The day of the Han family's separation coincided with the first day of the spring examination. Qiu Shi had to be present at the ceremony, but it didn't matter if Yuxi was there or not. So Qiu Shi let Yuxi go to the Lingshan Temple on her own, and as long as she brought along more attendants, her safety would not be a problem.
Yuxi got up early for her morning exercise. Afterwards, she freshened herself up and had her breakfast. When she was ready, she took twelve attendants, two maids and Momo Quan with her. Then, this group of people headed towards Lingshan Mountain Temple in grandiose.
While Yuxi was on her way, quite a few guests came to the Han family home. Apart from inviting the Zhou family, they also requested attendance from the Qiu family and the Chiang family. Marquis Chiang was too busy to come over and had his son take his place. As for First Lord Han, he was too busy to be bothered with such a trivial matter as dividing the family. He had long departed to the other courtyard with Concubine Mei. There, they spent their time being intimate and living their lives as happy as fairies.
When Han Jianming heard that the Old Lady wanted to get rid of Concubine Mei, he made a ploy to get Han Jingdong to take her to a different courtyard, and no one could stop Han Jingdong from doing whatever he wanted anyway. It was not that Han Jianming was being kind-hearted, but he felt that there was no need to screw things up.
Many people made a fuss when their families split up because they believed there had been some unfairness during property allocation. Everyone felt their portion was too small so, they created ruckus to get more. However, this did not happen in the Han family since Han Jianming acted very reasonably. He took out all their public properties without hiding anything. Thus, Han Jingyan did not have any objections after hearing Han Jianming list out all the properties that would be divided.
The ancestral fields and the old residence would not split up, while the rest would be distributed, with 70% going to the Main House and 30% for the Third House. This was the rule. Even if Han Jianming was willing to split them in half, Han Jingyan was unwilling to accept. With one being willing to give in, while the other didn't make any fuss about it, the process of dividing the family naturally went pretty pleasant.
The family who came to witness the ceremony were pleased to see that the uncle and nephew had harmoniously divided the family, and none of the Han womenfolk jumped out to make a fuss. Compared to other families who turned their family splitting up ceremony into a scene of chicken flying and dog jumping over a trivial matter, the scenery they were seeing right now was a beautiful picture of peace and happiness.
While the family was happily divided on this side, things were not going well on Yuxi's side. She had never faced any difficulty on her trips to Lingshan Temple before, and somehow the traffic was heavily congested at this time.
The person who went to inquire about the situation came back and reported, "Miss, there was a landslide in front of us. That's why it caused such congestion." Most of those who had family members attending the spring examinations would rush to the mountain to worship the Bodhisattva on this day. There were too many carriages that it became overcrowded. As a result, an already badly travelled section of road had collapsed.
Zisu had some regrets. Originally, the First Lady said she would go to Lingshan Temple one day in advance, and they would be staying there for one night. But the family separation was scheduled for today. Thus the First Lady couldn't come with them. The First Lady also didn't feel at ease to let her Miss remain alone on the mountain, so they had no other choice but to depart early this morning.
Yuxi smilingly said, "No one can say for sure that such things will happen. There's no need to rush. The road will always open up." However, this situation would make their journey a little bit longer.
Zisu watched as Yuxi fished out a book from inside her pillowcase, and she could only look at the sky speechlessly. Somehow, Miss didn't even forget to read her book at such time. Her Miss had indeed become a bookworm.
Momo Quan thought this was a good habit for Yuxi, and Yuxi was not reading its content mechanically either. By reading more history books, they could broaden her horizons and increase her knowledge. Once one's horizons were broadened, one would no longer be confined with matters of three melons and two dates. A person with a broad mind could live a more comfortable life.
Zisu took out a plate of pastries from the food box and urged, "Miss, these pastries are still warm. Please eat some! If you don't eat them now, they won't taste good when they get cold later on."
Yuxi ate two pieces of the pastries and said, "Share them with everyone! I don't know when we can get to the mountain. Since it has not been easy for everyone, eat something to cushion your stomach."
