Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Why Do You Care If He’s Kidney-Deficient

Hadn’t that old bastard practically spelled it out already? The Demon Clan bloodline ran through the mother’s side. The Sun family’s Eldest Young Madam’s mother and Gu Shi Yi’s mother were sisters—both daughters of the Qian family—so that child could be half-demon too. Unlike Gu Shi Yi, she probably wasn’t “lucky” enough to hide it. The moment she was born, the bloodline likely showed.

No wonder.

Three wet nurses had sworn blood pacts. Even the most intimate care was never entrusted to outsiders. The Sun family’s Eldest Young Madam had been terrified someone would discover the truth.

Gu Shi Yi narrowed her eyes.

“So… what the hell was my ancestor, exactly?”

Scales meant it wasn’t Second Senior Brother. If it were Second Senior Brother, the kid would be growing pig bristles.

Li Yan Er said, “From what I can tell, the reason Little Miss still can’t walk at her age is probably because of those scales…”

A tiny child, scales covering everything below the waist—if she tried to walk, wouldn’t her legs scrape and make that shh-shh sound?

So…

Gu Shi Yi turned it over for a long while, then said, “Scales on the lower half… could our ancestor patriarch have been a mermaid?”

It almost made a twisted kind of sense. Weren’t the merfolk of the South Sea human on top and fish below—greedy, lustful, always using their singing to lure passing ships?

“So we’re the sea clan?”

The two of them stared at each other, eyes wide. After a long moment, Gu Shi Yi asked, “Does this child’s secret have anything to do with my cousin impersonating me?”

She just couldn’t believe that bargain cousin had taken her place for something as simple as the Gu family’s money—or the Sun family’s Eldest Young Madam position. There had to be something deeper. Li Yan Er clearly thought so too. After a beat, she asked, “Shi Yi, how much do you actually know about your maternal family?”

Gu Shi Yi thought, then said, “I only stayed with the Gu family for five years. I’ve only been to the Qian family once. Everything I know about them is just what Gu family people told me…”

The Qian family of Gilded Gold City counted as a second-tier clan. They had businesses, sure, but nothing compared to the Gu family. Status-wise, Gu Shi Yi’s birth mother could barely be said to match Gu Huai Mu, but wealth and influence? Not even close. Back then, Gu Huai Mu had fallen hard for her beauty. After he returned, he couldn’t stop thinking about her, and finally sent people to the Qian family to propose.

That was exactly why, after Gu Shi Yi’s birth mother ran off with someone else, Gu Huai Mu felt publicly humiliated. Even now, he hated that woman—Qian Ru Ling—down to the marrow.

Li Yan Er tilted her head and pondered for ages, but still came up empty.

“Looks like… we’ve got more digging to do.”

“No problem,” Gu Shi Yi said. “I’ve got time. I’m going to figure this out.”

She was alone now. Anywhere was home if she stayed long enough. She wasn’t greedy for the Gu family’s Eldest Miss title or the Qian family’s Young Madam position—she just had a gut feeling there was something ugly behind all of this.

And it was lucky she’d insisted on staying with the Qian family. Ever since entering Qian Residence, she hadn’t stepped out the front gate—or even the second gate. Outside, Shang San and his master had already lost their trail.

“Master… that mortal woman is still alive, but… but I can’t find her. No matter what I do.”

Cold sweat streamed down Shang San’s forehead. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the copper basin. A feather floated on the water’s surface, bobbing and spinning—up, down, in circles—refusing to settle and point a direction. The woman beside him frowned, her impatience sharpening.

“If you can sense her aura, why can’t you find her?”

Shang San hesitated. “My Floating Hair Tracking Art hates mixed auras. If she’s in a place where the aura is chaotic…”

After another beat, he added, “Or… her aura is being blocked by a formation.”

“You mean she’s hiding somewhere protected by a formation?”

They exchanged a look, suspicion rising in both sets of eyes.

“How does a mere mortal woman hide inside a formation?” the woman said, voice turning razor-thin. “Unless… unless she’s the one who killed Fifth Lady. Or she lured someone here to kill Fifth Lady, then took the Blood-Eroding Grass.”

Fifth Lady was dead. The Blood-Eroding Grass was gone. Yet that mortal woman was alive—and somehow capable of hiding her aura so completely they couldn’t trace her.

No matter how you spun it, something stank.

Shang San looked sick with frustration. “Master, it’s my fault. I misjudged her.”

The woman waved him off. “Don’t blame yourself. I chose her. I told you to do it.”

