The noble madams gathered outside the hall and stretched their necks to see from time to time. When they saw the Old Madam finally came out, they quickly surrounded her.
The Crown Princess invited the Old Madam to take a seat beside her and ordered someone to prepare pastries for Yu Xiang. Then, she said slowly, "Old Madam Yu, did you receive a satisfactory answer from Master Kuhai?" As for what the old madam asked, she had no intention to pry. After all, she was from an aristocratic family, and she was raised that way.
The Old Madam said with a smile, "Satisfied, very satisfied. I don't dare to ask random questions in these circumstances, and only asked about the safety of Yan'er. It has been said that he has narrowly escaped death, and that he would return safely."
For Yu Pin Yan to earn military merits, it was equivalent to adding on to the Crown Prince's power. The Crown Princess laughed delightedly after hearing that. The noble madams knew that the Old Madam valued her grandson more than anything else. They would be surprised if she didn't ask about her grandson who was fighting for his life and survived after facing great dangers in the battlefield.
Thus, they enquired about each other's well-being again.
Yu Xiang tolerated for a moment but could no longer sit still. She tugged the hem of the Old Madam's dress and whispered, "Grandmother, I want to go to Mahavira Hall to pray for blessings for my elder brother. Can I head out first?"
"Alright, go ahead. Grandmother will come later." The Old Madam stroked her head lovingly.
After Yu Xiang left, the Old Madam and the Crown Princess continued to talk for a while, before walking towards the Mahavira Hall together. They saw the little child kneeling on the futon. Everytime she recited a scripture, she kowtowed devoutly. It has only been half an hour, and her forehead was already so swollen and red such that it was unsightly. She looked towards the Buddha statue devotedly, praying that he would bring her elder brother back safely.
The Old Madam's tears started rolling down her cheeks as she saw the scene before her, and she quickly used a handkerchief to wipe away the tears.
The Crown Princess sighed and spoke, "Old Madam Yu, having this granddaughter isn't a loss! Siblings who could be as affectionate and close like those from your family are very rare."
The Old Madam smiled with her lips pursed together. There was pride in her voice. "Indeed, what the Crown Princess has said is true. My family's Xiang'er is great in every area. She is filial, sensible, courteous and intelligent."
The Crown Princess chuckled and left the hall for the grandmother and granddaughter who sincerely prayed for safety.
After reading scriptures for a day in the hall and donating five hundred catties of sesame oil, the pair of grandmother and granddaughter went down the mountain under the setting sun. The Old madam and Ma Momo boarded the first carriage and the carriage behind was for Yu Xiang and her maidservant.
After being exposed to the sun for half a day, the mud on the road had dried out. The road was much more stable when they had just left, but the Old Madam felt more uneasy. Master Ku Hai's comments were stuck in her head, and could not be eased no matter what. She took those words apart one by one, broke them up, crumpled them, and then placed them back together again. The discomfort that she tried to deliberately ignore was magnified infinitely.
Sure enough, her blood-related granddaughter was a jinx!
Ma Momo also kept thinking about it. After hesitating for a long time, she then spoke softly, "Old Madam, Master Ku Hai said that Young Miss and Marquis' fate opposes each other, and if they were siblings, they would be against/fight with each other and couldn't coexist. What do you think of this?" Should we look for her and bring her back? What should we do if she jinxed the Marquis?
Fighting with each other and couldn't coexist. In other words, her granddaughter would compete with her grandson in fate. But if her granddaughter has a strong bazi[1], it would be impossible for her grandson to acquire a peaceful end? The Old Madam was frightened by her conjecture and shivered for a long time.
But after all, she was not as indifferent and heartless as Lin Shi and she was unable to let her granddaughter roam outside and fend for herself. When her mood was not so flustered, she tiredly spoke, "Naturally, we still need to find her. When she is back, we can let the siblings stay far apart from each other, and then arrange a marriage as soon as possible so that she can marry far away."
