chapter 129

Dawn morning glow gradually displayed the various colours of purple, blue and green, as the rising sun revealed its first light to the world. The sky had never been seen to be this red; and everyone had also never been exposed to this fresh bright red sky. In a split second, the fireball rose to the sky, as it set off the rosy clouds which caught everyone’s eyesight.

Yuxi looked at the rising sun and let out a long sigh of relief. At last it was dawn, and she was no longer needed to be afraid of thieves or bandits.

Zijin looked at Yuxi’s bloodshot eyes and urged, “Miss, you’d better take a rest!” She was really anxious when she caught sight of her Miss’ appearance.

Yuxi shook her head and said, “Let’s go back to Rose Courtyard first.” Everyone seemed to reach a consensus not to mention anything about Rose Courtyard, but Yuxi knew that with such a big fire, her courtyard definitely didn’t exist anymore. She was now worried about the condition of those maids who had served her. Did they do what she said and hid in the rockery? If they didn’t, then in that case, it would only bode ill rather than well¹Chinese idiom : inauspicious / everything points to disaster.

Qiu Shi didn’t want Yuxi to go to Rose Courtyard, as she wanted her to have a good rest first.

Yuxi shook her head and said, “With Zijin following me, there’s no need for aunt to worry about my safety. The sisters, Deng Shuang and Deng Xue will stay with aunt so I don’t have to worry too.” Now that everyone was still in a state of shock, leaving behind the Deng sisters to stay in the yard would unlikely made her aunt become so anxious.

Then Qiu Shi ordered four rough old women servants to follow Yuxi. “Take these four people with you.” According to her meaning, she really wanted Yuxi to properly stay in her courtyard. It was only that she knew Yuxi’s nature, and others’ opinion would not be able to make Yuxi come to her senses. For this reason, Qiu Shi had a headache as well.

Yuxi smiled a bit and no longer refused as she nodded her head, “Okay.” She didn’t believe that there were still bandits in the inner courtyard, for the simple reason that they could only fish in troubled waters²Chinese idiom : to take advantage of a crisis for personal gain at night, since there was nowhere for them to hide if they went in during the day. She didn’t refuse it so that Qiu Shi’s mind would be at ease.

From the master courtyard to the Rose Courtyard, it only took a quarter an hour journey, and it usually felt like one would arrive there in the blink of an eye. But now, as Yuxi looked at the dead bodies being carried out from time to time, also with the bright red blood that was on the ground, she felt that every step she took forward was extremely difficult.

When Zijin noticed Yuxi had lost the colour on her face, she held Yuxi’s hand and suggested, “Miss, let’s just go back.”

Yuxi shook her head and replied, “I’m fine.” Seeing such a scene reminded her of the time when she fled in her last life. In retrospect, she really felt extremely fearless back then. From the hamlet to the gate of the capital city, she had walked for more than ten days. She didn’t know how many dead people she had seen then, but she was not frightened by them. Instead, she had avoided and escaped from wandering bandits, as she went straight to the capital city. The difference was that all the dead people she saw in those days were unknown people, but now, she recognised all that had passed away.

As Yuxi thought till here, her heart started to choke up with nervousness. Nothing such as this happened in her last life, and these people didn’t die. If it was really because of the poisonous hand of Heshou Xianzhu³he = harmonious, shou = long life, xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang, then Yuxi felt that she was partly responsible for the deaths of these people.

When Zijin saw Yuxi was in a daze, she softly called her out, “What’s wrong with you, Miss? Are you scared? Otherwise, let’s go back to the master courtyard! We will go to Rose Courtyard in the afternoon instead.” By then, all the dead bodies must have already been completely removed.

Yuxi shook her head and said, “Let’s go!”

Before they reached Rose Courtyard, they saw Zisu approaching them. When Zisu saw Yuxi, her tense expression slowly loosened up. Her eyes were red when she said, “Miss, our yard…” She couldn’t finish her sentence as she unable to help herself from crying.

Yuxi knew it in her heart but she didn’t say anything, and she just walked towards the direction of the Rose Courtyard. Not long after they continued walking, everyone could smell a strong, pungent scent.

Soon, Yuxi arrived at the front gate of Rose Courtyard. What lefts of her courtyard were only remnants of broken ridges and dilapidated walls, while in the middle of it, there was still smoke curling out from the burnt wooden beams.

Seeing such a scene, Yuxi’s mind went back to the time when she was inside a sea of flame, which was extremely hot, and extremely painful till she finally couldn’t even breath…..

Zijin sensed that Yuxi’s face didn’t look right, and before she could ask, she saw Yuxi fell straight down to the ground.

Zisu and the others were dumbfounded.

Zijin had experienced last night’s events, thus her heart was clearly much more resilient. She quickly carried Yuxi on her back and returned to the master courtyard as fast as she could.

Qiu Shi was astounded when she saw the unconscious Yuxi. “What’s going on? Why did she pass out?” She tried to wake Yuxi several times, unfortunately, Yuxi didn’t wake up.

Zisu wiped away her strings of tears and explained, “When Miss saw Rose Courtyard had been burned to the ground, she couldn’t stand the shock that she fainted.” Zisu wasn’t the only one who thought it happened that way, even Kufu, Maidong and the others had thought the same thing.

Qiu Shi also knew about the burnt Rose Courtyard just now, and when she heard Yuxi fainted because of this, she felt quite distressed and started to chide, “This child, really! It was just a courtyard. If its burnt, then it will still be burned. Is a courtyard more important than a life?” Since Rose Courtyard had already gone, then just moved to another courtyard to live in.

Zijin urgently requested, “My Lady, we need to call the physician quickly!”

Once Qiu Shi heard this, she hastily instructed Mama Li, “Physician Bai is still with the Old Lady. You go there and request Physician Bai to come over here next.” She already got the news that the Old Lady and Yuchen were both fine. They invited the physician just to be on the safe side.

When Mama Li got her orders, she quickly walked out. In the time it took Yuxi to return to Rose Courtyard, Mama Li had learned that more than ten maids from the main room had died and another more than ten had been injured. Aside from the Old Lady, Third Miss and Fifth Miss who managed to avoid the disaster, there wasn’t a single normal person⁴it’s like the opposite of a noble person, something like that in the main room. If compared with the main room, none of the people from the master courtyard had passed away nor did they have any injuries. For them to still be alive and in full intact, was all thanks to Fourth Miss’ good fortune!

After Physician Bai took a look at the Old Lady, Yuchen and the others, he explained that it was not a big issue, as they were just a little scared. He then wrote a prescription that could calm their nerves. This prescription was also good for when they had a sequelae and nightmares at night.

Yurong said, “Grandmother, my mom is also injured. Please ask Physician Bai to take a look at her injuries too.” Now that it was a mess outside, it was very difficult for anyone to hire a doctor. Physician Bai was the official doctor for the State Residence, so he didn’t need to be hired by other people outside, and for that reason, he had come over to the residence at the first light.

The Old Lady was just about to nod her head in agreement when Mama Li arrived.

Mama Li kneeled on the ground and put forth her request with tears in her eyes, “Old Lady, Fourth Miss has fainted. No matter how many times we called her, she wouldn’t wake up. Old Lady, please let Physician Bai take a look at Fourth Miss!”

The Old Lady jumped out from her seat in shock, “What’s going on? Didn’t you people say she was safe and sound just now? Why did she suddenly unconscious right now?”

Mama Li wiped her tears and told the Old Lady, “Fourth Miss went back to the Rose Courtyard, and when she saw that it had been burnt to the ground, she couldn’t endure the shock that she fainted.” Anyone who saw that they suddenly didn’t have anything at all, would not be able to stand the shock.

The Old Lady didn’t even want to think about it as she hurriedly said towards Physician Bai, “Physician Bai, please hurry and see Fourth Girl’s situation.” ᵀᴺIs she really that concerned about Yuxi? (¬_¬)

In response to this situation, Yuchen also stood up and said, “Grandmother, I’m going to visit my Si Meimei⁵si=fourth, meimei=younger sister.” It wasn’t easy to get the news that Yuxi was out of danger the first time, and now, Yuxi was in dangerous situation again, which really made her very uneasy.

