When had Wei Xunzhou ever been treated so coldly?
The doubts Meng Po had raised were deeply etched into Di Yao's heart. Di Yao suddenly became much more alert.
Meng Po had also said that, for a husband, the points she raised were the most trivial matters, and moreover, Wei Xunzhou had only done one of them so far, not even qualifying as a decent husband. And what Wei Xunzhou did was indeed easy to bewitch people. Meng Po repeatedly urged Di Yao to keep her head clear, clearer than clear.
"Men are the best at pretending," Meng Po said earnestly.
Di Yao wasn't the type to be swept away by small kindnesses. She knew Meng Po meant well, so she replied with a grin, "Listen to you, am I that stupid?"
Meng Po rarely spoke so sharply; usually, her words were warm and comforting. So Di Yao immediately sensed that Meng Po had some objections to Wei Xunzhou, even a dislike.
Although Di Yao defended Wei Xunzhou a few times in front of Meng Po, she was still influenced by Meng Po's words. The first thing she did when she got home was to check the backyard.
Just as Meng Po had guessed, aside from the lanterns Wei Xunzhou had prepared, everything else was exactly the same.
Although Di Yao had never expected Wei Xunzhou, who was always sickly and slow in everything, to help her till the land, her goodwill toward him, after a brief rise, fell back to its original level.
She shrugged and muttered to herself, "As expected, I still have to rely on myself."
And little Xibian...
Di Yao waved to Xibian, and it ran over wagging its tail, extending its sharp claws to diligently dig holes.
Wei Xunzhou wasn't home again.
Di Yao remembered how, when Meng Po had asked what Wei Xunzhou usually did at home during the day, she had blurted out in his defense that he was always busy with something. But in reality, Di Yao didn't know if Wei Xunzhou really was busy; she only knew that he always seemed even busier than herself.
Di Yao sighed. "Always so mysterious, so hard to figure out."
A few days later, Wei Xunzhou noticed something was off. Every time he returned to the room, Di Yao no longer chattered away with concern; she only greeted him briefly. Sometimes when he came home late, Di Yao wouldn't wait for him. By the time he got back, she had already blown out the lamp and was asleep.
At first, Wei Xunzhou thought Di Yao was just too tired, but once he saw her laughing and playing with Xibian one moment, and then as soon as she saw him, her smile vanished. It left him completely baffled.
When had Wei Xunzhou ever been treated so coldly? But he was inherently aloof by nature, so he wouldn't go and ask Di Yao personally. Besides, without Di Yao's chatter, it would just take a few days to get used to it—he didn't take it too seriously. Still, to be safe, he stopped going out much during the day, locking himself in his room to read.
After working for several consecutive days, Meng Po specifically told Di Yao to take a few days off to focus on her land.
During these rest days, Di Yao successfully tilled a small vegetable plot in the backyard. She also built two raised ridges—one horizontal and one vertical—in the middle of the field.
After finishing, she watered the field generously, and combined with daily use, the water stored at home was nearly depleted.
Di Yao squatted on the ridge to rest for a while, then got up and knocked on the study door.
Soon, she heard Wei Xunzhou's cool voice from inside, and she pushed the door open.
This was one of the rare times Di Yao had taken the initiative these days, and she wasn't quite used to it. She even felt that by making this move, she had put herself at a disadvantage in their tacit cold war, and it was a bit embarrassing.
Seeing Di Yao hesitate and not speak even after entering, Wei Xunzhou couldn't help asking, "Something on your mind?"
This time, it was Wei Xunzhou who initiated the question first.
Di Yao secretly rejoiced at having won a round in her mind, but her face showed nothing.
"Husband, we've run out of water at home. Could you come with me to get some more? Since I tilled the field, the water usage has increased, and I can't carry that much by myself in one trip."
Hearing that Di Yao had come to him just to ask for help carrying water, Wei Xunzhou slapped the book roll onto the table with moderate force. The bamboo slips hit the wooden table, making a loud crack.
Di Yao had only asked tentatively, never expecting Wei Xunzhou to agree.
"It's okay. If you don't want to, I can just make a few more trips myself..."
"Alright."
They spoke in unison.
"I thought you wouldn't agree, husband," Di Yao said, a little surprised.
The matter of the field at home was gradually settled, and Di Yao couldn't stand being idle, so she decided to go back and help Meng Po.
"Well, I'll go help Granny Meng now. You can come over before dark this afternoon, and then we'll go home together." During the day, Meng Po stayed by the Naihe Bridge, only returning to her shop at night, so Di Yao always fetched water after Meng Po had gone to rest.
Wei Xunzhou nodded and watched her leave the room.
He was about to pick up the book roll again when Di Yao suddenly knocked on the doorframe. Wei Xunzhou withdrew his hand and looked at her in confusion.
Di Yao knew she had startled Wei Xunzhou a little and felt embarrassed. "By the way, husband, do you know where the Naihe Bridge is?"
Seeing Wei Xunzhou shake his head, Di Yao gave him a detailed description. After finishing, seeing that he still seemed confused, she went around to his side, picked up the brush on the table, and prepared to draw a simple map for him.
Wei Xunzhou's book roll happened to be on the rice paper. Di Yao was about to reach for it, but Wei Xunzhou took it away first.
"I know how to get there," Wei Xunzhou said flatly, lifting his eyes to look at Di Yao.
