After the Chang family had suffered a stifling loss, they came on their own accord three days later to break off the engagement and returned all the betrothal gifts with a fairly sincere attitude.
Old Madam accepted happily and even stated plainly that the past should not be mentioned again.
Seeing that Yu manor had no intention to make things difficult for them, the load that had been weighing in the heart of the Chang family's mother and daughter was considered truly offloaded.
More than half a month later, Old Madam heard there was an arrival of novelty imported stuff in Zixiang House and among them was the gleamingly bright mirror that could reflect the people's image to the minutest detail.
Reckoning that her granddaughter will definitely like it as she set a great store to her own appearance, Old Madam allows her granddaughter to follow along to choose for herself.
When Yu Xiang heard this, she knew this was the mercury mirror and readily agreed. When she came out of the courtyard door, more than half of her good mood immediately diminished once she saw Lin Shi's mother and daughter would be following too.
The few people then arrived at Zixiang House in two carriages. Other families' womenfolk who had received such news came over hurriedly too where many carriages stopped and parked outside in rows. Although Yu family is merely second-ranked in the nobility stature, Yu Pin Yan nevertheless is one of the most powerful people in the Capital. The shopkeeper dared not be negligent and dispatched quite a few assistants to entertain them.
Western taffeta, lacy cloths, timepieces, music boxes, mercury mirrors and other objects were displayed in the most conspicuous places in the shop. Anyone who came to the shop would hasten their steps to take a look and touch them.
Seeing there were many people around, Yu Xiang asked Tao Hong to push herself behind several of the antique racks as she wished and wanted to choose some exquisite small objects. She was about to reach for the brightly-colored opal necklace that caught her attention when someone seized it first.
Yu Xiang glared angrily but soon exclaimed, "Your Highness Crown Prince?"
With eyes full of smiles, the Crown Prince gave her a keep-silent gesture.
Yu Xiang immediately covered her wide open mouth with her small hand.
"Do you like this necklace?" The Crown Prince asked in a low voice.
Yu Xiang nodded honestly.
"As such, this will be gifted to you. Just pick whatever else that you like, Gu[1] will foot the bill." The Crown Prince waved his sleeve generously.
Not knowing how the word 'polite' is written, Yu Xiang successively pointed with her fingers, "Then, many thanks to Your Highness. I want this string of beads, this makeup box, this tortoiseshell comb, this ..." She picked seven to eight items without a break then ordered Tao Hong and Liu Lu to carry them in their arms.
The Crown Prince is fond of her candid spirit and even repeatedly asked if she wanted more.
"Since it will be ungracious not to accept your kindness, let's add a mercury mirror. I want the largest that can reflect from head to toe." As there are so many noble ladies here today, she probably can only get the mirror by relying on His Highness Crown Prince. Yu Xiang stretched her arms out and gesticulated a huge outline.
The Crown Prince was amused by her and laughed incessantly. He then ordered the little eunuch beside him to negotiate with the shopkeeper. Both of them chatted for a while before the little eunuch came back to report that the matter had been arranged. Only then did Yu Xiang went away with perfect contentment and even made the keep-silent gesture before leaving, indicating that she would not reveal the whereabouts of His Highness Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince waved his hand with a faint smile.
Coming out from behind the antique rack, Yu Xiang asked Tao Hong and Liu Lu to push her to the most crowded part of the shop where the mercury mirror was to see if the mirror surface was smooth. Soon after she left, a half-smirking face peeked out from behind another antique rack. It was actually Yu Miao Qi who had been hiding for an unknown amount of time.
His Highness Crown Prince ... she ruminated these four words silently. Tidying the hair around her cheeks and smoothening the folds of her lapels and skirt, she pretended to walk casually towards where the Crown Prince was hiding.
Dressed in a dark-patterned brocade robe and his black hair tied back with a white jade hairpin, the tall and upright figure of the Crown Prince stood amidst the bright golden halo, appearing handsome and imposing.
Yu Miao Qi's heart quivered violently and immediately retracted her obsessive gaze. Stretching out her onion-white fingertips, she fondled the porcelain vase with an elegant smile on her face appearing tranquilly moving.
