CHAPTER 2017: CHAPTER 2016: LONGING FOR A HOME

"I think you’d be better off talking to Master Pan. Considering his feelings for Lady Pan, maybe he’ll keep the house, but a house needs to be lived in; if it’s empty for too long, it’ll slowly fall into disrepair and never return to how it was when Lady Pan was alive," Bai Ruozhu said, glancing at Yizi.

Yizi shook her head, "I don’t dare to say anything. I’m afraid Master Pan will think I’m trying to take over this mansion. Even if I save money for two years, it won’t be enough to buy it, so it looks like I’m just taking advantage of others."

Bai Ruozhu’s lips twitched, thinking to herself, haven’t you been taking over the mansion for these two years?

"But this approach might ruin the Pan family’s reputation. If it’s said that Pan Mansion is haunted, who would dare to interact with the Pans? Their young master and misses might find it hard even to marry," Bai Ruozhu said.

Yizi’s face changed drastically, "How can that be? The Pan family has already moved!"

"You’ve followed your master since childhood and haven’t experienced much of the world, right? If there was no impact, why would Master Pan need to lower the price and rush to sell?" Bai Ruozhu asked. "Even though this might not be the main residence, a bad reputation would still affect the Pan family significantly."

Yizi collapsed to the ground, looking distraught, and said, "How could this happen? Lady Pan wouldn’t want to see this. It’s my fault for harming the Pan family, it’s all my fault."

Bai Ruozhu shook her head silently. This girl is so single-minded, further provoked by the old servant’s indecent acts in the lady’s room. She was determined to not let others live in the room of the person who had been kind to her and thus made this bad move.

"It’s alright. As long as the truth about Pan Mansion being haunted becomes known, everything will be fine," Bai Ruozhu couldn’t bear to see her like this and reminded her with a word.

Yizi hurriedly climbed up from the ground, "I’ll go to the entrance of the County Government Office right now and turn myself in at dawn."

Bai Ruozhu didn’t stop her, letting Jianqi lead people to get things, while she and Fen Jiu returned to the Inn first.

Jiao Ling saw them come back soon and heaved a huge sigh of relief. Fen Jiu rushed to tell Jiao Ling about the situation, and Jiao Ling showed some sympathy, "She meant well. Can’t they be lenient?"

"But her good intentions led to a bad outcome. She needs to learn a lesson so she won’t make the same mistake again. But don’t worry, Aunt. I’ve got people watching from the Government Office, and if the county magistrate plans to give a heavy sentence, I’ll have someone send a message," Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.

Jiao Ling nodded, "That’s good."

The night passed without any talk, and the next morning, Yizi went to the Government Office voluntarily to confess everything she had done over the past two years, explaining the whole story in detail.

"Yizi, considering your loyalty, I don’t want to give a heavy sentence, but this matter must be explained clearly to the townspeople. At noon today, you will publicly confess in the marketplace and receive ten strokes," the county magistrate said.

"Thank you, Sir, for forgiving this girl’s crime," Yizi said, starting to cry, but feeling relieved in her heart.

"Regarding the old servant of the Pan family, I will have people investigate it thoroughly. However, since you did cause injury, I’m sentencing you to compensate him with five taels of silver for medical expenses. Do you have any objections?" the county magistrate continued.

"No, no," Yizi hurriedly took out five taels of silver and handed them to the officer next to her.

Subsequently, Yizi was taken to the busiest place in the marketplace, where an officer explained the situation to the crowd, and she confessed to pretending to be a ghost. Then, she received ten strokes in public.

She was a practitioner of the Array, originally possessing some essence to protect her body from injury, but this girl was headstrong. Believing herself wrong, she insisted on taking the punishment genuinely. Although it didn’t leave her skin deeply wounded, it was still quite painful.

Bai Ruozhu brought Si Yihuan and others to watch. She nodded silently, seeming to think that Yizi truly realized her mistake.

In the end, under the disdainful and angry gazes of the people, Yizi limped away, unable to lift her head. She didn’t blame these people, thinking, who could blame them for being scared and on edge for so long?

Bai Ruozhu chased after her with Si Yihuan and, finding a secluded spot, handed her a bottle of medicine.

"It’ll promote blood circulation and help you recover faster," Bai Ruozhu said.

"Thank you," Yizi looked grateful. "Thanks to your reminder, I would have continued down the wrong path. Now that I think about it, Lady Pan probably reincarnated long ago, and stopping the sale of Pan Mansion was really just my obsession, not about repaying kindness."

Her voice choked up a bit, "I just wanted to have a home, to be with Lady Pan. I also have family and parents, but they’re all gone..."

Si Yihuan, listening on the side, began to cry quietly, "Ruozhu, she’s so pitiful."

Bai Ruozhu sighed slightly, understanding Yizi’s obsession. Yizi desperately wanted a place to belong.

In her past life, she also often felt alone and helpless, so she could understand Yizi’s feelings.

When alone for a long time, one can only talk to the air, slowly becoming more silent, unwilling to connect with others, fearing they might be just passing by and not staying by your side, leaving behind endless loneliness.

Furthermore, after Yizi’s master’s death, she wanted a safe haven but found the Pan family gone. She subconsciously wanted to preserve everything, but in the end, she kept only an empty mansion, with no real meaning.

"If you insist on buying the Pan Mansion, I can lend you the money," Bai Ruozhu said.

Yizi looked up at her in surprise, but soon her eyes dimmed again, "No need, what good would it do if I could? I wouldn’t live here. Like you said, an unoccupied house becomes more and more dilapidated, making it even sadder to look at. Perhaps if a nice family moves in, with a lively house, that would be what Lady Pan would want."

Bai Ruozhu nodded, "It’s best if you can think like that. What are your plans for the future?"

"I plan to take Xiaomao and travel around. I haven’t mastered the Array, and without anyone to guide me, I’ll have to explore on my own," Yizi paused, smiled at the two, and said, "Xiaomao loves the meat pancakes from that shop. I’ll go get two for him. Would you like to join?"

Si Yihuan, who was sad just a moment ago, brightened up, "Yes, I must eat a few more before we leave."

The three of them lined up, and Yizi quietly muttered, "I used to save money to buy the mansion, and I couldn’t bear to buy Xiaomao the sesame seed cakes. It’s so unfair to him."

Bai Ruozhu pursed her lips into a smile, "It’s not like he can’t get them himself. He didn’t miss a chance to sneak some. I smelled the scent of sesame seed cakes the first time I entered Pan Mansion."

Yizi was stunned for a moment, then smiled wryly, "Xiaomao is too mischievous."

"Was the monkey given to you by your master? I see it has quite a bit of spirit already," Bai Ruozhu said.

"Yes, when my master and I traveled together, I saw people performing with monkeys who were beating Xiaomao and its mother, and sadly, the mother monkey was beaten to death on the spot," Yizi sighed and said.