“Since Zi Han is ill and cannot marry, you must take her place. Even though you’re not my biological daughter, I have raised you for 18 years. You owe me this much.”

Yu Ning was engrossed in her lesson preparations, treating her foster mother’s coercion as mere background noise.

Seeing that emotional appeals failed, Wu Yan gritted her teeth, pulled out a check from her pocket, and placed it on the table.

“It’s not like you’ll be living with that vegetative person forever. Once Zi Han recovers, you two can switch back. This money is just a small token.”

Yu Ning glanced at the check.

“In these few days, my state of mind has been unstable. It’s not suitable for me to descend the mountain.” Ten thousand? Is she trying to dismiss a beggar?

Her master’s single talisman costs more than that.

Wu Yan almost spat out blood in rage.

Although Yu Ning was a teacher at the Taoist Academy, she taught politics, not Taoism. Her “unstable state of mind” was pure nonsense!

Suppressing her anger, Wu Yan dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.

“Ning Ning, you’ve enjoyed the wealth and glory of the Yu family for so many years. Can you really stand by and do nothing when the family is in trouble?”

“Yes, sister, you’ve enjoyed the luxuries meant for me for eighteen years. Now it’s time for you to help me.” Yu Zi Han was in tears.

“Wealth and glory? Ha.” To Yu Ning, this was the coldest joke she had ever heard.

She had lived to be twenty, and the darkest eighteen years of her life were spent in the Yu family.

Despite being in a wealthy family, she ate leftovers, wore tattered clothes, and was subject to the whims and abuses of the household servants.

And she was extraordinarily unlucky.

A flowerpot almost turned her into a vegetable.

She was nearly drowned by waves at the beach and ended up in the ICU.

She choked on a bun and almost died.

This so-called “wealth and glory”—anyone else could have it if they wanted.

Two years ago, she met her master and discovered she wasn’t actually the Yu family’s child.

The Yu family deliberately switched children on the advice of a seer.

The real daughter, Yu Zi Han, had a cursed fate and needed someone with a noble destiny and a connection to the divine to shield her from nine life-and-death calamities to survive. Yu Ning, the fake daughter, was adopted for this purpose.

Yu Ning had already shielded Zi Han from eight calamities, each a matter of life and death.

If repaying her upbringing was the issue, these eight times were more than enough.

Wu Yan’s attempt to use her upbringing to morally bind Yu Ning was laughable.

“You ungrateful wretch! I’ve raised you all these years for nothing!” Seeing that she couldn’t persuade Yu Ning, Wu Yan cursed in anger.

Yu Zi Han quickly stood up and clung to her mother’s arm, timidly urging:

“Sister, don’t make mom angry. She’s not in good health. Apologize to her.”

Zi Han always acted pitifully, which endeared her to everyone in the Yu family.

Yu Ning turned her gaze to Zi Han’s face and shook her head.

“You have a weak fate, and a naturally petty disposition. You should cultivate your mind and character instead of stirring up trouble. Otherwise, your fortunes will only worsen.”

Zi Han’s face paled at her words. Yu Ning scrutinized her for a moment longer and said, “Your illness will get worse.”

Zi Han hurriedly pulled out a small mirror, carefully checking her reflection. The flawless face covered by foundation showed no signs of any black aura, allowing her to relax a little.

Seeing Yu Ning’s calm demeanor, Zi Han’s eyes sparkled with malicious delight.

“Sister, have you stayed on the mountain so long that you’ve developed a mental disorder? I’m really worried about you.”

After recognizing the real daughter, the Yu family had kicked the fake one, Yu Ning, out.

Zi Han had been worried.

She feared Yu Ning would marry into a wealthy family and lead a good life after leaving the Yu family.

After all, Yu Ning had always been an excellent student, skipped grades to take the college entrance exam, and achieved the second-highest score in the province. Her beauty and talent far surpassed Zi Han’s.

But after leaving the Yu family, Yu Ning neither used her stunning looks to marry into a wealthy family nor her prestigious education to secure a respectable job.

Instead, she went to a Taoist academy in the mountains and became a teacher.

Zi Han had investigated; the academy wasn’t even registered with the religious authorities—a complete sham.

And why would a school teaching metaphysics need a politics teacher? It was obviously not a legitimate job.

The dilapidated state of the school buildings almost made Zi Han burst into laughter.

Thinking of this, Zi Han barely contained her joy and tried to console Wu Yan.

“Mom, sister is mentally ill now and lives in such a rundown place. Pity her, don’t stoop to her level.”

Wu Yan looked at her daughter lovingly and said indulgently, “You are too kind-hearted. She bullies you so, yet you bear no grudge.”

“After all, we’re still sisters, right, sister?” Zi Han skipped over to Yu Ning, feigning intimacy as she shook her arm, as if acting coquettishly.

Her elbow “accidentally” aimed at the small jade bottle on the table.

She had noticed it as soon as she entered the room. The small jade bottle, despite its unassuming appearance, seemed valuable and out of place in the shabby room.

Why should this illegitimate child have something so nice? Zi Han seized the opportunity and smashed the bottle with her elbow.

The bottle shattered with a crisp sound, fragments scattering everywhere. Zi Han’s eyes sparkled with glee.

“Sister, I didn’t mean to. You won’t blame me, right—ah!”

Zi Han’s face twisted to the side as Yu Ning slapped her hard.

Wu Yan screamed and rushed forward, pushing Yu Ning:

“You bastard child! How dare you hit my daughter!”

Wu Yan raised her hand, intending to slap Yu Ning back, but was frozen by Yu Ning’s cold gaze.

This child had never looked at her this way before, cold and indifferent, as if looking at a stranger.

“Take your daughter and get out!” Yu Ning pushed Wu Yan away and knelt to pick up the fragments.

The jade bottle was a cherished keepsake from her master before his ascension.

Having it broken by Zi Han made Yu Ning furious enough to want to kill her.

“The marriage to the Lin family—”

“Get out!” Yu Ning pounded the table with her fist, leaving a dent in the hardwood.

Wu Yan and Zi Han, terrified, quickly fled.

“Wait, come back!” Yu Ning’s eyes fell on the shattered pieces of the bottle, spotting several lines of tiny writing.

It was her master’s handwriting, unmistakably.

“You want me to marry on her behalf? Fine, five million.”

“Five million?! Why don’t you try your luck with a lottery ticket!” Wu Yan was shocked by the outrageous demand.

“Not a penny less.”

Thinking of the formidable matriarch of the Lin family, whom they couldn’t afford to offend, Wu Yan cursed Yu Ning a thousand times in her heart before reluctantly agreeing.

“Fine. The Lin family will come for you tomorrow. Be ready.”

After sending off Wu Yan and her daughter, Yu Ning stared at the words on the fragments.

The bottle breaks, my disciple emerges, rising with the Lin family, gaining wealth with the mountain, flourishing with water, and stopping at the river.

Five million was just an excuse.

Her master had ordained her to go to the Lin family; she couldn’t disobey.

But—

“Master, did you really think I hadn’t read ‘Water Margin’?”

These lines, were they not the same as those given to Lu Zhishen by the monk in ‘Water Margin’?

“So, in Master’s eyes, I’m like Lu Zhishen, who uproots the willow tree?”

Yu Ning looked at the dent in the table from her punch, lost in thought.