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nChapter 72 : Reunion (2)

nJust as the Old Madam was waiting anxiously, a little maid rushed in and reported, “Old Madam, Third Master has arrived. He has reached the main entrance.”

nAfter a while, those who were waiting finally heard an old woman cry out, “Old Madam, Third Master is back.” As soon as this was said, there was a loud noise outside.

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nThere were tears in Old Madam’s eyes. Yuchen, who was beside the Old Madam, supporting her, was very excited while looking at the door. If it wasn’t for the Old Madam, Yuchen would have already went out.

nA group of people came in from outside.

nYuxi looked at the man who was walking in front of her. In her mind, appeared an image of the man throwing a white silk to her and said that if she did not marry, she would die. If Jiang Hongjin was responsible for her tragedy in her last life, her biological father, Han Jingyan, was the biggest accomplice.

nHan Jingyan went straight to the Old Madam and knelt on the ground. He then tearfully said, “Mother, this unfilial son is back.”

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nThe son who the Old Madam longed for all the days and nights had finally returned. She couldn’t help but burst into tears and patted Han Jingyan on the shoulder. “It’s good that you’re back, it’s good that you’re back.”

nThe Old Madam cried for a long time. After she was hard persuaded by Qiu Shi, her tears finally stop. She took Yuchen’s hand and said, “Yan-er, this is Yuchen. She was only one year old when you left. Now she is a big girl.”

nYuchen looked at Han jingyan and cried, “Father…” After the greeting, her tears also fell down, not because she was too emotional, but she was just too excited.

nHan Jingyan was a man. Even if he loved his daughter so much, he would not show it in public. Looking at his daughter, who was so outstanding, he nodded and said, “Good, good, good.” He said good three times in a row, which shows how much he was satisfied with Yuchen.

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nBehind Han Jingyan, Wu Shi’s face changed a little. Shouldn’t it first started with her greeting, and then he introduced her to her two stepdaughters. Now, the order was completely reversed.

nHan Jingyan turned to introduce Wu Shi and his other children to the Old Madam.

nAlthough Wu Shi had been married to the Han family for ten years, this was her first time to enter the door of the Han family residence. Therefore, this greeting, the cup of tea from daughter-in-law tea was just to make up for the years she wasn’t here.

nYuxi could clearly see the unusual way the Old Madam saw Wu Shi. Although the Old Madam quick to covered up her expression, Yuxi knew that some matters were unknown to her.

nThe Old Madam gave a pair of double happiness ruyi long jade hairpins as a jianmianli (present given to sb. on first meeting). She took Wu Shi’s hand and lovingly said, “It must have been hard for you all these years.”

nWu Shi smiled and said, “This is what a daughter-in-law should do.”

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nAfter Wu Shi had given her tea, next came five younger generations gave their greetings to the Old Madam. They were Wu Shi’s children that consisted of two sons and a daughter, while the other two were concubines.

nQiu Yanfu had always been very confident of her appearance. However, when she entered the hall, her eyes would not move when she saw Yuchen. That woman’s appearance and general temperament could no longer be described in words. Seeing her, Qiu Yanfu couldn’t help feeling inferior.

nWu Shi tugged at Qiu Yanfu, who was still in a daze, and introduced, “Mother, this is my niece, Fu-er.”

nQiu Yanfu recovered herself and gave the Old Madam a grand greeting, “Old Madam is well.”

nThe Old Madam didn’t even care if Wu Shi brought a child from her previous marriage. She just smiled and asked the maid to give Qiu Yanfu a gold hairpin as a gift. After that, she lovingly said, “Don’tbbe a stranger here. Just think of this place as your home.”

nQiu Yanfu replied with a smile, “Thank you very much, Old Madam.”

nAfter all the greetings came to end, Qiu Shi smiled and said, “Mother, look, Third Younger Brother and Sister have come from a long distance. They are also tired from the journey. So, let them have a rest first.”

