Chapter 253 : Taking Over The Title (4)

In the ordinary course of events, it would take at least two months from the time of submission to the approval of the decree. Two months would not be that bad if the clan elders were efficient, but some even took four, five to six months to approve. If you didn’t have the correct information, you might not be able to get it done.

Therefore, when Yuxi heard that the Emperor had already issued an Imperial Decree agreeing to Han Jianming’s assuming the title, she was stunned. “It’s only been half a month or so. How come the Imperial Decree has already been issued?” She had thought that it would come after Yuchen’s marriage, but she had never expected it to be completed before that. When did the Imperial Court become so efficient?

Zisu responded with a smile, “Miss, whatever the reason, it’s a good thing.” Now that Master Shizi had inherited the title, when Miss got married, it was possible that her dowry would be even more generous.

Yuxi smiled a little and said, “It is indeed a good thing.” With her Dage being so powerful, she would not worry about not having a backer in the future.

Yuxi said this because she thought Han Jianming had done an excellent job in getting the decree down so quickly. In fact, Yuxi was wrong. Han Jianming was also a bit surprised that the Emperor had suddenly issued a directive for him to assume the title. Although he had sought connections, he had gone through the standard procedures, and it would not have taken him more than two months to get the result. The fact that he could take the title so quickly was due to the strength of his family in-laws. Old Lord Lu was related to the Han family by marriage and was concerned about the Han family’s affairs. When he found out that Duke Han had given up his title, he put in a good word for Han Jianming in front of the Emperor. At that time, Marquis Taining was also present and was well aware of the relationship between Yuxi and Han Jianming. He thought it would be better to let Han Jianming take over the title rather than allow the unpromising Han Jingdong to become the Duke of State. He believed it would be better this way, as a powerful brother-in-law would greatly help his son.

With two people of such great weight as Old Lord Lu and the Marquis Taining speaking up for Han Jianming, the Emperor naturally gave them some faces and issued an Imperial Decree on the spot. T

/N

When Zisu saw Yuxi become motionless, she asked, “Miss, shouldn’t you go to the Master Courtyard to congratulate the First Lady?” For such a big thing of succeeding the title, Miss had to express something about the situation.

Yuxi said something that made Zisu speechless, “It’s time to congratulate him.” Actually, Yuxi thought, there was nothing else that she could say. Han Jianming had been the head of the State Residence for a long time anyway, but it was more justified now.

On her way out the door, Yuxi suddenly laughed. Zisu wondered, “Miss, what are you laughing at?”

Yuxi said, “I am happy.” She was, in fact, remembering her past. Until she died, her Dage did not even inherit the title in her last life. But in this life, because of her, Dage was now assuming the title rightfully. By now, many things had changed, and everything was for the better. Yuxi was sincerely happy. She would be happier if you can read this chapter at xinshou blogspot com, and not on another website.

When they arrived at the Master Courtyard, they heard voices talking inside the house. As soon as they walked in, not only were Ye Sho and Lu Xiu there, but Concubine Jia was also there!

When Qiu Shi saw Yuxi, she said with a smile on her face, “Come, Yuxi. Come to Mother’s side.” When Yuxi came to her side, Qiu Shi took her in her arms.

Ye Shi’s face was also full of joy. Although she had known that the Duke of the State had submitted a folded booklet saying that he would give up his title, it had not been ascertained yet. Now that the decree had been issued, this assured her husband’s position as Duke of the State. And she had been promoted to Lady of the State.

Qiu Shi told Ye Shi, “It’s such a big event. We should invite friends and family to celebrate.” It was a big event for her son to inherit the title, and it would not be right not to have a banquet.

Ye Shi also wanted to hold a banquet and invite her friends and family to attend. But she had her considerations. “Mother, San Mei will be getting married in ten days or so. Shouldn’t the banquet wait until after her wedding ceremony?” It would take six or seven days from the time the invitation was issued to the actual banquet. If Yuchen had married an ordinary family, that would have been fine. But Yuchen was going to marry into the royal family, so there were too many things to prepare. If another banquet were held in such a tight time frame, it would be inappropriate if something went wrong. Moreover, she was afraid her body could not cope with the wedding reception immediately after the banquet.

