Yu Yi returned to her own time and space, to Chen Shangshu’s manor. She carefully avoided night patrols and guards, placing listening devices in several locations including Bai Xiu’s residence and Chen Gaoshu’s study.
Then she left Chen Manor and went to Lei Yuanhe’s manor again. According to Yu Xin’s description, Liu Shi’s residence was roughly on the east side of Lei Manor. She entered the second courtyard and could hear a man’s heavy snoring through the window. She quietly lifted the back window and slipped into the room.
Pulling back the bed curtains, two people lay on the bed, completely unaware.”
Yu Yi looked at Lei Yuanhe, knowing that if she wanted him dead, it would be easy – just silently inject a small drop of poison, but she didn’t want him to die peacefully in his sleep. She wanted him to understand who wanted him dead and why.
She took out the anesthetic spray and sprayed it directly at Aunt Liu’s face, then walked to the outer room and made the servants fall into a coma. Then she woke up Lei Yuanhe.
Lei Yuanhe was sleeping soundly when he was rudely awakened, immediately furious. No one in the Lei household had ever dared to wake him up so roughly. Opening his eyes, he saw a blurry silhouette standing by the bedside in the darkness. He sat up abruptly and demanded, “Who is it?!”
Yu Yi said softly, “Sister Yu Xin.”
“Yu Xin? Who is that?”
Yu Yi’s suppressed anger surged. He didn’t even know Yu Xin’s name! Or had easily forgotten her! Yu Xin’s suffering meant nothing to him!
She slapped Lei Yuanhe hard.
Lei Yuanhe was enraged. This unknown woman dared to hit him? He shouted, “How dare you hit an official? Do you know who I am…”
Yu Yi struck again, delivering an even harder slap that drew blood from the corner of his mouth, forcing him to swallow his words along with his blood.
Lei Yuanhe was unprepared the first time, and even during the second time when he was on guard, he couldn’t see her hand move before being struck hard.
After hitting him, Yu Yi sneered, “Master Lei, now that I’m in your room, do you think I don’t know your identity?”
Lei Yuanhe was both angry and afraid, now realizing that anyone appearing in his bedroom late at night, even a woman, was unlikely to be benevolent. He reached back to touch Aunt Liu, finding her body soft, and when he pushed her twice, she didn’t move at all. Terrified, he quickly withdrew his hand and stammered, “You, you killed her?”
Yu Yi coldly laughed, “Yes. And I’ll kill you soon too.”
“Why are you doing this?” Lei Yuanhe trembled in fear, wanting to move away from Aunt Liu’s “body” but also not wanting to get closer to the woman in the darkness.
Yu Yi ground her teeth, “Just over ten days ago, you violated a servant girl on this very bed. Don’t you remember her name?!”
Only then did Lei Yuanhe recall, “Oh, that servant girl. You’re her sister? Didn’t Master Chen redeem her and her sister?”
“You think that makes everything okay?”
“So you broke into the Lei household for this? How much silver do you want?” Lei Yuanhe’s tone became casual. “Just tell me.”
Yu Yi grabbed his collar and dragged him off the bed, her voice icy: “I want your life, not silver.”
She paused, considering the implications. “But it’s so far from the city. Will we be alright living out there?”
Yu Yi nodded with determination. “It will be safer, and we can live in peace without the constant reminders of our past.”
Yu Song sighed, a mix of concern and acceptance in her voice. “If that’s what you truly want, then I will support you. I just worry about the future…”
Yu Yi reassured her mother, “We will manage. With the right tenants, we can even create a stable income.”
As the sun began to rise, casting a warm glow through the window, Yu Yi felt a surge of hope. The thought of having their own space, away from prying eyes and potential threats, filled her with a new sense of purpose.
Then she nodded, “Buying a farmstead is better than buying a house or renting in the city.” Buying a farmstead might seem to cost more silver, but the land could be rented to tenant farmers, generating annual rent. Moreover, the land itself would always be valuable, which was much better than renting or buying a house and spending money monthly without any return.
“But Yi’er, do you have enough silver to buy a farmstead? Also, the Yu family now consists entirely of women with no male members, which always makes me uneasy,” Yu Song had been worried about this since the day Yu Yi found her.
Yu Yi was not very concerned. She was capable of protecting her mother and sisters, as long as she completed her missions at night and returned to the original time.
The only issue was that she would age faster than people in this time and space. However, she didn’t mind this. After a few years, when she could earn enough silver for her sisters’ dowries, she might stop traveling through time and space and stay here to take care of her mother.
She said to Yu Song: “If mother is worried about safety, we can buy a few servants or hire guards. I’ll go to Hezhu Fang to find a broker and ask about suitable farmsteads.”
Yu Song nodded, “Yi’er, I’ll go with you.” She was worried about her young daughter going out alone.
Yu Yi understood her mother’s concerns and persuaded her: “Mother, Yue and Ting are still too young and need your care.”
I’m just doing business in the city and won’t have any trouble. Weren’t you and my sisters rescued by me alone?”
Hearing Yu Yi’s persuasion, Yu Song agreed to stay at the inn and watch over the other daughters.
Yu Song understood her daughter’s personality. Yu Yi had always been strong-willed, and once she made up her mind, she was unlikely to change it. Now, Yu Song felt that this daughter had become capable and decisive, and the Yu family would probably rely on this eldest daughter in the future.
Yu Song watched Yu Yi’s departing back, her heart a mix of pride and bitterness.
—
After leaving the inn, Yu Yi went to a carriage rental and rented a horse-drawn carriage, agreeing to rent for a month, with the total cost of ten taels of silver, including the driver’s wages, paying five taels as a deposit.
On the way to Hezhu Fang, Yu Yi had the driver pass by the Lei residence. White mourning banners hung outside the open gates, with faint sounds of crying coming from inside.
Yu Yi got out of the carriage and asked: “What’s happening at Lei Daren’s residence?”
The gatekeeper sighed: “Alas, something has happened to our master.”
Yu Yi asked: “What? Is Lei Daren seriously ill?”
The gatekeeper hesitated to speak.
Yu Yi said: “Doesn’t this brother know what happened?”
He lowered his voice: “This matter is strange. The master came out of his room in the middle of the night and drowned in the backyard lake. Liu, the concubine sleeping in the same room, had no idea when the master went out. Even the serving girls heard no movement. They say he might have been sleepwalking, but the master never had such a condition. The madam doesn’t believe the sleepwalking explanation and reported to the capital’s prefecture. This morning, the prefecture sent a constable to investigate and even took Liu away.”
“What did the authorities say?”
The gatekeeper said: “He’s a divine constable! He looked at the master’s body and said the master didn’t accidentally fall into the lake, but was bound and drowned.”
Yu Yi’s heart tightened. Last night, after drowning Lei Yuan in the water tank and disposing of his body in the backyard lake, she thought she had been undetectable. She feigned speculation: “Could the concubine have confessed?”
The gatekeeper shook his head, “No, no. Liu keeps crying innocence, saying she knew nothing about the master leaving the room.”
Yu Yi asked: “How did the constable know the master was murdered?”