nThe Old Madam felt sorry for her son’s trouble as she hastily said, “Okay, go take a rest first and we’ll have a family reunion dinner in the evening. By the way, have all the empty houses been cleaned? Don’t make any careless mistakes.“

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nQiu Shi’s face turned stiff, “They all have been cleaned.”

nHan Jingyan and Wu Shi went to Biteng (blue vine) Courtyard, a three-room courtyard. Yuxi and Yuchen followed along. They couldn’t do anything about it. As junior members of the family, they had no right to speak.

nBiteng Courtyard was spotless and very clean. Han Jingyan had not been in the residence for more than ten years, and yet, the servants had never slackened off. They had came to clean up the courtyard every day.

nHan Jingyan came in and looked at everything inside. He felt a little strange. Eleven years. He had been away from home for eleven years.

nYuchen let out a gentle cry, “Father.” Looking at her father like this made Yuchen nose soured. After all these years, she had been hoping that her father would come back.

nHan Jingyan nodded slightly and said, “Go greet your mother.”

nYuxi was now determined that everything would be based on Yuchen. She would do whatever Yuchen did, so that she would not make any mistake.

nYuchen gave Wu Shi a younger generation greeting to the elder, and Yuxi followed suit. Only that, no one noticed the haze in Yuxi’s eyes when she lowered her head.

nWhen Yuxi first met Wu Shi in her last life, she didn’t greet with younger generation greeting to elders, but a direct three times kowtow. She didn’t understand it before, but now she did. She had fallen into a disadvantage since she kowtowed to Wu Shi.

nWu Shi felt distressed in her heart. Although she was their stepmother, she was also their mother. When they saw her, shouldn’t they kowtow and served her tea? How could she give them gifts in return? Since she saw there was no objection from Han Jingyan, she then had to give them jianmianli with a smile. Yuchen was given a piece of yupei (jade pendant) carved with blooming flowers pattern, while Yuxi was given a pair of golden butterflies hair clips.

nWhen Han Jingyan saw this, he did not feel anything wrong. He just said to Yuchen, “Yurong has just arrived in the capital city and doesn’t understand the rules of the residence. As the eldest sister, you should give more guidance to her.”

nYuchen nodded softly and said, “Father, I will take good care of my Fifth Sister.” Although her heart was a little bitter, but she was her little sister that she should take care of.

nYuxi was more tactful as she didn’t say anything. She knew she didn’t have the right to speak here.

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nQiu Yanfu who was sitting beside them, this time had time to look at Yuxi. Just now, all her attention was on Yuchen. Only now did she realize that Fourth Miss should not be underestimated either. She saw Fourth Miss dressed in a rosy satin and bright pink brocade dress, embroidered with thick numerous patterns, with real pearls and emerald being sewn on the collars of her dress. For an outerwear, she wore cyan (cut silk) style jacket on top. While underneath, there was a pink brocade ribbon sewn with lotus silk, wrapped around a long satin skirt. She looked very rich. She was also very good-looking, with her round oval face, charming wonderful big eyes and pink lips. She looked delicate and beautiful.

nFirst, Han Jiangyan introduced his other children to Yuchen and Yuxi. From Jiancheng to Yurong, today was the first time these brothers and sisters met. The scene was harmonious.

nAt this time, Wu Shi drew out Qiu Yanfu, who had been neglected by all. She then smiled and said to Yuchen and Yuxi, “Come on, Yanfu (雁芙 – wild goose, hibiscus). Meet your two cousins.”

nWhen Yuxi heard Wu Shi’s words, she deliberately opened her eyes big and asked, “Yanfu (豔福 – man’s good fortune in love affairs)? Is it yanfu from yanfubuqian (have a lot of good fortune in love)? Isn’t this name too strange?”

nYuxi’s voice was not low, so everyone in the room could hear it.

nQiu Yanfu’s face changed slightly, but she quickly smiled and said, “Cousin, the yan (雁) is from dayan (大雁- wild goose). While the fu is from furonghua (芙蓉花- hibiscus flower).”

