chapter 98

When Yuxi was going to return home, she did not see Yuchen around, so she asked, “Where is San Jie¹san=three/third, jie=elder sister, short form of jiejie?”

Qiu Shi smiled and said, “Your San Jie¹san=three/third, jie=elder sister, short form of jiejie is currently entertaining guests with Eldest Miss of Chiang family. She will be back in two days.”

Yuxi gave out a cry of ‘Oh’, as she had nothing else to say other than that. In fact, in her heart, she was continuously ridiculing this act. Old Madam Chiang was really capable in finding an opportunity to make Yuchen stayed in the Chiang family. Other people may not know about it, but to Yuxi, it was very clear. Yuchen respected and adored Old Madam Chiang very much, but she wasn’t that fond of staying with them. Old Madam Chiang and Lord Marquis Chiang may had doted on her very much, however, the rest of the Chiang family didn’t feel the same thing. In particular, Chiang Xin, who was so averse to Yuchen.

When they arrived at the gate, Qiu Shi said to Wu Shi, “I’ll be with Fourth Girl, while Dimei²younger sister-in-law will be together with Fifth Girl and Miss Fu!” That morning, she shouldn’t have shared a carriage with Wu Shi, since she was bored to see that evil woman, but she couldn’t help it. This was the first time for Wu Shi to attend such a big banquet, and there were some things she must remind her. Now that they were on their way back home, she was unwilling to let herself be in grievance again.

After they got on the carriage, aside from them, the carriage was full with their trusted subordinates, so Yuxi didn’t have any misgivings, as she asked, “Eldest Aunt, did something happen just now?”

Qiu Shi weighed it carefully in her heart, and finally decided to tell Yuxi about it. “Miss Fu Biao³family relationship via females and your Wu Meimei⁴wu=five/fifth, meimei=younger sister came across Tenth Young Master of the Chiang family in the backyard.” She avoided telling Yuxi about Qiu Yanfu being teased by the Tenth Young Master. It was really inappropriate for a young girl like Yuxi to hear anyway!

Yuxi wondered, “As far as I know, there are only four young masters in Marquis Pingqing residence! Was this Tenth Young Master from the branch of Chiang family?“ There were only two di⁵born from formal wife sons and two shu⁶born from concubine sons in Marquis Pingqing residence, so how could they suddenly have tenth young master?

Qiu Shi nodded and explained, “He is actually the second son of the Third Old Master of the Chiang family.” The Third Old Master of the Chiang family was the biaodi⁷younger brother from the same parents of the Old Marquis who had passed away. It was only natural to invite him on such a big day today.

Yuxi wasn’t the type who took joy in calamity and delight in disaster⁸Chinese idiom : to rejoice in other people’s misfortune over Qiu Yanfu’s encounter with a male guest. On the contrary, she frowned and asked, “Wasn’t it said that the Chiang family has the strictest rules? Why was there still a man in the backyard?“ The most taboo thing for the host family to hold a banquet was when the security for their home gateway was not strict enough. Who knew if it would be other guests who suffered? This time, it was right for Yuxi to take an extra maid when she went out.

Qiu Shi didn’t blame the Chiang family too much. As a person in charge of the household herself, she knew that no matter how tight the security arrangement was, as long as one set one’s mind, one could go in through the loophole. Furthermore, today’s incident was not fully attributable to the family of Marquis Pingqing. It was Qiu Yanfu herself who was running around in the backyard. “Fortunately, it didn’t cause any bad effect, or else, you would all be involved.” She planned to go back and inform the Old Madam about it. Next time, no need to let Qiu Yanfu follow them out through the gate of the house, to save them from being disgraced and lose their faces because of her.

Yuxi took this opportunity to tell tale of Qiu Yanfu in front of Qiu Shi, “Eldest Aunt, Qiu Yanfu was inquiring about Erge⁹Er=two/second, Ge=elder brother, short form of Gege in the residence some time ago. Erge⁹Er=two/second, Ge=elder brother, short form of Gege hasn’t been betrothed yet, so Aunt, you have to be extra careful with her.“

Qiu Shi’s face was somewhat ugly, “You said Qiu Yanfu was inquiring about your Erge⁹Er=two/second, Ge=elder brother, short form of Gege?” Their encounter last time, she had treated it as a meeting by chance. If what Yuxi said was true, then, in that case, the nature of the encounter was completely different.

