Chapter 5 V. Her Rendezvous

Once Hu Jia finished wearing the servant clothing that she had stolen, she gathered her hair and wrapped it all up in a bun. She used some eyebrow-darkening powder to make her eyebrows bolder and to add a few freckles on her cheeks. Then she proceeded to wear a conical hat to prevent anyone from guessing her gender.

Hu Jia looked at her chest that had two very slight bumps and frowned. She undressed momentarily and using bandage she found in the room, she tightly wrapped her chest to the point that the little bumps seemed to have disappeared. Hu Jia nodded in satisfaction before slipping on a pair of tai chi shoes. Finally, she slouched a bit and hunched down to prevent her face from being seen.

Langzhi popped out of her dimensional space with a look of awe. Mistress is a hero! How could mistress be so good at disguises? Mistress looks like an old lady farmer!

Hu Jia frowned at her pet's choice of words and humphed. Despite her pet's words meaning to be a compliment, it still stung hearing someone call her an old lady.

Langzhi quickly jumped on Hu Jia's arm and slipped inside her sleeve to hide. Despite his attempted elusiveness, Hu Jia snorted when she saw his tiny head poking out to see the wonders of her upcoming rendezvous.

Ignoring her pet's antics, Hu Jia quietly closed the doors of her pavilion and walked in the direction of the door. As she leisurely walked out, someone called out, "Hey! You there, stop!"

Hu Jia froze. She prayed that hours of time wasted on perfecting her disguise didn't go to waste because of the person calling out to her. She hoped that she didn't get caught!

Hu Jia slowly turned around and kept her head down. Peeking discreetly, she noticed that the person who called her was a plump woman with a scowl on her face. Hu Jia recognized her as Zhongli, the servant in charge of the kitchen from Hong Tingxing's memories. She was also the person who did most of the dirty work for the first concubine, Fan Qiuji. It was thanks to this person's constant spying and pretending to be caring for Hong Tingxing that nudged the young woman to her death. This person also made her to slip very small doses of unidentifiable poison in Wen Bingbing's food to make her sick and weak.

Hu Jia's eyes narrowed. According to Hong Tingxing's memories, Zhongli started to receive favor from Fan Qiuji around a month after the palace banquet after she told the first concubine something that Hong Tingxing had told her. Hong Tingxing na?vely confesses to her crush on the Crown Prince in front of Zhongli, never having expected for it to be used against her and for it to cause her older, half-sister to purposely seduce the Crown Prince just to be petty. Hu Jia took a deep breath and thought, this person must be eliminated soon before she causes any trouble.

Zhongli had her arms crossed as she forcefully handed Hu Jia paper containing a list and nudged Hu Jia to an old wagon. "Before you leave, make sure to purchase these groceries and use this wagon to bring them back. Here's some money." Hu Jia rolled her eyes at the stupidity of Zhongli but obediently nodded. Why would this person be the head of the kitchen? How could she entrust money to a random servant?

But of course, Hu Jia has already formulated a plan. She would use this incident to get the woman kicked out. And besides, thanks to Zhongli, she didn't have to sneak out. All she had to do was show the list to the guards at the gate and they would let her pass.

Hu Jia bowed her head even further which caused Zhongli to arrogantly humph, missing the glint in the young woman's eyes and her victorious smirk.

***

As Hu Jia began to stroll around town, she ditched the wagon and the list somewhere and began to explore with the given money. She didn't feel guilty about stealing the money as it technically belonged to her, or at least her body, Hong Tingxing.

The very first thing she did was do the thing that she had been wanting to do ever since she wrote down information-buy meat buns.

She walked to a bank and exchanged one of the purple amethysts given to her to a lower form of currency; fifteen blue sapphires. Zhongli had actually given her ten purple amethysts because the list of purchase had been large and intended for a feast, hence why Hu Jia enjoyed spending every bit of it.

Hu Jia knew that the feast was important and was intended for a specific guest, which is why if Zhongli messed up in any way, there was a one hundred percent chance she'd get kicked out of Hong Manor which meant one less sidekick for Fan Qiuji.

Hu Jia used one blue sapphire to get ten fabulous meat buns to feast on. While munching on her fifth one, she didn't notice her pet sneaking out of her pocket to steal a meat bun away. Before she could scold him for stealing her food, someone screamed, "Spider! It's a spider!" More screams echoed as Hu Jia rolled her eyes at the dramatic antics the people were pulling. Hu Jia was forced to get up from her seat and snapped her fingers which made both spider and the remaining four meat buns to disappear into her dimensional space.

She bowed her head and quickly scurried away, not having realized that someone had watched her actions.

The stranger's cold eyes flashed with interest. "Taigong." He called out apathetically. A man that wore plain, black robes bowed in respect, "Master, " Taigong greeted. "you called?"

The mysterious man nodded and emotionlessly asked, "Taigong, what was that power? I've never seen or heard of anyone whisking away any object with a snap of the fingers."

