Edited by Larkspur

Chapter 3: Words from a Jade (Part 2)

“How do you know my name?” Chu Jin Yap was both surprised and suspicious. Before the other party could answer, Shan Cha’s voice sounded from outside.

“Young Lady, are you all right?”

Since Chu Jin Yao screamed and threw stuff, she had long alarmed the people outside.

Chu Jin Yao did not answer but instead lowered her voice and lay on her stomach to threaten this jade pendant, “You better confess honestly, else I will hand you over to the people outside. Then, they will invite a Taoist Priest to perform rituals and your soul might fly away and scatter!”

The voice in the jade pendant laughed lightly and spoke, “Then you should try it. This Lord has grown so big and no one dared to ever threaten me.”

Chu Jin Yao really had no more ideas as the other party was immune to cajolery and coercion. It seemed that it wasn’t an evil ghost in the jade pendant and most likely a spirit. When Chu Jin Yao was in the village, she had heard that jade had some spiritual essence and many immortals used the essence in jade to attain immortality. Many mortals that wore jade could also help promote one’s health. Since young, Chu Jin Yao felt that her jade was extremely powerful. When she carried it, she would not have a cold for the entire year thus when a spirit came out of it, even though Chu Jin Yao was surprised, she felt that it was rather reasonable.

She had previously carried the jade close to herself, else, Su Shen would have long taken it. Upon arriving at the Marquis Residence, there were many requirements, including wearing multiple layers of clothes. Chu Jin Yao could no longer wear it close to herself and could only learn from the others and tie the pendant with a knotted string and hang it on her clothing.

Actually, Chu Jin Yao did not plan to hand the jade pendant over as she was just scaring it. This was the jade that had accompanied her for thirteen years. Even if there was a spirit in it, Chu Jin Yao still felt that this spirit would lean towards her. If this was publicised, as long as the thing in the jade did not speak, no one would know if her words were real. Perhaps the people in the Marquis Residence would suspect that her brain was damaged and gone crazy. At that time, Madam Zhao would have a clear excuse to send her away. Chu Jin Yao was not stupid after all. The Marquis Residence was originally her house, so why should she leave and let outsiders have it? She must stay on and live well.

Seeing that the jade spirit was not frightened and Shan Cha was shouting outside, Chu Jin Yao could only raise her voice to say, “I am fine. You can withdraw.”

Seeing Chu Jin Yao’s insistence, Shan Cha mumbled a few more sentences before leaving. When she was certain the maid was far away, Chu Jin Yao then looked at the jade pendant, “Why are you in my jade pendant? Do you have a name?”

Qin Yi also wanted to know why he was in a jade pendant that a Young Lady of Marquis lineage was carrying. That day, he had led people to pursue a group of Tatar barbarians and seemed to have suffered some injuries. When he regained consciousness, he was already here.

Qin Yi had guessed that what probably happened to him was that his soul was outside his body, like those Taoist Priests in the Palace mentioned. His injuries that day were not light and it could be that due to the serious injuries, his soul was unattached. Actually, Qin Yi also had a similar jade pendant like Chu Jin Yao. It was a jade pendant with red-flakes texture but larger. All these years he had worn it, but because he left in a rush that day he had actually forgotten about it. After being seriously injured, he appeared in Chu Jin Yao’s jade pendant. This jade should have the effect of nourishing one’s soul as Qin Yi felt it was way more comfortable staying like this.

Those years ago, a travelling Taoist Priest had conned his Imperial Mother into buying the jade pendant at a high price, boasting that it could save his life in times of crisis. Qin Yi had sneered in contempt back then, but now it seemed that it was real.

He had clearly felt that there was one less red flake in the white jade and his soul has recovered by a lot.

As for the last question, Qin Yi paused for a while before speaking, “My name is Qi Ze. You can call me Qi Ze.”

“Qi Ze…,” Chu Jin Yao said aloud and praised, “Good name.”

“Yes.” Qin Yi answered indifferently. His generation’s name was Shui and after he was born, the Imperial Tutor was to provide the name and the Imperial Astronomer to look at the divine meaning. The Imperial Tutor said that ‘Yi’ (沂), represented the great lands and vast skies that grace upon everything. Thus, he gave him the courtesy name ‘Yi Ze’ (以泽). Qin Yi took a word from his courtesy name and added Imperial Mother’s surname, so it was indeed a good name that was proposed by the Imperial Tutor and drafted by the Cabinet.

Chu Jin Yao coughed. She wanted to get along well with Qi Ze and thus praised his name. It was said that one would not slap the person who smiled! But he actually agreed to it?

