The Rebirth of Han Yuxi

In the seventh month, the blazing sun was like fire. There wasnʼt a single cloud in the sky, nor was there the slightest breeze. Even a few steps were enough to make one feel unbearably hot.

When Yuxi reached the rear courtyard, Gancao brought her a cup of chilled sour-plum drink📹 that had been cooled in well water. After drinking a little less than half of it, Yuxi set the cup down. ”The weather really is hot.” And indeed it was; the short walk from the front courtyard to the rear courtyard had already brought a fine sheen of sweat to her skin.

After entering the side room, Yuxi glanced around at the corners and asked Momo Quan with a frown, ”Why arenʼt we using ice today?” The Yun Residence had stored plenty of ice during the winter. There was enough not only for the Yun household, but also to supply the Han Residence.

Momo Quan replied, ”Liu-er has a slight fever, so I donʼt dare use ice around her.” She was afraid that using ice might make the childʼs condition worse.

Yuxi was badly startled and hurried over to touch Liu-erʼs forehead. Her temperature was indeed slightly elevated. Having already cared for two children, Yuxi did not panic. If a condition like this was properly attended to, there was actually no need to summon a physician or administer medicine.

However, without ice, the side room was rather hot and stuffy. After thinking for a moment, Yuxi said, ”Move Liu-er to the

Momo Quan had been thinking the same thing. ”Iʼll move her this afternoon.” With the room cooler, the child would suffer less.

At lunchtime, Yuxi and Liu-er were the only ones eating together. Yun Qing had gone to the horse ranch and wouldnʼt be back for several days.

After lunch, Momo Quan asked Yuxi, ”I heard this yearʼs harvest is even better than last yearʼs. Is that true?” Last yearʼs harvest had already been very good, so this yearʼs being even better suggested Heaven was watching over them, while also showing that Yuxi and Yun Qing had governed well.

Yuxi smiled and nodded. ”Itʼs true. This yearʼs harvest is more than forty per cent higher than last yearʼs.” This rise was not because the yield per mu had increased, but because a great deal of new land had been cultivated the previous year, resulting in the much larger harvest. Still, luck had played a part as well. For the past two years, the winds had been favourable, and the rains had fallen at the right time. There had also been no major disasters. Otherwise, the harvest could never have been this good.

The grain harvest was exceptionally abundant, and the grain merchants took the opportunity to drive down prices, causing them to fall by a quarter compared with the previous year. When Yuxi received the news, she flew into a rage. Not only did she have the men arrested, but she also had their homes confiscated and searched.

Ever since Yuxi had taken charge of the government, her methods had generally been moderate. However, her drastic measures this time shocked many people. Those who had taken part in the scheme also became frightened.

That day, the Han Residence received several calling cards. Fearing entanglement in the affair, Ye Shi sent them all back. Later that day, another calling card arrived from the Xie family. Ye Shi set it aside and asked the stewardess, Mama Lu, ”What is the situation outside now?”

Mama Lu replied, ”Wangfei has ordered the two grain merchants who led the scheme to be publicly beheaded. The execution will take place in three daysʼ time. The authorities have also posted a notice setting the price of grain.” The government had set a reasonable fixed price. Even if the farmers did not sell to the grain merchants, they could sell their grain to the authorities instead. Therefore, the common people no longer had to worry that their grain would become worthless.

Ye Shi instructed Mama Lu to return everything the Xie family had sent. She then went into the rear courtyard and told Qiu Shi about the matter.

Since arriving in the northwest, Qiu Shi had stopped going out to socialise. However, on the first and fifteenth days of every lunar month, she would visit Huaye Temple to worship the Buddha. Many people went there to worship, and over time Qiu Shi became acquainted with several like-minded individuals who shared the same aspirations. Old Madam Xie was one of them.

After hearing everything, Qiu Shi murmured, ”Amitabha.” Years of Buddhist devotion had made her increasingly kind-hearted and compassionate.

