Chapter 488 : Imperial Envoys (2)

After confirming the death of Eighth Young Miss Cai, Yuxi felt a little confused. Just as she calmed down, Yun Qing returned.

Yuxi told Yun Qing: “He Rui, you have a chat with Er Ge1, and I will go check on Zaozao.” She wanted to go in and think about this matter.

After entering the room, Yuxi sat on the bed in a daze. Although she had no proof of the deaths of Qiao’s family members, she could roughly guess the cause and effect. Back then, Heshou had inexplicably attracted bandits to the Duke of the State Residence, causing heavy losses to the residence. Although Yuchen was calm and relaxed, Yuxi knew very well that Yuchen would not forget that incident. She didn’t show it then because she didn’t have the ability to take revenge yet. Now that she had the ability, she would naturally not tolerate it anymore. Therefore, Yuxi felt that Yuchen must have been responsible for what happened to the Qiao family. What Yuxi couldn’t figure out was why Yuchen would want to kill Eighth Young Miss Cai. Eighth Young Miss Cai and Yuchen had no connection whatsoever.

After thinking about it for a while, Yuxi finally figured it out. With Heshou’s temperament, she knew that the Eighth Young Miss Cai had an unparalleled ability to make money, so she must have wanted to control her personally. Unbeknownst to Heshou, she had been closely watched by Yuchen. It could also be that Heshou was paying *too much attention to the Eighth Young Miss Cai, or Yuchen was so disgusted by the Eighth Young Miss Cai Baniang’s abnormality that she killed her.

At this point, Yuxi had to be grateful that she had been careful since her rebirth. Her caution proved to be right. After all, she was still living peacefully, and no one had ever suspected her. In fact, many of Yuxi’s performances were a bit too much, such as embroidery—how could an average person embroider double-sided embroidery at eleven?! It was only because Yuchen’s radiance was too bright that she overshadowed all of Yuxi’s excellence. Otherwise, Yuxi would be suspected as well.🦊

After thinking about it, Yuxi felt much more relaxed. When she had calmed herself down, she realised too late that someone was standing next to her. Yuxi was so scared that her heart almost jumped out of her chest. She looked at the man beside her and asked, “When did you come in? When did you start creeping into the room?” Yun Qing’s footsteps were very heavy, and she usually heard them before he entered the room.

Yun Qing gently placed his hand on Yuxi’s head and asked softly, “It was because you were so engrossed in your thoughts that you didn’t even notice me coming in. Yuxi, what were you thinking about just now, so engrossed?” When he came in just now, he found that Yuxi was frowning, and then she shook and nodded her head. He knew Yuxi was thinking about something, so he kept quiet for fear of interrupting her.

Yuxi weighed things up in her mind before letting them out, “I just heard from Er Ge1 that Qingyang Gongzhu3’s family of four have all passed away, and even Heshou Xianzhu4 has also been locked up in her courtyard.” Speaking until here, Yuxi hugged Yun Qing’s waist and continued, “To get San Jie5 and me killed in the first place, Heshou lured bandits to the Duke of the State Residence on the night of the former Crown Prince’s palace rebellion. That night, the Duke of the State Residence lost not only a great deal of property but also the lives of nearly a hundred people, which was a hefty loss.”

Yun Qing asked, “Did you have a grudge against her?”

Yuxi shook her head. “No, I was only eleven at that time. What kind of deep hatred could I have for her? Besides, there was no enmity between the Han and Qiao families. So I still can’t figure out why she would do such a vicious thing?” In Yuxi’s mind, she naturally knew what was happening, but she couldn’t say it out loud.

Yun Qing said, “She’s a madman; don’t pay attention to her.” Running into someone’s home with no grudge or enmity just to kill them and set their house on fire was something only a madman could do.

Yuxi also agreed with Yun Qing that Heshou was a complete madman. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have tried to kill Yuxi based on a hunch.

Han Gao ran into the inner courtyard and called out from outside, “General, Madam, it’s bad. There’s a fire over at the military headquarters. General, please have a look!”

Hearing this, Yuxi suddenly stood up. Yun Qing remained calm and gently patted her shoulder. “It’s the storeroom where the accounts from previous years were kept, so don’t worry.”

Yuxi suddenly understood, but as she looked over at Yun Qing, she said, “You will make people suspicious if you react like this.” It would make everyone suspicious if one weren’t even alarmed when one heard the news that made waves like a fire.

Yun Qing replied: “No one will be suspicious.” He only acted like this at home. When Yun Qing went out, he had a straight face that no one could read.

When Han Jianye found out that there was a fire at the military headquarters, he couldn’t care less about resting and insisted on going over with Yun Qing. Yun Qing didn’t stop him and just let him follow.

However, Yuxi called Han Yi into the inner courtyard and asked, “Did something happen on the way? Why else would you guys be so late arriving in Yu City?” The urgent letters from her Dage6 had arrived a few days before Han Jianye, so Yuxi guessed that something had happened on the way. Otherwise, their arrival would not have been delayed by nearly half a month.

Han Yi was a little hesitant.

This reaction confirmed Yuxi’s suspicion: “Since Er Ge1 has returned, what else can you not say? Tell me. What exactly happened?”

Han Yi knelt on the ground, saying, “The Second Master won’t let me talk about it. He warned me that he would tear my head off if I dared.”

Yuxi knew this was not a small matter. “I won’t make it difficult for you either. You just have to tell me, will there be any consequences to this?”

Han Yi shook his head. “The Second Master has taken care of everything, and there will be no consequences.” In fact, he didn’t even know if there would be any consequences. He only knew that if there were, Si Gunainai7 would definitely continue to ask him questions. Therefore, this matter must be resolved by the Second Master himself.

