Chapter 279 : The Matter Settled Down (1)

When the first ray of moonlight sprinkled on the ground, Yuxi finally woke up hungry. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Qiu Shi dozing off by her bedside, and a weak smile appeared on her face.

The first one to notice that Yuxi woke up was Zijin. “Miss, you’re finally awake.” Although it was said to be an act, she still felt quite uneasy when she saw Yuxi hadn’t woken up.

When Qiu Shi heard Zijin’s words, she also woke up and hurriedly asked, “Are you hungry?” Seeing Yuxi nodding her head, she immediately asked someone to bring white rice congee.

After two bowls of white rice congee, Yuxi finally had some strength. “Mother, I’ve made you worry.” Looking at Qiu Shi’s haggard appearance, Yuxi also felt guilty.

Qiu Shi said, “Mother has made you suffer. But Mother has already told your Dage to go to the Chen family tomorrow to withdraw from the marriage, and he already agreed to do so.”

The stone in Yuxi’s heart finally fell. “Thank you, Mother.”

Not long after, Physician Bai came in and took Yuxi’s pulse, then nodded his head and told everyone there that Yuxi was no longer in danger. To be more realistic, Physician Bai also changed the prescription.

Qiu Shi had been guarding Yuxi for most of the day, and her body became a bit overwhelmed. So Mama Li, along with Yuxi, persuaded her to go back.

Yuxi waited for Qiu Shi to leave before she said, “If I really withdraw from the marriage, I don’t know if the Chen family will retaliate.” She did not want to put too much pressure on Han Jianming because of her.

Momo Quan said, “Definitely not on the surface. As for whether they will retaliate in private, that is not known. Miss doesn’t have to worry. Although the Chen family is very powerful, they can’t hide the sky with just their hands.” The Han family did not withdraw from the marriage for no reason, and if Yuxi had not been on guard, she would have become a corpse by now. If the Chen family resented them for it, they could do nothing about it.

Since the matter had come to this, even if the Chen family retaliated, there was nothing they could do to stop it. After all, Yuxi could not just gamble with her own life.

The news that Yuxi woke up soon became known to the Chen family. Marquis Taining asked the news bearer, “Is she truly awake?” At noon, they still got the news that Yuxi might not make it through, and now she had woken up. He was not sure if this could be considered good news for them.

The news bearer nodded his head and reported, “She has indeed regained consciousness. The physician said that since she had first been forced to vomit and then was given mung bean soup to drink to detoxify the poison, her life would not be in danger as long as she woke up. The physician also stated that this poison has after-effects on her body. She needs at least half a year to get well.”

Marquis Taining became interested. “Firstly, there was a person who had forced her to vomit but also knew to give her mung bean soup to detoxify the poison? Could it be that there is someone around her who knows medicine?”

The news bearer nodded and said, “The nurturing momo around Fourth Miss Han was from the palace, formerly worked in the Food Service Bureau, and knows a little about medicine.”

Marquis Taining recalled Yuxi escaping her death in Jing Wangfu. “How is the investigation on the matter that had happened in Jing Wangfu?” Jing Wangfu’s security was very tight. It was not easy to dig any information from that place.

The news bearer disclosed, “This little one only heard that the three people had vomited blood and were currently unconscious, and this one can pry out no more for the moment.” The news that Momo Tian was beaten by Zijin and hurt her internal organs had been blocked by Yuchen.

Marquis Taining frowned a little. It was unusual that they could not find out more about this incident. This proved that this matter was so significant that it had to be covered up.

The news bearer continued, “This little one has also checked on the maid called Zijin. This maid was bought in from the outside by the Han family. The Fourth Miss Han chose her because of her outstanding strength. The strange thing is, this maid had learned martial arts from a female escort in the capital for several years, and after the palace rebellion, she did not learn from her anymore. And not long after that, she returned to the Fourth Miss Han. As for where she had gone to these past three years, nothing can be found about it yet.” Only a few people knew about Zijin learning martial arts from Master Yang. Thus, it just needed a person a lot of effort to check it out.

When Marquis Taining heard this, his frown became even more profound. “Did you find out why this maid learned martial arts from the female escort?”

The news bearer shook his head and said, “This one couldn’t find the reason. But this maid was learning martial arts with the female escort surnamed Deng, and she needed to pay 500 taels for fees and accommodation every year. The Fourth Miss Han was the one who paid for them.”

When Marquis Taining heard this, he had a bad feeling in his heart. “Does Fourth Miss Han act differently than normal in the State Residence?”

The news bearer answered, “No, this little one doesn’t think so. But Miss Han often goes to the Lord Duke’s study. Every time she goes there, she will stay for most of the day. In addition, the Fourth Miss Han has learned pharmacology from her personal momo and memorised several medical books. This one also heard that she had tried to plant medicinal herbs in her backyard.” These things were all well-known things in the State Residence.

The news of Fourth Miss Han studying pharmacology and memorising medical books was not something unknown to the public. What was new was that she would often go to Han Jianming’s study and stay there for most of the day. Marquis Taining asked, “Do you know what’s going on?” If just now he suspected that this Fourth Miss Han was unusual, now he was sure she was not a simple person.

The news bearer shook his head and replied, “This one has insufficient information on this.”

Marquis Taining was not surprised by this. If anyone could also pry out the inside matter of Han Jianming’s study, then the State Residence was not far from being ruined. “You withdraw!” After saying that, he went to look for the Lady of Taining.

Marquis Taining told the Lady of Taining the news of Yuxi’s poisoning and said, “The news from the spy said that the Fourth Miss Han’s life is no longer in danger. However, after such an incident, we will likely be unable to maintain this marriage arrangement.” This time the poisoning incident happened in the State Residence. It was impossible for Qiu Shi to not know about such a big matter. If what Han Jianming told him before was not an exaggeration, Qiu Shi would definitely want to break the engagement after knowing the truth.

