Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Vanished

Yu Zhi Yi arrived at Leaning Plum Courtyard, but aside from a few servants, it was empty.

When she asked, the servants said: “Madam Yao had urgent business at the estate. Aunt Wen stayed to hand things over to you, and once it is done, she will also go to the estate to find Madam Yao.”

Chancellor Du left early and returned late every day. He rarely came home at noon, and today he certainly would not be back for lunch.

Just then the steward came to report: “Du Zi Heng went to the Ministry of Personnel and may not return for lunch either.”

Yu Zhi Yi thought: “…”

[Why does it feel like when the tiger is away, the monkeys crown themselves king.]

She went back to Windward Pavilion and told the main kitchen to send over some ingredients. She would cook lunch in the small kitchen at Windward Pavilion; the main kitchen only needed to handle the servants’ meals.

Li Rou’s skills were decent. She was not a master chef, but she could handle simple home dishes just fine.

After lunch, Yu Zhi Yi lay down on the reclining chair to rest.

Li Rou had already changed clothes and returned. Seeing her miss drowsy, she asked softly: “Miss, may I give you a massage?”

A massage would help her sleep better.

Yu Zhi Yi did not refuse.

Not-too-big hands kneaded her neck and shoulders. Yu Zhi Yi half closed her eyes, and before long, she fell asleep.

Sometimes she wondered: [If I still cannot become an immortal in this life, then I might as well earn some money and live easy and comfortable.]

When she woke again it was already evening. Yu Zhi Yi did not plan to go out. She meant to eat dinner, then wash up and sleep.

She had slept all afternoon, yet if she lay down again, she could still fall asleep.

These days she had earned no merit, and her cultivation base had stalled.

But good patrons were hard to find. [I can’t just grab someone on the street and ask: do you want a fortune telling? Do you want to defy fate?]

Before long, the small kitchen finished dinner.

It was only two dishes and a soup, but there was meat and vegetables, and the colors and smell were appealing.

She had just picked up her chopsticks when she paused, then sped up her eating.

As she finished her first small bowl of rice, the steward arrived outside Windward Pavilion and announced respectfully: “Young madam, an order has come from the palace. Her Highness the Empress Dowager summons you.”

Yu Zhi Yi set down her chopsticks, rinsed her mouth, dabbed the corner of her lips with poise, then washed her hands in the basin Li Rou brought: “I know.”

Li Rou looked worried.

She had only just been promoted and knew she was not as capable as Zi Yuan, so she usually said little and did things earnestly. But she understood what happened today and knew her miss was in a poor mood, so she could not help adding: “Miss, shall I send someone to ask the young master to come back?”

A trip to the palace alone made people uneasy.

Yu Zhi Yi shook her head: “No need.”

Du Zi Heng was only a minor eighth-rank official. Even if he came along, what could he do?

Besides, the Empress Dowager had summoned her. Du Zi Heng might not even be allowed in.

At the gate of Du Manor, a sedan chair waited quietly.

Seeing it, Yu Zhi Yi suddenly remembered something.

In her past life, after Yu Jiao Jiao offended You Bing Yue, Prince Xiao Yao tampered with Yu Jiao Jiao’s carriage to avenge his beloved. One time when Yu Jiao Jiao went out, the carriage shaft snapped and the wheel shattered into pieces. Yu Jiao Jiao broke her leg and did not appear in public for a long time.

And this sedan chair in front of her now…

She reached the gate and stared at the sedan without moving. The eunuch who brought the decree grew anxious: “Young Madam Du, the Empress Dowager is still waiting.”

Yu Zhi Yi asked: “Must I ride this sedan? May I use my own carriage instead?”

This eunuch was unfamiliar. He was not Eunuch Hu who served the emperor, and Yu Zhi Yi had not seen him before in the Longevity and Health Palace.

The unfamiliar eunuch froze a moment, his eyes flicking, almost without thinking, toward one direction.

He kept his head lowered and moved very little. An ordinary person might not have noticed.

In the next instant he said, a bit curt: “Young Madam Du, not everyone has the right to sit in a palace sedan. Please do not make things difficult for me.”

Without waiting for her reply, he lifted the curtain: “Please.”

Yu Zhi Yi looked openly toward the direction he had glanced, then smiled: “Alright.”

In a dark alley, a man with a dangerous air frowned.

A moment later, he curled his lip in disdain.

[So the woman has some skill. She actually sensed my presence.]

[But defense bracelet? Mystic arts? I don’t buy it.]

[If she had real ability, Cang Yue would not have stabbed her, and the Yu clan would not have scorned and mistreated her.]

[Watch me expose her lies today. I will avenge the prince, hard.]

The sedan swayed and soon left the street where Du Manor stood, heading onto Lin’an Street.

Lin’an Street was the Great Sheng Empire’s main thoroughfare, running straight to the Imperial Palace. It was the most prosperous street in the Capital City, bar none.

Shops lined both sides; people jostled shoulder to shoulder.

Noise filled the air, and the smells of all kinds of food rushed into one’s nose, warm and lively, making people want to linger.

At the far east end of Lin’an Street was the liveliest section.

For one reason only: go a little farther and you reached the boundary of the Imperial Palace.

Within one li of the palace, idle people were not allowed.

So the foot of the Imperial City wall became a place of pilgrimage for the common folk.

Even if they could not enter, they liked feeling the palace’s majesty from afar.

Bo Yi Ming had already picked the best hidden spot. He gripped his longbow, cold malice flashing openly in his eyes.

At last, the sedan drew near the base of the Imperial City.

Though the crowd here was thick, when guards and eunuchs cleared the way, people stepped aside on their own. They whispered guesses about who might be inside the sedan.

Bo Yi Ming bent his bow and loosed an arrow at the sedan’s small window without hesitation.

The sedan was moving, but to a master of his level, hitting the target was no problem.

While the bystanders on both sides noticed nothing, the arrow split the air and flew toward the window.

Then, nothing.

The arrow never left the alley. It simply vanished.

Bo Yi Ming saw the arrow disappear right under his eyes. His face changed: “What is going on?”

No one answered him.

His expression shifted hard. [Could that woman really know mystic arts?]

A moment later, his gaze sharpened. He drew and released again.

This time he shot three arrows at once.

[No matter how skilled she is, she cannot break my three arrows.]

Then the three arrows vanished too.

Bo Yi Ming finally panicked.

He sprang to his feet, pulled on a face cloth, and grabbed his blade to charge out.

[So what if that demoness can make arrows vanish? Can she make me vanish too?]

The truth proved that yes, she could.

It was not vanishing the way he thought, but rather…

Four blades sliced the air from behind him. Bo Yi Ming turned by reflex and stared wide-eyed in shock.