The matter had already happened, so it was pointless for her to lose her temper. They needed to think of a way to resolve the situation. St...
The matter had already happened, so it was pointless for her to lose her temper. They needed to think of a way to resolve the situation. Steadying her mind, Yuxi asked, "How do you think this matter should be resolved?"
Yang Duoming suggested a solution that wasn't really a solution1: "Although I don't know how they found out Yan Xi's identity, he was disguised at the time. If we refuse to admit it, the other side can do nothing to us." Aside from Yang Duoming's carelessness, there were also objective factors involved in this matter. If not for Jiang Hongfu's arrival, even if someone had reported this matter to Wangye, it would not have caused any concern.
Stubbornly refusing to admit it would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. After pondering for a moment, Yuxi asked, "How many people know about you and Yan Xi going to Luoyang?"
Yang Duoming replied, "Aside from Qingluo, no one else knows where we went."
If Yun Qing wanted to investigate, he would definitely be able to find out. Yuxi thought for a moment and responded, "Your movements are easy to trace. If Wangye truly asks about this matter in the future, just say you went to Luoyang to gather intelligence. As for the rest, say you are not sure." Words that were half true and half false were the kind least likely to arouse suspicion.
Seeing that Yuxi's expression was calm and showed no sign of panic, Yang Duoming nodded. "Wangfei, rest assured, we definitely will not leak even half a word." After pausing for a moment, he continued, "Wangfei, I have too few people at my disposal, and the newly recruited ones are not very useful." Yang Duoming wanted to request more personnel from Yuxi.
Yuxi suggested, "If you don't have any people, then train them yourself. It may take longer, but they will be more trustworthy." The people that Huo Changqing had trained all had their own uses too. Besides, Yuxi also didn't want Yang Duoming to have anything to do with Huo Changqing's side.
Yang Duoming had also adopted more than ten orphans. However, it would take several more years for these children to be ready for use. Since Yuxi had refused to provide him with more people, it was pointless to raise the issue again.
Yuxi instructed, "After you leave, go to Xu Wu and receive twenty military rods. Once your injuries have healed, take Yan Xi to Shangzhou City! There, you can get to know more high-ranking officials and noble people." The intelligence Yang Duoming had gathered beforehand had all been rather unimportant. Now that Yuxi was determined to learn more about the situation elsewhere, they had to gather some hidden information. Of course, relying only on Yang Duoming would not be enough.
Twenty military rods would be enough to leave him lying down for some time, but Yang Duoming did not dare to object.
Yuxi warned him coldly, "This time it's only twenty military rods. If you mess up the assignment again next time, don't blame me for showing no mercy."
Yang Duoming replied, "Rest assured, Wangfei, there will never be a next time." If there were a next time, he would have to beg forgiveness for his crime with his life. This matter could be considered a lesson: things had been smooth sailing before, which was why he had become complacent towards Jiang Hongjin. Otherwise, he would never have left behind such a future problem.
Xu Wu also did not allow the person carrying out the punishment to show any mercy. After the 20 military rods were administered, Yang Duoming could not walk and had to be carried back.
Xu Daniu began muttering to Xu Wu, "What did Yang Duoming do to deserve such severe punishment from Wangfei?" To everyone else, Yuxi seemed generous, kind and benevolent. Usually, when someone made a mistake, she would only reduce their salary as punishment. So this time, Xu Daniu was puzzled by the severe punishment Yang Duoming received.
Xu Wu speculated, "He must have messed up a very important assignment." However, he could not very well ask Yuxi what it was.
After thinking for a long time in the study, Yuxi finally called Xu Wu into the room and gave him an instruction, "Go and investigate the background details of the people Young Master Biao2 had brought with him this time."
After Xu Wu accepted the order, he glanced at Yuxi again. Seeing nothing unusual in her expression, he felt suspicious, but did not ask any more questions.
Yuxi lowered her head and continued handling governmental affairs.
It was not until evening that Yuxi returned to the rear courtyard. At this time, Yun Qing was still asleep. She asked Mama Qu, "How is Young Master Biao2?"
