Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Shameless Master and Servant

“Did I tell you to destroy the Ning family’s medicinal garden? You glutton, all brawn and no brains! Old Ning nearly exploded with rage; I’m exhausted from dealing with the fallout.” Having thoroughly cowed the little white bear, and watching its round belly heave in anger, Yu Youwei was secretly delighted.

“Bear Lord will endure!” The little white bear, full of grievance and bitterness, tore the pillow to shreds with a swipe of its paw.

This little cub was simply too adorable! Yu Youwei’s playful mood grew, and she continued to tease, “Hand over the things you pilfered from the medicinal garden as compensation.”

“Don’t even think about it!”

“So you really did stash the loot somewhere? How sneaky of you.”

“You’re trying to trick Bear Lord?” The little white bear glared, its eyes blazing with fury.

Grabbing it by the scruff, Yu Youwei lifted it and gave it a shake, threatening slyly, “Of the stolen goods, I’ll take eighty percent, you get twenty. Don’t push your luck.”

This was the tactic the bear feared most; two shakes and its whole body went limp. Forced to swallow its anger, it bargained, “At most, thirty for you, seventy for me.”

“Seventy for me, thirty for you, and no more haggling.”

“Split it down the middle! I should at least get a labor fee. Like the Tiger-striped Blue Moth King, the Stone-devouring Flying Ant King, and the Blue-patterned Snake—though they helped out for Bear Lord’s sake, they still need to be paid.”

Having to bow under someone else’s roof, the little white bear might have despised its unscrupulous master in its heart, but on the surface, it put on a pitiful expression to win sympathy.

“Nonsense!” Yu Youwei didn’t believe it for a second. Still, getting half the loot was an unexpected windfall, so she let the matter drop. When the little white bear handed over her share, she was shocked…

Under the bed, there was actually a cellar dug out, packed with medicinal herbs. Moth-heart grass, Purple Cloud Fruit, Jade-patterned Cordyceps, Crimson Fire Plantain Leaves—herbs that would spark a frenzy at any auction were piled in the corners. One stalk of Violet-blooded Danshen had even been half eaten.

“Little white bear, is this all?” Usually quick with words, Yu Youwei found herself tongue-tied in her excitement.

“Of course.” The little white bear felt her grip on its scruff tighten and quickly amended, “No, wait, there’s another layer below. You can pick whichever layer you like.”

Yu Youwei frowned. As the Poison Mistress, she’d swept through the Eighteen Strongholds of Yanyun, seizing a storage ring—normally it seemed spacious enough, but now it was nearly full, and these herbs wouldn’t fit. If she left them under the bed, and they were discovered, it would be a disaster!

“Huh? The Young Madam isn’t in the room, and neither is Young Master Mo!”

“Look, the pillow’s been clawed open!”

“Did some monster sneak in? Oh no, something must have happened to Young Master Mo!”

As Yu Youwei crouched under the bed, fretting over how to store the herbs, the voices of two maidservants at the door startled her into holding her breath. Only after they made a quick inspection and left did she dare speak to the little white bear. “It’s not safe to hide the herbs here, and my storage ring is too small. Is there any solution?”

“Yes. Just refine all these herbs into pills, and you’ll have no problem.”

“Useless!”

“Pill talismans are a basic skill for any cultivator. Don’t tell me you can’t even refine pills?” The little white bear wiped its brow in mock exasperation.

She held back the urge to smash it against the wall. “Keep an eye on these herbs. If so much as a single leaf goes missing, you’ll regret it!”

The little white bear gazed mournfully at its slippery, unscrupulous master as she darted away like a fish, utterly speechless.

Yu Youwei had just crawled out from under the bed when she heard her mother-in-law, Lady Yu, calling anxiously outside, “Is Mo Fei really not here?” She strode toward the door without hesitation.

“Oh, Young Madam is here?” The maidservant in green, who had entered with Lady Wang, cried out in surprise.

“Why is that so strange?” Yu Youwei shot her a glare and said to Lady Wang, “Mo Fei hasn’t come back to rest. I couldn’t find him. Where else could he have gone?”

Lady Yu rushed to the bedside, tears welling as she saw the pillow shredded by the little white bear. “Could he have been eaten by a monster?”

“A torn pillow proves nothing. Perhaps Mo Fei didn’t return to Yongqing Hall. We should search everywhere he might go.” Yu Youwei helped her mother-in-law to her feet and led her to the main hall, pouring tea for her.

In her worry, Lady Yu was at a loss, but seeing Yu Youwei’s confidence, she immediately ordered people to search.

When the old matron heard that Ning Mofei was missing, she hurried over from the medicinal garden, shouting before she even reached the door, “How could you lose Mo Fei?”

“After planting the Seven-star Lotus, I told him to rest in his room. Who knew he’d disappear?” Lady Yu replied, consumed by anxiety.

Because Lady Yu had assumed Mofei had already left the medicinal garden, she hadn’t sent anyone to look there. They had searched all his usual haunts and anywhere he might have gone, but he was nowhere to be found. In her distress, she turned on Yu Youwei, scolding, “You only care about showing off, not about my son at all. Don’t forget, you’re just a concubine’s daughter from the Yu family—marrying my son was already climbing above your station. If anything happens to Mo Fei, don’t think you’ll get off lightly!”

“If you think Mo Fei has been wronged, let him give me a divorce letter when he returns,” Yu Youwei retorted firmly, then walked away without a backward glance. Before, she had only heard from her mother-in-law that Mo Fei had returned to rest, but now she suspected he might still be somewhere in the medicinal garden. She headed there at once.

Rain fell like silk, and Ning Mofei still stood where his mother’s binding spell had left him, motionless as a statue, his black hair and clothes soaked through.

Yu Youwei went over and called his name, but he didn’t respond. He stared blankly at the Seven-star Lotus seedlings swaying gracefully in the rain, the water streaming down his face more like tears than rain.

The closer she drew, the more she felt a deep, overwhelming sorrow. Though he was within arm’s reach, Yu Youwei felt as if they were worlds apart. “Mo Fei, it’s me—Youwei. Will you tell me what happened?” she asked anxiously, but still received no answer.

“Mo Fei, come inside with me.” When she took his hand, she was startled by how cold it felt. She reached to support him, only to sense his resistance. Though she could have forced him to leave, she let go, instead conjuring a shield of magic to shelter him from the rain. Her voice was gentle, “Won’t you tell me what happened? Didn’t Third Brother ever say—I’m your wife. You can share anything with me, happy or sad.”

Warm fire energy enveloped the drenched Ning Mofei, steam rising around them, blurring his features. “I’m useless. I can’t do anything right,” he finally murmured, his voice barely audible over the wind and rain.

“You’ve done very well, Mo Fei. Look, all the Seven-star Lotus have been planted.”

“The Seven-star Lotus—Mother planted those.”

Yu Youwei could guess the reason for his state. Gazing at his face veiled in mist, her heart ached with sorrow. Her voice grew even softer, “Maybe your mother planted the Seven-star Lotus, but I saw you plant the Ghost-faced Cloud Mushroom. And the Jade Ginseng and Water Willow—you finished those all by yourself.”