Chapter 108

Chapter 108: Prince Xiao Yao is paralyzed again

Merit was the reward Heaven gave her for doing good deeds, and she could turn it into cultivation base.

As long as she converted it before Heaven noticed what she had done, Heaven could not yank out her cultivation base as punishment.

Thinking this way, Yu Zhi Yi brightened and worked through the night, converting all the merit into cultivation base.

Three days later, Yu Zhi Yi changed into light, easy clothes and took Li Rou to a busy restaurant, booking a second-floor window seat.

She said it was to show Li Rou some excitement.

After ordering a few small dishes and the house green plum brew, Yu Zhi Yi told Li Rou to sit and eat with her.

Li Rou at first felt uneasy and did not dare sit with her master, but Yu Zhi Yi insisted, and the girl did not dare refuse, so she sat down obediently.

She picked up her chopsticks and stole a quick glance at Yu Zhi Yi. Seeing no sign of displeasure on her master’s face, she finally relaxed and carefully lifted a bite to her mouth.

After each bite she squinted with simple joy like a little mouse. It was very cute.

Seeing the girl relax, Yu Zhi Yi turned her attention to the street.

She said they were here to watch a show, and she truly meant to watch a show.

Prince Xiao Yao had stayed in the palace for three days in a row.

By rights, that was against the rules, since he was already an adult.

The women of the inner palace, except for princesses, the empress dowager, and a few dowager consorts, were all the emperor’s women. When Prince Xiao Yao had been paralyzed, living in the palace was fine. But now that he had recovered and still refused to leave, people would criticize him.

His reason, though, fit a little too well.

He had a grudge against Yu Zhi Yi, and she had mysterious abilities. Who could say whether she had truly cured him or secretly tampered with him so that once she left he would go limp again?

He said he would stay in the palace so that if something did happen, the emperor and the empress dowager would not suspect him of framing Yu Zhi Yi.

However, three days passed and his body grew stronger each day. He regained his former poise and bearing, and even his appetite improved. At every meal he could eat an extra bowl.

Prince Xiao Yao fell silent: [I was being petty.]

Once he was sure he would not relapse, he prepared to return to his manor.

He had stayed in the palace these days, and although he had told the household staff to listen to Yue’er, he knew many people in the manor fawned on the high and stepped on the low. He did not know whether Yue’er had been wronged.

Eager to return, he asked for a palace sedan.

He had no idea the sedan looked ordinary but was not ordinary at all.

Unfortunately, he had not handled the sedan arrangements himself three days ago, so he did not know this was the very sedan that had been sent to fetch Yu Zhi Yi.

Knowing nothing, Prince Xiao Yao got in.

The low-key, luxurious sedan swayed down the long street and passed the door of a restaurant.

Yu Zhi Yi gently turned her cup and said to Li Rou: “Here comes the show.”

Li Rou still had food in her mouth. Hearing this, she didn’t bother to swallow it all down and looked straight out the window.

The swaying sedan had been moving along properly, but then, as if flowers were scattering from a fairy’s hands, all four walls suddenly “blossomed” open, revealing the noble, stunned man inside.

The lively street went silent for a beat. After that, laughter and jeers burst out.

Someone snorted with a laugh: “So a high official’s sedan isn’t so great after all. It just fell apart mid-ride, pfft.”

Another person joked: “Good thing it wasn’t the floor. If the bottom breaks, now that would be a show.”

As if to answer him, the floor dropped out.

At that moment, Prince Xiao Yao was caught between shock and shame. He forgot to jump out. When the floor gave way, he fell with it.

He reacted fast and tried to use lightness skill to spring up.

But a falling floor could not give him any support. He pushed off with one foot to launch himself, only speeding up the floor’s drop. He tumbled down as well.

The instant he hit the ground, his lower back slammed into the sedan seat.

With a sharp crack, Prince Xiao Yao could not move again.

“Let’s go,” Yu Zhi Yi said as she stood.

The dishes were nearly finished anyway. Li Rou swallowed her last bite and stood too.

She gave the disheveled noble young master a thoughtful look. She had been there last time when Prince Xiao Yao came to Du Manor to throw his weight around, so she knew he had stirred up trouble for her miss because of another woman. She felt no pity at his misfortune. Not going over to kick him twice already counted as kindness. A vague thought rose in her heart: [Anyone who fights my miss never ends well.]

Yu Zhi Yi did not know what Li Rou was thinking. If she had, she would have clapped for her.

Today’s accident did have Yu Zhi Yi’s touch, but if one counted it closely, he had brought it upon himself.

When the palace sent people to fetch her three days ago, this sedan had already been tampered with. If she had not been so sensitive to danger, today’s humiliation for Prince Xiao Yao would have been hers three days earlier.

Of course, she might not have ended up quite so miserable, but she would still have lost face for sure.

The mastermind had sent people to kill her and also used such a base trick, clearly wanting her to die without peace.

Just imagine: Official Yu of the Ministry of Personnel had only just made a name using mystic arts, yet she could not even foresee her own death, and her corpse would be viewed by countless people in the Capital City on the street…

What a vicious public execution.

It would probably cause a bigger stir than a housewife parachuting into the Ministry of Justice and becoming a fifth-rank official.

If her master learned of it, he would be furious.

She ignored the farce on the street and led Li Rou to Yiluan Charity.

Red Luan was not there. Steward Wu Shan was at an extra-large Eight Immortals table on the left, sorting documents.

He rose at the sound and bowed, saying: “Big Proprietor.”

Then he reported their progress: “Big Proprietor, we have found several households that need help, but only one is willing to accept our aid.”

Yu Zhi Yi took the file, her expression shifting as she read: “Old Man Zhang. His only son disappeared five years ago. Two years later, his parents and his wife died in turn. He went out for two years to search for his son. When he returned, he found his household ruined. Since then he has barely survived, living like neither man nor ghost.”

Wu Shan said, “Old Man Zhang has lost the will to live. The only thing keeping him going is finding his son. Everyone else thinks we are swindlers. Only he…”

He did not finish, but Yu Zhi Yi understood the rest.

Old Man Zhang had nothing left to lose.

If their help was fake, the most he would lose was his life.

For him, death might be release.

If their help was real, he could use the charity to find his son.

The file recorded the birth characters of those they would help. Yu Zhi Yi glanced over the eight characters, her face darkened, and she drew a token from her wide sleeve: “Take my token to the Ministry of Justice and have them dispatch a few constables.”

“Be quick.”

Wu Shan did not dare delay. He hurried out with the token.

Yu Zhi Yi headed for Old Man Zhang’s home on North Outskirts Street.

Partway there, two people came toward her.

They were none other than Du Zi Heng and You Bing Yue.

You Bing Yue was talking at an angle to Du Zi Heng, and his brows were tightly knit. He looked troubled.

The two sides saw each other, and the scene was… not awkward.

Yu Zhi Yi was in a hurry and had no wish to become a piece in their love games.