Chapter 29 : Nightmare

Old Madam Han soon learned that Yuxi had given up learning music theory, and immediately ordered someone to call over Yuxi.

Yuxi went to the main room and did the greeting ritual in an orderly way.

Old Madam Han laid down the Buddha beads on the yellow pear wood table beside her. Then, she slowly turned her head, looked at Yuxi, and asked, “Why didn’t you tell us that you have just made up your mind not to learn music theory?”

In the face of Old Madam Han, Yuxi didn’t dare to speak nonsense, nor dare to play dumb, “I’ve learned it for several days, but it still doesn’t even enter any aperture of my head (Chinese idiom : Can’t understand at all). Today, I’ve told my teacher about this, and she said that I have no talent in music theory. Since it is a waste of time to continue studying without talent, I will stop learning it.”

Old Madam Han looked at Yuxi, and it seemed like she could see through her eyes, “Is this really the case?”

Yuxi was not overwhelmed by the Old Madam’s imposing manner. She, who have died once, what could she be afraid of? “If Grandmother doesn’t believe it, Grandmother can ask Teacher Song.”

Old Madam Han gave a cold hum, “You have a lot of nerve.” Without her consent, she, Yuxi, dared not learn the qin without authorization. Her bravery had gone to heaven. This time she must be severely punished.

Yuxi gave a wry smile, “Grandmother, it’s not that granddaughter has a lot of nerve, but I really can’t learn this. Every time I took music lessons, it became hard for me.” Seeing the Old Madam’s ugly face, she hurriedly said, “However, teacher said that I have talent in painting, so, let me learn to paint well.” There were many similarities between painting and embroidery. It was also for this reason that her painting skill was extremely good. However, she did not intend to spend too much energy on this skill. The reason was very simple. No matter how well she learnt it, there was really no real use for her surname when she was in trouble.

Old Madam Han’s face softened a bit, “Since this idea is your first offence, copy Lessons For Women three times and send them to me a year later.” The time limit she gave was still quite long. It was mainly because Yuxi had a heavy learning task, so, she had to put a long time limit.

Yuxi had no objection.

After Yuxi went out of the room, Old Madam Han leaned toward the side at Yuchen and said, “Chen-er, you can’t act like Fourth Girl.” Although Yuxi studied very hard, she did not expect much from her. Yuxi, in particular, was often good at advocating, which made her unhappy.

Naturally, Yuchen would never act like Yuxi, because under the guidance of Teacher Song these days, her skill in qin had made great progress. With a mentor like Teacher Song, she would only determined to work harder and would not give up the chance to learn.

Compared with Old Madam Han’s dissatisfaction, Qiu Shi was much calmer. Hearing Yuxi’s explanation, she nodded and said, “If you can’t learn, then don’t learn. If you are forced to learn, you will only suffer.” In fact, according to her personal opinion, what were the use of art of qin, chess, calligraphy and painting even if you had mastered them? As long as the girl learned needlework and housekeeping, that was enough.

Yuxi said with a smile, “Aunt’s abacus is very good, if Aunt does not mind, I want to learn from Aunt!”

Qiu Shi was not good at scheming against each other, but she had a good way of managing common affairs. Not to mention that her dowry had increased several times over the years, it was said that under her care, the residence could now make ends meet every year. Before, the residence used to run a deficit every year and suffered huge losses.

Yuxi used to learn housekeeping with Qiu Shi in her previous life. At that time, she began to think that she was going to marry the second son of the Qiu family, so she only learned some simple things. When she got married to Jiang Hongjin, she was always in a state of worry and fear. Why else would she want to continue learning these things for? But now, it was necessary to learn from an example of a good housewife was. Being a good housewife was much more practical than the art of qin.

Qiu Shi cheerfully said, “If you want to learn from me, I will naturally teach you, but you are still young. It will not be late to learn it in a few years.”

Liuyin came and said, “Madam, Concubine Lian is not feeling well. She requested a doctor.”

