Moonlit Reunion

Not two days later, Mei Si came to find Wu Zhen again. Compared to his depressed mood last time, this time Mei Si seemed even more hesitant to speak.

Finally, under Wu Zhen’s persistent questioning, he stammered, his face reddening: “I suspect… Liu Taizhen might… might have taken a liking to me…”

The wine in Wu Zhen’s mouth sprayed out instantly. This little Mei Si really had quite the imagination. She set down her cup, intrigued. “How did you figure that out?”

Mei Si replied indignantly, “I was sleeping when I suddenly noticed her appear by my bedside in the middle of the night. She even touched my forehead! I was so scared I felt dizzy and didn’t dare make a sound—I just pretended to keep sleeping. If… if she didn’t have feelings for me, why would she sneak into my room at night and do nothing but touch my forehead?”

Wu Zhen took in his flustered, embarrassed expression and for a moment didn’t know what to say. After all, Mei Si had always had a tendency to overthink things.

Mei Si scratched his head in distress. “I thought she was coming to eat me, but she left without doing anything. That’s why I wondered if… if she might have…”

Oh, you foolish child, Wu Zhen thought. She wasn’t touching your forehead out of affection—she was trying to erase your memory! And that dizziness wasn’t from fear, it was the effect of her Demon Power.

Of course, she didn’t say any of that out loud. Instead, she patted Mei Si’s shoulder, barely suppressing her laughter as she teased him mercilessly: “Well, isn’t that perfect? If she likes you, you don’t have to worry about your life anymore.”

But hearing this only made Mei Si even more awkward. “No, that’s… that’s not acceptable,” he muttered. “Lady Liu… she’s seven years older than me…”

Wu Zhen smacked him on the head. “I’m older than your cousin too—what’s that supposed to mean?”

Seeing her half-smiling, half-threatening look, Mei Si didn’t dare complain about the pain. He immediately clutched his head and ran off.

These past few days, Wu Zhen had been amusing herself with the drama between Mei Si and Liu Taizhen. Now that she’d heard something this entertaining from Mei Si, she decided that joy shared was joy doubled and went straight to Liu Taizhen to share the fun.

However, one of the parties involved—the Snake Lord—was far less amused than Wu Zhen. Her face darkened with rare anger, her beautiful features so stiff they could have been carved from stone.

“Fine! What an audacious little brat!” she fumed, thoroughly incensed.

But her anger didn’t last long. She quickly regained her composure, gritting her teeth as she said to Wu Zhen, “I’m washing my hands of this. If I can’t erase his memory, then you keep him in check from now on. Just make sure he doesn’t go around blabbing.”

Seeing her so eager to dump the troublesome burden, Wu Zhen inwardly lamented the lost opportunity for more entertainment. Ever the instigator, she urged, “Hey, don’t give up so quickly! Try a few more times—maybe the memory erasure will work next time.”

Liu Taizhen didn’t even want to talk to her. She grabbed a White Jade Snake Paperweight from the table and hurled it at Wu Zhen. Wu Zhen caught it effortlessly with one hand, setting it down on the nearby couch. Seeing how furious Liu Taizhen was, she decided now wasn’t the time to tug on a snake’s tail. She patted her backside and made a swift exit through the window.

Before leaving, she couldn’t resist adding, “Really not considering Mei Si? I’ve watched that boy grow up—he’s aloof and proud with strangers, but once you get to know him, he’s very easy to bully…”

Before she could finish, another barrage of objects came flying at the window. Wu Zhen promptly shut her mouth and vanished, leaving only laughter in her wake.Wu Zhen laughed heartily for a while, riding her horse and waving a whip as she strolled down the street, pondering where to pass the time. Suddenly, a voice called out to her.

"Second Young Lady!"

It was a servant from Duke Yu's residence. Wu Zhen hadn't returned to Duke Yu's residence for quite some time. Ever since her marriage, her father had peacefully settled in a temple, eating plain vegetables and knocking on wooden fish, no longer returning monthly. So now, Duke Yu's residence was only occupied by servants who swept and cleaned daily. There shouldn't be any issues, yet the messenger looked extremely anxious.

"Second Young Lady, we finally found you! Something's happened—please hurry back to Duke Yu's residence and take a look!"

Wu Zhen raised an eyebrow. Something happened?

When she returned to Duke Yu's residence, she spotted a travel-worn, unfamiliar middle-aged servant at the entrance, accompanied by two guards. This middle-aged servant was dressed finely, indicating he was likely a high-ranking servant favored by his master. Seeing Wu Zhen dismount, he hurried forward and bowed deeply, saying, "Are you the Second Young Lady? This humble servant is an old retainer of the Kunzhou Pei Family, usually responsible for taking care of the Sixth Young Master."

The Sixth Young Master he referred to was Pei Ji Ya, Wu Zhen's cousin—the only male descendant of the Kunzhou Pei Family's main branch to survive into adulthood. For some reason, the Kunzhou Pei Family had many daughters, all of whom lived to adulthood, but the sons were tragically short-lived. Several young masters before him had died of illness, leaving only Pei Ji Ya, the Sixth Young Master. Though sickly, he had managed to survive. As the sole heir, he held an exceptional position in the Pei Family and had developed an eccentric temperament.

