Even though the breeze was still and the waves were quiet on the Yun family's side, it did not mean that the Qin residence was the same. Xu Shi waited for a long time, but the awaited Qin Zhao didn't come. To show her virtuousness, Xu Shi took a warm soup to the study room in the front courtyard, but Qin Zhao was not there.
When Xu Shi heard that Qin Zhao had gone to the room of the concubine rewarded by the Crown Prince, Song Shi, Xu Shi was so angry that she smashed a set of teapots and said through gritted teeth, "Such a cheap person." It was unclear whether she was cursing Qin Zhao or Song Shi.
Mama Gong advised, "Madam, the General is very unhappy because of what happened to the Fourth Master Xu. Madam, the most urgent task is not to solve the problem caused by Song Shi but to win back the General's trust in you."
Although Xu Shi's temperament was somewhat arrogant, she was not stupid; she was merely nurtured by her surroundings. Xu Shi had been a good-looking girl, decorated with white powder and carved out of jade since she was a child. Plus, she was smart and clever and very much loved by the elders of her family. Xu Shi merely concealed her somewhat arrogant and wilful temper in front of outsiders very well. Moreover, the Xu family used her marriage to seek maximum benefit for themselves, so Xu Shi's public reputation was outstanding, and when she reached marriageable age, she met Qin Zhao. At that time, Marshal Qin was interested in the girl from the Zhao family. However, Qin Zhao liked Xu Shi, whom he insisted on marrying, and Marshal Qin could only compromise. One could say that Xu Shi's childhood had been smooth sailing, where she did not encounter a single setback.
Xu Shi quickly calmed herself down. "You're right. I can't try to save a little only to lose a lot." There would still be plenty of opportunities to deal with Song Shi later.
Yun Qing went to the military camp and did not return to the mansion until midnight. When he returned home, Yuxi had already gone to bed, and after Yun Qing bathed, he saw the lights in the house were lit up.
When Yun Qing got into bed, he asked, "Did I wake you up?"
Yuxi shook her head. "No." She would have been an absolute pig if she could still sleep with such loud noise from outside.
Yun Qing stroked Yuxi's head and urged, "Go to sleep! It's already very late." It was almost midnight, and if he didn't have something to say to Huo Changqing in the morning, he might not even come back tonight.
Yuxi knew that Yun Qing was tired, but there was something she still had to ask. "What did Qin Zhao say? How much silver did you get?" If they didn't get the money, what about the weapons and materials for them to withstand the winter? There were still more than two months to go!
Yun Qing answered, "Qin Zhao brought back 800,000 taels of silver, and when spring starts, the Ministry of War will send over a batch of armaments."
Yuxi frowned. "Only eight hundred thousand taels of silver? How much more can there be after the military pay?" Eight hundred thousand taels of silver sounded like a lot, but the fact was that there were hundreds of thousands of troops in the northwest. Thus, this amount of silver was like trying to put out a blazing cartload of firewood with a cup of water.
Yun Qing responded, "However, we can at least survive this winter."
When Yuxi recalled the dignitaries in the capital who spent money like dirt and led a life of debauchery while the soldiers lived miserably and could lose their lives on the battlefield at any time caused Yuxi's heart to choke with panic.
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Yun Qing gently patted Yuxi and softly said, "Don't think about it. Just go to sleep." These things were not something Yuxi should worry about, nor was it something that Yuxi could worry about.
Yuxi suppressed the thoughts that had just surfaced and talked to Yun Qing about another matter. "He Rui, today Mr Chen wrote a letter to me. I could see from the letter that he wanted to seek refuge with us! However, I heard from Xu Wu that you had gone to ask him to become your aide, but he had refused your request?"
Yun Qing bounced up from the bed and asked Yuxi, "Where is the letter?" There were not many talented people in Yu City, and several of them had been roped in by others long ago. Mr Chen was exceptionally gifted. Therefore Yun Qing wanted to invite him to be his advisor, but he turned him down. However, talented people were hard to come by, and Yun Qing would not give up until Mr Chen sought protection from other people. Hence, how could he not be excited when he heard these words from Yuxi?