There were four kinds of pastries, one plate each. With more than ten people in their group, one person took two pieces each. However, since the pastries made by Guo Daniang tasted very delicious, everyone couldn't get enough of them.
Caidie said with a smile, "Miss, Uncle Hao said that the pastries you gave him had aroused his craving. He wasn't originally hungry, but after eating them, he suddenly became so hungry." Caidie was the child of a servant in residence, so it was easy for her to get along with the other residence servants.
Yuxi smiled. "You tell them that they have to work hard this time. When we get back, I'll ask Daniang to make some more for them to eat." It was still a bit cool in the mountains on the third lunar month day. It was fine for her as she was inside the carriage, so she didn't have to be blown by the cold wind, nor would she suffer by standing outside for so long.
Caidie smiled and responded, "I'll tell Uncle Hao about it. I'm sure he'll be thrilled." In fact, the pastries were a small thing. The main thing was that Miss knew how to be compassionate to other people. The servants were also human beings. If their master were so kind-hearted, they would feel comfortable even if they were tired.
Yuxi smiled a little and resumed her reading.
Caidie soon returned, this time with another message. "Miss, Madam Jiang and Miss Jiang also went to Lingshan Temple to offer incense. When she heard that you were also going there, she invited you to join them."
It was clear to Yuxi that Yu Shi and Jiang Qi's visit to the mountain to worship Manjushri Bodhisattva was not surprising since Jiang Hongjin was also participating in the spring examination today. But it was probably Jiang Qi's personal intention to invite her over for a talk. "Help me thanks Madam Jiang for her kindness. I'll revisit her next time." She didn't want to see Yu Shi and Jiang Qi at all.
Unfortunately, the people you didn't want to see always like appearing and hanging around in front of you. This was the case with Jiang Qi. When she heard that Yuxi was not going over, she surprisingly went to Yuxi's carriage herself, along with her maid.
When the actual person was already here, it was too much to ask not to see her. Yuxi's upbringing did not allow her to do something so rude as to turn away a guest in public, so she lifted the carriage's curtain and invited Jiang Qi in.
Jiang Qi was fourteen years old this year and had grown up. She was not too fat, nor was she too thin. Her dark, shiny hair had been combed into a flowing bun. She looked sweet and lovely with her rosy melon-shaped face, big round eyes, and two deep dimples on her cheeks. [+]
As Yuxi sized up Jiang Qi, Jiang Qi also sized up Yuxi. Yuxi had a round face, sparse eyebrows, and eyes that were devoid of sparkle. Wearing a white dress, she looked like a female ghost. No matter how Jiang Qi looked at Yuxi, she felt that Yuxi was not good enough for Chen Ran. She couldn't understand why Chen Ran had fallen for Han Yuxi, whom she found to be worthless. Disdain and jealousy filled Jiang Qi's heart, but her face still showed a sweet smile. "Yuxi Jiejie, I didn't expect to run into you on the road. Did you also go to the mountain to worship Bodhisattva?" [T/R]
Yuxi was tempted to spit at her. What are you doing calling me so intimate? I'm not even close to you! Even if she genuinely didn't like Jiang Qi, she still had to do an excellent job on the surface. At that moment, Yuxi looked shy and said, "That's right! Second Master Chen is sitting for Spring Examination today. So I want to go to the mountain and get a blessing from Manjushri Bodhisattva, praying that he will pass brilliantly by gaining one of the top three positions in the examination." When Yuxi was in front of Jiang Qi, she did not know what modesty was. [T/C]
Jiang Qi's face stiffened when she saw this kind of look on Yuxi's face. Still, she soon recovered her natural expression. She responded with a smile, "I heard from my brother that Second Master Chen is talented in literary, and will certainly be able to gain one of the top three positions, just as Yuxi Jiejie had hoped."
Yuxi smiled brightly at that, "Yeah, I have a lot of faith in him."
