Chapter 288 : Gossip

At the end of the seventh lunar month, Lu Xiu gave birth to her second son.

After seeing the baby, Yuxi muttered to Qiu Shi, “On such a hot day, we can’t even open the doors and windows, using a fan to get the wind, let alone put ice in. Mother, how can we live like this?” This situation didn’t just last for a day or two, but a month! Just thinking about it made Yuxi feel so horrible.

Qiu Shi said, “It just happens that the baby was born in the seventh lunar month, so there is nothing we can do about it.” To have a baby in the seventh lunar month was indeed great suffering, but one couldn’t pick a day to give birth to a baby.

Within a few days after the baby’s first bath ceremony, Han Jianye was preparing for his trip to the northwest. Han Jianming had been thinking about it for a long time, but he was still unsure about Yun Qing, so he wanted Han Jianye to go to the southwest.

The southwest was the land of the Yi barbarians, and although they were also fierce, it was better than going to the northwest and letting his brother get mixed up with Yun Qing. But Han Jianye refused to go to the southwest, saying that if he couldn’t go to Liaodong, he would like to go to the northwest. If he was not allowed to go to the northwest, it was just as well that he did not want to go to the southwest, so he wanted to go to Liaodong instead. In the end, Han Jianming could only compromise and agreed to let him go to the northwest.

If he were to go to a prosperous and peaceful place such as Jiangnan, it would not be easy to find a vacant position. But there were plenty in the northwest, where wars were fought for years with many casualties in every battle. Han Jianming, himself, was in the Ministry of War, so he quickly found a vacancy for Han Jianye in a battalion. It was not that he couldn’t find a better one, but Han Jianye didn’t want to. A man’s career had to be fought on his own ability. What was the point of always relying on his family? Though, Han Jianye didn’t dare to inform Lu Xiu about his trip to the northwest. After thinking about it, he came to ask Yuxi for advice.

When Yuxi heard Han Jianye’s difficulties, she smiled and said, “Er Ge, you don’t need to think too much about it. Just tell Er Sao directly. She should have known all about it.” Even if the Lu family did not say anything to Lu Xiu, as his wife, how could she still not see any difference in her husband? Even if no one told her about it, it did not mean that she wasn’t aware of it. She just pretended not to know.

Han Jianye let out a sigh and asked, “How did your Er Sao know? I’ve told people to withhold the news.” He was afraid that Lu Xiu would be thinking nonsense. That was why he kept the news a secret.

Yuxi laughed a little and advised him, “Just tell Er Sao straight away.” Han Jianye was a military general, so he would have to rely on his military achievements to earn a promising future for himself. Since the Lu family’s people had followed this path, Han Jianye was no exception. Therefore, she had long been prepared for Han Jianye to be assigned a position outside of the capital.

That same day, Han Jianye spoke to Lu Xiu about it. Initially, he was going to wait for Lu Xiu to finish her confinement. But the northwest suffered another defeat, and there was a significant shortage of men due to the heavy casualties. So the Ministry of War gave Han Jianye the paperwork, urging him to rush to the northwest as soon as possible.

Lu Xiu was silent for half a second and asked, “When are you leaving?” After Han Jianye had returned from outside, she had felt that something was wrong with him. At first, Lu Xiu was worried that Han Jianye was being dishonest and had fancied some woman outside. When she finally had someone check, she found out that her husband had been assigned a position outside of the capital.

In the heart of it all, Lu Xiu naturally did not want Han Jianye to be sent away to a place far from the capital, like a border town where there were deaths and injuries because of the continuous war. However, Lu Xiu knew very well that she could not stop his husband’s footsteps. Since she could not stop him and he did not even tell her, she just let him assume that she did not know.

Han Jianye said, “I’ll be leaving in ten days. ”

Lu Xiu whispered, “So soon?” After hearing Han Jianye’s explanation, she asked, “Why are you going to the northwest and not to Liaodong? Going to Liaodong, with Dage around, is better than going to the northwest with you completely in the dark.” It wasn’t that she was asking her Dage to give him the green light. It was just that it would be a lot easier for Han Jianye to act if he had someone he was familiar with at the top.

