The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort (Chapters 1- 203)

Chapter 79 : Recognizing One's Kin

Zhao Yuan Jia asked, "Father, since that person dares to pay a visit to our residence, then they must have done adequate preparation. Shouldn't we also make our own arrangements?"

"No need," A spark of contemplation flashed through Zhao Yuan Ping's astute eyes as he replied, "rather, I think the other party has done so to express that they have no ill-intentions: at least, they will not raise a dispute with us in the General fu."

"Even if he (they assumed the gender of the mastermind) does not have a conflict of interests with us," Zhao Yuan Feng seemed wholly unconcerned as he remarked, "we, the people brought up in the General fu, what could we possibly be afraid of? Whether it is a god, or a ghost, we can just ruthlessly beat them up until they become round like a pig. Then, wouldn't they be honest?"

"Shut up," Zhao Guang fumed and glared at him, angered by Zhao Yuan Feng's words, "F*** you, can't you grow a brain? Lao'er[1] says, it is true, however, just to safeguard against any tricks that person might pull, let us first have your mother, furen and Yulong settled well."

[1] Lao'er (老二) – second-eldest child in a family. Here it refers to Zhao Yuan Ping, who is Zhao Guang's second eldest son. This is a more casual and affectionate way of addressing someone in the family, a nickname of sorts.

"Second Brother," Zhao Yuan Feng nudged the most intelligent amongst them, Zhao Yuan Ping, "what kind of person do you think that person will be?"

"I don't know." Zhao Yuan Ping shook his head, "We've all seen Father's colleagues before and it can't be one of them. Anyways, tomorrow we will know who it is."

That night, the Zhao family all slept, restless and disturbed. Early in the morning of the second day, Jiang Ruan boarded the carriage to set off. Every few days, Lin Zi Xiang would give her an invitation and Xia Yan maintained a gentle, considerate and warm motherly-like appearance. Therefore, contrary to what one might expect, she would have no reason at all to stop her (Jiang Ruan). Moreover, these few days, she had been busy with Jiang Su Su's matters. Jiang Quan's attitude towards her had somewhat softened and so Jiang Su Su was able to avoid going to the private temple. However, as opposed to what they had hoped, Jiang Su Su had not been able to sleep well for a consecutive amount of days for more than half of the past month already. She continued to say that in the middle of the night, there was a ghost who knocked on her doors. Despite inviting several physicians over, her health did not seem to improve either. Thus, Xia Yan was extremely concerned.

Ever since the General fu had gotten the Emperor's praise and recognition from the act of bestowing congee to the masses, all of their colleagues in the officialdom had seen the changes in the wind and had set their helms. They had acted pragmatically and flexibly whilst trying to take advantage of the situation and momentarily, their front yard had been as busy as a marketplace and was filled with many visitors. Today, however, they had especially returned all invitation cards (with intentions to visit), specifically to await that one person.

Gu lu, gu lu. The wheels of an ashy grey coloured carriage travelled forward and stopped in front of the General fu's gates.

From inside, a slim young lady dressed as a maidservant hopped down and went straight ahead towards the young manservant that was on gatekeeper duty. After speaking a few words, that young manservant hurriedly left. After a short period of time, Zhao Yi took big strides forward from inside those large gate doors. Behind him, there were several robustly built bodyguards following suit. Upon seeing that maidservant, they were slightly startled. Then, just like forming a boundary, they stared attentively at the carriage that was at the gates.

The maidservant then walked over to the side of the horse carriage and standing on tiptoes, she bent inwards to speak a few words. As the curtains on the carriage were lifted by someone, from the inside, another person dressed as a maidservant hopped down.