The Rebirth of Han Yuxi

Chapter 259 : A Bloody Incident Caused By A Duck (2)

The moment Yuxi returned to Taoran House, she immediately heard that Wen Shi had pregnancy complications. When she first heard the news, she was startled. “How could she suddenly have pregnancy complications?”

Zisu answered, “When the Third Lady saw the disfigured Chunlan, she was so frightened that she had a pregnancy complication. I heard that there was even blood coming from her lower body, and now her servant has gone to get the physician.” Zisu did not think that Yuxi was wrong to deal with Chunlan, only that the matter was a bit tricky.

Yuxi sneered. “Apart from that face, she doesn’t have a single redeeming virtue. She can’t even manage her few servants.” If the people serving her had little thought, they would not let Wen Shi see Chunlan. After all, anyone with a bit of common sense would know that they could not stimulate a pregnant woman.

Zisu was a bit worried. “Miss, if the Third Lord comes back and finds out that you caused this incident, will he scold you again?”

Yuxi replied carelessly, “No.” Han Jingyan was a man who wanted to save his face, so he liked to talk about rules in everything. She was now a member of the Main House, and given Han Jingyan’s nature, he would not scold her but would at most speak to his dage and ask him to control her. As for why it wasn’t Qiu Shi, there was no need to think about it. If Han Jingyan dared to say that to Qiu Shi, she would have scolded and even poured dog blood on his head.

It was said that a child with a mother was treated like a treasure, and a motherless child was just like grass. Yuxi dared to act this way because she knew that her mother would always be on her side no matter what she did unless it were a big mistake. With her mother’s backing, everyone in the house except the Old Lady would have some misgiving when dealing with her.

As she was talking, she heard that Mama Luo had come over. Looking at the sutra in Mama Luo’s hand, Yuxi smiled and asked, “Does Grandmother want me to copy the sutra?” This was all the Old Lady had left to punish people with.

Mama Luo nodded and explained, “The Old Lady was extremely angry regarding the Third Lady’s pregnancy problem. I had to persuade her for a long time before she could calm down. But she felt that Miss’ mind was a bit flighty and impetuous. Therefore, she had this old servant send this sutra over so that the Miss could copy it and calm Miss’ mind.” When Mama Luo said this, she was bragging about her deed. Although she was now the Old Lady’s trusted subordinate, she still wanted the State Residence to care for her when she got older. If she did Yuxi a favour and somewhat made the First Lady remember her deed, she would not have to be worried about being ostracised in residence after the Old Lady’s passing.

Yuxi acknowledged this favour. “Mama is indeed thoughtful.” This was the reality. If you had power, not only would these people not dare to step on you, they would also try their best to curry favour with you.

With the scripture in hand, Yuxi turned around to go to her study and started copying it. Fifty times. Since she had not been told when she should hand it over, she might as well use this punishment to practise her calligraphy.

In the evening, when Han Jingyan came back from the yamen before he even went to pay his respects to the Old Lady, he heard the young maid guarding the gate tell him that Wen Shi had pregnancy complications.

Hearing these words, Han Jingyan hurried to the Biteng Courtyard. At that moment, Wen Shi had long since woken up. When she saw Han Jingyan, she became a pear blossom bathed in the rain, looking so sad.

Han Jingyan asked coldly, “What happened? How can you suddenly have pregnancy complications?” His intelligent eldest son had passed away, and none of his three surviving sons was brilliant, so Han Jingyan was full of expectations for Wen Shi’s unborn child. Now, he suddenly heard Wen Shi had complications with her pregnancy; how could he not be angry?

Wen Shi avoided telling him the important one and dwelled on the trivial. “I wanted to drink duck stew a few days ago, but the kitchen kept on saying that there was no duck. Today, Chunlan went to the kitchen to fetch something and saw a duck stew brewed on a small stove. At that moment, she muttered a couple of words to the chef. As a result, the chef spoke overbearingly that the duck stew was made for Concubine Jia……” said Wen Shi, whose tears fell from her eyes again. [T/R]

Han Jingyan asked coldly, “And then what?”

Wen Shi wiped her tears and said, “Chunlan was angry and said something to the chef, but the two of them got into a fight since they are at odds with each other. When the Fourth Miss found out about it, she didn’t punish the cook but had Chunlan beaten up instead. My Lord, Chunlan grew up with me, and we have been as close as sisters. Seeing Chunlan beaten beyond recognition made me feel as hurt as if a knife had sliced my body.” [T/C]

Han Jingyan said with a cold face, “You should get some rest!” After saying that, he went out.

Wen Shi was dumbfounded. The Lord’s reaction was not what she had imagined! According to her imagination, Han Jingyan should have been furious and would have demanded justice for her.

After Han Jingyan went out, he called the old woman servant sent by the Old Lady’s to serve Wen Shi and asked, “How did the Third Lady get pregnancy complications?” He didn’t like Yuxi, but it didn’t mean a woman’s words could easily fool him. Yuxi had many shortcomings, but the Old Lady was the one who raised her. So, she would never be this disorganised.

The old woman servant told the whole story from beginning to end. She didn’t add anything to the story. She just gave a fair account of what had happened. Many of the servants in the State Residence were displeased with Wen Shi’s behaviour, including this old woman servant who served her. Wen Shi was only pregnant, but those who didn’t know would have thought she was pregnant with a lump of gold! But this old woman servant was a bit afraid of Han Jingyan, so she didn’t dare to talk nonsense.

After listening to the old woman servant’s words, Han Jingyan was silent for a moment before turning around and going to the Main Courtyard. He was looking for the Old Lady, not for the sake of Chunlan, whom he didn’t even put in his eyes. Han Jingyan was looking for the Old Lady because he wanted to split the family. “Mother, it’s just over a duck. The chef used all sorts of excuses to reject her request. Someone must have authorised the chef’s action. Mother, let’s split up the family! If we delay any longer, I’m afraid we’ll have more embarrassing things happen in the future.” Han Jingyan thought that this was a deliberate attempt by Qiu Shi to divide the family. It was just as well that he also wanted the same thing. Hence, he simply gave in to Qiu Shi’s wishes. [T/C]

The Old Lady knew what Han Jingyan thought when she heard this request and said, “Although your Dasao is a little discontented in some matters, she would not do such a thing.” If Qiu Shi had wanted to split the family, she would have said so directly and not used such unorthodox means. This was something that the Old Lady was still confident of.

Han Jingyan urged, “Whether or not it was at the behest of my Dasao, Mother, let’s not drag this matter out. If we drag this out any longer, more trouble will surely arise. If we split up sooner, we can have some peace.” He had a lot of property at his disposal. Thus, if they split up, he could still live a good life. To be precise, he would live more comfortable. If he didn’t split from the Main House right now, he would have to hide all these properties from the public. When the family was separated, he could take it out in the open.

Seeing Han Jingyan’s stubborn attitude, there was an indescribable taste in the Old Lady’s heart. “Do you want to split from the family that badly?” In her heart, she did not want to. Although they were still living in the same place, they had become two separate families.

Han Jingyan said, “Mother, even if the family is divided, I will still live in this residence. But it’s just a matter of dividing up the property so that the accounts can be separated and there will be fewer disputes in the future.”

Her son was old enough to have his own ideas, and there was no point in her stopping him. The Old Lady could only say, “Since you want to split up the family, then go and talk to Jianming! I’m already old. I can’t control you anymore.”

Han Jingyan felt a little guilty. “Mother, it is this son who is unfilial.”

The Old Lady was in a bad mood and didn’t want to talk to Han Jingyan anymore. “I’m a bit tired. You should talk to Jianming about dividing the family!” Jianming was the head of the family. He still had to decide on this matter. [+]

After Han Jingyan left, the Old Lady turned to Mama Luo and asked, “Did you find out who incited the incident in the kitchen today?”

