Chapter 195 : Sending Away

Yuxi was still practising her writing in the study when she heard Zisu informing her that Qiu Shi was coming over. She had just put down her pen when Qiu Shi walked in, forgetting even the most basic etiquette.

Looking at her aunt’s eager face, Yuxi sighed leisurely. She finally knew why the Second Master could easily lose his cool and always acted reckless and impulsive. Er Ge was simply a replica of her aunt. Yuxi asked with a smile, “Eldest Aunt, why did you come over? Just have the maid call me if there’s something you need me for.”

Qiu Shi looked at Yuxi’s appearance and remembering what Mama Li had just told her, the fire in her heart rushed up once more.

Mama Li knew Qiu Shi well enough to see that something was wrong and immediately said, “Fourth Miss, my Lady came over to ask you something.”

Yuxi nodded and said, “Eldest Aunt, if you have anything to ask, then just ask away.” She usually only had her three personal maids in her private yard. Bingmei had gone out as it happened, and Kufu was still tidying things up in the wing-room. As for Zisu, she knew everything she needed to know anyway.

Qiu Shi asked in an exasperated voice, “Yuxi, tell me honestly, have you long known about Qiu Yanfu’s plot against your Er Ge?”

Yuxi nodded as she answered, “Yes, from the first moment Yanyu made contact with Han Zhao, I had guessed that Qiu Yanfu was going to calculate Er Ge.”

Qiu Shi’s eyes were red with anger. “Then why didn’t you stop it? If you had stopped it, what happened yesterday would not have happened, and your Er Ge would not have become the joke of the residence.” Looking at the bemused Yuxi, Qiu Shi’s anger grew even greater. “Your Er Ge loves you so much that he will buy you a copy of anything he sees outside. He was always afraid that you would suffer in the residence and had asked me to love and think about you more. Your Er Ge loves you like his own sister. Is this how you repay your Er Ge? You……”

Mama Li sensed that Qiu Shi was going to say something unpleasant and hurriedly pulled her sleeve. Seeing that Qiu Shi stopped talking, she hurriedly asked, “Fourth Miss, my Lady just wants to know, why did you not stop Qiu Yanfu when you knew she was going to plot against the Second Master?”

Yuxi didn’t explain but instead said, “Eldest Aunt, the reason why I didn’t stop Qiu Yanfu, I had already told Dage and Er Ge last night.”

Qiu Shi looked at Yuxi and inquired, “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

Yuxi looked very calm as she replied, “Eldest Aunt, in this world, my closest relative is my Er Ge, so I will never do anything to harm him.”

Mama Li understood and said for confirmation, “Miss means that you can only tell the reason to Master Shizi and the Second Master, but not to the Lady?”

Yuxi nodded a little and said, “It’s not that I can’t trust Eldest Aunt, but I think this is something I don’t think Eldest Aunt needs to know.”

How could Mama Li not understand what Yuxi was implying? She clearly knew her Lady’s shortcoming. Her Lady was not the type who could hide things at all. Suppose Fourth Miss told her Lady why, she could then tell the Old Lady in the blink of an eye. In other words, the Fourth Miss was not defending herself against the Lady, but the Old Lady.

Mama Li tried to reason with Qiu Shi, “My Lady, when Miss found something was not right on the night of the palace rebellion, she didn’t even care about her own safety and the first person she thought of was my Lady. Furthermore, Miss grew up under your watch, and you still don’t know what temper she has? How could Miss do something that would harm the Second Master.” Seeing Qiu Shi’s look of relief, she added, “My Lady, the fact that Miss could personally tell Master Shizi and the Second Master about this is proof that Miss has a clear conscience.”

The latter statement completely hit Qiu Shi’s soft spot, but she also had her own worries. “Yuxi, I believe you will not harm Ye-er. But have you thought about the consequences of this matter? What if the Lu family backs out of the marriage in a fit of anger?”

Yuxi shook her head and said, “Don’t worry, Eldest Aunt. The Lu family won’t withdraw from this marriage, and they won’t even scold Er Ge. After all, he was also a victim in this matter.” Seeing Qiu Shi’s face of disbelief, Yuxi said with a smile, “Er Ge went to the Lu family early in the morning. If Eldest doesn’t believe me, then when Er Ge returns, you can ask him yourself.”

Mama Li still believed in Yuxi’s ability. A person as cautious as Yuxi would not have said so much if she was not very sure.

Qiu Shi left Taoran House with mixed feelings and instructed Mama Li, “When the Second Master returns, tell him to come and see me immediately.”

Mama Li didn’t know what Qiu was thinking. “My Lady, this old servant has to say something that this old servant shouldn’t say. It’s not that the Fourth Miss doesn’t trust you, but she rather knows that my Lady is a straightforward person and not good at those twists and turns methods. So when the time for you to be wound up, you’ll definitely let out all the tucked-away secrets.” She was close to saying that you couldn’t hide secrets in your heart, so the Fourth Miss didn’t dare to tell you.

Even though Qiu Shi had a forgiving heart, she still felt uncomfortable. Hearing Mama Li words, she scolded, “What benefits did that girl has given you? For you to even speak for her behalf?”

Mama Li had been with Qiu Shi for over twenty years, and she was the only one who dared to say these kinds of words. “This old servant is only helping the Fourth Miss because this old servant knows that she is true and sincere to my Lady and the Second Master.”

Qiu Shi sighed softly. “Say, that girl, what exactly is the reason for her not to stop it from happening?” All people have curiosity, and Qiu Shi was no exception, but that girl wouldn’t say anything to her.

Mama Li immediately changed the subject by saying, “In ten days or so, it will be the Second Master’s big wedding. With something like this happening, we’ll have to be more attentive this time.”

Qiu Shi was worried again, “I don’t know how Jianye will be doing.” She was distraught, thinking her son had been beaten up till he spat out blood, just like Second Master Ye!

It turned out that Qiu Shi had been overthinking. Soon, she was looking at the intact Han Jianye. She hurriedly asked, “What did the Lu family say?”

Han Jianye told her about his visit to the Lu family.

Hearing that the Lu family did not mention withdrawing from marriage and that the Second Lady was not angry, Qiu Shi’s worry subsided. “The Lu family is so reasonable. You should treat their girl well in the future.”

Han Jianye nodded and said, “Don’t worry, Mother. I will treat Ah Xiu well in the future.” If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to live with his conscience.

After the discussion between mother and son had been concluded, Qiu Shi said, “Don’t interfere with this matter. Let Mother handle it.”

With that scolding from his Dage and Yuxi earlier, Han Jianye couldn’t wait to shake his hands off. As the saying went, it was better he did not do anything at all.

Qiu Shi immediately went to the Third House to approach Wu Shi regarding the concubinage document for Qiu Yanfu. Only with the concubinage document could she send Qiu Yanfu away. If she did not establish the paperwork, Qiu Yanfu would still be a member of the Qiu family, and she had no qualification to dispose of her.

Although Wu Shi didn’t want to get involved in this matter, she couldn’t ignore it either. “Dasao, I’ve already been added to the Han family. So I’m a member of the Han family. I can’t represent the Qiu family. You need my nephew to sign this document.”

Qiu Shi immediately had someone seek out Qiu Lilong.

Qiu Lilong was furious when he learned about Qiu Yanfu climbing onto Han Jianye’s bed yesterday. He had already agreed with Eldest Young Master Wang that he would send Qiu Yanfu over in a couple of days, but now she was caught in such an uproar. He didn’t know how to explain to Eldest Young Master Wang anymore.

It was no use getting angry any longer. Qiu Yanfu was no longer innocent anyway. Thus, she had to be Han Jianye’s concubine. Qiu Lilong hated it so much that when Qiu Shi brought him the document and asked him to sign it, he readily agreed.

After Qiu Lilong had signed with his seal, Qiu Shi asked Wu Shi to put her handprint on the middle column. Wu Shi didn’t want to. But when she met with Qiu Shi’s oppressive eyes, she had no choice but to do so.

Qiu Yanfu was from a respectable family, so the paperwork for her concubinage had to be processed by a feudal official. Qiu Shi assigned someone to go through the procedure with the feudal official.

When all of these was done, Qiu Shi was ready to send Qiu Yanfu to her dowry hamlet, where the head of the hamlet was her most reliable people. She was not worried that Qiu Yanfu would do any wicked trick if she were sent there.

When Qiu Yanfu saw that the head old woman servant was fierce-looking, she asked Yanxia to give the woman a large red envelope.

The woman squeezed the purse and found that it was pretty substantial, so she tucked it into her sleeve. “The Lady is already kind enough to give you two-quarters of an hour to pack up your things. After two-quarters, we’ll escort Concubine out.”

As soon as Qiu Yanfu heard the word concubine, her face felt hot. Still, hearing the word send, she immediately inquired, “Where is the Lady going to send me?”

Since the old woman servant had received the benefit, her face no longer looked fierce. “It is the rule of the State Residence that all concubines will be sent to the family hamlet before the big wedding.”

Qiu Yanfu’s heart went cold. If Qiu Shi sent her to the hamlet, who knew if she would return when it was in the year of the monkey and the month of the horse? She heard that Miss Lu was as pretty as flowers, and the Second Master would not remember who Qiu Yanfu was once he had such a beautiful woman. Qiu Yanfu shoved the twisted gold bangle from her wrist into the old woman’s hand and asked, “Mama, do I have to go to the hamlet? Is there no other way?”

This old woman servant who received the benefit from her coldly said, “This is the residence rule. I advise Concubine Qiu not to bother about it and pack your things as fast as possible. The paperwork for the concubinage has already been done and reported to the yamen. If Concubine makes any unusual moves, Concubine will not receive any more mercy from the Lady.”

Qiu Yanfu secretly hated that she hadn’t gotten any useful information from the old woman servant after getting so much from her. But at this time, she also knew that she could not oppose her. She ordered her maids, Yanxia and Yanyu, to pack up her things, including gold, silver, silver tickets and clothes. There was a lot of stuff. Even half an hour was not enough for them to pack.

Qiu Yanfu looked at her stuff and instructed, “Just take the important ones.” She had so many things that even half a day would not be enough to pack them all. She would only take the important ones and put the rest away for now. She believed that it wouldn’t take long for her to return.

Two-quarters of an hour later, Mama Li herself came over. She took a glance around and found out there were more than a dozen boxes. Mama Li sneered and said nothing but, “The carriage is ready. It’s time for Concubine to leave!”

Looking at the dark blue oilcloth carriage, a flash of embarrassment appeared in Qiu Yanfu’s eyes; when she had gone out with the others before, she had always ridden in the best carriage. But this time, the carriage she rode in was not even as good as the one she had at home. Before she got into the carriage, Qiu Yanfu turned her head to look at the big words of the Duke of Han Official Residence and silently promised,