Yuxi nodded and said, “If Eldest Aunt doesn’t believe it, Aunt can ask the maids of Shuixiang Courtyard. Aunt, as the saying goes, those who do not guard against thieves remember them long after. Fortunately, Erge⁹Er=two/second, Ge=elder brother, short form of Gege is not in the residence right now. When he finds a job in the capital next year, he will return to the residence every day. Who knows what will happen at that time? Aunt also knows Erge⁹Er=two/second, Ge=elder brother, short form of Gege’s temperament. If Qiu Yanfu plotted against him, once his started to show his obstinacy to marry her, who could stop him?“

Mama Li had reminded Qiu Shi before, but she didn’t take it to heart. Now, with Yuxi’s words of advise, they went straight to her heart. Before, she always chased the wind and clutched at shadows¹⁰Chinese idiom : act on hearsay evidence, but now there was evidence.

When Yuxi looked at Qiu Shi’s expression, she finally put down the worries in her heart. As long as Eldest Aunt was on guard and with those words that she had told her Erge⁹Er=two/second, Ge=elder brother, short form of Gege, even if Qiu Yanfu succeeded in her calculation, Erge⁹Er=two/second, Ge=elder brother, short form of Gege would not marry her as his wife. The worst she would get was only as his concubine.

When they finally reached home, the rain got even heavier. Because of the heavy rain, the group of people had gotten drenched. Even Yuxi’s skirt became wet. Thus, everyone did not go to the main room but went back to their own courtyard instead.

Before Yuxi took a bath, she ordered, “Bring the food up later.” Every time she went out to for a banquet, the kitchen would also prepare food for her to eat when she came back.

After showering and changing her clothes, the food had already been set up. Yuxi didn’t eat much either. After she was fifty percent full, she put down her chopsticks.

Zisu then told the maid to remove all the tableware, as she turned to Yuxi and asked, “Miss, will Third Madam be angry with you this time?”

Yuxi didn’t care at all. “Counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir¹¹Chinese idiom : different situations call for different action.” Wu Shi could only use a few moves. In fact, she remembered how frustrated she was and how tearful she would be when she was bullied by Wu Shi all day long in her last life. Therefore, only when one was strong could one succeed, and the rest were all just bogus.

In the evening, Han Jingyan sent a page to Rose Courtyard to invite Yuxi to Biteng Courtyard. As soon as Yuxi entered the room, she found the atmosphere inside was very imposing. Qiu Yanfu was sitting with her eyes red. Yurong who stood on one side was crying with her eyes also red, and Wu Shi’s face was full of anger.

Yuxi was not affected by the atmosphere. She continued courtesy to the two people sitting on the kang, “Dad, mother.” From the address, one could see the difference between intimacy and estrangement.

Han Jingyan asked with a cold face, “What happened today?” When Wu Shi had conflict with Old Madam Han, he had to stand on the Old Madam Han even if he didn’t want to. But when Yuxi clashed with Wu Shi, Han Jingyan would only be standing on Wu Shi’s side. It was also during this time that he heard exaggeration words from Yuxi. Otherwise, he would not have been asking today, but immediately reprimanded her.

Yuxi looked up at Wu Shi and Qiu Yanfu as she asked curiously, “Dad, what’s going on?” She was the best when it came to play dumb.

Han Jingyan asked with his cold face, “Why did you leave your Biaojie¹²elder female cousin from female/mother side and Yurong at the Chiang family? And let them be calculated?“

Yuxi really wanted to laugh. They wanted her to be calculated along with Qiu Yanfu?

Wu Shi spoke first before Yuxi could say anything, “Before we went out, I asked you to take care of your Meimei¹³younger sister and Qiu Yanfu. How did you take care of them? Leave them alone and let them be bullied?“ Yuxi had been to Marquis Pingqing residence and was familiar with the place. If Yuxi didn’t leave Yanfu and Yurong alone, how could they encounter that bastard? Now, they could only take these pent-up unspoken grievances by themselves.

Yuxi was not afraid of Wu Shi. When she heard these words, they were such a rarity that she had to say, “That can’t be. Although at that time, Fu Biaojie¹²elder female cousin from female/mother side had a dispute with Miss Lin, Miss Lin didn’t get any bargain from it.” This statement only showed that Qiu Yanfu had not actually been bullied.

When Wu Shi looked at Yuxi playing dumb, her anger started to rise up, but Han Jingyan was nearby, so she didn’t dare to show how angry she was.

Yurong suddenly said with her red eyes, “Si Jie¹⁴si=four/fourth, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie, when I accompanied Fu Biaojie¹²elder female cousin from female/mother side to change clothes and as we on our way to go back, we met a skirt-chaser who bullied us.”

