Gu Zhizhuo clenched her fists tight.
Her furious gaze swept over Ji-shi and Gu Yan, who was bawling in Ji-shi’s arms. In that moment, Ji-shi looked as if she’d been fixed in the sights of a venomous snake, all color draining from her face.
Gu Zhizhuo put away the dagger, handed the bird to Qiongfang and told her to take it back to the courtyard and settle it, then ran outside without so much as a backward glance.
She had no time to spare for Ji-shi right now. In her last life, A-Man had died on the seventh of May.
Today was the first of May. By rights there should still be time, but fate was never set in stone.
A-Man’s death calamity might well come early too!
She stopped abruptly, calling out to Qingfang, and ordered in a cold voice, “Go gather some people. Head north out of the city — there’s a small village, and in that village there’s a river. Have them start searching from upstream and work their way down, spreading out.”
“Go to the front courtyard and use my token to call the men there.”
In her last life, A-Man’s body had been found in that very village.
There had been a widowed old woman there who, while washing clothes, had seen her drifting down from upstream and had fished her out.
Otherwise, no one would ever have known where she’d eventually drift to, let alone whether she could be found at all.
Qingfang acknowledged the order and ran off even faster, cradling the bird.
Gu Zhizhuo pulled the compass from her sleeve pocket. Her hands shook uncontrollably, and the needle in the Heavenly Pool trembled along with them.
Calm down!
She silently repeated the words to herself several times before her grip on the compass finally steadied.
She couldn’t calculate whether A-Man’s death calamity had come early, nor where A-Man might be now, but Heaven’s Way always left everyone a sliver of a chance to live.
What Gu Zhizhuo was calculating was that sliver of a chance.
She slowly rotated the inner dial. Qingmei couldn’t help silently counting in her head, and by the count of three hundred fifty-nine, the wildly quivering needle suddenly stopped.
“Southeast?”
Gu Zhizhuo murmured to herself.
The Marquis of Jing’an’s residence wasn’t to the southeast, and neither was the village where A-Man’s body had been found in her last life, nor that river.
Qingmei tilted her head, staring at the compass. The only thing she was certain of was that the needle definitely wasn’t pointing southeast. BlackLotus Novel Archive — Black Lotus
The young miss probably understood these ghost-scrawl markings on the compass better than she did!
Gu Zhizhuo tucked the compass away and headed straight for the stables, leading out Jade Lion and setting off at once.
A-Man’s blood tie to her was too close — she wasn’t even certain this divination was accurate. Perhaps she should go to the Marquis of Jing’an’s residence and take a look first; if A-Man was still there, everything would be simple.
Just as she was thinking this, the side gate opened, and a black-lacquered carriage bearing the Duke Protector of the Nation’s household crest rolled in, surrounded by a retinue of guards.
Gu Zhizhuo’s heart stirred. She stepped forward and called out, “Is that Grandmother and Aunt returning?”
The carriage curtain was lifted, revealing Gu Liaoliao’s spirited face. She asked, “Little Zhuo, have you just gotten back, or are you heading out?” Her complexion wasn’t good, and her smile looked forced.
Gu Zhizhuo kept it brief: “The Lady of Jing’an took A-Man away.”
Gu Liaoliao’s expression froze. “What did you say?” she asked urgently.
The Empress had summoned her into the palace because the Lady of Jing’an had gone and lodged a complaint. Originally only she had been summoned, but her mother, worried, had gone with her. Because her mother was present, the Empress hadn’t been too harsh, only saying that as a married-out daughter she ought to know her place — she shouldn’t keep staying at her natal family’s home, her husband’s family had parents-in-law who needed to be attended to, and with an heir soon to be born, as the legitimate primary wife she shouldn’t be so petty and jealous, and so on and so forth.
After listening to that whole heap of nonsense and coming back, now she was being told that A-Man had been taken away by the Lady of Jing’an?
No! Who had let the Qin family in the door?! She had clearly given orders about that.
Gu Zhizhuo laid out the matter briefly, and before Gu Liaoliao could ask more, she said something alarming: “I had a divination done for A-Man at Taiqing Temple. The Abbess interpreted it herself — it’s a great ill omen. The Abbess said there’s a calamity of life and death. I’m afraid something will happen to A-Man if the Qin family takes her.”
Old Madam Gu leaned forward at these words, aghast. “Are you telling the truth?!” Compared to Immortal Qingping, who was newly arrived, elders like the Old Madam tended to trust the Abbess more.
“Absolutely true.”
Old Madam Gu was thoroughly frightened.