That smile stung Jiang Qi deeply. No one knew that she had been charmed by Chen Ran's good look ever since she first met him. It was not as if she hadn't tried hard to get his attention back then, but unfortunately, Chen Ran didn't even look at her. If Chen Ran were attracted to a woman who was good at everything, it would have been fine, but he had fallen for Han Yuxi, who had no talent, no looks and a bad fate. How would Jiang Qi be willing to accept this! [T/R]
Yuxi asked with mock concern, "Miss Jiang, what's wrong with you? Are you not feeling well? Do you want me to have someone tell Madam Jiang?" The way Yuxi addressed Jiang Qi revealed her distant and polite attitude towards her.
Jiang Qi came back to her senses and inquired with a smile, "I wonder where Yuxi Jiejie got such confidence in Second Master Chen? My brother is also very talented, but even he doesn't have much confidence in himself either?" Jiang Qi was digging a hole for Yuxi.
Yuxi replied with a smile, "It was my Dage who told me that Second Master Chen was very talented and for him to obtain the top three positions was not a matter of concern. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't have believed it, but my Dage has always been very accurate in reading people and things."
Jiang Qi suddenly realised, then said with an embarrassed look, "I thought it was Second Master Chen himself who told you......"
When Yuxi heard her words, her expression immediately became heavy as she interrupted Jiang Qi's words and raised her voice, "Doesn't Miss Jiang know what it means that men and women should not touch hands when they give or receive things? Even if you are betrothed, there is still a distinction between men and women. So how can you accuse us of meeting in private? I've always heard that the Jiang family's upbringing is excellent, but now I realise that the rumours are not to be trusted. It was such an easy thing for an unmarried girl like you to open her mouth and say that it's okay to meet in private. But tell me, what right do you have to question my relationship?"
Yuxi's voice was loud enough even to be heard outside.
After hearing Yuxi's words, Jiang Qi's face turned pale. In the end, since she was still young, and her thinking was not deep enough, in addition to the hate out of jealousy she had towards Yuxi, made her lose her temper.
Yuxi was unwilling to give Jiang Qi any more face and directly expelled her. "Please go back, Miss Jiang! My place here is too small to accommodate someone like Miss Jiang."
Jiang Qi walked out with a red face, and as soon as she saw Yu Shi, she immediately jumped into her arms and cried. She had never been insulted like this since she was a child.
Yu Shi asked anxiously, "What's wrong? What is going on here?" She couldn't pry anything out of Jiang Qi's mouth. Hence she could only ask the maid who had just followed Jiang Qi there.
The maid did not dare to tell the truth, for her Miss would swallow her alive if she did. At that moment, she could only say hesitantly, "Madam, this handmaiden didn't go in, so this handmaiden didn't know what Miss Han had said to Miss."
After she had cried enough, Jiang Qi told Yu Shi, "I just had a little misunderstanding with Yuxi Jiejie and was told off by her. In retrospect, Yuxi Jiejie was right. I was too impulsive." She was being too impulsive just now. How could she say something like that to Han Yuxi and thus be caught by her?
Yu Shi's face showed her boredom. "Even if you said something wrong, who is she to lecture you? A child without a mother is indeed uneducated." Thinking of her husband's desire to marry a girl from the Han family for her son, Yu Shi's mood suddenly went from bad to worse. If Han Yuxi were already like this, it would be strange if that Han Yurong was a good one. [T/C]
Jiang Qi said, "Mother, you can't say that. It's also because I was too impulsive just now." What had just happened was indeed her being too impulsive. Because she was obsessed with Chen Ran, she knew a lot of things about him. For example, Chen Ran had personally made a flute for Han Yuxi and often gave small gifts to her. Because of this knowledge, Jiang Qi decided that what Yuxi had just said was something Chen Ran had said to Han Yuxi himself. Jiang Qi was utterly blinded by cynicism that she had forgotten that she and Han Yuxi were not friends, which had allowed the other party to seize on her words and bite her back.
Yu Shi stroked Jiang Qi's head and said, "You're just too kind-hearted." It was only because her daughter was too kind that she was constantly being bullied.
Noob Translator's Rant
The author should rename these 2 chapters as 'An Eventful Trip To Lingsan Temple' since the family separation ceremony took only a few paragraphs, while the rest are about Yuxi's trip to Lingshan Temple.
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi