Chapter 022

Chapter 22: Got a Free Benefit

With a sharp tone, Yu Pan’er said: “Forgive me for being blunt, but young madam is far too spineless!”

Zi Yuan glared at her, speaking through clenched teeth: “You are being rude! How dare you talk to the young madam like that?”

Yu Zhi Yi waved Zi Yuan back and looked at Yu Pan’er with a faint smile, asking: “Then in your view, what would I need to do so I would not seem spineless?”

Yu Pan’er had been a houseborn servant of the Yu Clan. Her parents were stewards on the estates, so she saw herself as above the other servants and acted like half a master in the manor.

She had always looked down on Yu Zhi Yi, the fake daughter who lost favor after she turned ten.

Now that the Yu Clan had assigned her to be Yu Zhi Yi’s dowry maid, even if no one said it aloud, she believed she knew the madam’s true plan: she was being promoted.

She had a pretty face and knew a few tricks. As long as she had a chance, she was sure she could win the favor of Young Master Du.

But the young madam was useless.

The groom was stolen from her on the wedding night, and that was that. Afterward, she did not make a scene. On the day she returned to her parents’ home, she still did not ask the master and madam to stand up for her. She swallowed the loss in silence.

After that, she did not go look for trouble with that other woman and did not try to please her husband.

Instead, she got very close to Madam Yao.

Madam Yao was only the mother-in-law, someone who would one day pass away and could not help her gain favor. What use was it to flatter her?

A fool like this could never be loved.

Angry at the young madam’s lack of fight, Yu Pan’er lifted her chin and said proudly: “Of course you should be gentle and sweet, and please him by giving him what he likes.”

She added with confidence: “People say to catch a man’s heart, first catch his stomach. Young madam should work hard on her cooking. That is the proper thing to do. Stop wasting time on useless things.”

By “useless things,” she meant Yu Zhi Yi offering incense to the ancestors every morning and evening.

Thinking of the ancestral hall full of incense smoke, Yu Pan’er looked disgusted as she said: “No man likes a stiff, rigid woman. No man likes a woman who runs to the Buddha hall all day.”

She lifted her brows and said: “The principal wife should be dignified and steady, yes, but if she is too stiff, she will only scare people away.”

Zi Yuan was so angry that her hands shook. Hearing this girl belittle her miss for honoring the ancestors made her want to sew up the foul mouth that kept spitting stink.

Yu Zhi Yi did not get angry.

She had lived one more life. If a few empty words could still stir her up, she would have lived in vain.

She even clapped lightly and said: “Well said.”

Zi Yuan froze in surprise.

Yu Pan’er raised her chin even higher.

She had always thought this fake daughter was a coward. Back in Yu Manor, she had been beaten down by the Second Miss and never once came out on top. Now, even in a new house, she had not improved at all.

What Yu Pan’er did not know was that Yu Zhi Yi had not been beaten down by Yu Jiao Jiao. After a few arguments, Yu Zhi Yi had simply found it boring.

The tricks Yu Jiao Jiao used each time were so obvious that anyone who was not blind could see they were false. Yet Minister Yu, his wife, and the five sons of the Yu Clan acted like they were all blind and believed Yu Jiao Jiao with no effort.

Yu Zhi Yi had fought back a few times and let them see that Yu Jiao Jiao was not the pure and fragile white flower they imagined.

But what use was it?

They were bound by blood. She was the daughter of a vile thief, an impostor who had switched lives and stole ten years of wealth from Yu Jiao Jiao.

The next time anything happened, they would still, without a doubt, choose to believe Yu Jiao Jiao.

Simply because they were a family.

Since more struggle would do nothing, and every time she fought back they called her cruel and scheming, she decided it was better to skip the middle steps and let them fix the label of “vicious” on her.

Realizing she had wandered into those unhappy memories again, Yu Zhi Yi drew back her feelings, raised her eyes to Yu Pan’er, and said mildly: “It seems you are very capable. No matter where you are placed, you can live quite well.”

Yu Pan’er blinked, stammering: “W-what do you mean?”

Yu Zhi Yi smiled and said: “Go report to Aunt Wen and learn how to be a steward. When I fully take charge of Chancellor’s Manor one day, I may have to rely on you to help manage it.”

Yu Pan’er’s eyes went wide with surprise as she blurted: “Is that true? You are not lying to me?”

Yu Zhi Yi answered with calm ease: “Daoist cultivators do not lie.”

Yu Pan’er tossed out a half-hearted “Thank you, young madam,” then turned and left.

Perplexed, Zi Yuan asked in a low voice: “Miss, she was so disrespectful. Why are you still lifting her up?”

Yu Zhi Yi tapped the floating tea leaves in her cup and watched them unfold. They looked like tiny boats tossed by waves, leaning this way and that, unable to reach the shore or sink, with no clear path ahead.

She spoke slowly: “Go tell Aunt Wen that she should not worry about me. Reward where it is due, punish where it is due. Follow Mother’s household rules.”

Yu Pan’er was proud and arrogant. At Yu Manor she had acted like half a master. Now in Chancellor’s Manor, she went so far as to point at the real master’s nose and lecture her.

Yu Zhi Yi, after all, was not the birth daughter of Yu Manor. The debt of being raised by them was a tie she could not cut.

She was also of the Mystic Sect. Unless there was no other choice, she could not tangle herself in karmic cause and effect.

She would not personally punish Yu Pan’er. But if Yu Pan’er ruined herself by her own actions, that would not be on Yu Zhi Yi.

A girl who could not read more than a few characters and never did her work well back in Yu Manor, could she really settle down and learn to steward?

Yu Zhi Yi found herself looking forward to the answer.

Aunt Wen came in with a thoughtful face. Seeing her, Madam Yao asked in puzzlement: “What happened?”

Aunt Wen returned to herself, reported that Yu Pan’er had come to report for duty, and repeated word for word the message Zi Yuan had sent.

After hearing it, Madam Yao let out a long sigh and said: “I have asked around these days. Yi’er did not have an easy life in Yu Manor.”

Thinking of what she had heard, her heart ached.

Yi’er had suffered too much.

Yu Manor had no conscience.

Those self-righteous people might not have hurt Yi’er’s body, but their foolish actions were enough to strike a child with an unformed heart and make her doubt life itself.

Madam Yao’s eyes cooled as she said: “Yi’er is probably worried about Yu Manor, so she cannot move against that girl herself. You do not need to worry. Do as Yi’er said. Reward where deserved, punish where deserved. If she makes a big mistake, do not hold back.”

Aunt Wen bowed her head and answered: “Yes.”

The more Madam Yao thought about it, the worse she felt.

She remembered that her unfilial son had brought that woman back again. The two of them even came to her, confessing that they had once planned to leave their parents and roam the world. Her heart softened, and she agreed to let that woman stay.

She felt she owed Yu Zhi Yi. After a moment’s thought, she said: “Take the consecrated prayer beads from my bedside and deliver them to the young madam yourself.”

When Yu Zhi Yi received the prayer beads, she stared with a question in her eyes: “?”

She felt like she had done nothing at all. How had she gotten such a treasure for free?

With her eye, she could tell these beads had been offered before the Buddha for forty-nine days and personally consecrated by a revered monk.

They were a treasure for any normal person and would be greatly helpful even to her.