Taigong stood silent, unable to answer. After what felt like an eternity of silence, in reality only a few minutes, he opened his mouth and honestly answered, "Master, this servant does not know. I believe such a power hasn't been recorded in recent times..."

The mysterious man's eyes flashed with surprise and sarcastic amusement. He found himself wanting to peel off the layers of disguise he saw the young woman wearing and find out her identity. His dark and brooding eyes flashed with a dangerous glint of leisure. Such a power, he wanted to obtain it. But before he made any moves, he must investigate her identity and investigate where such a power originated from.

"Taigong, " the mysterious man spoke slowly but demandingly, "check the history books and other sources available. I believe that the little girl is not a simple person nor does she have a simple identity." Taigong bowed and swiftly, like a shadow, disappeared and left his master to muse over the little girl's identity...

***

Once Hu Jia sneaked back into the aging Manor, this time, slipping through at night by jumping over her pavilion's wall, she quickly erased her disguise and took off her servant clothing. Gathering it all in a pile, Hu Jia snapped her fingers again and they disappeared into the Everlasting Lacunae. She sighed in relief and smirked as she wore her regular clothes which consisted of a silky, flower-like hanfu that screamed na?vety and her hair piled up into a simple yet chic bun held by a hairpin. She used lipstick paper to brighten her lips and slipped on her shoes.

Her light and simple look were enough since she knew the feast held for their guest was going to be a disaster. If it hadn't been sabotaged and lasted longer, then Hu Jia would've gone all out to please their guest to keep her father happy. Or technically, keep Hong Tingxing's father happy. But it was destined to be a short feast without any food to feast on. Maybe there would be appetizers or some light snacks, but for meals?

Hu Jia smirked evilly as she wanted to see what Zhongli would conjure from no ingredients. It was going to be a feast alright, but a feast for Hu Jia's eyes of seeing Zhongli make a fool out of herself.

***

"Have mercy on me!" Hu Jia heard a woman screaming, "Please have mercy on me!" Once Hu Jia neared where the feast was going to be held at, she purposely took a detour by the kitchen only to see Fan Qiuji growling at Zhongli for her incompetence and ignorance. Hu Jia snickered when she saw the former allies become enemies in this lifetime.

Want to bully Hong Tingxing, again? In your dreams, old ladies!

Langzhi laughed when he heard his mistress' choice of words. Mistress, you're still annoyed that I called you an old lady, earlier...

Noticing his mistress' usual scowl deepen, Langzhi snickered and quickly his in the dimensional space. Although he knew his mistress wouldn't bother to deal with him now, he knew that she would torture him later due to his constant comments of snark.

Fan Qiuji turned around and her eyes met with Hu Jia's. Once she realized that the teenager was watching her act so savagely, she quickly squeezed a few drops of tears and smiled gently, "Xing'er, what are you doing in such a place? The..." she hesitated momentarily but quickly continued, "the legitimate young miss of Hong Manor shouldn't have to suffer and be in such a filthy place! Come, let mother show you were the feast is being held at."

She reached to take Hu Jia's hand in her own before Hu Jia snatched it away harshly. Hu Jia frowned and questioned, "Fan Qiuji since when are you my mother? Last time I checked, you're barely qualified to be my stepmother, nonetheless my biological mother. My mother is someone you can never compare to." The teenager humphed and turned around, leaving a shocked Fan Qiuji speechless. Once she snapped out of her shocked trance, her fists clenched in anger and hatred filled her eyes.

The little brat hadn't showed her respect in the least bit! She dared to call Fan Qiuji by her given name and not call her the way one would call their elders! She dared say that Fan Qiuji wasn't even qualified to be her mother! Despite her fuming state, the woman smiled and walked in the direction of the feast. In her head, she was going to get rid of Wen Bingbing and her bastard children very soon. For now, she would allow the bitch and her kids to continue to taunt her. But once her plan was perfected and set in motion, they would kowtow in her presence why she taunted them!

Her smiled turned malicious for a few seconds before transforming into a pure smile that was expected of a innocent lotus. As she continued to walk, she failed to see a figure smirking at her stupidity.

Hu Jia knew her words would taunt the woman to take action sooner than she intended to. And she planned on continuing to push the woman's button until she did something reckless before her plans were complete. Once she did anything sooner than intended, Fan Qiuji would dig herself a ditch that she would never be able to get out of and that was exactly what Hu Jia wanted.

Such a person was a child in comparison to Hu Jia that had to grow up defending her back from all corners. Such a person had managed to cause the demise of Hong Tingxing and her mother and sibling? Hu Jia wanted to laugh out loud. Such a superficial person didn't even know how to conceal their emotions nonetheless plan something so devious. There was obviously a bigger foe at play who was plotting and using such a dumb villain as a puppet.

Once again, Hu Jia felt like Hong Tingxing had kept something from her and she, Hu Jia, was going to find out!

***