The sun condensed into a dazzling light as it turned into the colour of a sunset glow, like a red leaf fell to the ground covered with yellow dust, and the hills under the setting sun turned into a dark purple.
Yuxi lifted the curtain and pointed out, "Eldest Aunt, look, what a beautiful sunset."
Qiu Shi was not in the mood to appreciate the beautiful scenery. "This scenery is available every day. No need for you to be anxious like you won't be able to see it again."
Although Qiu Shi's words weren't pleasant to the ears, her complexion looked much better than when she came. When Yuxi saw this situation, her heart secretly felt relieved. Her Eldest Aunt showed the signs of softening; hence Yuxi's thoughts had not been in vain.
Qiu Shi was still unaware that Yuxi was secretly observing her, so she kindly said, "If you have anything to say, don't hide."
Yuxi showed her fawning look, "Eldest Aunt, it's not that I'm trying to speak on Dage's behalf. It's just that Dage has always been very protective of Er Ge, which I have seen with my own eyes. Although Dage has gone too far this time around, he just couldn't help it."
Qiu Shi furiously said, "But no one had forced him to do this either."
Yuxi knew that Han Jianming had hidden many things from her aunt when she saw Qiu Shi's reaction. She felt that to persuade her aunt to agree to the marriage, she had to tell her everything. "Eldest Aunt, what Dage didn't tell you was that Sixth Master Lu had once saved Dage's life, and he was also the one who brought up this marriage." This action by Sixth Master Lu was somehow like the feeling of begging for favours, which made her dislike it so much.
Qiu Shi's complexion suddenly changed, "What do you mean about him saving your Dage's life? What's going on? "
Yuxi answered very honestly, "I don't know. I just heard about it from Dage himself. Eldest Aunt, this life-saving grace is really a big deal."
Qiu Shi's face turned black for a long time before she spoke again, "However, he should not have used an important event in your Er Ge's life to pay this life-saving grace."
Yuxi cautiously said, "Eldest Aunt, although Dage didn't tell me this personally, I can vaguely feel that there should be other reasons for Dage's agreement to this marriage reunion."
Qiu Shi's expression was somewhat unnatural. The Old Lady had told her the other reasons, but she could not accept them. She was unwilling to use an important event of her son's life as an exchange for benefits.
While Yuxi did not miss any chance to praise Lu Xiu, "Eldest Aunt, Lu Jiejie is pretty good. I personally believe that if you meet her, you will certainly like her too."
Qiu Shi shook her head as she questioned, "What's the use of being a pretty good person? Do you think your Dasao will get along well with her when she marries into the family?"
Yuxi hastily said, "Eldest Aunt, what you're saying is incorrect. It was the Ye family's fault for breaking the engagement between the two families. If Lu Jiejie marries our family, Dasao will be ashamed to face her. How can Dasao shamelessly go against her? In addition, Er Ge will definitely not be staying in the capital all the time, and later on, Er Sao will surely follow him. After waiting for ten or eight years to pass, who will still remember this incident." [+]
When Qiu Shi thought about it seriously, she also felt Yuxi's words were reasonable. However, she still asked Yuxi, "What benefit did your Dage have promised for you to work this hard as a go-between?"
Yuxi held Qiu Shi's arm and explained, "I only agreed after seeing Eldest Aunt with a worried frown and kept complaining about the food not being delicious recently. Eldest Aunt, when I saw Dage two days ago, he had become much thinner. Although Dage had gone too far this time, he just couldn't help himself. The burden of the whole State Residence has been put solely on him. Therefore, it hasn't been easy for him to hold the burden by himself either. So Eldest Aunt, please try to be considerate of him."
When Qiu Shi heard these words from Yuxi, she couldn't help herself from feeling very distressed. She had also noticed how much effort her eldest son had given over the years. Her husband did not care about his son, who had been busy trying to revitalise the family. Since he worked hard day and night, he looked just like a little older man before turning 20. Although she felt sorry for him, it had long been his responsibility, and she couldn’t say anything about it. After listening to Yuxi's words, she said, "Alright, I'll seriously consider this matter, and I will also stop fighting with that evil spawn."
Yuxi let loose a sigh of relief. What she had spoken a month ago wasn't as much as she had said today. As a result, her mouth and tongue became dry, which also had made her dead tired.
Once Yuxi returned to Rose Courtyard, she cried out, "Water, pour me a glass of water."
