that Dage won’t agree.” Qiu Lei was too ordinary in every way for Dage to notice him.

Qiu Shi didn’t expect Yuxi’s response would be like this. “As long as you agree, it’s useless if your Dage disagrees.”.

Yuxi shook her head and said, “Mother, if Dage doesn’t agree, it’s useless even if I do agree.”.

Qiu Shi understood what Yuxi was saying. “You mean that if your Dage agrees, you are fine with it?”.

Yuxi nodded and said, “Yes, if Dage agrees, I will have no problem with it. However, Mother, Dage will surely disagree.” The Qiu family was originally Dage’s maternal grandparents’ home. Therefore, there was no need to cement old ties by marriage. What was more important than Qiu Lei being a loyal and honest person was that his future was limited, and Dage would turn his nose at him because of this. Even if she agreed, he would disagree. If he disagreed, the marriage between them would not be possible. That was why Yuxi didn’t even think much about it.

Qiu Shi nodded with a smile, then said to Yuxi, “Your Dage is now the Duke of the State, so it’s time to change how the servants address him.” The servants called him a mix of the Lord Duke and Eldest Master, which was messed up.

Yuxi smiled, “It’s up to Mother to decide.” Not only they should change the way the servants addressed him, so did the places where they were currently living. For example, the Master Courtyard where Qiu Shi lived should also be vacated for Ye Shi. After all, she was now the mistress of the residence, and she was the one who should live here.

It was not as if Qiu Shi wanted to occupy the Master Courtyard and deny it from her daughter-in-law. She was not such a person. It was just that, from the time Han Jianming took over the title until now, there had been too much going on. So there was no talk of her moving out of the yard. After all, changing the yard was an important matter, and an auspicious day had to be chosen before doing so.

When Han Jianming returned to the State Residence, Qiu Shi called him to the Master Courtyard. As soon as he heard Qiu Shi telling him that she wanted to betroth Yuxi to Qiu Lei, Han Jianming refused without even thinking. “Not going to happen.”.

Qiu Shi asked, somewhat puzzled. “Why not?”.

Han Jianming’s answer was straightforward. “They are not compatible with each other. Qiu Lei has nothing to offer other than a better background. He is not compatible with Yuxi at all.” To put it simply, Qiu Lei was not a match for Yuxi. Although Yuxi had withdrawn from her marriage, with her looks and talents, he would not be worried about finding an equal match for her if he looked hard enough.

Qiu Shi wanted to say more good things for Qiu Lei, but Han Jianming said, “Mother, there is no need to talk about this matter. I have a plan for Yuxi’s marriage, so Mother doesn’t have to worry.”.

When she heard this, Qiu Shi said nothing more. Every time her son spoke to her in this tone, it meant that there was no room for discussion. Well, it was Yuxi who had the foresight. Qiu Shi also stopped dwelling on the matter. “Now that Chang-er has gotten older, it’s time to change how the family addresses each other. What do you think?” Seeing Han Jianming’s nod, she talked about moving out of the courtyard again.

Han Jianming had an indifferent reaction to this. “If Mother doesn’t want to move, then Mother doesn’t have to. It doesn’t make any difference wherever I live.”.

Qiu Shi responded with a smile, “It’s not the same! The Master Courtyard is where the mistress lives, and now that the mistress of the Han family is your wife, she should be allowed to live here.”.

Han Jianming answered the same way Yuxi did. “It’s up to Mother to decide on this matter.”.

Qiu Shi was pleased. Both her sons were filial to her, and her two daughters-in-law were also very good. Now that her eldest son also had Chang-er, it was time for her to put her burden down. “I have already asked someone to pick an auspicious day. I’ll move when the day is right, and I’ve named my new courtyard Changle Courtyard!” The name Changle Courtyard symbolised longevity and happiness. [+]

Han Jianming smiled as he said, “As long as Mother is happy.”.

Yuxi knew that Han Jianming had returned and immediately went to the front yard to look for him. When she met with Han Jianming, she asked, “Dage, I heard from outside today that the northwest had suffered a great defeat and that Marshal Qin, the city’s defender, had been killed in battle? Wasn’t the result from there always good before? What with this sudden defeat?” There was a small victory in the northwest last month, and now there was a big defeat. The gap between before and after was this big, making Yuxi unable to respond.

Han Jianming said, “Marshal Qin was dragged down by his grandson Qin Zhao this time. Qin Zhao was so eager to advance his achievement that he fell for the Western barbarians’ scheme, leaving his 5,000-strong army trapped. Marshal Qin personally led his troops to rescue him, but he was seriously injured after rescuing Qin Zhao. Marshal Qin lost his life before he could be carried back to the city.” Han Jianming was now the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War, so he naturally knew about the affairs of the border city in great detail.

Yuxi was stunned. “Qin Zhao is Marshal Qin’s grandson. A person from such a family background should be cautious when marching to war. So how could he have fallen into the western barbarians’ trap so easily?” The capital people also called the Northern Captives the western barbarians.

A sneer flashed across Han Jianming’s eyes. “Marshal Qin was already old. Qin Guan died of a battle wound a few years ago, and only Qin Zhao is left in the Qin family today. Qin Zhao has not yet accumulated enough military achievements to take over Marshal Qin’s burden. In fact, he could have taken his time, but unfortunately, there was Yun Qing. Yun Qing is very brave in battle, which has threatened Qin Zhao’s position.” Qin Guan was Qin Zhao’s father.

Yuxi remembered that when she was sent to the hamlet, Yun Qing had become the commander-in-chief of the northwest in her previous life. When she arrived in the countryside, which was not very accessible, not to mention the news of the northwest, she didn’t even know about the capital news. As for the Qin family, she knew even less. “So those people took advantage of Qin Zhao when he was having this kind of mentality?”.

Han Jianming nodded a little. “That’s right. Qin Zhao was a little eager to get things done, and the western barbarians’ spies learned about this point. Thus, they had designed a plan to trap him.”.

Yuxi was a little puzzled. “Dage, the Qin family has been operating in the border city for so many years, and Yun Qing has been there not that long. So how could Yun Qing threaten Qin Zhao’s position?” Counting on her fingers, it had only been eleven years since Yun Qing had gone to the border town. And it was only five years ago that Yun Qing genuinely emerged! How could he shake the Qin family’s position in that border town in five years? That was an unimaginable feat.

Han Jianming explained, “What you don’t understand is, the border city is completely different from the capital city. To fight and win battles is fundamental to gaining a foothold there. Not only does Yun Qing often win battles, but every time he goes out to war, the number of casualties is much smaller compared to other generals, so he is very much supported by the lower-level commanders and soldiers.”.

A thought popped up in Yuxi’s mind as she asked, “Didn’t the Qin family think of getting rid of Yun Qing?” Since he was threatening their position there, they should get rid of him before he grew entirely. This was the safest and most secure method.

Han Jianming laughed a little and said, “Do you think Qin Zhao doesn’t want to? But Marshal Qin had always protected Yun Qing and always given him opportunities. Otherwise, Yun Qing wouldn’t have been able to climb this fast. However, now that Marshal Qin is dead, it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen in the future.” As a matter of fact, Han Jianming was keeping his eyes on Yun Qing. This man was born to be a leader. But also, as Yuxi said, the Qin family’s ties in the border city were so intertwined that if Qin Zhao were to lay his hands on Yun Qing, it was still unknown if Yun Qing would be able to escape.

Yuxi frowned and commented, “There is no place that is truly peaceful and quiet.” No matter where you were, there was always a lot of rivalry and deceit.

Han Jianming smiled and said, “Where there are people, there will always be fights.”