Yuxi frowned but did not continue to ask Han Yi: “Don’t tell Er Ge1 about this, okay?” Since Han Jianye didn’t plan to tell her, he must be afraid she would worry. Since that was the case, there was no need to let Han Jianye know.

Han Yi quickly nodded. “Don’t worry, Si Gunainai7. This little one won’t say a single word to the Second Master.”

Zijin waited for Han Yi to leave before asking, “Madam, since the Second Master has returned safely, what do you have to worry about?” Even if they had run into bandits and robbers, the Second Master had returned to Yu City in one piece, proving that those bandits and robbers hadn’t gained any advantage.

Yuxi said, “I just didn’t feel at ease, so I called Han Yi over to ask.” She was also worried, so she asked more questions.

Zijin pouted and said, “Madam, there are too many things you don’t feel assured about. If you continue to be like this, you will worry Mama Lan and Mama Xi to death.” The two mamas kept urging Yuxi not to be so busy, but Madam didn’t listen to a single word they said.

Yuxi didn’t take the persuasion of her two mothers to heart: “Didn’t Physician Bai come to check my pulse every five days? Did he say that my health was not good?” Physician Bai was the physician sent by Han Jianming.

Zijin responded, “It’s only because the physician said that your health was good, Madam, that I didn’t say anything!” If the physician had said that Yuxi’s health was not good, she would not have allowed Yuxi to be so busy.

Yuxi asked, “Actually, which lady in charge of a family is not busy?” The ladies in charge of those wealthy families in the capital had to deal with internal affairs, serve the elderly and look after the young, be wary of concubines and their children, and socialise to gather information. They were also very busy. As for her, she was only concerned with external affairs.

Zijin was the least willing to squabble with Yuxi because no matter how hard she argued, she couldn’t win. Zijin didn’t want to be abused, so she asked a different question, “Madam, when do you think the Imperial Envoys will arrive?”

Yuxi replied, “It shouldn’t be long before they reach Xinping City.” This time, the Imperial Envoys were led by one of the Crown Prince’s men, Cao De, the young high official of the Dali Temple. Han Jianming had roughly described this man’s nature and the few things he had done in his letter. Putting it all together, this person was difficult to deal with. However, Yuxi wasn’t worried. No matter how difficult he was, Yu City wasn’t a place where he could run wild.

It wasn’t until midnight that Yun Qing and Han Jianye returned. As soon as Han Jianye saw Yuxi, he expressed: “Yuxi, the fire started strangely this time. The fire burned the account books from previous years, but everything else was fine. Yuxi, I think someone started the fire on purpose.” Han Jianye couldn’t figure out why the people behind it would do such a thing, so he consulted Yuxi.

When Yuxi heard this, she deliberately raised her eyebrows and asked, “Er Ge1, what do you mean?” These people were really something. If they wanted to burn, they should have burned more things so that it wouldn’t be too obvious.

Han Jianye commented, “It’s just as well that the ledgers were burned. They have been around for many years anyway. I’m just worried that these people will harm you in the future.” If they could burn the storeroom this time, who knows if they would set fire to the Yun Mansion next time.

Yuxi nodded. “What Er Ge1 thinks is right. It’s time for the Yun Residence to strengthen its guard.” Actually, she was not afraid of murder and arson. What she feared most were the spies and assassins hiding in the darkness.

Han Jianye nodded and urged, “It’s getting late. I’m going to bed. You guys should also go to bed early.” He was also exhausted after travelling for many days and rushing to extinguish the fire.

Once the husband and wife were the only ones left in the room, Yuxi asked: “Why did you only burn the account book? What else was put in the storeroom that you guys were so reluctant to part with?”

Yun Qing replied: “There are a lot of writing brushes in the warehouse. I guess they are reluctant to burn them.” Paper was costly, and most of the paper in the warehouse cost a lot!

Yuxi could say nothing more. She could only secretly sigh that even the document keepers were reluctant to burn the other paper just because Yu City was so poor. Yuxi did not want to discuss this anymore, so she asked, “What was Du Wenshen’s reaction?” Yun Qing did not allow Du Wenshu to be involved in military affairs such as training recruits and protecting Yu City. Du Wenshu was also very angry because he had become a mere decoration8. However, Yun Qing’s attitude was unyielding, saying that Du Wenshu only knew how to write about warfare on paper9, and if he was allowed to interfere in military affairs, he would treat the lives of soldiers as child’s play. This was what happened when a scholar met a foot soldier ― he couldn’t reason with him10. Since Yun Qing was the one who controlled the military, no matter how angry Du Wenshu was, he couldn’t do anything to Yun Qing.

Yun Qing shook his head. “We won’t know until tomorrow.” He did not hate Du Wenshu either because this person would not be like the previous supervisors who always accused him behind his back. However, even if he didn’t hate him, he would not allow Du Wenshu to interfere in military affairs. In the past, the army supervisor liked to issue random orders, regardless of how many soldiers would die in vain as a result.

Yuxi cautioned him: “He Rui, you must be careful of others and not let your guard down around Du Wenshu.” Although Du Wenshu was well-behaved at the time, Yuxi was still uncomfortable with him. If they could find a way to get rid of Du Wenshu, even if he was replaced by someone who loved money and wealth, he would be much better than this ambitious Du Wenshu. At least they could handle that kind of person. As for Du Wenshu, he was a hidden danger to Yu City.

Yun Qing felt that Du Wenshu was easy to get along with because he had no other thoughts. As for Yuxi, she had a lot of things she wanted to do, but Du Wenshu, as the Crown Prince’s eyes and ears, was definitely an obstacle to her plans. This was also why Yuxi wanted to get rid of Du Wenshu.