Seeing that Qiu Shi was hesitating, Yuxi reasoned with a smile, “Mother, all of our friends and relatives know that San Jie will be getting married soon. If we postpone the banquet until the end of the month, everyone will understand. Otherwise, it would be too rushed, and we would be incapable of holding it properly, making everyone unable to enjoy themselves and have some fun, which would be bad for us.”

Qiu Shi listened to Yuxi the most and smiled, “Yes, let’s do it at the end of the month. But we still need to inform our friends and relatives.” In fact, there was no need to inform them. Since it was such a big event, everyone should have known about it.

As they were laughing and joking, they heard the maid announce the arrival of Wen Shi. The smile on Qiu Shi’s face faded for a moment. Strangely enough, Qiu Shi couldn’t get along with Han Jingyan’s four wives. Yuchen’s mother thought Qiu Sho was too vulgar that she looked down on her; Yuxi’s mother had a different temperament from her so that they couldn’t get along; as for Wu Shi, Qiu Shi had nothing good to say about her. And that woman, Wen Shi, always made her suffer by pushing her around in front of the Old Lady.

Wen Shi walked in, and everyone looked at her dress with a subtle feeling. Wen Shi wore a light green short jacket with red pomegranate flowers decorated on it and a long moon white coloured skirt with pomegranate fruits embroidered on its edge. Since Wen Shi was still young, such tender garments looked exceptionally pretty and eye-catching on her. But the problem was, she was now the Third Lady of the State Residence and not a young miss of the Wen family. With her dressed in such a striking manner, she had no semblance of being an elder. To put it bluntly, if people who didn’t know her identity saw her dressed like this, they would think she was a concubine for one of the masters in the State Residence.

When Wen Shi noticed everyone was looking at her, she felt very proud of herself. Just by looking at all these old-fashioned people dressed up, they were far worse than her. “I heard that an Imperial Edict has been issued that states the Emperor has permitted for Master Shizi to inherit the title. Congratulations, Dasao.” Wen Shi thought that Han Jingdong was a foolish man for not wanting to be the Duke of the State and passing the title to his son. No one could easily have that title as he did!

Qiu Shi nodded a little, then said towards Ye Shi and the others, “I’m tired. You can all disperse.” This meant that she was tired and wanted to rest.

Wen Shi could not sustain the smile on her face. No sooner had she entered, Qiu Shi said she was tired and asked everyone to go back, clearly wanting to drive her away. She had never seen a woman with such a lack of tolerance. Just seeing her get a few favours from the Old Lady, Qiu Shi already became jealous and tried to stab her now and then.

Ye Shi and the others were very sensible. After listening to Qiu Shi’s words, they withdraw with a salute. When Yuxi saw that Wen Shi was not moving, she asked, “San Shen, is there anything else?” If one was talking about how Qiu Shi handled things, it was true that it was inappropriate. But at her age, and her son inherited the title, she did not need to feel she had been wronged. She could do whatever she wanted in the State Residence without living in other people’s favour. This was also the reason why Yuxi wanted Han Jianming to inherit the title that day.

Wen Shi replied with a forced smile, “There’s nothing else.” After saying this, she slinked away and took her maid back.

After Qiu Shi saw that everyone had left, she started to complain, “She is like something that can’t be put on the table. I don’t know what’s wrong with your Grandmother? How can she still favour such a thing?” In Qiu Shi’s eyes, Wen Shi’s behaviour was like that of a concubine, not even remotely resembling that of the head of the family.

Yuxi didn’t think the Old Lady would like Wen Shi as she comforted her mother, “Grandmother is old, and it would be good for her to have someone around who can speak well. Mother, in Grandmother’s eyes, Wen Shi is no different from a bird that can make people laugh. So you don’t need to bother about such trivial things.” Wen Shi’s outlook was a little low, but that didn’t hinder her from coaxing the Old Lady into liking her.

