Chapter 046

Chapter 46: One Took Three Cuts, One Was Unhurt

Yu Zhi Yi placed her hand on Madam Yao’s back, ready to pass a bit of Spiritual Energy, but Madam Yao drew several deep breaths and forced herself to steady. Yu Zhi Yi lowered her hand and lowered her eyes, thinking: [As expected of the mistress of the Chancellor’s Manor; her will is worthy of respect.]

Madam Yao steadied herself and said: “Yi’er, stay here and take care of Heng’er; I will go have a look.”

Yu Zhi Yi tilted her mouth in a tiny, hidden pout and replied: “I will go with Mother; there are plenty of servants guarding here, nothing will happen.”

Since it was natural for a junior to worry about an elder, and for Madam Yao to worry about her husband, Madam Yao did not argue. Before long, the two reached Leaning Plum Courtyard.

Chancellor Du sat straight, calmly sipping tea. From his face and his bearing, there was no sign he had just been attacked.

Madam Yao quickened her steps and checked him from head to toe, asking: “Master, what happened? Where are you hurt?”

Chancellor Du gently stopped her and comforted her, saying: “I am fine, I am fine; do not worry. I am not injured.”

He lifted the jade pendant in his hand and added with a smile: “Thanks to Yi’er’s Protective Jade Pendant, I was shielded, so I was not hurt.”

Madam Yao let out a long breath and said: “Good. As long as you are unhurt.”

As her worry eased, she remembered her foolish son. She thought, annoyed: [Yi’er truly has real skill, yet he listened to that woman and threw away the Protective Talisman. If not for that, how would he be hurt?]

When Chancellor Du first returned home, the steward, frightened by news of the ambush, had not dared to mention Du Zi Heng’s injuries. But Chancellor Du’s eyesight was sharp. He caught the blood on Madam Yao’s cuff and asked: “Madam, are you injured?”

Only then did Madam Yao notice the blood. She did not hide the truth and told him about Du Zi Heng’s wounds. As soon as she finished, she quickly patted Chancellor Du’s chest and said: “Master, please do not be angry yet. Heng’er is hurt. Wait until he recovers, then speak…”

Chancellor Du could not possibly not be angry. He scowled and said: “That fool! Others may not understand Yi’er’s skill, but does he not? He threw away a life-saving charm as if it were nothing. All his years of study have gone to the dogs!”

He added with a hard tone: “He must cut that woman off.”

Before this, he could still turn a blind eye to his son’s affair. He had even thought that if his son truly liked her, then after he placed well in the future, they could bring that woman in as a concubine. With Yi’er as principal wife, a concubine could not stir up big waves anyway. Now he saw he had been completely wrong.

Yu Zhi Yi did not respond to that part. Instead, she asked in a level voice: “Father and Young Master were attacked at the same time. Could there be a plot behind this?”

Perhaps seeing that she wanted to shift the topic, Chancellor Du let the earlier matter drop. He sighed and said: “It is complicated. It touches the struggle for the throne.” Then he warned, voice firm: “From now on, if you go out, bring enough people. Remember, do not go out alone.”

Madam Yao did not press for details and agreed with a nod. Yu Zhi Yi still had doubts, but since Chancellor Du did not want to explain, she said no more. Even without open talk, she could guess.

In her last life, by this time she had already left the capital, so she did not know that Chancellor Du and Du Zi Heng had been attacked on the same day. But since it involved the symbols of imperial power, it was not hard to reason it out. Chancellor Du held great power, yet he had only one child, Du Zi Heng. If either Chancellor Du himself or his only son met with trouble, the Chancellor’s Manor’s line would suffer a heavy blow. Then their political enemies and the forces behind them could seize the chancellor’s seat.

In her last life, when she died, the new emperor had already taken the throne. The one who ascended was Prince Xiao Yao’s full elder brother, Prince Ning. Yu Zhi Yi picked at her palm and thought: [Back then he helped make Yu Jiao Jiao stumble. I enjoyed watching the show. In this life, it is my turn on the stage.]

Du Zi Heng had taken three knife cuts. None were deep or in fatal places. They only looked scary. With a few days in bed and blood-nourishing tonics, he would be fine.

Even so, once the news spread that the chancellor’s only son was injured, visitors came in an endless stream. Gifts piled up until the manor’s storerooms were nearly full. Holding a gift list, staring at the long rows of names and presents, Yu Zhi Yi felt a headache coming on, thinking: [I like money and fine things. Too bad none of this is for me.] She still had to record each sender and each gift so they could return equal gifts later. She frowned and thought: [So annoying. Being mistress looks grand, but it comes with a mountain of chores.]

Just as she was about to set the list down, soft footsteps came closer. Du Zi Heng’s handsome face was pale, and his proud figure now carried a frail, sickly air. He looked at Yu Zhi Yi and began, hesitant: “Zhi Yi, could you…”

Yu Zhi Yi cut him off and said: “No.”

Du Zi Heng pressed his lips together and said: “At least hear what I want to say.”

Yu Zhi Yi glanced up at his face and said: “Young Master wants me to persuade Father and Mother to agree to bring Miss You back to the manor, right?”

Du Zi Heng fell silent. Having a wife who could see through everything was frightening.

Yu Zhi Yi added, cool and even: “My skills are not things I use freely. At the very least, I must use my head to analyze and calculate. If there is no need, I do not pry into another person’s thoughts.” Then she looked him in the eye and said: “Seeing through your thoughts is very easy. Young Master Du is proud. Only two things could make you lower your head to beg: Father and Mother, or Miss You.”

Du Zi Heng had no words. She knew him too well.

Yu Zhi Yi let her attention drift back to the ledgers on the table and said, almost lazily: “Father and Mother are very gentle people, but Father spoke harshly today. That means he is truly angry. I advise you to hold back for now. At least until the Imperial Examinations, do not do anything that angers them. Otherwise…”

She closed the ledger and spoke lightly, yet every word struck home: “Do not forget, Father is not only a father. He is the chancellor of the realm.”

A chancellor who wished to remove someone without leaving a trace could do it with ease.

Du Zi Heng’s heart jolted. He had never thought Father would go so far as to take his beloved’s life. But on second thought, it was not impossible.

Yu Zhi Yi assumed he had listened and turned to go back to Windward Pavilion to rest. Du Zi Heng then said, firm and low: “All the gifts that belong to me, I will give to you.”

Yu Zhi Yi paused mid-step. That offer was very tempting.