Chapter 19

Fathers...

“Young miss! Please wait for me!” Chunhua’s maid call out after her as she stomps past the front door of the Qin’s residence. She is burning with anger inside from what happened earlier. Chunhua slam the doors of the residence’s main quarter open and once inside she reaches for the nearest vase and smash it on the ground. She kicks the chairs and tables then smashes more things out of anger. “Young miss! Please calm down!” the maid begged.

Chunhua spin around and slapped the maid so hard that she fell on the ground. “Kneel!” she commanded loudly, and the maid immediately got up on her knees. “You still dare to tell me to calm down after embarrassing me out in public?!” Chunhua yelled and slapped the maid again.

“Young miss, please forgive me. It’s not my fault, it’s that Zhang Yueyin…” the maid cried pitifully as she held onto her swollen face.

“You useless piece of trash! Get out! Go die somewhere I can’t see you!” Chunhua shouted furiously at the maid.

“Who dared to anger my precious daughter?” Chunhua perks up at the sound of her father.

“Father, you’re home!” She exclaimed then pull herself together and bow to him in proper greeting.

Qin Guozhi entered the room and sat down at the resident’s master chair, “Did this maid anger you? Shall we have her beat to death?” he asked.

The resident’s manager that had followed behind him went back out to call people in to clean up the room. Chunhua turn to her father and pouted, “It’s…it’s not her. Father, your precious daughter was bullied.”

He slammed the teacup that a maid had just handed him on the table, “Who dared to bullied Qin Guozhi’s daughter?! Do they have a death wish? Tell me daughter, I will take revenge for you.”

“Father, it was Zhang Yueyin!”

“Zhang?...” Upon hearing the last name, Guozhi’s anger subsided a bit.

“Yes Master! It was the eldest young miss of the Zhang that bullied our young miss!” the crying maid said quickly, seeing this as the chance to escape her death sentence.

“I heard that the Zhang’s eldest young miss’s temperament and reputation is quite good, much like her father, Zhang Weimin. Why would someone like that bullied you?”

“Father, those are just rumors. They aren’t true. I had thought that she was a gentle flower like the rumors too, so I tried to reason with her. Who would have thought she was so nasty! Look at how badly beaten up my maid is” Chunhua said and started to shed some tears. “Had I not been a Qin, she might have beaten me up too. Father, you have to get justice for me.”

“Yes Master, she even insulted the Qin clan! Our poor young miss was so angry but couldn’t do anything to stop her” the maid continues to add fire to the flame.

“She dared to insult my clan?! What did she say?!”

“Master, I…I dared not repeat”

“Tell me! I will forgive you, they’re not your words anyways” Guozhi demanded.

“She…she said that..that…the Qin clan is an uneducated clan that ca..can’t even be compared to the lower class people so..so they should stop pretending to be nobles” the maid said.

He angrily stood up from his seat and slammed his hand hard on the table, “She dared! Zhang Weimin, what a good daughter you raised!”

Chunhua smirked to herself, happy at the thought of getting revenge for being humiliated in public. The Zhang sisters has always been a thorn in her side. She hates how pretentious they are and hate it when people who were looking at her turn to look their way instead. She admits that she is competitive, especially when it comes to the city’s celestial fairies ranking. She’s the daughter of Qin Guozhi. She was raised to always be at the top. So how can she stand it when her rank sometimes fluctuates to be below them and the other two ranked in top five. Thinking back on Zhang Jihao’s strike to Yueyin’s face improves her current mood a lot. Anything that would damage her competitors or put them at a disadvantage will makes her happy.

She thought that her father would storm off to the Zhang’s residence to punish Zhang Yueyin but was surprised when he just sat back down. “Father?” she questioned.

“Daughter, as much as it angers me, but we have to swallow this humiliation for now.”

“What?! Why?!”  

Guozhi let out a sigh, he can see how similar his hot-headed daughter is like to his younger self. If he hadn’t learned to control his anger he wouldn’t have been where he is today. “You might not understand this, but the Zhang clan have a special relationship with the royal family. The Emperor might not show it on the surface but there is slight favoritism for the Zhang brothers at court. Zhang Weimin hadn’t shown to be much of a threat despite his fame, but Zhang Ziyuan is not someone to be mess with. I would rather have them on my side than be their enemies right now.” Qin Guozhi might have strong grips on the court officials, but he does not have the fighting force that Zhang Ziyuan hold. He had been trying to find ways to connect with Zhang Ziyuan so that he can get military force support for Empress Ziyi and Crown Prince Yifan. He cannot let little grudges ruin his big plans. He reaches out and places his hand on her shoulder, “I’m not saying that we have to let this matter go. In the future, I will make it so that you’ll never have to stand anyone’s humiliation ever again. You will not have to bow or answer to anyone. You will be the most powerful woman in the empire.”