Chu Jin Yao felt that this spirit must have just become a spirit and did not understand the ways of the human world. Chu Jin Yao thought about it and found that she should be more considerate of him. Thus, Chu Jin Yao magnanimously did not fuss about it with Qi Ze and instead asked, “Qi Ze, when did you appear in my jade pendant?”

For the first time ever, Qin Yi was speechless. After a while, he vaguely replied, “Just a few days ago.”

“A few days ago…” Chu Jin Yao was somewhat embarrassed. “So you have seen everything today?”

Actually, it was more than that.

Qin Yi was awakened by a female’s cries. He had originally wanted to shout at the person who dared to cry in his room but upon raising his hand, he realised that something was wrong. After the initial shock, he quickly calmed down and watched the situation. Afterwards, he learned that this female was called Chu Jin Yao and was recently found from outside. She just cried because she heard her biological mother say some unkind words.

Qin Yi had thought that this little girl was very pitiful but he still did not plan to intervene. For a living person’s soul to be out of the body and recuperating in a jade pendant of a Young Lady of a Marquis family, he felt that this was a fantasy story. Moreover, Qin Yi did not want to let the Chu family know of his existence. Thus, he did not say anything in the past few days and silently stayed in Chu Jin Yao’s jade pendant, waiting for his injury to recover and silently leave without a trace.

Having not realised anything, Chu Jin Yao had worn the jade pendant out, given greetings, and secretly cried as she hugged it at night. Qin Yi was somewhat embarrassed. In this mortification, there was also some guilt.

This was due to being so intimate with a female. To live and sleep together. Even a husband and wife would not be able to do it.

Qin Yi had planned to let the matter rot in his belly, but when Chu Jin Yao leaned against the bed frame to cry, and it was even the silent and unnoticeable type where tears just stream down, Qin Yi could no longer bear it. He could only comfort her with a sentence, “Don’t cry.”

One had to know that in Qin Yi’s life, this was already a rare kindness that he had ever displayed.

In the end, Chu Jin Yao was not comforted. On the contrary, she was so terribly frightened and even dared to disrespect him afterwards. Qin Yi felt that taking into consideration that her jade pendant had saved him, he would make a note of it and not pursue it for the time being. However, if she committed the offense again…

Chu Jin Yao did not know that in such a short time, she had already made a round trip on JinYiWei’s special care list. She was still brooding over the matter that happened just now. “So you have seen me spoiling the brocade?”

“It is only a bolt of brocade.” Qin Yi snorted in contempt. The Imperial Family would receive mountains of brocade every year. In the Palace, brocade was common, just a type of cloth to make clothes. He just could not understand why Chu Jin Yao would cry because of a bolt of brocade. He thought to himself that if she liked it after he recovered, he would instruct someone to send her a carriage of it as long as she did not cry in the future.

Chu Jin Yao sighed, “It is not because of the brocade…”

She simply sat on the footrest and used the bed to prop her chin to speak to the jade pendant directly, face to face, “No matter how rare brocade is, it is after all just a cloth. It is good if one were to have it and it is all right to wear one that isn’t that good. How could it be worth crying over? I could not help crying because I felt helpless. I really worked very hard to adapt to life here, but I have never seen large households before, so how would one know about the specificities of these noble families? Even if I were to learn for all one is worth, shouldn’t they give me a period to study? But they did not. They all laughed at me secretly. My mother knows that I have just arrived and do not know anything, but she did not even arrange someone to teach me etiquettes.”

When hearing what Chu Jin Yao said in the beginning, Qin Yi very much agreed with her. It was correct. No matter how valuable it was, it was no more than a dead thing. How could it be worth so much that the living would suffer due to it? However, when he listened to the end, even the unreasonable Qin Yi felt heartache.

The daughter had only just been found. In ordinary families, it was always the mothers that were assiduous, provide thoughtful attention and personally teach, hating that they were not able to make up for all the missing maternal love. However, in Chu Jin Yao’s case, Madam Zhao did not even send a capable Mama over. Qin Yi did not think that she was not willing since a Marquis Furen would not be this stingy. It was most likely that Madam Zhao had forgotten as she did not place the matter in her heart at all.

Chu Jin Yao was only thirteen years old and suddenly found herself in a completely unfamiliar environment, how helpless she would have felt? But Madam Zhao, the mother, was not interested in it; Old Chu Furen, sitting high up, would not be able to see the suffering of the world and Marquis Chang Xing rarely returned to the inner courtyard and had long forgotten about the daughter he recently found. In the end, it was Qin Yi, a complete outsider, who could no longer stand it.

“I have knowledge of etiquettes. I will teach you.”