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nChapter 49 : Tragedy (2)

nYun Qing woke up and found himself inside a carriage. He lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked at the completely strange environment outside. Then he looked at the strange man driving the carriage. He guessed that this person should be Chang Qing, the one his Grandpa told him about. He had heard Grandpa talked about Chang Qing before. Chang Qing had excellent martial arts, but he had scars on his face and always acted indifferent, so he stayed in seclusion. Not to mention, he had never seen anyone in the mansion except for his Grandpa. However, this man was absolutely loyal to the Yun family, since his life was once saved by Grandpa.

n“Where’s my Grandpa?” Yun Qing asked in panic.

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nChang Qing said with a straight face, “The Old Man vomited blood when he heard the news of the death of Eldest Uncle. If it weren’t for the tiger wolf medicine, the Old Man would have gone at that time. Even so, he still will not last for a few more days.“ This meant that he would not live long.

nYun Qing grinded his teeth and open his eyes wide. “I want to go back. Turn around. I want to go back.” His Grandpa was going to die. He had to go for his Grandpa last journey.

nChang Qing slapped Yun Qing on the face and Yun Qing fell from the carriage. Chang Qing said coldly, “If you are a man, follow me to Yu City. For a nobleman to take revenge, ten years is not too long (Chinese idiom : revenge is more satisfying when one has had time to prepare vengeance that is well-planned, long-feared, or unexpected). Learn something first, then, you can use your skill to kill the Song family in the capital city. If you want to go back to the capital and die, I will not stop you, but go back by yourself.“ Even though he said it this way, how could he possibly let Yun Qing went back!

nYun Qing clenched his teeth till they went numb. Rationally, he should not to go back, but the thought of his Grandpa alone in the capital to face death, his heart felt like being twisted by knife and made him just want to rush back to the capital. Since childhood, Yun Qing had never cried. He always believed that men should not shed tears, but now his tears fell down involuntarily.

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nChang Qing’s face slowly relaxed. In any case, Yun Qing was only a 10-year-old child. “Time is pressing, give the Old Man kowtow three times, then we will hit the road.”

nYun Qing looked up and said, “Is Grandpa planning to do something?” If it wasn’t for Grandpa’s plan, there would be no need to send him away.

nChang Qing did not answer Yun Qing’s question, but instead said, “Kowtow and then get into the carriage. We go one more segment of the road, then we’re going to change our route.”

nChang Qing did not reply, indicating that Yun Qing guessed was right. He got up, enduring the pain in his whole body and knelt down in the direction of the capital.

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nChang Qing’s face was not obvious, but his heart was feeling so sorrowful. The Old General was kind to him, and he was sad to see the Old General fell into such a situation, but it was the Old General’s choice and he had no right to ponder, “Hurry up and get to Yu City early. Once there, you will be able to be safe at least one day earlier.”

nYun Qing knocked three times in the direction of the capital. Each of them was very hard. After knocking three heads, his forehead was bleeding. Because of the pain, he bit his teeth as he rose to his feet and climb into the carriage, then he said to Chang Qing, “Let’s go!”

nYuxi got the news much later than others since she never left the boudoir. It was already the fourth day when she heard that Old General Yun had died in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. She was very surprised and asked, “How?”

nHall of Supreme Harmony

nSource | Peter K Burian via Wikipedia

nHongshan replied, “Miss, Old General Yun said at the Hall of Supreme Harmony that, in order to seize the military power in Liaodong, the Song family had colluded with Donghu by divulging military intelligence, which had killed tens of thousands of generals and countless people in Tong City. In the presence of all the ministers and generals of the Imperial Court, he also said that Minister Song was a traitor who bring calamity to the country and the people (Chinese idiom : to damage the country and cause suffering to the people), and he asked the Emperor to punish Minister Song severely. “

n“And then?” Yuxi asked anxiously.

nHongshan said, “Old General Yun produced some evidences for his statement, but they were all rejected by Minister Song. He even said that Old General Yun had framed him. When the Old General Yun heard that, he was so angry that he started a moved on Minister Song, but instead, he was pushed to the ground by Minister Song.“ After a pause, she continued, “Old General Yun fell to the ground and never woke up again. Now, everyone outside said Minister Song had killed Old General Yun. “