That night, Qiu Shi tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Thus, she simply had a chat with Mama Li. "Do you think I am not very competent as a mother?" She didn't even realise that her son was dead tired because of being overworked, which showed no other mother who neglected her duty more than her!
Mama Li was very much surprised when she heard about this matter today. "My Lady, Master Shizi was afraid of worrying you, so he didn't tell you. Since it was for something special, Master Shizi had to hide it. That was why you wouldn't know about it."
Qiu Shi knew this was the reason, but she still felt very uncomfortable about it. "Do you think once this marriage was decided, there wouldn't be any problem between her and her sister-in-law?"
Mama Li tried to comfort Qiu Shi, "Da Nainai is a reasonable person, and my Lady knows that the broken engagement was not Miss Lu's fault. My Lady, why don't we find an opportunity to meet this Miss Lu. If she is as good as what Fourth Miss had said, then let's agree with Master Shizi's proposal!" She could see that both the Old Lady and Master Shizi had agreed to the marriage. Only her Lady still strictly opposed it. Even if her Lady kept on resisting, even for two days more, it wouldn't be able to change anything.
Qiu Shi remained silent for some time until she finally said, "Then, let's meet her." If that girl were as good as what Yuxi had told her, then she wouldn't bring any grievance to Jianye.
In the early morning, the next day, Qiu Shi called Han Jianming to her yard. When she caught sight of the black circles under her son's eyes, she didn't know where to throw all the blames. "How did you lose so much weight? How did the people beside you serve you?"
As Han Jianming looked at Qiu Shi's expression, he knew that Yuxi's persuasion had worked. He couldn't help from sighing in his heart. No matter how he and his Grandmother had spoken to his Mother, she wouldn't budge from her objection. So he didn't expect his mother could be swayed by Si Meimei's words of advice. "Mother, don't worry. I'm still in good health!"
Han Jianming thought too much of Yuxi. Even before Old Lady told Qiu Shi about the marriage proposal, she already knew that this marriage was imperative. Still, at the same time, she was very angry with Han Jianming for not putting his mother in his eyes and using his didi's marriage as a bargaining chip. Yuxi's persuasion was only her way out of the embarrassing situation.
Qiu Shi was still full of complaints as she reprimanded Han Jianming's attendants before she said to Han Jianming, "Eat your morning meal here."
At this time, the morning meal had been served.
After having her morning meal, Qiu Shi stated, "I'll find an opportunity to meet this Miss Lu. If this girl is indeed good, let's settle the marriage. Your Er Di is not young anymore either, so it is better to settle his marriage much earlier."
Han Jianming's nose was somewhat a bit sour as he said, "This unfilial son of yours whose behaviour has made it difficult for you." He, anyway, understood the reason why Qiu Shi had been quite adamant in opposing the marriage. Lu Xiu had a broken engagement with the Ye family, and the Ye family was his wife's maiden family. If his mother went to the Lu family to propose marriage, people would surely point their fingers at them, and even their relatives would joke about their action when the wedding day came. [+]
When Qiu Shi saw her son looking like this, her heart also turned sour. "As long as you stay in good health, it doesn't matter if I suffer some injustice." After a pause, she continued, "Write a letter to your Er Di. Ask him to come back. Then I will go with him to meet this Miss Lu. Even though I am still unsatisfied with this, it is still secondary when compared to the most important thing, your Er Di's satisfaction.." She was the one in charge of the inner court. Consequently, how could she not know that Han Jianming had already sent a letter to the mountain?
Han Jianming nodded. "Okay."
Qiu Shi looked at Han Jianming as she sighed, "Son, Mother doesn't understand nor can Mother help you with outside matters, but you must never forget to pay attention to your health and don't wear yourself out." At this moment, she also blamed herself since her son had already faced difficulty in his responsibility, and yet she, his mother, made it more difficult for him, which was indeed a pretty shameful act.
For Qiu Shi to take a good look at her future daughter-in-law, she did not need to sneak around like Yuxi did. She would go straight to the Lu family as a matchmaker.
Sixth Master Lu relayed the matter to Second Lady Lu. He said, "Mother, although it is not polite for Second Master Han to see Meimei, it is still a big event in her life. If what she saw was not to her liking, and yet, we forced her to marry him, Meimei would have a bad marriage life in the future."
Han Jianming had actually lied to Yuxi. The marriage was not initiated by Sixth Master Lu but actually by Han Jianming himself. When the two of them had a drink together, Sixth Master Lu complained to him for a long time. So, Han Jianming took the opportunity to propose for the two families to be in-laws.
