chapter 79

Qiu Yanfu looked at Yuxi, as if she was hoping to see some clue from her face. After this period of understanding, she was very sure that Fourth Miss was not as innocent as she appeared. Today’s matter, she always thought it was designed by Yuxi.

With this misgiving, Qiu Yanfu opened her mouth and said, “Aunt, you can see that Fourth Cousin’s clothes are wet. Let Fourth Cousin changes her clothes first! We’ll talk about Sister Rong’s matter later on.”

After throwing the teacup, Wu Shi realised that she had gone too far. Here was not Hebei, and Yuxi was not her maid nor her old woman servant.

Yuxi had beaten Yurong, but if Wu Shi beat Yuxi back, it would be a completely different feeling. It was said that being a stepmother was difficult. If she was hitting her own daughter, most people would not say much, but if it was Yuxi, her stepdaughter, it would not be good and she would have to bear the reputation of a vicious stepmother. Wu Shi regained back her sanity at this time and she decided to follow Qiu Yanfu’s suggestion, “You go help Yuxi changes her clothes.”

When Qiu Yanfu first went to help Yuxi, she didn’t expect Yuxi to shake her off. Since she did not pay attention to it, she toppled backwards and fell to the ground. This made her to be in an extremely awkward position.

Wu Shi’s pent-up anger suddenly surged up again, “Somebody, hold her down for me. If I don’t teach you a lesson today, later on I won’t be able to flip over the sky.“

Several old women servants of Biteng Courtyard were brought by Wu Shi from Hebei. So, they immediately came forward to hold down Yuxi at Wu Shi’s command. The two old women servants began to think that Yuxi would struggle, but they didn’t expect that Yuxi would not even resist, so they just pushed her to the ground.

Wu Shi said with a cold face, “You disrespect your elders, abuse your own younger sister and beat your cousin. I can see that you have learned your rules from inside the dog’s stomach. If I don’t teach you today… “

Before she had done talking, she heard the maid outside said, “Madam, Third Miss has come. She’s asking for an audience from outside the door.”

When Yuchen entered the room, she saw Yuxi being held down, unable to move. Her face was red and swollen. With a cold face, Yuchen asked, “Mother, I don’t know what Fourth Sister did wrong, but I can’t believe that you would put such heavy hand on her?” Corporal punishment was not popular in large families. If one did not obey, one would be punished by being scolded lightly. For heavy punishment, one would just be locked up in the Buddhist hall to copy Buddhist sutras.

When Wu Shi saw Yuchen’s appearance, she got even angrier. This one also, did not even take her seriously at all.

At this time, Yurong finally stopped crying and looked up at Yuchen with a pair of red and swollen eyes. “Third Sister, Fourth Sister said I was stupid that I could learn nothing. She even beat me.” Having said that, she let Yuchen look at five fingers print on her face, “Mother was very angry when she found out, so she asked Fourth Sister to come so they could talk. As a result, Fourth Sister not only contradicted my mother, but also pushed my cousin to the ground. My mother was so angry that she ordered Fourth Sister to kneel on the ground.“

Yuchen frowned. With her understanding of Yuxi, if it was not a big deal, Yuxi would not have been so angry, “Yuxi, what’s going on? Why did you hit Fifth Sister? “

A sarcastic smile appeared on Yuxi’s face, “Fifth Sister? Why did you only say I beat you, but not the reason why I beat you?“

Yurong’s face turned white with fear. Qiu Yanfu tried to smooth things over, “Third Cousin, this is all a misunderstanding.”

Yuchen had always looked down on Qiu Yanfu, and now even more. She totally ignored Qiu Yanfu and said to Yuxi instead, “Yuxi, get up and follow me to see Grandmother. If you have any grievance, just say it to Grandmother.”

