Fang Yu had been in high spirits lately. Chen Hui’s death felt like a massive stone lifted from her heart, a relief she had never experienced before.
Even learning that her son hadn’t disposed of the living corpse, allowing it to run rampant in the capital and cause chaos, couldn’t dampen her mood.
It had only killed two people in Changping Lane, mere commoners. Dead and gone, what was there to worry about?
But this infuriated her husband. He not only had their son dragged back from outside but personally administered ten lashes and confined him to the ancestral hall for ten days.
Though Fang Yu felt sorry for her son, she didn’t dare oppose her husband on this matter. She could only sneak to see him when her husband was away.
Carrying a food box with her maid, she arrived outside the ancestral hall. Before pushing the door open, she heard suggestive noises from within.
Her face darkened. She slammed the door, producing a loud clang.
The man’s teasing laughter and the woman’s cries inside abruptly stopped.
“Who dares interrupt my fun?” Yan Cheng bellowed from within.
“Your mother.”
After a moment, Yan Cheng, disheveled, opened the door with a fawning smile, “Mother, please don’t tell Father.”
Fang Yu glanced inside. The woman Yan Cheng had dragged in was a servant who swept the grounds, passably attractive.
She jabbed his forehead, exasperated. “You really have no standards.”
“I’m just bored,” he said with a roguish grin.
Yan Cheng was never one to sit still. Usually found in brothels and taverns, he couldn’t endure ten days of confinement.
“Not in the ancestral hall,” she said.
“If you don’t tell, Father won’t know. Besides, what’s so great about the Yan ancestors? Father worships them, but they’re not worth a finger of Grandfather’s,” Yan Cheng said dismissively.
Fang Yu didn’t correct him, instead doting, “No next time, or if your father finds out, no one can save you.”
“Got it,” Yan Cheng replied carelessly, clearly not taking her words to heart.
“Come,” Fang Yu called.
Her maid stepped forward, “Madam.”
“Deal with the girl inside. Don’t let the master find out.”
“Yes.” Two maids entered the hall and dragged out the disheveled servant.
The servant looked pleadingly at Yan Cheng, “Young Master, save me...”
Yan Cheng glanced at her and looked away, bored. She was just a pastime.
Fang Yu handed the food box to Yan Cheng, “Your favorites. Eat some. When your father returns, say something nice to get released early.”
She sighed helplessly, “You child, if you wanted to keep the living corpse, you should’ve watched it. How could you let it escape? Its face wasn’t destroyed. If it’s caught, they’ll trace it to your grandfather.”
That living corpse was once a guard of the Marquis of Zhenbei’s household, caught colluding with outsiders to betray the Marquis. As a second-realm cultivator, Fang Yu didn’t let her father execute him but turned him into a living corpse under her control.
She learned the art of refining corpses from her foster father.
Before returning to the capital, she lived with her foster father, who made a living driving corpses.
Only before his death did he tell her that her birth mother was his sister. When the Marquis of Zhenbei passed through their village, her mother was sent to serve him for a night and conceived her.
Learning her real father was a marquis, Fang Yu grew to resent her foster father. If he’d told her sooner, she could’ve sought her family earlier and avoided years of hardship.
After his death, she sold everything valuable in the house and found a “heretical book” he’d treasured for years.
Using the book’s methods, she turned her foster father into a living corpse, controlled by a whistle, and with his protection, she successfully left home.
On the way, a Daoist caught her controlling the corpse. After her desperate pleas, he spared her.
Though she swore to reform, having tasted the benefits of a living corpse, how could she abandon it?
Over the years, many she disliked were dealt with by that corpse.
Yan Cheng looked wronged, “Mother, I ordered it to hide in the mountains. I don’t know why it stopped obeying and ran into the city.”
Though Fang Yu could refine corpses, she only followed the book’s instructions. Anything beyond it, she knew nothing about.
Since she didn’t understand, she stopped thinking about it, “No matter. Your father’s already sent someone to deal with the living corpse.”
Yan Cheng wasn’t worried to begin with, “It’s a pity Grandfather’s not here. Otherwise, why bother Father? One word from Grandfather would settle it.”
Thinking of her father softened Fang Yu’s expression, “In a month, your grandfather should return.”
The Marquis of Zhenbei, injured in his youth, struggled to have children. After Fang Yu arrived in the capital and confirmed she was his daughter, she became the only young lady of his household.
He doted on her immensely. Even when she deliberately stole the future son-in-law of the National University Chancellor, her father covered for her and drove Chen Hui’s family out of the capital to spare her feelings.
Under her father’s protection, she had everything she desired.
Three years ago, her father was sent to guard the Xiling border. Now, he was finally returning to the capital.
Fang Yu glanced at the sky. It was time for her husband to return.
She turned to Yan Cheng, “Stay put in the hall. Your father’s coming back soon. I’m leaving.”
At the Yan residence, Fang Yu waited. Yan Liru usually returned after his duties, but today, she waited and waited, and he still hadn’t arrived.
