Return of the Swallow c1-644

by Edited by Deyna up to chapter ~100.

  When comparing the same third rank position, one at the Ministry of Education was far superior to the Ministry of Rites. But the emperor had likely let Qin Huaiyuan out earlier probably because he was worried the grand preceptor would be up to something. After all, no matter how irate the imperial majesty became, he’d retain that last bit of reason and know that he had to keep this good helper alive to help him rein in the grand preceptor in the future.

  To be honest, Qin Yining was quite gratified that the emperor hadn’t stripped the Qins of all of their positions in one go. Thank goodness her plan had been right.

  “As long as it helped you, father. I was most worried of doing something wrong.”

  “How could you ever?” Qin Huaiyuan smiled faintly. “Thank goodness for you, your second, and third uncle’s efforts outside. I received the things you sent to me. The bug repellent was very useful. I might be full of bug bites otherwise.”

  “Hehe, it’s thanks to Steward Zhong for being this thorough.”

  The two chatted idly like they would never run out of topics, and Qin Huaiyuan hadn’t endured a stint in the dungeons. Their attitudes were as usual, seemingly unaffected by the times.

  Everyone was gathered in the Garden of Loving Piety, even Qin Yining’s elusive eleventh male cousin.

  Tears streamed unceasingly when the old dowager saw Qin Huaiyuan. She clung to her firstborn and covered her face with tears from her eyes and nose. The second and third elder master circled Qin Huaiyuan, clapping his shoulders and comforting their big brother.

  The ladies and misses were smiling off to the side and wiping their tears. Née Sun was grinning through her tears.

  It wasn’t long until the servants reported that the banquet was ready.

  Qin Yining went to support the old dowager with a smile. “The family is together now, so we should enjoy a family meal together. The old dowager is blessed with fortune and longevity, so our family will spend our days in peace, fortune, and longevity in the future.”

  “Yes! Good, very good!” The old dowager was very pleased by these words.

  The family chattered and laughed their way to their seats. Since it was a family meal and Qin Huaiyuan had just returned safely, the old dowager had the divider in the room taken away. The family followed the rule of not speaking when eating, but the atmosphere remained lighthearted and joyous.

  Qin Huaiyuan spoke slowly after the servants had cleared the tables, helped the family rinse their mouths, and brought forth tea.

  “Since the family’s here today, there are a few things I’d like to say.”

  * * *

  Chapter 191: Hope

  Chapter 191: Hope

  Everyone put down their cups and looked at Qin Huaiyuan, demonstrating the respect he commanded in the family. He smiled slightly. “I owe second and third brother thanks for looking after the family when I was away.”

  “What kind of words are these, big brother? Nothing major happened in the family these days, so we didn’t need to do anything. The inner residence has the old dowager, senior sister-in-law, and niece Yi holding down the fort. We kept our doors shut tight and turned away all visitors. We were as cautious as could be. We just wanted big brother to come back safe and sound. As long as you’re alright, the family is alright and has a pillar of strength.” The group nodded along with the second elder master’s exceedingly sincere words.

  Qin Huaiyuan shook his head wryly and waved a hand. “Your words put me to shame, second brother. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have lost your position and been demoted to the Ministry of Rites.”

  This warmed the second elder master’s heart. He shook his head rapidly. “If it wasn’t for big brother’s help, if it wasn’t for the other officials giving you face, it’d be dozens of years more before I could make it to a third rank position in the Ministry of Education. Who knows how much more hard work I’d have to put in with my lowly seniority? I haven’t forgotten all the help that you’ve given me over the years. It’s not your fault that we’re in this situation. You’re innocent too, brother! We’re family, why talk about things as if we’re not!?”

  “Precisely.” The third elder master nodded. He greatly respected Qin Huaiyuan. His big brother was a moral, clear headed person and when growing up, had never used his status as an official son to bully the concubine-born third elder master.

  When the third elder master had realized that he wasn’t a good student and decided to take over the family business, Qin Huaiyuan had helped enormously and eased many paths until the third elder master could stand on his own feet. Therefore, the latter nodded in great agreement when he heard his second brother’s words.

  The old dowager to see her three sons in such harmony and murmured to Qin-mama and the second madame next to her. “Just look at them.”

  The second madame covered a smile and the old servant murmured back, “It’s hard to find a set of brothers who get along better than them. This is all thanks to your teachings, mistress.”

  The matriarch was further soothed by these words and she flushed happily from this happy occasion.

  “Second and third brother,” Qin Huaiyuan sighed. “You don’t mind because you’re noble and virtuous. I know that all of this is because I stuck my neck out.” He turned to the rest of the family. “All of you know that by now that Great Zhou’s armies are on our doorstep. Xihua can fall at any time. Once it does, the Valiant Tigers will no longer have any reservations and will set their sights on the capital. The emperor is out of plans and has resorted to employing Grand Preceptor Cao again. I’ve never gotten along with the grand preceptor, so the emperor is also looking to suppress us with this move. Even though I’ve been released from the dungeons, our days ahead will be filled with danger.”