Mama Qu replied, "Wangfei, Young Master Biao2 drank a lot of wine too, and he still hasn't woken up yet either!" That jar of Pear Blossom White Wine had been drunk completely clean by the two of them.
Yuxi acknowledged this and ordered, "Have people serve him carefully." As long as Jiang Hongfu did not do anything unusual, she was also willing to maintain the current harmonious situation.
After bathing, Yuxi did not immediately return to the bedroom. Instead, she stood in the courtyard, looking up at the sky. The moon hung high in the sky, gazing quietly at this tranquil night.
Momo Quan walked to Yuxi's side and advised, "Go inside! It's late, and the dew is heavy; you'll catch a chill if you stay out any longer."
Yuxi did not move, only saying softly, "I just feel that tonight's night scenery is particularly beautiful. I haven't had time to admire the moon recently because I've been so busy."
Momo Quan suggested, "If you're up for it, you can go to the garden now to enjoy the night-time view." For Yuxi to be in such a low mood, it must be a big deal.
Yuxi smiled and said, "All right! Since moving in, I still haven't been to the garden at night. Today is the perfect opportunity to see what the garden looks like under the night sky."
Yuxi brought Momo Quan, Mei Yun, and the others to the garden. At night, the garden looked completely different from how it did during the day, as though it were shrouded by a thin layer of light gauze, giving it a hazy, mysterious appearance.
After walking for a while, they finally stopped in a waterside pavilion. Inside this waterside pavilion stood an Eight Immortals table📹 carved with floral designs and inlaid with marble, along with four waisted, four-footed stools made of Huanghuali rosewood.
Yuxi waved her hand and instructed, "Go outside and stand guard. Without my permission, you are not allowed to come in." As soon as she had finished speaking, a gust of wind blew over. The willow catkins by the lake were blown into the pavilion by the wind and landed on Yuxi's body.
Listening to the gurgling sound of the water, Nanny Momo lowered her voice and asked, "Yuxi, what exactly happened? Even if Momo cannot help you, Momo can still listen with both ears." Suppressing one's troubles inside could easily lead to health problems.
After a long while, Yuxi asked, "Momo, do you think there is truly such a thing as karmic retribution in this world?" She had believed in retribution in the past but later stopped believing in it. If retribution truly existed, why were there so many injustices in the world? Why did the good people suffer and toil?
Momo Quan shook her head. "If Bodhisattvas and Buddhas truly made evil people receive retribution, why are there still so many suffering people in the world? So-called retribution is just a way of comforting ordinary people. I do not believe in it." Momo Quan spoke these words because she had witnessed countless injustices. In the palace, it was often the kind-hearted who died first, while only the ruthless could survive and thrive.
Hearing this, Yuxi gave a soft chuckle. "Momo is right. The so-called idea that Heaven will bring retribution is merely a way for people who cannot take revenge to comfort and soothe themselves. Those with the ability repay their hatred immediately." In the past, she had no way of taking revenge, so she could only bear it in silence. Now, however, that she had the means to do so, she no longer wished to endure.
She did not regret drugging Jiang Hongjin and ruining his career, as this was the retribution he deserved. Had it not been for Jiang Hongjin, she would have married Qiu Biaoge3 in her previous life and lived a life of assisting her husband and educating her children. But Jiang Hongjin had married her because of his shameful secret desires, causing her to suffer humiliation and torment. When she was framed for murdering the Jiang family's offspring, she requested to be dismissed as his wife, wanting to spend the rest of her life in a temple surrounded by blue lamps and ancient Buddhas4. However, Jiang Hongjin refused to agree. Instead, he sent her to a remote estate where she would be out of sight, and ultimately, she met the miserable fate of being burned to death.
In her previous life, Jiang Hongjin destroyed her; in this life, she destroyed Jiang Hongjin. From now on, they owed each other nothing.
Momo Quan's eyelid twitched, but she quickly regained her composure and spoke, "Even if you want revenge, you must sweep the tail clean5; you absolutely cannot leave a single trace."
