The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 6

Swiftly locating the warehouse due to the peculiar odor emanating from it, Wu Zhen found it locked with no one inside. She surveyed the area, leapt to a window, and pushed it open with her claws. The supposed-to-be locked window opened, revealing a dark aperture. Without hesitation, Wu Zhen jumped inside, confidently maneuvered along the bookshelves, and soon pinpointed the source of the unusual scent.

As she had suspected, it wasn’t a powerful entity, not even a monster, but something akin to an “evil spirit”. This particular entity was known as a “female temptation”, which often formed in places where ten or more women had died.

Wu Zhen pondered this. Nearby was a palace wall, and on the other side was a dark room where palace maids were imprisoned after committing crimes. Many palace maids had died there. The proximity and poor terrain made it a prime location for such malevolent forces to manifest where yin energy accumulated.

“Female temptation” couldn’t physically harm people; at most, it could only charm the mind. Generally, men have sufficient yang energy, making them immune to its effects. However, those with weak constitutions were easily possessed. Once possessed, they would see a blurry figure of a woman, which was the lingering resentment and unwillingness of a deceased woman.

Wu Zhen opened her mouth towards the blurry shadow. The shadow emitted an inhuman scream as it was immediately sucked into the cat’s mouth. The tabby cat’s ears twitched as she opened her mouth again, causing the shadow to vanish, leaving only a wisp of white smoke that dissipated completely in the air.

Just as quietly as she had arrived, the tabby cat finished this small task and slipped away.

By the time she exited the Taiji Palace, it was already late, and the entire city of Chang’an was bathed in the glow of dusk. The streets were deserted as Wu Zhen made her way back to Duke Yu’s Mansion. Before she arrived home, the closing drums began to beat. The loud, resonant sounds spread in all directions, echoing through the Chang’an City.

There was a curfew in Chang’an City. Except for the three days of the Lantern Festival, the closing drum was sounded at nightfall every other day. When the hundreds of drum beats stopped, all the city gates would close, and no one was allowed to walk the streets without reason. Thus, at that moment, those still on the main street quickened their pace, rushing to their own neighborhoods. Once past the neighborhood gates, the regulations were more relaxed, allowing relatives and friends to visit each other at night.

People hurried on the street, but Wu Zhen continued to ride her horse leisurely. When she arrived at the gate of Duke Yu’s Mansion, the last drumbeat sounded, and the whole place suddenly went quiet. The final ray of light disappeared in the distant sky.

Duke Yu was waiting at home. Upon seeing his dark expression, Wu Zhen sighed inwardly. Alas, my father has stayed home all day; why hasn’t he returned to the temple yet?

Duke Yu suddenly shouted, “You stayed out so late because you were waiting for me to return to the temple!”

Wu Zhen approached him, taking hold of her old father, who was puffing his beard and glaring. She lied smoothly, “How could that be? I haven’t seen Her Majesty the Empress for a long time, and we talked for a while longer, which delayed us until now. 

Duke Yu was half-believing and half-doubting. “Really?”

Wu Zhen responded frankly, “Absolutely. If I hadn’t thought that my father was still waiting for me, according to my usual habit, I would have been on Pingkang Street listening to the ladies sing. Why would I return to this cold and lonely mansion?”

Duke Yu was speechless. He had a daughter, not a son! How could she justify visiting a brothel so confidently?

Seeing that he was about to lecture her again, Wu Zhen quickly took his arm and pleaded, “Okay, Father, I’ve been running around all afternoon and my stomach is empty. Let me eat first.”

Duke Yu was temporarily calm. By the time he remembered to teach his daughter a lesson, Wu Zhen had already hidden in her room, closing the doors and windows, claiming she was going to sleep. Duke Yu, mindful of his dignity, didn’t dare knock on her door and call her out to scold her. He could only pout and go to bed himself.

Wu Zhen was not so obedient as to retire to bed. As soon as Duke Yu returned to his room, she promptly opened the window and slipped away, timing her escape perfectly.

Despite being in human form, Wu Zhen’s movements along the walls and rooftops of various neighborhoods were remarkably agile and silent, evading the notice of street patrols.

Chang’an City lay in silence. Ordinary folks would have extinguished their lamps and retired for the night by then. The liveliest area, Pingkang Street, bustling with brothels, was aglow with activity. Passing through, one could hear the strains of stringed instruments drifting from numerous houses, accompanied by soft, melodious singing—a scene akin to watching lanterns across a river, a heavenly and graceful sight.

The East and West Markets, bustling during daylight hours, now stood quiet under the night sky, their lights few and sparse. Yet, to non-human beings like Wu Zhen, these markets appeared entirely different at this hour.

Under the night sky, the East and West Markets belonged to the realm of inhuman beings. Ordinary people couldn’t see them and couldn’t enter these two markets.

As soon as Wu Zhen entered the market of monsters, she was greeted by a bustling noise that contrasted sharply with the silence outside. A small, pointed head suddenly popped out of a roadside store and enthusiastically greeted her, “Cat Lord! Fresh fish balls, just caught from Qujiang Pond today, please try a bowl!”

This “Cat Lord” was the respectful title bestowed upon her by everyone in the Monster City. Not only her, but all who had occupied her position throughout the generations were referred to as “Cat Lord”. At the moment, there were only two individuals in Monster City deemed worthy of this title.

The market of monsters at night resembled the morning on earth. Stores and stalls lined both sides of the street, offering breakfast fare. Many monsters and ghosts who ventured out for leisure first stopped to enjoy something hot. Although Wu Zhen had recently eaten and wasn’t very hungry, the enticing aroma beckoned her, and she found herself stepping into the store.

The store owner, with a white beard and green eyes, approached her attentively, wiped down the table and chair, then swiftly brought her a large bowl of fish balls and a dish of sauce.

After finishing a bowl of meatballs, Wu Zhen wiped her mouth and headed towards the midpoint between the two markets. In the time it took to enjoy her meal, the street had become bustling with pedestrians. Most appeared ordinary, with few exhibiting unusual features. Many monsters actually mingled among the crowd during the day, blending in like ordinary people.

In the heart of the Monster City stood a tall building shaped like a flying goose, its wings spread wide, adorned with red walls, black tiles, and bronze bells hanging under the eaves. This was Yan Tower, belonging to Wu Zhen, known as the “Cat Lord”.

To be precise, she owned the left half of the building, while the right half belonged to the “Snake Lord”. Together, they maintained order in the Monster City. Despite their long-standing partnership, their personalities were vastly different.

Although both held similar status, they had assumed their roles at different times. The white snake’s mother, a monster, had been the previous “Snake Lord”. Wu Zhen, not originally a monster—she had been an ordinary child until a few years ago—had undergone a strange transformation later on.

Thinking of the “Snake Lord”, Wu Zhen looked to the right side of Yan Tower. It was dark over there with no light. It seemed that the white snake had not arrived yet, and her two assistants were absent as well.