Qiu Shi looked very happy as she said, “Go and ask Dr. Li to see her.”

Yuxi felt Qiu Shi’s attitude was very strange. It didn’t matter whether Concubine Lian was ill or not. So, why was her aunt look so happy instead?

Soon, Hongshan did an enquiries on the matter and immediately told Yuxi the information that she heard, “Miss, Concubine Lian is pregnant. The doctor said that she had been pregnant for three months.”

Concubine Lian had smartly hidden this matter deep enough till it reached 3 months.

Seeing Yuxi didn’t said a word, Hongshan continued, “Miss, Concubine Rong hasn’t yet reach there months pregnancy yet.” This meant that Concubine Lian’s pregnancy happened much earlier than Concubine Rong.

Yuxi suddenly understood the reason behind Qiu Shi’s happy look. Perhaps her Eldest Aunt already knew about Concubine Lian’s pregnancy, and helped her hid it from the public. Yuxi let out an insincere laugh, thinking of what would Concubine Rong feel once she heard this news.

When Concubine Rong heard the news of Concubine Lian’s pregnancy, she was so angry that she smashed most of the furnitures inside the room and scolded the old woman who served her, “Why hasn’t any news come out about such a big thing?” If Concubine Lian’s child was also a boy, it would certainly affect her child’s status.

A few confidants around Concubine Rong had been sold by the Old Madam. This new old woman was a bit lagged behind when it came to obtaining news. Concubine Rong had both money and means to bring over the old woman servant to side with her if she wanted to. However, this old woman Feng had a very shallow foundation. She had no influence in the residence, and was not very clever. She always couldn’t do things the way Concubine Rong wanted.

Old women Feng answered, “The news was just leaked today. There was no wind before.”

This matter made Concubine Rong’s teeth itched. She believed that this situation was most likely Qiu Shi’s sinister plot.

Old woman Feng comforted her, “Ma’am, you absolutely should not lose your temper. The most urgent thing now is to raise a good baby. As long as you give birth to a son, you will have to rely on him for the rest of your life.”

When Concubine Rong heard this, the anger in her eyes gradually dissipated. She gently touched her belly and said, “You’re right. Nothing is more important than the child in my belly.”

When old woman Feng saw that Concubine Rong listening to her every words, she advised her, “This old servant would like to say something which is not pleasant for Ma’am to hear. Madam is currently trying to catch Ma’am’s mistake. She wants to use it to end your life. So, at this time, we should be very careful.” What she meant was for Concubine Rong not to strike a vicious blow on to Concubine Lian. Otherwise, Concubine Rong would be the one who got the worst of it.

After a long silence, Concubine Rong nodded and said, “My top priority right now is to give birth to a healthy child.” They also had to make sure weither Concubine Lian’s child would be a son or a daughter. If she was going to have a daughter, they did not need to do anything.

When the Old Madam knew about Concubine Lian’s pregnancy, she was so happy. She send a lot of valuable medicinal materials and several valuable jewellries to Concubine Lian.

Mama Li was on guard against Concubine Lian when she got the news. It was because Concubine Lian was not only highly favored by the Duke Han but also valued by the Old Madam. If she gained enough power, she would pose a greater threat to her Master in the future.

While, Qiu Shi felt a lingering fear for Concubine Rong after listening to Mama Li’s words. After muttering by herself for a moment, she finally said, “Now that both Concubine Lian and Concubine Rong are pregnant, they will not be able to serve the Lord Duke. I will arrange for 2 more people to serve him.” Divided the favours using beauties.

Mama Li nevertheless said, “Madam, those persons should be chosen carefully.” The concubine whom the Old Madam chose was not only beautiful but also resourceful and calculating. They could no longer pick people with only faces and no brains, as they used to pick.

Qiu Shi gave a brief nods.

