When Yuxi arrived at Biteng Courtyard, she immediately walked into the house and saw that there were only Han Jingyan and Wu Shi there, without any maids around.

Yuxi knew Wu Shi must have been complaining about her again. However, it wasn’t obviously shown on Wu Shi’s face, so Yuxi respectfully greeted the two of them, and then stood in situ earnestly.

Han Jingyan asked with a cold face, “What were you doing in your Dage eldest brother’s yard just now?” He had just found out from Wu Shi’s side about Yuxi had gone to Jianming’s study, and it hadn’t happened just this once, but it had happened every now and then.

Yuxi already made an excuse, “It was Dage eldest brother who asked me to come over.”

Han Jingyan’s face didn’t look good anymore, “What did your Dage eldest brother tell you to go over there for? What could he want from you?”

Yuxi lowered her head and answered in a low voice, “Dage eldest brother called me over to ask me about my three shops that have been smashed.” Despite the fact that it had been a while since this matter happened, Yuxi was sure that Han Jingyan still didn’t know about it.

Han Jingyan was aware that Yuxi had three small shops, but since the Old Lady had given her initial approval, he couldn’t say anything about it. So when he heard that Yuxi’s three shops were smashed this time, the expression on his face changed, “How did your three shops get smashed?”

Yuxi looked very aggrieved as she said, “This morning a group of ruffians came to my shops. They smashed everythings that they saw, and injured many of my workers.”

Han Jingyan’s expression changed again, “They were truly ignoring the law and heaven Chinese idiom : defy laws and regulations.”

At this moment, a maid outside announced, “My Lord, my Lady, Third Miss is here.” When Yuchen received the news, she was afraid that Yuxi would be scolded by Father again, thus she urgently rushed over there.

When Han Jingyan saw Yuchen, he immediately asked, “Chen-er, were your shops also smashed?”

Yuchen was taken aback for a moment, then she shook her head and replied, “No, my shops have all been rented out.” Many of Yuchen’s shops were not clearly made known to the general public, so they managed to escape from being targeted. Of course, even if many of Yuchen’s shops were rented out, she still gained profit directly from them.

With Yuchen present, Han Jingyan retracted all the words he had prepared to scold Yuxi. Since the rest of the story was not worth asking, he prepared to let Yuxi return.

Yuxi wouldn’t let go of such a good opportunity. After thinking of what to say, she spoke out, “Father, mother blamed me and San Jie san=third, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie for Liu Di liu=sixth, di=younger brother, short form for Didi’s injury and Mother even called us jinxes? Although San Jie san=third, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie and I are not Mother’s blood children, we have always been respectful to her. If this matter goes out, how else can us, these daughters, live?” When she finished speaking, tears started to streak down her face. T

/N : She’s really a good actress! This is a compliment btw.

Han Jingyan’s expression darkened and he asked Yuchen, “Is what Yuxi said true?” Yuxi’s words were not credible, but Yuchen would not lie to him.

Yuchen remembered the scene at the time. She hesitated for a bit but then she nodded slightly. Although Wu Shi did not obviously say her name at the time, all the words Wu Shi had said still implied that she was also a jinx. However, Yuchen also helped to explain on Wu Shi’s behalf, “At that time, Mother was also overwhelmed with sadness because of Liu Di’s leg injury.”

This was like pouring oil onto the fire, as the blue veins on Han Jingyan’s hands started to appear. Once a young lady bore the reputation of being a jinx, not to mention marrying into a high family, even the average family wouldn’t want to marry her. If that was the case, then Yuchen and Yuxi would be the same as useless, and Han Jingyan would not allow this kind of thing to happen. He instructed, “You girls go back!”

Once both of them were out of the Biteng Courtyard, Yuxi gratefully said, “San Jie san=third, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie, thank you.” How could Yuxi not know the reason for Yuchen to rush over this time was to help her out of her predicament.

Yuchen smiled, “I also haven’t seen Father for a few days, so I came over to take a look.” After saying this she also gave a bit of advice, “Yuxi, it’s not that I’m blaming you, but you really should restrain your temper. We no longer have our birth Mother. Since our Mother right now is still our elder, you shouldn’t clearly confronted her this openly.”