Wu Shi’s eyelids jumped. Her faces showed that she was frightened. She asked, “Yurong, what is going on? Can you tell me clearly?“

Yuchen simply ignored Wu Shi’s behaviour and gave her a salute, as she said, “I’ll bring my Fourth Sister to Grandmother first. Later, I will also like to request Mother to bring Fifth Sister to Grandmother’s room so she can explain the matter clearly.“

Wu Shi’s temper was a bit rash, but she was not a fool. If they went to see the Old Madam for this matter, it would become a big deal and she certainly wouldn’t get something good from it.

Qiu Yanfu stepped forward and said, “Third Cousin, this incident has done great damage to the reputation of the Second House, and the most affected by this will be uncle.” Qiu Yanfu was really ferocious. She knew that Yuchen was very concerned about Han jingyan and his reputation, so she knew that it was the most effective way to stop Yuchen.

The saying was right, ‘when striking a snake, hit it in the first seven inches (Chinese proverbs : strike your enemy in vital places)’. Yuchen may not care about Wu Shi, but she could not help caring about her own father. In her mind, the most important things were the Old Madam and Han jingyan. If Wu Shi’s reputation was damaged, it was not good for her father either. She hesitated for a moment and then said, “Mother has let Fourth Sister suffer so much injustice. Shouldn’t she be given a chance to give out her statement?”

When Wu Shi saw that Yuchen’s attitude had soften, her mind relaxed. It would be nice to settle it privately without disturbing the Old Madam. “Yurong, what’s actually going on today?”

How would Yurong dare to say that she had insulted Ning Shi?

Qiu Yanfu knew that actual matter was not so simple, “Aunt, let Fourth Cousin changes her clothes first, and we’ll talk about the rest later.”

Wu Shi looked at Yurong. How could she not know that there was a secret hidden by Yurong? This would surely make her forehead be in pain. If the secret couldn’t be suppressed, she was going to be in big trouble.

Qiu Yanfu stepped forward, ready to help Yuxi up. She was only acting, though since she actually did not dare to help her. If Yuxi pushed her again, she would fall to the ground again. To her surprise, as she just touched Yuxi’s arm, Yuxi immediately stood up.

Wu Shi said, “I know today’s incident has wronged you. This is also my fault. I failed to discipline your Fifth Sister. Yurong, go and apologise to your Fourth Sister.“

Yurong was reluctant, but she still went up to Yuxi to apologise, “Fourth Sister, I’m sorry. I was in the wrong just now. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I won’t complain if I’m being punished.”

Yuxi bowed her head and said nothing, but she was sneering endlessly in her heart.

Yuchen asked herself if she knew anything about Yuxi. From Yuxi’s appearance, she knew that Yuxi was obviously angry over the injustice. She thought for a moment, then said, “Mother, I will take my Fourth Sister to change clothes first. It’s still not too late to wait for father to come back to deal with this matter.“

Wu Shi’s heart was completely relaxed when she heard this. With Yuchen’s help to cover up, even if the Old Madam knew about this, she would just blame her for a few times. After all was said and done, she actually misunderstood on who was Yuxi’s real backer. She ordered, “Go to Rose Courtyard and pick up the clothes of Fourth Miss. Then change them for her.” If she let Yuxi went out of Biteng Courtyard looking like this, she didn’t know how many people in the residence would take the chance to gossip on this.

The room was so quiet that even the sound of the wind blowing through the trees outside could be heard.

Yuxi grasped Yuchen’s arm, and said hoarsely, “Third Sister, I want to go back.”

Yuchen was somewhat entangled. She did not want to cause trouble for Han Jingyan, nor did she want Yuxi to be wronged, which led her to be in a dilemma right now.

At this moment, a maid came in quickly and said, “Madam, Eldest Madam is coming over.”

When Qiu Shi heard Mai Dong’s words, she knew that Yuxi was bound to suffer, so she hurried over. It was just that her yard was furthest away from Biteng Courtyard, which was why she arrived so late.

