Chapter 47: The One Who Took Another’s Body
This novel is translated and hosted only on Bcatranslation
By the rules, two-thirds of the gifts were to be added to the Chancellor’s main storage, to be used for social events in the future. The remaining third would be kept in Du Zi Heng’s private store as his personal belongings.
So far, the value of the gifts on the list had already exceeded twenty thousand taels, meaning about six thousand seven hundred taels would be his.
Yu Zhi Yi was kind-hearted and nodded. “Alright,” she said, then quickly added, “But I can only try to persuade Father and Mother. If Miss You still holds any grudges over what happened before and doesn’t want to enter the residence, that’s out of my control.”
“She won’t,” Du Zi Heng said confidently. “Bing Yue knows I’m hurt, and she’ll be anxious to come to the residence.”
“Hmm… fine. I’ll go talk to them.” With that, Yu Zhi Yi turned and went to find Madam Yao.
Convincing Madam Yao wasn’t actually that hard. Though she was furious with Du Zi Heng, she was even more worried about her son’s well-being. With the imperial exam just days away, and her son injured, she feared he might perform poorly for any number of reasons. As long as Yu Zhi Yi approached Madam Yao from that angle, persuading her wasn’t difficult. The real challenge, however, was the Chancellor.
The Chancellor had made some harsh statements in front of Yu Zhi Yi. If he went back on them now, it would be like slapping himself in the face. Fortunately, he deeply respected his wife, and when Yu Zhi Yi expressed her concerns that Father might not agree, Madam Yao said confidently, “Don’t worry, he’ll agree.”
That very evening, servants were sent to clean up the Moon-Viewing Pavilion.
Upon hearing the news, Du Zi Heng gave Yu Zhi Yi a thumbs-up. True to his word, he let her choose whatever she wanted from the gifts, and after he signed off on it, she could move it to her own private store in Wind Facing Pavilion.
Most of the items were rare herbs, along with pearls, agate, and coral gemstones. Yu Zhi Yi selected a few pieces of high-quality jade and also took the only two-hundred-year-old ginseng among them. As for the fabrics and accessories clearly meant for men, she didn’t take any. She planned to put all those back in storage to be used later as gifts.
With this batch of jade, her small spirit gathering array was almost complete—only twenty more formation flags were needed. Yes, that day wasn’t far away. Once it arrived, with both virtue and spiritual energy for refinement, even if she couldn’t ascend, she could still live forever. And as long as she lived, there would always be hope for ascension.
By then, it was late. Worried about his sweetheart, Du Zi Heng asked Du Lin to take two maids and go fetch You Bing Yue. But they found nothing.
Du Zi Heng grew anxious and tried to leave to look for her himself.
Du Lin tried desperately to stop him, almost in tears. “Young Master, your injuries haven’t healed yet! You can’t go out! If the Chancellor and Madam find out, they’ll have my hide!”
“Get out of my way!” Du Zi Heng tried to kick Du Lin aside, but in his weakened state, he was no match for him. Even if Du Lin stood still, he couldn’t manage to kick him.
Seeing that Du Zi Heng’s wounds were about to split open, Yu Zhi Yi could no longer stand it. “Why are you making it difficult for a servant? If something really happens, you, as the young master of the Chancellor’s residence, will be fine. But the people below you will all suffer for your stubbornness.”
Du Zi Heng paused, frozen by her words. “Can you divine where she is?” he asked, pulling out a stack of silver banknotes.
Yu Zhi Yi shook her head. “I only accept real gold, silver, or valuable items like jade.”
He hesitated. He’d seen her take banknotes from Hong Luan before, and clearly doubted her claim.
Seeing through his thoughts, Yu Zhi Yi explained, “The banknotes Hong Luan gave me were from the profits of the clothing we sold together. They have nothing to do with fortune-telling.”
After a moment, Du Zi Heng sighed. “Silver… I only have fifty taels on me.”
“That’s enough,” Yu Zhi Yi said calmly. Her usual rate for ordinary folks was two taels per reading, but when dealing with officials or nobles, she had no qualms about asking for more.
“Give me her birth details,” she said.
Du Zi Heng knew You Bing Yue’s details well. They had met shortly before his eighteenth birthday, and she had celebrated it with him. Out of curiosity, he’d asked for her birth details too, thinking he might celebrate her birthday in the future.
Yu Zhi Yi had no interest in the details of their relationship. She focused on her calculations for a moment, her casual demeanor suddenly shifting. She straightened her back and recalculated.
For the first time, Du Zi Heng saw an expression on her face that showed confusion, bewilderment, and even a hint of seriousness.
His heart sank. “Is something wrong?” he asked.
Instead of answering, Yu Zhi Yi asked, “Do you have the birth details of anyone close to her?”
Worried that something terrible might have happened, Du Zi Heng quickly gave her another set of details. “This is her younger brother’s birth information. His birthday is just after mine.”
Yu Zhi Yi swiftly recalculated. After a short while, she lowered her hands, her expression once again indifferent. “Do you simply wish to know where Miss You is, or do you want to know about her entire life?”
Du Zi Heng hesitated. “Her entire life? Is there something wrong with it?”
Before she could say anything, he waved his hand. “Forget it. Just tell me where she is now, and if she’s safe.”
Yu Zhi Yi nodded. “She’s at Prince Xiao Yao’s residence. She’s completely safe. If nothing changes, you’ll see her tomorrow.”
Du Zi Heng’s expression froze, his eyes dimming slightly. After a moment, he said, “I see.”
He didn’t doubt Yu Zhi Yi’s divination at all. Very few people knew Bing Yue had any connection to Prince Xiao Yao—not even his parents knew. There was no way Yu Zhi Yi could have known beforehand. The fact that she figured it out proved she wasn’t lying.
Bing Yue really was at Prince Xiao Yao’s residence.
The night was deep, and Yu Zhi Yi’s task of tending to the sick was finally over. Without bothering about Du Zi Heng’s distraught state, she instructed Du Lin to keep a close eye on his master before returning to Wind Facing Pavilion.
Once they were back, Zi Yuan, her young maid, finally voiced her discontent. “Didn’t that woman say she would never set foot in the Chancellor’s residence again? She really slapped herself in the face!”
She had no doubt about her mistress’s divination, but Yu Zhi Yi didn’t care. “After all, Du Zi Heng is injured. Coming to visit him isn’t unreasonable.”
Zi Yuan still looked disgruntled, puffing her cheeks, as if You Bing Yue’s visit would mean she’d soon move into the Moon-Viewing Pavilion and make their lives miserable again.
Yu Zhi Yi chuckled. “Don’t worry, she won’t be moving in.” That was also why she agreed to help persuade them. Originally, she had deduced from the servants’ faces that the Moon-Viewing Pavilion would remain unoccupied. But the birth details she had just calculated revealed something else entirely.
You Bing Yue had been reborn!
To be precise, she wasn’t from this world. She was a soul from another. The real You Bing Yue had died unexpectedly a month before she met Du Zi Heng. And this soul from another world—in her original world, she had been someone powerful.
No wonder she acted so arrogantly. After taking over You Bing Yue’s body, she had expanded her connections. Prince Xiao Yao was one of them.
In the future, she wouldn’t return to the Chancellor’s residence because she would be living in the Prince’s residence.