Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Sun Family’s Eldest Young Madam

Early the next morning, Gu Shi Yi dragged herself out of bed, dark circles under her eyes like someone had painted her for a ghost opera. Granny Gu came in with food, so pleased she could barely contain it.

“The escort bureau’s support team is here,” she said, practically glowing. “Everyone can finally breathe—thank the heavens, we’ve made it through.”

By now, Granny Gu had lowered her guard around Gu Shi Yi. She leaned in and whispered, “Officially, they said this escort run was sent out from Chen Prefecture. But the truth is, someone hired our Sixth Master to bring a shipment back from Twin Sages City…”

Gu Shi Yi had wandered the jianghu for years. She knew the unspoken rules of escort work, so after joining their route she never once asked what the Dragon-Tiger Escort Bureau was truly protecting. Now that Granny Gu brought it up herself, Gu Shi Yi’s curiosity finally stirred.

“Crossing thousands of miles just to bring one run back to Chen Prefecture,” she said, “that’s a massive move. Whatever it is, it has to be priceless.”

Her eyes were sharp enough to peel paint. She had noticed long ago: the cart in the lower hold, the one guarded day after day, was bait left out in the open to draw trouble. The real item was almost certainly on Master Huang Liu.

Why? Because the escort guards assigned to the cart looked strong—thick arms, knotted muscles—but their steps were light and unsteady, their inner power shallow. Meanwhile, the attendants glued to Master Huang Liu moved like shadows, light-footed and steady, their gaze bright yet restrained. They were the true backbone of the escort team, and they never left his side. That told you everything.

Besides, anything you could hide on your person couldn’t be very large.

Gu Shi Yi, of course, didn’t say any of that out loud. She simply asked, “If Master Huang Liu is carrying something this important, the pay must be generous.”

Granny Gu nodded hard. “Of course! Otherwise… why would Sixth Master bring so many of us out?”

Then she lowered her voice again, delighted with herself. “Normally I shouldn’t know what the escort is protecting—I’m just an old servant woman in the back kitchen. But when you travel long enough, you hear scraps here and there…”

She edged closer. “They say it’s something extremely rare. Sun Family’s eldest young madam in Chen Prefecture paid a fortune to hire the escort bureau to protect it…”

“Sun Family’s eldest young madam?” Gu Shi Yi repeated.

She had left home long ago, but she had been clever even as a child. With a little effort, the name clicked into place.

“The cultivation clan in Blue Moon City… Sun Family?”

“Exactly!” Granny Gu said, bouncing. “And that Sun Family’s eldest young madam is the Gu Family’s legitimate eldest miss. Now that the two families have married, their power has only grown!”

“What?” Gu Shi Yi blinked, certain she’d misheard. “Aunt… what did you just say?”

Granny Gu waved her chopsticks at her. “What did I say—Sun Family, or Gu Family?”

“You said the Gu Family’s eldest miss.”

“That’s right.” Granny Gu nodded. “Sun Family’s eldest young madam is Gu Family’s eldest miss. Speaking of which, we’re related too—though we’re poor relatives seven or eight bends away. People like them won’t spare us a glance…”

Gu Shi Yi sat there, stunned. After a long moment, she asked again, slowly, “Gu Family’s eldest miss… the legitimate one?”

Granny Gu’s eyes lit with gossip. “Oh, there’s a whole story. That eldest miss’s birth mother was a miss from Qian Family of Gilded Gold City—four hundred li from Blue Moon City. But not long after she gave birth, she ran off with a man…”

Gu Shi Yi nodded woodenly. “Then?”

“Then the eldest miss was indeed the first wife’s legitimate daughter,” Granny Gu said, savoring every word. “But after her birth mother ran, life in the Gu Family turned ugly. Her own father didn’t favor her, and the clan treated her like a stain. When she was five, she went missing. The Gu Family sent people to look for a few days, just for show. When they couldn’t find her, they stopped looking altogether.”

Granny Gu leaned in as if this were the best part. “Thirteen years later, that eldest miss came back—on her own.”

“On her own?” Gu Shi Yi’s eyes narrowed.

“On her own,” Granny Gu confirmed. “And she came back with real skills, too. The elders ended up liking her, and after that they matched her with Sun Family’s eldest young master. Once she married over, she became the managing madam of the household!”

Gu Shi Yi’s gaze thinned to a slit. “And how are they, as husband and wife?”