"Because of Young Miss's fate, finding a good spouse for her to settle down with is a bit..." Ma Momo didn't dare to say it explicitly. To bring a jinx to another family's house wasn't a blessing but gaining enemies!
The Old Madam pondered and spoke, "Naturally, we can't bring harm to others. We should find someone who has an equally strong Bazi, regardless of it being a step-mother or a poor family. If both families are safe, it would be fine as long as we, Yongle Marquis manor, can give more dowries, so as to ensure her prosperity." After saying that, she heaved a long sigh.
"What the Old Madam said was that if two people with strong Bazi are together, you wouldn't jinx me and I can't jinx you either. Then there would be no issues." Seeing that the Old Madam was in a foul mood, Ma Momo tried her best to banter with her, "But you don't have to worry about it. Isn't there still a treasure in our family? Miss Xiang'er is here. Nothing will go wrong in the Marquis's house! Any plant Miss Xiang'er wishes to plant, that plant would live. When she wants to travel far away, god will open his eyes. She has even picked out the 'Emperor stick' that no one in thousands has gotten! She's very lucky!"
When the Old Madam heard this, she was in a better mood. She nodded and said with a smile, "The Shen family is really at a loss. What a lucky star, and yet she was brought to my Yongle Marquis's house. It's really..."
As she said this, she immediately stopped herself and she was slightly crafty. Yes, the lucky child of the Shen family was taken away to the Yongle Marquis house. Yongle Marquis house's jinx had been taken away by the Shen family. Then, what was the situation in the Shen family now? Were they continuously facing disasters? She shouldn't think any further. The more she thought about it, the more guilty she felt!
The Old Madam covered her mouth and coughed.
Ma Momo had also thought of this and her expression was a little embarrassed. In her heart she thought, Madam had said that she is made to suffer by the Shen family, but she doesn't know that the Shen family are the real sufferers! Bodhisattva is still partial to our Marquis Yongle manor. Amitabha, very good, very good indeed!
However, after Yu Xiang officially accepted Yu Pin Yan in her heart, she no longer stayed in Yongle Marquis manor with the mentality of muddling through life. If the Old Madam had a headache, she would accompany her. They would recite sutras together and did needlework together. Their relationship was better as the days went by. After half a year, Yu Xiang was finally persuaded by the Old Madam to take over the management of the Marquis manor.
In her previous life, she had managed several small companies, not to make money but just to pass time, and they were all pretty well managed. For her to manage a Marquis manor of two or three hundred people was just a piece of cake.
At first, the Old Madam was worried that she would be fooled or controlled by the group of Momos that was managing the household. She would often check on her from time to time. Seeing that she had not been struggling and instead made several Momos become obedient, she was very satisfied.
More importantly, Yu Xiang knew that she was a fake, and she would leave the Marquis manor one day. Therefore, she made the account books very meticulously. Such that even if it was just a few pieces of copper coins and silvers spent, it was recorded clearly and transparent, which made it easy for one to understand with a glance.
She thought that if she were to handover this authority one day, she didn't want others to use this to make things difficult for her.
The Old Madam didn't know of the little thoughts she had. Instead, she saw her talent in her eyes. In her heart, she was even more fond of her, and thus passed all of the miscellaneous tasks to Yu Xiang and started to live a life of leisure by grooming flowers and taking care of fishes by herself. Her body was getting better from her fatigue, and her white hair by her temples even grew a few strands of black hair.
A year and a half later, Yu Pin Yan had settled the rebellion and Prince Yu and victoriously returned to the capital. He was promoted to a proper fourth rank General Guangwei[1], and had military command that made him in charge of 180,000 soldiers, which was not much but also quite a lot. He was seventeen years old, brave and resourceful and his future was limitless.
On the day the army entered the capital, the Old madam didn't go to the gate of the city to meet Yu Pin Yan as she was worried about the inconvenience of Yu Xiang's legs. Both grandmother and granddaughter were still hiding behind the wall as they listened to the sound of horse's hooves. This time, their eyes were lit up with joy.
