Chapter 34 : Murderous Devil (1)

Yuxi’s visit to Qiu Family Residence naturally must be reported to the Old Madam. Otherwise, Yuxi would surely be scolded. Luckily, she didn’t have to do it herself.

When the Old Madam got the news, she shook her head helplessly. Normally, Jianming should have taken Yuru and Yujing to visit Qiu Family Residence. After all, both of them also called Qiu Shi as ‘mother’, despite being born from concubines. Only, Qiu Shi had a stubborn temper. She always treated concubines indifferently, and no matter how the Old Madam persuaded, it was useless. The Old Madam knew there were gains and losses in everything. When she chose Qiu Shi for her eldest son, she also looked at her family background and her financial management skills. However, the Qiu family had only three generations since its rose, so the family background was too shallow for her to thoroughly check. Also, Qiu Shi had no suitable role model of a good noble family housewife to follow from, so, she had many deficiencies when she became one.

As the Old Madam looked at Yuxi’s empty neck, she remembered their last trip to the Zhou family. She turned around and ordered Feicui to fetch a pure gold pearl and jade necklace, then she gave it to Yuxi. She said, “Tomorrow, wear this to visit relatives.” It wasn’t because Yuxi looked too shabby, but on the contrary, she wore too much like she had an outburst of wealth. So, the Old Madam gave the necklace, with a piece of suede in the middle of it, to make Yuxi became much more elegant when she wore it.

Yuxi took the necklace and hung it around her neck. She curtesy to the Old Madam, “Thank you so much Grandmother for the gift.” Not to mention the pattern carved next to it, the jade in the middle was worth several hundred taels of silvers. For a moment, she felt that she should be a filial child in front of the Old Madam, so that she could get more than what she had before. However, this idea just flashed by. It was better to learn more things when she had the time, since that would truly belonged to her.

Old Madam Han was not happy to see greedy expression on Yuxi’s face. At her age, there was no need for her to avoid speaking about it in her residence. She spoke directly, “Next year, when you go to other people’s homes, be alert. Don’t lose the face of the residence.”

Yuxi’s complexion turned dark as she bowed her head.

The next day, not long after breakfast, Han Jianye came to pick up Yuxi. When they arrived at the main door, they found that Master Heir was also there. Yuxi cried hurriedly, “Eldest Brother.” Master Heir and Han Jianye were brothers. Unfortunately, one was too calm, while the other was too jumpy. She had a good relationship with Han Jianye in her previous life, but she stayed away from Han Jianming because of his strict attitude.

Today, Yuxi wore deep red clothes, with her hairs combed into two tiny buns and a twine of delicate red corals bead wrapped around her head. She also wore a pure gold pearl and jade necklace around her neck. Added with her round face, she looked rich and lovely in her complete get-up.

Master Heir, at once smiled and said, “Get on the carriage, okay. ” His mother treated Yuxi like her own biological daughter, otherwise she would not have agreed with Jianye’s idea to take Yuxi to their maternal grandparents’ home. However, he was actually happy to see Yuxi’s changes these days, compared to before where she only obeyed what people asked her to do and didn’t smiled much.

Han Jianye was afraid that Yuxi would be bored in the carriage by herself, so, he accompanied her rode in it. On the way, he told Yuxi about his eldest maternal uncle’s family, “My grandfather and my second uncle both are posted outside of the capital, and now, only my eldest uncle’s family is staying here. Don’t worry, my eldest aunt is a kind person, and my young female cousins are all very good-natured.” Old Master Qiu had only two sons and one daughter, both of whom were born from Old Madam Qiu. The feelings between the three brothers and sister of the Qiu family were very deep, so the two families, the Qiu and the Han, were very close.

Yuxi knew that Xiao Shi, the Eldest Madam of the Qiu family, was a kind person. Otherwise, she would not have allowed her younger son to marry her in her previous life. As you know, marrying her would not bring any benefits to her son, and she had no good part on herself that she could be proud of. She deliberately asked, “Is eldest female cousin about my age?”

Han Jianye shook his head and said, “Eldest cousin is already nine years old, but Fourth and Fifth cousins are about the same age as you, so they should be able to play with you.”