“What do you mean father? I don’t see what your politics have to do with me, I simply want Zhang Yueyin to pay for humiliating me!”

He smiles at her, “You will understand soon. This humiliation, we will not have to swallow for long. I will make them pay someday.” He patted her shoulder then stood up to leave.

After he left, Chunhua glares at the still kneeling and crying maid, “Get up.”

The maid immediately stood up, “Thank you young miss for forgiving me. I won’t disappoint you ever again.” She pours Chunhua a cup of tea then handed it to her. When Chunhua reaches out to take the tea, she noticed that the bracelet that Jihao gifted her is missing from her wrist and she curse under her breath. Chunhua took the teacup then said, “I lost that Souls of the Stars somewhere in this mess. Find it.”

The maid wipes her tears with her sleeves then went around the room and looked through every broken pieces of furniture for the bracelet. “Young miss, don’t you hate the Zhangs? Why do you still want to keep young mister Zhang’s bracelet?”

“I only hate his cousins. Of all the current marriageable men options, Zhang Jihao is one of the best. Though his reputation is not good but if I can train a dog to be loyal and submissive, I can train him as well.” When the maid found the bracelet, Chunhua put out her hand for the maid to put the bracelet back on her.

---

After finding out that the girl in rags had no one to return to or nowhere to go, the Zhang sisters convinced her to come with them to their residence. On the way back, they found out the girl’s name is Zhao Ruyi. She had lost all her families and relatives to the disaster in the East. She had wandered for a long time and struggled a lot to make it to the capital city. Ruyi told them that she had wanted to find work in the city but wasn’t able to due to her appearance. She had decided to sell the only valuable thing she has left, a pair of pearl earrings, to buy better clothing. She thought that if she brought it to a well-known store, she would be able to sell it for a higher price. She didn’t expect to be splashed with water and thrown out of the store.

Once they arrived at the Zhang residence, Madame Lin greeted them at the door to the residence’s main quarter. Her eyes go from Yueyin’s slightly blood-stained veil to Meiyin’s dirtied coat on Zhao Ruyi. Without asking any questions, she quickly usher them into the room then instructed other maids to help her prepare a bath and some clean clothing. Madame Lin made her way over to Yueyin and gently took off the face veil. She gasps at the slightly swollen cheek and bleeding lower lip, “Who could have…”

Yueyin rested her hand on Madame Lin’s hand to reassure her that she’s alright, “Can you help me prepare a meal for our new friend?”

Madame Lin’s heart pained. She had watched the two young misses grew up and not even their parents had the heart to hit them once. She wonders who could have been so heartless to strike someone gentle like Yueyin. She wanted to ask more but instead she just nodded then left for the kitchen. Meiyin instructed Xiaolan to go and keep an eye out for when her father returns. While waiting, the Zhang sisters told Ruyi about the shelter that she can stay at if she would like. But Ruyi refused saying that she’s young and capable so she doesn’t want to add to the plate of whoever supported the shelter. She thanked the Zhang sisters again for helping her and asked if they can help her find a job that she can do to support herself. She also offered to sell her earrings to them for some money so she can buy clean clothing.

Meiyin was about to speak but stops when she saw Xiaolan rushes into the room. “Young misses! The master is home!” Xiaolan said.

The Zhang sisters nodded at each other then waited until they’re sure that Weimin can slightly see what’s going on in the room before springing to action. Yueyin quickly grab the veil that Meiyin had taken off earlier and put it on. Meiyin hurrily grab Yueyin’s bloodstained veil on the table and shoved it into her left sleeve to hide. When Weimin step into the room they turn to greet him like normal.

“Father, you’re back early” Meiyin said with a smile.

“Greetings father, how is the case progressing?” Yueyin asked, referring to the murder case that her father is helping Judge Wei with. 

Weimin nodded at Ruyi’s and Xiaolan’s bow then gave the four girls in the room a quick glance over. He made his way over to Meiyin and put out his hand while turning to Xiaolan, “I don’t remember you being this bad at coordinating their clothing Xiaolan,” he commented on the mismatching color of the veil and clothing that Yueyin have on.

“I’m sorry master…” Xiaolan said.

“Father?” Meiyin questioned his extended hand.

“Are you going to hand over what you just hide to me or will I have to just ground you for a month of embroidery?” Weimin threaten.