Han Jianye explained, “A few days ago, my Dage asked an eminent monk to read my fortune. The monk told him that it was inadvisable for me to go east. Otherwise, my life would be in danger.” This statement was Han Jianming’s argument for not allowing Han Jianye to go to Liaodong. Although Han Jianye did not believe it, he could do nothing to deal with his elder brother.

Women were generally prone to be more superstitious, especially when it involved this kind of life-threatening thing. After hearing his explanation, Lu Xiu stopped dwelling on him not going to Liaodong. “I’ll have Mama Jian pack your things for you.” After saying this, tears fell from her eyes.

What Han Jianye feared most was a woman crying as his hands rushed to reassure and calm her. “Don’t cry. You can’t cry when you’re in confinement. Once I’m firmly established there, I’ll send someone to pick you and the children up if you want to go.”

Lu Xiu wiped her tears and said, “Let’s wait until the baby is a bit older.” Not to mention the fact that her second son had just been born; her eldest son was only three years old and could not withstand such a bumpy ride.

Han Jianye was not a good coaxer, but this day he had the rare opportunity to talk with Lu Xiu for a long time. Rather than talking with him, it was more like Lu Xiu was speaking by herself about all kinds of advice and what he should be concerned about. Hearing her words, Han Jianye felt sick at heart. He felt sorry for leaving his wife at this time. But even though he hated to depart with her, he still had to go when that time arrived.

In the first half of the eighth lunar month, where one would have one’s face streaming with one’s sweat after taking just a few steps, Han Jianye left for the northwest with his twelve attendants.

In the middle of the ninth lunar month, the capital received a victory report from the northwest. The northwest had won a battle, killing 5,000 of the enemy, and as for prisoners, there were none.

Yuxi looked at the information handed to her by Han Jianming and asked casually, “Not a single prisoner? Were they all killed?” Yuxi would be particularly concerned about this, mainly because Yun Qing had too much reputation for killing prisoners back then.

Han Jianming smiled and said, “What are you going to do with them if you don’t kill them?”

Yuxi fell silent. In the past, when she did not know the world’s affairs and heard numerous rumours, she thought that Yun Qing was addicted to killing others. But now that she knew more, she realised that keeping captives wasn’t as simple as just saying a few words. If they did not kill the enemies, what would they eat? Where would they be housed? The money given by the Imperial Court was not enough to feed the soldiers themselves. Hence there was no way they could also provide for the enemies. Besides, if they didn’t kill these people, it was also hazardous to capture them and lock them up. What if they found an opportunity to riot, or if they cooperated. Therefore, the easiest and quickest way was to exterminate all these people. If they were left alive, there would be all sorts of problems and hassles.

Han Jianming shook his head. This girl was still soft-hearted in the end. “The Imperial Court has already circulated a commendation order. Also, the Emperor has issued an Imperial Decree for Yun Qing’s return to the capital.”

Yuxi let out a cry of disbelief as she asked for confirmation, “Asking for Yun Qing’s return to the capital?” As far as Yuxi knew, until the time of her death, Yun Qing had never returned to the capital, and he had been staying put in the northwest!

Han Jianming laughed a little. “Unless Yun Qing is out of his mind, there is no way he would return to the capital.” If Yun Qing returned to the capital, the Song family would have plenty of opportunities to destroy him. Yun Qing wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t throw himself into the net. This Imperial Decree was just the Emperor’s wishful thinking.

Yuxi also felt that Yun Qing would not return to the capital as she commented, “Then the Song family might use Qin Zhao’s hand to get rid of Yun Qing?”

Han Jianming nodded a little. “If Yun Qing wants to fight Qin Zhao, there is only one way out.” Yun Qing’s most significant capital was his youth and ability. There must be many people who valued his excellent prospect. So, there should be no worry for him to find a suitable marriage partner for himself.

