Chapter 275 : Force (3)

When Han Jianming arrived at the Chen family’s home, Marquis Taining happened to be in residence. It was his stroke of luck since Marquis Taining was usually not at home at this time of the year.

Marquis Taining was wondering what was Han Jianming doing coming to his home at this time? However, he did not give him the cold shoulder as he personally went to welcome him. Although Han Jianming was from a younger generation, the two were of equal status.

Han Jianming followed Marquis Taining to his study, and in a few words, he explained his intentions. The last thing he asked was the Chen family’s opinion regarding the assassination attempt on Yuxi by Song Guifei’s people.

Marquis Taining was one of those people who would remain calm even when Mount Tai collapsed in front of him. As he listened to Han Jianming’s talk, he calmly asked, “Is this true? Does Xianzhi have any proof?” It was just a routine question. Marquis Taining knew in his heart that Han Jianming was speaking without any solid evidence.

Han Jianming stated, “Momo Tian is the person given to Jing Wangfei by Song Guifei. Lord Marquis would not think that Jing Wangfei wants to kill my Si Mei, right?” The reason why Han Jianming had come to Marquis Taining without checking beforehand was that he trusted Yuxi’s judgment, firstly. Secondly, Yuxi was a girl in a boudoir and didn’t have any enemies. Thirdly, Momo Tian was one of Song Guifei’s people. When he summed up all of them together, there was no need for him to make any verification at all. T

/C

Marquis Taining glanced at Han Jianming and asked the crucial question, “Since Song Guifei wanted to kill Fourth Miss Han, how did Fourth Miss Han manage to escape?” He knew that Song Guifei used very vicious tricks. If Song Guifei wanted to get rid of Han Yuxi, she would make sure she had struck a blow at her. So how could she let Han Yuxi escape! This incident was quite questionable.

Hearing this question from Marquis Taining, Han Jianming’s heart grew a trifle colder. It sounded as if he was sorry that Yuxi hadn’t died. However, because his family lacked influence, Han Jianming could only endure his anger. “My Si Mei has a maid by her side who was born with divine strength. This time, when my Si Mei went to the wangfu, she happened to bring that maid with her. The other party didn’t know about it, so my Si Mei managed to escape because of her.” Everyone else said that Yuxi had a bad destiny, but Han Jianming thought the opposite. He felt that Yuxi was a blessed person. Last time, during the palace rebellion and then this time, Zijin happened to be by Yuxi’s side every time she was in trouble. Once could be considered fortunate, but not when it happened twice.

Remembering the premonition that Yuxi had told him earlier, he thought that perhaps Yuxi was the one who the Heavens truly loved. Wasn’t her ability to foretell her own bad events the proof of the love Heavens had for her?

How could a man like Marquis Taining believe in coincidences? But now, it was not the time for him to pursue this matter. “What does Xianzhi want my Chen family to do?”

Han Jianming said, “My mother still doesn’t know about this truth until now. Lord Marquis may not know that Si Mei is my mother’s heart. If my mother knew that Si Mei would die if she married into the Chen family, she would definitely disagree with this marriage.” The meaning of Han Jianming’s words was clear: if the Chen family could not guarantee Yuxi’s safety, the Han family would break off the engagement.

Marquis Taining laughed. “The two children will be married in ten days. Xianzhi is making a big joke by saying that you will not consent to this marriage at this period.” Marquis Taining had not expected that the Han family would think so highly of Han Yuxi. If this were any other families, even if they were aware of the danger, they would not withdraw from the marriage at this juncture.

Han Jianming was not even upset as he said, “Lord Marquis, how could I joke about such a big matter. If this matter is not resolved before my mother learns about it, I won’t be able to stop her from taking action.” With Han Jianming’s understanding of Qiu Shi’s temper, she would absolutely demand to break off the engagement once she found out about this.