As soon as Yu Pin Yan stepped into the threshold, he saw his sister in a wheelchair beaming. The Old Madam stood behind her and originally had a smile on her face as well, but somehow she began to weep. She was afraid that her weeping would ruin the mood, so she quickly wiped her tears.
The young man grew taller and sturdier. He was wearing a crimson combat robe. His face was as beautiful as ever, but he was more mature and resolute. His eyes were still filled with killing intent and ferocity. He was infamous in the capital. Only when they saw him today, then the Old Madam understood why the rebel army called him The Beautiful King of Hell'.
If he stood there expressionless, his sharp temperament was like a knife after being honed by blood and war, hurting the people around him, and people would be afraid to approach him.
The Old Madam stood on the spot and her eyes looked at him. Without her being aware of it, her grandson has become a braver general than his grandfather!
Yu Xiang seemingly noticed her brother's changes. She stretched out her arms and called "Elder brother" in a loud voice. If her legs were in a good condition, she would be like a swallow in the forest and would plunge into his arms.
Yu Pin Yan chuckled and his voice was deeper and more attractive than ever. The tenderness in his eyes dispelled all his killing intent. He bent down to hold his more than beautiful and lovely sister in his arms and weighed her in his arms. Then, he said unsatisfactorily, "You have become thinner!"
Eleven years old in the Han dynasty can be said to be a big girl and shouldn't be in her brother's arms anymore. But Yu Xiang didn't have that consciousness at all. She put her arms around her brother's neck and complained, "If you did not return home safely, Grandmother and I can't sleep well nor eat properly. How can I not be thinner?! You don't know that whenever you send a letter back every month, Grandmother and I would stand at the door every day and when we saw the soldiers who sent the war report to the capital we will hurriedly send people out to inquire. Look at our necks. They are three inches longer than before..."
After telling her grievances one by one, Yu Xiang began to stifle, she buried her head and smeared tears and snot all over Yu Pin Yan to vent her anger.
The Old madam didn't know whether to laugh or cry as she poked her forehead.
Yu Pin Yan couldn't smile at all. The big droplets of tears seeped into his lapel and fell on his tanned skin, which was so burning hot that it made him tremble. Until this moment, the sound of loud war drums, screams from the intense fighting, deafening gunfire, and the cries of the dead in the war faded away from his mind. It was replaced by the fragile whimpering of grievances and longing for one another.
Then, he turned from a heartless sword into a man of flesh and blood.
"Don't cry," he said in a hoarse voice and rubbed the little girl's hair, "Elder brother has returned, your elder brother is back alive!"
Yu Xiang slowly stopped crying and wiped the tears on her face with her sleeves. She pressed her face close to her elder brother's face and laughed lightly. She couldn't help rubbing her nose against her brother's nose, breathing the same air with him.
"Crazy girl, how is this appropriate. Quick, let your elder brother head inside to rest for a while." The Old Madam scolded her, but her eyes were full of joy. She kneaded her grandson's strong arm and sighed, "You're strong. You are taller than your grandfather!"
Yu Pin Yan was also surprised to stare at her temples and said with a smile, "Grandmother looks younger than before."
"You don't know. Our Xiang'er is capable. She had been helping me manage the manor for you. She has the final say in management of the manor. I don't need to be worried at all. I can eat vegetarian food every day,recite sutras, plant flowers, and I can live leisurely. How can't I be younger...?"
The three of them laughed all the way back.
[1] 广威将军(Guǎng wē jiāngjūn)- General Guangwei, which may mean General of Great Prestige. One would be awarded with the title General Mingwei(明威将军) that may mean General of Prestige. After being promoted from General Mingwei, one would be promoted to General Xuanwei(宣威将军) that may mean General of Proclaimed Power. And, after being promoted from General Xuanwei, one would be promoted to the title of General Guangwei(广威将军).