Yuxi snorted, “Mother? If she really thought I was her daughter, she wouldn’t have said such a thing to ruin my reputation. A jinx? San Jie san=third, jie=elder sister, short form for Jiejie, if I bear the reputation of a jinx, won’t I have to stay alone till I’m an old woman? Why should I respect her when she doesn’t care if I live or die?” Yuxi was brave enough to act like this was because she was secured in the knowledge that she had a strong backing Chinese idiom : feel emboldened on account of someone’s support, and she was sure that these rumors would unlikely to get out anyway.

Yuchen was also disgusted with Wu Shi, but she wouldn’t act the same way as Yuxi, “I can’t argue with you on that, but if you can, avoid having conflict with her in the future, and it’s better not to be the one who start the conflict, since in the end, it won’t be good for your own reputation.”

Yuxi nodded her head in agreement, “I know. As long as she doesn’t harm me, I’ll treat her with the respect of an elder.” If Wu Shi wanted to harm her, don’t expect her just submit to her humiliation Chinese idiom : suffer in silence.

In response, Yuchen no longer persuaded her.

After Yuchen and Yuxi left, Han Jingyan’s eyes stared at Wu Shi like a knife and asked word for word, “Did you really say that Yuchen and Yuxi are jinxes?”

It was the first time for Wu Shi to see Han Jingyan looked so terrifying that she started to stutter, “My, my Lord, I didn’t, I wasn’t, I was just furious…”

Before she could finish her sentence, she received a heavy slap on her face. Wu Shi wasn’t prepared when Han Jingyan suddenly hit her that she ended up falling to the ground, while knocking her head on the chair as she fell. She had forgotten her own pain as she stared at Han Jingyan in horror.

Han Jingyan warned in a cold voice, “If you still dare to ruin Yuchen and Yuxi’s reputations, I’ll send you to the family hamlet, and you will not be allowed to come back here for the rest of your life.” Since Wu Shi had given birth to two sons and a daughter for him, he definitely couldn’t cast her off send her back to her maiden family. If he sent her to the family ancestral temple, their reputation would not be good, and it would also influence their children’s reputation too. Nevertheless, the only thing left was to send her to their family hamlet with an excuse that her body was unwell.

When old woman Chen saw a furious Han Jingyan walk out of the door, she hurriedly entered the house. As she saw the blood on Wu Shi’s forehead, she was horrified, “My Lady, my Lady what happened to you?”

Wu Shi just hugged old woman Chen and cried so hard.

That evening, Han Jianye returned home. When Yuxi asked, she realised that it was not Han Jianye who had killed the dead person, but rather one of his attendants had passed away. Han Jianye’s attendants all had a sense of propriety, and there was also an illness found on the body of the dead person. After he had been questioned over and over again in the yamen for the whole afternoon, he was finally set free.

The next two days were calm, but Yuxi felt that this was the same as the calm before the storm, and soon, there would surely be a bigger storm.

Well, the expected storm didn’t come, but instead, there was an explosive piece of good news for the Han family. Han Jianming had always been very calm, but he was qui6 surprised and delighted to hear that Third Lord Qiao was involved in the Crown Prince’s rebellion. “Is this true?” The smuggling business that Third Lord Qiao did have the Crown Prince’s share in it, and at this juncture, the news was so timely for them.

Han Xing nodded, “It’s true.”

Han Jianming immediately calmed down, “How did you find out such a hidden thing?” Third Lord Qiao had hidden his crime deep enough, otherwise he would have been caught with it during the purge.

Han Xing explained, “It was Third Lord Qiao’s trusted attendant who confessed this. Master Shizi a heir to a noble family, no matter who is behind this, it’s extremely beneficial to us.” As long as it was connected to the rebellion case, it would be impossible for anyone to get away with it.

Han Jianming thought for a moment and said, “Go call Mr. Zhao over.”

Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life had been very irritated these two days, and her bad temper was also great. The maids beside her didn’t dare to make any noise while walking, as they were afraid that Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life might be offended.

Bing Lan brought in a bowl of bird’s nest porridge and whispered, “Xianzhu xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang, have some of this!” In the past two days, Heshou Xianzhu he = harmonious, shou = long life, xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang had eaten very little, making her very worried for her.