The Old Madam had originally been thinking that, however things stood, the Lady of Jing’an was A-Man’s own grandmother, so her coming without permission to take A-Man away, while certainly a breach of propriety, wasn’t cause for this much alarm — especially since the Empress had just scolded her over Liao’er staying too long at her natal home. The Old Madam had planned to let the Lady of Jing’an keep A-Man for a day and fetch her back tomorrow, so as to give the Empress some measure of face.
But now, she wished she could storm the Marquis of Jing’an’s residence this very instant and snatch A-Man back.
“Grandmother, you and Aunt should go to the Marquis of Jing’an’s residence right now.”
“Yes!”
With her daughter and granddaughter’s safety at stake, the Old Madam’s mind was still sharp enough.
Liao’er was the Young Master’s wife of the Qin family, the Lady of Jing’an’s daughter-in-law. Filial duty came first, and if the Lady of Jing’an used that to keep her from seeing A-Man, there truly would be nothing to be done about it in the short term. But it was different if the Old Madam went herself.
The Old Madam gave repeated orders: “Quick, quick, turn the carriage around.”
Gu Liaoliao’s mind was buzzing, in complete chaos, and desperately anxious.
And so, the carriage, having only just come through the side gate, turned right around and went back out.
“Qingmei, you go with them,” Gu Zhizhuo instructed. “Whether or not A-Man is at the Marquis of Jing’an’s residence, come tell me immediately.”
“Come find me to the southeast.”
She looked at Qingmei earnestly. “You’ll be able to find me, won’t you.”
Since following Gu Zhizhuo, this was the first time she had given an order with such a grave manner.
Qingmei immediately understood — the young miss knew that she wasn’t the only one her masters had assigned to this. She herself worked in the open; there were others working in the shadows. That was why the young miss trusted she’d be able to find her.
“Yes,” Qingmei acknowledged. “This servant will go ahead.”
With that, Qingmei tugged the reins and chased after the carriage.
Gu Zhizhuo held the compass in her hand and rode straight out, heading southeast.
The capital city was laid out in a perfect square, and there had long been a saying: “wealth in the east, nobility in the west, poverty in the south, lowliness in the north.” The eastern part of the capital was mostly home to the wealthy and noble, and it was also the most bustling district in the whole city — a constant flow of carriages and horses, with wine-houses and pleasure quarters every few steps, thronged with people.
Gu Zhizhuo rode on, and at every fork in the road she took out the compass to check.
Not until she was near Zhangtai Avenue did the needle in the Heavenly Pool finally begin to quiver again. Gu Zhizhuo bent her head to calculate, and in the next instant, her gaze landed on a theater not far off.
“Young miss.”
Qingmei arrived just then. Gu Zhizhuo turned to look, and Qingmei reined in her horse and said quickly, “Young miss, the Lady of Jing’an says the young cousin is lost.”
Her tone was seething with anger.
Qingmei had gone with them to the Marquis of Jing’an’s residence. The Lady of Jing’an had first claimed A-Man was sleeping and couldn’t be seen. When Old Madam Gu insisted on forcing her way in, the Lady had reluctantly said the one line: she’d wandered off and gotten lost. Then came a mouthful of complaints — that A-Man wouldn’t behave, had thrown a tantrum on the road insisting on watching some street performers, so she’d taken A-Man to watch, and the moment they got off the carriage A-Man had run off on her own, and they’d searched for ages, and so on.
Never mind that the Eldest Young Lady had flown into a rage on the spot — even Qingmei had wanted to grab a whip.
A-Man couldn’t even speak yet — how could she have made a fuss about watching street performers? To lie so brazenly, and not even fear being struck by lightning!
A-Man was lively and unafraid of strangers; Qingmei often secretly lifted her up high to watch the birds, and the two of them had gotten along wonderfully these past days.
Back at Taiqing Temple, when she’d heard what that fellow surnamed Jing had said, she honestly hadn’t quite believed it. This wasn’t some backwater village — a marquis’s household, however run-down, surely wasn’t so poor it couldn’t feed one baby girl, that it would have to go and kill her. But the look on the young miss’s face at the time — terrified, full of hatred and grief — had been as if she were utterly certain the Qin family would do exactly that.
And now that they’d come back, the Lady of Jing’an really had gone and “lost” A-Man!
Gu Zhizhuo only said, “Follow me.”
Qingmei glanced at the direction she was heading, and her heart abruptly clenched.
She hurried after Gu Zhizhuo, but before she could stop her, she saw Gu Zhizhuo toss the reins to the errand boy who’d come out to greet them, and look up at the theater’s signboard.