Ye Shi said, ”Mom, Yuxi is going to take the life of those two grain merchantsʼ to set an example to those below them.” She had told Qiu Shi for fear that Old Madam Xie might ask her mother-in-law to intercede. If her soft-hearted mother-in-law agreed, the situation would become difficult to resolve.

Qiu Shi sighed. ”When grain is cheap, the people suffer. Yuxi only took such a harsh action because she wanted to protect the interests of the farmers.” After managing household and practical affairs for so many years, how could she fail to understand something as basic as this?

Hearing this, Ye Shi relaxed. ”Old Madam Xieʼs nephew from her maiden family was involved this time as well. He has now been arrested by the authorities and is being held in prison.”

Qiu Shi glanced at Ye Shi and said, ”How could I possibly stick my hand into affairs outside the household?” Even if he were her own nephew, she would not plead for him, let alone the nephew of an old lady, with whom she was only on friendly terms. If it were a family matter, she could offer a few words. But affairs outside the household were hardly something she could interfere in.

Yun Qing returned on the very day the two grain merchants were publicly beheaded. In fact, he had already heard the news while he was in Tong County. However, since it was Yuxiʼs decision, he could only support her. Why would he oppose it?

After returning home, Yun Qing washed himself from head to toe. Once he was clean, he shaved his beard before finally going to see Liu-er. There was nothing else he could do. His younger daughter was fastidious about cleanliness and wouldnʼt let him touch her unless he cleaned himself properly.

Although Liu-er could not yet speak, it was clear that she was delighted to see Yun Qing after several days apart. She showed this by reaching out her arms and asking to be picked up.

Yun Qing lifted Liu-er into his arms, touched her cheek, and asked, ”Why has Liu-er become so much lighter?” He held her every day when he was at home, so he could immediately tell whether she had gained or lost weight just by picking her up.

Momo Quan explained, ”The weather has been too hot these past few days, and Second Young Miss has had very little appetite.” To put it simply, Liu-er was suffering from summer malaise.

During this time, Momo Quan and Mama Bai had been wringing every last drop of their brain juice to prepare food for Liu-er. Unfortunately, no matter how delicious the food was, Liu-er remained completely uninterested. Fortunately, Liu-er was still willing to eat fruit purée. Otherwise, she would certainly have become even thinner than she was now.

When lunchtime came, Yuxi was preparing to return to the rear courtyard. It was then that she finally learned Yun Qing had come back.

Seeing the displeased expression on Yuxiʼs face, Yun Qing asked, ”Whatʼs wrong? Has someone caused trouble again?” When it came to restless troublemakers, Yun Qing had only one word for them: k!ll. Once enough people had been k!lled, the others would naturally become afraid. And once they were afraid, they would behave themselves.

Yuxi glared at Yun Qing. ”You came back without even telling me.” If she had not been returning to the rear courtyard for lunch, she still would not have known that he was back.

Yun Qing smiled. ”You were coming back for lunch anyway. A little extra time makes no difference.” He had deliberately told Xu Wu not to inform Yuxi, because if she knew he had returned, she would certainly drop whatever she had on hand and come over to attend to him. He did not want her to work herself so hard.

Yuxi snorted coldly. ”If I hadnʼt come back to the rear courtyard for lunch, wouldnʼt I have gone on without knowing you were home? Iʼll let it go this time, but if thereʼs a next time, I wonʼt tolerate it.” It wasnʼt a particularly serious matter, but Yuxi didnʼt want Yun Qing to develop such a habit.

Yun Qing laughed helplessly. ”All right. Next time I come back, Iʼll definitely have someone tell you.” After saying this, his gaze fell on Liu-er. ”Liu-er has lost so much weight.”

Yuxi sighed. ”Once the ninth month comes and the weather cools down, sheʼll put the weight back on.” There was little that could be done about summer malaise.

Yun Qing suddenly remembered something. ”You wrote in your letter that Zaozao doesnʼt want to read or practice writing?”

The moment the subject came up, Yuxi had a bellyful of anger. ”The weather is hot now, and I was worried her body wouldnʼt be able to take it, so I discussed it with Uncle Huo. We decided she would practise martial arts in the morning and read and write in the afternoon.” Huo Changqing had agreed, but Zaozao had immediately started producing a strange moth. She studied for only one afternoon. The next day, she planted herself in the front courtyard and refused to come back no matter what.

Yun Qing could not help laughing. To be honest, he thought it was really difficult and far too early to ask a child of just over three years old to read and practise calligraphy. Yuxiʼs demands were not strict either: Zaozao merely had to write each character she learned ten times a day. Even so, she was unwilling to study. As far as Zaozao was concerned, practising martial arts was actually more easygoing and comfortable than reading and writing.

Yuxi exploded, ”And youʼre still laughing? This is all your fault! If it werenʼt for you, why would Zaozao dislike studying?”

Yun Qing looked completely innocent. ”What does this have to do with me? I didnʼt tell her not to study.” What an unreasonable accusation!

Yuxi replied crossly, ”Uncle Huo already said that you hated studying when you were young. Zaozao must have taken after you.” Fortunately, she had never expected Zaozao to become a talented scholarly young lady; otherwise, she would truly spit blood from frustration.

At this point, Yuxi felt somewhat frustrated. Zaozao had not inherited any of her strengths, yet she had not missed a single one of Yun Qingʼs shortcomings.

Yun Qing was not angry at all. Instead, he cheerfully declared, ”Sheʼs my seed, so of course she takes after me.” His words were filled with unmistakable pride.

Yuxi tossed her head aside and ignored Yun Qing.

After lunch, Yun Qing brought up serious business with Yuxi. ”Yuxi, I want to expand the horse ranch.” Expanding the ranch naturally meant raising more horses.

Without even thinking about it, Yuxi replied, ”No.”

Yun Qing asked, confused, ”Why?” Previously, because they lacked experience, they had not raised many horses. The ranch in Tong County had just over two thousand. However, the pasture there was vast and had ample water, so it could easily support ten thousand horses.

Yuxi replied, ”We donʼt have the money, and I think the number of horses we have now is already sufficient.” There were already more than two thousand horses in Tong County, over four thousand at the two Xihai ranches, and another four thousand or so in Yu City. Altogether, they had more than ten thousand horses, which Yuxi believed was enough.

Yun Qing shook his head. ”It isnʼt enough. We would have to at least double that number before it would barely suffice.” He wanted to build a formidable cavalry force.

Yuxi remarked, ”If we had the money, I wouldnʼt object even if you wanted to raise thirty or fifty thousand horses.” Unfortunately, without money, anything they said would all be in vain.

Yun Qing looked at Yuxi. ”Didnʼt Wu Kuo earn more than two million taels of silver? Take and use some of that money.” It had been Yuxi herself who had written to tell him that Wu Kuo had made the money.

Yuxi replied irritably, ”Our current expenses are mainly being covered by the money we confiscated earlier and by the gold mine. If we donʼt bind things securely before the rain comes and build up the foundation of the household, then once the gold mine is exhausted, we might not even be able to pay the soldiers.” In truth, her real reason for opposing the expansion of the horse ranch was not a lack of money. However, she could not tell Yun Qing this, so she could only use financial constraints as her argument.

Yun Qing frowned slightly. ”That gold mine wonʼt be a problem for at least three years. In three years, our merchant caravans and our other businesses should also start generating income.”

Yuxi shook her head. ”Then we can discuss it once the merchant caravans have earned enough money to support the horses.” The caravans had only been established the previous year. As they were still unfamiliar with the routes, they were still in the exploratory stage. Over the past half year or so, they had barely managed to break even.

きつねʼs Note

吃醋 (chī cù) literally means ʼto eat vinegarʼ, but figuratively it means to be jealous, especially in a romantic relationship. In this chapter, therefore, 吃醋 seems to refer to playful, mild jealousy rather than serious romantic jealousy. Yuxi is apparently a little annoyed that Yun Qing came home and went straight to see their daughter without telling his wife he was back.