She thought for a moment. “That escort bureau escort master, Huang Liu—did you check his background?”

“I used a soul-searching technique,” Shang San said. “He claims he rescued her on the road and doesn’t know her origins. He only knows she has some Dao arts.”

The woman nodded. “Then we ask Huang Liu again. Tonight.”

“Yes.”

That night, Huang Liu was in his study, bent over his account books, when the room’s lamplight suddenly dimmed. His vision blurred for a heartbeat—and someone was standing in front of his desk.

Huang Liu had spent years roaming the jianghu. His nerves were steel. He startled, then forced himself calm. Rising, he cupped his fists politely.

“Master Shang. Please, take a seat.”

Shang San’s face was thunder. He didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Where is that woman?”

“Woman?” Huang Liu blinked, then understood. “You mean Miss Gu?”

Shang San didn’t answer—just stared at him.

Huang Liu swallowed and said, “She’s working as a servant in the Sun family now…”

Shang San’s brows snapped together. “The Sun family in Blue Moon City?”

“Yes,” Huang Liu said quickly. “That Sun family.”

“Why did she go to the Sun family to work as a servant?”

Huang Liu hurried on. “Miss Gu had no money and nowhere to go. She asked me to find her a place to settle and earn some silver, so she could live. I introduced her to the Sun family. Now she’s serving as Miss Sun’s attendant.”

Shang San didn’t speak. He simply held Huang Liu’s gaze.

Huang Liu’s pupils unfocused. His expression dulled, like a lantern going out.

“Are you telling the truth?” Shang San asked.

Huang Liu nodded woodenly.

“That Gu woman is truly alone? No accomplices?”

Huang Liu shook his head.

“When did she arrive in Blue Moon City with you? When did she go do the job for me? After the job, what did she say?”

Huang Liu answered every question in a flat, obedient rhythm. Shang San’s frown only deepened.

“Did she ever mention who she gave that jade box to?”

Huang Liu paused, searching his own memory, then shook his head.

That, at least, made sense. Huang Liu was an old hand. He knew better than to ask about things that could get him killed, so he’d never pried into that jade box. Even with spells, Shang San couldn’t pull a single useful clue from him.

“In that case,” Shang San said coldly, “we can only go to the Sun family.”

He flicked his sleeve.

Huang Liu’s legs went limp. He collapsed to the floor. Shang San vanished without a trace.

The next morning, Huang Liu jolted awake with last night’s memory pounding in his head—especially that man’s gloomy face.

“So the job really did go wrong,” he muttered.

Still… Master Shang had only asked questions. He hadn’t tried to drag Huang Liu into the mess.

Huang Liu thanked every ancestor he hadn’t babbled and pestered Gu Shi Yi for details back then. He’d kept his mouth shut and survived by sheer luck. Now all he could do was pray Miss Gu would make it through alive.

But the news Shang San brought back made his master’s brow knot tightly.

The Sun family wasn’t the Huang family. They were a cultivation clan. Even if they weren’t a terrifying great family, the Marvelous Medicine Sect wasn’t some giant force either. Offending them lightly was a terrible idea.

And that Blood-Eroding Grass was a thousand-year spirit herb. Countless cultivators would kill for it. She’d only found it with great difficulty in Cold Wind Valley, and she’d hidden the whole way—even concealing herself among a mortal escort convoy—just to avoid attention.

If she marched to the Sun family’s door now and they noticed, then she’d never get it back.

The woman felt the problem tighten around her like a noose. She thought for a long time, found no clean solution, and finally clenched her teeth.

“Then we wait outside the Sun family. I refuse to believe she’ll never come out.”

It wasn’t elegant, but it was what they had.

They stayed in Blue Moon City—asking discreetly at the cultivators’ market about the Blood-Eroding Grass while also keeping watch outside the Sun family, ready to pounce the moment Gu Shi Yi showed herself.

Meanwhile, Gu Shi Yi was holding Little Miss as she went to see the Sun family’s Eldest Young Master.

He looked every inch a grand family’s heir: refined, bright-eyed, handsome as carved jade. Too bad he was just like his wife—his affection for his daughter was mostly for show. Still, he cared about appearances more than the Eldest Young Madam did. He pretended to hug the child, then quickly handed her back to Gu Shi Yi.

Then he saw Gu Shi Yi’s face and made a small sound. “Eh?”

He flicked a glance at his wife, who sat there with a soft, gentle smile.

“What are you trying to do?”

He thought his wife was plotting again—trying to keep him in this courtyard. His gaze slid over Gu Shi Yi, sharp and appraising.