“Devoted!” Granny Gu said. “They’re famous in Blue Moon City. They even had two young masters and one miss. This escort run was entrusted by that eldest miss, and now we’ve finally arrived safe and sound—so the payment won’t be low.”

Master Huang Liu was always generous to the people under him, and Sun Family’s eldest young madam spent money like it grew on trees. Once the silver arrived, Sixth Master would surely reward them properly.

Granny Gu had sons, and grandsons besides. If the pay hadn’t been so rich, she would never have followed Master Huang Liu across thousands of miles.

And like most women her age, Granny Gu loved gossip the way fish loved water. Her information network stretched ten miles in every direction. Gu Shi Yi asked one small question, and Granny Gu unloaded every scandal and odd tale she knew about Blue Moon City.

She talked all day—right up until their boat docked at the outer pier of Blue Moon City.

“Off the boat! We’re home! We’re home!” Liu Two bellowed, running up and down the deck.

Everyone moved at once, hauling carts down the gangplank, bundling baggage, and stepping onto land. Gu Shi Yi had almost nothing—just the two outfits Granny Gu had sewn for her. She wrapped them into a bundle, and Master Huang Liu’s attendant came over.

“Miss Gu,” the attendant said politely, “our Sixth Master said that since you’ve arrived, he should play host. After we disembark, please come with us and visit Sixth Master’s home.”

Gu Shi Yi clasped her fists in a jianghu salute. “Many thanks for Sixth Master’s kindness.”

Granny Gu looked delighted. “Shi Yi, being valued by Sixth Master like this is a good thing!”

She even waggled her eyebrows. Gu Shi Yi didn’t know what to make of that, so she smiled like an idiot and nodded along.

Once the attendant left, Granny Gu said, “After this run, Sixth Master will let us go home on leave. I’ll go home first. If you get tired of staying at Sixth Master’s place, I’ll pick you up and you can stay at my home. This old woman’s house is poor, but it’s lively—so many people, and it’s full of boys. If you come, I’ll treat you like my own niece!”

It was polite talk, of course. In Granny Gu’s heart, she had already decided Gu Shi Yi and Master Huang Liu were tangled up. If Gu Shi Yi became a concubine one day, she wouldn’t be coming to visit poor kin.

Gu Shi Yi nodded on the outside, but inside she could only smile bitterly. “Aunt, don’t worry. I won’t stand on ceremony. I’ll definitely go pay my respects to Uncle and my cousins.”

As long as I finished what I needed to do—and my life was still intact—I really would.

After disembarking, Gu Shi Yi was invited into a carriage and followed behind Master Huang Liu into Blue Moon City.

Blue Moon City resembled Twin Sages City in some ways and differed in others. Both were named for their terrain: Twin Sages City had Twin Sages Mountain, while Blue Moon City was named for Blue Moon Lake ten miles outside the walls. The lake earned its “blue” because its bed produced a special crystal used for crafting. Mix even a tiny amount into a magic artifact, and it became hard as iron. The crystal itself was a rich blue, settling across the bottom until the whole bay looked dyed. The lake’s surface curved like a crescent moon, so people called it Blue Moon Lake.

The cultivation world and the mortal world weren’t so different, really. Both ran on the same rule: bigger fists got more resources. Blue Moon Stone was valuable to cultivators, so of course people fought over it. Six hundred years ago, different sects took turns battling for control, each holding it for decades or a century. The area never knew peace. Then, a hundred years ago, the Gu Family produced a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator who seized Blue Moon Lake from another sect. From that day to this, Blue Moon Lake had remained in Gu Family hands.

Blue Moon City thrived for two reasons: the stone, and its position as a north-south transport hub. It had been prosperous for a thousand years. Sitting in the carriage, Gu Shi Yi lifted the curtain and stared at the streets, and a feeling rose in her chest that was both familiar and strange.

“Shi Yi…” Li Yan Er whispered, peeking out as well.

The streets were wide enough for three carriages to pass side by side. Shops lined the road. People flowed past in steady streams.

“Shi Yi,” Li Yan Er asked softly, “is this your hometown?”

Gu Shi Yi nodded, her expression complicated. “This is the south side… The houses haven’t changed… There used to be a candy shop around that corner. Their maple candy was the best. And now… it’s a cloth shop.”

She had been away for twenty-five years. Everything she remembered had been washed thin, like ink left out in the rain. The people were gone. The places had changed. All that remained were faint, stubborn echoes.

