Chapter 45 : Another Encounter

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The fourth month of the lunar year brought forth flowers in all their splendour as though they wished to dress the world up into a pink bride.
While the withered trees burst forth their new sprouts and their green vigour.

 

Yuxi was carefully doing embroidery work under the window of the study when Moju lifted the black-painted bamboo curtain and walked to her side as she said, “Miss, Xue Qing Jiejie you.” Xue Qing was the personal maid of the main house eldest son, Han Jianming.

 

Yuxi put down the handkerchief in her hands and went out.
Moju looked at the handkerchief in the embroidery basket, where she noticed that the stitches on it were seriously messy.
She could not guess what was being embroidered.
She felt a little strange.
How could the longer Miss learned to embroider, the worse her skill had become?

 

Xue Qing bowed respectfully to Yuxi and said, “Miss, Master Shizi said he would go to Songyun Pavilion to buy some books.
He asked whether Miss would like to go with him.
If Miss agrees, Master Shizi said that you can go with him the day after tomorrow.
“

 

Yuxi naturally agreed.
The day after tomorrow happened to be a vacation day, so Dage must have chosen to buy books on that day.
As for whether the Old Lady and her Eldest Aunt would agree or not, this was not what she should worry about. Dage would settle the matter himself.

 

Moju personally sent Xue Qing out, and when she came back, she said, “I didn’t expect that Master Shizi²heir of a noble family would be fond of Miss this much.”

 

Yuxi was in a good mood as she said, “The last time Dage said that he would take me to Songyun Pavilion, was three months ago.
I really forgot about it.
I didn’t expect that Dage still remembered it.”

 

Mama Shen said with a big smile on her face, “This means that Master Shizi usually keeps thinking about Miss.” Speaking of which, Fourth Miss was quite an awesome person.
Not only did she manage to make the First Lady fond of her, but also both Master Shizi and the Second Young Master.
Even if Fourth Miss did not have any brothers, with the Shizi and the Second Young Master taking good care of her, she would not have to worry about having no brothers to back her up in the future.

 

Although Han Jianming was not yet old, he already acted steadily and had a higher prestige in the state residence compared to his father, Duke Han.
So when he had decided to take Yuxi out to buy books, the Old Lady and Qiu Shi had no objection.

 

The night before Yuxi went out, she entered the darkroom.
She made a total of three boxes of ointment, which were already done two months ago.
In order not to arouse Mama Shen’s suspicion, she took out a box and smeared it on her hands in front of Mama Shen.
As a result, Mama Shen was scared to death.
At last, Yuxi acted helplessly and destroyed the box of ointment in front of Mama Shen.
She then solemnly promised not to make an ointment for the time being, which in a way reassured Mama Shen.
The remaining two boxes of ointment were locked in the cabinet, with the key to the cabinet, she kept close to herself.

Good Fortune Children / Fuwa
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Before Yuxi went out, she dressed herself up like a fuwa again.
After leaving the residence, she said to Master Shizi, “ Dage, I think I want to take a look at Mama Fang after buying some books.
Can you ask your retainer to send me to Shangyuan Street later on?”

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Han Jianming did not agree, “If you want to meet with Mama Fang, you should just call her into the residence.
Shangyuan Street is where fish and dragons mixed in together.
What if someone who doesn’t have eyes collided with you?“ As Yuxi was an unmarried young girl from his residence, he didn't feel at ease to send her to that place.

 

Yuxi forced a smile and said, “ Dage, I did think of calling Mama Fang to the residence, but she is ill.
I am very worried, so I want to check up on her.” This was not to trick Han Jianming, but Mama Fang was indeed ill.
She was uneasy and she also happened to have something to find Mama Fang, so she wanted to take this opportunity to visit her as they passed by.

 

Han Jianming was silent for a moment and said, “In that case, I’ll have someone escort you thereafter you finished buying your book.
However, this is the last time and there can be no other time.“

 

Yuxi’s mouth split open, revealing a smile as she promised, “Okay, this is the last time.”

