Chapter 58: Who Are You

It was not only important that she kept on fighting and persevering in spite of all the setbacks, but more importantly, she must seize the right timing to achieve her goal.

Even though she had no idea about the exact timing when Princess Shanyin was killed, Chu Yu constantly felt like the storm of history was rolling thunderously in her mind every time she closed her eyes. It was pushing closer to her in an overwhelming manner and it felt like the dust blown by the storm could blot out the entire world.

In Chu Yu’s plan, there were two sides. She could either advance or retreat. However, the only overlapping link between those two sides was these people before her eyes. Chu Yu came up with this idea by chance when she learned about the identities of Wang Yizhi and the others from Huan Yuan.

She wanted to get into the circle of this level. Perhaps, she could make her way into this circle of people by relying on Huan Yuan. However, it would be far from enough for her. She needed to become someone that could influence these people. She wanted to become a person with a special status just like Wang Yizhi or Xiao Bie.

Despite Huan Yuan’s astonishing talents, the talents belonged to him and not her. She would certainly need to come up with something that could suppress these arrogant and self-conceited scholars.

Thus, she revealed this side of her today and made Xiao Bie the first target of her plan.

It was not that she was not allowed to carry out her plan slowly, but she may not have the time to complete it. As a result, Chu Yu could only adopt a radical approach. She was only doing it on the basis of placing a bet. She would either make her name overnight or lose all the available cards in her hands.

Xiao Bie was about to sneer grimly when he was distracted by someone coming out of the forest. Chu Yu thought that it was Pei Shu who finally came late after a long while originally. She turned her head to the side to take a casual look and could not help being dumbstruck after taking a clearer look of the newcomer.

It was not Pei Shu. Instead, it was someone whom she had met earlier too. It was the young spice master she met in Xinlan Marketplace. He followed the boy in green to the lakeside and muttered something to the boy with a frown on his face.

Chu Yu forgot about Xiao Bie at once. She could not refrain from muttering, “What a coincidence…”

She remembered the ‘high-ranking official’ the spice master mentioned earlier. Then, Chu Yu took a glance at Wang Yizhi subconsciously.

The young man looked toward the pavilion just in time to see Chu Yu. His expression turned awkward at once. He was supposed to seek assistance from the master for a difficult matter, but he did not expect that his guest who proposed the difficulty would actually be acquainted with the master.

Wang Yizhi’s eyes swept past Chu Yu and the spice master’s expressions in succession. He smiled knowingly after a moment. Then, he stood up and drawled lazily, “I have some personal matters to attend to. Please hold on, my fellow guests.”

He dragged his feet as he walked toward the lakeside slowly. It was only then that Chu Yu discovered that he was wearing a pair of sandal-like wooden clogs and not the standard boots.

The wooden clogs were deep indigo in color. They were such a deep purple that it was close to being black. The soles of the wooden clogs thumped against the stone bridge once after another and gave out a mellow and full sound.

Clack, clack.

The rhythm of the sound was very relaxing.

Wang Yizhi strolled leisurely to the lakeside and engaged in a conversation with the young spice master. They spoke so softly that the people in the pavilion could not hear them. However, Chu Yu could see the spice master pass a small blue fabric pouch the size of a fist to Wang Yizhi. Moreover, he cast furtive glances to her side occasionally, so she could roughly figure out the content of their conversation.

After the momentary conversation, the spice master took a last glance at Chu Yu with a complicated expression on his face before he bade farewell to Wang Yizhi with a salute. On the other hand, Wang Yizhi came shuffling slowly back to the pavilion while tossing the small blue fabric pouch playfully in his hand. The wooden clogs underneath his feet clacked loudly against the stone bridge. Chu Yu watched him walking on the bridge with her heart throbbing to the rhythm of the fabric pouch being tossed in his hand. She was afraid that he would drop the pouch into the lakewater by accident because she had only given the spice master one such portion of spices and had no other backup.

Wang Yizhi walked back to the pavilion slowly while dragging his feet. He nodded to the rest of the people first before he stared at Chu Yu. “Brother Zichu, can we speak in private?” He emphasized the words ‘Brother Zichu’ ever so slightly.

Chu Yu was aware that he was most probably going to discuss the perfume pouch. She nodded with a smooth expression. Then, she followed Wang Yizhi to leave the pavilion. After crossing the bridge, Yue Jiefei came behind Chu Yu automatically. Wang Yizhi stopped walking and took a glance at him. “Hey, brother. It’s best for you not to follow us. I only want to talk to Brother Zichu alone in private.” Even though he assumed a casual, lazy attitude, his tone of speech oozed irresistible elegance and overbearingness that suppressed Yue Jiefei.

Yue Jiefei stopped walking and looked at Chu Yu once to signify that his obedience only followed her orders. She pondered for a moment before ordering him to stay. She was not willing to take such risks firstly because Wang Yizhi did not have any motive to kill her. Secondly, she needed to know the answer urgently.

Even though she learned a lesson from the failure of Rong Zhi, Chu Yu was fearless when she took risks.

Both of them made their way into an elegant house located by the lakeside. The house was spacious and desolate. Although the furniture was neatly arranged, it appeared to be so tidy that it lacked the warmth of people’s presence. Both of them had just entered the house when Chu Yu chuckled. “It must have been a long time since someone stayed in this house, hasn’t it?”

Wang Yizhi answered while he closed the door, “That’s right.” He turned around and procured the blue fabric pouch from his sleeve by turning his wrist over. Just as expected, he opened the small blue pouch and revealed the silk pouch that Chu Yu gave the spice master the same day.

Wang Yizhi held the silk pouch in his hand and asked with a smile, “Is there anything you wish to tell me, Brother Zichu?”

Chu Yu blinked her eyes innocently. “What should I tell you, Brother Yizhi?”

Both of them indulged in a game of charades and found it to be a rather fun game. They watched each other’s relaxed gazes and began sniggering aloud all of a sudden.

Chu Yu waved her hand. “Oh, forget it. It’s meaningless to play dumb. I believe that the spice master has already explained most of the situation to you for sure. I wonder how did you figure out that I’d like to discuss this perfume pouch in private?” Truthfully, there were certain questions that she found difficult to ask in the presence of a third party.

Wang Yizhi leaned against the wall with a very elegant posture. “That’s because you requested to discuss the pouch in private even back when you were at the spice shop… Naturally, that is still not enough to harbor suspicion. What if that’s added to the fact that you are a woman?” His pitch-black pupils were rippling with contemplative humor. He looked straight at Chu Yu without blinking. “Am I right, Miss Zichu? Or is that not your real name either?”

Chu Yu was not surprised by the fact that he knew. She had never considered her cross-dressing as a man was flawless. From the martial arts fiction television series in the past, she used to watch the female lead dress up in male attire and her identity would go unnoticed by the public. It was absolutely an exaggeration because the skeletal structure of a woman’s body was different from a man’s. She could attempt to conceal the flaws of her movements with full effort, but her act would still be exposed similarly, especially in the eyes of a person with sharp vision.

Wang Yizhi was not in a rush to open the perfume pouch, but he said to Chu Yu, “I can assure you that no one in Jiankang City knows more about spices than I do. If you wish to seek honest answers from me, then I will ask you a question too, and I hope that you’ll answer truthfully.”

He enunciated the words clearly with a pause after every word. His voice was crystal clear yet composed as he said, “Who. Are. You?”