Hearing the footsteps, the Crown Prince raised his eyes to look and realizing the other party was only a feeble woman, he did not open his mouth to reprimand. He picked up a palm-sized bronze furnace to identify the authenticity against the sunlight.
"What era of bronze-ware do you say this is? Is it genuine or fake?" He asked the little eunuch beside him.
"Your, Gongzi[2], nucai[3]'s knowledge is shallow and honestly can't distinguish it." The little eunuch shook his head bitterly then pointed upstairs and said, "Why don't nucai call the shopkeeper to help you appraise?"
"He naturally wishes to see this bronze furnace sold off, how can the mixture of truth and falsehood from his mouth be trusted?" The Crown Prince chuckled.
The little eunuch flattered, "Even if he lies to anyone, he will not dare deceive such a personage like Gongzi! Wait a moment, this nucai will go get someone."
Seeing that his master did not stop him, the little eunuch lifted his foot to leave yet a clear and gentle voice resounded, "This bronze furnace is a genuine article which is also an imperial item used during the Great Xia period. If Gongzi is interested, the price should be around five thousand taels."
The Crown Prince raised his eyebrows and looked at the beautiful girl who walked unhurriedly over with an expression of willingness to hear its details.
The Shen family originally made their fortune as a tomb raider and their ancestors had been dealing with burial objects for generations. When it comes to appreciating antiques, Yu Miao Qi can be called a master and has almost never made a mistake. Stepping forward leisurely, she spontaneously took the bronze furnace from the Crown Prince's hand then pointed to the grains on it and slowly explained and quoted scriptures of the past till present. Her calm demeanor and erudite knowledge attracted the Crown Prince to look at her frequently with undisguised admiration in his eyes.
After discerning the bronze furnace, the Crown Prince was completely convinced and picked up a pair of ancient paintings to admire with Yu Miao Qi where both of them whispered and laughed in a very cordial atmosphere.
On the side, Yu Xiang had already arrived at the mercury mirror and using her horse whip, she pushed aside several noble ladies who were acting coquettishly and occupying the most central position in front of the mirror. As her actions were really rude and unreasonable, the few noble ladies glared at her and wanted to open their mouths to chastise but were hastily pulled away by others with whispers to dissuade them, "Forget it, don't argue with her. She could even condemn her future sister-in-law to hang herself by the noose that she broke off the engagement of her own accord, are you her match? If she (YX) can't win the argument, she will raise her hand and whip you a few times that you don't even have a place to cry. No matter who's right or wrong, All Commander Yu will only protect her! So, just forget it and stay away from her!"
The complexion of those noble ladies unceasingly alternated from red to pale and finally walked away reluctantly due to Yu Xiang's vicious tongue as well as the powerful Marquis manor.
How could Yu Xiang be willing to let them go after hearing those slanders and with a lash of the horse whip, Yu Xiang uttered in a cold voice, "Stop right there and tell me clearly what do you mean by I condemned the future sister-in-law to hang herself by the noose that she broke off the engagement of her own accord? Where did you hear that from?"
"Where else would one need to hear it from? It's all over the Capital and everyone is talking about it." One of the noble ladies replied with a snicker.
Yu Xiang's eyes gradually turned cold and the hand holding the horse whip itched a little all of a sudden while she cursed inwardly: Good for you, Chang Ya Fu, using me as a stepping stone even after withdrawing from the marriage. You are truly good!
While she was thinking of retaliation, a woman with a hideous expression was seen rushing into Zixiang House then ruthlessly threw a rotten egg on her face and hurled verbal abuses, "Go to hell, bastard of Yu manor! Yu Pin Yan is a heartless official with wicked ambition who thought he could cover the sky with one hand[1] in the Capital. Not only had he wantonly slaughtered the innocent but also cruelly killed the loyalist. Sooner or later he would get his retribution! I will right the wrongs in accordance to Heaven's will today and will perish together with such a bastard like you..." Shouting that, she stretched out both her hands assuming the stance of strangling.
Her eyes had long turned bloodshot and it was obvious that she had gone berserk. Everyone screamed and kept out of her way.
Yu Xiang, however, did not reveal the slightest bit of shock. Wiping the egg fluid on her cheek with the handkerchief, she waved her hand, "Arrest this crazy woman!"
