The smile faded from Yu Yi’s face as she turned to Yu Songshi. There were some things she needed to tell her mother, and some things she must forever keep hidden.
Yu Songshi was extremely surprised to learn that Bai Yiniang was now in the Chen Shangshu’s residence, but being clever, she quickly understood the possible implications, and her expression immediately changed. She then realized that Yu Yi’s sudden move was to guard against Chen Gao harming them again.
“Yi’er, although we have moved here, if Chen Gao is determined, he can still find our whereabouts. If your father was truly harmed by him, he might come to harm us again.”
Yu Yi advised, “Mother, I moved here out of caution. Chen Gao does not yet perceive us as a threat and will not come to harm us for now.” She was constantly listening to the movements in Chen Gao’s residence, and if he truly intended to do something to her and her mother, she could find out in advance.
She did not want to make her mother and sisters homeless again, so she must plan carefully to make everything seamless. She often recalled Chen Gao’s words: “That case was ordered by the Emperor. She is now just an ordinary citizen and cannot overturn it.” She wanted to avenge the Yu family and clear her father’s name.
Although Yu Songshi was still worried, she knew that at this moment, besides being cautious, they could do nothing else.
Early the next morning, Yu Yi went to the Shangshu’s residence, timing it precisely when Chen Gao had just returned from court and was still in the Ministry of Punishment. She delivered five taels of silver as a gift and a visiting card, then left. Yu Yi silently sneered at Bai Yiniang’s disdainful comments about her gift, but proceeded with her plans.
She went to Hezhou Fang and hired four guards, agreeing they would go to the manor within three days, which would at least put her mother’s mind at ease. Yu Yi also bought some items she hadn’t been able to purchase earlier and was about to instruct the coachman to drive out of the city when she happened to see a young man in his twenties pleading desperately at a shop’s entrance.
She paused when the man knelt down, realizing the gravity of his distress.
As the carriage passed behind the man, she heard him say, “Master, please let me work here. I am strong and can do the work of two men…”
The shopkeeper looked extremely impatient, coming to the door and saying, “Go away! No matter what you say, I won’t advance you that much wages. Try those wealthy families. Selling yourself as a servant might get you an advance, but you’d need to find a kind master.”
“My elderly mother needs my care. I can’t sell myself as a servant!”
Hearing this, Yu Yi was moved and ordered the coachman to stop.
The man helplessly got up and tried the next shop, only to be driven away again.
Yu Yi instructed the coachman to follow him from a distance, trailing him half a street and seeing him repeatedly turned away from shops yet continuing to plead.
She felt compassion and had the carriage catch up, calling out to him: “Sir, may I ask your name? Why are you so desperately seeking an advance from these shops?”
The man turned, his face full of bitterness, and seeing Yu Yi in her carriage, felt a glimmer of hope. He hurriedly explained, “This humble one is named Fu Cheng. My elderly mother is weak. She fell ill recently, and though a doctor was called, we have no money for medicine. My family is poor, and I’m out of options.”
Yu Yi asked, “Didn’t Master Fu work before to earn money?
The man said sorrowfully, “I worked at a previous shop, but my mother has been unwell these past two years, often falling sick. Our savings are depleted, and I’ve been constantly borrowing money or asking for wage advances from the shopkeeper, accumulating more and more debt…”
Yu Yi understood, “So the previous shopkeeper no longer wants to lend you money?”
The man nodded.
Yu Yi asked, “Would Master Fu be interested in working at a manor outside the city?”
The man shook his head, “No, no, I need to care for my mother. Going outside the city would be difficult…”
Yu Yi smiled, “Why not bring your mother to live at the manor?”
The man was overjoyed, “Miss, do you mean it? I am willing!”
Yu Yi paid for Fu Cheng’s medicine and then brought him and his mother to Xiye Mountain Manor.
On the way, Yu Yi learned that Fu Cheng originally had an older brother who died accidentally, exhausting the family’s savings. Since then, his mother had been frequently ill, adding further hardship to their poverty.
Yu Yi settled Fu Cheng and his mother in her courtyard, having him first care for his mother before starting work. Fu Cheng gratefully knelt to thank her, but Yu Yi quickly asked him to rise.
Yu Songshi was assisting at the manor, cleaning and arranging the place.
Within a few days, the main courtyard was gradually taking shape. The main hall was fully repaired and cleaned. The south wing was reserved for Yu Yi, Yu Songshi lived in the east wing, and the other sisters stayed in the west wing.
Yu Yi originally did not want to live in the main house and wanted her mother to move in, but Yu Song’s wife was absolutely unwilling. Yu Yi had no choice but to accept this situation, and she knew that now her mother and sisters seemed to regard her as the head of the family.
And she was indeed willing to support this broken Yu family.
One afternoon, Aunt Bai sat in the courtyard for a while after eating, then went back to her room to take a nap. In her sleep, she vaguely heard someone calling her name: “Bai Xiu… Bai Xiu…”
The voice kept calling her by her ear, and she slowly woke up, but for some reason, her eyelids were heavy, and she couldn’t open them. She wanted to raise her hand to rub her eyes but found that her hands and feet wouldn’t move, as if her body was being pressed down.
The voice kept calling: “Bai Xiu… Bai Xiu…”
Aunt Bai wanted to ask who was calling her, but she couldn’t make a sound. She felt it was the voice of a middle-aged man, somewhat familiar, but the tone was low and weak, making it difficult to discern where she had heard it before.
“Bai Xiu… I died so unjustly… Bai Xiu…
Why did you and Chen Gao harm me together… You adulterous couple…” The voice spoke by her ear, accompanied by a cold wind blowing on Aunt Bai’s ear, coming from the inside of the bed.
Aunt Bai was clearly awake, but her body wouldn’t move at all. Her heart was already extremely frightened. Hearing this sentence, she suddenly thought of Yu Bin Yi, and she was terrified, wanting to escape the chilling wind by her ear but unable to move, scared to the point of almost fainting.
The voice repeated: “I’m in so much pain… Bisected… They cut me in half at the waist… Not dying immediately… Bai Xiu, Chen Gao… I want you to experience the same… Being cut alive but not dying…”
Then Aunt Bai felt a sharp pain in her waist, as if someone was cutting her. She thought her waist was truly broken, wanting to scream but unable to, wanting to escape but unable to move. Suddenly, her whole body went limp, and she finally fainted from fear.
Yu Yi looked disgustedly at the quickly spreading wet spot beneath Aunt Bai, quickly put away the fishing line and rubber ball used for blowing, covered her with the blanket that had fallen on her legs, and jumped down from the bed, leaving through the back window.
When Xia Shuang, the maid, woke Aunt Bai, it was already dusk. She jumped up from the bed in shock.
Xia Shuang initially didn’t notice anything unusual, just saying, “Aunt Bai, get up.”
The master is coming.” As the blanket covering Aunt Bai was lifted, Xia Shuang smelled a foul odor and was surprised to look at the bed.
Aunt Bai grabbed Xia Shuang’s arm tightly, pinching it hard, and shrieked: “He’s here, he’s come to claim my life!”
