Chapter 051

Chapter 51: Things That Won’t Happen Until Years Later

Marquis Wu’an was not pleased at that. He held back out of respect for the prince’s status, but he still spoke up for Yu Zhi Yi: “Your Highness may not know. Young Madam Du has real skill. Years ago, when she was still a child, she looked at my wife’s face and saw that my useless son was in danger. Because of her warning, my son escaped death.”

He kept it to that one example. Other matters touched power struggles. He only wanted to keep the honor of the whole Wu’an Manor and had not done anything cruel, but those stories were not fit to say aloud. Besides, none of them would be more convincing than this one.

Duke Ding Guo’s expression shifted. He studied the young woman in front of him with care. She was gentle and lovely, and on closer look truly stunning. But for some reason, when he first looked at her, he did not notice her beauty. He felt first a quiet air that set the heart at ease. That calm feeling made him decide to give her, and himself, a chance.

He spoke politely: “Young Madam Du, if you truly can divine, then tell me what this duke is thinking right now.”

Because Marquis Wu’an knew Yu Zhi Yi and seemed close to her, it was possible they had passed messages. The duke was not foolish and would not ask a question that could easily be a trap.

Prince Xiao Yao and the others guessed the duke’s idea. The prince leaned back, relaxed, ready to watch.

You Bing Yue kept her perfect face cold, showing no emotion, certain that Yu Zhi Yi would lose badly. The more she thought lately, the more she felt Yu Zhi Yi’s skills were fake.

She knew very clearly that she had fallen into a book, one called The Grand Secretary’s Beloved, a sweet romance with Du Zi Heng as the male lead. But the role she had taken was not the female lead. It was a throwaway part used to push the male and female leads’ love story forward.

That did not matter. Now that she was here, she would not be cannon fodder. As for the original wicked first wife in the book, she did not remember her well, but she clearly recalled that woman lived by clinging to the male lead and could not survive after leaving him. So Yu Zhi Yi must have been faking her magic earlier. That woman was impressive enough to fool even her, a queen of the night, but this was where it would end. Duke Ding Guo was no small fry from Du Manor. Yu Zhi Yi could not win him over with empty talk.

Yu Zhi Yi smiled and answered the duke: “You are thinking that if I am not a fraud, I might truly find your sister. But if I am a fraud, you will hold me to account for using you as a stepping stone today.”

Duke Ding Guo’s pupils trembled.

Not a word missed.

Prince Xiao Yao frowned. Judging from his maternal grandfather’s face, the woman had guessed right. [Annoying. I did not expect her to be this quick.]

He had thought she would guess that the duke wanted her to help search for someone. After all, Marquis Wu’an knew her and had brought the duke here. It was hard not to assume. He had not expected her to skip the obvious path. [Hmph. She got lucky.]

Duke Ding Guo ignored the others. At last he treated the too-young master with full respect. He bowed slightly and said: “Please help this duke find my little sister. I will reward you greatly.”

His mother had borne only two children, him and his little sister. When he was young, his sister disappeared. It became the thorn in his mother’s heart, and she died without closing her eyes in peace. It also became his lifelong obsession. He had never stopped searching. But the Great Sheng Empire was vast. Even as a first-rank duke with many men under him, he had never found her.

Yu Zhi Yi nodded and said: “Please tell me your sister’s birth date and the eight characters of her birth.”

Duke Ding Guo was about to speak when You Bing Yue cut in: “I know where your sister is.”

She gave Yu Zhi Yi a sidelong look, the smugness in her eyes hard to hide.

Yu Zhi Yi was a little surprised.

Before she could reply, Prince Xiao Yao said with joy: “Yue’er, do you really know where Great Aunt is?”

You Bing Yue nodded. She had been skimming the book when she was interrupted. When she came back, she happened to read the part about Duke Ding Guo’s sister, so the scene was fixed in her mind. The book said that a few years later, Duke Ding Guo would catch the kidnapper who had taken his sister. The kidnapper would reveal a lead: the sister had been sold to a poor mountain village hundreds of miles away. That village was very poor and valued boys over girls. There were very few women, so his sister had been sold as a shared wife.

Thinking of this, she simply told the truth as she knew it.

Duke Ding Guo’s eyes reddened at once: “Is what you say true?”

You Bing Yue answered firmly: “Without a doubt.”

The duke shook with rage: “A shared wife… a shared wife! My Qin’er!” He ground out his vow: “This duke will level that cursed village.”

Prince Xiao Yao sat up straight, his gaze turning dark.

Yu Zhi Yi glanced at You Bing Yue, puzzled. Sensing her look, You Bing Yue smiled and asked: “Master, am I right?”

She was certain her lead was correct. No matter what Yu Zhi Yi said, it would put her in a bad position. If Yu Zhi Yi admitted it was right, then she was only repeating a big case already known. If Yu Zhi Yi said it was wrong, then it would prove that her so-called skills were nothing but tricks.

Yu Zhi Yi acted as if she had not heard the loaded question. She looked seriously at Duke Ding Guo and said: “I still need your sister’s birth date and eight birth characters.”

In truth, she had already read from the duke’s face the general end of his sister’s path. But the details required the exact birth data to calculate. She also needed it to confirm something else.

Duke Ding Guo frowned. He was heartbroken and anxious to rescue his sister, but he had come here to ask for help and had already shown respect. If he left without hearing an answer, it felt like a loss. He signaled his most trusted man to gather people first, while he stayed to hear what the master would say.

He gave the eight characters of his sister’s birth.

Yu Zhi Yi listened, then raised her hand and calculated. Soon she lowered her hand, her expression turning unusual.

There was something about You Bing Yue… strange. The lead she gave matched what Duke Ding Guo would do years later. But in that event, You Bing Yue was not part of it at all.

As that thought fell into place, Yu Zhi Yi watched the lines of fate on Duke Ding Guo’s face shift. In the original event without You Bing Yue, now You Bing Yue appeared.

But this lead was wrong.