Chapter 452 : Confinement (2)

Yun Qing was led all the way to the Qin Mansion, where the holy decree would be pronounced. He was the last one to arrive. As soon as he entered the main hall of the Qin Mansion, Yun Qing saw not only Qin Zhao but also General Zhao, Fu Tian Lei, and the others.

This time it was Du Wenshu who delivered the decree. Making two trips to the northwest in the last six months was pretty troublesome for him.

When Du Wen saw that everyone had arrived, he began to read out the holy decree. The content was also straightforward: it stated that Qin Zhao had to go to the capital to explain the reasons for his defeat in this battle and for Yun Qing to manage the military affairs of Yu City on his behalf. Everyone present had their own sources of information, so they were not surprised by this decree.

General Zhao had received this news much earlier, and this gathering was only for confirmation. Reflecting on Yun Qing’s actions during this period, General Zhao realised that Yun Qing’s recovery was a lie and his act of retreating in order to advance1 was the real thing.

Qin Zhao was relieved to hear that the Imperial Decree had only asked him to go to the capital to explain the reasons for his defeat in the war and not to be dragged there for punishment. The fact that it was not an interrogation and that Yun Qing was only managing Yu City’s military affairs on his behalf also meant that he still had a chance.

After reading the Imperial Decree, Du Wenshu recited a verbal order from the Crown Prince to everyone. The Crown Prince had appointed Du Wenshu as the Military Supervisor, meaning Du Wenshu would be permanently stationed in Yu City. “The Ministry of Personnel will issue the appointment document soon. I will have to ask all the generals to take care of me in the future.” Du Wenshu was in such a hurry for this trip that he had travelled day and night, non-stop. So, it would take some time for the appointment document to arrive. As the papers were still not available, Du Wenshu could not officially take office. But that didn’t stop him from establishing a good relationship with everyone first.

Yun Qing’s face turned cold when he heard this order. What he hated most were these army supervisors, who obviously knew nothing about anything but liked to point with their fingers and draw with their feet2, which eventually led to delays in seizing their opportunity in a battle. Despite his discontent, Yun Qing knew that the Crown Prince did not trust him and had sent a supervisor to keep an eye on him, something he could do nothing about.

After greeting everyone, Du Wenshu returned to the post station. Yun Qing didn’t leave the place either, as the Imperial Decree had now decreed that he would take over the military affairs of Yu City. In the past, Yun Qing had only trained the soldiers for the war, while Uncle Huo and the others dealt with all the affairs of the Dingbei Army. Now that he was in charge of Yu City’s affairs, he realised that there were many burdensome things.

Back at the Yun Residence, Mama Xi and Mama Lan did not know whether to laugh or cry3. Other people’s children asked their mothers for milk when they were hungry, but Yuxi woke her baby up when her chest hurt and made her eat. This was the first time they had seen such an unruly mother.

Yuxi waited until Zaozao was full before she put her down. When she saw the disapproving faces of Mama Xi and Mama Lan, she explained with a smile, “In any case, this girl can still go back to sleep whenever she’s full. So it’s okay just to wake her up.” The main reason was that Zaozao was a remarkably well-behaved child. Even if Yuxi patted Zaozao awake to feed her, she wouldn’t cry and would even go back to sleep once she was full. If Zaozao had wailed endlessly, Yuxi would not dare to do so.

Upon hearing this explanation, Mama Lan smilingly commented, “The Eldest Young Miss will certainly be an extremely filial child in the future.” Since the child had been so well-behaved from when she was in Yuxi’s womb until now, she would undoubtedly be the same when she grew up.

Yuxi liked hearing such words.

After talking about the child, Mama Xi spoke to Yuxi about another matter: “Madam, the inner courtyard is short of staff. Should we let Azhu come in to serve?” In the past, when Zisu was here, she used to keep the accounts for the courtyard. Now that Zisu was gone, all the affairs of the mansion fell on Mama Qu’s shoulders. Mama Qu was frantically busy right now. Apart from Mama Xi and Mama Lan, Yuxi had no other useful staff around her. As time went on, it would be easy for problems to arise.

Yuxi was in a good mood when she asked Mama Lan, “You’ve been with Azhu all the way. What do you think of her?”

Mama Lan replied, “She is capable, but the only bad thing is her strong temper.” Seeing Yuxi’s puzzled look, Mama Lan hurriedly explained, “Azhu’s parents wanted her to mourn her fiancé for three years before discussing a new marriage for her. Although she would be a bit older by then, Azhu was a good-looking girl who was excellent at needlework. Therefore, her family could find her another marriage by giving out more dowry. As a result, the maid immediately knelt before the Bodhisattva and made a poisonous vow, saying that she would never marry and would mourn her betrothed for the rest of her life.”

Yuxi had never heard about this, and she finally knew that this girl, Azhu, really didn’t intend to get married. When Zisu said she wouldn’t marry before, it was because she thought men were unreliable, and she had a shadow in her heart because of what happened to her father, but she only said it verbally. But it was a different story when someone took a vow before the Bodhisattva. Yuxi decided, “Then let her serve in the inner courtyard!”

Azhu arrived soon after. Mama Lan had just praised Azhu for her beautiful appearance, but in fact, her look was only average. Her skin was not very fair, and she wore a light pastel purple4 dress that only made her look older. From how she dressed and the look on her face, it was clear that this girl intended to be faithful to her dead fiancé for the rest of her life.

Azhu knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Yuxi, saying, “Greetings, Madam.” Qiu Shi knew that Yuxi had no useful maids around her, and she had always wanted to find someone earnest and proper to send over, but it was difficult to find such a person. The northwest was a bitterly cold place, and with the constant warfare, no one wanted to go where they might suffer hardship and lose their lives at any moment. It so happened that someone recommended Azhu. Qiu Shi was not satisfied at first, but she could not find anyone better, and since Azhu had vowed never to marry, she could serve Yuxi for the rest of her life, so Qiu Shi finally agreed.

Yuxi leaned back on the bed and asked, “Han Hao said you came to the northwest on your own initiative. Is that true?”

Azhu nodded. “Yes. If I stay at home, my parents will force me to marry someone sooner or later. Madam, I don’t want to marry anyone. I just want to keep myself for Brother Yun.” No one would force her to marry again when she arrived in the northwest.

Yuxi stared at Azhu with her sharp eyes and interrogated, “Is that really the case? Last time, almost everyone who went on the journey to bring the bride here lost their lives. I don’t think anyone at the State Residence is unaware of how difficult and dangerous the journey was. Aren’t you afraid of dying on the way?” There were many ways to avoid marriage if you didn’t want to. One could become a nun without going all the way to the northwest, let alone beg for it. Qiu Shi said in her letter that Azhu had begged to go there.

Azhu’s expression changed. Yuxi’s words directly implied that she harboured evil intentions5. “Madam, this handmaiden only thinks that the northwest is far from the capital, and father and mother will not force….”

Before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Yuxi. “Such a poor excuse. Do you think I would believe that? I’m more convinced that someone asked you to serve me in the northwest in exchange for avenging your fiancé.” When Yuxi asked this, it wasn’t that she didn’t believe in Azhu. She just had doubts about the reason behind Azhu’s request to come there of her own accord, which was why she did not want to see her the next day.

Azhu’s face turned pale when she heard these words, but she calmly explained, “Madam, I hold no grudge against Young Master Chiang. Brother Yun’s death was an accident, and Young Master Chiang did not mean for it to happen that way. After Brother Yun’s death, the Chiang family sent someone to the Fu family the next day to formally apologise. Not only did they handle Brother Yun’s funeral grandly, but they also took the initiative to compensate the Fu family with two hundred taels of silver.” Two hundred taels of silver were enough to buy a lot of servants, and one couldn’t help but say that the Chiang family had taken care of this matter splendidly.

Yuxi had been staring at Azhu after her explanation, and seeing that she was pale but not afraid, Yuxi knew that Azhu was telling the truth. “Then tell me, why did you request to come to the northwest of your own accord?” This was very puzzling.

Azhu replied, “My parents only want me to marry because they are worried that I will have no one to rely on when I am old. Madam is generous to those around Madam. As long as I follow Madam, even if I don’t get married, I will still have someone to rely on for the rest of my life. That way, my parents won’t have to worry about me in the future either.” Yuxi was very generous to the people around her, such as Mama Fang and Momo6 Quan. All the servants at the Han residence were aware of this.

Yuxi was just testing Azhu. After all, she and Yun Qing were in a dangerous situation, and she had to be careful with everything, especially her choice of personal attendants. Azhu’s behaviour had convinced Yuxi that she had no ulterior motives. Otherwise, she would not have acted so calmly. By this time, Yuxi’s expression had also eased. “You are very fond of this Brother Yun.”

Azhu told Yuxi, “My family and the Fu family used to be neighbours, and Brother Yun and I grew up together.” After a pause, she added, “When I was seven years old, I had an accident. If Brother Yun hadn’t saved me, I would have died long ago.”

Yuxi said, “From now on, you will change your name to Zhuye7.”

Hearing this statement, Azhu kowtowed and said, “Thank you, Madam.” Changing her name to Zhuye7 was Yuxi’s way of agreeing to let her stay and serve at Yuxi’s side.

Yuxi looked at Ah Zhu’s clothes and commented, “I won’t stop you if you want to mourn your dead fiancé, but your clothes can’t be too plain.”

It wasn’t long after dark when Yun Qing returned. As soon as he entered the house, he went to look for his daughter. When he saw Zaozao smiling at him, he felt like he had discovered a new land, so he called out to Yuxi: “Yuxi, look, Zaozao is smiling at me!” He looked like a silly father that Yuxi couldn’t bear to look at him.

Yuxi smiled. “Yes, this child still treats you dearly, as she smiles at the sight of you.” In fact, newborn children didn’t know much yet. It was just Yuxi trying to make Yun Qing happy.

When Yun Qing heard these words, a smile appeared on his face. Shiliu walked in and said, “General, the food is all set. You can have your dinner now.”

After dinner, Yun Qing went back to the bedroom. The first thing he did when he entered was to pick up the sleeping Zaozao and kiss her. M-hmm, it’s better to have a daughter who smells so good and is so soft.

Yuxi had known before that Yun Qing was fond of a daughter, but she had never imagined that he would like her to this extent, making her heart sour as the mother’s. “You’d better rest early. You have a lot of things to do tomorrow.” Yu City’s affairs had thousands of strands and loose ends8, and Yun Qing had just taken over, so he would be busy for a while.

Thinking about all those things, Yun Qing also had a headache. There were so few people around him it was not enough. He would have to find someone to help him, but it would be challenging. It was just that Yun Qing didn’t intend to tell Yuxi about these things. He just wanted to let her sit through her confinement peacefully.

PS (Author): I have to facepalm myself for screwing up again.