Chapter 086

Chapter 86: This Really Is a Ghost Story

Du Zi Heng went quiet, then gave a helpless smile: “Don’t worry, I’m not here to ask you for help. You warned me that day, and I didn’t listen.”

He thought of the time they bought the dress; she had refused and reminded him again and again not to regret it later. But he blindly believed You Bing Yue could make money, so he didn’t interfere with the bookstore, didn’t check the accounts, and didn’t ask about progress. Now that trouble had come, it was his own fault. [As long as it doesn’t cost money, fine.]

Yu Zhi Yi’s expression eased.

He said, apologetic: “Sorry I didn’t believe you before. Don’t worry, I will never doubt you again.”

He clearly knew what she could do, yet back then, for some reason, he lost his senses and refused to believe.

Yu Zhi Yi answered, calm: “That won’t be necessary.”

Before she could say anything cutting, Du Zi Heng slipped away: as long as he ran fast enough, she couldn’t get mad enough to kill him.

Yu Zhi Yi stared at the doorway, puzzled: [What’s wrong with him, did he short-circuit?]

She looked at Li Rou and asked, doubtful: “Did he get shocked into stupidity?”

He had lost so much money; instead of hurrying to fill the hole, he wasted time coming here to say nonsense.

Li Rou’s honest, round face showed a relieved smile as she said: “The young master must have finally seen how good miss is.”

Yu Zhi Yi blinked: [Truly a ghost story.]

At dinner, Chancellor Du didn’t make it back, and, as usual, Du Zi Heng wasn’t there either. Yu Zhi Yi wasn’t surprised, but Madam Yao looked worried.

Yu Zhi Yi set down her chopsticks and asked, noticing Madam Yao had barely finished one bowl unlike her recent appetite: “Mother, do you not have any appetite?”

Madam Yao sighed and said: “Yi’er, what you said about Nan Feng Bookstore losing money came true.”

Nan Feng Bookstore had its own rotating funds, but only one hundred taels per month. The cost of buying books and the tea and snacks for guests were given that one hundred taels, and the rest was all on credit.

Yu Zhi Yi fell silent, unsure how to respond. She couldn’t very well say that Du Zi Heng deserved it. She didn’t want to cover for him either. If Madam Yao wished to use household funds to help him square the books, Yu Zhi Yi had no objection, since the treasury belonged to the Du Clan anyway.

Unexpectedly, Madam Yao said, firm: “If he asks you for money, don’t give him any. Use this chance to make him learn. Don’t worry, I won’t make things hard for you. If he comes to me, I’ll send him away myself and won’t kick the ball to you.”

Yu Zhi Yi was a little surprised, then nodded: “All right.”

To everyone’s surprise, Du Zi Heng didn’t go to Madam Yao or to Yu Zhi Yi. A few days later, he settled the accounts and the bookstore returned to normal.

Yu Zhi Yi didn’t like crowds, but she still heard from the servants that Du Zi Heng had written song scores for the top courtesan of Crimson Joy House; three scores earned over ten thousand taels.

Crimson Joy House ranked second among brothels in the Capital City; first place belonged to Hundred Flowers House. For the past ten years, Hundred Flowers House had pressed Crimson Joy House down so hard it couldn’t rise. Crimson Joy House’s top courtesan, Miss Ban Ruo, also couldn’t match Hundred Flowers House’s Miss Qin Huai. But once Du Zi Heng’s scores appeared, Miss Ban Ruo quickly overshadowed Miss Qin Huai for a time.

The one telling this like a lively story about how the Du Clan young master turned the forever-second Crimson Joy House around with just three songs was Li Rou. At the time, Li Rou was kneading Yu Zhi Yi’s shoulders.

Li Rou had long done rough work, so her hands had strength, but she controlled it well. Yu Zhi Yi had refused at first. She was from the Mystic Sect, strong and healthy, and didn’t feel she needed the common tricks people used to ease fatigue. But once Li Rou started working her shoulders, Yu Zhi Yi inhaled sharply: [Oh… that is kind of nice.] The words to stop her were swallowed back. [Forget it. If I’m going to lie flat and slack off, I might as well enjoy it.]

At lunch, Yu Zhi Yi gave Li Rou two drumsticks to reward her hard work. Li Rou stared at the drumsticks in surprise, stars shining in her eyes as she said: “Miss, you’re so good to me!”

Since being assigned to Yu Zhi Yi’s side, she had learned from Zi Yuan to privately call Yu Zhi Yi “miss” rather than “young madam.”

Yu Zhi Yi said, helpless: “It’s just two drumsticks.”

Li Rou’s eyes turned misty, and she said nothing more. Miss didn’t know what two drumsticks meant to her.

Outside the courtyard, Zhang Xiang watched with open envy.

The warmth inside didn’t last, because the steward arrived. The moment Yu Zhi Yi saw the steward she got a headache; experience told her his visits never brought good news.

Sure enough, the steward said: “Young madam, Fifth Young Master Yu seeks an audience. He says Madam Yu is ill and asks you to return to the manor to attend her.”

Yu Zhi Yi suddenly found her food tasteless. The Yu Clan rarely sought her out; if they did, something was up. Just like in her past life. They always despised and hated her, yet at the same time ordered her around to get benefits for them: the careers of the eldest, Yu Meng Qin, and the second, Yu Ming Yu; the marriage of the third, Yu Ming Quan; the military merit of the fourth, Yu Ning Gui; and the life of the fifth, Yu Zi Xuan.

Once they confirmed she truly knew the Mystic Sect arts, they somehow learned of a forbidden technique that could bring the dead back to life and actually wanted her to use it to revive Yu Zi Xuan. She clearly told them it was an evil art and that anyone who used it would suffer heaven’s punishment. But they still insisted.

Thinking of the past life filled Yu Zhi Yi with gloom. She rubbed her fingertips without thinking, then stood up and said: “Let’s go.”

Seventeen years of being raised could not go unpaid; this was cause and effect between them. But in this life, she would not give them everything again.

After telling the steward to inform Madam Yao, Yu Zhi Yi went to the gate. Yu Zi Xuan stood there, face full of impatience. Seeing her, he said with disgust: “Yu Zhi Yi, Mother is sick and you’re still dragging your feet. I knew you were ungrateful.”

Yu Zhi Yi couldn’t be bothered to answer. [Arguing with someone whose brain has a hole is just self-torture. You can’t reason with him. The more you say, the more excited he gets.]

Seeing her ignore him, Yu Zi Xuan snapped: “What kind of attitude is that!” He rushed after her, reaching to grab her hand and force her to look at him, and ranted: “Ever since you married into the Du Clan, you’ve become more and more arrogant. Back at home you at least pretended. Now you don’t even bother.”

When Jiao Jiao first returned in those first two years, this woman even tried to curry favor with them, going so far as to bully and frame Jiao Jiao. After they exposed her vicious face, she felt ashamed and slowly faded from sight. But every time she saw them, she would still greet them, and her expression would show some emotion. More than once, Yu Zi Xuan thought the sadness on her face was disgusting. Now that the disgusting sadness was gone, he was even angrier.

His hand, less than an inch from Yu Zhi Yi, was suddenly smacked by something and he staggered several steps.