Chapter 023

Chapter 23: No Big Problem

Yu Zhi Yi could not figure it out.

But she had a rule: if someone respected her even a little, she would return tenfold.

Since Madam Yao had given her such a precious item, she could not owe the favor.

Lately she could not read Madam Yao’s face clearly, so she could not judge her fortune or misfortune. She went to her private vault, chose a fine piece of jade, and spent three days carving a bracelet with a defensive function. Then she delivered it in person to Madam Yao.

Madam Yao lifted the bracelet and asked with joy: “Is this for me?”

She looked at the green strand. Each bead was clear and shiny. Even without sunlight, a soft glow flowed across it. It was beautiful and dreamlike.

She liked it at first sight.

Seeing Madam Yao’s honest delight, Yu Zhi Yi let out a quiet breath.

When she was eleven and first learning to make magical tools, she had made a defensive bracelet for each person in the Yu Clan.

Her skills had not been mature then, but you could not see that from the outside. They looked like normal bracelets and were no worse than the ones sold in shops.

But the Yu Clan despised them.

The fifth son even threw his bracelet on the ground in front of her and sneered as he said: “What ‘defensive bracelet’? Yu Zhi Yi, can you not live without showing off? You learned two days of tricks from a fake daoist and now think you are a master?”

He snorted and said: “This trash can go to whoever wants it. I do not.”

The other four sons did not speak so harshly, and they did not throw their bracelets away, but Yu Zhi Yi never saw any of them wear the bracelets.

As for Yu Jiao Jiao, her string was probably thrown into some trash heap long ago.

Catching herself slipping into old memories again, Yu Zhi Yi forced those unimportant things away and said, a bit hesitant: “Mother, this bracelet has defensive power. Even if nothing bad happens, wearing it daily will strengthen the body.”

Madam Yao’s eyes lit up as she asked: “Really?”

She stroked the beads a bit too hard, then, afraid she might harm the bracelet’s amazing effect, stopped touching it at once. She put it on her wrist and lifted her arm into the light like she was admiring a treasure, staring and staring.

Yu Zhi Yi was a little surprised. She had not expected Madam Yao to like it this much.

She could tell it was real joy.

So it turned out her work was not unloved by all. It was only the Yu Clan who did not like it.

Lowering her eyes, she felt some old stubborn thoughts dissolve in that moment.

That night, when Chancellor Du came home and noticed a new bracelet on Madam Yao’s wrist, he asked casually: “Is that newly bought?”

Madam Yao shook her wrist with pride and said: “Yi’er gave it to me.”

Chancellor Du muttered under his breath: “That girl took a jade thumb ring worth eight thousand taels from me and did not even give a token in return.”

As if that was not enough of a jab, Madam Yao added with bright eyes: “Yi’er said this is a defensive magical artifact she made herself. It can protect me. Wearing it daily will strengthen my body and help me live longer.”

She rubbed her temple and said with real feeling: “You know, after I put it on, my long-time headaches eased a lot. My body feels lighter too.”

Chancellor Du said flatly: “There cannot be something so magical in this world.”

Madam Yao widened her eyes and argued: “It is true! If you do not believe it, try it.”

With a stiff face, Chancellor Du took the bracelet and put it on his own wrist.

Feeling a twinge of regret, Madam Yao still explained: “You have to wear it a while before you feel its effect.”

Chancellor Du nodded and said: “Then I will give it a good try. You sleep first.”

Though it pained her to let it go, Madam Yao held back her reluctance and let Chancellor Du walk off with the bracelet. She had to prove what it could do.

Chancellor Du wore the bracelet to his study and soon forgot it was there. He sunk into his work.

As the chancellor of a nation, he was busy from morning till night. Even after dark, he could not rest.

If His Majesty suddenly called, he had to crawl out of bed and go into the palace no matter how late it was.

Luckily, the Imperial Palace was quiet that day, with nothing major happening.

Not until the early hours did Chancellor Du lift his head from the stack of files.

He stood and, as usual, stretched to push away the stiffness. Then he paused.

[Why am I not tired today?] He flexed his fingers and blinked. [I feel full of energy. I could handle a hundred more memorials.]

A thought struck him. He looked down at his wrist. The bracelet gave off a soft glow even in the dark. It was very pretty.

[Stinky girl.]

[Was my jade thumb ring not worth even a small return gift?]

The bracelet was well made, but compared to his thumb ring, it still fell short.

One thumb ring could buy ten bracelets.

Hmph.

Even though he was tempted, he remembered the effect it had on the body. Before going to court at dawn, he quietly fastened the bracelet back onto the sleeping Madam Yao’s wrist.

In the following days, Yu Zhi Yi lived very comfortably.

Madam Yao clearly meant to hand the whole of Chancellor’s Manor over to her care. The manor sounded grand, but the inner household was simple: the masters were only Chancellor Du and his wife, Du Zi Heng, and Yu Zhi Yi.

After Madam Yao’s earlier cleanup, the manor now ran bright and clean.

The servants all understood that although the young madam did not have the young master’s favor, she had the support of her in-laws and the authority to steward.

On top of that, the story that she could tell at a glance whether someone had done wrong had spread through the whole house. Aside from a few clowns who liked to jump about, no one dared make trouble for her.

As for the daily business of the household, aside from the things she needed to decide herself, Yu Zhi Yi handed most of it to Zi Yuan.

Zi Yuan’s frustration grew day by day. She said with a twist to her mouth: “Miss, do you even want me to receive the stewards from the estates?”

She was only a maid. How could that be reasonable?

Yu Zhi Yi was comfortably eating a sweet melon shipped in from the Northern Frontier and looked up, innocent: “Is there a problem?”

Grinding her teeth, Zi Yuan answered: “A big problem. I am just a maid. I cannot hold the room.”

Yu Zhi Yi waved her hand and said with calm ease: “No big problem.”

She had checked the birth charts of those stewards and pointed at one name: “This Du Qiao looks honest and simple on the outside, but in private he eats, drinks, visits brothels, and gambles. Of course, he is a man. I can understand it. As long as he does not harm others, he could even drink and gamble himself to death and I would not care.”

Her eyes cooled as she added: “But he loses nine bets out of ten. After he lost all his savings, he turned his eyes to the manor’s money.”

“He took the manor’s silver straight to the gambling den, thinking he would win and plug the hole. As you can guess, he only lost more. The hole grew bigger and bigger until he could not fill it at all. So he started fiddling with the accounts to make everyone believe the gold shop had no money because it was losing business.”

“As for the evidence…”