Wu Shi’s face froze when she heard Qiu Shi was coming. She was going to really regret it that she didn’t pay attention to the discretion at that time. Now that she had let Yuxi having this face and this wet clothes, she could not let Qiu Shi saw Yuxi and she must not make the whole residence knew also. This would be extremely bad for her. She would like to ask Yuxi to come into the room to avoid Qiu Shi. Unfortunately, Qiu Shi had already lifted up the curtain and came in. (T/N : (“▔□▔)/ My hero!)

Yuxi was the disciple of Momo (wet nurse) Quan. Apart from the fact that the medicinal materials were too expensive, she also didn’t have bubble up medicated bath. Other than those, Yuxi would not miss any other of Yuchen’s enjoyments. Over the past few years, she had also developed a delicate watery skin. Not to mention being hit by a cup, even if you normally pressed it, there would be marks left. At this time, her face had became so swollen that the sticky tea leaves did not fall off. This made her face looked amusing and ridiculous.

When Qiu Shi saw Yuxi looking like this, her whole body froze.

When Yuxi saw Qiushi, she rushed over to hug Qiu Shi while crying loudly, “Aunt, aunt…” Her cries were full of anger and injustice, which made the people in the room couldn’t help shivering.

While, Yuchen face went red.

Qiu Shi’s face turned purple with anger when she heard Yuxi crying. “Wu Shi, I don’t know what Yuxi has done that can create wrath of Heaven and the resentment of men (Chinese idiom : great dissatisfaction), but for you to act this malicious?” She already knew what happened in Rose Courtyard just now. She thought Wu Shi would shield her daughter’s fault and would just scold Yuxi, after all, the one who did wrong was actually Yurong, but she didn’t think Wu Shi would unexpectedly treat Yuxi maliciously.

The word ‘malicious’ had made Wu Shi whole person felt miserable. Only that today’s incident had resulted in her being unreasonable, so she could only strengthen her scalp (summon up one courage), “Eldest sister-in-law, today’s incident was because of my impatience, and I was merely lost control of my hand, not at all intentional.“

With a sneer, Qiu Shi patted Yuxi’s shoulder and said, “Don’t cry, come with me to see the Old Madam. She will be fair to you.”

Yuchen opened her mouth but said nothing.

Yurong was not stupid either. Knowing that she won’t get good results if she went to the Old Madam, she said, “Fourth Sister, it’s all my fault. I should be the one to receive the punishment…” Before she could complete her talk, Qiu Shi and Yuxi were no longer in the room. No matter how strong the maids and old women servants in Wu Shi’s courtyard were, they did not dare to stop the Madam who was in charge of managing the entire household.

In response, Wu Shi’s look turned bad, and she hurriedly caught up with them.

Out of Biteng Courtyard, Yuxi wiped her tears and said, “Aunt, I better go back to Rose Courtyard and wash up before I go see Grandmother. I’m afraid I will scare her by going to see her looking like this.”

With a cold face, Qiu Shi said, “You don’t have to worry about this. It’s not like the Old Madam has never seen any storms.” Her words meant that this small matter would not scare the Old Madam.

Soon, a group of people arrived at the main room.

The Old Madam looked at Yuxi and her face darkened, “What’s going on?”

Yuxi, in a hoarse voice, recounted what actually had happened without adding fuel or vinegar (Chinese idiom : embellish a story) or concealing what she had said.

Before Yuxi could even finish, Qiu Shi could not restrain her anger. What did she mean by Rose Courtyard was a shabby place? “Do you give cold-shoulder to Rose Courtyard because it’s a shabby place? Do you mean to let you live in Shuixiang Courtyard has actually wronged you? To let you live in the residence is also to wronged you? I didn’t expect that by letting you live in the state residence would actually be an injustice to you.“ The pattern of Shuixiang Courtyard was similar to Rose Courtyard, except that the decorations in Shuixiang Courtyard was one level higher than Yuxi’s courtyard.

No matter how silly Yurong was, she knew that she couldn’t contradict er elderQiu Shi.