  The relaxed atmosphere tightened again with these words. The second and third madame wanted to dismiss the younger children since heavy subjects were being discussed. After all, Qin Yining’s eleventh male cousin was only seven years old. Children might accidentally let the wrong thing slip outside.

  But Qin Huaiyuan waved a hand. “Second and third sister-in-law, the world is changing and the children should know about this too. I’m having people guard the doors. These words won’t travel.”

  Eleventh master Qin Zong nodded and turned to the second madame. “Don’t worry, mother. I’m not a baby anymore. I know what can’t be said.”

  The second and third madame nodded at this and took their seats again.

  “We’ve always conducted ourselves with honor and within the confines of the law. But with the current way of the world, being good person isn’t a guarantee of a long life. I need to make some arrangements beforehand, just in case. Second brother will be the one in charge of the family if anything happens to me. He’s spent many years at court and has seen quite a lot. He’ll be able to grasp the right direction in times of necessity. He can be a good head of the Qin clan. All of you should listen to him when the time comes.”

  “My lord, you…” Tears welled up in née Sun’s eyes again.

  The old dowager was also frowning and color drained from her face. “Meng’er, don’t speak of this nonsense. You’ll be fine. You’ll live a long and healthy life!”

  He smiled comfortingly at his mother and wife. “This is just a contingency plan in light of the current times we live in. This is what I should do as the head of the family clan. Don’t stop me, mother.”

  The matriarch sniffled silently for a while and didn’t say anything else. Her face was still white as a sheet as she dabbed at her eyes.

  The marquis ignored their tears and gave solemn instructions to his younger brother. “Once I’m assassinated, you should take the family and immediately leave the capital. Go back to our ancestral home. I purchased the sacrificial fields around our ancestral graves a long time ago. Although they won’t keep the family in style and splendor, they’ll be enough to keep everyone alive. The emperor won’t seize our ancestral fields even if he wants to raid and confiscate ou
r home. We’ll all stay alive this way and the family legacy can be passed down.”

  “Big brother…” The second elder master’s heart quailed and he didn’t know what to say. So his elder brother had already thought of an escape plan for the family even when he was enjoying great honors and fortune.

  “This is just one possibility.” Qin Huaiyuan sighed and scanned his family. “If I’m not assassinated, then surely my political enemies will be up to something. Things might be even worse then if they get in a few kicks at court. Our entire family may be dragged into it. The Duke of Ding’s circumstances might be a foretelling of our end.”

  Deathly silence blanketed the hall after these words. Shock and fright showed on many faces, and some of the younger children burst out crying. The old dowager, née Sun, second and third madame were all as white as a sheet.

  If that really happened, then the Qins were completely done for. tHey wouldn’t even have the ability to go back to their ancestral home and be farmers.

  The marquis cast his glance at Qin Yining. “Daughter Yi, you have the Soothsayer’s proclamation that you possess unparalleled fortune. The emperor won’t do anything to you so that his luck is preserved. You’ll have to think of a way to keep all of the women safe then.” As for the men, none of us will be getting away.

  Qin Yining rose and curtsied with utmost seriousness. “Don’t worry, father. If that day really comes, I’ll take on my responsibilities. I know what you’re worried about. Don’t worry, I’ll be able to do it all.”

  Qin Huaiyuan’s eyes curved into crescents as he smiled at his beloved daughter. “Very good, I’m reassured by how mature you are, darling Yi.”

  Cold sweat broke out all over Qin Yining as she listened to her father’s crestfallen tone giving instructions for affairs after his death. However, she maintained a serious expression on her face. “Don’t be too pessimistic, father. Things haven’t gotten to that stage yet. We still have a lot of room to maneuver in. Everything depends on our own efforts. You can’t lose hope in life, father, even if you’re completely heartbroken by others. We shouldn’t lose hope as long as we’re still breathing!”

  Qin Yining’s words jabbed straight into Qin Huaiyuan’s heart, cracking his placid smile. No one else but his daughter had noticed it.

  Yes, he was heartbroken.

  Heartbroken by the emperor, by the affairs of court, and completely despairing of Great Yan’s bleak future. He’d worked so hard for so many years and hadn’t thought of quitting even when serving an incompetent emperor. He just wanted to do his job well, advise the emperor so that court would be run efficiently, and to help the people life happy lives of stability. That was his life’s wish.

  But now?

  The emperor was still the same, incompetent fool. Great Zhou’s iron hooves were about to trample Great Yan into the ground. The people he’d tried so hard to protect were treated like animals. The refugees had no roof over their heads and and no floor beneath their feet. They were doled out one bowl of watery porridge a day. When children and the elderly died of illnesses in the street, they were piled onto carts and disposed of in mass cremations.

  The emperor’s actions were far less than Qin Yining’s!

  Qin Huaiyuan’s daughter had no silver but still knew to sell valuables to keep the refugees alive. What did the emperor know to do at his age? Not to save his people, but commission new clothes and accessories for the trampress!

  His men had given him a full report of the emperor’s movements over the past couple of days when he’d been released from the dungeons. In that moment, Qin Huaiyuan really felt that his heart, burning with enthusiasm, had been thrown it into an icy pit. He’d been such a fool before, to hold out any hope for this kind of emperor.