When Marquis Taining saw the unchanged expression on Han Jianming’s face, his heart immediately sank. If the Han family would rather have an enmity with the Chen family by withdrawing from the marriage, things would be far from good, and he did not want his son to marry the princess. Therefore, Marquis Taining repeated the question he had just asked. “What does Xianzhi want the Chen family to do? As long as we can do it, we will not refuse.” Those who didn’t know would think these two people were very close based on how he called Han Jianming xianzhi.

Han Jianming naturally could not decide for Marquis Taining as he could only say, “The Lord Marquis often walks in the palace. So the Lord Marquis should know better than I do about Guifei’s nature. I don’t wish for anything else. I just hope that the Lord Marquis can ensure the safety of my Meimei’s life during this period.”

Marquis Taining noticed Han Jianming’s firm attitude in this. Plus, his request was not too much. “I will give you an accurate answer tomorrow.” Before the death of the Empress and the Crown Prince, Song Guifei still had some restraint. But since the Empress and the Crown Prince were gone, and the Yan family had fallen, Song Guifei had acted without scruples and did whatever she wanted to do in the palace by beating or killing the Imperial Palace people at the slightest sign of disobedience. Even the Emperor never stopped her when he found out all these. It was no surprise to Marquis Taining that Song Guifei would take action against Han Yuxi this time. Or rather, he had guessed it after he had refused Song Guifei’s marriage proposal. What he just didn’t expect was the willingness of the Han family to withdraw from the marriage.

Han Jianming decided to be magnanimous as he said, “Then I will wait for good news from the Lord Marquis.” If Marquis Taining could not guarantee Yuxi’s safety, he also preferred to withdraw from the marriage. There was more to be gained by keeping Yuxi at home than by letting her die.

Not long after Han Jianming had left, Lady of Taining came. When she saw the unpleasant look on her husband’s face, she asked, “My Lord, what is so important that the Lord Duke Han has come over at this time?” The dowry list was to be delivered tomorrow, and it was not supposed to be sent by the Lord Duke Han. Thus, it must be about other significant things.

Marquis Taining briefly explained the matter to her. “From what Duke Han said, if we cannot give them a satisfactory answer, he will withdraw from the marriage.”

The Lady of Taining was furious. “Withdraw? There are still ten days to go before the wedding. Does the Han family think that our Chen family is easy for them to bully?”

Marquis Taining had a headache. The request made by Han Jianming seemed simple, but in fact, it wasn’t easy to be done. How could the Chen family stop what Song Guifei wanted to do? “What’s the use of saying this? Now let’s just think about how to solve this problem.”

The Lady of Taining also knew that this was the time of emergency. Of course, if not for the fact that it had come at this juncture, she would have agreed immediately if the Han family had offered to withdraw from the marriage. And with his son’s character, appearance and talent, what kind of girl could he not marry? It was better not to be related with this kind of in-laws that could only share the wealth but not the hardships. “Has my Lord thought of a solution?”

Marquis Taining said, “I want to choose an outside the capital post for Ran-er. After he marries Han Shi, I’ll tell him to bring her out of the capital. Song Guifei’s hands aren’t that long. She won’t be able to reach that far.” This solution was the best one he could think of.

Hanlin (lit. Forest of Brushes) Academy

A restored painting of Hanlin Academy.

Image Credit | The rightful owner & silkpaper restoration (Grande peinture impériale chinoise. Académie Hanlin (Musée Cernuschi))

The Lady of Taining was reluctant as she argued, “Ran-er is currently doing well in the Hanlin Academy. It will hinder his future if he has to take up an outside post right now. Besides, they can’t hide for the rest of their lives!”

Marquis Taining uttered helplessly. “This is the only way to proceed in these emergency times. It’s better than the Han family withdrawing their marriage and letting Ran-er marry the princess. You, yourself, know how Ran-er is. There’s no telling what kind of trouble that he’ll come up with.” He couldn’t say precisely how agitated their son might be that he might decide to run away from home once more and truly become a monk.

The Lady of Taining was overcome with regret that she expressed, “If I had known, I would have never agreed to this marriage. I don’t want this kind of issue to ruin my son’s good fortune.”