Heshou Xianzhu he = harmonious, shou = long life, xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang waved her hand and instructed, “Just take it away. Is there still no news from Ninth Ge elder brother, short form for Gege’s side?” The Ninth Ge elder brother, short form for Gege that Heshou Xianzhu he = harmonious, shou = long life, xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang spoke of referred to the 9th Prince. In order to show closeness, she always called the 9th Prince as Ninth Ge elder brother, short form for Gege.

Bing Lan shook her head and answered, “No. Xianzhu xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang, don’t worry, maybe there will be news soon.”

Some time ago, as long as she sent word that she wanted to see Ninth Ge elder brother, short form for Gege, she would be able to see him right away. But for the past two days, Ninth Ge elder brother, short form for Gege had avoided seeing her. As she thought of this, she became even more irritated.

Before the palace rebellion, Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life had let the 9th Prince know about the Crown Prince’s plot for rebellion. With her advance warning, the 9th Prince was able to kill the Crown Prince and his accomplices with very little effort and achieved great success. After the incident, the 9th Prince asked her what reward she wanted, but Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life did not reply to him directly.

What did she want? Naturally, she wanted to become the 9th Prince’s Imperial Concubine, and the Mother of the Nation Empress. Of course, she also knew about the calamity that would befall on the 9th Prince, but she didn’t take it to heart. She would just help the 9th Prince avoid it when that time came.

Unfortunately, the 9th Prince didn’t respond to her suggestion, and then implicitly said as for the Imperial Concubine position, it was out of the question. He could only give her the Side Concubine ce fei, a status lower than Imperial Concubine (zhang fei) in a Prince’s harem position. Side Concubine ce fei, a status lower than Imperial Concubine (zhang fei) in a Prince’s harem? He said that he could only give her the title of Side Concubine ce fei, a status lower than Imperial Concubine (zhang fei) in a Prince’s harem? How could she be inferior to others?

Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life couldn’t help but think of her previous life. In her previous life, because the Qiao family was weak and her mother was not valued by the Emperor, she finally married the less powerful Meng family. There was also an advantage of low marriage, that was, she had the final say in the Meng family. However, when she thought of the ending of her previous life, Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life’s eyes flashed fiercely again.

Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life married Meng Yao, the eldest di born from formal wife son of Grand Secretary Meng, Meng Yao. Meng Yao liked a woman who is gentle, charming and beautiful. However, Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life was the kind of person who was overbearing and easily jealous. She didn’t allow Meng Yao to approach any woman except her, and the contradiction between them got deeper over time. This contradiction reached its peak when Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life was pregnant and Meng Yao housed a mistress outside.

Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life’s methods were simple and brutal, where she beat Meng Yao’s pregnant mistress to death and made a scene in the Meng family. Although Meng Yao was hit severely by Grand Secretary Meng following their family law till he couldn’t get up for three months, Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life also didn’t get the best of it since she lost her unborn child as a result of her being too extreme while kicking up a row.

Through this incident, Meng Yao was also horrified by Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life’s overbearing and ruthless means. After the incident, the relationship between husband and wife was like that of strangers, and Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life would not allow any shuzi son born from concubine to be born before her own son, which made her hands tainted with a lot of innocent blood. If one committed too many sins, one would always meet due punishment. In the sixth year of marrying Meng Yao, when Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life was twenty-three years old, without any warning, a woman stabbed her to death with a knife. That woman had suffered an abortion because of Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life. For that reason, that woman was unable to bear any more children. Since she had nothing worth yearning for in this life Chinese idiom

/ internet slang : a life devoid of meaning, she wanted to die with Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life. There were people who had helped in the dark for that woman to be successful in taking her revenge on Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life.

After her rebirth, Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life used all means to make Meng Yao lose all his standing and reputation Chinese idiom : bring shame and ruin upon oneself, as well as finishing off the woman who had killed her in her last life along with those who had secretly helped her.

As she thought of these things, she heard her personal maid, Bing Lan, walked over to her and said, “Xianzhu xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang, Gongzhu Princess is asking after you!” After a pause, Bing Lan continued, “Xianzhu xianzhu=Princess of the Fourth Rank

/usually granted to daughter of a Junwang, Gongzhu Princess’s expression looks quite unsightly. Something bad must have happened.”

Heshou he = harmonious, shou = long life didn’t care much about it either, “I’m on my way.” No matter how bad it was, it could only be as bad as their situation was right now. How much worse could it get than their current situation, right?