Chapter 208

Chapter 208: Remove It in Front of Him, or Do It in Secret?

Yu Zhi Yi said, “This is an Invisibility Talisman. It keeps us unseen for about half an hour. Let’s go.”

As she spoke, she was not affected by the talisman at all. She caught Princess Consort Ping’s sleeve right on target and led her toward the study.

Princess Consort Ping grew even more shocked: [We are invisible. How did she see me?] But another problem mattered more, so she asked, “The door is closed. How do we get in?”

Yu Zhi Yi looked puzzled and answered, “We walk in.” [What else, fly? She still could not fly.]

They strolled past the two guards as if nothing was wrong. Yu Zhi Yi pushed the door open and pulled Princess Consort Ping inside at once.

Princess Consort Ping was speechless: [The best way to sneak in is just to walk like you belong here.]

The two guards stiffened the moment the door opened by itself. One whispered, “Is the study actually haunted?”

They stood watch at this door every day, so they knew things outsiders did not. For example, every time the prince went into the room, he would talk to himself inside. But after so many days, they had never seen anyone go in or out, and no servants ever brought food inside. If no one was in there, who was he talking to? But if someone was in there, why did they never need to eat? Unless… there was something inside, but it was not a person.

They had only guessed this before, yet seeing the door open by itself made their guess feel real. The timid guard dropped onto the ground with a thud, face pale as paper, and stammered, “G-ghosts! There are ghosts!”

The bolder guard was also scared, but he forced himself to speak: “Ghosts? What ghosts? Have you seen any ghost come out in broad daylight? You stay here. I’ll report to the prince!”

He dashed off without another look at his partner’s white face. The timid guard almost fainted on the spot.

Hearing the noise at the door, Yu Zhi Yi rubbed her nose and said, “Move faster. The prince should be back soon.”

She did not tear off her Invisibility Talisman and began to search the room quickly.

It was strange. There was nothing with yin energy in here. In fact, there was no yin energy at all. Not only the study, but even the air over Prince Ping’s Manor felt clean and clear. Yet ever since she lived again, Yu Zhi Yi’s senses were sharp. [Something in this clarity is off.]

After a fruitless sweep, she stopped, frowned, and thought. If only Princess Consort Ping said Prince Ping was acting strange, maybe her account was faulty. But the guards at the door had acted odd too. Clearly, they also knew something was wrong in here. That proved the princess consort was not mistaken; the problem was with Prince Ping.

Yet there was no rumor outside that Prince Ping was strange, and nothing against him had reached the Court Hall. That meant he acted normal whenever he was out. So the abnormal part must be the time after he returned to Prince Ping’s Manor. At first he fell asleep as soon as he came back. Later, he locked himself in this study.

[The study… what do people do in a study? Read or handle papers, both while sitting. There’s even a daybed here to rest on when your eyes get tired.]

Yu Zhi Yi’s gaze slid over the desk and suddenly caught a faint, unusual breath. She said, “So it’s you!”

She strode to the desk. On it sat a fox-shaped jade paperweight. The piece was smooth and warm, with no energy ripple at all. But when Yu Zhi Yi picked it up, she found tiny characters carved in dense lines across its base.

To normal eyes they were just neat clerical script. To Yu Zhi Yi, they formed a yin-locking array. A yin-locking array seals yin energy. Whatever is hidden inside it will leak no breath at all. It also absorbs wicked yin within a certain range. Even a trained cultivator would usually fail to notice any trace of yin inside.

“No wonder it felt so off,” she said. [I kept feeling the manor’s aura was uncomfortable even though I couldn’t sense any evil. So the yin did show up here, but each time the fox paperweight swallowed it.]

Hearing Yu Zhi Yi’s voice, Princess Consort Ping hurried over and asked toward the sound, “Official Yu, did you find something?”

Yu Zhi Yi hummed a yes, then looked toward the door and said, “Someone’s coming.”

Princess Consort Ping tensed at once: “The prince is back? So fast?”

Yu Zhi Yi also thought it was fast. The princess consort had only dared invite her over because she was sure Prince Ping would not return soon. Yet barely a quarter-hour after they entered, Prince Ping rushed back.

Yu Zhi Yi glanced at the fox paperweight in her hand, and her eyes flashed with sudden understanding.

Prince Ping arrived in a hurry. Before they could leave the study, he burst inside, his gaze locking onto the fox paperweight “floating” in midair. He was not surprised to see it floating. He hurried over and called, “A Li!”

His voice was full of deep feeling.

Princess Consort Ping’s eyes flew wide. She stared at the anxious man in disbelief. Married all these years, Prince Ping had always treated her with cool courtesy. Before the wedding, she had prepared herself for that. After all, it was a political match. Even so, she had once hoped for a warm marriage with her husband, living in harmony. Prince Ping was handsome and refined, with a good character and a gentle temper, which made her hope even more.

After the wedding, their relationship seemed fine. In three years of marriage, they had never quarreled. No, except for the day she brought him chicken soup in the study and he chased her out. Still, she had always felt there was a layer between them, like scratching an itch through a boot. She thought most men were probably like that: gentle to everyone on the surface, yet no one could truly reach their heart. She never expected to see such tender devotion from him today. Yet the name he cried belonged to another woman. Maybe that “woman” was not even human.

Before Prince Ping could grab her hand, Yu Zhi Yi tossed the paperweight onto the desk. Prince Ping lunged to catch it like a precious treasure, almost falling flat on his face and looking utterly embarrassed.

Yu Zhi Yi gave him a look of plain dislike, then moved to stand beside Princess Consort Ping and asked, “Princess consort, do you want me to remove that thing right in front of the prince, or do it in secret?”