CHAPTER 2016: CHAPTER 2015: THE REASON

The woman showed a look of shame and slowly began to speak.

"My name is Yizi. This name was given to me by Lady Pan."

"Stand up and continue talking. It’s uncomfortable to watch you kneeling like that, even if you’re not uncomfortable," Bai Ruozhu interrupted her.

The woman looked gratefully at Bai Ruozhu, held the little monkey, and stood up, gently stroking the monkey’s head with her slender hand to calm its nervousness.

"The lady is a kind person. I will make Xiaomao return your things," Yizi said.

"How can a single monkey steal a whole cart of things?" Jianqi asked suspiciously from the side.

"Don’t look down on Xiaomao because it’s small, it has great strength, and it knows a minor array to conceal itself." Yizi nodded at Xiaomao, who chirped twice, stretched out its paws, and she suddenly disappeared.

But soon, the two reappeared in the same place, indicating they hadn’t moved; they just used the array to become invisible.

This time, Bai Ruozhu seriously looked at Xiaomao, surprised that this weak-looking little monkey had such skills.

And Yizi didn’t seem like a deceitful person; otherwise, she would have taken the opportunity to escape when she vanished just now.

"I’ve been an orphan since childhood, begging on the streets since I can remember. Once, I was almost beaten to death by other beggar children, and it was Lady Pan who happened to pass by and saved me, spending a lot of money to treat my illness. Originally, she wanted to take me to the Pan Family to care for me, but before I recovered, my master took a liking to me and wanted to take me as a disciple."

Yizi spoke with a light smile, "I had decided Lady Pan was a good person, thinking if my mother were still alive, she would surely be as gentle as Lady Pan, so I refused to become a disciple. But Lady Pan persuaded me to learn from my master properly, saying it would have a more promising future than going to the Pan Residence. Even if she took me as an adopted daughter, as a merchant family’s adopted daughter, what kind of good marriage could I have in the future? It would be better to learn some skills to change my destiny. Lady Pan was very wise; she even mentioned that my master was a high person, saying if I mastered my skills, I could protect her."

"My name was also given by Lady Pan. Later, I studied with my master for ten years, and during that time, I returned to visit Lady Pan. I always said that after I graduated, I would accompany her for a while, serving as her bodyguard. But before I graduated, my master revealed a heavenly secret to save someone and was backlashed by the Heavenly Path and died. I buried my master and hurried back, but she had already passed away." As Yizi spoke, her eyes turned red.

"Originally, my master’s death was a big blow to me, and with her sudden passing and the Pan family’s departure, I began to suspect she was murdered, so I became obsessed with uncovering the truth. When this mansion was up for sale, I was afraid that once it was sold, everything would change, and I wouldn’t be able to find out the truth, so I pretended to be a ghost to scare off the buyers."

Yizi sighed, "But after investigating for half a year, I found out Lady Pan indeed died of illness, and her family treated her well during her illness. Even Mr. Pan left because he was overwhelmed with grief. I had investigated their countryside place and finally overturned my suspicions."

"Then since you have found out, why do you continue to play tricks and scare Pan’s old servant into breaking his leg?" Bai Ruozhu asked with a frown.

Yizi’s face fell, "It was the old servant’s misconduct. After Lady Pan’s passing, the mansion should have stayed in mourning according to reason, but he not only did not keep mourning but even moved into Lady Pan’s room, drinking and eating meat there daily and even seducing someone else’s wife to indulge in shameful acts in Lady Pan’s room. If the lady had been watching, she would definitely be angry."

"And the Daoist who went mad?" Bai Ruozhu asked again.

Yizi showed a look of helplessness, "It must have been overblown in the community. The Daoist had no real skills; he was just pretending to deceive people. I used a minor array to scare him, and since he had a guilty conscience, he got really scared and quickly left the town. But from what I saw, he was only frightened and not really insane."

"Since the Daoist and the old servant have been driven away, why do you continue pretending to be a ghost?" Bai Ruozhu asked.

Yizi hung her head in shame, "The lady really liked it here during her life. I don’t want her room to be occupied by others, but I also realize this isn’t a solution. I’ve been trying hard to save money to buy the place but don’t know how to earn money. I only learned a little minor array skill from my master and haven’t perfected it. Also, being young, it’s hard to gain others’ trust. Recently, I’ve been worried with Xiaomao about not having silver, and then it..."

She glared at Xiaomao, "Don’t act pitiful. No matter how difficult, you shouldn’t steal others’ things."

Xiaomao covered its face with its hands, chirping twice as if saying it knew it was wrong and felt very ashamed.

"Take them to get those things. You didn’t secretly eat anything, did you?" Yizi asked.

Xiaomao waved its hand at her and started chirping.

Bai Ruozhu looked at the interaction between the human and the monkey, thinking about her relationships with Furball and Xiaohei, making her gaze softer towards Yizi.

Quickly, with Xiaomao guiding, the group arrived under a tree in the backyard and soon dug out a heap of stuff.

In addition to these, there were also lotus leaf-wrapped roasted chickens and Oil Paper Package meat pancakes. This monkey had buried its treasures. Food items, if buried, would attract ants and bugs, wouldn’t they?

Yizi, looking annoyed, glared at the monkey, "Xiaomao, you stole food from the town again. You’re going to get me killed sooner or later!"

Xiaomao reached out to hug her neck and started wailing, looking extremely aggrieved. As a result, Yizi also began to cry, saying, "It’s my fault. I can’t even buy you good food."

Bai Ruozhu had Jianqi check, and indeed, all the missing items were there, though not much of value, just some spare medicinal materials. Bai Ruozhu didn’t want to pursue the matter further, so she told Jianqi, "Just take the things back."

Yizi looked up at her, "I’ll turn myself in to the County Government Office in the morning."

Bai Ruozhu didn’t stop her. Regardless of Yizi’s reasons, wrong is wrong, and she should pay for her mistakes and accept the punishment she deserves.

It’s like a story Bai Ruozhu once heard in her previous life, where a waitress at a hot pot restaurant got into a dispute with a customer and poured boiling water over them. Later, some people sympathized with her, saying the customer was verbally abusive, and the waitress was cornered. But Bai Ruozhu always believed that the waitress was wrong because she had broken the law and hurt someone. Wrong is wrong. If everyone in the world resorted to violence whenever upset, wouldn’t society be in chaos?

Thus, for a long time, unless someone crossed her bounds, like Wu Wanqing using a Poisonous Insect on Dengdeng and Honglian using Evil Techniques to control her and Achun, she’d develop a lethal intent. Otherwise, she would at most give them a small punishment; otherwise, if she poisoned everyone who provoked her to death, wouldn’t she become a demoness?

Of course, Yizi’s situation isn’t worthy of execution, at most a few strokes of the rod, and she should compensate the Pan family’s old servant who broke his leg.