Chapter 030

Chapter 30: The Treasure Pot and the Useless Woman

Du Zi Heng finally caught up to You Bing Yue as he called out: “Bing Yue! Bing Yue!”

You Bing Yue jerked her hand free and snapped: “Aren’t you the one who feels sorry for that maid, your mother, and your proper wife? Why are you still chasing me?”

Worried about her health, Du Zi Heng softened his voice and said: “I’m not feeling sorry for them; it’s that Chancellor’s Manor has rules. Not only Chancellor’s Manor, every household has rules. Even common families won’t allow someone to beat or scold the people of the house at will, right?”

He added with a quiet reminder: “Even if it’s livestock kept at home, if an outsider touches them without permission, it’s seen as a challenge to the master of the house.”

He spoke gently: “Bing Yue, I don’t want you to be a concubine, and you don’t want to be one either. To my mother, you are still an outsider, so if you strike a servant of the manor, of course Mother will be angry.”

He pressed the point: “Think about it. If someone secretly beat Little Hu, wouldn’t you be angry too?”

Little Hu was You Bing Yue’s younger brother from her farming family.

You Bing Yue’s anger ebbed as she huffed: “Fine, I admit I was impulsive. At worst I’ll pay that maid’s medical fees. But she tried to seduce my man, and if she does it again, I’ll still hit her.”

Du Zi Heng loved this bold, carefree side of her. Hearing her fierce vow, he felt sweet warmth rise in his chest and said with a small smile: “Don’t worry, there won’t be a next time.”

He wanted to add that his mother and Yu Zhi Yi would never allow the same thing to happen again, but he feared angering You Bing Yue, so he swallowed the words and only said: “Come back with me.”

You Bing Yue shook off his hand again and said: “I won’t! Your mother has already driven me out twice. I let it slide last time for your sake, but this time I won’t compromise, or she’ll think I really covet the little bit of glory and wealth in Chancellor’s Manor.”

He tried to persuade her a few more times, but she wouldn’t change her mind.

Helpless, he could only take her back to the house he had bought for her earlier.

You Bing Yue pushed him backward onto the bed and said with a half-smile: “We didn’t finish what we started this afternoon.”

In the rolling heat of the sheets, a sharp light flashed in You Bing Yue’s eyes. [That fake-mystic gold-digger would never dream that Du Zi Heng would stay out all night because of me. And this is only the beginning. She has a long future of lonely nights ahead.]

[Once I turn the bookstore into a big treasure pot that makes money by itself, that old Madam Yao will see my ability and worth. Faced with a real money-maker or a shallow back-courtyard gold-digger, anyone with a brain knows which to choose.]

[I’ll make Madam Yao beg me to come back. I’ll make that gold-digger kneel and beg me not to throw her out of Chancellor’s Manor.]

“Achoo!” After bathing, Yu Zhi Yi stepped out and sneezed. Zi Yuan hurried to feed the brazier, asking: “It’s cold at night, are you catching a cold?”

Yu Zhi Yi warmed her hair over the coals and said with a light smile: “It’s probably someone talking about me.”

Zi Yuan pouted and muttered: “It must be that Miss You badmouthing you to the young master.”

Yu Zhi Yi gave no comment.

After a little more than a quarter of an hour, her hair was mostly dry. She sent Zi Yuan off to rest, then sat cross-legged to cultivate. The merit she had gained recently had raised her cultivation base a lot, and she felt confident: [If I keep cultivating like this, I might really become an immortal someday.]

The next morning, after finishing her morning practice, Yu Zhi Yi went to the dining hall.

Madam Yao had arrived a bit earlier. She looked haggard, likely because she had not slept well. It was easy to guess why, since Du Zi Heng hadn’t come home all night.

Yu Zhi Yi was quietly pleased; with Du Zi Heng absent, she didn’t have to worry that Madam Yao would urge her to consummate the marriage. Of course, she could not let that show on her face.

She was about to offer a few words to ease Madam Yao’s mind when Aunt Wen hurried in to report: “Madam, young madam, the eldest young madam of the Yao Clan has arrived.”

The Yao Clan’s eldest young madam was Madam Huang, wife of the Yao Clan’s eldest son. Yu Zhi Yi had met her before at the Chrysanthemum Viewing Banquet.

Madam Yao straightened and said: “Please, show her in.”

Yu Zhi Yi’s stomach growled, but she kept herself from picking up her chopsticks.

Soon, Madam Huang entered the dining hall.

Aunt Wen had already set an extra place. Madam Yao greeted her kindly and said: “Lady Heng, what brings you here? Have you eaten breakfast? Come, have some.”

Madam Huang looked even more worn than Madam Yao, her face tight with anxiety, yet she did not refuse the Madam Chancellor’s invitation.

Even so, she could hardly get anything down.

Yu Zhi Yi glanced over Madam Huang’s face for a moment, then calmly began to eat. She was hungry, and her next meal would not be until afternoon, so she needed to fill up now.

After only a few bites, Madam Huang could not eat any more. Seeing Yu Zhi Yi eating with steady appetite, she forced down her impatience.

Only when Yu Zhi Yi set down her chopsticks and rinsed her mouth did Madam Huang speak her purpose: “Aunt, I’ve come to ask a favor.”

“What is it?” asked Madam Yao. She already had a guess. If it were a matter of Madam Huang’s husband’s family, the person coming would have been the Yao Clan’s eldest son. So it was likely about her maiden family.

She had only half guessed right.

Madam Huang said with a bow: “Aunt, I’d like to ask my sister-in-law to help me find someone.”

She turned to Yu Zhi Yi and pleaded: “Sister-in-law, I know this is abrupt, but I have nowhere else to turn.”

Madam Yao paused, then looked to Yu Zhi Yi rather than decide for her and asked: “Yi’er, what do you think?”

Yu Zhi Yi answered calmly: “I am of the Mystic Sect. I cannot interfere in others’ cause and effect unless I transfer that karma onto myself.”

Madam Huang blinked, clearly confused, and asked: “How… do you transfer it?”

Madam Yao thought of the one-thousand-tael silver note, the gold hairpin, and Chancellor Du’s jade thumb ring she had previously offered when asking for help. She removed the golden step-shaker from her hair and handed it to Yu Zhi Yi as she appealed: “Yi’er, if it is not too much trouble, please help Lady Heng.”

Madam Huang stared, surprised that “transferring karma” seemed to mean paying. That golden step-shaker had to be worth around a thousand taels by itself.

Yu Zhi Yi explained in a clear voice: “It isn’t that I’m greedy. People of the Mystic Sect must strictly follow the line of cause and effect, or we will harm both others and ourselves. You wish to find someone; that is the cause you sowed. Whether we can find him or not is the result.”

She added: “When you ask me to search, you are shifting the cause onto me. There must be a medium to carry that shift, so it can be accounted for under heaven’s order.”

In her muddle, Madam Huang suddenly seized on the key point and blurted: “How did you know I came to ask you to find someone?”

Yu Zhi Yi only smiled without speaking.

Madam Huang realized at once she had asked a foolish question. Her husband’s grandmother had long turned Yu Zhi Yi’s skill into a favorite topic, praising her now and then. The younger generation had heard so much their ears were getting calluses.

Because of Grandmother, everyone in the family was polite to Yu Zhi Yi. Still, some doubted her skills. Even though many had seen her turn the richest man’s only son into a cast-off with just a few words, there were still people who felt she must have learned the backstory elsewhere and only used fortune-telling as a cover.

Madam Huang had come to Chancellor’s Manor out of desperation. The yamen had already been mobilized, and the Huang family had sent out every person they could, yet they still could not find the boy’s trail. She had not come with much hope, but still-what if?

Now, hearing Yu Zhi Yi state her purpose so directly, she felt as if a weight lifted and begged: “Sister-in-law, please help me find my nephew.”