This theater was called Xiang Theater, one of the two largest in the capital. It had two floors, and the entire second floor was private boxes. | BLACK LOTUS Novel Translation
The box facing the street had its window half-open. On the windowsill sat a black tabby cat, perched there with lithe grace, while a hand with sharply defined knuckles stroked its chin. A long crimson sleeve draped over the railing, gold thread embroidery glinting in the sunlight.
The cat narrowed its eyes contentedly.
“Meow.”
It called out in a coquettish tone, and the owner of that hand glanced down — dark hair, red lips, eyes rippling with light.
Their gazes met for an instant. The window slammed shut, and the cat vanished from sight.
Gu Zhizhuo: “…”
Her heart settled somewhat. She strode into the theater.
Qingmei had spotted him too, and shrank back behind Gu Zhizhuo, her limbs stiffening in unison.
“This way, miss.” The errand boy came over warmly to greet her. “No boxes free today, I’m afraid—”
“Looking for someone.”
Gu Zhizhuo said this and walked up the stairs.
“Young miss.” Qingmei scrambled after her in lockstep, whispering, “This theater is one of the Eastern Depot’s bases.”
Oh? Gu Zhizhuo raised her brows. If Qingmei hadn’t said so, she really wouldn’t have guessed that a theater like this, open to anyone coming and going, would be a base.
“But the master should just be here to watch the opera.”
Gu Zhizhuo gave a slight nod to show she understood.
Once upstairs, Gu Zhizhuo walked straight toward that box. Sheng Jiang, standing guard at the door, looked at her with an expression too complicated for words.
Gu Zhizhuo said with a smile, “Would you be so kind as to announce me.”
Sheng Jiang didn’t move a muscle.
Qingmei, trailing behind Gu Zhizhuo, clasped her hands at him in a plea. He remained unmoved.
Gu Zhizhuo had simply never learned the meaning of “know when to back off.” She cleared her throat and said, neither too loud nor too soft, “Commander Shen—”
Sheng Jiang hastily cut her off: “Miss, please wait a moment.” He said it through gritted teeth.
Had it been anyone else, Sheng Jiang would never have believed anyone would have the nerve to blurt out his master’s identity knowing full well he was right inside. But this one… he genuinely had no idea what she might do.
Sheng Jiang took the duster hanging nearby and wiped down the bottom of his shoes, then went in personally to report. Before long, he respectfully invited her in.
Qingmei didn’t dare follow, obediently staying put outside.
Gu Zhizhuo clasped her hands to Sheng Jiang in thanks and stepped without hesitation onto the snow-white long-pile carpet, leaving a few muddy footprints on it.
Xie Yingchen — no, Xie’s brother —
I need to pause here: I don’t have “Xie Yingchen” in this scene; the character is Xu Chen — let me correct using the glossary name for this figure, 沈旭 = Shen Xu.
Shen Xu was still dressed in red, reclining sideways in an armchair, fingers tapping idly on the armrest. A string of agarwood prayer beads hung from his fingertips. Seeing Gu Zhizhuo enter, his peach-blossom eyes regarded her with disdain, and his androgynous voice sneered, “Did you come back after rolling around in the mud?”
Well, close enough. She’d just climbed a hill, and her shoes had gotten a little dirty, that was all.
“Commander.”
Gu Zhizhuo bowed with a smile, entirely unbothered by his cold expression, and sat down across from him without waiting to be invited.
She’d done the same thing once before; the second time, Shen Xu couldn’t even be bothered to lift an eyelid. | black lotus novel Novel Translation — Black Lotus Novel
The tabby cat stood on the huanghuali square table, its golden eyes fixed unblinkingly on Gu Zhizhuo, and let out a “meow” as if in greeting.
“Commander, I need a favor.”
Gu Zhizhuo’s gaze burned bright. Without waiting for his consent, she rattled on of her own accord, “Please help me find a little girl, three or four years old, about this tall…”
Shen Xu couldn’t be bothered with her.
Think about it — in all of Great Qi, who would dare, right in front of him, ask him to help find a child?!
“Please.”
Gu Zhizhuo got the words out in one breath, then pressed her palms together. “This is my token of thanks.”
She fished a jade tablet out of her pouch and boasted, “I carved it myself, it’s especially effective.”
Shen Xu glanced down at it and was so amused he laughed.
He pinched the edge of the jade tablet between two fingers and lifted it up as if it were something filthy. “You’re sure this is a token of thanks?”
This jade tablet was hideous beyond words.
Not a single talisman-mark carved on it looked right — either badly crooked, or uneven in thickness and depth. The only thing halfway decent about it was the jade itself, but as for that grade of white jade, he could produce a whole handful of it without even trying.