Qiu Shi laughed a little as she said, “So that’s how it is! My Yuxi is still the smartest.” She then thought it was strange why the Old Lady looked at Wen Shi differently. It turned out to be this was the case.

Ye Shi took Concubine Jia out with her. First, she repeatedly advised her for a good while, and then she instructed her maid to send Concubine Jia back to her own courtyard.

Concubine Jia returned to her courtyard while touching her stomach for a long time without speaking. Master Shizi had now been elevated to the Duke of the State, and if this baby were a son, it would be the future Duke of the State. As Concubine Jia was thinking of this, her heart felt inexplicable. The child was not yet born and was still in her belly. But once she gave birth to it, the child would not be hers anymore.

From the time she married into the State Residence until now, she had been working very hard. In the past two years, she had been trying hard to please the First Lady to win her affection, while at the same time, she had used various means to enlist the maids and old women servants around her. She had drawn a few maids and old women servants, but the First Lady did not care about anything other than her belly and left it all to Ye Shi.

Ye Shi always asked her whether she felt hot or cold and thoroughly took care of her. But how would she dare to trust this woman? Ye Shi was kind to her, all for the sake of the child in her belly. Once the baby was born, it was likely that Ye Shi would kill her. And she, for one, could not just wait for her death. Not a single person in residence was trustworthy. She had no else to rely on other than herself.

Upon seeing her lost in thought, the young maid beside her asked, “Concubine Jia, what are you thinking about?”

Concubine Jia answered with a smile, “I was just thinking of the recent spate of good things in the State Residence.” It was not a good thing that Master Shizi was going to inherit the title.

Ye Shi returned to her courtyard to see her daughter and was in an even better mood. Only this good mood did not last too long, for she had received the terrible news that Second Master Ye had been crippled. Ye Shi asked with an ashen face, “What happened?”

Old Woman Hua had gone to the Ye family to report the happy news, only to hear that Madam Ye had fallen ill. Old Woman Hua approached the old woman servant by Madam Ye’s side to ask why and learned about the Second Master Ye’s broken leg that had made him crippled. Old Woman Hua said, “The Second Master’s leg was injured when he fought in the war. There was a shortage of medicine in that place, so this delayed the treatment for Second Master Ye’s injured leg.” In Yunnan, the people there had a tough life. And the Imperial Army always oppressed them, so there were always riots happening there. If he had been in the capital, he would have been able to save his leg with the help of a physician with excellent medical skills. But in a place like Yunnan, there were no good doctors. As a result, his leg was ruined.

Ye Shi hated Ke Minjie with a passion. If it weren’t for her luck in the first place, she would have lost Qiqi. The fact that Second Master Ye had defended Ke Minjie in every way made her annoyed with her brother as well. Her words were also quite unkind, “This is his own death. For Ke Minjie’s sake, he has abandoned his parents and his family, and his eyes have been full of that woman. If he hadn’t withdrawn from the marriage, he wouldn’t be in this situation today.” She thought about her brother-in-law, who had a smooth career and a son since he married Lu Xiu. If her brother hadn’t withdrawn his marriage, everything her brother-in-law had would have been his, and he wouldn’t have ended up like this.

Old Woman Hua knew that Ye Shi always had hatred in her heart, but she still had to say what needed to be said, “Da Nainai, Madam is ill. Do you think you should go over to see her in the next couple of days?”

Ye Shi also had some complaints about Madam Ye, but in the end, she was still her mother, and after hearing this, she said, “Go to the storehouse and pick the best herbs. We’ll return to our old home tomorrow.” Although people said that it was hard for one to have two levels of mother-in-law, the Old Lady didn’t care much about things, while Qiu Shi was the kind of person who was particularly easy to talk to. Knowing that Madam Ye was ill, there was no way Qiu Shi would stop her daughter-in-law from returning to her maiden home.