Meng Qing is right. Since the head constable is suspicious of her, she needs to preemptively cover up some potential loopholes. The most obvious loophole is the matter of buying her freedom, where at the time, Mama Wang was forced by her at knifepoint to hand over her deed of sale and change her registration at the music house. Although she threatened Mama Wang, who dared not report to the authorities, if the head constable were to personally inquire, it would be hard to guarantee that Mama Wang would continue to conceal her actions.
Meng Qing listened to her request and nodded: “Leave it to me, wait for my good news tonight.”
“Thank you,” Yu Yi watched the carriage depart.
Back in the room, Yu Song’shi indeed began to interrogate Yu Yi, asking if this Young Master Meng was the wealthy merchant she had previously mentioned, and wondering why she had lied about his age.
On her way back to her room, Yu Yi had already planned her story. Whether to her mother or to outsiders, her redemption from the music house must have a consistent narrative. Since Meng Qing has appeared, she would go with the flow and admit that Meng Qing was the one who bought her freedom.
Yu Song’shi understood: “The money for the villa was probably from this Young Master Meng.
Ah, he is actually the owner of the villa, and we have become the guests. If he were to return to Longdu City, it would take more than half a time to travel.
She thought for a moment and then got up to go out, saying: “Young Master Meng is coming tomorrow, I’ll find people to prepare and decorate the annex overnight so he can stay. Yi’er, go call your sisters to help with the decoration.”
Late at night, after bustling for several hours, the mother and daughters returned to their rooms exhausted. Yu Yi returned to her room and opened her personal terminal, seeing a message left by Meng Qing: surveillance and listening devices are set up.
Early the next morning, Yu Yi entered the city, first having Fu Cheng stop the carriage in front of an inn, giving him several copper coins to have tea and food, and to come pick her up after nightfall. Then Yu Yi entered the inn, booked an upper room, and changed into a different dress.
Coming out of the inn and walking two streets, she arrived at the back wall of the music house. After a night of revelry, everyone inside was still asleep. Yu Yi went straight upstairs, using the old method of cutting the door bolt with a cutter, and entered Mama Wang’s room.
Mama Wang was still sleeping soundly and was about to get angry when awakened, but upon seeing Yu Yi, she was speechless. How could it be this troublemaker again? She swallowed her curse words and said emphatically: “Miss Yi, I absolutely did not report to the authorities!”
Yu Yi curved her lips in a slight smile: “I know.” Then she casually asked: “Mama Wang, were there two gentlemen who got drunk and quarreled on the second floor last night?”
Mama Wang replied in surprise: “Yes, Miss Yi, do you know about this?”
“I also know that when those two were fighting, it was already a quarter past midnight. When Old Seven came upstairs to call you, you scolded him. To mediate between those two, you waived their wine fee. When you returned to this room, it was already three quarters past midnight. You drank two cups of water, finished looking at the previous day’s accounts, and went to sleep after half past the hour of Chou.”
Mama Wang was not only surprised but also frightened. How did this Miss Yi know her every move so clearly? This was not just about sneaking into the music house; she seemed to have eyes on her very body!
Seeing her fearful expression, Yu Yi knew her goal was achieved. “I came today to ask Mama Wang for a favor.”
Mama Wang hurriedly said: “Miss Yi, please speak!”
“Although she politely said she was asking for a favor, Yu Yi had appeared in her room early in the morning. How could she not comply?
“In the next few days, the head constable from the capital prefecture may come to ask questions. If he asks about my matters, you need to tell him that a Young Master Meng, whose family is in the silk business, bought my freedom for 200 taels of silver. If asked about Young Master Meng’s appearance, say he is 25 or 26 years old, about seven feet tall, with a passable appearance, dressed luxuriously, wearing a large purple jade pendant at his waist… Have you remembered?”
“Remembered, remembered,” Mama Wang nodded repeatedly.
“Really remembered?”
“Really remembered!”
“Repeat what I just said.”
—
Leaving the music house, Yu Yi walked to a small alley behind the Chen residence, looked around to ensure no one was present, and quickly climbed over the wall.
She arrived outside the locked small building where Bai Xiu was kept. The small building was far from other courtyards. Chen Gao had locked Bai Xiu here, afraid her “mad” mumbling and crying would be heard by others in the residence. For the same reason, the building was unguarded, with only a large padlock on the door. To prevent Bai Xiu from escaping, the ground floor windows were nailed shut, unable to be opened from inside or outside, with water and food delivered only twice daily.”
This made things convenient for Yu Yi’s actions. She easily opened the padlock and entered the building.
The small building was quiet, with Bai Xiu upstairs, doing something unknown.
Yu Yi searched for a hidden spot on the ground floor, installing surveillance cameras and miniature amplifiers in several directions. This way, her voice would sound unclear in direction, creating a floating effect that seemed to come from different places.
After everything was set up, Yu Yi left through the door and locked the padlock.
She put on a voice changer and, after converting the frequency through a small program on her personal terminal, spoke in Chen Gao’s voice: “Xiu.”
Bai Xiu was originally sitting blankly on the bed, unaware of everything around her. As soon as she heard Chen Gao’s voice from downstairs, she jumped off the bed with joy, rushing down the stairs while saying in a panic: “Master, I will never talk nonsense again. Since I arrived here, I haven’t seen any ghosts, I won’t…”
But she had just rushed downstairs and immediately stopped, her words cut off midway. Because downstairs was empty, not a single person was present.
Bai Xiu waited for a while, hearing Chen Gao’s voice coming from the direction of the door: “Xiu.”
“She relaxed, smiling and running towards the door, grabbing the door bolt and pulling, finding it was still tightly locked, but at least Chen Gao was willing to come and see her. She pleaded: ‘Master, please let me out.’
But Chen Gao did not respond. Bai Xiu looked out through the door crack but could not see anyone.
‘Bai Xiu!’ The voice suddenly came from behind her, with a changed tone, carrying bone-deep hatred.
Bai Xiu suddenly turned around, fearfully searching for the source of the voice: ‘Who? Who is it?!’
‘It’s me… Can’t you tell?’ The voice changed position again, seeming to be above her head.
‘Yu… Lord, please spare me, I haven’t done anything! It was all that scoundrel Chen Gao’s doing!’
Bai Xiu completely broke down, and under Yu Binyi’s interrogation, she cried and revealed everything she knew.
Chapter 63 Yu Yi’s Spacetime (13)
When Chen Gao was still a deputy minister of the Ministry of Justice, he met Yu Binyi, both being young talents with some reputation in the capital. They became good friends due to their mutual appreciation.
Later, Yu Binyi inherited his father’s noble title, while Chen Gao steadily advanced, becoming the minister of the Ministry of Justice. During these ten-plus years, their friendship grew deeper.”