“Her looks are only average.”

But then his eyes dropped.

That figure, though… compared to his wife, it was practically overflowing.

Honestly, it wasn’t fair to wrong his own madam like that. With what little “soup” he had, his Eldest Young Madam barely got enough for herself—like she’d ever share.

The Eldest Young Madam’s expression didn’t change. Her smile stayed perfectly sweet. “Husband, what are you saying? It’s just a coincidence. What could I possibly be thinking?”

“Is that so?” The Eldest Young Master chuckled, rose, and waved a hand. “I’m hungry. Tell them to set the meal early.”

Everyone curtsied and saw him off to the side hall.

The moment he left, the Eldest Young Madam’s face froze into ice. She shot Gu Shi Yi a cold glance.

“Hurry and take Little Miss away.”

“Yes.”

Gu Shi Yi lowered her head, carried Little Miss out, and cursed silently.

Fuck. This woman’s got two faces. She flips like turning a page.

And her man? Skinny, pale, with that kidney-deficient look. Like hell she’d ever want a weakling like that.

How could a weakling compare to Brother Johnson?

Back in the courtyard, Gu Shi Yi whispered her complaints to her best friend. Li Yan Er rolled her eyes so hard she nearly saw her own brain.

“Sis, that’s her husband. Why do you care if he’s kidney-deficient? The one who isn’t getting any isn’t you.”

“That’s not guaranteed,” Gu Shi Yi said with a grimace. “If I hadn’t left back then, maybe that would be my husband.”

She shuddered. “But… I probably wouldn’t even want him.”

Li Yan Er had long since become numb to her sister’s heavy tastes. She could only sigh and drag her back to reality.

“If you have time to think about men, think about why your cousin is impersonating you.”

Gu Shi Yi laughed. “No rush. We’ve got food, we’ve got wages, we’ve got a roof. We can take it slow.”

This wasn’t something you cracked overnight.

Li Yan Er thought it over. “The Eldest Young Master is staying in the main courtyard tonight, right? How about… I go listen around?”

Gu Shi Yi stared at her. “Yan Er… you’re going to eavesdrop? I’m the one with the filthy mind, but you’re the one with the guts.”

She clicked her tongue. “Bold as hell.”

Li Yan Er spat. “Can you think about something normal for once?”

Gu Shi Yi put on an innocent face. “Husband and wife haven’t shared a bed in ages. If they do something tonight, that’s normal. If you sneak over to listen… what do you call that if not eavesdropping?”

Li Yan Er refused to let her build momentum. She dove into Gu Shi Yi’s sleeve, leaving only a muffled sentence behind.

“Just remember—later, drop me off as close to the main courtyard as possible.”

That afternoon, Gu Shi Yi carried Little Miss—fresh from her nap—to see her parents.

This pair of fake husband and wife smiled warmly at their daughter, yet neither of them reached out to hold her. Afterward, Gu Shi Yi took Little Miss to the garden. While passing through the back hall, Li Yan Er slid out from the wide sleeve, checked her surroundings, and used the flowers as cover to slip into the inner courtyard.

With her current size, she was basically a little mouse. The Sun residence had formations reinforcing the entire estate—there were barely even mosquitoes, much less rodents.

But Li Yan Er had a jade token tied to her back by Gu Shi Yi. It let her move freely inside the Sun residence without triggering any formations.

So the little clay doll hugging the wall went completely unnoticed.

Li Yan Er headed straight for the Eldest Young Madam’s bedroom.

Two young maidservants stood guard at the door. They were chatting—casual, careless, because no one was around. Li Yan Er took advantage. With her nimble little body, she slipped right to one maid’s foot, grabbed the threshold with both hands, kicked off, flipped inside, and sprinted along the wall—vanishing into the shadows by the corner.

One maid blinked. “Eh… did you see that? Something just ran past.”

She crouched to search the ground. The other maid frowned. “I didn’t see anything. What, a… mouse?”

“No way. We’ve got formations. Mice can’t get in.”

They searched, found nothing, and chalked it up to tired eyes. In a heartbeat, they forgot about it.

Inside, Li Yan Er slipped past the bead curtain and into the inner room.

The Sun residence was rich. As the main wife of the Eldest Young Master, the bedroom was lavish to the point of arrogance. Li Yan Er climbed onto the vanity, peered around without touching anything, then crawled over the bed, checking every corner.

Nothing.

She moved behind the folding screen—and suddenly caught a whiff of an odd, sweet fragrance.

“What is that?”