Meiyin glance at Yueyin who slightly shook her head to signal Meiyin to not give in. Weimin noticed their signal exchange and spoke up again, “Don’t look at your sister, give it to me Zhang Meiyin.”

“Father, it’s just a dirty face veil. We were outside earlier and I accidentally dirtied jiejie’s veil so I gave her mine and held onto hers. It’s quite dirty so you don’t need to see it, I’ll have Xiaolan clean it later and hand it back to jiejie” Meiyin tried to explain.

Weimin still have his hand outstretched, no sign of giving up. Meiyin let out a sigh then pull out the face veil from her sleeve and place it in Weimin’s hand. “Please don’t be angry,” she said.

He looks at the blood stained on the face veil then walk over to Yueyin. He reaches up to take off the veil she has on, but she backs away. “Zhang Yueyin” he warned. She stops and he stepped up to reach for her veil again. Upon seeing her face his fist clenched tight around the two face veil he’s holding. “Who did it?” he questioned.

“It was an accident…” Yueyin tried.

“What kind of accident could have possibly land you this hard of a strike to the face?” Weimin asked but when none of the girls was planning to speak up, he tried again, “Will I have to question our new guest?”

“Father don’t make Ruyi uncomfortable…she has already been through a lot” Meiyin said, lowering her voice on the last part. Meiyin shoot her sister another glance and Yueyin nodded lightly, signaling that it was time to spill the beans. But before Meiyin could act, Ruyi got on her knees and bow to Weimin, shocking the Zhang sisters.

“Mister Zhang, please don’t be angry with your daughters. They got hurt from helping me. They aren’t at fault so please don’t punish them!” Ruyi said.

Weimin look at the poor shivering girl then reaches out to pull her up by the shoulders, “Miss, please get up. I’m sorry if I’ve frightened you, I had not meant any harm. I simply wish to know what happened. My daughters are mischievous children and sometimes they get in more trouble than they can handle. As a father, I want to protect them from harm but if I do not know what happened, I’m unable to. Will you tell me what happened?”

Ruyi nodded then start retelling Weimin what happened. Afterwards, he let out a sigh then instructed Xiaolan to take good care of Ruyi. Madame Lin came back with a tray of food and greeted him when she saw him. He told her to send for a physician and wait for them to come back. He turns to his daughters and told them to follow him. The three of them boarded the residence’s carriage and headed for Zhang Ziyuan’s residence.

---

Yifan handed Taizao the reports he had marked up. Emperor Taizao opened them up one by one and looked them over. Yifan stood there and waited in silence. After Taizao finished, he put them aside and said “These looks good, but I want you to add more details for your analysis on the agricultural reports. While you’ve done well with the military reports, you seem to slack off on the agricultural ones.”

Yifan bow to him, “I will do better Royal Father.”

“Make some time to visit the royal treasury. The last couple of reports the officials submitted seems to be a bit messy.”

“I will go and personally check in with each of the treasury official.”

“The Empress is planning for a flower viewing banquet after the lantern festival, go and lend her any help she might need” Taizao said as he continues to look over the reports on his desk. He waves Yifan away without looking up at him. But when he senses that Yifan was still standing there instead of retreating out of the room, Taizao looks up from his report at Yifan. “Is there something else you want to report?”

Yifan had wanted to question his father regarding the assassination attempt on his life, but he doesn’t know if he should. He doesn’t want to doubt his own father, but the investigators he sent out had reported that all the evidence had pointed towards the emperor. Yifan had thought that his father chose him for the task in aiding the east because he had wanted to show that Yifan was his chosen son for the throne. With all the evidence pointing towards him and his coldness towards Yifan since young, the first prince of China couldn’t help but wonder if the real reason the emperor sent him to the east was so there would be a chance to kill him. Everyone knows that the disaster in the east had caused people to become unrest and violent. People even turned to banditry or plain murder to survived. Being such a dangerous place, if a prince were to mysteriously die there then no one can really be blamed and investigation would be futile. 

“Yifan?” Taizao called out again when Yifan didn’t answered. Yifan looks up at the man that he had loved and respected all his life, wanting to ask Did you do it? Was it you? Why did you do it? but no sound came out of his open mouth. He just simply bow to Taizao and left the room.

Author's Notes:

Thank you current subscribers and welcome new subscribers! 

Special thank you to MissMong24 for my first upvote and for your comments and continuous support.

Sit tight everyone because it's looking to be a very long story. Hahaha, I have so much big "plans" but didn't realized how much details and small "plans" is needed to build up to the big ones so uhhhh hang in there with me. Love you all!