  And yet, there was an ancient saying that spoke to him. “A chaste woman marries not again and a servant serves not a second master”. He hadn’t been born in the right times to serve a worthy liege, but neither would he be a treasonous subject.

  He was disconsolate and no longer wanted to do anything for an emperor like this. He wouldn’t be a traitor, but neither would he put forth all his efforts anymore. He’d thought that no one would understand or even see through his sentiments, but Qin Yining had.

  The scene was still once more. Everyone looked mutely at Qin Huaiyuan and Qin Yining, seeming to understand the bleak inner landscape of the lord’s heart. The second and third elder master frowned ferociously and the ladies wept with shared anguish.

  * * *

  Chapter 192: Difficulty in Sorting Through Emotions

  Chapter 192: Difficulty in Sorting Through Emotions

  Qin Yining rose and walked slowly to Qin Huaiyuan, kneeling to place both hands on her father’s knees and looked back up at him.

  “Father, you’re disappointed in those people and this world. Your lifelong ambitions have been ruined by that person and I understand the bitterness you’re feeling. If only that person was a noble and wise liege, of if that person could realize your ambitions, then you wouldn’t feel any regret or resentment even if he chewed you up and spat you back out. But that person is an utterly hopeless waste of air. He has no ambition and dismisses your contributions, even persecuting you.” Qin Yining’s eyes were clear. She didn’t voice the words ‘trash emperor’, but everyone knew what she meant.

  Qin Huaiyuan looked down at his daughter, his hands slowly balling into fists.

  “Father, I grew up in the cities and I’ve seen so many dark things when war tore through the city of Liang. Human life is the cheapest. If a family had seven children, four girls and three sons, the mother would keep the family alive by selling the oldest daughter to start if she had no other choice to.

  “Prices were good at first. The oldest daughter fetched a tael of silver. When prices fell later on, five kilograms of buckwheat noodles were enough to buy the youngest girl. The food the girls were traded for kept the three boys alive. The mother was anguished and the brothers felt guilty because their lives were a result of trading away family members. But even so, as hard as their lives were, they would keep on living with every bit of breath in them until they breathed for the last time.

  “Even if you’re not a prime minister anymore, father, even if you’re the Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent and we need to go back to the farms, we’re all still alive. Being alive is the greatest fortune. Why be so depressed, father? Why lose hope?”

  “And you?” Qin Huaiyuan suddenly choked out.

  Qin Yining started, confused.

  He tried again. “And you? How did you keep on living?”

  Tears started flowing for the womenfolk again when they heard Qin Huaiyuan’s dry tone sound, and father and daughter look at each other. Née Sun buried her face in her hands, overcome with sobs. She felt so much regret that she wanted to bury herself alive.

  But Qin Yining blinked and grinned widely, her dimples quite endearing. “Me? I ate when I could and sleep when I could. I somehow made it through day after day.”

  “Somehow?”

  “That’s right. I didn’t demand anything from myself other than eating when there was food and sleeping when there was space. I had no worries when my days were that easy. Even though I had to do everything myself in the mountains, life was easy and carefree.”

  It felt like he was enveloped in clear pools of sun-dappled water as Qin Huaiyuan looked into Qin Yining’s shining eyes. The unsullied resolution within was something that he, steeped in the mud of politics and the world, would never reach.

  Tidal waves of emotion assaulted the rest of the family. They’d always been firmly placed in the lap of luxury, wearing silks and eating fine delicacies, surrounded with servants, wreathed with honor and fortune. They’d never suffered in the slightest.

  The more comfortable their lives were, the greedier they became. Sisters envied each other if one of them received a prettier hairpin. Relatives looked to when meal boxes were delivered as an indication of their status…

  Such
complicated mindsets had always been viewed as the just due of a prestigious noble family, but it all seemed such a joke now. They lauded themselves as blue-blooded personages, but they were all greenhouse plants. The slightest wind and rain would make them keel over.

  And Qin Yining? She was also an aristocratic daughter, but she’d been moved out of the greenhouse too early. Despite the storms that battered her, she’d taken deep roots in rocky soil and blossomed proudly into a stunning, tenacious flower. There was a certain fearless, unwavering strength in her that roused everyone’s hearts to action.

  Their fears seemed over the top all of a sudden. They could just go back to the fields at the end of the day. That was still much better than Qin Yining had gone through. What was there to be afraid of when family was together?

  It was the first time that the Qins were reevaluating their lives in the face of danger. It was also the first time they felt such clear admiration and liking for Qin Yining. There wasn’t any motives behind these emotions, just a pure appreciation for this person.

  Qin Huaiyuan’s thoughts were the same as everyone else’s. His furrowed brows slowly relaxed and a smile floated onto his face. He buried deeply into his heart the guilt he felt towards this child and patted her shoulder. “I understand.”

  The girls were envious of this display of fatherly benevolence. Many of them had superficial relationships and only ever interacted with their fathers during the morning and evening greetings. Very few of them were as close as Qin Yining and Qin Huaiyuan. The touching scene warmed everyone’s hearts.