Chapter 45
Chapter 45: A Small Town by Blue Moon Lake
Gu Shi Yi nodded. The two of them crossed the front courtyard and went to Huang Liu’s study. Once they were seated, Huang Liu brought up the female corpse that had been dug up from his manor.
“It’s all thanks to you, Miss, that I finally found the reason my line is so thin. It’s shameful to say…”
He sighed.
“This was a romantic debt I left in my youth. That woman was a concubine I brought into the manor years ago. Her family’s ancestral founder had once been a cultivator, but by her generation the family had long declined, and she was the only one left. I met her, pitied her loneliness, and took her in. I even spoiled her for a while…”
The back courtyard of a great house never changed. A favored woman. A jealous Madam Huang. Poison in the dark.
The concubine died, and her body was buried in the rear courtyard. Madam Huang even spent a fortune to send away a local scoundrel, then told Huang Liu the concubine had run off with a man. Huang Liu flew into a rage and ordered people to search, but how could they ever find someone who was already dead? Time passed, and the matter was buried along with the corpse.
Madam Huang never imagined the concubine had been pregnant. Burying her in the courtyard planted disaster for the Huang Residence. For years, Madam Huang couldn’t give birth to a son. None of the concubines brought in afterward bore a son either. At last, one concubine nearly died giving birth to a daughter—only for the child to remain sickly and frail.
Retribution.
Gu Shi Yi listened, thinking quietly.
[So that jade token should’ve been that woman’s family heirloom. I helped Huang Liu settle something this huge. Taking one jade token isn’t too much.]
She nodded and said, “Now that it’s resolved, Sixth Master’s household will surely flourish—more children, more heirs, and plenty of prosperity.”
Huang Liu rose and bowed. “I truly have to thank Miss Gu.”
Then he clapped his hands. “Someone! Bring in the gift I prepared for Miss Gu!”
Several servant boys entered at once, trays held carefully in both hands. They set them down on the desk one by one. Huang Liu pointed to the gold and silver, along with three deed papers.
“Here are one hundred taels of gold, one thousand taels of silver, plus a house and two shops. Please don’t think it’s too small—please accept it.”
What a lavish reward.
Gu Shi Yi’s eyes lit up. She swallowed hard. She wanted it—badly—but the moment she thought of what she still needed to do, her heart ached so sharply her cheeks twitched. After a long moment, she forced a bitter smile.
“Sixth Master, I won’t lie… I really do want to accept these.”
“Then accept them,” Huang Liu said at once. “If you don’t, I won’t feel at ease.”
Gu Shi Yi kept smiling bitterly. “But… I’m someone who roams the world to train. Taking so much gold and silver like this would damage my virtue…”
[Bullshit virtue.]
[She might have the luck to take it, but not the luck to spend it.]
Whether Huang Liu truly believed her or not, he put on a look of deep admiration. “Miss really is a remarkable expert!”
Gu Shi Yi sighed and said, “Sixth Master, if you truly want to thank me, then help me with one thing…”
“Oh?” Huang Liu sobered. “Please speak. I, Huang Liu, may not be much of an official in Blue Moon City, but if you need something, I’ll find a way.”
Gu Shi Yi waved a hand. “It’s not that I need an item. I want you to find a way to get me into the Sun family. I can run errands, cook, scrub pots—anything. I just need to work in the courtyard of the Sun family’s eldest son’s young madam.”
Huang Liu froze. “This…”
He hesitated, then asked carefully, “Forgive my boldness, Miss, but why?”
Gu Shi Yi gave him the excuse she’d already prepared.
“Sixth Master is generous and righteous. I owe you my life, so I won’t lie. The truth is, my master is in seclusion and has some connection to that young madam. I came down the mountain this time to settle an old matter for him. It involves my master’s private affairs, so I can’t say more, but I promise it won’t be anything that harms people.”
She needed his help, so she had to make it clear she wouldn’t drag him into trouble.
Huang Liu pondered, then nodded. “That’s not hard. The Sun family and the Gu family hire new servants and attendants every month or two. Getting you into the Sun family is easy. The only concerns are, first, it might be beneath you—and second, placing you specifically in the eldest son’s young madam’s courtyard will take some maneuvering. Give me a few days.”