Mother Luo shook her head and said she hadn’t found out about it. “From the time the Third Lady was pregnant until now, she has been picky all day long, and on a few occasions, she even asked the chefs to make her a snack in the middle of the night. That’s just as well, but she never rewarded them, so the chefs became angry. Later, the Third Lady said she wanted to eat duck stew, but the kitchen didn’t bother to find any duck.”

The Old Lady asked, “Then, who ordered for the duck stew to be brewed?” It couldn’t have happened by chance that there was none when Wen Shi asked for it, but there was one when Concubine Jia wanted it.

Mama Luo thought for a moment and said, “It seems that Da Nainai saw that Concubine Jia didn’t have much appetite, so she ordered the chefs to make a duck stew.” Ye Shi was the one in charge, so what she had ordered herself, the chefs naturally dared not neglect their job and did their best to find it. That was why Chunlan saw the duck stew being made on the stove.

The Old Lady’s face did not look good anymore. “I didn’t expect that Ye Shi would have such a big heart?” She did not expect that Ye Shi would be behind this matter.

When she thought of this, the Old Lady felt powerless again. Qiu Shi had written her displeasure plainly on her face, but she hadn’t thought that Ye Shi would also be displeased with the Third House. Ye Shi was not Qiu Shi. Qiu Shi was a straightforward person, while Ye Shi was a tactful and scheming person, and that was why she took a fancy to Ye Shi. She just didn’t expect that Ye Shi would one day use tricks on her family.

Mama Luo said, “The chefs always cook no matter what the Third Lady wants to eat. But she is so picky and can’t stop making trouble. Neither the First Lady nor Da Nainai is feeling comfortable in their hearts.” The Third House was originally fed from foods bought from the public account, but Wen Shi was still wanted to be picky, requesting to eat this and that every day. How could this make Ye Shi, the one in charge of the household, feel comfortable? It was only natural for her to use a little trick to punish her.

The Old Lady sighed faintly. Her son had been married for the fourth time and already had many children. Therefore, it was not easy to find a good family girl to match him. Of course, it wasn’t that she couldn’t find a good one. She could still find a good one if she didn’t pay too much attention to the girl’s family background. It was just that her son didn’t like the one she found. In the end, he chose the shallow one. “Forget it. It’s better to split up the family so that we can have a couple of days of peace.” She couldn’t stop a tree from branching when it got bigger.

The Old Lady agreed to the separation, mainly because they would still live together, and she could see her son whenever she wanted to. Otherwise, she would not have agreed to it even if she had to risk her life.

When Han Jianming heard Han Jingyan wanted to split the family, he disagreed. Han Jianming’s reason for disagreeing was simple: there were not many sons in the Han family who were successful, and Han Jingyan was one of them. Although uncle and nephew were not close, they were still a family and would take care of each other in the Imperial Court. Even though the family still lived together after that, there would always be a layer of separation between them.

Han Jingyan was very determined to separate. As for the reasons, they were the same as what he had informed the Old Lady.

When Han Jianming saw that he couldn’t get through his San Shu, he could only bring out the Old Lady’s matter. “San Shu, Grandmother won’t agree to split the family.” With one of the parents still alive, there should not be any separation of the family.

Han Jingyan said, “I have already told your Grandmother, and she has also agreed. Although we say we are splitting up the family, we are just dividing up the property and taking care of our own food and usage. We will still live in the residence in the future. When your Grandmother is 100 years old, I will move out with my family.” [T/C]

Fine. Since his San Shu already had all these long-term matters in his mind, it was clear that he was determined to split up from the family. Han Jianming knew it was useless to persuade him any longer. “Since San Shu has already decided, I’ll go and ask Father to come back tomorrow.” It was true that he was the head of the family, but he was still a junior at the same time. Although others said that his father was a bit abnormal, it was still necessary for him to be present for such an important event as the division of the family. Of course, Han Jianming also had to invite a few clan elders and in-laws to come over as witnesses.

Han Jingyan felt that it made no difference whether his Dage was there or not, as he had never managed these kinds of things anyway. It was just that it was not good to say this in front of Han Jianming. “Alright.”

The matter was, basically, settled.