The Dragon-Tiger Escort Bureau had a whole stretch of connected residences in the south of the city. The central building served as the front, while the side courtyards housed the escort guards. Master Huang Liu’s family lived deeper in the main residence, in the rear courtyards. Gu Shi Yi’s carriage entered through the back gate. The women of the Huang Family, already warned by Master Huang Liu, sent an old servant woman—one of the steward’s people—to receive her.

The old servant woman stepped forward and bowed. “Young lady, please step down.”

She set a footstool and reached for the curtain, but before her hand could touch it, the curtain snapped aside. A figure sprang out. The old servant woman blinked, and suddenly someone was standing right in front of her. She stammered, flustered.

“Y-you’re… Miss Gu?”

“I am.” Gu Shi Yi flashed a bright grin and clasped her fists. “Thank you for the guidance, matron. Please lead me to pay my respects to Old Madam and Madam.”

The old servant woman took one look at Gu Shi Yi’s jianghu manner, then at her road-worn face, and visibly relaxed. “People beside Sixth Master told Madam that Sixth Master had invited a young lady to stay. Madam thought he had brought another woman into the manor and hid in her room to cry. After that, she sent me to check the truth. I didn’t expect… well. It seems you’re not Sixth Master’s new concubine after all.”

The thought she didn’t say out loud was plain enough: Sixth Master had standards. And Gu Shi Yi—rough, weathered, and blunt as a club—didn’t look like the sort to be tucked into a back courtyard for sweetness.

Gu Shi Yi was no fool. She read the situation in a heartbeat and laughed inwardly. Master Huang Liu might be impressive, but his inner quarters sounded like a whole separate battlefield. Then again, for a jianghu man, multiple wives and concubines were nothing unusual—and women fighting over favor was even more common.

The old servant woman led Gu Shi Yi into the back courtyard to meet Old Madam and Madam. In the inner hall, an elderly woman sat high on the seat of honor, her features kind and gentle. Though old, her face shared the same lines as Master Huang Liu, the same air. Mother and son, without a doubt.

Gu Shi Yi gave a jianghu salute, bowing with clasped fists. “Old Madam, may you enjoy blessings and peace. Gu Shi Yi pays her respects.”

Old Madam’s face fell, just a little. She had clearly hoped for a different sort of “young lady.” Beside her sat a delicate middle-aged woman, brows pinched with worry. The moment she saw Gu Shi Yi, relief slid across her face.

With Sixth Master’s tastes, he would never choose someone like this.

Gu Shi Yi saw both reactions and couldn’t help a private laugh. She exchanged a few polite lines, then was dismissed to the rear. She didn’t mind. Her priority was dumping the hot potato she carried—fast. Everything else could wait.

The old servant woman led her to the most remote courtyard at the back of the Huang residence. It was clearly rarely used. Someone had cleaned and aired it out, but a faint, damp mold smell still clung to the rooms. The old servant woman caught it and apologized.

“Sorry to neglect you, young lady. Later I’ll have the maidservants bring incense.”

Gu Shi Yi looked around and smiled. “No need. It’s fine. Open the windows a little longer and it’ll clear.”

Pleased with how easy she was, the old servant woman called in a maidservant of fourteen or fifteen.

“This is the maidservant assigned to this courtyard. Gui Xi, hurry and greet young lady.”

Gui Xi came forward with a simple, honest look and bowed. “Greetings, young lady.”

Gu Shi Yi nodded. The old servant woman offered a few more polite words, then left.

As soon as she was gone, Gui Xi crept closer and asked, “Would young lady like to bathe or wash up? Or would you like something to eat?”

Gu Shi Yi glanced at the sky outside. “It’s still early. Go see what there is to eat.”

Gui Xi answered and ran off. Gu Shi Yi let Li Yan Er out so she could stretch and breathe fresh air. The two of them walked the courtyard and the nearby paths, and quickly confirmed Master Huang Liu had kept his word: this place was remote. Apart from an old gardener tending the grounds, hardly anyone passed by.

Gu Shi Yi nodded in satisfaction. “Good. We’ll stay one more night. Tomorrow morning, we find the market.”

Li Yan Er nodded, still uneasy. “I’m afraid we won’t sleep peacefully tonight either.”

“Can’t be helped,” Gu Shi Yi said. “If soldiers come, we block them. If water comes, we dam it.”

That night, deep past midnight, it really did come again.