Gu Shi Yi’s eyes brightened. She stood and bowed. “Then I’ll trouble Sixth Master.”
Huang Liu returned the bow. “Miss is too polite.”
With that settled, Gu Shi Yi added, “Since I’ve reached Blue Moon City, I’d like to visit Blue Moon Lake. I want to leave the city today, then come back in five days to hear Sixth Master’s news.”
She declined his offer of bodyguards, took only a few banknotes, grabbed her small bundle, and left the Huang Residence alone.
Guided by childhood memory, she walked out of Blue Moon City and headed toward Blue Moon Lake. Once she passed the gate and reached the broad road where travelers were sparse, Li Yan Er finally popped out and asked softly, “Shi Yi… are you going to the Gu family?”
Gu Shi Yi stayed silent for a long moment. Then she said, “I want to sneak back and take a look… then I’ll go to the Sun family.”
She needed to find out who the Sun family’s eldest son’s young madam truly was.
Even ordinary families could search for a lost child by birthmarks or resemblance. And a cultivation clan like the Gu family—even if it wasn’t some towering sect—branded every child with a clan mark at birth to prevent bloodlines from being mixed.
So how had the Sun family’s eldest son’s young madam fooled everyone in the Gu family?
Gu Shi Yi couldn’t make sense of it.
“I want answers.”
Not caring about the Gu family’s position as eldest miss was one thing. But someone had taken her place, worn her name, and enjoyed Miss Gu’s honor as if it belonged to them. Before, she hadn’t known, so she could ignore it. Now that she did know… she couldn’t leave it alone.
After walking alone for a while, she spotted a group of young men ahead in rough cloth, each with a bundle slung over his shoulder. She quickened her pace, fell in behind them at a distance, and kept to their shadow. From afar, anyone passing would assume she belonged with them.
This road was the main route from Blue Moon City to the small town by Blue Moon Lake. Most traffic was wagons hauling Blue Moon Stone from the lakebed. The coachmen were big, burly men with fierce, bearded faces. A few wagons carried mortal craftsmen who worked at the lakeside. There were also pedestrians like Gu Shi Yi—people heading to the lake to find work.
The five young men ahead chattered nonstop.
“I heard from Third Brother that breaking stones at Blue Moon Lake pays eight qian of silver a month. That’s a lot—way better than farming back home!”
“Right, and they feed you too. Three meals a day. They say one meal even has meat…”
“Meat?” A skinny, short fellow perked up instantly. The second he heard it, his eyes shone.
His companions laughed. “Feng Gou Er, you really were born a dog. You drool the moment you hear the word meat!”
Feng Gou Er grinned. “You know my family’s poor. I only get meat once a year at New Year. If I go there and can eat meat every day, that’s a heavenly life!”
They laughed again. “You’ve got no ambition. Meat is all it takes to make it heavenly?”
“My second grandpa said ordinary stone-cutters get meat once every three days. If you want meat every day, you have to dive and feel for stones…”
“Really?” Feng Gou Er looked thrilled. “Then I’ll dive. I can swim, and I’m pretty good in the water!”
Behind them, Gu Shi Yi frowned.
She came from the Gu family. Even though she’d left home young, she’d been sharp from childhood and had heard plenty about the family’s business. The stones in Blue Moon Lake were easy to harvest in one sense: you dove into the water and felt around until you found them. Once you hauled them to shore, stone-cutters used hammers and chisels to crack away the ordinary rock outside. Only then did you get the fist-sized Blue Moon Stone inside.
But in another sense, it was deadly work.
Blue Moon Lake’s water wasn’t like ordinary water. You couldn’t drink it, and once you entered, you sank. It wasn’t as terrifying as the legendary Weak Water, where even a feather would sink, but for a thin little kid like Feng Gou Er, getting back to the surface would drain him fast.
Worse, divers had to strap two large bamboo baskets at their waist. Underwater, they filled them with stones. With that weight, forcing their way back to shore became even harder. Every year, people drowned doing this work. After thousands of years, no one could count how many wronged ghosts lay in that lake.