The Lady of Taining was very much surprised. “Song Guifei would actually poison Han Yuxi?” Was it necessary to force her son to marry that Gongzhu?

Marquis Taining shook his head as he said, “What you should care about now is what should we do if the Han family comes to break off the engagement tomorrow?” Now was not the time to pursue the matter of Yuxi’s poisoning but to think about how to solve the problem.

The Lady of Taining responded after being silent for quite a while. “My Lord, the wedding will be held in seven days. The Han family can’t withdraw the marriage just by saying so. Because of the Fourth Girl’s health, we can postpone the marriage until she gets well.”

Hearing this answer, Marquis Taining asked the Lady of Taining, “How much do you know about the Fourth Miss Han?” He didn’t think his wife knew much about Fourth Miss Han.

Lady of Taining knew that Marquis Taining was not asking about the Yuxi’s embroidery or housekeeping skills. Hence, she thought for a moment before giving her answer. “She is a very resilient and capable person.”

Marquis Taining asked, “Then, does my Lady knows that she sent her personal maid to learn martial arts and learned medicine herself?”

The Lady of Taining opened her eyes wide and asked in disbelief, “She sent her maid to learn martial arts? Why would she send her maid to learn martial arts?”

Marquis Taining felt that his wife’s concern was always out of the core issue. “Don’t you even know?”

The Lady of Taining replied, “I have heard Qiu Shi mention her learning pharmacology.” As for sending her maids to learn martial arts, she hadn’t gotten any information about it! Why would Han Yuxi let her maid know martial arts? Was there any hidden secret here?

Marquis Taining’s face was somewhat grave as he stated, “The Fourth Miss Han should not be lucky to get away from the incident in wangfu. If I am not wrong, her personal maid’s martial arts skills are certainly not bad.” Now the question arises, why would Han Yuxi bring her maid, who knows martial arts, with her to the wangfu? The possibility of Yuxi getting the news in advance was automatically ruled out. If she had gotten the information in advance, she wouldn’t have gone to the wangfu for the birthday banquet in the first place. That only left them with one possibility, that was, this Han Yuxi was very vigilant. As for why she developed such a high level of vigilance, Marquis Taining was not interested in knowing. However, he knew that someone with such a high level of alertness could not have let her guard down after being almost murdered in the wangfu. Therefore, Han Yuxi’s so-called poisoning incident this time was likely a ploy to confuse people like them.

The Lady of Taining shook her head and said, “I have never seen this maid.”

Marquis Taining lost in his thought. Such a crafty woman who could scheme with her deep mind could never be content with his son’s current ability. After thinking for a while, Marquis Taining stated, “We can’t keep this marriage with the Han family. We have to find another way.”

The Lady of Taining’s face changed significantly. “I disagree. If the marriage is withdrawn, what about Ran-er?”

Marquis Taining looked at his wife and questioned, “If the Han family doesn’t want to marry their daughter to us, do you think we can just force ourselves through their door and kidnap her?” If the Han family insisted on breaking the engagement, they could do nothing. After all, marriage required the consent of both families. But to withdraw from the union could be done by one of the families involved.

The Lady of Taining also knew this. But once the engagement broke, what should they do about Ran-er? “My Lord, once we withdrew the marriage with the Han family, Song Guifei would certainly beg the Emperor to grant the marriage. Should we let Ran-er marry the Gongzhu?” She couldn’t bear to see her son wed Qinxin. Once he became a fuma, not only would he be unable to become an official for the rest of his life, but he would also have to degrade himself in pleasing the Gongzhu. Besides, she, the mother-in-law, would have to bow to the and greet the Gongzhu, which made her want to throw up.

Marquis Taining also had no good idea to offer for now. He could only say, “I will discuss with our Eldest Son later tonight. We can always find a solution.”

The next day, Han Jianming went to Marquis Taining’s residence. When he met Marquis Taining, Han Jianming explained his intention. “My Si Mei was almost killed by a poisoning incident yesterday, and I cannot hide this thing anymore. My Mother knew the cause of the incident and asked me to hurry over to withdraw from the marriage. She also said that Qinxin Gongzhu is a golden branch and jade leaf. My Si Mei doesn’t dare to compete with the Gongzhu since it will only be a self-seeking death for herself. Therefore, please let my Si Mei live!”

Marquis Taining looked at Han Jianming and asked, “Your sister is not poisoned for real, right?”

Han Jianming was shocked for a moment but quickly covered it up by saying, “Lord Marquis must be joking. If it weren’t for Si Mei’s momo, who knows the art of healing, I’m afraid she would have lost her life. Even so, the physician had said that it would take a year or two for her to heal completely.”

The older the ginger, the spicier it would become. Marquis Taining had long seen the slight change in Han Jianming’s eyes. “Fourth Miss Han almost lost her life twice which we have implicated on her. Since Xianzhi insists on withdrawing from the marriage, we have no position to refuse.” For a little girl to be so well hidden, they couldn’t underestimate the rest of the Han family. Instead of tearing up entirely with the Han family, it was better to separate peacefully. If they couldn’t be in-laws, they also couldn’t be enemies.

Marquis Taining was not being compassionate. He just thought that if they were determined to stick with the marriage by insisting on Han Yuxi to be married over. Once Han Yuxi married into the Chen family with resentment, this woman’s tactics and scheming would surely cause the Chen family to have no peace. Therefore, it was better to simply let it go.

When Han Jianming heard Marquis Taining’s words, he thought he had heard wrong.