Chapter 382 : Secret Letter (1)Translated byきつねonSeptember 18, 2022

Zijin smiled and said, “Madam, let someone carry the things inside now!” She was now eager to know what was in all the boxes.

Yuxi responded with a smile, “It must be some nourishing herbs, as well as children’s clothes, shoes, hats, silk and satin.”

Twenty-six large boxes were brought in, piling up all over the room. Zijin called the guard who carried the boxes and said, “Open them and have a look.” This part of the northwest was so remote that there were many things one couldn’t buy even when one was well-off.

Of the twenty-six boxes, six were for children’s clothes, shoes, hats and rattles; four were for silk, two for skins, two for all kinds of tonic products, one for all sorts of things from the capital, and the rest were all herbs. All these herbs were relatively expensive and not easily available in the northwest.

Yuxi’s eyes began to turn red after seeing all these things. “How much do all of these cost?” It must have cost over ten thousand taels of silver.

When Zijin looked at Yuxi’s appearance, she muttered in her heart how weepy Madam had become after her pregnancy! In the past, she never saw her cry, not even once a year. But now, Yuxi would be in tears every now and then, which made her a little unaccustomed to it! “Madam, let’s register these things into the treasury!”

Yuxi nodded. “It happened that I wanted to make two cloaks, and these leathers would come in handy.” This statement implied that the skins only need to be registered and do not need to be put into storage.

Zijin nodded her head.

Only after Zijin had left did Yuxi suddenly remember. Then she had someone call for Zisu and tell her, “I almost forgot. Those boxes of herbs are already marked. The first three boxes are mine, while the others are to be sent to the military camp.”

Zisu inquired, “Last time, Madam donated all the medicinal herbs to the military camp, and this time, all of these will also be sent there?” Even several large boxes of concocted medicinal herbs were worth a lot of silver. Her point was that boxes of raw medicinal herbs would not be much used in the barracks.

Yuxi smiled as she explained, “These herbs were specially bought by Er Ge and are to be sent to the military camp. They are not for me.” This time she couldn’t send all the herbs out again. What happened to Yun Qing last time made her heart palpitate. Yuxi felt that it was better to have some at home.

Half a shichen later, Han Gao entered the inner courtyard again and retold Yuxi, “We were lucky this time. There happened to be a caravan selling goods in the West Sea. We came with the caravan.” The journey of more than two months was not only tiring but also frightening. Last time, more than twenty people went out, and only a few returned. All the servants in residence were scared, and all those who could travel tried to hide. There was no way for the selected ones to escape now. Fortunately, just as they were about to set off, they happened to meet a caravan going to the West Sea. Han Jianye sought out the caravan’s leader, paid them a small fee and told the party from the residence to follow after them. These caravans had their own path. Thus, they did not encounter anything on their journey. Except for three people who fell ill, the rest of the team responsible for delivering things were safe and sound. But because of the detour, it took more time.

Qinghai Lake

The satellite view on the right was taken in 1994, and the source was Qinghai Lake’s wiki page

Yuxi breathed out a sigh of relief. “It’s good that everything is okay.” Seeing that they had delivered the things safely and Han Gao’s face did not look sad, it was clear they had a safe journey. It was just that Yuxi herself had been frightened by what happened last time.

Han Gao looked at Yuxi, and as he just wanted to speak, he swallowed his words back.

Yuxi understood. “Come with me to the study.” Then, she went into her study with her big belly. Zijin waited for Han Gao to go in, then closed the door considerately as she waited at the door.

Han Gao took out a roll of something from his sleeve, which was still wrapped in oilcloth on the outside. He handed it to Yuxi and said, “Madam, this is what the Old Lady asked me to give you.”

Once Yuxi took it, she untied it only to see that it was all silver tickets. There were two sheets of 10,000 taels and one for 5,000 taels. “What is Mother giving me silver for?”

Han Gao smilingly replied, “Madam, this is last year’s earnings for your stores and land. The Old Lady changed them all into silver tickets and asked me to bring them here.” Yuxi’s stores and farms were all in the capital. Since she was unwilling to sell her good properties, Qiu Shi had been helping her take care of them.

Yuxi looked at the three silver tickets in his hand and felt sad. For her properties, earning an annual income of 15,000 taels was already scary. The rest was an allowance from her mother.

Han Gao saw Yuxi’s reaction and explained. “The Old Lady said things are expensive in the northwest, so you should not be too frugal. You should eat what you need to eat, and you should use what you need to use. Don’t worry about the silver money. If you don’t have enough, she will send some more to you.” It was also because Qiu Shi was rich and generous. If it were anyone else, where would one hand over ten thousand taels of silver just like that?

Yuxi burst into tears when she heard these words. That was why it said that a child with a mother would be treated like a lump of treasure. A mother would give everything good that she could think of to the child. “Is Mother’s health okay?”

Han Gao nodded. “Don’t worry, Miss*. The Old Lady’s health is excellent. She hasn’t been sick for the whole year.” To tell the truth, Qiu Shi got a cold when she was on the mountain, but that was only a minor problem as she recovered after taking medicine twice. Han Gao was not a fool. How could he tell this to Yuxi and make her worry for nothing? Especially now that she was pregnant. What would he do if she got startled?

Yuxi asked Han Gao while she was in tears, “That’s good, then. How about Dage and Er Ge?” As for their father, Han Jingdong, she did not bother to ask. This person could enjoy himself the most. He could still do well even if the others in his family weren’t.