Gu Shi Yi had heard her elders say:
“The stones in Blue Moon Lake are each formed from a wronged soul.”
Feng Gou Er was so skinny. If he insisted on diving…
His companions clearly knew the danger too. One of them tried to talk him down. “Diving is gambling with your life. Just crack stones on shore with us. It pays less, but meat once every three days is already good.”
Feng Gou Er’s grin faded. “I know it’s dangerous. But my mother’s sick. I want to earn more silver so I can take it home and pay a physician.”
After that, the group fell quiet.
Gu Shi Yi followed them into the small town by Blue Moon Lake.
The largest, grandest estate in town belonged to the Gu family. The people living inside were mostly family members and attendants, not the true cultivators. The Gu family members who focused on cultivation lived on an unnamed mountain near the lake, where they’d carved out their dwellings. Because it belonged to the Gu family, the townsfolk simply called it Gu Mountain.
As Gu Shi Yi stepped into town, a wave of familiarity hit her.
[This place hasn’t changed at all.]
Twenty-five years, and it still looked the same. The Gu family estate sat in the center. Outside it were the homes of the concubines and big stewards. Farther out were the homes of the small stewards. Beyond that came shops and businesses. The very edge of town was packed with damp, low shacks built for mortal craftsmen. A main road ran straight through to the town center, but without a pass token, you couldn’t get past the small stewards’ ring into the inner area.
Gu Shi Yi watched the young men head toward the shacks to find acquaintances. She went farther in, found an inn, and took a room.
Night had already fallen. The outskirts were dim—craftsmen couldn’t bear to waste oil lamps—but the deeper you went, the brighter it became. The Gu family estate was the brightest of all, blazing like it wanted every corner lit.
Hands clasped behind her back, Gu Shi Yi wandered the streets like she was merely passing time. In truth, her eyes were scanning faces, searching for someone familiar. Without realizing it, she drifted into a lively street.
When she saw the heavily painted women, she smiled faintly.
In the mortal world, lust and gambling always traveled together. The town by Blue Moon Lake gathered huge numbers of craftsmen. Some took their hard-earned silver home to feed their families. Plenty of others, once they had money, tossed it at brothels and gambling dens.
Gu Shi Yi had once followed that filthy old Daoist priest around and “seen the world.” Walking this street, she looked as calm as if she’d stepped into her own yard. When brothel girls came to lure customers, she even looked them up and down, judging with a straight face.
“Little wife, that powder’s so thick I could scrape it off with a knife… tsk, tsk. And look at the wrinkles at your eyes.”
Then she leaned in, all business. “Your brothel claims it’s the first in town? Bold. How much for one night?”
A price was named.
Gu Shi Yi clicked her tongue. “Too expensive. For goods like this, you’re worth one qian of silver at most.”
When the girls were so angry they looked ready to swing, Gu Shi Yi slipped away like smoke and darted into a gambling house.
Inside, bodies packed shoulder to shoulder. She squeezed through, then suddenly spotted someone who looked familiar. She stared for a long moment, then her memory clicked.
“That’s second branch’s third uncle’s third brother… Cousin Gu Yong Ping.”
Gu Shi Yi wasn’t actually named Gu Shi Yi. By the generation naming, she should have been called Gu Wen Qian. She was the eldest legitimate daughter, but in the sprawling clan she had been the eleventh child born, so everyone called her Shi Yi.
Gu Yong Ping was tenth, so the family called him Gu Old Ten. When they were children, he’d bullied her plenty.
Gu Shi Yi backed into a corner and watched him with cold eyes as he shoved up to the table, face red, shouting over the dice and cards.
Li Yan Er peeked her head out from Gu Shi Yi’s chest, eyes wide with curiosity. With the crowd’s attention locked on the gambling, no one noticed them.
“How many children does your family have, anyway?” Li Yan Er whispered. “That’s Old Ten, and you’re Shi Yi. Do you have Twelve, Thirteen, Twenty too?”
Gu Shi Yi could only look helpless.
“A lot,” she murmured. “My family is a huge clan.”