nYuxi had always known that Qiu Yanfu was an intelligent person. It was also with this intelligent that made her mixed with people in the residence like a fish back in the water (Chinese idiom : one in his proper surroundings), otherwise she could not have successfully planned on her Second Brother.

nWithout waiting for Yuxi to speak, Han jingyan said with a cold face, “Nurturing momo (wet nurse) had taught you for so many years and she only taught you such filthy things?”

nYuxi knew very well that Han Jingyan hated people crying in front of him, especially at this time. So after listening to his scolding, her tears immediately poured out.

nAs Yuxi expected, when Han Jingyan saw her acting like this, he said with a cold face, “Get out.”

nAs soon as Yuchen wanted to speak to clear things up, she saw Yuxi hid her face and ran out with tears. Yuchen turned to look at his father’s grim look, full of disbelief. Although Yuxi’s remark just now was a bit inappropriate, father’s reaction was too much. It was just a joke. There was something indescribable appeared in Yuchen’s heart. Yuxi was father’s biological daughter and somehow, he treated her much worse than a cousin who just emerged out of nowhere, “Father, I’ll go and check up on Fourth Sister.”

nQiu Yanfu also said with a worried face, “I’ll go and see Fourth Cousins too.”

nWu shi was somewhat embarrassed. Although the person was driven out by her husband, it was inevitable that she would be the one who would be criticize for making Yuxi ran out like this. “Fourth Girl really has a bad temper.”

nWhen Yuchen heard this, she became more disgusted with Wu Shi.

nHan jingyan pulled his face away and said, “No one is allowed to go.” His temperament was big that he was not used to it.

nIn response, Yurong hurriedly shifted the topic, “Dad, will we live here in the future? The layout here is much more beautiful than that in Hebei.”

n“When a young miss of the residence is eight years old, she will have her own separate courtyard. Later, you will move to your own courtyard.”

nYurong smiled and said, “I just hope the courtyard will not be too far from my parents’ courtyard.”

nWu Shi smiled and took Yurong’s hand. She then said with a smile, “You’re a big girl. You can’t be so delicate. You should learn a lot from your Third Sister in the future.” She looked sheepishly at Yuchen’s overall impressive style.

nYuxi ran out just became a small episode and did not affect the mood of the people in the room. However, watching Wu Shi talked to her father, with Yurong and Jiancheng inserted a few words from time to time, made Yuchen felt like an outsider, out of place here. Her heart felt empty and sour as she was unable to speak.

nYuxi had been crying all the way back to Rose Courtyard. The servants in the residence were startled when they saw this scene. This matter soon fell into the ears of the Old Madam and Qiu Shi.

nThe Old Madam asked with a cold complexion, “What’s going on?” A few years ago, Yuxi was a bit obstinate, but these two years, she had improved a lot. Also, over the past two years, Yuxi had often made kneepads and scarfs for her, showing their close relationship. So, the Old Madam was now quite satisfied with Yuxi.

nMama Luo shook her head and said, “I don’t know. The people we sent to inquire about this matter haven’t returned yet.”

nWhile, Qiu Shi rushed to the Rose Courtyard once she got the news. When she saw Yuxi with her red and swollen eyes, Qiu Shi asked in distressed, “What’s the matter?”

nKufu immediately told Qiu Shi about the incident.

nYuxi tearfully said, “Aunt, I heard her name at that time and it was only when my mind was hot that I said something like that. After that, I knew I was wrong. I wanted to apologize to her, but father just scolded me. “

nQiu Shi also felt that Yuxi’s remarks were somewhat inappropriate, but in the end, she was partial towards Yuxi as she comforted her by saying, “Don’t cry. Your father’s scolding maybe a bit heavy, but it’s also for your good.”

nMama Li glanced at Yuxi. Fourth Miss had acted safely before. Why did she make such a mistake at this time? Despite having some doubts, Fourth Miss had always been close to her Master and she herself was too lazy to investigate.

nYuxi did not complain about any grievances, but only cried. At this time, whatever she said anything, they were considered wrong, so, it was better if she said nothing at all.

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