Chapter 047

Chapter 47: The One Who Took Another’s Body

By custom, two-thirds of these gifts would go into the main storerooms of the Chancellor’s Manor, to be used later for visits and returns. The remaining one-third would go into Du Zi Heng’s private storeroom as his personal property. So far, the list’s value already topped twenty thousand taels. One-third came to about six thousand seven hundred taels.

Yu Zhi Yi was a kind person, so she said: “Deal.” Then she added a clear condition: “I will only persuade Father and Mother. If Miss You bears a grudge over what happened before and refuses to enter the manor, that will not be on me.”

“That will not happen,” Du Zi Heng said at once, eyes brightening. “Bing Yue knows I am hurt. She will be eager to enter the manor.”

Yu Zhi Yi nodded and said: “All right. I will speak to them.”

She went to Madam Yao first. Convincing Madam Yao was not hard. Though angry at Du Zi Heng, she cared for him more. The Imperial Examinations were only days away, and her son was injured. She worried his performance would suffer. Speaking from that angle, Madam Yao agreed.

The hard part was Chancellor Du. He had already said harsh words in front of a junior. Taking them back would look like slapping his own face. Thankfully, he loved and respected his wife. So when Yu Zhi Yi, looking worried, said she feared Father would refuse, Madam Yao promised: “Do not worry. He will agree.”

That very night, the servants prepared Moon-Viewing Pavilion. Hearing the news, Du Zi Heng gave Yu Zhi Yi a big thumbs up. He kept his word and let her pick what she liked from the gifts. Once he signed and stamped, the items could be moved into Windward Pavilion’s private storeroom.

Most gifts were rare herbs, along with pearls, agate, coral, and jade pieces. Yu Zhi Yi chose a few fine pieces of jade and the only two-hundred-year-old ginseng. As for bolts of cloth and clearly male-style ornaments, she did not take them. She planned to leave them in the storerooms to be re-gifted later when the manor sent presents out.

With this batch of jade, her small spirit-gathering array was almost complete. She was short by just a bit more than twenty Formation Flags. She smiled to herself, thinking: [That day is not far.] When tempered by merit and Spiritual Energy, even if she could not ascend in the future, she could still gain Immortality. As long as she lived, there would always be hope to ascend.

It was late. Missing his sweetheart, Du Zi Heng sent Du Lin with two maids to fetch You Bing Yue. They came back empty-handed. Du Zi Heng grew anxious and struggled to get up to search for her.

Du Lin could not hold him back and was close to tears, saying: “Young Master, your wounds are not healed. You cannot go out. If the chancellor and madam find out, they will skin this little one.”

“Out of my way,” Du Zi Heng snapped.

He tried to kick Du Lin aside, but he was now a frail patient. Even if Du Lin stood still, he could not move him. Seeing his stitches about to tear, Yu Zhi Yi stepped in and said: “Why make things hard for a servant? If something happens, you, the young master of the Chancellor’s Manor, will be fine. It is the people below who will suffer for your willfulness.”

Du Zi Heng froze. Then he asked, almost pleading: “Can you calculate where she is now?”

He took out a thick stack of bank notes. Yu Zhi Yi did not accept them and said: “I only take real silver and valuable items, like jade.”

Du Zi Heng did not believe her. He had clearly seen Red Luan give her bank notes. Guessing his doubt, Yu Zhi Yi explained: “The bank notes from Red Luan are our earnings from selling clothing. That is not payment for divination.”

He looked awkward and said: “I only have fifty taels of silver on me.”

Yu Zhi Yi nodded and said: “Enough.”

In truth, she charged common folk two taels per reading. For high officials and nobles, she did not mind if the payment was higher.

She said: “Give me her birth date and hour.”

Du Zi Heng knew You Bing Yue’s Eight Characters. Soon after they met, it had been his eighteenth birthday. When she celebrated it for him, he had asked hers, thinking to celebrate for her later.

Yu Zhi Yi had no interest in their relationship details. She calculated in silence. Her casual look suddenly changed. She straightened and calculated again.

It was the first time Du Zi Heng had seen her wear such an expression: confused, puzzled, with a hint of gravity. His heart tightened and he asked: “Did something happen to her?”

Yu Zhi Yi did not answer. Instead, she asked: “Do you have the birth date of someone close to her?”

Afraid that something truly had happened, Du Zi Heng did not delay. He reported another date and said: “This is her brother’s birth date. Mine comes not long before his.”

Yu Zhi Yi’s fingers moved swiftly. Soon, she lowered her hands and her face returned to calm. She asked, voice mild: “Do you simply want to know where Miss You is and whether she is safe, or do you want to know her life story?”

Du Zi Heng paused and asked: “Is there something wrong with her life?”

Before Yu Zhi Yi could answer, he lifted his hand and said: “Forget it. Just tell me where she is now and if she is safe.”

Since the client insisted, Yu Zhi Yi had no objection. She said, unhurried: “She is in Prince Xiao Yao’s Manor, and she is very safe. If nothing unexpected happens, you will see her tomorrow.”

Du Zi Heng’s eyes dimmed for a moment. After a breath, he said: “I understand.”

He did not doubt Yu Zhi Yi’s result at all. Very few people knew that Bing Yue knew Prince Xiao Yao. Even his parents did not know. Yu Zhi Yi could not have learned that in advance. Since she could calculate this, she must be telling the truth. Bing Yue was indeed in Prince Xiao Yao’s Manor.

Night grew deep. Yu Zhi Yi’s duty as caregiver finally came to an end. She did not care what dull, lost look Du Zi Heng wore. After telling Du Lin to guard his young master well, she returned to Windward Pavilion.

Back in her own place, Zi Yuan finally voiced her anger, saying: “Did that woman not say she would never step into the Chancellor’s Manor again? Now she is slapping her own face.”

Zi Yuan did not doubt her mistress’s calculations at all. Yu Zhi Yi, however, did not mind and said: “Du Zi Heng is hurt. It is not unreasonable for her to come visit.”

The little maid still puffed her cheeks, as if You Bing Yue would move right back into Moon-Viewing Pavilion to upset them. Yu Zhi Yi laughed and said: “Do not worry. She will not live here.”

That was also why she had agreed to help persuade them. At first, she had only read the faces of the servants at Moon-Viewing Pavilion and saw that the pavilion would remain without a mistress. But the Eight Characters she had just calculated revealed something new.

You Bing Yue was also reborn. No, more exact, she was an Otherworldly Soul. The real You Bing Yue had died in an accident a month before meeting Du Zi Heng. The Otherworldly Soul who took over her body had been very powerful in her original world. No wonder she looked down on everyone.

After seizing the real You Bing Yue’s body, she built many connections. Prince Xiao Yao was one of them. In the days ahead, she would not live in the Chancellor’s Manor, because she would move into the Prince’s Manor.