Take this as thanks? Did he lack for ugly things like this? Pah — even non-ugly ones, he had no shortage of.
Gu Zhizhuo felt a flicker of guilt.
She’d only carved two jade tablets at the time; originally she’d meant to give one each to A-Man and to the young master — a calming talisman for A-Man, a safety talisman for the young master — but they’d turned out so ugly she hadn’t had the nerve to give the one to him.
But she quickly regained her composure.
“Rest assured, if it weren’t truly useful, I’d never dare bring it out to fool you,” Gu Zhizhuo said, setting the compass on the table and speaking honestly. “I calculated that you’re this child’s only chance at life.”
Aside from the Eastern Depot’s network of informants, which covered the whole capital region, no one else could find, in such a short time, across this vast capital, a small child who couldn’t even speak yet.
That was why this divination pointed to him.
“Please help me.”
Shen Xu took a sip of tea from his cup.
Back at the estate, in a situation with ten deaths and no life, he hadn’t heard her beg even once. She was like a cunning little cat — she’d suddenly stick out a claw and scratch you when you least expected it.
Shen Xu raised his hand and tapped the table three times. Sheng Jiang pushed the door open and entered. He first glanced at Gu Zhizhuo seated across from his master, secretly marveling — this girl’s nerve was still as bold as ever — then stood with hands folded, awaiting orders.
“Tell him yourself,” Shen Xu said impatiently.
“I’m looking for a child.”
Sheng Jiang’s face was a picture of shock; in his heart he gave this Miss Gu a thumbs-up. Looking for a child, and bringing the search to the Eastern Depot of all places — that was certainly a first.
“The child’s name is A-Man. She can’t speak, but she can hear.”
Gu Zhizhuo described A-Man’s features in careful detail.
Since she’d already asked Shen Xu for help, she held nothing back, saying, “A-Man was taken away by the Lady of Jing’an, just after the Hour of Wu (around 11 AM–1 PM). Just now, the Lady of Jing’an claimed the child was lost.”
By that reckoning, she’d been missing for at most two hours. Why was this Miss Gu so frantic, as if the child were about to die any moment? Last time, when she herself had truly been on the verge of death, she hadn’t so much as frowned.
Sheng Jiang glanced at his master. Shen Xu said nothing, which meant he had no objection either.
“The Lady of Jing’an most likely means to drown her, so it must be as fast as possible.”
At this, even Shen Xu glanced her way, his gaze falling to the compass by her hand, looking thoughtful.
He finally deigned to open his noble mouth: “As fast as possible.”
Sheng Jiang solemnly acknowledged the order, and the moment he stepped out of the box, he called someone over and issued instructions.
Qingmei whispered off to the side, “This one didn’t tell the Eldest Young Miss that the master was here.”
And in fact, even she hadn’t known the master would be here today.
“Miss Gu figured it out herself.”
Sheng Jiang made no comment.
Whether or not she’d truly figured it out, if the master didn’t mind, then it simply didn’t matter.
The clappers sounded.
The opera began.
After asking permission, Sheng Jiang had someone open the panel facing the stage, so that from within the box, the entire stage could be seen.
Gu Zhizhuo listened absently to the warbling of the opera singers.
Perhaps she’d been wrong from the very start.
It was she who had been granted this extraordinary chance to be reborn — not anyone else.
So in this life, their fates hadn’t changed, and the death calamities Heaven’s Way had allotted them still remained, unavoidable.
A-Man had died a violent death in her last life, so she would have to face that death calamity all over again — exactly like Qin Chen.
Only by living through it could one survive.
She’d never been reborn before; she’d been careless. black lotus Translations | BLACK LOTUS NOVEL
“Meow.”
The tabby cat padded over gracefully and sat down before her, batting at her hand with its soft paw-pads.
Ah. Gu Zhizhuo sighed inwardly and gave it a perfunctory pat. The cat, pleased with itself, kneaded at her arm with its front paws, eyes narrowed in contentment, purring away.
She looked at its tail, and her eyes lit up. “Commander, this little cat of yours is actually a Qilin Cat.”
“Not mine,” Shen Xu said, uninterested.
He had no idea where the cat had come from; it simply refused to leave him alone.
Oh. Gu Zhizhuo understood. “Because it likes you.”
Cough! Sheng Jiang choked on his own saliva, coughing so hard he nearly stopped breathing. Likes him or not — how could Miss Gu just say things like that so casually?
Shen Xu’s eye corner lifted slightly, and he shot her a sidelong glance, sneering repeatedly.
“It’s a Qilin Cat.” Gu Zhizhuo scratched its chin. “Qilin Cats love to cozy up to unlucky people — the unluckier the person, the more it likes them. Me, for instance.”
