Chapter 22: Gaining Benefits for No Reason
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“Forgive me for being blunt, but the Young Madam is just too spineless!”
Yu Pan Er’s face was filled with frustration, as though Yu Zhi Yi’s demeanor was unbearable.
“How dare you! Is that any way to speak to the Young Madam?” Zi Yuan glared at her, fuming.
Yu Zhi Yi, amused, waved Zi Yuan away. She looked at Yu Pan Er with an arched brow. “Then, by your assessment, how should I act to be considered bold?”
Yu Pan Er was a home-born servant in the Yu Family, the child of stewards managing the family’s estate. She thought highly of herself and believed she was practically a half-master in the household. She had always looked down on Yu Zhi Yi, the fake daughter of the Yu Family, who lost favor after the age of ten.
When the Yu Family assigned her to Yu Zhi Yi as a dowry maid, even though nothing was explicitly said, Yu Pan Er believed she understood the intentions of the Madam Yu—she was being promoted.
With her modest beauty and cunning ways, she was confident that, given the opportunity, she could win the affection of Du Zi Heng. But the Young Madam was too useless!
Losing the groom on her wedding night was bad enough, but afterward, she didn’t protest or create a scene. Even during the return-to-parents visit, she didn’t plead her case to Minister Yu or Madam Yu, swallowing the humiliation without a word.
Not only that, but she never confronted the other woman or tried to win over her husband. Instead, she was cozying up to Madam Yao!
Madam Yao was just a mother-in-law who would pass away someday. She couldn’t help the Young Madam gain favor. What was the point of currying favor with her?
Such foolishness! How could someone like this ever win affection?
Yu Pan Er’s anger burned at Yu Zhi Yi’s lack of ambition.
When asked the question, she tilted her chin up proudly. “Naturally, by being gentle and attentive, catering to his tastes.”
“Moreover, it’s said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Young Madam should practice her culinary skills instead of wasting time on pointless activities.”
The “pointless activities” she referred to were Yu Zhi Yi’s daily morning and evening incense offerings to the Ancestor Lord.
Yu Pan Er thought of that incense-filled shrine room and felt disgusted. “No man likes a stiff, rigid woman, let alone one obsessed with running off to the shrine all the time.”
“While a legitimate wife must indeed be dignified, being too uptight will only scare people away.”
Zi Yuan was trembling with anger, especially when this maid dared to disparage Yu Zhi Yi’s reverent offerings to the ancestor. She wished she could sew that foul mouth shut!
Yu Zhi Yi, however, was unruffled. Having been reborn, she would no longer let trivial words toy with her emotions.
She even clapped her hands in approval. “Well said.”
Zi Yuan was stunned.
Yu Pan Er’s chin tilted even higher. She was sure this fake daughter was a cowardly waste. Back in the Yu Mansion, she was always outshined by Yu Jiao Jiao. It seemed even now, in a different setting, nothing had changed.
What Yu Pan Er didn’t realize was that Yu Zhi Yi hadn’t been oppressed by Yu Jiao Jiao. Rather, after a few attempts at arguing, she found it too dull to continue.
Yu Jiao Jiao’s tricks were always the same. Anyone with eyes could see through them. Yet Minister Yu, Madam Yu, and the five Yu sons all seemed collectively blind, swallowing Yu Jiao Jiao’s lies with ease.
Yu Zhi Yi had fought back before, revealing that Yu Jiao Jiao wasn’t the innocent flower they believed her to be.
But to what end?
They were family, bonded by blood, and she was just a thief’s daughter—an impostor who had stolen ten years of Yu Jiao Jiao’s privileged life.
The next time it happened, they still chose to believe Yu Jiao Jiao.
Because they were a family.
Realizing this, Yu Zhi Yi stopped struggling. Every rebuttal she made only cemented their image of her as malicious and manipulative.
Why bother?
Pulling her thoughts away from those bitter memories, Yu Zhi Yi focused on Yu Pan Er. “It seems you’re quite capable, Pan Er. Wherever you’re placed, you thrive.”
Yu Pan Er froze. “What… what do you mean?”
Yu Zhi Yi smiled faintly. “Go report to Madam Wen. Learn how to manage the household from her. In the future, when I take full charge of the Chancellor’s Mansion, I might have to rely on you.”
Yu Pan Er’s eyes widened with joy. “Young Madam, are you serious? You’re not joking?”
“A practitioner of the Mystic Sect doesn’t tell lies.”
“Thank you, Young Madam!”
Offering a less-than-sincere bow of thanks, Yu Pan Er turned and left, her steps light with excitement.
Zi Yuan, puzzled, asked, “Miss, why reward her when she’s so disrespectful?”
Yu Zhi Yi swirled the tea leaves in her cup, watching them float like tiny boats tossed on stormy seas, neither reaching the shore nor sinking, their future uncertain.
“Inform Madam Wen to follow my mother’s rules—reward as deserved, punish as warranted. No need to worry about me.”
Yu Pan Er was arrogant, thinking herself a semi-master in the Yu Mansion. Now, in the Chancellor’s Mansion, she dared to point at her mistress’s nose and lecture her.
Though Yu Zhi Yi was not the biological daughter of the Yu Family, she owed them for raising her. That debt was a chain she couldn’t sever.
As a practitioner of the Mystic Sect, she couldn’t directly harm others unless absolutely necessary.
But if Yu Pan Er courted her own doom? That was beyond her control.
A barely literate servant who had shirked duties in the Yu Mansion—how could she possibly settle down to learn household management?
Yu Zhi Yi couldn’t wait to find out.
…
Madam Wen, hesitant, entered the room. Madam Yao looked up, puzzled. “What’s the matter?”
Madam Wen recounted Yu Pan Er’s arrival and relayed Zi Yuan’s instructions word for word.
After hearing it all, Madam Yao sighed deeply. “I’ve been looking into it. Yi’er didn’t have an easy life in the Yu Mansion.”
Thinking of all she’d learned, her heart ached.
Yi’er had suffered too much.
The Yu Family had no conscience!
Though they hadn’t physically abused Yi’er, their constant foolishness could easily shatter a young girl’s spirit.
“Yi’er is likely being considerate of the Yu Family, which is why she won’t discipline that maid herself. You should follow her instructions—reward and punish as needed. If that maid commits any major mistakes… don’t hold back.”
“Understood.”
Madam Yao, still troubled, suddenly thought of something. Her son had brought that other woman back again. The two of them had even groveled before her, repenting for their prior plan to abandon the family and elope. Moved by their contrition, she had allowed the woman to stay…
The more she thought about it, the guiltier she felt toward Yu Zhi Yi. After a moment, she added, “Take the consecrated Buddhist prayer beads from my bedside and personally deliver them to the Young Madam.”
Receiving the beads, Yu Zhi Yi blinked in confusion.
Had she done something to deserve such a gift?
The beads, consecrated by an accomplished monk after forty-nine days of devotion, were a treasure to ordinary people and highly beneficial to her as well.
She hadn’t done anything.
Yet she had gained a priceless treasure.