The Rebirth of Han Yuxi

Chapter 461 : Wu Kuo (1)

When Yun Qing woke up, it was already dawn. After seeing no one around, he quickly got up, went out and asked Mama Lan, who was outside, “Where are Madam and the girl?”

Mama Lan replied, “Madam was afraid of disturbing General, so she carried the Eldest Young Miss into the study to sleep. General, don’t worry. The Eldest Young Miss is fine.” There was no bed in the study, but there was a wooden couch.

Yun Qing exclaimed, “Nonsense…” After he finished speaking, he was ready to go to the study.

Mama Lan hastily stopped him. “General, Madam has just closed her eyes.” If Yun Qing went over like this, he would definitely wake up Yuxi.

Yun Qing paused in his steps and asked, “Is everything alright with Madam?” It was better not to be the case the child getting better but the adult getting tired.

Mama Lan shook her head. “Madam is just tired. She’ll be fine after a good rest.” It was because Madam wanted to do everything herself. She would not have been so tired if she had left the Eldest Young Miss to them.

Since his wife and child were fine, Yun Qing stopped dwelling on it and left after breakfast. The new recruits would arrive in a couple of days, and there was much he needed to deal with.

When Yuxi heard the sound of a baby crying in her sleep, she woke up with a start. After getting up, she hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong with Zaozao? Has she got a fever again?”

Mama Lan shook her head. “Eldest Yong Miss is just hungry.”

Yuxi was a little speechless when she heard this, but instead of rushing to feed the baby, she had a bath first. Only when she had finished did she feed Zaozao, who had lost all her energy from crying so much.

Just after she had finished breastfeeding, Han Dong, who was outside, asked for an audience.

When Yuxi received a visitation letter from Han Dong, she saw it was written with the name Wu Gao, so she was a little confused. She didn’t know anyone with the surname Wu. Before Yuxi could ask any questions, Han Dong handed her another letter. “Madam, this is a personal letter from the Duke of the State.” Without this letter, he would not have been able to deliver the visitation letter to Yuxi.

Yuxi was familiar with Han Jianming’s writing, so when she saw that it was indeed from Han Jianming, she opened it immediately. In the letter, Han Jianming said that Wu Kuo belonged to the younger generation of the wealthiest family in Jiangnan, the Wu family and that if she still could not find a suitable candidate, she could consider this person.

Han Jianming knew Yuxi’s nature. If he had asked her to use the person from the Wu family directly, Yuxi might not be willing to do so. Therefore, he left the choice to Yuxi. Han Jianming believed that as long as this person met Yuxi’s requirements, there was still a good chance that Wu Gao would get the job.

After reading the letter, Yuxi paused momentarily before asking, “I’ve heard people mention the Wu family, the richest family in Jiangnan when I was socialising, but I don’t know them very well. So please tell me about the situation of the Wu family.” Although she had heard about the Wu family when she was out socialising, she hadn’t had any dealings with them, so naturally, she wouldn’t press others about their situation.

For Han Dong, who ran shops outside, it was impossible not to have heard of the Wu family. “Madam should know about the Wang family, the richest family in the capital; this Wu family is similar to the Wang family. Some people even jokingly say that the south belongs to the Wu and the north belongs to the Wang.” After a pause, he continued, “In fact, the Wu family’s businesses are even bigger than the Wang family’s. The Wu family runs businesses such as rice and grain, medicinal materials, restaurants, silk and jewellery.” In one simple sentence, as long as the business was very lucrative, there was a shadow of the Wu family.

Yuxi didn’t know much about the Wu family, but she did know about the Wang family. At that time, Qiu Yanfu had almost become Eldest Young Master Wang’s concubine. Yuxi asked, “Is the Wu family an imperial merchant?” If they were, why had she never heard of them?

Han Dong shook his head. “The Wu family was an imperial merchant thirty years ago, but their qualification was later revoked. A few years later, they rose again. Later, the Wu family did not become an imperial merchant for some unknown reason.” Despite not being imperial merchants, they were even more powerful than the current ones.

