Chapter 249

Chapter 249: Leaving the Capital

In the end, she accepted five hundred taels from Jiang Liu Yun as a token.

So the father and son who had arrived flush with cash were left with only three hundred taels on Jiang Liu Yun. This was thanks to Yu Zhi Yi. She had stopped the silly boy from throwing in a gold ingot worth almost five hundred taels on the spot.

Back at the inn, Jiang Yu Chuan remembered he had handed almost everything to his daughter and now had only a few loose taels. He could only keep a straight, stern face and go borrow from Jiang Liu Yun.

After a “friendly” father-son talk, Jiang Yu Chuan walked away the winner, carrying the great sum of two hundred and eighty taels. Jiang Liu Yun looked down at the pitiful twenty taels left on him, his eyes stinging with angry tears.

Father was going too far. To avoid losing face in front of Sister, he made his own son lose face in front of Sister. Was his face not a face?

The road from Capital City to Tian’an Commandery ran for several hundred li and passed several large cities. What if Sister wanted to buy something on the way and he had no silver? He trembled with cold anger.

Yu Zhi Yi did not know about this father-son back-and-forth.

On the last night before she left, she stayed late at Yiluan Charity. Red Luan cooked a full table of dishes to see her off, and Yu Zhi Yi did not stand on ceremony. She ate until she was very full. She put down her chopsticks and said with feeling: “With your skills, if you opened a restaurant someday, business would boom.”

Red Luan waved it off and said: “Stir-frying is too tiring. I like cooking, but I don’t like serving a crowd. Making a big meal once in a while is fine. If I had to make a hundred dishes every day, I would go crazy. Also, I have big plans. I can’t stay in a kitchen all the time.” She would rather sit in the embroidery loft, where there was no oily smoke or burning heat.

She laughed and added: “It’s funny. I didn’t expect you should have had the surname Jiang. We share a surname. Maybe if we go back eight generations, we’re the same family.”

She said it without thinking, but Yu Zhi Yi could not help recalling how similar the names Jiang Yu Chuan and Jiang Yu Qiu sounded. If it was only coincidence, then the middle character even matched. That was a lot of coincidence.

Before she left, Red Luan handed over several oil-paper packets. Seeing Yu Zhi Yi’s puzzled look, Steward Wu explained: “The Second Proprietor spent the whole afternoon making these travel foods. There is roast chicken, pies with different fillings, and some pastries. She is afraid the Proprietor will go hungry on the road.”

Yu Zhi Yi felt moved. Each kind did not look like much, but there were many kinds, which showed how much work it took to prepare them.

Red Luan waved again and said: “I’m not as great as the shopkeeper says. I only did the final heating. Elder Zhang and several aunts did the prep.”

Yu Zhi Yi accepted them: “Thank you.”

After thinking a moment, she pulled three sheets of Talisman Paper from her sleeve: “These are Sound Transmission Talismans. If you meet danger or anything else, you can use them to tell me.”

She taught them how to use the Sound Transmission Talismans. Red Luan’s eyes were full of wonder as she said: “Are Mystic Arts Practitioners really this amazing? Isn’t this a simple version of a cellphone?”

Yu Zhi Yi asked: “Cellphone?”

Red Luan said, playing with the talisman: “It’s a tool for long-distance Voice Transmission. Even if you’re thousands of li apart, you can talk clearly. But with the Great Sheng Empire’s technology, it’s impossible to make. This Sound Transmission Talisman is already pretty great.” She gave Yu Zhi Yi a thumbs-up and said: “As expected of you.”

Yu Zhi Yi rubbed her nose and said: “This comes from my master’s Talisman Tome. It’s not my own credit.”

Her master had said that the true talents of the Mystic Arts were countless. All the Talismans in that Talisman Tome were created by people who came before. The real powerhouses were in the Cultivation Realm, while she got by by copying what the seniors had left. Even a simple Sound Transmission Talisman took her a quarter hour to draw ten. She wondered what the true great cultivators were capable of. Still, there was no need to say all that and make Red Luan worry.

She took out three Invisibility Talismans and three Attack Talismans as well. The Attack Talismans each held three strikes she had stored herself. Below the Foundation Establishment Realm, no one could withstand them. She explained how to use all three kinds and warned: “The Attack Talisman is very powerful. Use it with care. But if someone means harm, don’t be stingy. If the enemy is too much to handle, call me right away.”

Red Luan put the Talismans away with care: “Don’t worry. I’ll use them carefully. I won’t waste them, and I won’t be too reluctant to use them either.”

That night, many people could not sleep.

The Jiang father and son, mixing excitement with nerves, tossed and turned until past midnight. Du Zi Heng kept thinking about that dream. Ever since that night, he had acted like he was under a spell, turning it over day and night. He even turned away You Bing Yue when she came to see him. He did not want to meet her.

The Yu clan brothers, all except Yu Meng Qin, learned through special channels that Yu Zhi Yi had taken leave and was returning home. Each felt complicated. Yu Zi Xuan, in particular, burned every time he remembered what he saw at the horse market. He wanted to kill the people of the Jiang clan. [Yi is his. How dare they try to take her?] Yu Jiao Jiao curled up in a cold, damp woodshed, and You Bing Yue leaned by a window and looked at the moon. The same thought crossed both minds: that woman had finally left.

At dawn the next day, the city gates were already open. Yu Zhi Yi sat in a newly decorated carriage rolling slowly toward the gate. Jiang Yu Chuan guarded the right side of the carriage. Jiang Liu Yun, using the privilege of being young and good at coaxing, had won the seat to drive. Ten guards rode in front and ten behind.

There were few people on the streets. The wide carriage moved down the long road and did not cause any trouble.

At the gate, the heir apparent of Marquis Wu’an suddenly wheeled his horse and galloped back: “Official Yu, Madam Chancellor wishes to see you.”

Yu Zhi Yi froze for a moment. Then she jumped down from the carriage.

In the morning chill, Madam Yao came forward in a thick cloak. Seeing Yu Zhi Yi get down, she walked up and said: “Yi’er, I heard you found your family. Congratulations.”

Noticing the white frost at the edge of Madam Yao’s hair, Yu Zhi Yi frowned and said: “It’s so cold. Why did you come in person? You could have sent a message.”

Madam Yao shook her head: “People below you are hard to trust.” Before, she had trusted the people under her, and she had trusted Du Zi Heng. The result was that such a good daughter-in-law was let go by that foolish boy. When it came to Yi’er, she preferred to come herself.

She smiled and said: “I’m only here to see you off.”

Aunt Wen stepped up holding a fine wooden box. Madam Yao said: “If you are ever wronged in the future, come back. Even if we cannot be mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, we can still be friends across generations. I will speak up for you in all things. Take what’s in the box. If it can be useful, all the better.”

Yu Zhi Yi was about to refuse, but Madam Yao added: “Don’t refuse. This is my small token. If you won’t even accept this, I won’t feel right asking you for help later.”

Yu Zhi Yi fell quiet: “…”

Although life had not been pleasant when she first entered the Du Clan, she had to admit that, in the days after, Madam Yao had indeed treated her well.