The Battle of the Noble Ladies (Book 2)

Chapter 12 - A Fortuitous Encounter

As if by fate, when Song Chuyi and her party arrived, they unexpectedly ran into someone they shouldn't have encountered. Luyi and Qingtao in the carriage were covering their mouths, laughing.

It was almost as if they were on stage; how could it be so coincidental that every time they went out, they encountered this young master from the King of Zhennan's household?

Ye Jingchuan greeted Song Qi and, seemingly unintentionally, glanced behind him, smiling, "Brother, you have quite the entourage. Why are you traveling with so many carriages?"

Song Qi couldn't directly say he was here to send his sister off, so he smiled and explained that the female relatives in his family had come to the estate for a short visit: "What a coincidence today! I heard the second young master is going to Fujian. I was planning to send you off at some point, but you've been often absent from the capital lately, so I haven't had the chance."

"Don't mention it. I've been busy rolling around in the military, and just recently I've taken some time off to relax," Ye Jingchuan said as he playfully hooked his arm around Song Qi's neck. "These formalities for farewell are fine, but now I actually have something I need your help with. Are you going to help or not?"

The north wind blew so hard that the tree trunks tilted to one side. Song Qi glanced back at the horse-drawn carriage, looking a bit troubled. "How about I first go to the other estate to settle things, and then we can talk in detail?"

Ye Jingchuan was more than happy to hear this. He smiled like a sly fox and replied repeatedly, "Great, great! Since I have nothing to do, I'll just go with you."

Ziyun tested the temperature of the hand stove for Song Chuyi while adjusting the charcoal, laughing, "This young master is truly... a bit different."

Uncle Zhang had already brought people to wait at the door. Seeing them, he cheerfully greeted them and exchanged pleasantries. He first instructed a few workers to lead the horses to the back stable for feeding, then removed the threshold to welcome Song Chuyi's carriage all the way into the second gate.

At the second gate, Nanny Xu was already waiting. Upon seeing Song Chuyi's carriage, her eyes grew warm, and she hurriedly assisted Song Chuyi down from the carriage.

"Why are you still so thin?" Nanny Xu turned back and muttered, "Look at the little girls on this estate who are the same age as you; they're much taller than you."

As she spoke, she turned back to complain to Luyi, "It must be because you haven't taken good care of her. I imagine once I left, she threw tantrums and acted out again. She's back to her old habit of being picky with food."

Luyi pouted a bit, feeling wronged. "Nanny Xu is quite strict, you know. If the young lady doesn't grow, what can I do?"

The new Nanny Xu couldn't help but laugh and turned to the old Nanny Xu to plead, "We've all been watching the young lady attentively, even the ones from the palace have seen her. They say it's not unusual for her to grow a bit later. It's not due to any negligence on these maids' part."

Song Chuyi quickly changed the subject to inquire about Lianyi, asking, "How is she? Is the baby doing well?"

Nanny Xu couldn't help but wipe away her tears, both crying and laughing. "Alright, alright, at least this time it wasn't too hard for her. She went into labor at dusk and delivered within an hour... The little one is so robust, already shedding her red skin and now chubby and white, smiling at everyone she sees..."

Song Chuyi felt happy hearing this but also sorrowful, remembering Lianyi's previous losses. Lianyi shouldn't have endured such inhumane suffering. Lost in thought, Song Chuyi suddenly asked Nanny Xu, "What happened to those people?"

Later, the Li family handed over all those people, including Li Gui. Song Chuyi felt that these people had committed heinous acts, and what was even more despicable was that they didn't spare their own daughters. Even if they died immediately, it wouldn't be enough to atone for their sins. Therefore, she had instructed Uncle Zhang to sell them to the black mines as laborers.

Nanny Xu paused for a moment before realizing who she was asking about, her face clouded with gloom. "Lianyi gets nauseous just hearing their names. She only let us ask about a few of her children... They were just wrapped up like that in swaddling cloth, three of them... They actually had the heart to do such a thing! That village head family's daughter-in-law has come to this point and still dares to shout that Lianyi is a worthless life, saying these children deserved to die..."

Qingtao and Ziyun listened, their faces reddening, and their eyes grew teary. Luyi clenched her fists and said angrily, "People like that should go to hell!"

Song Chuyi remained silent for a long time before finally asking, "Where are they now?"

"The men have all been sold to the black mines. Old Zhang has already informed the middleman; they can't be allowed to die," Nanny Xu said in a low voice, afraid that Lianyi inside might overhear. "As for the remaining women, one is that nagging old woman who is Lianyi's mother-in-law, and the others are Lianyi's sisters-in-law. They have all tormented her quite a bit; I can't swallow this anger... So, I left them all at the village, just like those laborers, and sent them out to work in the fields."

The other Nanny Xu sneered, rarely speaking up. "I heard they used to live lavishly, acting like the ladies of the village. Would they even be willing to do this kind of work?"

Before Song Chuyi could interject, she suddenly heard Song Qi's breathless voice calling out, "Jingchuan! Jingchuan!"

Immediately, Ye Jingchuan led Song Qi over to their group.

"Do we still care about those old dead rules between our families?" Ye Jingchuan stopped running when he saw Song Chuyi, turning back to glare at Song Qi as if to report his wrongdoing. "Even at home, I see Sixth Sister all the time. Why are you hiding things like this?"

Song Qi was caught off guard and couldn't find his words. Song Chuyi laughed and called out, "Second Brother," then turned her head to look at Ye Jingchuan. "Second Young Master Ye, you must be quite the busy person now; how come you still have time to mess around with us?"

Ye Jingchuan felt a bit embarrassed under her gaze, rubbing his nose and turning his face to the side to change the subject. "I heard everything you just said, you know..."

Seeing that Song Chuyi and several others, including Nanny Xu, were staring at him intently, Ye Jingchuan quickly waved his hands. "Don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand! I mean no harm. It's just that when it comes to dealing with these unruly women, I have much more effective methods than you do. How about I come up with a plan to help you vent your frustrations?"

(Translator Xiaobai: I'm sorry, dear readers. It looks like our boy, Ye Jingchuan is turning into the second male lead...tsk tsk)

The two nannies positioned themselves on either side of Song Chuyi, glaring at Ye Jingchuan with some displeasure. As they grew older, even if the two families were close, they should have a sense of propriety. Their own young master clearly understood this.

Song Chuyi shook her head at the two nannies with a smile, peeking out to ask with unexpectedly bright, glass-like eyes, "What kind of plan?"

"There's a fish pond at our place in the village. Why don't we send them over to clear the green algae and use it to feed the chickens and ducks?" Ye Jingchuan's eyes sparkled with excitement. "With this weather, the lake hasn't frozen yet, and there's still plenty of green algae... I guarantee they'll be crying for their mothers after just a month of that."

Although it wasn't yet mid-winter, the weather was already quite cold, and going to the fish pond at this time, especially with early mornings and late returns, would certainly be a hassle.

Luyi tugged at Nanny Xu's hand, and Nanny Xu said to Song Chuyi, "This plan works well. Keeping them in another villa would be quite bothersome too."