Sixth Master Lu rejected the idea at that time. The Han family and the Ye family were in-laws. Thus, how could he marry his sister to the Han family? However, when he returned home, he heard that those candidates who came to ask for marriage alliance were either fond of wine and women or incompetent people, with some also being crooked melons and cracked jujube. However, when Sixth Master Lu looked at his sister in grief, to not let his family worried, he had to pretend to be an indifferent person; his mother's face would be filled with worried frowns all day long and made his heart feel extremely unwell. Nevertheless, even at this time, he did not even think about Han Jianming's proposal. Until he heard his father would marry out Lu Xiu, he spoke out Han Jianming's suggestion on impulse. After he had done saying it out, he regretted it. How could he let his sister marry into the Han family?
After a few days, he didn't expect his father to even say to him that this marriage could work. Second Lord Lu did not object to the match because he found out that Han Jianye had followed Master Yang in practising martial arts all the way. Thus he was outstanding in martial arts, and he also had a relatively simple temperament. Such a person was unlikely to have a crooked intestine. With his martial arts skills, he would undoubtedly have a promising future when he entered a military camp; with his straightforward temper, he wouldn't mind his daughter's broken engagement.
As for Second Lady Lu, she did not agree at first. The reason for not agreeing was the same as Qiu Shi's. She was afraid that her daughter would not get along well with her Dasao in the Han family. However, when Second Lord Lu discussed this matter with her, she realised that Qiu Shi was a straightforward and easy-going person. Nevertheless, her daughter would not suffer her mother-in-law's anger, so she reluctantly agreed. Of course, the most important thing was that Han Jianye was the tallest among the midgets. They had no better candidate than Han Jianye, as marrying Han Jianye was better than marrying her daughter out. If her daughter was married out, they might not see her for the rest of their life.
When Second Lady Lu heard Qiu Shi's request, rather than feeling any anger, she felt a lot of relief instead. The fact that Qiu Shi could offer this new suggestion for the two children to meet proved that she was also cautious about the marriage and wasn't muddled through her work, "Just in time. I will be going to the satin shop to pick some materials the next day. So it's better for the meeting to take place at the satin shop." It would have been painstaking for her to invite Qiu Shi to her home deliberately. If this was made public, and if this marriage failed, it would add up to more groundless gossip about her daughter outside, and her daughter couldn't stand any more twists and turns right now.
Sixth Master Lu nodded and said, "Okay, I'll arrange it." If this marriage could be decided one day earlier, his Meimei would not have to feel sad every day, nor would he see the knitted brows on his mother's face every day. As for the Ye family, the main offender, the criminal ringleader, he would pay them back one day.
Second Lady Lu told Old Woman Hong, who was beside her, "I hope everything goes well." Once this marriage was settled, her daughter no longer had to hide and cry under the covers every day. While her hanging heart could also finally be put down.
Noob Translator's Apology & Request For Help
- Sorry for the late posting. This chapter was supposed to be posted last Saturday or Sunday, but it wasn't completely translated at that time. Mostly because I didn't have the mood to translate, even when I had the time of the world during this Movement Control Order imposed on my country because of Covid-19. So, I mostly played games on my phone and got addicted to a comedy ancient Chinese Drama, Meng Fei Comes Across. I love love love love Gina Jin as the female lead, Meng Fei (Consort Meng). The drama was so hilarious that I couldn't stop watching it, though I haven't finished watching it yet.
And...one more thing, I'm actually starting to get confused. It seems like, in this novel, once a young master reached adulthood and got married (or not), he would be called ye (爷) instead of shaoye (少爷). I'm confused because I use the word 'Master' for ye (爷) and Laoye (老爷 - which can also be translated as Old Master). This Lu family is giving me a headache. I don't know if Old Master Lu (Lu Laoye) is Miss Lu's father or grandfather since in this chapter, a character that had been described as Miss Lu's father is called Second Master Lu (Er Lu Laoye) which also get me confused since I translate his third son as Sixth Master Lu (Lu Liu(sixth)ye). If I translated all Laoye as Old Master, doesn't this mean that Er Lu Laoye (Second Old Master Lu) is the younger brother of Lu Laoye (Old Master Lu), the head of the Lu Clan? I can use 'Sir' for ye (爷), like changing Sixth Master Lu to Sixth Sir Lu. It will not sound weird, will it? Or should I just maintain their pinyin? At least I will not be confused, but I don't know about you guys, the reader. What do you think? This vote will be closed after 14 days.
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi