Chapter 282 : The Matter Settled Down (4)

After breaking off the engagement with the Han family, Marquis Taining took the initiative to mention the matter of Chen Ran marrying the Gongzhu in front of the Emperor. However, Marquis Taining made a small request to allow Chen Ran to meet with Qinxin Gongzhu. He said that the two children had never met, so he would let them meet first, and if Gongzhu felt that Chen Ran was good, he would ask the Emperor to issue an Imperial Decree at that time. If Gongzhu did not think it was a good idea, they would treat the matter as if it had never happened.

The Emperor naturally did not tell him that Gongzhu had already met Chen Ran on the day of the Palace Examination. When he saw that Marquis Taining was so sensible, he agreed with a laugh. As a result, when Qinxin Gongzhu looked at the red dots on Chen Ran’s face, she was scared till she became like flowers out of colour.

Chen Ran seemed not to see the difference in Qinxin Gongzhu’s face and kept talking to her. According to his information about her, he decided to speak about whatever she hated.

Qinxin Gongzhu was so frightened with Chen Ran that she finally ran away from the meeting.

Chen Ran turned to a deserted corner and showed his disgust. Such a woman would take too much space if he wanted to put her as a mere display at home.

A few days later, Yuxi looked at Qiu Shi’s expression and knew that something was wrong with her. “Mother, what’s wrong with you? What happened?”

Qiu Shi couldn’t hide anything in her heart, so when she saw that Yuxi had taken the initiative to ask her, she said, “Chen Ran is discussing marriage with the Yu family.” This was the news she had just received.

Yuxi let out a cry of ‘oh’. So Chen Ran had solved the matter regarding Qinxin. “The Yu family’s girl? If I remember correctly, Yu Xixian seems to be the 9th Wangfei’s baomei?” The Chen family’s action was swift, but that was understandable. They were probably afraid Qinxin Gongzhu would stir another trouble, so they wanted to settle Chen Ran’s marriage in a hurry.

Qiu Shi nodded her head and said, “That’s right!” She was worried that once the marriage between the Chen family and the Yu family settled, people would definitely say that Yuxi was not the blessed one.

Yuxi smiled a little as she said, “I’ve met Miss Xixian. She’s actually much better than me, and Chen Ran is also blessed to be with her.” Grand Chancellor Yu had a high and influential position, and so did his sons. One could say that the Yu family was still ahead of the Song family in terms of prestige. Song Guifei could poison Yuxi without fear, but she would never dare to do the same to Xixian. The Lady of Taining must have given much thought to this matter when she chose Yu Xixian.

Qiu Shi felt that Yuxi’s heart was too big.

Unfortunately, the son did not accept the mother’s painstaking efforts. Chen Ran said, “Mother, the matter of Qinxin Gongzhu just settled. There is no need to be in such a hurry, and it is not too late to talk about my marriage in another two years.” He wasn’t even in the mood to get married right now.

The Lady of Taining stated, “What if Qinxin Gongzhu has the urge to ask you to marry her again? Ran-er, settle the marriage with the Yu family first, and wait until the end of the year or next year before you get married to her.”

Chen Ran was reluctant.

This time, the Lady of Taining was no longer willing to obey her son, and her attitude was steadfast, as she said, “You have to be willing even if you are not. If you had listened to me before, something like this wouldn’t have happened right now.” When she thought of the Han family withdrawing from the marriage, she was full of anger. Fortunately, they hadn’t become in-laws, or else they wouldn’t have been able to see that the other party’s character was even this bad. The Yu family trait was so good. Surely they wouldn’t have done something like dropping stones on them when they fell into a well. T

/C

In the past, Chen Ran dared to make a scene and threaten Marquis Taining and his wife by saying that he would become a monk because he had no fear in his heart at that time. But now that he had grown up and known more, he had scruples in his heart and did not act with the same reckless courage he used to. Under the pressure of the Lady of Taining, he finally had to bow down his head.

Yu Xixian reached marriageable age at the third lunar month this year, and the Yu family started to choose a husband for her. However, the Yu family was too demanding and had been unable to find a satisfactory husband. So when the Chen family showed their intention to marry their son to her, First Madam Yu mentioned it to her husband. Eldest Master Yu was well aware of the internal problem that caused the broken marriage arrangement between the Chen and Han families. At the same time, he also knew Chen Ran’s plan to drive Qinxin Gongzhu into giving up the idea of making him marry her. Thus, when the Chen family wanted to tie the knot with his own family, he just nodded his head in agreement without any hesitation. This was because he regarded Chen Ran to have an up-and-coming prospect.

The marriage between the Chen family and the Yu family was soon fixed to be held on the third lunar month next year. As soon as this news spread, it firmly established Yuxi’s reputation for having a bad fortune. Even those who knew the truth knew that it was not a recurrence of her old illness, but a plot to kill her by Song Guifei also felt that she was unlucky. However, Yuxi has been holed up in her courtyard, unaware of outside rumours. Of course, even if she knew, she would just laugh it off.

When Yuxi became tired of reading, she walked out into the yard and looked at the rosebuds in full bloom with a smile. She planted this rose garden in the second year after she moved in. Unfortunately, because the yard was not very big, it did not grow as well as in her old Rose Courtyard.

Yuxi had just nipped a rose and put it on her hair when she saw Caidie rush in. When Caidie noticed that Yuxi was in a leisurely mood, she didn’t know whether to be relieved by her Master’s heart generosity or to be sad about what had happened to her. “Miss, the Fifth Miss is here.”

Yuxi handed the pink rose she had just pinched off to Xuntao beside her and asked, “What is she doing here?” After she fell ill, Yurong had come over with Wen Shi only to go through the motions and immediately left after saying a few words. So this another visit from Yurong somehow surprised Yuxi.

Caidie stated, “Fifth Miss has also brought Miss Jiang with her. They’re currently waiting outside the gate!” Caidie thought it was strange. Jiang Qi was not familiar with Miss. Hence, what was she even doing here?

Yuxi said, “Take them to the small parlour.” After saying that, Yuxi went into her bedroom. It was only natural that she needed to change her clothes and freshen up when she met her guests.

Jiang Qi waited in the small parlour for about two-quarters of an hour, waiting for Yuxi to arrive. She had expected to see a haggard, pitiful person. But when Yuxi walked in, it was as if she was struck by lightning. She saw Han Yuxi dressed in a peach-coloured soft silk cross collar duijin, with vividly red coloured branches of peony entwined patterns decorating the white sleeves of her ruqun. Her long ink-coloured hair was gently pulled back into a bun and tied with a lotus-root coloured ribbon with a single phoenix-head green jadeite hair clasp inserted to the side of it. She also wore the same colour and quality of jewellery for her ear clips and bracelet. She only put on light make-up, but it could not hide the elegance that came from within her.

Jiang Qi was tempted to curse. If others hadn’t told her that Yuxi had withdrawn from her marriage because she had relapsed from her old illness, then what was she seeing right now? This look from Yuxi was even more spirited than the one she had seen at the foot of Lingshan Temple last time.

Yurong spoke first, “Si Jie, have you recovered from your illness?”

Yuxi sat gracefully at the main seat as she answered, “It’s just a small cold. I got better a few days ago.”

Yurong’s eyes widened. “Small cold? It isn’t an old illness?” But it was clear that Yurong believed this. Yuxi would not have healed so quickly if it had been an old illness.

Yuxi said, “What old illness? I’ve been in good health since I was a child. Where did this old illness come from?”

Yurong suddenly remembered Mama Chen saying that Si Jie had bizarrely withdrawn her marriage, and then it dawned on her. It seemed that there was indeed something bizarre about it. “Then Si Jie, why did you withdraw from your marriage on the grounds that you were suffering from an old illness?”

