Chapter 8: A Fragmented Soul, Half Lost Fortune

The dowry maid Chun Jiao shook her head. "Mistress, I heard it wasn’t because of some villain—it's the princess who ran away herself."

"She ran away? But didn’t they say that woman adored Prince Zhong deeply?" Could it be that she was frightened off by the arrival of this new bride?

Fang Siyao entertained the thought briefly, then dismissed it immediately.

Impossible. If the other woman had truly been scared, she wouldn’t have dared to show such boldness in broad daylight, humiliating her to the point she never even got to meet the prince.

"I heard that woman is a seductive vixen, alluring but with no family background. She must have a few tricks up her sleeve. Besides, no matter what, she was still the primary wife. How could she just run away?"

Chun Jiao furrowed her brow. "Today, I spent some silver to ask around among the careless servants in the manor. They said the princess’s name is Chu Li. She truly has no family background, just a wild girl the prince brought back from the countryside. She has no clan to rely on. Apart from being pretty, she has no other merits."

"The people of the capital hold her in low regard, saying she’s just a pretty but useless ornament, fit only to be kept inside the chambers for the lord’s pleasure. In fact, most people in the capital have never even seen her, and the prince never brings her to formal occasions."

"When that princess married into the prince's mansion, I heard there wasn’t even a proper banquet—nothing like the grand affair of your arrival, Miss."

"I think maybe the prince grew tired of her long ago. Now that you’ve entered the mansion, the princess must have realized she has completely fallen out of favor and decided to escape first."

Upon hearing this, a smile stretched almost to Fang Siyao’s ears.

"So that means, that woman was poor and powerless, relying only on her looks to deceive the prince. In truth, she was just a useless plaything for men."

"And every plaything eventually gets discarded. That woman should have had some backbone."

But not her. Though her own family had perished, her grandfather left her enough leverage before his death.

She held in her hands all the things the prince desired—a powerful bargaining chip to make him value her, even to elevate her to the rank of the true princess consort.

—

The next day, as the sun rose as usual over the capital, a long banquet table was once again set up on the street before the gates of the Prince You’s mansion.

Only this time, Chu Li did not appear.

She had been ill in the small residence for two days, the dull pain in her lower abdomen gnawing at her as if scraping bone from flesh, searing to the marrow.

After two days of rest, it was only as dusk fell that her complexion began to improve.

Qiu Yi had been worried sick for two days, her eyes swollen from crying.

"Miss, you’ve drunk birth control soup many times before, so why is it so severe this time?"

Chu Li was already up, preparing to leave the city. Hearing Qiu Yi’s words, she paused in packing.

She had been with Fu Heng for three years. During that time, Fu Heng was stationed at the border most of the year, returning to the capital only briefly for three to five days before heading back again.

In those few days in the capital, they would spend every night entwined.

Fu Heng desired much, and she complied, even enjoyed it, but she never forgot that she was a soul with a missing piece, unable to conceive.

So every time they were together, she had Qiu Yi secretly buy birth control soup in advance.

After their time together, she would quietly drink the bitter tonic to prevent pregnancy.

She had drunk this bitter medicine dozens of times, but never had the side effects been so severe.

"Maybe heaven is punishing me..." Chu Li murmured, then took out several talisman papers from her bundle. "Qiu Yi, grind the ink."

Chu Li set aside all other matters and sat upright at the writing desk.

Before leaving, she had to prepare a few talismans.

Within the prince’s mansion, she intentionally concealed her skills and had not prepared talismans in advance. Even the talisman papers and cinnabar were obtained in secret.

She knew Fu Heng had assigned a formidable shadow guard to watch her. Though they had never met, she sensed the guard’s constant presence in the shadows and dared not openly prepare.

These few talisman papers were thus hard-won.

Qiu Yi ground the cinnabar ink for her, captivated by her mistress’s skill.

"Miss, your talisman-drawing skills surpass any sorcerer or priest. The prince is unlucky—our mistress is truly a hidden expert."

Chu Li smiled. Qiu Yi’s words were true; she was indeed a hidden master.

"Years ago, I apprenticed under a top-notch itinerant sorcerer in the countryside who taught me talisman drawing, fortune-telling, and divination. But a woman sorcerer was never mainstream, so I never mentioned it to anyone."

Qiu Yi nodded in understanding. "No wonder. I’ve heard there really are experts among the common folk."

"By the way, Miss, is the matter of Lord Cao true?"

Qiu Yi was worried. Cao Ronghai was a third-rank official. If the miss sent him to Kuangbei and something happened, he would certainly hold her accountable.

Chu Li was already drawing talismans and replied calmly.

"My calculations are correct. Lord Cao’s life hangs by a thread. Without breaking the deadlock, within three months his entire family will perish. The only way to break the curse is to go north—specifically to Kuangbei."

Qiu Yi looked at her mistress with admiration.

"Miss, you’re amazing—you even know when Lord Cao will die. Meeting you is truly his fortune."

Chu Li smiled wryly. Qiu Yi was simple-minded and believed whatever she said.

But she had not exaggerated Lord Cao’s fate, and something major was indeed about to happen in Kuangbei.

Her plans to escape over the next three months were not idle; she had divined some celestial signs.

Kuangbei was about to suffer a natural disaster, and if mishandled, it would bring down the entire Eastern Cang dynasty.

Lord Cao’s journey north was both to break his own deadlock and to save the country and its people, but the outcome depended on his abilities and awareness.

When a great structure collapses, no single tile can remain intact—Chu Li was no exception.

Thinking of the long road ahead and the added burden of evading Fu Heng’s investigation, she felt a headache coming.

In the past, she would have been confident—drawing a few talismans from afar to evade pursuit was easy.

But now, three years later, the soul fragment she lost when she transmigrated remained missing, severely weakening her power.

For the past three years, she had lived in seclusion in a corner of the prince’s mansion—not entirely out of despair, but to nurture her soul.

Of the three souls and seven spirits, she had lost the Earth soul, which affected her overall strength. Otherwise, she would not be so cautious and timid.

Yet losing the Earth soul was not the worst. Despite her reduced strength, she was still far beyond the ordinary sorcerers of this world.

What troubled Chu Li most was another matter.

In her previous life, she died repairing a mystical Taoist artifact. When she transmigrated here, she lost something else.

She had lost half of her luck.