Han Gao replied while repeatedly nodding his head, “All good. The Lord Duke and the Second Lord are good and miss Miss very much.”

Yuxi wiped her tears and said, “That’s good.”

After Han Gao saw that Yuxi had finally calmed down, he took another letter out of his sleeve and said, “Madam, the Lord Duke told me that I must hand this letter to Madam personally.” Those who heard his words would know that the letter was confidential.

Yuxi became alarmed. She immediately took the letter and opened it. In the letter, Han Jianming wrote about what Qin Zhao had done in the capital and the changes in the capital’s personnel in the past few months. At the end of the letter, he told Yuxi that the Yu family wanted to rope in Yun Qing, asking her to be their lobbyist.

After putting down the letter, Yuxi asked Han Gao, “Does Dage have any more words for me?”

Han Gao nodded. “The Lord Duke said that Guye’s influence is weak. So if he can ally with the Yu family, the benefits will outweigh the disadvantages.”

Yuxi nodded. “I understand. You should withdraw and take a rest first!”

Han Gao expressed, “Madam, I would like to return to the capital tomorrow and give a report back to the Duke of State as soon as possible.” It had been two months since they left, which meant their journey had been delayed for two months.

Yuxi shook her head. “Why do you need to hasten your journey in this freezing weather? This matter is not urgent; you should withdraw and rest well for now.” No matter how urgent it was, there was no need for them to be in a hurry to leave.

After staying in the study for nearly a shichen, Yuxi finally came out of it.

When Zijin saw that there was nothing unusual with Yuxi, her heart felt relieved. “Madam, if you have something to say to the General, make sure that the General will take care of the matter by himself! You are not fit to work hard while in this condition.”

Yuxi let out a smile. “I’ve got a sense of proportion. Don’t worry. Go and call Zisu over.” The storeroom was located in the second courtyard, and Zisu must also be there at this time.

Zisu came over and reported to Yuxi. “Everything has been checked, and all are still in their original condition. I have taken out all the skins. The best ones are the two mink skins and a single lynx skin. The other four black fox skins are also pretty good.” T

/C

Yuxi nodded. “The lynx skin will be made into a cloak for the General, while the black fox skins will be for Uncle Huo’s big fur coat.” As for the mink skins, they were set aside for her own use; remembering the several trunks of large woollen garments robbed by robbers, Yuxi felt depressed. She truly liked the workmanship and style of those clothes.

When Zijin entered the room and noticed Yuxi’s pensive look, she asked, “What are you thinking about, Madam?”

Yuxi looked up and replied, “Today, Han Gao told me that the trade caravan went to the West Sea to trade in goods. I just looked through the book, which said that the West Sea is rich in products. I wondered if I should have someone go there after the spring.” The West Sea, now known as Qinghai, was next to Gansu. This was why it said that reading a thousand books wasn’t as good as travelling a thousand miles. What was written in books was far less profound than what one could see with one’s own eyes.

Zijin broke into laughter. “Madam, that has to wait until after the spring! It’s still early. Why are you thinking so far ahead? So you stayed in the study for a long time just to check these things out?” She thought Yuxi was inside the room thinking about something!

Yuxi also felt that she was overthinking things and immediately put the matter aside for now.

On this day, Yun Qing returned very early, together with Huo Changqing. In the past, Huo Changqing often stayed in the barracks and rarely came out. Because for them, being in the barracks was no different from being in the mansion, but the Yun residence had turned different now.

When Xu Daniu saw them at the gate, he lowered his voice and reported, “General, the State Residence has sent something over. You didn’t see it just now, General. Oh, boy, there were more than 20 huge boxes! There’s no telling how much good stuff has been packed inside.” He had seen many gift-givers, but this was the first time he had seen such a large number of gifts, carried by several large carts! Watching them come had made him couldn’t look straight.

Yun Qing and Huo Changqing ignored Xu Daniu and went into the mansion. They were already used to his tendency to make an unnecessary fuss about something. However, even though Xu Daniu usually acted improperly, when given something to do, he would be earnest about his work. Thus, no one requested excessive demands of him.

Xu Daniu followed them into the second courtyard. Once he saw Xu Wu inside, he went over and asked in a low voice, “Leader, what goodies have gotten here?”

Xu Wu ignored him. “No matter what goodies, it has nothing to do with you.” Xu Wu was helping out here earlier. Hence, he roughly knew what was stored there. According to his rough estimation, those things would be worth no less than ten thousand taels. He had to say that his General had taken advantage of his marriage with Madam. Other families’ Guye would give gifts to their fathers-in-law and mothers-in-law. However, with his General, it was the other way around.

Xu Daniu chuckled. “I’m merely trying to know more.” These things had come a long way from the capital, so they must be good things!

Xu Wu pointed to several large boxes in the corridor and said, “Madam has just ordered to send these large boxes of medicinal materials to Physician Hou’s side. Now you can go send all these things over.” Physician Hou was the military physician in Yun Qing’s camp.

Hearing this, Xu Daniu put away his smiling face and praised, “Madam is highly righteous.” In the beginning, several large carts of medicinal herbs sent by Madam were all of the excellent quality and had saved many people’s lives. When they delivered all these over, Physician Hou must surely be delighted. He couldn’t help saying that Madam had a remarkable understanding.