Yuxi’s expression was not looking good as she said, “The rules in Marquis Pingqing residence has always been very strict. For today’s banquet, there were old women servants and maids guarding every corner and every gate in the backyard. Even if the skirt-chaser intruded the backyard, when you came across him, you should have given out a loud shout, then the maid and the old woman who were there would definitely rush in. Wu Meimei⁴wu=five/fifth, meimei=younger sister, was there any circumstances that have been hidden in this matter?“ If one followed a maid, one would not be afraid even if one really met the Tenth Young Master of the Chiang family. Just called out and someone would definitely come. But if Qiu Yanfu trespassed on her own, that would be another story.

Wu Shi coldly said, “Your Biaojie¹²elder female cousin from female/mother side and Yurong would inevitably go the wrong way when they went to Marquis residence for the first time. If you had listened to me and took them with you all the time, how could this have happened?“

Yuxi was so amused that she said, “Mother, it was Eldest Miss Chiang’s personal maid who took Fu Biaojie¹²elder female cousin from female/mother side to change clothes at that time. If there was nothing to hide, then, how could the maid have led Fu Biaojie¹²elder female cousin from female/mother side astray? Does my Mother think I was more familiar with Marquis Pingqing residence than the maids of Eldest Miss Chiang?“

Han Jingyan didn’t expect Yuxi to have such a sharp mouth. He coldly questioned, “Is that how you talk to your mother?” It wasn’t something strange when Wu Shi had told him that Yuxi didn’t take her seriously.

Yuxi looked up at Han jingyan with disappointment and grief in her eyes, “Dad, is Qiu Yanfu more important than the reputation of this daughter and this residence?”

This made Han Jingyan became furious, “How dare you argue back?”

Yuxi also stopped pretending to be dumb as she angrily retorted bacl, “Dad, what is Qiu Yanfu’s status? She is just a merchant’s daughter. If I bring her to get to know the daughters of high-ranking families, not only will I lose my dignity, even the reputation of the residence will also be damaged.“ In her last life, she didn’t know what was the consequence of her, the di⁵born from formal wife daughter of Duke of the State residence, being a footman for Qiu Yanfu. Though, this didn’t mean that she didn’t know about it now.

When Qiu Yanfu heard these words from Yuxi, she hated that she couldn’t tear Yuxi’s mouth. Just now, Yuxi said she didn’t obey the rules and now, she was ridiculing her for her low status. This was a keen to forcing her to die. At this moment, she immediately complained to Wu Shi.

Han Jingyan scowled, “Have you learned all your rules and etiquette in the dog’s belly?”

Yuxi knew that it would be useless for her to argue, so she simply knelt on the ground and said no more. She just let Han Jingyan continued scolding her.

When Han Jingyan looked at Yuxi’s action, he became more and more angry. He wouldn’t let her get up. He just let her continued kneeling on the ground.

Wu Shi could hardly wait for Yuxi to suffer a bit of hardships, so where would she have the heart to intercede, as Yuxi knelt for a quarter of an hour, without having any conscious for her own legs.

When Zisu heard about this incident, she was so anxious that she was thinking of seeking Eldest Madam to intercede. But then, she thought that maybe Miss had other plans, so she didn’t dare to ask for help. She could only stood there while feeling anxious and helpless for her Miss.

When Han Jingyan noticed Yuxi continuously closed her mouth, he asked, “Do you know what you have done wrong?”

Yuxi still wanted to argue, “Dad, I don’t know where did I do wrong?”

This painting depicts Confucius at his residence giving a lecture and Zengzi kneeling before him to ask about filial piety. – from Illustrations of Classic of Filial Piety.

Image Source | National Palace Museum via Wiki

Han Jingyan told himself not to get angry, but when he looked at Yuxi acting like this, his anger could not help rose up. However, his mind was still rational and he didn’t shout to Yuxi to get lost like he did before. Instead, he said, “Go back and copy ‘Lessons for Women’ and the ‘Classic of Filial Piety’ fifty times.”

Wu Shi thought the punishment was too light, but she also knew it was inappropriate to speak about it now as she watched Yuxi went out.

When Yuxi got up, her legs suddenly lost their strength which made her wanted to fall forward. Fortunately, she responded quickly as she grabbed the chair beside her before she could fall. While holding onto the chair, she let out a cry, “Zisu…”

Zisu, who was waiting outside the room, hurried in and looked at Yuxi’s appearance with a huge fright. “Miss, Miss, what’s wrong with you?”

Yuxi only uttered four words in response, “Help me go back.”

Han Jingyan looks at Yuxi’s back, with a complicated look in his eyes.

This time Yuxi didn’t cry all the way back, but her angry and weak appearance still fell into the eyes of those who set their eyes on her.

Zisu held her breath. Today, it was obviously had nothing to do with her Miss’ business, but Master still chastised her because of a few words from Wu Shi. It was usually the Old Madam who used to be partial, but now, even Master had acted partial. She really didn’t know when would her Miss’ bad days going to end.