The inner court’s rivalry had nothing to do with Yuxi. She only needed to know the general trend in the residence. She picked up her unfinished handkerchief and continued embroidering it under the light. Since learning with Teacher Song, she had not done any embroidery for a long time.

Mama Shen said, “Miss is still young. There’s no lack of time for you to embroider later on.” In fact, Mama Shen was somewhat unable to make sense of Yuxi. If she learned to play qin well, she could use it to dazzle others in social gatherings. However, she rather practiced embroidery more, like she would become one of the embroidery ladies in the future.

Yuxi smilingly said, “Embroidery skill also needs time to hone. So, I’m going to take two quarters of an hour at noon to practice.” Since, nowadays, there was less homework given and they were given more time for self-study.

Mama Shen saw that anymore persuasion would only become useless, so she decided to change the subject, “Miss, Third Miss has a study room, qin room and painting room. Should we also tidy up the side room to be used like her?” She hoped Yuxi would not differ too much from Yuchen.

Yuxi shook her head and said, “Not for the time being.”

Mama Shen was puzzled, “Miss, why not use it for the time being?”

Yuxi looked at the direction of the main room and said, “Because I can’t use it for the time being. And remember, don’t compare me with my Third Sister in the future. I don’t like it.” From the start, both of them didn’t stand on the same parallel line and to associate both of them too much would only make her uncomfortable.

Mama Shen didn’t dared to speak anymore.

After writing daily hundred characters, Yuxi reviewed what she had learned in the daytime. Finally she took out her qipu and ordered, “Bring me my chess.”

Among qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, the only thing Yuxi was willing to learn hard was chess. This was because when Teacher Song taught chess for the first time, she said that playing weiqi (or is widely known as Go game nowadays) could exercise people’s calculation, thinking, memory, attention and endurance. Yuxi knew her weight. Although she had lived for a lifetime once, she was not particularly outstanding in all aspects. She could only study hard to get better.

Moju came over and said, “Miss, it’s time to go to bed. Tomorrow you have to get up early!”

Yuxi was reluctant to put it down. She just got the taste of it. However, she had to follow her own schedule. If she disturbed the schedule for the next day, she would be in disordered.

Lying in bed, Yuxi couldn’t help thinking about the unfinished chess game just now. However, since she was extremely tired to begin with, she finally felt asleep in a daze.

“Hu…” Yuxi sat up from the bed and looked at the familiar place, then breathed a sigh of relief. What a deuce! She dreamed that she was playing chess with Jiang Hongjin, and she had no room to fight back when facing him who approached her slowly. As a result, she lost miserably.

She didn’t know what this dream meant, but she knew that the gap between her and Jiang Hongjin was too big. His methods, intelligence and scheming were all not bad. Her only advantage was that she had the first chance. If she wanted to stop falling into the situation of her previous life, she must start planning now.

Yuxi muttered to herself, “What’s the first chance that I can use?”

After thinking for a long time, she thought of a person. This person was Jiang Hongjin’s half brother, Jiang Hongfu, the eldest son of Jiang Wenrui with his late first wife. It was just that he was nine years old when he met an accident in the street market and died early.

Yuxi knows very little about Jiang Hongfu. After all, when she married into the Jiang family, Yu Shi already took charge of the Jiang residence as the new master. As a stepmother, Yu Shi certainly didn’t want the servants to discuss about the first wife and her son. Yuxi only knew about this matter after she heard a drunk old servant of Jiang residence talked about Jiang Hongfu, saying that he was also a very intelligent child.

The enemy of her enemy was her friend. If Jiang Hongfu had not died early, Jiang Hongjin would not have a smooth road.

Yuxi calculated that Jiang Hongfu was eight years old this year, which meant that he would have an accident next year. It was also a coincidence that the day Jiang Hongfu died happened to be three days before her birthday, so she remembered it clearly. As long as she saved Jiang Hongfu on that day, everything should be different from her previous life.

After Yuxi understood this, it felt like a heavy burden had been lifted from her heart and soon made her fell asleep again.