The Rebirth of Han Yuxi

Chapter 403 : A Messenger From The Capital (1)

When Zijin finished massaging Yuxi’s shoulders, she sought Master Yang. When she saw him, she asked, “Master, do you think a person’s imposing presence can be that powerful?” Rather than being intimidated by that look in Yun Qing’s eyes, she was more unnerved by the evil aura from his whole body.

Master Yang was currently drinking his japonica rice porridge! Although he only received a monthly salary of twenty taels from the Yun Residence, his food was pretty good, which was no different than what Yuxi, the mistress, ate.

After finishing his congee and having another bite of small dishes, Master Yang got up and asked, “What’s wrong? Did Yun Qing discipline you?”

Zijin was not afraid of losing face. She didn’t have much of an image to maintain at Master Yang’s place anyway. “No, it’s just that yesterday Yun Qing hurt Madam. I tried to say something to him at the time, but he glared at me. I was so scared that my whole body froze. Master, do you know at that time, Yun Qing was looking at me like I was going to be a dead man? It was so scary.” To say the least, she was not too timid, but she was so scared of Yun Qing that she ran away from him. It was estimated that not many people would believe what she had just said.

Master Yang wasn’t surprised at all. “Do you know how many people Yun Qing has killed since he went to war?”

Zijin didn’t know about this and hadn’t bothered to ask. “How many people had he killed? It can’t be eight hundred to a thousand, right?” Eight hundred to a thousand was already the limit she could think of.

Master Yang looked at Zijin like she was an idiot. “Eight hundred to a thousand? Are you kidding me? How could Yun Qing rise to his current position by killing eight hundred to a thousand enemies?” It had only taken Yun Qing seven short years to climb from the bottom to his current position, relying on real military achievements.

Zijin had killed people herself but never exceeded the number of her two hands put together. Zijin opened her mouth and asked, “How many was it?”

Master Yang replied, “I’m not sure exactly how much, but probably tens of thousands!” When he uttered these words, Zijin’s legs went soft.

Seeing her reaction, Master Yang snorted coldly. “Look at you.” It’s just a matter of killing ten thousand people, and she was already this scared.

Zijin opened her mouth after a long time, saying, “Master, you’re not teasing me, are you?” Killing ten thousand people? What kind of notion was that? Ten thousand corpses could pile up in their courtyard, and she estimated that the place still wouldn’t be enough to store them.

Master Yang laughed lightly. “If not ten thousand, it must at least be seven to eight thousand, right? He killed quite a few people anyway. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made so many military achievements.” If Yun Qing’s military accomplishments were not eye-catching, the Song family would have suppressed him long ago. There was no way they would let him be promoted to the third rank.

As Zijin listened, she muttered to herself, “I won’t let this matter be known to Madam. If Madam knew, she would be scared to death.” Yes, this matter must be concealed and not told to Madam.

Master Yang was amused when he heard this. “You are worrying blindly. That Han girl is much more daring than you are. Even if she knew about it, she wouldn’t even care.” If she did mind, she wouldn’t have become a loving couple with Yun Qing. Speaking of which, this boy Yun Qing was truly blessed. If he had taken another woman as his wife, he would not lead a comfortable life just like now.

Zijin didn’t believe this. “Madam is still pregnant with her child. If this were made known to her, it wouldn’t be good for the child either.” So, she was determined not to say anything.

Master Yang said smilingly, “It’s a wonder if you can hide your words! Don’t burden yourself. Just tell her about it later! I promise you that Han girl will not be frightened when she hears this.”

Zijin thought this matter was too dark.

Master Yang changed his question, “Then tell me how Yun Qing hurt that Han girl yesterday. Was it intentional or unintentional?”

Zijin blurted out, “Of course, it was unintentional.” If it had been intentional, she would have had to take Madam away from this violent man even if she was afraid of him.

Master Yang also guessed that the injury was unintentional, but he was not a young man of 17 or 18 years old and was not even curious about how Yuxi had gotten injured. “Then, tell me, was that Han girl scared? Or was she even angry?”

Zijin answered reluctantly, “No, she wasn’t” This was what Zijin was most angry about. Not only was Yuxi not angry, but she even sided with Yun Qing and didn’t cherish herself.

Master Yang said, “That’s all that matters. The injured person was not even scared and didn’t scold anyone, so what are you blathering on about? No more talk. Hurry up and eat your meal!” Even without thinking too deeply about it, how could Han girl let herself suffer any losses? If it hadn’t happened for a reason, she certainly wouldn’t have let it go by so easily and quietly. As for what it was, he didn’t have the drive to get to the bottom of it.

Zijin had no choice but to return. As soon as she entered the inner courtyard, she saw Yuxi sitting at the table eating her breakfast. Zijin didn’t even know what kind of mood she was in now and couldn’t help but mutter, “The Emperor is not worried, but his eunuchs are.” No, the injured person was not even worried while she, the onlooker, was in a frenzy.

Yuxi urged with a smile, “Hurry up and eat. The food will get cold if you don’t.” She couldn’t tell Zijin that Yun Qing was sick. It was not that Zijin couldn’t keep things to herself. On the contrary, even though Zijin was usually a chatterbox, she would not divulge a single word about important matters. It was just that if Zijin knew about it, she would become even more worried, and then a small issue could easily become a big one.