Yuxi pointed to the dressing table.
Yun Qing immediately got out of bed and took the letter to read. After reading the letter, Yun Qing asked Yuxi, looking confused, "Why did he write to you?" He could just come or write to him if he wanted to seek refuge with them. Why did he look for Yuxi?
Yuxi laughed. "Even you didn't have any idea how I won this battle? Did you forget that Mr Chen was from southern Fujian, and my Waigong is also stationed there? He was looking for me because he had a favour to ask of me."
Yun Qing's excitement immediately went away after hearing this. "It's not good to bother Old Man Qiu over this matter, right?" Furthermore, he felt that the cost would be too much.
Yuxi smiled. "There's no need to trouble Waigong since Mr Chen's case is not very complicated. We can do it by seeking Da Biaoge." The Da Biaoge that Yuxi mentioned was Qiu He, the eldest di grandson of the Qiu family. Qiu He was from the Main House, grew up in the capital, and had a good relationship with Han Jianming and Han Jianye. Yuxi had also met him several times.
Yun Qing was still reluctant. Debts were easy to pay, but favours were difficult to return.
Yuxi smiled. "What's wrong with that? It's not a big deal to ask for a favour from a relative. In the future, if the Qiu family has something that needs us to help, we will certainly not refuse them." After a pause, she added, "You should not overthink it. I have not decided yet whether to use him. Although he has performed very well, in the end, I still have to check how much of a scholar he is."
Yun Qing stated, "Mr Chen is very talented. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to his door with Uncle Huo, requesting for his service in the first place."
Yuxi commented, "I'm just afraid he's only a half bucket of water. There's no hurry. Let me check more on him first." She pursued a principle where she would rather go without than put up with something shoddy. She would rather have no aides that used a person who was a half bucket of water.
Yun Qing did not object. "Let's go to sleep! It's already very late."
Yan Yiyi came over early in the morning to pay her respects to Yuxi, but she suffered a cold shoulder treatment at the entrance. The old woman servant guarding the door wouldn't let her in. "Wait here. I'll have someone notify Madam first." Only trusted people were allowed to enter the inner courtyard. [Note]
When Yuxi heard Yan Yiyi's arrival, she expressionlessly instructed, "Tell her to stay inside her room properly and not to come out without my summons." Although Yun Qing would not be tempted by beauty, seeing such a troublesome person wandering in front of her eyes could still upset her.
Zijin stood up and said, "Madam, I'll go!" Without waiting for Yuxi's reply, she already stumbled out.
Yuxi felt both annoyed and amused at the same time. How old was she to still act like a child? She even spoke about one thing when she meant another thing.
The same upsetting situation happened to another General's family's great mistress, Xu Shi. She was fine for now. At least her husband did not stay overnight in that hussy's room last night, which always made her feel the most disturbed.
Song Shi, who dressed prettily like a flower, knelt in front of Xu Shi, took the tea from the maid's hand, raised it high, and said softly, "Jiejie, please have some tea."
Looking at the enchanting Song Shi, Xu Shi's eyes could spit fire. But early in the morning, Mama Gong advised Xu Shi to bear it out as quickly as possible. Therefore, although Xu Shi's stomach was full of fire, she did not show it. Instead, she looked at Qin Zhao as if she was angry at him. "Meimei looks so lovely. Husband surely won't mistreat Meimei!"
A touch of guilt surfaced inside Qin Zhao when Xu Shi said something like that to him. He should have stayed in the Main Courtyard when he returned home yesterday. But he remained in Song Shi's room instead. To Xu Shi, this was just like a slap in her face, but she didn't get angry; instead, she was being so generous.
When Song Shi heard these words from Xu Shi, a flash of caution appeared in her eyes. It seemed that Xu Shi was not an easy one to deal with.