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nYuxi asked the key question, “What did the Emperor say?”

nHongshan shook her head and said, “The Emperor punished Minister Song by deducting his salary for one year and also let him shut himself away and ponder over his mistakes (Chinese idiom : ponder one’s errors in seclusion) at home. That’s it.“

nAlthough Old General Yun had nothing to do with Yuxi, her heart still felt cold after hearing the news. Could this be also called punishment? This was no different than tickling over the serious issue. She asked another key question, “Then, where is the eldest grandson of the Yun family, Yun Qing?”

nHongshan said, “It is said that Yun Qing went to Liaodong. Liaodong has General Huaidong’s colleagues and old subordinates. If he went there, there will be no danger to his life.“ Old General Yun had made such a scene, so how could the Song family let go of the Yun family, but currently, the Yun family only had one master, Yun Qing.

nIt was reasonable for people outside to make such speculation. After all, Liaodong was the stronghold of the Yun family. It was much safer for Yun Qing to leave the capital for Liaodong.

nYuxi said to herself, “I see.” She once wondered why a bright and cheerful person like Yun Qing would eventually become a murderous devil. So, it turned out to be a huge change had happened in his family.

nHongshan didn’t hear what Yuxi just said and asked with a smile, “Miss, did you say that the eldest grandson of the Yun family really went to Liaodong?”

nYuxi did not reply, and no one knew this matter better than her. Yun Qing did not go to Liaodong but to the northwest border town. Even if she said it out loud, no one would believe her, since the public tended to believe the rumours from the northwest guards, where it said that Old General Qin and Old General Yun were sworn enemies. Because of this reason, no one thought that Yun Qing would defected to the Old General Qin. It was not until several years later that Yun Qing emerged from the northwest and finally became a murderous devil whom everyone feared. Only then did people know that the so-called animosity relationship between the Yun family and the Qin family was only a lie.

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nSeeing Yuxi’s reaction, Hongshan went on saying, “Now, some people outside claimed that Old General Yun was actually very ill and would not lived for a few more days. He deliberately lashed at Minister Song in anger at Hall of Supreme Harmony. In fact, it was said that he deliberately framed Minister Song. “

nThe corner of Yuxi’s lips lifted up, revealing a sarcastic smile.

nHongshan asked Yuxi carefully, “Miss, is the rumor really true?” She was so confused that she could not tell who was right and who was wrong.

nYuxi didn’t say anything. It was not really important whether this rumour was true or not. What important was that the Yun family was now ruined and the Yan family was in danger of being ruined. However, with Old General Yun making such a loud noise, now, the Yan family would not be able to be exterminated. The Emperor currently had to worry more about the two hundreds thousands of generals and soldiers in Liaodong, over the wishes of the ministers and the common people below.

nYuxi reminded Hongshan, “Just tell me these things and don’t mention it to others.” It was alright to talk in private, but if Hongshan dared to talk about it in the mansion, then she (Hongshan) would be the next one to be in trouble.

nHongshan nodded and said, “Don’t worry, Miss, I won’t say a thing.” It was not like she didn’t have a brain. It was good to listen to such things, however, how would she dare to talk about them openly.

nAfter letting Hongshan out, Yuxi said softly, “It’s not easy.” It was normal for Yun Qing to have such a deep hatred and changed his temperament. Just like how she was reborn after being burnt in the sea of flames, she was slowly changing herself now.

nYuxi was still young, so, she was bad in hiding her emotions. Naturally, this also affected her performance in class, which fell into Teacher Song’s eyes.

nAfter class, Teacher Song made Yuxi stayed behind and asked, “What’s the matter? What’s in your mind?“

nYuxi also didn’t hide from Teacher Song and she told her the news she heard. Of course, she did not tell her about Yun Qing’s trip to the northwest. She just said, “The Yun family people are full of loyalty, but they have come to such an end. I feel a little sad.”

nTeacher Song was stunned. She didn’t expect that Yuxi was in low spirits over this matter. She also knew about the Yun family. “There’s nothing we can do. Nobody thought that Old Master Yun would suddenly passed away. We could only blame this matter on the Donghu barbarians.”

nBell made of copper or bronze or 銅鈴 (tóng líng)

nSource | 廖揮芸 (Liao Hui Yun) via Fuyuandian

nYuxi’s eyes were as big as two bronze bells, “I heard that Old General Yun was strong and healthy. He could eat two bowls of rice at a time. How could he die so inexplicably?”

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nTeacher Song said, “No matter how foolish the Song family is, they didn’t dare to murder the Old General Yun in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. On the other hand, Old General Yun died in front of Minister Song. So, obviously, everyone would think that he was murdered by the people of Song family. Old General Yun used his own life to scheme against the Song family.” Yun’s family people were loyal till their deaths and Old General Yun died with an unknown reason. So, how would they convince the people of the world and the generals of Liaodong? If one was not handled properly, there would be chaos in Liaodong. If Liaodong was chaotic, the world would be chaotic. So this time, Song family could not do nothing, though they still wanted to completely control the Liaodong two hundreds thousands army, which currently was impossible for them to accomplish. (T

/N : I don’t know if Teacher Song is from the same clan as the villain Song family since their family names are written with the same character, 宋 Sòng)

nYuxi naturally knew that the Song family could not be so foolish, but the death of Old General Yun was related to them. “If this was done intentionally by Old General Yun, I would feel even worse.”

nTeacher Song asked curiously, “Why is that?”

nYuxi lowered her head and said, “Old General Yun was a well-employed general in battlefield. If there was no way out, how could he choose such a cowardly death.”

nHearing this words from Yuxi, Teacher Song looked at her with extremely complicated eyes.

nYuxi could sense that Teacher Song was looking at her closely and her heart quivered. How could she just said what she had in her mind? She was very upset, so she toughen her scalp (common Chinese phrase : brace oneself) and asked, “Ma’am, did I say something wrong?”

nTeacher Song shook her head and said, “You’re right. Old Master Yun’s choice of such a method of death is for lack of better choice, which grieved the Imperial Court.” Now that the Imperial Court had internal trouble and outside aggression (Chinese idiom : in a mess both domestically and abroad), if not being handled carefully, it was not possible for the whole country to be in rebellion. However, the Emperor’s arrogance and extravagance made him enjoyed it more. He prided himself with Imperial Consort Song and put her younger brothers in important positions. The Emperor really didn’t care about the lives of ordinary people at all.

nYuxi did not want to continue to talk about this heavy matter, so she changed the subject, “Ma’am, I don’t want to learn painting.”

nTeacher Song asked, “Why don’t you want to learn painting?”

n“I want to spend more time on embroidery. My wish is to create my own double-sided embroidery.” The real reason for her to stop learning painting, was actually because she wanted to save time to read medical books. The great event in the court reminds her of the chaos of refugees in the previous life. This made her felt a sense of crisis. Although this sense of crisis was strange, she decided to follow her own heart.

nTeacher Song said, “It’s good to learn embroidery, but you’re too fascinated with it.” Embroidery took a lot of energy, not to mention that it often took several years to make a good pair of embroidery. It even took more time to make a dress, a purse or a handkerchief. After Yuxi got marriage, she would be busy doing wife’s duties, raised her children and got into all kinds of social engagements. Where did she have time for embroidery?

nYuxi said without hesitation, “Ma’am, I prefer embroidery over painting.”

nTeacher Song didn’t agree with Yuxi’s request. If she only had painting skills in the future, it would be too embarrassing for her as her teacher, so she adopted a compromise, “Painting skills should be learned, so, I won’t give you any extra homework in the future.”

nYuxi was not satisfied with the outcome, but she knew that Teacher Song had made concessions, so she should not acted like winning an inch, wanted a foot (Chinese idiom : not satisfied with small gains). In case Teacher Song did not allow her to listen in, she then couldn’t do anything even if she cried a river.

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