Chapter 076

Chapter 76: She Won’t Pretend Anymore

Du Zi Heng looked away at once when he saw Eunuch Hu carefully tuck the protective talisman close to his body.

After sending Eunuch Hu off, Madam Yao had the rewarded gold and rare medicines carried to Windward Pavilion, then she spoke to Yu Zhi Yi: “For the next while you don’t need to eat in the main dining room. Whatever you want, have the small kitchen make it so you can recover well.”

Yu Zhi Yi pressed her lips together, wanting to ask about the suggestion from a few days ago, but Madam Yao did not give her the chance and instead said to Du Zi Heng: “Why aren’t you sending your wife back to rest?”

Du Zi Heng did not object. Yu Zhi Yi said nothing: “…”

Not long after, the sedan reached Windward Pavilion. As soon as Yu Zhi Yi’s feet touched the ground, Du Zi Heng walked over, clearly intending to lift her in his arms.

Yu Zhi Yi’s heart jumped, and the defensive magical artifact on her body reacted at once, bouncing Du Zi Heng away.

He staggered several steps and landed on his butt. Yu Zhi Yi said nothing again: “…”

The young man sat on the ground. His black hair, shaken loose by the sudden motion, fell over his shoulders. He turned slightly; the hair slid across his face and hid his expression. In that instant, his whole air turned dark and gloomy.

“You…” Yu Zhi Yi frowned.

Du Zi Heng suddenly moved. He stood up and calmly patted the dust from his clothes: “I only saw you moving with trouble, so I wanted to carry you inside.”

Yu Zhi Yi answered without warmth: “No need. I can walk.” She had no interest in keeping up a polite act anymore, so she turned and, leaning on Zi Yuan, went into Windward Pavilion.

Du Zi Heng stood in place for a long time, eyes unfocused, who knew what he was thinking.

Zi Yuan glanced toward the gate where Du Zi Heng stood like a stone guardian lion and asked in a low voice: “Miss, what’s wrong with the young master?”

Yu Zhi Yi lifted a shoulder: “Who knows.”

Seeing that Yu Zhi Yi did not care, Zi Yuan stopped guessing. She looked at her miss’s pale face and asked with pity: “How could such a thing happen? Does it hurt?”

Yu Zhi Yi touched the wound on her lower belly and smiled faintly: “If you’re hurt, of course it hurts. But it’s within what I can take, and right now it doesn’t hurt.”

Compared to the tired mind and cuts on the heart, the pain of the body felt small. If she could escape this shackle of a marriage, then even stabbing a sword into her own chest, she would not hesitate.

Zi Yuan was about to cry: “It’s my fault for being useless.”

Yu Zhi Yi sighed: “You weren’t even there. How could it be your fault?”

Zi Yuan’s eyes and nose turned red as she held back tears: “It’s because I’m useless that I couldn’t go into the palace with you. If I had been there, I would not have let you get hurt.” She would have held her miss tight; if a blade fell, it should have fallen on her first.

“All right, all right,” Yu Zhi Yi said, tapping the red tip of the girl’s nose: “You’ve turned into a carrot. I’m fine, aren’t I?”

She added with a soft, calm pride: “Don’t worry. In this world, except for Heaven, no one can really harm me. If I do get hurt, it’s because that hurt was meant to be.”

Zi Yuan paused. She understood: the miss let herself be hurt on purpose. Even so, her chest still ached for her. The miss must have met something she could not solve any other way and could only use getting hurt as a tool. She wondered if the goal was reached; if not, then her miss was truly too pitiful.

Feeling sorry for herself, Yu Zhi Yi rubbed her belly and said: “Zi Yuan, I’m hungry.”

Zi Yuan brightened: “The small kitchen already put on a pot of congee. I’ll go serve you a bowl.”

Yu Zhi Yi’s smile almost cracked: “I don’t want congee. I want meat, I want fragrant pastries, and I want seafood.”

These past days in the palace she had drunk congee every day and was close to gagging. The imperial physician said she could only have congee. She could not say that her wound was mostly on the surface and under her control, that it only looked serious but was not a big deal, so she had to swallow plain congee with tears.

Back on her own turf, she just wanted something truly tasty. She was worth at least a hundred thousand taels of silver now. So rich, yet she could not even eat meat. What was the point of all that money?

But the always-obedient Zi Yuan was firm today: “No, Miss. Even if your wound does not look serious, you still have to avoid certain foods when you’re hurt. The physician said you must avoid raw and cold things, greasy foods, meat and fish, sweets, and wine.”

Yu Zhi Yi went silent: “…” [I’m so tired. Just end me.]

The days of recovery were bland and boring. She could have forced Zi Yuan to cook something good, but Chancellor Du and his wife came by every day to check on her and even inspected what she ate. If they discovered Zi Yuan secretly feeding her, they would be angry. Yu Zhi Yi did not want Zi Yuan punished, so she held back her cravings.

Red Luan visited twice while she healed. Red Luan used to be Yu Zhi Yi’s food buddy; many of the dishes Yu Zhi Yi loved were ones Red Luan had cooked. In the past, whenever they met, Red Luan loved to feed her. But now, every time she came, she brought rare herbs of all kinds. Yu Zhi Yi looked at those and felt bitterness rise in her mouth before she even tasted them.

Red Luan looked at her with sympathy and spoke like a big sister: “Bear with it. You got hurt. Your body is the base for everything. Heal first, then you can eat even more good food later. When you’re better, I’ll take a day off and cook myself. I’ll make a huge table of your favorites, all right?”

She counted on her fingers with a grin: “Braised lion’s head meatballs, spicy hotpot soup, barbecue, Beijing-style shredded pork, spicy sliced pork, pickled-cabbage fish…”

“Stop,” Yu Zhi Yi said weakly: “If you keep talking, my drool will fall.”

Red Luan giggled: “So little self-control.” Then, like doing a magic trick, she pulled a lidded bowl from an ordinary wicker basket and said with pride: “I asked the physician. You can’t eat heavy meat or fish, but a little minced meat is fine. I cooked vegetable and minced-meat congee with preserved egg before I came. Here, drink while it’s warm.”

Yu Zhi Yi’s eyes lit up: “!!”

After Red Luan left, Yu Zhi Yi rubbed her rounded little belly, completely satisfied.

Du Zi Heng came in and stared at her pretty face, where a soft smile still lingered. He stood there for a long time without speaking. Yu Zhi Yi could not stand the heavy stare. She opened her eyes and looked at him, already impatient: “Young Master Du, do you need something?”

Du Zi Heng pressed his lips. Since that day, she no longer hid how impatient she felt with him.

“It’s nothing major,” he said evenly: “I just wanted to tell you the mastermind behind those assassins has been found.”

“Oh,” Yu Zhi Yi replied without much interest.

Du Zi Heng frowned: “You already knew?” As soon as he said it, he knew it was a foolish question. If she could predict the assassins, how hard could it be to predict the mastermind?

But he misunderstood her. She had not foretold it. In the last life, up to her accidental death, the palace never found the hand behind the attack. She had only just heard gossip from Red Luan: Prince Zhong had been accused of plotting rebellion, beaten one hundred strokes, stripped to commoner status, and thrown into Heaven Prison. The attack had happened only days before, and then a prince was punished for treason. It was not hard to guess what people would think.