Zhu Yu's Story - Chapter 1

Wei Ci had belonged to an assassins’ organization called Wind and Rain Hall.

As a woodcutter.

He’d never killed anyone, and his martial skills weren’t particularly good.

When Wind and Rain Hall was wiped out, he fled deep into the mountains, afraid someone would hunt him down. Then a bear nearly killed him with one swipe of its paw.

I found him while gathering medicinal herbs. I saved his life, took him in, and fed him, so he declared me his mistress.

He was a marvel at housework. Cooking, cleaning, washing, mending—anything inside or outside the house, he could do it.

He was just a little too eager sometimes…

All I’d done was complain that my bed was cold. That night, he climbed into it.

Naked.

“You saved my life. I offer myself in return.”

Fair enough.

But I was a respectable woman. I didn’t toy with men for fun.

“Let’s get married,” I said.

Wei Ci was terrified.

This towering man, all solid muscle, prostrated himself at my feet and kept saying, “This slave is unworthy.”

I tried to haul him up.

He didn’t budge.

“I’m the one who decides whether you’re worthy. And stop calling yourself a slave.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

I was an orphan. The abbot of Stone Drum Temple had adopted me when I was little. I called him Father and learned medicine from him.

Father specialized in infertility. Throughout the surrounding villages, he was famous as the “Master Who Brings Children.”

Once I’d finished my training, he set off to bring children to people all over the land. He wouldn’t come home for three or even five years at a time. Letters were all that kept our bond as father and daughter going.

I knew he was currently in the capital. Since Jiang Zhaolin came from there too, I brought Wei Ci along and went to find them.

I could break off one engagement and arrange another marriage.

Handle both at once. No time wasted.

What I hadn’t expected was that I couldn’t find Father.

He was such a distinctive character, I’d assumed a few questions would lead me straight to him. Yet no one remembered seeing him.

Jiang Zhaolin, on the other hand, was easy to find. He was the second young master of Duke Cheng’en’s household—the empress’s own family.

I went and knocked at their gates.

Breaking off the engagement wasn’t really the point. We’d never gone through any formal procedures. It had only been a spoken promise, and the token I’d given him was a cheap wooden hairpin I’d picked up at the market.

What mattered was that Jiang Zhaolin hadn’t paid his medical bills either. He’d also lived off me for more than half a year.

Since I was here, I might as well collect the lot.

Jiang Zhaolin soon came out. The moment he saw me, his face went white. He glanced around like a thief, then pulled me into a corner.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “Didn’t I tell you to wait for me at home?”

Before I could answer, he went on, “If you’ve found your way here, you must know by now that a man of my standing can’t easily make you his principal wife. My family still hasn’t agreed. Go home for now. Don’t be impatient. Once they give their consent, I’ll come for you.”

I smiled at him. “No need! I’m marrying someone else, so our engagement is off. And since it’s off, shouldn’t you pay for your medicine and lodging? It comes to a hundred and forty-eight taels of silver. I’ll round it down for you. A hundred and forty will do.”

Jiang Zhaolin stared at me in shock. Then he looked at Wei Ci behind me, and his eyes actually reddened.

Wait. Was Duke Cheng’en’s household that poor?

It was only a hundred and forty taels. Surely it didn’t call for tears.

I counted it out on my fingers. “I’m not overcharging you. The herbs I used weren’t expensive, but I had to climb the mountain and gather them myself. That labor has to count for something…”

His face crumpled. He looked utterly lost.

I had the feeling one more word would make him cry.

I fell silent.

After a while, he finally sent someone to fetch the silver. He gave me a hundred and fifty taels—two extra.

“Thank you,” I said.

I handed it to Wei Ci for safekeeping, then returned the token Jiang Zhaolin had given me.

“My hairpin, please.”

He took back his jade pendant but said he’d lost the hairpin long ago.

I gritted my teeth. Fine.

I was about to leave when another voice spoke.

“Brother, who’s this?”

It was Jiang Zhaolin’s elder brother, the heir to Duke Cheng’en.

He was handsome, but his gaze was anything but friendly. There was something cold and venomous about it, like a snake.

Jiang Zhaolin seemed afraid of him. His face grew even paler.

He stepped in front of me to block his brother’s gaze. “She’s just asking directions,” he explained, signaling for me to leave at once.

The duke’s heir didn’t believe him. He smiled. “Miss Zhu Yu, isn’t it? Such a lovely, delicate creature. No wonder my little brother can’t forget you.”

Jiang Zhaolin jolted. “Brother!” he shouted urgently. “You promised me…”

His brother ignored him and reached for my wrist. “Since you’re already at our door, why not stay with us for a few days—”

Before he could finish, Wei Ci kicked him away.

He hadn’t so much as touched a hair on my head.