Hearing the middle-aged servant mention Pei Ji Ya, Wu Zhen already had an inkling of what was coming. She handed her horse to someone else and strode toward the residence's entrance. "Whatever it is, it must be urgent for you to wait at the entrance. Let's go inside and talk."

The middle-aged servant scrambled to his feet. "This servant was impolite—I was simply too flustered."

Once seated in the parlor, Wu Zhen finally understood why the middle-aged servant was so panicked and anxious.

Pei Ji Ya had gone missing.

"The Sixth Young Master previously said he would attend Second Young Lady's wedding and even mentioned staying in Chang'an for two extra months. You know his temperament—he dislikes us meddling. At first, we assumed he was still staying peacefully in Chang'an. We sent two letters but received no reply. We wanted to come and ask but feared angering him—he's often ignored correspondence when traveling before. But when two months passed without any word of his return, the family head sent me with a few men to fetch him. Yet when we arrived in Chang'an, Duke Yu's servants said the Sixth Young Master had already returned. That's when we realized something was wrong."

Having finished his explanation, the middle-aged servant drooped his brows and looked at her with a pained expression.

Wu Zhen tapped her knee thoughtfully. Cousin Pei had left before her wedding—that was before the Dragon Boat Festival, nearly two or three months ago. Though Kunzhou was far, it should only take ten to fifteen days to travel there. Now that he was missing, something must have happened along the way.

Wu Zhen couldn't help but recall the small farewell gift she had given him. Could it be because of that?

After a moment's thought, she said directly, "Cousin did leave long ago. Rest here tonight, and tomorrow I'll send a squad of guards to accompany you back to Kunzhou to search for traces of him along the way."

The middle-aged servant's face immediately filled with gratitude before he was led away by a waiting servant to rest.Wu Zhen returned to her room and pondered for a moment before plucking two strands of hair from her head. She twisted them around her fingers, softly recited Pei Ji Ya's name and birth date, then blew a breath onto the strands.

The two fine strands of hair twisted and suddenly burst into flames, falling to the ground. Wu Zhen frowned. What was going on? She couldn’t divine anything?

What other methods could determine whether someone was still alive? As she thought, her gaze drifted to a long side table in the room, where over a dozen gift boxes were piled. These were wedding gifts from friends. After moving to her husband’s residence, she rarely returned here, and the gifts had been forgotten.

Wu Zhen suddenly recalled that Cousin Pei had left a gift among them. Thinking she might find some clues—or at least something he had touched to aid her divination—she walked over and rummaged through the pile until she found Pei Ji Ya’s gift.

She swiftly unwrapped the box to find an even more exquisite small sandalwood box inside, secured with a Little Golden Lock. Seeing no key, Wu Zhen glanced at it and casually yanked the lock open, lifting the lid of the sandalwood box.

Inside were not valuables but two crudely carved wooden figures, likely made by Cousin Pei himself. Wu Zhen picked them up and examined them but found nothing unusual—just two ordinary willow wood carved figures.

Just as she was about to put them back, a wave of dizziness struck her, and her vision darkened.

Moments later, Wu Zhen opened her eyes to see a minor official in blue robes standing a few steps away, cautiously and somewhat strangely asking, "Magistrate Mei, are you alright?"

Magistrate Mei? Wu Zhen sensed something amiss. She looked at her hands—they were broad, with an old scar on the left palm. She was dressed in deep red official robes, and the Silver Scent Ball at her waist was the one she had fastened to her husband that morning.

She then looked around the not-unfamiliar room—her husband’s office at the Ministry of Justice.

She had become her husband.

The two wooden figures left by Pei Ji Ya were the cause. Wu Zhen immediately understood and couldn’t help but flash a dark smile. Plotting against her? Well done. Cousin truly lived up to being her cousin.

Suddenly, Wu Zhen was no longer in a hurry. Leaning comfortably against the desk, she studied her husband’s hands with interest—now hers—finding the sensation bizarre.

And what of her husband now? Had he entered her body? Had they swapped? Lost in thought, Wu Zhen didn’t notice how she had frightened the minor official. The man watched in horror as the usually stern Magistrate Mei, mid-conversation, suddenly swayed forward, closed his eyes briefly, then opened them with a terrifying smile.

If Magistrate Mei’s smile was this frightening, it was indeed better he never smiled. Trembling, the official observed as Magistrate Mei lounged and pondered, his demeanor and movements utterly unlike his usual self—as if possessed. Recalling a certain rumor circulating in the Ministry of Justice, the official’s legs nearly gave way.

"M-Magistrate Mei?"Hearing the timid voice, Wu Zhen looked up and finally remembered there was someone else here. She smiled and said, "There's nothing else to do here. You can go now."

The clerk, who felt a chill down his spine from her smile, didn't dare say another word. Clutching the unfinished documents, he hurried away.

As for Mei Zhuyu, he had been working diligently when suddenly, he felt dizzy. When he regained his senses, he realized he was no longer in the Ministry of Justice office but in a somewhat familiar place.

Only after seeing the couch by the window did it dawn on him—this seemed to be his wife's room in Duke Yu's residence. He noticed he was holding two wooden figurines in his hands and saw his own fingers—pale and slender.

Mei Zhuyu: "...?"