Chapter 148: Cui Niang

The Meng Family's farce came to an end, and no one noticed a ghostly figure sweep past outside the Meng Family's grounds.

Chi Nan Yi listened to Ji Bai's account and said with a smile, "It's just a pity the beating wasn't on her body, but then again, she still wants to seduce Mo Junheng! If she'd been beaten, she wouldn't be able to carry out the next plan." Resting her chin on one hand, she said with keen interest, "I'm truly curious—what kind of reaction would she have if she knew the Crown Prince is impotent?"

After the snow disaster, Chi Nan Yi discovered that the area within her spatial realm had more than doubled, and the growth time of crops inside had also sped up considerably.

Most importantly, the shop she had newly taken over became wildly popular. Besides the common folk curious about what food the shop would make, the managers of various grain shops also came to her door one after another.

The truth was that the rice and flour from this shop were simply too delicious, entirely different from ordinary grain. Once you'd eaten the rice here, going back to the old rice was like chewing wax—impossible to swallow.

"Manager Hao, just sell us a little! No matter how much silver, I'll pay it."

"Yes, yes! We'll pay whatever it takes, just sell to us!"

Manager Hao heard this and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, it's not that I don't want to sell. The truth is I have no say over this grain. Tell you what—I'll go ask the proprietor for you. If she nods, I'll let you know. How about that?"

"The proprietor? Manager Hao, you're not trying to pull one over on us, are you! Isn't this shop yours? Where does a proprietor come from?"

"Exactly!"

Manager Hao waved his hand. "It's a long story, and I won't go into detail with you. Just wait here for now."

Manager Hao went upstairs and explained his purpose to Chi Nan Yi.

"Proprietor, should we keep this grain to sell ourselves, or sell it to them?"

"Go tell them we won't sell this grain, but put their minds at ease. From now on, we won't sell the grain either—we'll only cook it and serve it to customers who come to our shop to eat. It won't affect their business."

"Got it." Manager Hao trotted downstairs and relayed Chi Nan Yi's words verbatim.

"But…"

"Rest assured, as long as we don't sell rice and flour separately, your business won't be affected."

The grain shop managers nodded upon hearing this. Since that was the case, they didn't press the matter.

The manager of Five Grains Workshop looked up from downstairs toward the upper floor.

Manager Hao frowned slightly at the sight. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing… nothing at all."

Over the next period of time, the shop was being renovated, while Chi Nan Yi bought a three-courtyard residence in Jingcheng, thinking of bringing the Chi Family to Jingcheng in the future.

After her rebirth, the reason she had followed Chi Zhiqiu and the others back to Yuping Village was because she wanted to make amends for the original owner's debts to the Chi Family from her past life, and besides, it was as if some unseen force had been guiding her toward Yuping Village.

Looking at it now, the trip to Yuping Village had been worth it.

Not only had she changed the Chi Family's life, she had also learned of her own origins.

Once everything settled, she would bring the Chi Family to Jingcheng and live the life of an ordinary family.

She was very satisfied with this courtyard. Not only was the compound extremely large, but there was also a grove and a pond out back. Summer here would surely be very cool.

One day, Chi Nan Yi and Ji Bai came to a cheese shop in the east of the city.

Chi Nan Yi ordered a few pieces of cheese. The shop's manager hadn't changed, and the taste hadn't changed either.

When the shop's manager saw Chi Nan Yi, she couldn't help but startle. Chi Nan Yi naturally knew the reason for her stunned look, but only smiled and said nothing.

She had already walked quite far from the shop when she heard the cheese shop manager's voice behind her: "May I ask what surname the young gentleman goes by?"

"My surname is Chi."

"Chi… may I ask, miss, which Chi character?"

Seeing the anxious and urgent look in her eyes, eager to know the answer, Chi Nan Yi took a jade pendant from her sleeve and flashed it before her eyes.

The manager's eyes suddenly widened.

"You… you are…"

"It seems my maternal grandfather has already sent someone to tell you."

"Yes… yes… this old servant…"

"This is not a place to talk," Chi Nan Yi said in a low voice. "Come find me at the Hao Family Restaurant tonight."

"All right." She wiped away the tears about to fall and turned to leave.

The young miss was right—this was no place to talk.

After nightfall, the cheese shop manager followed behind Ji Bai to Chi Nan Yi's room.

The moment she saw Chi Nan Yi, she dropped straight to her knees: "This old servant greets the young miss."

"Please rise, quickly." Chi Nan Yi helped her up. "I don't yet know how to address you?"

"This old servant's surname is Cui, and my name is Cui Niang. When the young miss was still alive, I was the kitchen maid in the household. The young miss loved the meals this old servant made the most." Cui Niang said through tears, "After the young miss passed away, this old servant has been searching for you all along."

Hearing her say this, Chi Nan Yi couldn't help but be startled. "You knew I hadn't died?"

"Yes." Cui Niang nodded. "After the incident at the Situ residence, this old servant went to see that infant. One look and I knew it wasn't a child the young miss had given birth to. This old servant is a mother too—that child was clearly already over a month old. At that point, this old servant knew it wasn't the young miss's child. The young miss's child was still alive." Cui Niang said softly, "Young miss, all these years, this servant has been quietly investigating what happened to the Situ residence back then. This old servant is incompetent and has only gathered a little information."

"Tell me."

"This old servant sells cheese and is getting on in years, so few people let their guard down around me. Some years ago, two maidservants who looked like they came from the palace came to this old servant's shop to buy cheese. In their conversation, they happened to mention the Situ residence affair, saying only that those who didn't follow the right master would surely meet a miserable end, and even the Situ residence was no exception. After saying this, they seemed to realize they'd said the wrong thing and spoke no further."

"Didn't follow the right master?"

The master of the Situ residence… should be the Bai Family.

The Bai Family was Noble Consort Bai's maiden family, and whoever they supported was surely Prince Li.

Those who wanted to eradicate the Bai Family and Prince Li, and who also had the power to do so… seemed to be countable on one hand.

"Young miss, this old servant doesn't know if any of this is of use."

"It's useful, very useful."

Chi Nan Yi said softly, "I never expected you to be so loyal."

"What the young miss doesn't know is that if the old patriarch hadn't taken us in, this old servant's entire family would have frozen or starved to death. The Chi Family has treated us well, so this old servant naturally must be utterly loyal to the master's house. This old servant would lay down this very life to avenge the young miss."

"I understand your devotion, but revenge is by no means easy. Even my maternal grandfather had to avoid their sharp edge and relocated the Chi Family to Nanpu. That you could stay here for my mother's sake—if my mother knew in the world below, she would surely be deeply grateful."

"Revenge must be planned carefully over the long term. You just guard the cheese shop well. If anything comes up, find Ji Bai."

"Yes."

After the nursemaid left, Chi Nan Yi's brows were tightly furrowed.

All the evidence seemed to point entirely to the Palace.

It seems that to find out the answer, one still needs to go to the Palace to investigate thoroughly.