A bit embarrassed, Di Yao touched her nose, put down the brush, and used her fingertip to wipe off a small drop of ink that had splashed on the table, then withdrew her hand.
"That's good. If there's nothing else, I'll go now."
After leaving, Di Yao recalled how Wei Xunzhou seemed eager to distance himself from her and knocked her forehead in frustration.
In the afternoon, Di Yao was in charge of ladling the soup, and Meng Po was in charge of distributing it. The division of labor made things efficient, and everything proceeded smoothly.
Just then, a man came to the stall and completely ignored the soup Meng Po offered. Seeing that he neither drank nor left, Meng Po looked up to remind him. She noticed that he exuded an air of nobility and looked like a cultured gentleman.
Before she could speak, Di Yao set down her work and came over.
"Husband, you're here?"
Learning that this was Di Yao's so-so husband, Meng Po moved aside and called the ghosts queuing behind Wei Xunzhou to the side to serve them soup. She had no time for pleasantries with Wei Xunzhou now.
Di Yao led Wei Xunzhou aside and brought a stool for him to sit on.
Meng Po had seen countless people and prided herself on her keen judgment. But just now, she hadn't seen through Wei Xunzhou at all. She only felt that he seemed to have some objection to her as well.
Taking a moment to glance behind her, Meng Po saw that thoughtful Di Yao had prepared a bowl of clean water for Wei Xunzhou and placed it by his hand for easy access. She couldn't say much, only hoping that Di Yao hadn't completely forgotten her earlier warning.
After settling Wei Xunzhou, Di Yao went back to ladling soup. Meng Po leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Is that really your man?"
Di Yao blinked. "Yes, what's wrong, Granny?"
"Nothing, just... a bit surprised." Unlike other men, Wei Xunzhou had a unique aura. Perhaps because Meng Po always believed in the unity of character and appearance, she had imagined Wei Xunzhou to be ordinary-looking with a sharp, bitter, and short-lived appearance. Although Wei Xunzhou's complexion indeed didn't seem destined for longevity, other aspects were vastly different from Meng Po's guess.
Besides... Meng Po felt that Wei Xunzhou looked somewhat familiar. She tried hard to recall the people who had taken soup from her in the past few hundred years, but came up with nothing. She picked up a bowl of soup and drank it all.
Regardless, this person was definitely not simple. Di Yao, being straightforward and naive, might not be able to handle him and might end up suffering. Meng Po sighed.
Di Yao figured that she didn't need to ladle soup anymore today, so she helped Meng Po distribute it.
Just as she got a brief moment of leisure and sat down next to Wei Xunzhou to rest, she heard someone calling her from not far away.
The man was blind in one eye, wearing a black eyepatch, dressed in a ghost messenger's uniform, and holding a spear. Di Yao didn't recognize him. But the man clearly knew her. His tone was familiar: "Hey, it really is you. Why are you still here? Haven't you crossed the bridge yet?"
This ghost messenger was the one who had led Di Yao to Fengdu City back then, named Yan He.
"What, you don't recognize me because I'm blind in one eye?" Yan He snorted. "And here I thought I was the one who led you from Ghost Gate to here. If it had been anyone else, they probably wouldn't have been willing to take you alone."
Di Yao had no intention of chatting with Yan He and was about to tell him the truth, but as the words came to her lips, she remembered Wei Xunzhou's presence. She had concealed the truth that she had drunk the Meng Po Soup back then, and she couldn't confess now.
"I remember, of course I remember you! If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have made it to Fengdu City yet, haha," Di Yao said with a laugh.
To avoid slipping up, Di Yao decided to take the initiative and change the subject: "Are you on another round?"
These days, Di Yao had heard a lot from other ghost messengers and learned a few of their internal terms. The ghost messengers here referred to escorting newly arrived ghosts from Ghost Gate as 'making a round.'
But Yan He hadn't used that term in a long time. After finishing that round with Di Yao, he happened to encounter the selection results from the Yinsi Guidi Mansion. He had previously registered, thinking it would be another formality, but he saw his name among the only two on the list.
The Yinsi Guidi commands the five directions' ghost emperors and is second only to the Emperor of Fengdu in the entire Underworld. Once a ghost messenger is selected by him, it's said they have one foot in the door of the underworld official system. After a few years of training, they would at least become a director of an underworld department, earning money just by sitting around.
This was the fastest way for the lowest-level ghost messengers to get promoted. So for millennia, ghost messengers and emissaries all flocked to it. Moreover, the Yinsi Guidi Mansion only recruited once every twenty years, with a minimum of one and a maximum of five people per recruitment, so the competition became fiercer each year. So when the list came out, Yan He, a newcomer who had only served for three hundred years, appearing on it caused quite a stir. Even the colleagues who had previously made things difficult for him took turns visiting his home with rare delicacies scavenged from everywhere, and they had to repair the doorsill twice.
It's no wonder people speculated; even Yan He himself wondered if it was just luck that had elevated him.
Di Yao had heard of this Yinsi Guidi from Cui Jue before and knew he was a big shot, but she hadn't expected his status to be so high. From the bottom of her heart, she was happy for Yan He.
But after hearing Di Yao's congratulations, Yan He's expression completely changed. He spat in anger, "Pah!" His teeth clenched, unable to hide his fury.
Author's note: