Strategic move

Preparing to leave, Yun Yi's gaze was caught by an unusually bright pouch hanging beside the infant's crib. She casually picked it up, but the moment her fingers touched the silk, her expression darkened instantly.

"Where did this pouch come from?" Her voice held a thread of icy anger.

Liu Xu's heart skipped a beat as she hurriedly replied, "Third Young Lady, it was Cai Xia—the one just taken away—who hung it on the young master's crib. She said it repelled insects."

"How long has it been hanging here?" Yun Yi pressed, her gaze sharp as a blade.

Liu Xu thought for a moment. "About... ten days or so. Miss, is there something wrong?"

Yun Yi forcefully suppressed the rage surging within her, her face betraying nothing. "Nothing. Just asking." Her fingers closed around the pouch; it would never hang there again. She meticulously scanned the room, ensuring there were no other suspicious items before her mind settled slightly.

With practiced subtlety, she took the sleeping Haoge'er's pulse. Only then did she instruct the wet nurse, "Take him inside to be fed." She then turned and strode swiftly back towards her own courtyard.

Back in the quiet confines of her chamber, she said to Siqin, who had followed her in, "I am weary. Leave me. Do not disturb unless necessary."

Once Siqin withdrew and the door bolt slid home, Yun Yi returned to her bed and let the bed curtains fall. With a thought, her figure vanished, reappearing within her mysterious space.

Holding the pouch she had brought in, a cold, mocking sneer touched Yun Yi's lips. "How utterly vile. Even sending her away isn't enough? To resort to such a poisonous trick!" Fear and fury intertwined – had she not discovered it in time, this hidden venom might have ruined Haoge'er's very life.

"Since you choose to be so ruthless," a flash of icy light sparked in her eyes, "then don't blame me for making you reap what you sow!" Carefully storing the pouch away, she dismissed further thought. Turning, she retrieved various prepared medicinal herb seeds from the warehouse and resignedly began the sweaty labor of scattering them over the soil, bending to cultivate the land yearning for revival.

******

Since that night she infiltrated the East Courtyard belonging to the main branch and repaid their malice in kind, Yun Yi had secluded herself under the pretext of convalescence, not stepping beyond her courtyard gate for days.

One day, Siqin approached, her face etched with worry, having weighed her words carefully. "Young Miss, your health has clearly recovered. Shouldn't you go to the main courtyard to pay your respects to the Matriarch? This servant fears if the main branch learns of your continued absence, they will seize the chance to stir trouble."

Yun Yi set down the book scroll in her hand and nodded gently. "Hmm, you are right. Tomorrow morning, we shall go to the main courtyard to greet Grandmother."

Receiving this confirmation, the stone of anxiety in Siqin's heart finally eased. The main branch had sent numerous people probing, overtly and covertly, these past few days; she dreaded them finding another pretext against her mistress.

During these days, Yun Yi worked against time within her space. Besides meditating and practicing her cultivation, she sowed seeds day and night: grains, vegetables, medicinal herbs, flowers, fruit trees... She was desperate to see this silent space burst forth with vibrant life once more.

A fortunate discovery delighted her – in a corner of the space's villa, she unearthed two jars of premium alfalfa seeds collected from her previous life's pastures. Likely placed there by her children. It was a godsend! She immediately scattered the seeds over the designated pasture area and watered them with the stream water. Watching the tender sprouts rapidly break through the soil, Yun Yi knew the day the small grassland regained its vitality was not far off.

Yet... "With the pastures ready, I still need to find ways to acquire young livestock of all kinds," she sighed softly. "The road ahead is long..." Filling the space would not be the work of a moment; it required careful planning.

"It seems I must find a reason to leave the manor," Yun Yi mused silently. A plan to gather supplies for the space was already taking shape in her mind.

As dusk approached, Yun Yi had just emerged from her space when she heard Siqin's deliberately loud greeting from the outer chamber:

"This servant greets the First Young Lady, the Second Young Lady!"