Chapter 400 : Emotionally Touch

After the Lantern Festival, Yun Qing was too busy to be seen, and Yuxi didn’t complain. She only had someone deliver food and a change of clothes to the barracks the next day and said nothing else. She didn’t know anything about warfare, so she didn’t ask questions about it.

Shiliu entered the room and reported to Yuxi, “Madam, Steward Han is back.” Shiliu used to be Yuxi’s third-ranking maid, and when she arrived in Yu City, she was transferred to the inner courtyard to serve Yuxi. But she hadn’t experienced aiding Yuxi yet, and now she just merely doing small tasks of running errands.

Han Ji walked in with a face that had been among wind and frost and informed Yuxi, “Madam, everything has been ordered. I will visit Xinping City in two days to pick up the goods.” After saying that, he showed Yuxi the list of things he had bought.

Yuxi looked at the list and noticed that the things were cheaper than she had expected. She then asked, “I heard that because there is going to be a war in Yu City every year at the beginning of spring, the prices at this time will be forty to fifty per cent higher than usual. But the prices of these things you bought are about the same as normal. Is there any reason for this?”

Han Ji nodded. “The Ying family said that this business was introduced by Da Nainai Fu, and since they are all family members, they didn’t raise the price.” As for the real reason, Madam should have known it better.

Yuxi inquired with a smile as she placed the list on the desk, “There’s no such thing as a merchant who is not a sly one. They must have a hidden agenda if they give us such a great discount. Tell me, what do they want?”

Han Ji answered, “The Ying family has wanted to do business with Madam for a long time.” It was like saying that the Ying family felt that Yun Qing had a good prospect and wanted to hitch on Yuxi. When Yun Qing was in power, with their connections with Yuxi, they could secure more significant business in the future.

Yuxi heard the meaning behind these words and let out a sound of understanding. “You should rest inside the residence for the next few days.” It was not easy to travel to and from Xinping City.

In the evening, Zijin came back from school. As soon as she returned to the residence, she went into the kitchen to look for Mama Bai and asked, “Mama Bai, is there anything to eat? Can you make me some?”

Mama Bai took a mantou and gave it to Zijin, saying with a smile, “There is still this night chicken soup in the cupboard that I just ladled out.” This chicken soup was for Yuxi, who didn’t want to eat anything too greasy, so the oil on the top layer had to be scooped out. When Yun Qing was around, the soup would be put together with boiled noodles. Now, the bowl of chicken soup was given to Zijin.

Looking at Zijin’s hungry face as she took a bite of mantou and a sip of chicken soup, Mama Bai smilingly asked, “Why are you so hungry? Aren’t they feeding you at the school?”

Zijin finished the mantou in a few bites before answering, “The food in the school is not as good as Mama Bai’s.” One could only get enough to eat at school but couldn’t expect to eat much more. She hadn’t eaten much at lunch and had been busy teaching martial arts in the afternoon, so she was starving.

After devouring the mantou and the chicken soup, Zijin finally felt more comfortable. She was about to go into the house to talk to Yuxi when she saw Han Ji hurrying in.

When Yuxi heard Han Ji coming, she immediately said, “Let Steward Han in.” This must be an urgent matter. Otherwise, Steward Han would have been resting by now.

Han Ji took out a letter from his sleeve and gave it to Yuxi, saying, “Madam, there is a letter from the capital. The person who delivered the letter said it was a hundred thousand times more urgent.” The fact that it was so urgent meant that it was very important.

Yuxi took the letter and opened it. After reading it, her face looked a bit odd. After a while, Yuxi waved her hand and said to Han Ji, “You should withdraw first.”

Han Ji said, “Madam, the messenger said he hoped Madam would reply as soon as possible so he could bring the letter back.” Looking at the Madam’s expression, she was pretty calm, so it should not be a big deal.

Yuxi nodded. “I know; let him rest and make his way home in the morning!” This was no small matter as she couldn’t decide this on her own. She had to discuss it with Yun Qing and Huo Chang Qing before she could do so.

Seeing Yuxi’s reaction, Han Ji immediately withdrew.

Yuxi did not ask anyone to call Yun Qing and Huo Changqing but stayed in her study alone. As for what she was doing in the study, no one knew but herself.

At nightfall, Yun Qing and Huo Changqing returned. This time, Huo Changqing followed Yun Qing directly into the inner courtyard, and when he met Yuxi, he asked, “Is there something urgent about having us back?”

Yuxi handed out the letter Han Jianming had written to her. “The Crown Prince knows that the Yu family wants to draw He Rui in, so he wants to block it.” The Crown Prince could not sit back and watch the Yu family get their hands on military power.

Huo Changqing asked, “How does the Crown Prince want to stop it?”

Yuxi replied, “The surest way for the Crown Prince is to have Yun Qing defect to him.” Once they all became his people, the Yu family’s people would be at their wit’s end.

Huo Changqing didn’t say anything and just looked at Yun Qing.

Yun Qing was silent for a long time before saying, “The Crown Prince is the heir to the throne, the future Emperor, and even if the Yu family is powerful, they are only vassals.” This statement was enough to show Yun Qing’s attitude.

Yuxi asked Huo Changqing, “Uncle Huo, what do you think?” Yun Qing’s answer was within Yuxi’s expectations. Loyalty to the ruler and love for the country were engraved in his bones, and getting him to give up the Crown Prince and join the Yu family would be generally problematic. Of course, that was for others, but it wasn’t that hard for her. However, she would not release this card in her hand until the end.

Huo Changqing looked at Yun Qing and said, “Just now, your wife has already said that the Crown Prince is asking you to defect to him. If you do so, you will have to work for him in the future. If the Crown Prince was well-known and powerful, and he held the cardinal principles of righteousness, I would not have stopped you and asked you to defect to him instead. But now, the Crown Prince is well-known but without any power and has been turned into a mere figurehead; it is not too much to say that he is a puppet. If you defect to him, not only will we not get any benefit, but we will offend the Yu family.” Huo Changqing’s meaning was simple: it was not worth it to offend the Yu family by defecting to the Crown Prince.

After a pause, Huo Changqing continued, “The Yu Family, on the other hand, is different. Our relationship with the Yu Family is one of cooperation. We can break our relationship anytime if they can’t satisfy us.”

Yun Qing did not speak, and his face was sullen.

Seeing this, Huo Changqing looked at Yuxi and asked, “What do you think?” In fact, he didn’t need to ask to know that Yuxi was unwilling to work with the Crown Prince.

Yuxi did not hide her words and directly expressed her opinion, “The Crown Prince has the blood of the Song family in his body, and he has their ruthlessness and cold-bloodedness in his bones. If He Rui joins the Crown Prince, then He Rui will become a powerful tool in his hands, a powerful tool to eliminate other forces. When he seizes power and is completely established, that will be when he will make this sharp weapon disappear.” This meant that the Crown Prince would kill the donkey when the grinding was done at that time.

Hearing this statement, Yun Qing argued, “If the Crown Prince’s position is unstable, and the ambitions of the Yu and Song families are too great to fulfil, the world will be in chaos sooner or later. Although my hatred for the Song family is unshakable, if there is chaos in the world, the people will be the ones who suffer in the end. The 100,000 soldiers of the border city have pledged to defend Yu City to the death judge so that the people of the world won’t be poisoned by war and can live in peace.”

Hearing this, Yuxi was shocked and asked, “Do you mean that for the sake of the greater good, you could not only put aside avenging your family but also sacrifice yourself, your wife and your children?”

Yun Qing said, “There are no men in my Yun family who would put the greater good at risk for personal gain. Otherwise, I would have no words to face my grandfather and father when I die.” The meaning of this was clear enough. Even if the Crown Prince was weak, he would still defect to him and wouldn’t cooperate with the Yu family.

Hearing these words, Yuxi’s tears also fell down involuntarily. She didn’t understand, really didn’t understand, why such a broad-minded, straightforward and upright man with a heart for the world had been rumoured to be so bad in his previous life. She was unworthy of Yun Qing, really unworthy of being his regret.

Yun Qing watched as tears rolled down Yuxi’s eyes, thinking she was sad about what he had just said and felt a little guilty. He turned towards her and said, “I’m sorry. Yuxi, I am a general, a general who guards the land and defends the country.” These words made it clear that his attitude would not be changed.

Yuxi shook her head and said, “I don’t blame you.” She did not blame Yun Qing; rather, her heart ached, and she wondered just how much Yun Qing had to carry in his last life.

Hearing this, Yun Qing was somewhat emotionally touched. “Thank you, Yuxi, thank you.” To have a wife like this, he had no regrets in this life.

Huo Changqing’s face was a little gloomy. He disagreed with Yun Qing’s thoughts but could not say that Yun Qing’s thoughts were wrong. If Yuxi were also on Yun Qing’s side, there would be no way to turn this matter around. Considering this situation, Huo Changqing looked at Yuxi and asked, “Do you also support Yun Qing’s defection to the Crown Prince?”

Yuxi wiped her tears and shook her head. “No, I did not support his defection to the Crown Prince. On the contrary, the Crown Prince is the one we shouldn’t rely on for help.”

Huo Changqing’s heart was at ease hearing these words, and he asked, “Why did you say it that way?” Huo Changqing was not a selfish person. Old Man Yun would not have entrusted Yun Qing to him if he were. He had his own set of principles, for example, the matter of Yun Qing taking refuge with the Crown Prince. If the Crown Prince were a wise man, Huo Changqing would have supported this idea even if the Crown Prince was in a difficult situation. But it was clear that the Crown Prince was not a trustworthy man at all. As Yuxi had said, the Crown Prince had the cold-bloodedness and ruthlessness of the Song family in his bones. How could such a person be worthy of trust?

Yuxi looked at Yun Qing and asked, “Do you still remember the Tong City Incident?”

How could Yun Qing forget? It was because of the Tong City Incident that his family was destroyed. This was something that he would never forget until his death.

Yuxi slowly said, “Back then, the Ninth Prince, who is now the Crown Prince, was involved in the Tong City Incident.”

Huo Changqing was shocked to hear this revelation. However, Yun Qing walked up to Yuxi, grabbed her shoulders with both his hands that felt like claws and asked, “How did you know about this?”

Yuxi’s face twisted in pain as she cried out, “You’re hurting me.” What had she done? She even felt like her bones were going to be crushed.

Yun Qing returned to his senses with a drastic change of expression and immediately dropped his hand from Yuxi’s shoulder. He turned around and headed out. “I’ll call the physician.”

Yuxi let out a long breath, holding down the strange feeling that was welling up in her heart and said, “There’s no need to call the physician. I’m fine. I’ll be all right in a moment.”

Huo Changqing didn’t wait for Yun Qing to say anything before asking, “Just now, you said that the Crown Prince was involved in the Tong City Incident. What does that mean?” He knew that Yuxi would not have made something up in order to convince Yun Qing to give up on the Crown Prince and cooperate with the Yu family. Yuxi was not such an immoral person.

Yun Qing stated, “It’s not too late to talk about this later. I’ll call the physician first.” After saying that, he strode out with great strides.

Yuxi looked at Yun Qing’s back, and her heart was heavy.