Speaking of fortune, Marquis Taining asked the Lady of Taining a few more questions, “What kind of person is that Han Shi?” Since Song Guifei had the intention to get rid of Han Yuxi, she must have prepared thoroughly. Han Jianming said it just so happened that there was a maid with extraordinary strength by Yuxi’s side. How could there be such a coincidence? From this incident, one could see that this girl was not a simple one either.

Lady of Taining was a little surprised by her husband’s question, but she still replied, “She has a quiet nature and is generous. I heard that she helped Qiu Shi with managing the household a few years ago. She has many advantages but also many disadvantages.”

Hearing this, Marquis Taining knew that he would not get any helpful information from his wife.

Chen Ran soon learned about this matter, and when he heard that Song Guifei had almost gotten Yuxi killed, his expression turned cold. The last time when Song Guifei asked him to marry her daughter, he said that he would get married shortly. But the other party responded in a tone of indifference, telling him to break off his betrothal and again repeat her marriage proposal with a manner of bestowing a person a favour as if marrying Qinxin Gongzhu was a matter of supreme honour. To this day, just thinking about that meeting made Chen Ran nauseous as he had just swallowed a fly.

Ah Li was very anxious. “Young Master, I heard that the Fourth Miss Han had a shock in the wangfu and is still unconscious. For this reason, Duke Han had spoken with Lord Marquis and said that if we don’t give them a satisfactory answer, they will withdraw from the marriage. If they indeed break the engagement, then what should we do?” As far as his Master’s nature was concerned, he wasn’t fit to be a submissive fuma either.

Chen Ran did not think Han Yuxi would be frightened until she was still unconscious just by a failed assassination attempt. He was afraid that the Han family deliberately released the news regarding her recovering from a fright.

Ah Li did not know what Chen Ran was thinking and was busy asking, “Young Master, what are you going to do if the Han family truly want to withdraw from the marriage?”

Chen Ran didn’t respond to his question but went straight to find Marquis Taining instead.

After hearing Marquis Taining’s solution, Chen Ran also thought it was a good idea. But there was a problem here. What should they do if Song Guifei still tries to murder Yuxi? “It won’t be that easy to stop someone as vicious as Song Guifei.”

Marquis Taining replied, “I will have someone secretly protect her. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Chen Ran said, “What if? What if Song Guifei still manages to get her hands on her?” Although he had met Han Yuxi only a few times, the more he got to know her, the more satisfied he became. One could say that if anything happened to Han Yuxi, he would never be able to find a wife to his liking again.

In front of his son, Marquis Taining did not hide anything. “If there is any chance that Han Shi lost her life, we will refuse on the grounds that you have to observe mourning for your wife. After three years, if Qinxin Gongzhu is not married, you can quit your official post and go on a trip. You can come back after Qinxin Gongzhu is married.” This was the best method that Marquis Taining had come out with after weighing up the matter.

Chen Ran asked, “Is there no other way?”

Marquis Taining uttered, “This is only the worst possible plan. After what happened at Jing Wangfu, the State Residence must be on high alert, and with our people protecting her, Han Shi will be fine. When she marries over, nothing will happen to her.” If Song Guifei could still kill Han Shi under such circumstances, one could only say it was Han Shi’s fate.

Chen Ran pondered for a moment before suggesting, “Can we ask the 9th Prince’s help to intercede?” It was useless to beg the Emperor, who was so obedient to Song Guifei. It was all for his father’s sake that the Emperor had not given the marriage directly last time. Therefore, the only one who could persuade Song Guifei was the 9th Prince.

Marquis Taining looked silently at Chen Ran and then stated, “Your Dage doesn’t have that much face to request the 9th Prince to disobey Song Guifei.” The 9th Prince couldn’t sweep away Song Guifei’s face for an insignificant woman.

Chen Ran didn’t say anything more. Even if he loathed Song Guifei, he knew that he could not resist the other party. The only thing he could do now was, hoping that the next ten days or so would pass peacefully. It was at this moment that Chen Ran realised the importance of power. Without it, he was just a lamb that anyone could slaughter at any time.