Chapter 54: No More Chances to Strike
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Yu Zhi Yi had no grand ambitions in this life beyond living carefree and enjoying the drama from a safe distance. She had no intention of getting involved in other people’s tangled affairs of love and hate.
Yet, the identity she carried was a curse in itself.
While minor difficulties posed no threat to her and were easily dismissed, there was one thing that truly unsettled her.
It was the penchant of those noble types to make others bow or kneel, often demanding prolonged kowtows to humiliate her. This infuriated her beyond measure.
Bowing to Heaven, Earth, monarch, parents, and teachers was reasonable. But who was this Carefree Prince to her?
A hypocrite with a lovesick heart, nothing more.
In her previous life, she had helped Zhang Tian Shun conquer all challenges. Once he seized real power, his rank and status far exceeded this romantic fool of a prince.
As the wife of a foreign duke and a first-rank titled lady, she was granted a special privilege: she didn’t have to bow to anyone except the Emperor and Empress.
If etiquette ever forced her to kneel to this man in this life, she feared she’d choke on her own rage.
As a disciple of the Heaven’s Mystery Sect, she would never surrender.
If she refused to kneel to a hypocrite, she wouldn’t kneel.
In this era, the only way to free herself from the pervasive expectation of bowing was to elevate her own status to match that of her oppressors.
Yu Zhi Yi rubbed her chin thoughtfully. The Emperor’s birthday banquet was next month.
In her previous life, she wasn’t in the capital at that time. However, she had heard of a significant event that took place: an assassination attempt at the banquet.
Moreover, she knew that You Bing Yue, due to her meritorious service in saving the Emperor, was rewarded with a groundbreaking title. The Emperor defied conventions to appoint her as a female officer in the Capital Halberd Guards, assigning her a monitoring role.
This role was largely honorary. She could show up when she wanted or stay home and enjoy her monthly stipend.
Since the historic precedent set by Senior Princess Jia Luo, who had pioneered women’s roles in government a century ago, many women had strived for similar opportunities. Female officials gradually became more common.
Yet, no woman had ever joined the Capital Halberd Guards—let alone held such a prestigious, albeit nominal, post.
While many criticized this move, none managed to replicate it.
After all, You Bing Yue had earned her position with her life—taking a fatal blow meant for the Emperor.
The Emperor, deeply moved, ignored opposition from the court and the harem, insisting on granting her this unprecedented honor and title.
This monitoring position was created specifically for You Bing Yue, ranking just below the commander of the guards.
The original deputy commander of the Capital Halberd Guards had to settle for being third in command.
This new status also improved You Bing Yue’s standing with Chancellor Du and his wife. While old grievances still lingered, they were unable to fully reconcile, and thus they refused to legitimize her relationship with Du Zi Heng.
Later, Du Zi Heng worked hard to secure the right to establish his own household. Only then did the old couple reluctantly compromise, allowing them to be together.
Yu Zhi Yi, however, had no interest in throwing herself in harm’s way for the Emperor.
She remembered those assassins well. They were desperate men with nothing to lose, revealing their sharp fangs when their plans were exposed.
Their targets weren’t limited to the Emperor but included all the nobles and their families in the capital.
The Emperor and the high-ranking officials, protected by swift reactions, emerged unscathed. It was the defenseless women and children, slow to respond, who suffered the most casualties.
If she could prevent this disaster from happening in the first place, all those lives could be spared.
Such a monumental feat would surely earn her a first-rank title, wouldn’t it?
She didn’t ask for much—no need for hundreds of bushels of salary or real power. All she wanted was a symbolic title.
As for stealing You Bing Yue’s credit?
Well, You Bing Yue had no qualms about stealing credit from others and often disrupted Yu Zhi Yi’s peace. Why should she feel guilty about this?
She was determined to claim this title.
…
Meanwhile, Yu Jiao Jiao was also plotting her move regarding the assassination.
In her previous life, she had been present during the attack.
Unfortunately, she had been too far from the Emperor at the time. Even if she had managed to sit near him, she lacked both the courage and the skills to shield him with her own body.
As a result, that detestable You Bing Yue reaped all the benefits!
Although You Bing Yue was no longer her rival in this life, the grudges of the past life could not be erased.
She loathed Yu Zhi Yi for stealing ten years of her life, despised the humiliation she had suffered, and hated You Bing Yue for causing her ultimate downfall and death.
This time, she was determined to claim the glory of saving the Emperor.
She couldn’t understand why things in this life felt so different. Zhang Tian Shun had yet to dismiss his other wives and concubines. Worse, two of them had become pregnant before her, and he openly favored them over her.
Most infuriatingly, Zhang Tian Shun showed no signs of ambition!
When she reminded him about making a name for himself, he looked at her with confusion, as though her suggestion of a notorious playboy going to war was absurd.
To make matters worse, her mother-in-law was ridiculously possessive of Zhang Tian Shun, even meddling in their bedroom matters.
Yet in her previous life, Yu Zhi Yi’s marriage into the family had not faced such obstacles!
Since she couldn’t count on Zhang Tian Shun for now, she would rely on herself.
She had already decided that once she succeeded, she would demand gold by the thousands and an Imperial Pardon Token.
She would see who dared to defy her then.
Yu Zhi Yi, You Bing Yue, those concubines with audacity to bear children before her—they would all face her wrath!
Every last one of them!
…
You Bing Yue shared a similar determination.
As a book transmigrator, she vividly remembered this pivotal scene.
It was the turning point for the villainous wife of Du Zi Heng.
Before the assassination attempt, this woman had been mocked throughout the capital, despite being shielded by Du Zi Heng and his family. Her lack of recognition from her natal family rendered her a perpetual joke.
After the assassination, the same nobles who once ridiculed her began to respect her as the Emperor’s savior. They even praised her marriage to Du Zi Heng as divinely ordained.
Ridiculous!
It was nothing more than sheer luck.
This time, she would be the one to save the Emperor.
…
After Duke Courage left the capital, Yu Zhi Yi’s life returned to peace. Even better, Madam Yao came back from the countryside estate, relieving her of the tiresome task of monitoring Du Zi Heng.
Secluding herself in the Breeze Pavilion, she claimed to have caught a severe cold and refused all visitors to avoid infecting anyone.
Thus, when the Carefree Prince sought her out after rescuing You Bing Yue, intent on causing her trouble, he was met with Zi Yuan, her maid, tearfully explaining, “My mistress is gravely ill…”
A fit of heart-wrenching coughing from within the pavilion seemed to corroborate her claim.
Even Du Zi Heng, who had come to intercept the prince and investigate why Yu Zhi Yi had deliberately misled him about the earlier address, was speechless.
The Carefree Prince, though suspicious of her sudden affliction, couldn’t risk tarnishing his reputation by appearing to bully an invalid.
“Let her rest well,” he said, biting out the words.
The next time they met, he vowed, he would not be so forgiving.
But he would never have the chance to make good on that promise.