With a smile on her face, Xu Shi took the tea handed over by Song, took a sip and put the tea down. Then, she gave her a pair of pure golden hairpins as a first meeting gift. "Serve the General well in the future."
Concubine Song took the gift and smilingly responded, "Thank you for the gift, Jiejie."
Xu Shi smilingly pointed to a chair close to her. "Please get up; let's sit and talk."
Concubine Song stood up, sat down on the chair, and softly said, "Thank you, Jiejie." It seemed that Xu Shi was also very cunning and had enough endurance. It wouldn't be that easy to stand firm in this Qin Mansion. Please read this chapter at xin-shou dot site.
Xu Shi took Concubine Song's hand and asked warmly, "What was your name at home? How old are you this year? What do you like to eat?" This way, clueless people would think her birth younger sister had dropped by without realising that a concubine had stolen her husband from her!
Qin Zhao coughed and stood up. "I won't be back for lunch at noon, so there's no need to prepare for my meal." After saying that, he went to the military camp with a group of attendant guards.
Xu Shi was not interested in showing sisterly affection to Concubine Song; it was only done for Qin Zhao to see. Once Qin Zhao walked away, she didn't need to pretend anymore. "Since you had a hard day yesterday, I won't keep you here anymore. If your courtyard lacks anything in the future, let someone inform me. We're all family anyway. No need to act like an outsider." For the time being, she couldn't tear her face off. She had to eliminate her husband's anger first, and it wouldn't be too late to take care of this demon later.
"Thank you, Jiejie." Once Concubine Song finished speaking these words, she immediately got up and led her maid back to their own courtyard.
After a while, Xu Shi smashed her teacup on the floor. "B*tch." Concubine Song's attitude was perfunctory when she offered tea just now, which was disrespectful to Xu Shi, but Qin Zhao didn't seem to notice it. After several years as husband and wife, seeing Qin Zhao act like this disappointed Xu Shi.
Mama Gong also felt that Concubine Song's attitude was arrogant. "Madam, the more arrogant she is now, the faster she will die. Let's allow her to bounce around for a few days first." Since there was no way out of this, they had to endure it for now.
Xu Shi also knew that she had to bear it. She had seen many ladies in charge become ornamental in the Xu family because they couldn't hold themselves back for a while. She was definitely not going to allow herself to fall into that situation. Xu Shi asked, "Apart from this Song Shi, to whose family were the other three sent?"
Mama Gong replied, "One was sent to Yun Qing, one to Zhao Zhuo, and one to Xia Hong." Xia Hong was Qin Zhao's most trusted aide.
Xu Shi frowned. "How come he sent one Xia Hong? Why not give her to Fu Tianlei?" Fu Tianlei was Yun Qing's best friend. If the beauty was useful, she could drive a wedge between these two people.
Mama Gong shook her head. "Madam, that Fu Qingluo is a god of killing. Can this person still have a way to live after she enters the Fu family?"
What Mama Gong said was not just wind from an empty cave since someone had sent two beauties to Fu Tianlei before. As a result, one was married to a stable boy, and the other went to a nunnery. After that, no one dared to send any more women to Fu Tianlei, and no woman in his residence dared to climb into his bed. With such a fearsome xiaogu, no one was happier than Da Nainai Fu. Of course, Da Nainai Fu was also very good to Fu Qingluo. Unless she had to come to other people's houses to apologise and make amends on behalf of Fu Qingluo, she did grumble for a bit. At other times, she treated her much better than her own daughters!
Xu Shi commented, "Zhao Zhuo always listens to Madam Zhao, so sending a beautiful woman to him is useless. As for Yun Qing's side, it's also a bit of a long shot." Han Shi was not one to be trifled with.
Mama Gong pointed out, "Han Shi is currently pregnant. Out of all the men under the sky, which one has never become a cat that steals a fish?"
Xu Shi nodded. "I hope these two beauties can really become useful."
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi