The Rebirth of Han Yuxi

Yun Qing only woke up when the sun was already three poles high.

After washing up, he heard Gancao say that Yuxi was making clothes in the side room. Yun Qing walked over and saw Yuxi with her head bowed as she sewed.

Yun Qing grumbled, ”Didnʼt I tell you not to do needlework anymore? Why wonʼt you listen?” Yuxi was skilled in her craft, but even so, it was still only clothing worn on the body; having the servants make it would be no different.

Yuxi put down the needle and thread, smiled, and responded, ”This garment is almost finished. I cannot give up halfway through. Once Iʼm done with it, I wonʼt sew any more.” After saying this, she raised her head and noticed that Yun Qingʼs belt was slightly crooked, so she got up and straightened it for him.

Yun Qing complained rather helplessly, ”Other peopleʼs wives listen to songs and watch plays, so why are you unwilling to be idle even for a moment?” Yuan Yingʼs wife often hired a storyteller to tell her stories, and Du Zhengʼs wife also liked to invite female singers to perform for her. All the other wives lived comfortably and freely, but Yuxi liked being busy all the time and said it made her life fulfilling.

Yuxi smiled and said, ”Maybe I was born with a fate of toil. Let us not talk about this. Letʼs have breakfast first!” Yun Qingʼs breakfast had already been long prepared!

Looking at the millet porridge, Yun Qing remarked, ”Speaking of which, Momo Quanʼs hangover tea really works well. In the past, when I woke up after a night of drinking, my head would hurt, but now it doesnʼt.”

Yuxi smiled. ”This is Momo Quanʼs exclusive formula.” She had also given this formula to Feng Dajun, Yuan Ying, and several others. Whenever they gathered together, they would end up drinking, but with this sobering tea, they would suffer a little less.

Not long after breakfast, Yuxi saw that Yun Qing was preparing to go out and said, ”Herui, there is something I want to discuss with you.” As long as she took the lead, it would be easy to resolve this matter.

Yun Qing asked, ”What is it? Why are you being so serious?”

Yuxi replied, ”Yang Duoming came over yesterday afternoon. He told me that the attendants by Jiang Biaodiʼs side are looking for Yan Xi. As you know, Yan Xi helps me gather information.”

Yun Qing asked, looking puzzled, ”Yan Xi? Why is Biaodi looking for Yan Xi?” He knew that Yan Xi was Yang Duomingʼs subordinate.

Yuxi shook her head. ”I asked Yang Duoming, and he said that he had only found out that the Jiang familyʼs people were taking Yan Xiʼs portrait around the Tongguan area and asking people about it. As for the specifics, he does not know either.” Something half-true and half-false was the most believable.

Yun Qing thought for a moment and asked, ”What has Yan Xi been doing during this period?” Biaodi could not possibly have sent people to look for Yan Xi for no reason.

Yuxi hesitated for a moment before answering, ”I sent Yang Duoming and Yan Xi to Henan to familiarise themselves with the situation there. Yang Duoming took Yan Xi and stayed in Luoyang for some time. But Yang Duoming said that they were only gathering intelligence and did nothing else.”

Yun Qing asked strangely, ”Why did you send Yang Duoming and Yan Xi to Luoyang?” Seeing Yuxi lower her head and remain silent, he had a rough idea of why she had sent the two of them to Henan.

Thinking of this, Yun Qing sighed. ”In last yearʼs war, the northwest lost three hundred thousand people. Yuxi, if war breaks out again, even more people will die.”

Nearly three hundred thousand people had died in last yearʼs war in the northwest, but one-third of those deaths were caused by fighting the Northern Barbarians. However, Yuxi did not dare tell Yun Qing this. If she did, Yun Qing would definitely be unhappy.

Yuxi responded, ”I donʼt like war either. I also want to live a peaceful and happy life with you and the children. But in these chaotic times, things will not go the way we want them to. If the situation changes and we are not prepared, we will suffer a serious loss.”