Hearing this explanation, Yuxi thought that the Wu family was quite interesting. “Is this Wu Kuo, the son of the head of the Wu family?”

Han Dong replied, “Madam, this Wu Kuo is the firstborn di[1] son of Wu Meng, the head of the Wu family.”

Yuxi was stunned as she asked, “Are you saying that Wu Kuo is the head of the Wu family’s firstborn di[1] son? The world is so chaotic these days, and this Wu family head is comfortable enough with his eldest son coming to such a dangerous place as Yu City?” Whether the head of the Wu family was too comfortable or did not care about this son of his was something that needed serious consideration.

Han Dong explained, “I haven’t heard much about the eldest di[1] son of the Wu family before, but Wu Qian, the second di[1] son, is very famous. It is said that he was born to do business.” Seeing that Yuxi was very interested, he continued, “Wu Qian became an apprentice in a shop at the age of six, started learning business at the age of eight, and managed a shop at the age of ten. The business of his shop was unusually good. Many people know Wu Qian, but not Wu Kuo.”

Yuxi smiled when she heard this analysis. The situation of Wu Kuo and Wu Qian was very similar to that of her and Yuchen. The world only knew the Third Young Miss of the Han family, who was highly talented and had the appearance of a fairy, but no one had ever heard of her, the Fourth Young Miss. The only difference was that Wu Kuo was the eldest, and Wu Qian was the second. As such, Wu Quo, the eldest, was under much more pressure. Yuxi smiled and said, “Tell him I don’t have time to see him today because the Eldest Young Miss is sick. Please tell him to come back the day after tomorrow.”[T/C]

Han Dong accepted the order and retreated.

Yuxi thought about it for a while, then called Mama Lan and Mama Qu, asking them, “Have you heard of the Wu family, the wealthiest family in Jiangnan?”

Mama Lan shook her head. She was very good at looking after the children but didn’t know much about the outside world.

In comparison, Mama Qu knew much more about the outside world. After hearing Yuxi’s question, she answered at once, “If I remember correctly, the matriarch of the Wu family is related to the Yu family through her mother.” Wu Meng’s mother-in-law was Grand Chancellor Yu’s tangmei[3]. Their relationship was, in fact, quite close.

Yuxi smiled and exclaimed, “No wonder!” It was no wonder the Wu family had risen so quickly to become the wealthiest household in Jiangnan. It was because they had the Yu family as their backers! The Yu family had now become the most prestigious family in Jiangnan because of the great figure of Grand Chancellor Yu.

That night, Yuxi told Yun Qing about this matter. “The Wu family has strong financial resources, and it would be great to cooperate with them. However, there is just one problem.”

Yun Qing asked, “What kind of problem?”

Yuxi replied, “The Wu family’s backer is the Yu family. I am worried that when the time comes, we will be constrained by the Yu family.” She didn’t want to be constrained by others.

Yun Qing responded with a smile, “Even if the Wu family’s backer is the Yu family, it doesn’t matter. They wouldn’t dare to play around with this military matter. Otherwise, the whole family will be executed.” Yuxi was good at everything, but her only flaw was overthinking.

Yuxi nodded. “Then I’ll meet this Wu Kuo in a couple of days and see his attitude.” From the perspective of interests, it was naturally best to cooperate with such a person with strong financial resources. However, it was still necessary to keep two extra eyes open.

Yun Qing made a sound of recognition and said, “The task of supplying army provisions can be given to the Wu family, but not for medicinal herbs.”

Yuxi actually had other ideas in mind. “He Rui, I want to do the medicinal herb business myself.” The profit from medicinal herbs was much greater than that from rice and grain.

Yun Qing shook his head. “That won’t do. This medicinal herb business is no child’s play. Although you know about medicinal herbs, others do not. If you buy fake medicine, it won’t be as simple as losing money.” There was one more thing Yun Qing did not say: once Yuxi was in the herbal business, she was bound to be very busy, and Yun Qing did not want her to be overworked.