Yuxi felt that Han Jianye was really out of line and said helplessly, “Second Brother, I remember that only eldest cousin is the legitimate daughter.” It was not that she despised concubine-born women, but the communication circle between a legitimate and illegitimate was as rivers Jing and Wei separated clearly (Chinese idiom : to be entirely different). The legitimate and the illegitimate were in two different circles. If she befriended a concubine-born woman, she would be ostracized by other legitimate women when she went out to socialize, which then would be a quite embarrassing moment for her. She still remembered that she had made friends with Qiu Yanfu, a merchant woman, in her last life. As the result, she was despised and rejected by others.

Han Jianye’s mind didn’t turned, so he didn’t understand what Yuxi’s meant. He only said, “Although Fourth and Fifth cousins are born from concubines, it doesn’t matter as long as they can play with you. My second senior brother is also born from concubine, but I still have a good relationship with him.“ Han Jianye’s second senior brother, Lin Fengyuan was the illegitimate Heir of Duke of Ding.

Yuxi was speechless. Lin Fengyuan was a man. Even if he was born with a low status, as long as he had the ability to fight for his future, he would not have anything to worry about, but for a concubine-born woman, it wasn’t the same. However, she would not argue with Han Jianye over this matter, since she knew it would just be a meaningless act.

The Qiu family and Duke Han of the State’s official residence belonged to two opposite directions. It took more than an hour for them to get there.

Yuxi had been to the Qiu family several times in her previous life, but this was the first time in her current life. She deliberately pretended to be very interested and said, “Second brother, the layout here is not as exquisite as our house, but it is very elegant.”

Han Jianye said with a smile, “My ancestors were all military commanders, so they were not as fastidious with residence as ours.” Han Jianye’s temperament was more like the Qiu’s family than the Han’s.

Xiao Shi was quite surprised when she saw Yuxi, but since Yuxi was brought by her two nephews, she must also be entertained properly. Not only did she gave Yuxi a thick red envelope, but also the string of red coral bracelet on her hand as a gift of first meeting.

Yuxi muttered in her heart that her trip was not in vain since she was given the valuable red coral bracelet. She suddenly discovered that she somehow had really become a moneygrubber before she knew it. In this life, she always estimated values of every gifts she received.

Xiao Shi wanted to go and greeted the guests. Since Qiu Jingjing, the Eldest Miss of the Qiu family, had went to pay New Year’s visit to another family, she asked Qiu Huanhuan, the Fourth Miss, to talk to the Fifth Miss, Qiu Lele, to accompany Yuxi. Both girls were very beautiful and had a very good attitude towards Yuxi.

Although Yuxi had some misgivings, she decided to treat it like a normal communication between relatives. Naturally, she had to be courteous and considerate. Otherwise, she would be said that she had not been tutored properly, so in the end, the three got along quite well.

When she left, the Fourth Miss also invited Yuxi to come to the Qiu Residence on Lantern Festival to play, “The eighteenth day of the first month is my birthday. Cousin Xi can come then?”

Yuxi diplomatically refused, “Sorry, elder cousin, I’ll continue learning from my teacher when the Lantern Festival arrives. By then, I won’t have time to come out again.”

Fourth Miss felt regretful.

On the way back, Han Jianye rode his horse on the edge of the window and said, “Fourth Cousin was sincerely inviting you to attend her birthday feast. So, you should at least ask a leave from your teacher. ”

Yuxi said helplessly, “Teacher lectures awfully fast. If I delay for a day, I will surely not be able to keep up.” She didn’t knew from where did her Second Brother could know his cousin’s good feelings.

Looking at the situation, Han Jianming couldn’t help but shook his head. A wise man could see at a glance that Yuxi was not willing to make deep acquaintance with the two Young Misses of the Qiu family, and he didn’t know if his younger brother really had eyes. However, this incident had made him felt more satisfied with Yuxi. Although she was young, she acted in a measured way, which was worthy of being taught by Teacher Song.

When the carriage stopped halfway, Yuxi thought that something wrong had happened. She lifted the curtain and saw Han Jianming talking to two teenagers.