Seeing that Yun Qing did not refute her, Yuxi continued, ”Yunnan has already rebelled, Fujian is in chaos too, and the other places are not peaceful either. This kind of false peace cannot be maintained for long. We still have to make preparations as early as possible, lest others come fighting us right to our door and catch us unable to react in time.” Yun Qing governed the army very strictly. After one year of training, the newly recruited army of more than two hundred thousand had already shed their wombs and changed their bones. In addition, some of their weapons and equipment had been replaced to avoid being caught unawares in the event of a direct attack. However, they could not become too comfortable; once they did, they would easily lose their fighting spirit.

Yun Qing was not someone who could easily be talked into moving. After a long while, he said, ”Let me think about this matter again.” Yun Qing did not want war at all, because war meant casualties. In the past, he had fought in wars to protect his family and defend the country. Now, if war began again, it would be the soldiers of the Great Zhou dynasty who would be killed.

Fortunately, Yuxi was a very patient person; otherwise, after Yun Qingʼs repeated evasions, she would have lost her temper. Yuxi informed him, ”I have already instructed Xiao Hei to send people to Hubei and the Shu region to assess the situation.” Names like ʼBlack Widowʼ sounded too unpleasant, so Yuxi called the other party Xiao Hei.

Yun Qing advised, ”Then have them be more cautious and not cause trouble.” He did not want his people to be the ones to provoke a war.

Yuxi was somewhat annoyed, but she also did not want to quarrel with Yun Qing either, so she said, ”Your Biaodi should be awake by now, too. You should go and see him.” If they kept talking, her patience would run out.

How could Yun Qing not realise that Yuxi was trying to drive him away? ”Iʼm not going to the front courtyard today. Iʼm resting for half a day!” Although he knew it would not be of much use, Yun Qing could not help but say it.

Yuxi rarely nodded. ”I was thinking that from now on, we should let the officials below rest for a day every ten days. What do you think?” In the previous year, the officials had no holidays. There was too much work and not enough people to do it, so they could only bury their heads and work bitterly. Fortunately, the lower-level officials had no complaints either.

Yun Qing froze for three seconds. His wife, who could never sit still for a moment, was actually considering taking some time off. This was truly the sun rising from the west.

Yuxi found Yun Qingʼs expression both funny and irritating and retorted, ”What kind of look is that? There were too many things to do before, so we could only get busier. Now everything has entered the proper track, so itʼs time for everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.” They were not oxen; how could they work non-stop all year round!

Yun Qing came to his senses and responded with a smile, ”That is naturally good.” There was nothing better than Yuxi thinking it through and being willing to rest.

When Jiang Hongfu saw Yun Qing, he noticed that Yun Qing was in a very good mood. He thought that Yun Qing was happy because of his arrival. ”Biaoge, I am preparing to make a trip to the prefectural office.” Once he arrived in Haocheng, he would certainly have to report to the local prefectural office.

Yun Qing waved his hand. ”Just send someone to inform Liu Biyuan.” Liu Biyuan was Jiang Hongfuʼs direct superior.

Jiang Hongfu shook his head. ”How could this be acceptable? If Official Liu found out, he would think I was putting on airs!” Despite the rumours about Yun Qing, Jiang Hongfu did not believe them. Sure enough, Biaoge was still the same as he had been more than ten years ago, with little change.

Yun Qing did not stop him either, nodding as he said, ”Since you want to go yourself, then go. I will have someone take you there.”

Jiang Hongfu did not refuse again. ”Biaoge, there is something I would like to ask your help with.” If Yun Qing could help his family search for Yan Xi, they should be able to find the man very quickly.

Yun Qing didnʼt think too much of it and said, ”Weʼre brothers. Thereʼs no need to be so formal. What do you need?” Despite having been separated for over ten years, Yun Qing did not feel the slightest sense of unfamiliarity towards his brother. This was largely because their families had been close in the past.

Jiang Hongfu handed Yun Qing a painting and requested, ”Biaoge, I want to find this person. The faster he is found, the better.”

Hearing this, Yun Qing could not help but think of Yuxiʼs words. However, he had never met Yan Xi, so even with a portrait, he could not be certain. Yun Qing pretended to be very casual and asked, ”Who is this person? Why are you looking for him?”