Yuxi thought awhile and said, “If I can’t do the medicine herb business, can I open a medicine shop in Yu City?” The physician her Dage[4] sent to her would not have to just sit idly in the mansion.

If Yuxi wanted to open a medicine shop with a ready-made physician, Yun Qing would have no objection. He didn’t have a problem with it as long as it wasn’t something that Yuxi personally had to worry about.

The next day, Wu Gao received an invitation from the Yun Residence. Looking at the invitation in his hand, he did not smile but fell into deep thought.

Seeing this scene, Wu Shun, the personal attendant at his side, asked, “Eldest Master, it’s good that Yun Residence sent an invitation card. Why do you still look so unhappy?”

Wu Kuo returned to his senses, put down the invitation and said, “It may not necessarily be a good thing.” This Han was no ordinary woman. He had to be well prepared, or he would definitely suffer losses.[Note]

Yuxi was holding Zaozao and sunbathing with her in the yard. This was also Mama Lan’s suggestion, as she said it was a good thing for a child to bask in the sun occasionally. Mama Lan couldn’t explain what the basis for this was, just that it was good for the child.

It was just about sunbathing and not taking medicine, so Yuxi listened. But the weather was hot now. Even when she took her child out to sunbathe, it was only for half a shichen[6] in the morning.

Gancao came in and told Yuxi that Huo Changqing missed Zaozao and hoped that Yuxi could get someone to take Zaozao out to the front yard so that he could see her.

Yuxi handed the restless Zaozao in her arms to Mama Lan and said, “Uncle Huo is a big man, and carelessness is inevitable, so you should take better care of her.” It was hard to say anything about Huo Changqing, so she could only warn Mama Lan repeatedly.

Not long after Zaozao was carried out, Han Dong came in and reported, “Madam, the Eldest Master Wu is waiting outside.”

Yuxi hmmed and said, “Take him to the parlour in the front yard, and I’ll go there later.” Not everyone could come to the backyard.

After changing her clothes, Yuxi took Zijin to the front courtyard. As soon as she entered the main hall, she saw a person standing in the parlour. She saw that the man was wearing an ice-blue changpao with elegant bamboo leaf patterns embroidered on his robe, and there was a jade belt[7] around his waist. His eyebrows were as long as his temples. He had slender, gentle eyes, a beautiful, straight nose bridge, and fair skin that belonged specifically to the people of Jiangnan. His lips were as rosy as if they were painted with rouge.

Wu Kuo was also surprised when he saw Yuxi. He had also been to the capital, and although the women in the north were a little taller than the girls in the south, this was the first time he had seen such a tall woman. Wu Kuo suppressed his surprise as he bowed after seeing Yuxi, “Greetings, Madam Yun.”

Yuxi smiled lightly. “Eldest Master Wu, has anyone ever told you that you are very beautiful.” Beautiful was usually a description used for a woman. In fact, although Wu Kuo looked awfully pretty, he did not look feminine. For Yuxi to use the word beautiful to describe Wu Kuo here had a contemptuous meaning.

Wu Shun, who had followed him in, had a slightly dark expression after hearing these words. This Lady Yun was too ruthless. Although the Wu family was not an official family, their master was not someone to be teased. Luckily, Wu Shun still remembered his own status. He did not dare to speak out, even though he was angry!

Wu Kuo smiled and said, “Thank you, Madam Yun, for your compliments.”

Yuxi sat down gently and said, “It’s not a compliment, but the truth.” Even in the capital, few people could match this appearance.

Wu Kuo was not annoyed as he responded, “Looks are given by parents. Whether beautiful or ugly, they are all gifts from them.” It could not be helped that as Wu Kuo got older, it became apparent he had inherited all of his parents’ good qualities.

Yuxi smiled gently.