Yuxi smiled and responded, "Even if traces were left, there is nothing much to fear." When Yang Duoming first spoke of this matter, she had indeed been somewhat panicked. But after thinking it over, Yuxi felt she had worried too much. In this life, she and Jiang Hongjin's paths never crossed; there was no definitive proof that she had harmed Jiang Hongjin. Even if Jiang Hongfu told Yun Qing, Yun Qing would not believe it. Moreover, waiting helplessly for death with her hands bound6 was not her way of doing things.
Momo Quan asked, "Since that is the case, what can you not think through?" Momo Quan did not want to know whom Yuxi had a grudge against or how she had taken revenge.
Yuxi had just been thinking about one question: "At home, obey the father; after marriage, obey the husband; after the husband dies, obey the son. A woman living in this world is merely an appendage of men. If she has a heartless father and then marries an unscrupulous husband, she will live her entire life in pain." She was not alone in this. So many women were living absolutely heartbreaking lives.
Momo Quan was taken aback by how deeply Yuxi had thought, and for a moment she could not answer. After a long while, she responded, "This is simply how the world works. It is very difficult to change such a situation. But since you are determined to do something about it, you can still make life a little more comfortable and free for the women of the northwest." Women lived with such hardship because men were honoured and women were treated as inferior.
Yuxi raised her head and looked at the half-moon in the sky. She said softly, "I will do my best." She was determined to improve women's status, but she was not sure how much she could achieve.
A trace of a smile appeared on Momo Quan's usually serious face. "This is not something that can be completed in one morning and one evening7. It is very late; it is time to go back and rest." Since Yuxi could have this thought, the women of the northwest could benefit from it in the future.
Yuxi shook her head. "It's rare for me to come out to enjoy the scenery. It would be such a pity to go back now. I want to walk around the garden a little more! Momo, you go back first!"
Momo Quan replied, "Although I am fifty now, these old bones of mine can still walk!" She just treated it as a relaxing activity.
Moonlight scattered over their bodies, as though coating them in silver. Momo Quan smiled and commented, "If Wangfei could enjoy this kind of leisurely, refined lifestyle every day, that would be wonderful." Yuxi was busy every day, and even Momo Quan was tired just watching her.
Yuxi smiled and responded, "When there are things to do, the heart does not feel empty." This comment truly came from the bottom of her heart. In her previous life, when she was staying with the Jiang family and had nothing to do, she would have felt empty inside if she hadn't had embroidery to keep her occupied. It was a feeling that was very hard to bear.
In a voice no louder than a mosquito's hum, Momo Quan remarked, "It seems that Jiang Hongfu has deep feelings for His Highness too. If you can win him over, he will be a great help to you both. But if he cannot be won over, he must be eliminated quickly. This person is extremely scheming, and if he is not removed early, he will cause great problems in the future." If someone like that could not be made an ally, they had to be disposed of. Keeping them around would only be a liability.
Yuxi nodded. "You saw today's situation too. Wangye values him greatly. So, if he can be drawn over, then draw him over." Even if Jiang Hongfu remained loyal to the Imperial Court and refused to join them, they would still have to take action against him when the time came.
P.S. (Author): In Yuxi's previous life, she was burned alive. Because it was so painful, she often had this nightmare even after being reborn. As for the chief culprit who caused all of this, Yuxi was naturally unwilling to let him off.
Footnotes Full List
- 不是办法的办法 (bú shì bànfǎ de bànfǎ) — literal: 'a method that is not a method'; meaning: a makeshift or poor solution.
- 表 (biǎo) – maternal-line cousin (mother's siblings' children, or father's sisters' children)
- 表哥 (biǎogē) — Older male cousin via the maternal side or paternal aunts.
- 青灯古佛 (qīng dēng gǔ fó) — literal: "blue lamp and ancient Buddha"; meaning: a lonely, austere life in a temple.
- 尾巴扫干净 (wěiba sǎo gānjìng) — clean up loose ends and cover one's tracks.
- 束手待毙 (shù shǒu dài bì) — literal: 'bind one's hands and wait to die'; meaning: wait helplessly for doom without resisting.
- 一朝一夕 (yì zhāo yì xī) — literal: 'one morning and one evening'; meaning: a short period of time.
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