Yuxi said bluntly, “Marriage is naturally the best and fastest way, but the problem is that Yun Qing’s fierce reputation. Chen Xue was scared to death because of it before. I don’t know if his new marriage partner will be scared to death this time too.”

Han Jianming reminded, “Yuxi, don’t just take things only at their face value.”

Yuxi quickly reacted as she asked, “Could it be that there is an inside story to Chen Xue’s death?” She hadn’t thought that there would be something else going on with Chen Xue.

Han Jianming nodded and said, “Yun Qing and the Song family have become sworn enemies. So how could Marquis Taining marry his daughter to Yun Qing? Wouldn’t that make them become enemy with the Song family too?”

Yuxi’s mind suddenly turned imaginative, “Could it be Chen Xue is not yet dead?” Then she shook her head and said, “No, if Chen Xue hadn’t died, Chen Ran wouldn’t have been so sad in the first place.”

Han Jianming didn’t go into too much detail with Yuxi but said, “Chen Xue indeed died, but I don’t know exactly why she died, but I know that even if she hadn’t died, Marquis Taining wouldn’t have married her off to Yun Qing. The so-called withdrawing from the marriage arrangement because she was scared to death by Yun Qing is just a pretence for the outside world.” The news from Marquis Taining Residence was so tightly concealed that he could not inquire the details.

In response, Yuxi did not ask any more questions. “Then this Yun Qing is already miserable enough.” Considering the rumours she heard about him from her previous life; she thought how unjust it must have been for him.

Han Jianming didn’t comment on the matter and changed the subject, “There was a drought in Hebei in the first half of the year, and the autumn’s harvests have not been good. I estimate that many refugees will pour into the capital shortly. So, don’t go out during this time.” He would purposely say these words to Yuxi because Yuxi had once said she wanted to stay in Red Jujube Hamlet for two days.

The more Yuxi knew, the more frightened she was. If it were in peaceful times, even if there were a natural disaster in Hebei, as long as the Imperial Court provided sufficient reliefs, it would not be a big deal. But now, the state treasury was empty, so there was no money to spend on disaster relief. Of course, even if they could get the money together to provide any relief, they didn’t know if even a tenth of it reached the victims’ hands in the end.

Yuxi nodded and said, “I know. I won’t go out these days.”

Han Jianming sighed slightly and said, “Recently, Liaodong and northwest have been at war. At the same time, the people in the southwest and Province of Shu are still busy putting down rebellions. The people in the Ministry of War are all burnt out.” There were wars everywhere, and the treasury was so poor that it could barely pay out even the officials’ salaries. Han Jianming felt that perhaps the world would have to be in chaos before the current Emperor died.

Yuxi asked him a question, “Dage, I’ve been thinking lately. If the one in control of that dark force in Liaodong was really Yan Wushuang, and if he one day took control of Liaodong and then formed an alliance with Yun Qing, what do you think would happen?”

Han Jianming thought that Yuxi had a huge mind. “Although it is said that the Yan family and the Yun family used to have a deep friendship, Old Grandfather Yun still died for the Yan family. So these two can’t form an alliance.” Yun Qing was trying to use his military achievements to accumulate capital to seek revenge on the Song family properly. Yan Wushuang was hiding in the shadows, looking for an opportunity to bring down the Song family. Although both of them were burdened with blood feuds and both wanted to seek revenge on the Song family, their temperaments were very different, and they could not even properly talk about it at all.

Yuxi was not even a bit ashamed of her imagining the wildest thing just now. Some things can be thought of divergently. “I wonder when this kind of thing will burst out? When this thing happens, what kind of turmoil will there be?”

Han Jianming answered affirmatively, “Don’t worry, this matter won’t burst out. The 9th Prince will not allow it to happen.”

Speaking of the 9th Prince, Yuxi laughed. “He thinks he’s the clever one. What he doesn’t know is that he is mistakenly wrong about the level of his cleverness.” The Song family and the Yu family were the 9th Prince’s biggest helpers, but at the same time, they were also his most enormous resistance. If he wanted to do something, without their consent, the 9th prince couldn’t do anything. He was no better than a puppet.