Where would the Old Lady let Yuchen leave her side as she said, “Your Si Meimei⁵si=fourth, meimei=younger sister is only a little stimulated and will wake up soon. You don’t have to be so worry.”

Yurong reluctantly said, “Grandmother, my mom is injured and also needs to be checked by Physician Bai.” Why on earth should he go see Yuxi first, when her mother was the elder? Her grandmother should let him focused on her mother first anyway.

The Old Lady said to Physician Bai, “Go see how Yuxi is doing first. After that, you’ll go and take a look at the Third Lady.” She commanded this not because she was being biased towards Yuxi, but she knew that Wu Shi only suffered from some external wounds, and even if the physician went there a bit late, it was no more than just flesh pain. However, if the physician was late in checking Yuxi’s condition, there might be a life threatening situation. From Han Xing’s side, she heard that Yuxi had preserved the life of people in the master courtyard. Now, in her mind, Yuxi’s status was only second to Yuchen. ᵀᴺWow, status upgrade!

No matter how unhappy Yurong was, she didn’t dare to contradict the Old Lady’s words. She could only bite her lower lip in frustration.

The Old Lady looked at the extremely anxious Yuchen. She patted her hand and comforted, “Don’t be afraid. Yuxi will be fine.” Speaking of Yuxi, the Old Lady’s mood was also quite complicated. Except for old woman Luo beside her, half of the maids and old women servants who attended her had died, while those who survived, some were scared out of their wits, so only a few of them could be used. As for her properties, all the golds, silvers, jewellery and valuables in her yard were looted and the warehouse was nearly empty. However, because of Zijin and the Deng sisters who were brought by Yuxi, there were no casualties and no loss of property in the master courtyard. This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.

Beijing Siheyuan

From what I read, the side room is also called a wing. In this picture, we have west side room and east side room, which can also be called west wing and east wing. The west side room is usually used by an unmarried son, while the east side room is usually used by an unmarried daughter.

Image Credit | D.N. Gardens

Since Physician Bai had left, Yurong didn’t want to stay in the main room anymore. Hence, she called a few old women servants to return to Biteng Courtyard. When the Old Lady saw this situation, she simply told Yuchen to go back to the side room, “You should also go and have a rest for a while.”

Not long after Yuchen left, old woman Luo came in and whispered to the Old Lady, “Old Lady, Fourth Miss’ eyelid had jumped non-stop the day before yesterday, and then that night, she dreamed about blood all over the yard? Do you think she is able to foretell good and bad fortune?” The night before last, Yuxi dreamed that there was blood all over the yard, and last night, they met with mishap. This dream really became true.

The Old Lady’s hand shook a little. It was true that because of this nightmare Yuxi had let Zijin and the Deng sisters into their compound. “Did anyone from Rose Courtyard die?”

Old woman Luo shook her head and said, “I asked about it just now. All the maids of Rose Courtyard hid themselves inside the garden rockery last night and they didn’t come out until dawn, so there were no casualties reported for Rose Courtyard. I asked them specifically, and they said that before Fourth Miss went to the master courtyard, they were told not to stay in Rose Courtyard and hide themselves inside the rockery.” In other words, neither Rose Courtyard nor Master Courtyard had suffered any casualties.

The Old Lady opened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything. The reason Rose Courtyard and the master courtyard didn’t suffer any casualties was thanks to Yuxi’s good fortune. But on their side, they didn’t even been stained with half of her good fortune.

Old woman Luo continued, “Old Lady, the maids and old women servants beside Fourth Miss had taken every important thing before they went inside the rockery. Although Rose Courtyard had been burned down, the loss was not that great.” Compared with the losses of the main courtyard, Rose Courtyard lose was like one hair from nine oxen⁶Chinese idiom : too little to make a difference.

The Old Lady was silent for a long time before she said, “Ask someone to go and see. If Fourth Girl wakes up, let me know.” She didn’t know what kind of attitude she should have when she saw Yuxi now. Even if she was willing to be nice to her, Yuxi’s temperament might not be able to accept the sentiment.