Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Have Her Come in Person

The morning streets of the capital were bustling with noise and excitement.

Xie Jingting and Xie Shi'an sat inside the carriage, father and son looking as though they had been cast from the very same mold, even sharing a nearly identical temperament.

Passing through the most prosperous thoroughfares, the carriage drove into the most prime district of the capital. Everyone residing here consisted of high-ranking officials and nobles, with even the lowest among them being high officials of the second rank.

"Once we enter the Prince's estate later, you must be extremely cautious in both speech and conduct," Xie Jingting admonished. "The rules within a Prince's estate are strict, and since you are young, do not speak up lightly."

Xie Shi'an nodded. "Father, I have committed it to memory."

The two arrived before the gates of the Prince's estate. Just as Xie Jingting was about to step onto the stone steps, the guards stationed on either side barked harshly, "Who goes there, what is your business, and do you have an entry post?"

Xie Jingting cupped his hands in greeting. "I am Xie Jingting, a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. The day before yesterday, my humble wife unintentionally offended your esteemed estate's little heir, and I have come specifically to offer my apologies and make amends."

"So you mean to say you do not have an entry post?" The guard lifted his chin as he looked down at him. "Wait right here at the entrance while I go inside and inquire."

Xie Jingting's expression turned somewhat unsightly.

He was, after all, a fifth-rank official appointed by the imperial court, yet this guard wore undisguised contempt all over his face and even made him wait outside the main gates. How could they treat him with such disdain?

"So this is what is meant by 'the attendants at the prime minister's gate are seventh-rank officials,'" Xie Shi'an said softly. "Great-grandfather was a Xiucai, grandfather was a Juren, and father passed the imperial examinations to become a top scholar, rising to a fifth-rank imperial official in a mere five years or so. By my generation, I will undoubtedly make the Xie family a new favorite of the court. However, when that time comes, I will never allow Xie family servants to look down upon anyone."

Xie Jingting's face beamed with gratification. "It was truly worth my painstaking cultivation of you."

As they were speaking, footsteps approached. The two immediately stopped talking and struck poses of respectful waiting.

A powdery-white little round doll of a child walked out from the main gates of the Prince's estate—it was none other than the four-year-old little heir of the Prince of Pingxi's estate.

The moment he caught sight of the two figures waiting at the entrance, the eager anticipation on his delicate little face instantly turned into fierce anger.

"Greetings, Young Heir." Xie Jingting lifted the cage in his hands and presented it with both hands. "This is an exceptionally rare iron-headed blue-backed fighting cricket with a fierce disposition and formidable strength. May the Young Heir please inspect it."

The little fellow scampered down the steps with pattering steps, took the cage, and then fiercely smashed it downward against the ground.

"This cricket is ugly as sin, and I don't like it!" The little heir's face was filled with rage as he pointed right at Xie Jingting's nose. "Go back and tell that woman to come to the Prince's estate herself!"

There was no fine cricket he hadn't laid eyes on before, but he only wanted the cricket personally delivered by that woman.

The mere thought of the woman he had encountered at the teahouse the other day made his eye sockets suddenly prickle with heat. For reasons he couldn't fathom, he simply wanted to see her.

The more aggrieved he felt, the more furious he grew, and he shouted loudly, "You tell her that if she doesn't come, I'll go find her myself!"

"Who is it that you plan to go find?"

A cold, biting voice suddenly rang out.

Immediately following that, a steed of the blood-sweating heavenly horse breed came to a halt right at the estate entrance, and a man draped in purple-black court robes vaulted down from the saddle.

Xie Jingting spun around, bending his spine as low as it would go. "This humble official greets Your Highness and pays his respects!"

This was the first time he had ever been in such close proximity to the Prince of Pingxi.

This was a prime opportunity to forge a connection with the Prince of Pingxi.

And yet.

The Prince of Pingxi didn't even spare him a single glance, stepping forward to hoist the little round doll up with one hand.

His voice was exceptionally low and deep. "What was that you just said about going to find who?"

"Father..." The little fellow cowered his neck. "I—I wasn't going to find anyone. Father, you heard wrong."

The man sneered, raising his hand to toss the child straight into the arms of a nearby servant. "If he takes so much as a single step out of the Prince's estate, the lot of you serving him need never set foot inside these gates again."

With that, he turned his gaze toward Xie Jingting. "Idle chatter from a child, Lord Xie need not take it too seriously. Do not come here again in the future."