Asking such a question in front of Jiang Qi, Yurong honestly didn’t treat Jiang Qi as an outsider. Yuxi answered with a fake smile on her face, “If you want to know the reason, why don’t you go ask Grandmother?” Even if she had withdrawn from her marriage, she was not someone that Yurong could easily bully.

Yurong’s face froze for a moment. Some days ago, the Old Lady had fallen ill and was still not well. These days, she and Wen Shi had been taking care of her. She didn’t know what had happened, but her grandmother used to be quite good-tempered, but now she was getting even worse and even more unreasonable.

Jiang Qi was aware of the reason, but she didn’t bring up the subject. Instead, she said with a sympathetic look on her face, “Yuxi Jiejie, the rumours outside right are so unpleasant to hear. They said you……” She spoke until here, deliberately pausing for a moment, hoping that Yuxi would pick up on it.

Yurong wanted to speak but was stopped by a sharp look from Yuxi. Yuxi also did not respond to Jiang Qi’s words. She at once picked up the tea next to her and slowly took two sips. Then, she put it down and spoke casually, “They have mouths on them, so they can say whatever they like, but what that has got to do with me?” Everyone liked to hear gossip. However, when no one mentioned it in a few days, it would pass on its own.

Jiang Qi tried to see traces of hypocrisy on Yuxi’s face but was unsuccessful. This person before her undoubtedly didn’t care about her broken engagement. At this time, Jiang Qi was silently furious. The Second Master Chen was so good. Yuxi could engage with him because she somehow stepped on some freaking luck, but now she acted as if she did not care much about it. Who did she think she was? The good thing was that Jiang Qi could still control her emotions and immediately responded with a smile, “Yuxi Jiejie is certainly good at looking on the bright side of things.”

Yuxi still had the same indifferent expression on her. “It will only make you feel bad if you think about it, so I might as well look on the bright side of the issue. Why bother to be sad every day? I also don’t want to see my family worry about me.”

Yurong felt that Yuxi had been hit too hard by this issue that she now had the gut to see through the world of mortal tendency. Jiang Qi didn’t think so. She felt that Yuxi had never had any feelings for Second Master Chen. Otherwise, why wouldn’t she be so sad? It was also fortunate that Second Master Chen had not married her, or else Second Master Chen would have to suffer for the rest of his life.

Yuxi looked at the two people and asked, “Is there something Miss Jiang has come over here for?”

Jiang Qi smiled and replied, “It was Yurong Meimei who invited me over to play, and I heard that Yuxi Jiejie was sick, so I also came over to visit.”

Playing was just an excuse. Jiang Qi’s real purpose was to see how miserable she was! Yuxi didn’t know if her state mind suddenly turned rebellious, but she didn’t want to show her weakness in front of Jiang Qi ever again. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dressed up on purpose before coming to see Jiang Qi. “If it’s okay for Miss Jiang, please return.”

Jiang Qi was also unwilling to stay any longer and smiled as she stood up, ready to go with Yurong, but she then heard Yuxi say, “Miss Jiang, please wait outside for a while. I have a few words to say to Yurong.”

When Jiang Qi left, Yuxi’s face sank as she looked at Yurong and scolded her, “Asking me why I withdrew my marriage in front of outsiders? Are you out of your mind? Huh?” It was none of her business if Yurong wanted to please Jiang Qi, nor did Yuxi have the patience to do the same thing. But Yuxi couldn’t ignore the fact that she was losing her face and points in front of Jiang Qi.

Yurong didn’t expect Yuxi to lose her temper, but she had her reasons. “Jiang Jiejie is not an outsider.” Jiang Qi would be family with her in the future.

Yuxi sneered. “You already think of yourself as the Jiang family members before you even marry? Have all the things taught by your nurturing momo all these years gone into a dog’s belly? Don’t you even have the most basic reserve of a girl? It’s none of my business if you want to curry favour with Jiang Qi, but don’t disgrace our Han family. Next time, don’t blame me for not showing you any mercy.”

Yurong left the Taoran House with both of her eyes looking red.