 

At the entrance of Songyun Pavilion, a teenager holding a folding fan in his hand with a noble manner came towards them and said with a smile, “Yo, Master Shizi, why did you bring a beautiful little girl here? What’s your name, little girl?“

 

With an indifferent look, Han Jianming said, “I’m planning to buy books, so I won’t delay Childe Lu.” He had always considered these people who were rubbish covered in gold and jade beneath him.

 

Since Han Jianming didn’t introduce Yuxi to them, she also wouldn’t open her mouth to do it.

 

Childe Lu paid no attention to Han Jiangming’s cold attitude towards him.
If people asked him why he was treated that way by Han Jianming, he would just say that Han Jianming was a bit like a wooden head who didn’t know how to have fun, thus spoiling such a good status in vain.

 

As both Han Jianming and Yuxi walked into Songyun Pavilion, he finally explained after a moment of silence, “That man is the second son of the second master of Marquis Zhongyong’s official residence.”

 

Yuxi was stunned and suddenly remembered one thing, “Is the second master of Marquis Zhongyong’s official residence called Lu Song?” Lu Song was Teacher Song’s former husband.

 

Han Jianming was satisfied with Yuxi’s quick response, “When you meet people of Marquis Zhongyong’s official residence, you don’t have to pay attention to them.” The men of Marquis Zhongyong’s official residence were not good in both study and martial arts practice, but they were good at eating, drinking and gambling.
Now, there was only an empty title left in the Marquis Residence.
He didn’t know how long this title would last.

 

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Yuxi nodded and said, “I know.”

 

Half an hour later, Han Jianming saw Yuxi’s selection of books, and his mouth twitched.
She actually picked out several medical books.
He thought she wanted to buy books on art.

 

When Yuxi saw this, she hurriedly explained, “I almost died of smallpox last time.
I was thinking that if I knew pharmacology, I wouldn’t be afraid.” Afraid of Han Jianming’s disapproval, she immediately continued saying, “ Dage, I'm buying some of these medical books only to fulfil my idea and I truly want to learn pharmacology.” Even if she wanted to learn medicines, she did not have the condition to do so.

 

Han Jianming shook his head helplessly and said, “What do you mean by saying all of these? Are you afraid I won’t agree?“ Seeing Yuxi’s surprise expression, he continued, “It’s not a bad thing for a girl to learn some pharmacology, but these medical books are too obscure and hard for you to understand.”

 

Yuxi’s heart was touched.
If you cared about those who loved you, you would think that everything those persons did was good.
She said, “If I can’t understand it, I can just look at the flowers and plants on it.
I can also use it as a reference to embroider something different from others later on.”

 

Han Jianming nodded with a faint smile on his face and said, “It’s good that you can think so.” He was afraid of Yuxi being one-track-minded as that was a bad attitude.

 

Yuxi gave a bright smile, “Thank you, Dage.” Dage always had a serious look.
That was why she stayed at a respectful distance from him in her previous life.
Now, after personally got in contact with him, she found out that her Dage was only serious on the outside but actually cared about them very much inside.

 

After paying for the books, Yuxi went out with Han Jianming.
When she reached the door, she caught sight of two people entering and she looked up at the sky as she went speechless.
How could she just get out of the door and immediately met the Murderous Devil? It was a wonderful fate.
However, after Yun Qing’s rescuing act, she was not afraid of him anymore.

 

When Yun Qing saw that Yuxi was not hiding from him and did not even look frightened, he deliberately teased Yuxi and said, “Xi Biaomei, why are you not afraid of me now?”

 

Yuxi blushed when she remembered the last time they met.
The current Yun Qing was no more than just a child, and luckily she had lived for a whole life.
For her to be afraid of a child, was a disgrace.
She looked up and said, “You have two eyes, a nose and a mouth, too.
Why should I be afraid of you?”

 

Yun Qing said, “Yes, I do have two eyes and one mouth, so why did you shiver when you saw me last time?”

 

Yuxi didn’t want to admit that she was scared last time, and if she admitted, then she would be the one to lose face, “I was not scared of you.
I was just not feeling well at that time.”

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Hearing this, Han Jianming couldn’t help himself from laughing.
He usually saw Yuxi as an old-fashioned and reserved girl.
It was rare for him to see such a lively and lovely side of her.

 

Jiang Hongfu who was nearby reminded Yun Qing, “ Biaoge, we have to go in and buy books.”

 

Looking at Jiang Hongfu, Yuxi suddenly asked, “Does Fu Biaoge often come to Songyun Pavilion to buy books?”

 

Jiang Hongfu nodded and said, “Well, I usually buy books in Songyun Pavilion.” The last time it was not opened for business, it happened that he needed to use a book, so he went to the only open bookstore to buy it.

 

Yuxi could not help but asked again, “Does Fu Biaoge often come out to play on weekdays?”

 

Jiang Hongfu felt a little strange, but he shook his head and said, “No, I usually study at Baitan Academy.
I don’t usually come to this street except to buy books.
What’s up? Is there anything wrong?”

 

Yuxi shook her head and said, “I’m just asking.” She guessed that Jiang Hongfu had an unforeseen accident in the downtown street.
She feared it happened after he came out from buying books.
She was willing to save him, but this matter couldn’t be said to others.
She could only secretly think of a solution on her own.

 

After buying some books, Han Jianming had something important to deal with.
So, he asked his entourage to accompany Yuxi to Shangyuan Street.
“ Si Meimei, don’t stay too long on Shangyuan Street.
After seeing the one you want to see, you should immediately go home.”

 

Yuxi hurriedly nodded.

 

At Shangyuan Street, Yuxi got out of the carriage and went into the baozi shop.
There was no one there, though she didn’t think too much about it.
She took some people and went directly to the backyard.

 

As soon as Yuxi entered the small courtyard, she heard a sharp voice, which was very unfamiliar to her.
This made her involuntarily puckered her brows.

 

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Hongshan did not dare to let Yuxi in, but first, she let one of the entourage go inside to see the situation.
If someone bumped and hurt her Miss, everyone would get into trouble.

 

Ah Gan, one of the entourage, went in with two male servants and came out not long after.
One of the male servants was holding a fat, beautifully dressed woman in his hand.
The powder on the woman’s face was much thicker than the wall.
This woman, at first glance, could be seen as not a good thing.

 

Yuxi was angry in her heart, but she did not show it on her face.

 

Soon, Mama Fang and Old Woman An also quickly came out.
When Mama Fang came out and saw Yuxi, she was shocked, while Old Woman An felt relieved.
When their Miss arrived, she was not afraid that both of them were easily taken advantage of.

 

Hongshan asked the woman, “Who are you? What are you doing in my Master’s shop?“ This statement by Hongshan showed that this shop belonged to Yuxi.

 

Old Woman An pointed at the fat woman and said, “Miss, this is matchmaker Liu from Shangyuan Street.
She came here today to act as a matchmaker for Mama Fang.”

 

Looking at Yuxi’s indifferent expression, Matchmaker Liu felt scared in her heart.
If she knew that a noble person would come here today, even if she was beaten to death, she wouldn’t have accepted the two taels of silver to come and talk about matchmaking.
She knelt on the ground and begged, “Miss, please spare this servant’s life.
I was just entrusted to come and be a matchmaker.”

 

Yuxi’s face instantly turned cold.

 

Old Woman An took hold of the conversation by explaining to Yuxi, “She is hired to be a matchmaker by yamen runner Huang of Linshui Street.
That man is steeped in evil and spending his money carelessly in dining, getting drunk, whoring and gambling.”

 

Matchmaker Liu wished she could stifle Old Woman An’s mouth.
As the Old Woman An said these things in front of the noble, Matchmaker Liu had to beat her mind to force it to think of a way out.
She didn’t want to die.
She knelt on the ground and cried for mercy, “Forgive me, Miss.
I only took money to do things for others.
I didn’t do anything else.”

 

Yuxi also felt it was worthless to make the matchmaker's life difficult, as she merely said, “Drag her out.”

 

Ah Gan immediately ordered two male attendants to force the woman to stand up and walk out.
When they reached the door of the shop, they immediately threw her out.