Chapter 087

Chapter 87: A Fake When There’s Peace, Family When There’s Trouble

Yu Manor was heavy with gloom. When Yu Zhi Yi entered Madam Zheng’s bedroom, a thick smell of medicine filled the air. Only the third son, Yu Ming Quan, who had trouble moving, was attending her. Minister Yu and the other three sons were nowhere to be seen.

Yu Zhi Yi greeted him softly: “Third Brother.”

Yu Ming Quan’s brow tightened with faint worry. Seeing her, he nodded and said: “Yi’er.”

From the bed came Madam Zheng’s gentle voice: “Is that Yi’er?”

Yu Zhi Yi looked up. Madam Zheng’s face was as usual, though a bit haggard; most striking were her eyes, red and swollen. Yu Zhi Yi looked away and bowed slightly as she said: “Mother.”

Madam Zheng waved her hand and said: “Ming Quan, go out first.”

Yu Ming Quan steered his wheelchair toward the door. As they passed each other, Yu Zhi Yi heard his low whisper: “Do what you can. Don’t feel pressured.”

Yu Zhi Yi pressed her lips together.

Madam Zheng beckoned and said: “Yi’er, come sit.”

Yu Zhi Yi walked over.

Madam Zheng sighed and said: “It feels like we haven’t had a heart-to-heart in a long time.”

Yu Zhi Yi stayed quiet.

Getting no response, Madam Zheng gave a bitter smile and said: “I know you blame me for neglecting you. But Yi’er, Jiao Jiao is my daughter. She was lost when she was most helpless and suffered so much. I am her mother; I ache.”

Yu Zhi Yi answered, even: “And the one who caused all of this was your mother.”

Madam Zheng said, conflicted: “Toward you, I truly feel both love and hate.”

Yu Zhi Yi felt nothing inside. Madam Zheng had said the very same heartfelt lines in her past life. Back then, Yu Zhi Yi had agreed and even put herself in those shoes: if her own daughter had been swapped and suffered ten years in the countryside, she would never have kept the stand-in. Don’t talk to her about innocent children. When your mother malice-swapped you into a noble house and took their daughter to toil in the fields, your very existence is original sin. But sometimes she still wondered: what mistake had this “original sin” actually made? She could hardly kill herself to atone, could she? So, once she learned that Yu Jiao Jiao was the Yu Clan’s reverse scale, she gave up resisting. When people framed and mocked her, she stayed as still as a mountain.

In her past life, when she first heard Madam Zheng’s “heartfelt” words, she was deeply moved. She thought there was still a thread of warmth for her in her mother’s heart. It wasn’t until she went back to fetch something she had forgotten and accidentally overheard Madam Zheng and Yu Zi Xuan:

He asked, scornful: “Mother, you don’t still have feelings for that ungrateful wolf, do you?”

She answered, cold: “How could I? Back then, if your father hadn’t been at a key moment for promotion and couldn’t leave any handle for political enemies, we would never have kept her. I only said those things to make her obediently arrange a post for your fourth brother.”

“Yi’er?” Madam Zheng pulled her back from her daze, a bit displeased but holding down her temper.

Yu Zhi Yi returned to herself and said, calm: “Sorry, I thought of something unpleasant. Please continue.”

She had believed that, after being reborn, she had long forgotten these unpleasant things. She didn’t expect that when the scab was lifted, the inside had already rotted. [Only by cutting it open can you clear the rot and let new flesh grow.]

Her clear eyes were like a spring, too calm and pure. Being looked at like that made Madam Zheng uneasy. [Dead girl, aren’t you supposed to divine fates, the so-called Divine Maiden? How can you not understand what I mean? So those skills are fake. But it’s enough that the Chancellor Du couple like her.] Thinking this, she suddenly let two lines of tears fall.

Yu Zhi Yi watched quietly.

Madam Zheng cried for a while and, seeing the person before her didn’t coax her, felt both awkward and ashamed. She almost lost her temper, but forced herself to speak properly. Knowing that tears wouldn’t work, she dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief and, still choked, said: “Yi’er, you and Jiao Jiao grew up together. You know her. She would never be mixed up with assassins. She suffered for ten years outside. She finally had a few peaceful years with us, and now she’s been dragged into this out of nowhere. Yi’er, my heart hurts.”

Yu Zhi Yi’s face stayed cool as she said: “The Court of Judicial Review is handling this. I can’t help. Even though I was hired by exception, I am only a low fifth-rank official and don’t have the standing to speak.”

Hearing her respond at all, even with refusal, actually settled Madam Zheng’s nerves. She grabbed Yu Zhi Yi’s hand and said: “Yi’er, His Majesty hired you because of your divining ability. If you tell His Majesty that Jiao Jiao is innocent, he will believe you.”

Yu Zhi Yi drew back her hand and said: “This concerns treason. How can you be so sure His Majesty would believe me instead of taking me as an accomplice of the traitors and sweeping me up with them?”

Madam Zheng rushed to say: “He won’t. You only said a few words in the throne room, and His Majesty believed your skills. Also, the effect of your defensive bracelet is convincing. I believe that if you speak, His Majesty will believe.”

Yu Zhi Yi answered, steady: “You only saw me say a few words. Did you not notice I asked His Majesty to look for evidence midway? He didn’t believe me because I told a strange story, but because I pointed them to evidence. They believe because of proof. Don’t mix up cause and effect.”

Madam Zheng had no answer.

Yu Zhi Yi went on: “This is actually easy to solve. All Jiao Jiao has to do is explain how she knew about the assassins. If what she says is true and she truly has no connection to them, then her suspicion can be cleared.”

Madam Zheng fell silent. The reason was that Jiao Jiao couldn’t explain it. When they visited the prison and asked, Jiao Jiao stammered and couldn’t say why, only asking them to trust her. They of course trusted her. But their belief was useless; the Court of Judicial Review and His Majesty had to believe.

Biting her lip, Madam Zheng grabbed Yu Zhi Yi’s hand again and pleaded: “Yi’er, could you tell His Majesty that you divined there would be assassins and that you accidentally leaked it to Jiao Jiao…”

Yu Zhi Yi sprang to her feet and said: “So the hidden dagger finally shows. After all that talk, this is the real point, isn’t it?”

Minister Yu wasn’t a fool. Even if Madam Zheng couldn’t see the reason on the throne that day, Minister Yu could see what truly convinced the emperor. Even so, they still called her back here.

Exposed, Madam Zheng flushed and couldn’t speak for a moment.

Yu Zi Xuan couldn’t hold back and burst through the door, shouting: “We’re all one family. What’s wrong with you helping Sister Jiao Jiao?”

Yu Zhi Yi’s face turned mocking as she said: “When there’s nothing wrong, I’m a disgusting imposter who isn’t fit to be family. When there’s trouble, suddenly we’re family?”