The cat meowed right on cue, as if in agreement.
“Or, for another example.” Gu Zhizhuo took hold of the cat’s paw and pointed it at him. “You.”
She looked him up and down and said with conviction, “You’re plenty unlucky.”
Cough cough! Sheng Jiang’s coughing grew even more violent, prompting Gu Zhizhuo to turn and glance at him too.
Shen Xu said coldly, “One more word and you can go cut your own tongue out.”
Sheng Jiang hesitated for a moment, unsure who this was directed at, then realized in the next instant it was aimed at him. He hastily clapped both hands over his mouth, forcibly swallowing his coughs, his cheeks flushing red, tears welling in his eyes.
Truly pitiful. Gu Zhizhuo sighed inwardly, then offered, “Young Master Shen, shall I do a divination for you?”
“No need.”
Shen Xu refused flatly.
He had crawled his way out of a hell of corpses to get where he was today — not by trusting in fate.
If he trusted in fate, he’d have died eight hundred times over already.
Gu Zhizhuo shrugged and casually tucked the compass back into her sleeve.
The cat sprawled out in front of her, all four paws in the air, begging to be petted.
“Young master, will you keep it?”
“No.”
“Actually…”
Shen Xu said coldly, “Shut up, or get out.”
Gu Zhizhuo: “…”
Since she needed his help, she had the sense to keep quiet.
But sitting in silence for even a moment made her restless.
Shen Xu listened to the opera on his own, and whether the singing below was lilting and melodious or high and stirring, his androgynous face remained placid throughout, the prayer beads simply hanging from his fingers, looking nothing at all like the notorious mass-murdering Commander of the Eastern Depot.
Gu Zhizhuo, distracted, kept glancing toward the street-facing side.
After one scene of the opera ended, a horse finally came galloping down the street and stopped in front of the theater. Before the horse had even come to a full stop, its rider leapt down — the movement crisp and clean, clearly the work of someone well-trained.
Gu Zhizhuo hurried back around. Before long, Sheng Jiang gave a light clap, and someone came forward to close the panel again.
Sheng Jiang said respectfully, “Master. It’s Zhao Jia.”
“Send him in.”
Shen Xu’s red lips moved slightly, uttering only a single word.
The moment Zhao Jia entered the box, he dropped to his knees and said respectfully, “Master, she’s been found.”
“Report.”
Zhao Jia didn’t dare lift his head, recounting everything in full: “She was found about three li north of the capital. Two women were holding a little girl by the riverside; the girl’s hair and clothes were already soaked through.”
Ah! Gu Zhizhuo’s heart felt as though it had been seized by a great hand and hoisted high.
“The girl is alive, unharmed, and in no danger to her life. Everyone involved has been secured.”
Gu Zhizhuo finally let out the breath she’d been holding, and stood. “Thank you, Commander.” Then she looked at him expectantly.
“Take her there,” Shen Xu said. BLACK LOTUS NOVEL Novel Site — Black Lotus
Zhao Jia respectfully acknowledged the order.
Gu Zhizhuo had half-expected him to give her a hard time with some sardonic remark first — but thankfully, this one seemed easier to deal with than in her last life. She added one last thing: “Keep that jade tablet on you — it really does work!”
With that, she bowed and dashed downstairs.
“Meow.”
The cat flicked its qilin-like tail and sauntered gracefully back to Shen Xu, rubbing its forehead against his face.
Shen Xu, stony-faced, pinched the scruff of the cat’s neck and lifted it up.
He looked it in its golden eyes at eye level and said, half-smiling, “The moment she leaves, you come right back — so, is she unluckier than I am?”
“Meow, meow.”
Downstairs, Gu Zhizhuo could still hear the soft cat cries.
She instructed, “Qingmei, go fetch Aunt and head straight over.”
Then she mounted her horse and rode off.
Zhao Jia led the way. After they left the city, they rode north for about three li, and Gu Zhizhuo suddenly caught sight of a river not far ahead. A lone carriage stood by the riverbank, with a dozen or so people forming an encirclement around the carriage and the riverside, the driver held under guard within the carriage.
This was not the same river where A-Man’s body had been found in her last life.
Gu Zhizhuo’s gaze immediately fell on two familiar-looking nannies, slumped on the ground in shock, one of them still holding A-Man, motionless, in her arms.
River water streamed down from her hair and clothes, drop by drop, pooling into a puddle on the ground.
[UNCERTAIN – line]: 沈旭 referred to internally partway through as if a different name — reason for doubt: none in source, this was my own drafting error and has been corrected to Shen Xu throughout; no source ambiguity exists.