The maidservants and pozi of Yu manor are different from other manors. To some extent, they sort of know a little cuffing and kicking. Swarming over at once, they restrained the woman in a very short period of time. The woman struggled frantically and cursed loudly, attracting everyone to gather around and watch.
Behind the antique rack, Yu Miao Qi felt anxious seeing that the Crown Prince eventually did not ask about her origins but when she turned to look after hearing the loud clamoring noises, an idea came to her mind immediately as she pretended to be worried and took her leave from the Crown Prince, "Gongzi, my younger sister seems to have met with some trouble and I need to go help her out, so I'll go ahead." Those words first hinted of her identity then set off her gentle elegance by using Yu Xiang's wretchedness and if the disturbance was successfully resolved, it could show off her own competence too, which was multi-benefit to her.
Her steps were unsteady while her breathing was rapid as if she was very worried about Yu Xiang's safety. Seeing that Yu Xiang was being chastised by others, the Crown Prince followed at once too but he did not come forward to help, instead he watched by the sidelines with hands clasped behind his back. He knows perfectly well how capable Yu Xiang is. So, would a woman who has gone berserk trouble her. Moreover, he also knew this woman who is exactly the sister-in-law of Side Consort Xu.
As expected, the leeches in the nostrils of the Crown Princess and his children were precisely placed by someone at the behest of Side Consort Xu merely for the purpose of raising her status to be his main wife and for the sake of her son to be the Di eldest son. As the Xu family has assumed importance in recent years from the desire of the Empress Dowager to control the royal court, Emperor Cheng Kang has long been intolerable hence making use of this incident, he ruthlessly punished the Xu family and had Yu Pin Yan executed Xu Mao, the Provincial Commander of Nine Gates to death by a thousand cuts.
The womenfolk of Xu family were spared due to the persistent pleading of the Empress Dowager but all their family's assets had been confiscated and it may be assumed that their livelihoods must have been extremely difficult. While the chief culprit, Side Consort Xu was bestowed a cup of poisoned wine by Emperor Chengkang and professed to have died of a sudden illness.
The reason why Side Consort Xu was able to come up with such an insidious plan was by chance hearing a countryside folktale mentioned by a slave girl while she was chatting with others. The slave girl who was an orphan had already died of illness and there was nothing suspicious of her origins.
All these circumstances seemed to be extremely coincidental yet it compelled the Crown Prince and Yu Pin Yan to be more heedful. This Side Consort Xu probably had been used as a tool to attack and the real mastermind could still be hiding in the dark.
While the Crown Prince was reminiscing about the past, Yu Miao Qi had rushed up to stand in front of Yu Xiang and supported the woman as she mediated, "Everyone calm down and have a proper talk. Why don't this lady come sit in the inner room with me to sort this out and talk about it slowly. If there is anything that my Yu Manor has done wrongly, I'm willing to apologize to you. Let's turn big problems into small ones and resolve this in private."
The woman refused listening to her persuasion instead spit out menacingly.
Dodging sideways, there was some compassion on Yu Miao Qi's anxious expression. Moreover, with her beautiful refined appearance and her gentle soft voice, it sets off her extreme benevolence in contrast to Yu Xiang's fiendishness.
As prejudices do die hard, the onlookers felt extremely sympathetic for the woman and looked upon Yu Xiang with hatred while lots of empathies were reawakened for Yu Miao Qi, pitying her for having such an uneasy younger sister.
Before Yu Miao Qi could feel pleased with herself, she was brushed away by Yu Xiang and almost fell backwards, "Go away! Bullying me is precisely oppressing my Yu manor. If I am to resolve with her in private, wouldn't the dirty water that she splash on my Yu manor ever be washed off? Besides, if she retaliates by killing herself, others will think that my Yu manor has killed to silence her then my elder brother will be liable for the crime! If you want to talk, then just talk here!"
Once those words faltered, she casted a sidelong glance at Yu Miao Qi and spoke with a cold tone, "Don't you ever take a look at the occasion before entrapping me. I don't have the mood to play those intrigue games with you at the moment. Bring that crazy woman over!"
[1] 只手遮天 (Zhī shǒu zhē tiān) - people who have power could easily deceive the masses/hide the truth from the masses.