Jiang Hongfu sighed and replied, ”This person is called Yan Xi. In the past, he was a bandit from Maicheng. I do not know who instructed him, but he harmed my Er Di. I want to find him and expose the person behind the curtain.” No matter how much he disliked Jiang Hongjin, he was still his younger brother. Knowing that Jiang Hongjin had been plotted against like this, how could he just watch with folded arms from the sideline? Furthermore, because he did not know exactly why the other party had harmed Jiang Hongjin, Jiang Hongfu was worried. If the person behind the curtain had a grudge against the Jiang family, his own situation would also be in danger.

Yun Qing frowned. ”That second younger brother of yours attracts peopleʼs hatred just for being like a peacock all day long. Perhaps that bandit was not acting under someoneʼs orders, but simply could not stand his behaviour.” Jiang Hongjin was someone who regarded himself very highly, and on top of that, his maternal grandfather, Grand Chancellor Yu, was the spiritual leader of scholars. He therefore looked down on the Yun family, believing them to be crude and reckless. Every time he saw Yun Qing, he always had an air of being high above everyone else. Yun Qing had wanted to beat him up several times but had refrained himself out of consideration for Jiang Hongfu. However, Jiang Hongjin had left a very bad impression on him.

Jiang Hongfu had not expected Yun Qing to still remember things from childhood. In fact, he was also annoyed by Jiang Hongjinʼs disdain for the Yun family. Because of this, the relationship between the two brothers had never been good. Jiang Hongfu shook his head. ”Thatʼs probably not the case. Not only did he drug my Er Di, but he also disfigured him.”

When Yun Qing heard the word ʼdruggedʼ, he asked, ”What drug was used?” After hearing that it was a sterility drug, Yun Qing nodded. ”It is not that I want to say this, but with Jiang Hongjinʼs personality of putting no one in his eyes, he probably does not even know what formidable person he offended.

Yun Qing guessed that the person behind the curtain was Yang Duoming, because Yan Xi was Yang Duomingʼs heart-and-belly subordinate. He just did not know how Jiang Hongjin, who easily pulled hatred onto himself, had offended Yang Duoming to the point that Yang Duoming would use such a ruthless hand against him. The reason he did not think this matter had anything to do with Yuxi was that she usually behaved so well that he had not considered this possibility at all.

Jiang Hongfu immediately shook his head. ”Hongjinʼs temperament was indeed somewhat bad when he was young, but after growing up, he became sensible.”

Yun Qing shook his head in disagreement. ”Rivers and mountains are easy to change, but oneʼs nature is hard to shift. Forget it, let us not talk about this. I will have someone investigate it later.” Yang Duoming had harmed Jiang Hongjin, not Jiang Hongfu, so Yun Qing had no intention of calling Yang Duoming out.

Yun Qing was very protective of his own people. Since Yang Duoming was on Yuxiʼs side, he was on Yun Qingʼs side too. Therefore, Yun Qing naturally had to protect him. Moreover, Yang Duoming had travelled to Henan to gather information on Yuxiʼs orders. If Jiang Hongfu found out about this, who knew what he might think? Although Yun Qing trusted that Jiang Hongfu would not harm him, proper precautions still had to be taken. It was better for both of them that way.

Jiang Hongfu expressed his gratitude: ”Many thanks, Biaoge.”

きつねʼs Note

The titles of Chapters 763 and 764 are derived from the Chinese idiom, 阴差阳错 (yīn chā yáng cuò), which means ʼa series of coincidental and accidental events that lead to an unexpected outcomeʼ. However, I donʼt think either chapter portrays the meaning of the idiom correctly; rather, they portray it separately.

This is my personal take of the idiom is this: 阴差 (yīn chā) which translates as ʼThe Error Of Yinʼ refers to Yuxiʼs mistake in not planning her revenge properly, instead relying completely on Yang Duoming to complete the task. He did do his job, but at what cost? He claimed that Yan Xi had disguised himself when dealing with the delinquents, yet the witnesses were still able to describe his features so accurately. Yang Duoming even confessed to Yan Xi that it was his fault that Yan Xiʼs cover was blown. This caused the next chapter to be titled ʼThe Fault of Yang (阳错 (yáng cuò))ʼ. 🤷‍♀️ For the record, ʼyinʼ usually refers to female and ʼyangʼ to male.