After finishing her meal, Yuxi went into her study, pondered it carefully, and wrote down a recipe for a medicinal dish, then prepared to go to the herbs room to look for the ingredients. When she looked up and saw Zijin looking like she wanted to say something but was holding it back, Yuxi couldn’t help but smile. “If you have something to say, say it. Don’t hold it in. You’ll get sick if you hold it in for too long.” Yun Qing’s illness was a result of holding it all in.

Zijin couldn’t conceal anything in front of Yuxi and made a mental note before speaking, “Madam, it is truly remarkable that the General has achieved so many battle feats.”

The praise sounded so fake that Yuxi couldn’t even look at her. “If you have anything to say, say it out loud. I won’t be angry.” With yesterday’s incident, Zijin wouldn’t say anything good about Yun Qing.

Seeing this reaction, Zijin uttered, “Madam, when the General took one look at me yesterday, he almost scared me to death. My Master just told me that the General has been on the battlefield for a long time and carries a powerful killing aura. It’s even hard for ordinary people to withstand it. Madam, aren’t you afraid?”

Yuxi laughed. “What’s there to be afraid of? Is he going to kill me? I think you are too idle. That’s why you have time to think about this.”

Zijin thought this matter was too incredible and asked, “Didn’t he hurt you yesterday?” It was too dangerous to stay with such a person.

Yuxi couldn’t help laughing. “Didn’t I say it was an accident? There won’t be another one, so don’t worry!” It was also yesterday’s incident that made her genuinely understand why Yun Qing had the title of the murderous devil behind him. Of course, that title was a bit exaggerated. After all, all the people Yun Qing killed were his enemies, not his own people. But there was no such thing as the wind coming from an empty cave, and Yun Qing’s illness was probably the cause. If he had treated this disease at the beginning, he would have been cured. It was actually a small disease, just like when one got a cold. With the right medicine, one could be healed sooner. But if one didn’t get the correct remedy and kept dragging it out, it would become a major illness later on.

Zijin muttered, “Who can guarantee this?”

Yuxi smiled. “If you don’t believe me, just watch.” After saying that, she went into the herbs room and selected some herbs.

Looking at a pot of prepared medicinal food, Zijin looked at Yuxi with bright eyes and asked, “Madam, is this for the General?” They didn’t smell too good!

Yuxi smiled. “I’ll let him eat them for a month. I believe he will remember it for a long time. What do you think?” In fact, Yuxi felt that her standard in preparing medicinal food was much better than before!

Zijin smiled. “Yes. Now I believe that there will be no more accidents in the future.” The medicinal food made by Momo Quan was delicious, and the ones made by Madam were no better than poison. Once Yun Qing ate this medicine worse than poison for a month, she believed he would not dare to be rude to Madam again. Zijin was very satisfied with this solution.

The matter of Yuxi’s shoulder injury passed.

A few days later, when Zijin returned from school and had just reached the residence gate, she heard a man speaking in the capital dialect call out, “Is this the residence of Assistant General Yun?”

After listening to the question, the gatekeeper, who could also speak the official language, replied, “Yes, it is. I wonder, is there anything Sir Official wants here?” The man was dressed in official clothes, so naturally, the gatekeeper called him Sir Official.

When Zijin heard that the person was a messenger, she asked, “Who wrote the letter?” Zijin used the capital dialect. Having been in the capital for many years, Zijin could speak it smoothly!

Seeing this, the visitor looked Zijin up and down and asked, “May I ask who this girl is?” She must have come from the capital if she could speak with a fluent capital accent.

The gatekeeper was busy introducing Zijin to the visitor, “This is my Madam’s personal maid, Miss Zijin.” This lady was Madam’s favourite person, so she must not be offended.

When the messenger heard the gatekeeper’s introduction, he introduced himself. “I am from the Jing Wangfu. My Wangfei has written a letter to your Madam and asked this little one to deliver it.”

Hearing this, Zijin said, “Give me the letter, and I will pass it on to my Madam.” This was the established procedure for the residence.

The visitor shook his head. “Wangfei instructed this little one to ensure the letter is given personally to the Madam.” This meant that he would not hand the letter to Zijin but would have to do so in person.

Mongolian Paizi/Tablet/Signage

Image Credit | RadioFan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hearing this, Zijin glanced at the visitor. He was a handsome man, dressed in the notable clothes of the Jing Wangfu, and had an air of arrogance as if he was proud of being from a wangfu. Zijin didn’t make things difficult for the other party and said, “Bring me the wangfu signage; I’ll go in and give it to Madam.”

The man immediately handed the signage to Zijin from his sleeve.

Zijin took it, looked at the signage carefully, found it correct, and nodded. “Then you can come in with me!” After walking a few steps, Zijin turned her head back and asked, “What is your surname? What do you do in the wangfu?”

The visitor answered, “My surname is Shi. I am the steward of the wangfu.”

Zijin did not ask any further questions but turned towards Steward Shi and instructed, “Wait here for a moment. I will go and inform Madam first.” They were still in the front courtyard. She would only bring someone to the inner courtyard after verification.

The visitor naturally had no objection.