Just as Xie Jingting was about to say something, the Prince of Pingxi had already strode deep into the interior of the estate.

The two guards at the gates closed the heavy doors of the Prince's estate shut.

Xie Jingting's face was plastered with bitter disappointment.

Such a marvelous opportunity, and he had completely failed to seize it.

Xie Shi'an spoke up, "Perhaps we should let Mother..."

Xie Jingting pressed his lips into a tight line. "There is no need."

As a grown man, failing to handle even this trivial matter properly and having to rely on his wife to step forward was simply too humiliating.

However, Yun Chu was hardly an ignorant fool left in the dark.

The coachman who had driven Xie Jingting and Xie Shi'an to the Prince's estate was a member of the Yun family whom she had brought into the household, and he recounted every single detail of what had transpired outside the estate gates to her.

"They want our Mistress to personally go to the Prince's estate?" Tingshuang asked, her face full of astonishment. "The Prince's estate has no Princess Consort; for the Mistress to call upon them in person is truly improper. How could the little heir make such a demand?"

The coachman lowered his head as he spoke. "The Prince of Pingxi severely berated the little heir and gave strict orders that people from the Xie household are no longer permitted to visit."

Tingsheng let out a breath of relief. "It seems this matter can be considered put to rest. The Prince of Pingxi is indeed reasonable; knowing that the little heir was in the wrong, he is not making things difficult for our Mistress."

Yun Chu nodded slightly.

The Prince of Pingxi had always been a sensible man. In her previous life, when the Yun family was trapped in a desperate plight, only the Prince of Pingxi had been willing to run about seeking help...

As they were speaking, Tingyu walked in from the doorway. "Mistress, this is the nourishing soup I brewed especially for you. Please drink it while it is hot."

Yun Chu's voice was remarkably flat. "I have already finished my soup. Take it away."

Tingyu's lips parted uncertainly. With a restless and uneasy demeanor, she said, "Mistress, did this concubine do something wrong, or has Yun-ge'er fallen out of line somewhere?"

Over the past few days, the Mistress had heavily punished the Eldest Young Master and Second Young Master, and she feared that Yun-ge'er might have committed some transgression that displeased the Mistress, which was why she and her son had been banished from Yusheng Residence.

While she lived in Yusheng Residence, she served directly by the Mistress's side and enjoyed great prestige throughout the Xie household.

Ever since moving out of here, not only had her food and daily provisions worsened somewhat, but even those senior maids and old crones in the estate dared to give her the cold shoulder...

Therefore, she had summoned the courage to come and ask the Mistress what on earth was going on.

Gazing at her, Yun Chu stated, "Ever since giving birth to Yun-ge'er, you have never served the master properly again. After much thought, I believe it is best for you to live in a separate courtyard so that the master's overnight stays can be somewhat more convenient as well."

Tingyu bit down hard on her lower lip.

Yun Chu picked up the ledger and opened its pages. Knowing that the Mistress was about to be busy, Tingyu could only lower her head and back out of the room.

Just as she stepped outside the courtyard, she heard a soft, mocking laugh.

"Well, well, if it isn't our dear Concubine Yu?" Tingfeng sneered. "Concubine Jiang and Concubine Tao both stay quietly and obediently in their own courtyards; you are the only one who loves to hover around the Mistress. Could it be that you think because you grew up serving the Mistress, you are somehow different from the other concubines? From the very day you went behind the Mistress's back to crawl into the master's bed, the Mistress stopped taking you seriously. If she still tolerates you now, it is purely for the sake of the Third Young Master. You should consider yourself blessed to have birthed a fine son..."

Tingyu explained with labored difficulty, "That night I truly did not mean to... The master had simply drunk too much alcohol..."

"You don't need to explain such matters of the bedchamber to an unmarried maiden like me," Tingfeng said, the corners of her mouth twitching. "As a mere maid, I am hardly qualified to receive explanations from a concubine. Concubine Yu, please take your time leaving."

Biting her lip in deep humiliation, Tingyu turned and walked out of Yusheng Residence.

Yun Chu sat upon the daybed, somewhat lost in thought.

Tingshuang was already twenty this year, and even the youngest, Tingfeng, was sixteen. It was high time to start looking around for suitable husbands for them.

After Tingshuang died in her past life, both Tingfeng and Tingsheng had sworn sacred oaths never to marry for the rest of their lives. In this lifetime, she could never allow these girls to follow her into a life of bitter isolation again.