Chang pao

Source | aliexpress

The conversation was head by a tall youngster, whose height was half a head taller than her Second Brother. He wore a brocade chang pao (traditional Chinese male robe) in the colour of a clear sky after the rain, and a bright coloured silk waistband was tied around his waist, with Flowing Clouds Baifu Yupei hanged down from the side. On the outside, he draped his clothes with a black coloured fur overcoat. His skin was the colour of the wheat. He was also sturdy and when he talked, his voice was particularly loud. However, when you heard him talk, you would know that he had a straightforward temper.

The other youngster was very delicate and pretty, with a strong scholarly air, fair skin, and wore a robe of crimson rounded embroidery design, azure silk trousers, and a pair of basic official boots. Yuxi looked at the youngster, and always had a feeling that she had seen him somewhere before.

Yuxi pondered about the two youngsters. The tall one should have been the child of a military family, while the delicate and pretty one, should have been the childe of a scholarly family. Strange, how could such two people come together?

Yuxi was so absorbed in her thoughts that she was not aware of a person who had already come forward and stood in front of her.

The tall boy cheerfully handed Yuxi a red envelope. Seeing Yuxi did not accept it, he smiled at Han Jianming nearby and said, “My little cousin does not accept my red envelope. What should I do?”

Yuxi was not surprised with the way the youngster addressed her. The Duke Han of the State’s official residence had been established for over two hundreds years. It had relations with many families in the capital. In fact, many of them were relatives tied from kinship or friendship. Just the sight of the two people in front of her should also be some of her relatives, after a few turns of generations.

When Han Jianming saw that Yuxi did not take the gift, he looked puzzled and explained, “Yuxi, this is maternal aunt’s son.” It meant that he was a relative, so took your red envelope.

Yuxi muttered in her heart that she did not know whose maternal aunt this person belonged to, but this occasion was definitely not the time to ask questions. So, she took the red envelope with both hands and found it was heavy. Her smile got wider by two points, “Thank you cousin.”

The tall teenager found Yuxi very interesting. He took the red envelope from the pretty teenager’s hand and handed it to Yuxi. He teased her and said, “Cousin, come on, say it again.”

Yuxi’s head was full of black lines as she immediately turned her head away. She didn’t know which family had been so unlucky by having this kind of kid. He even dared to flirt with little girls at such a young age.

The tall teenager burst out laughing and said, “Cousin Jianming, little cousin is so interesting.”

Yuxi really wanted to scold this young man for being crazy, but she was a noble lady who did not swear. She just bitterly put down the carriage curtain.

The delicate teenager did not agree, as he could not help exclaiming, “Older cousin, we are in the street.” Then, he turned around and apologized to Han Jianming.

Han Jianming laughed and said, “It’s nothing, but my sister is really angry.” Yuxi was still young, and he knew that the other party was just having fun, so he didn’t take it seriously.

Han Jianye, who had a big mouth, said, “Rest assure, my sister won’t be so narrow-minded. Yun Qing, look when you have time. Let’s learn from each other.“ He had made great progress in martial arts recently. Even Master Yang praised him and he had this urgent need to show his improved skill.

Yun Qing promised, “You are welcome at anytime.”

Seeing that the time was almost up, the delicate and pretty youngster hastily said, “Older cousin, we should go now. If we delay again, grandfather will swear and scold us.”

When Yuxi heard the name Yun Qing, all her limbs became stiff. After a while, she finally recovered from her near horror. She held her chest and said to herself, “I hope I got it wrong, or maybe he actually have a different name.” She couldn’t help but shuddered, as she hoped that he was not the one she thought he was.

NOOB TRANSLATOR’S MUSING

I don’t know if I got a wrong source or not, but Han Jianye’s second senior brother was written as 林风远 (Lin Fengyuan) on the first paragraph that mentioned him, but was written as 林远风 (Lin Yuanfeng) on the following paragraph. So, I decided to use the first name 林风远 (Lin Fengyuan), and I feel it sound much more suitable. – sweat drop –

I started watching My Poseidon recently, and had a crush on Leon Zhang. For a 31 years old guy, he really looks like he is in his twenties. And Eleanor Lee, I love her act in My Big Boss, though I haven’t finished watching the first season yet. – sweat drop –