On his way back, Yan Liru’s carriage passed a street where a crowd blocked the way.
The coachman checked and reported, “Master, a girl is selling herself for twenty taels. The crowd’s just watching. Should we clear them?”
Yan Liru frowned, “No need. I’ll go see.”
In his official robes, Yan Liru stepped down from the carriage, and the crowd parted to let him pass.
Some recognized him, calling out “Honest Yan.”
Nodding to a few excited onlookers, he approached the crowd and saw the kneeling woman selling herself, dressed in mourning clothes.
He glanced at her, understanding the situation. Such cases weren’t uncommon. Likely, her family was poor, and a relative had died, forcing her to sell herself to afford a burial.
But with such a crowd, she must have something remarkable.
Standing before her, before he could speak, a busybody woman interjected, “Girl, this is Lord Yan, the Honest. If you’re in trouble, speak up.”
The woman slowly raised her head, revealing a young, beautiful face.
At the sight, Yan Liru’s breath caught, his pupils contracting, “Ahui...”
His voice was so low, drowned by the crowd’s noise, that no one heard.
But he quickly realized his mistake. The woman before him was much younger than Ahui, in her early twenties. Her features resembled Ahui’s but were softer, less stern.
“What’s your name?” Yan Liru asked gently.
“Sir, this commoner is called Qiaoniang.”
“Why are you selling yourself here?”
Tears falling, Qiaoniang said, “I lost my mother young. Now my father has died unexpectedly. His body has lain unburied for seven days, but I have no money for a funeral, so I’m selling myself.”
“I’ll arrange your father’s burial. Go home.”
Hearing Yan Liru’s offer, Qiaoniang’s eyes filled with gratitude, “If you help bury my father, my life is yours.”
Yan Liru chuckled, “No need. Go back, and don’t sell yourself so easily in the future.”
Qiaoniang’s face showed confusion, then she said, “With both parents gone, I have no home. Please take me back, sir. I’m capable.”
Her helpless gaze and pleading words stirred Yan Liru’s heart.
She was so like Ahui, but Ahui was too proud, never seeking him out despite her hardships.
Now that Ahui was gone, meeting Qiaoniang, so similar, felt like fate.
After a long silence, Yan Liru sighed, “Fine, come with me to the residence as a maid.”
Hearing Yan Liru would take Qiaoniang as a maid, many in the crowd were envious.
This was the household of Honest Yan, surely upright and just. Selling oneself to such a master was like ancestral luck.
With Qiaoniang’s beauty, living alone would likely lead to trouble from predators.
Qiaoniang kowtowed repeatedly, “Thank you, sir. Thank you.”
The matter settled, the Yan family’s coachman dispersed the crowd, and Yan Liru returned to his carriage.
Qiaoniang followed, sitting beside him, head lowered, clutching her mourning clothes, looking nervous.
Yan Liru watched her, “Don’t worry. Once at the residence, you’ll serve in my courtyard.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Your name, Qiaoniang, needs changing.”
“As you decide, sir.”
“Let it be Ruhui.”
Qiaoniang’s face lit up with a smile, “It’s a beautiful name. This servant will be called Ruhui.”
Satisfied, Yan Liru looked away.
After a brief driving, the carriage stopped outside the Yan residence.
Fang Yu, worried by Yan Liru’s delay, rushed to the gate upon hearing he’d returned.
She arrived just as Yan Liru, in his official robes, stepped down and helped a young woman from the carriage.
The woman spoke softly to him, and her usually stoic husband smiled.
Then the woman looked up.
Seeing her face, Fang Yu felt as if plunged into icy depths.
Chen Hui!
She quickly realized it couldn’t be. She’d seen Chen Hui die, and Chen Hui wasn’t this young.
But this thought brought no comfort. She watched her husband exchange glances with this woman, oblivious to her presence!
Fang Yu’s fists clenched, snapping two manicured nails without feeling the pain.
She’d thought removing Chen Hui meant Yan Liru’s eyes were only for her.
Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that, with Chen Hui dead, he’d bring a woman so like her into their home!
What was this?
Suppressing her fury, Fang Yu asked, “Husband, who is she?”
Before Yan Liru could answer, the woman behind him stepped forward and bowed, “Greetings, Madam. This servant is named Ruhui.”
“Ruhui, what a fine name,” Fang Yu said through gritted teeth, staring at her as if wanting to scrape her face inch by inch.
Ruhui seemed oblivious, lifting her head to flash Fang Yu a brilliant smile.
“Enough,” Yan Liru said. “Steward, take Ruhui to my courtyard. She’ll serve me from now on.”
“Yes.” The steward glanced at the master, then the madam, and led the clueless Ruhui away.
As Ruhui followed the steward, she turned back, looking at Fang Yu arguing with Yan Liru, her lips curling slightly.
This was only the beginning.
From the moment Yan Liru agreed to take her into the Yan residence, this household was destined to know no peace. It was what they deserved.
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