Chapter 123 Have you thought about what the future holds?

Bai Xiuming's arrival did not affect Achan's plans at all. She closed the shop early, and then she and Chen Hui wrapped themselves up tightly and went to the woodshed with hammers to smash stones.

While a whole piece of black flint is usable, it is too rough and its effect is mediocre. It needs to be processed to become more stable and its effectiveness will be greatly improved.

Black flint looks like a pebble, but it is completely black and not very hard; it can be broken with a few taps of a hammer.

After Chen Hui smashed the black flint, A Chan ground the smaller stones into powder. She collected the powder, mixed it with mermaid oil and wood chips, and lit it.

A single piece of black flint will not ignite when exposed to fire, but when the stone powder is mixed with mermaid oil, it becomes highly flammable.

After burning for most of the day, the stone powder turned from black to light gray. The booklet said that this ash was more absorbent and more targeted than the stone powder, and would not affect the skin or flesh of living things.

For this reason, Achan specially brought out a live chicken that had been sent from the manor not long ago. She sprinkled a layer of ash on the chicken's feet, and the chicken clucked twice, shook its feet, and continued to peck at the vegetable leaves.

Then she took a piece of chopped chicken and a small piece of monster hide she bought from the hunting shop, and sprinkled them with ash.

The two pieces of meat were slowly drying out; the chicken meat was drying out very slowly, while the monster's hide and flesh were more active and drying out faster.

After a simple verification, Achan poured the prepared sap from the sand pear tree into the ash. The sap of the sand pear tree is very easy to disperse, but it is also the easiest to be absorbed by human skin. Stirring it with a silver hairpin, the two interacted and quickly solidified into a translucent "amber".

This piece of "amber" still needs to be soaked in mermaid oil and burned for a day so that the black lime and sap of the sand pear tree can be fully integrated.

Once the "amber" is prepared, it needs to be taken out and ground into powder again, then mixed into the perfume powder, and her specially made perfume powder is complete.

When the prepared incense powder is burned, it is just an ordinary fragrance to ordinary people. However, if someone uses a different type of skin on their face, you can't blame the fragrance for being defective; you can only blame their face.

It took three days to make the incense powder. Just in case, Achan made four batches.

On the morning of the fourth day, it was frosty outside, and there were far fewer pedestrians on the road. Those who left early were either getting up early to go to work or were busy setting up their stalls as vendors.

Occasionally, people would hurry by on the road, all of them pulling their clothes tighter, as if that would keep them warm.

Recently, Chen Hui has continued to consume the blood of demonic beasts, but the effects of the blood on her are not as strong as they were at the beginning. She no longer sleeps through the night and usually wakes up around dawn.

The change in temperature had no effect on her. She washed her face with well water, and after washing up, she saw that it was almost dawn, so she went to the front and opened the shop door.

Last night, Achan said she wanted to eat Zhang's sugar cakes in Yongpingfang. Chen Hui originally planned to buy her a few cakes since she had nothing to do early in the morning, but as soon as she went out, she saw someone standing outside the door.

She was a woman whose appearance was unfamiliar, but Chen Hui didn't need to rely on a person's appearance to distinguish them.

She walked up to the man and whispered, "Master Yu?"

"You can recognize me?" Yu Dajia asked, her voice completely different from before.

Chen Hui thought to herself, "No wonder he's called a master; he truly has unique insights."

“I’m different from ordinary people; I’m not someone you can just look at,” Chen Hui explained.

Yu nodded, then said with a slight apology, "I'm sorry, I didn't want to disturb you so early, I just couldn't fall asleep."

She arrived just after the curfew ended.

"It's alright, it's not a bother at all." Chen Hui said calmly to Yu Dajia, "Achan won't be able to get up for a while, has Yu Dajia had breakfast yet?"

"not yet."

“I’m going to Yongpingfang nearby to buy some sweet cakes, why don’t you come with me, Ms. Yu?” Chen Hui suggested, as it wouldn’t be right to leave someone waiting outside.

She then added, "The sugar cakes from that shop have a crispy outer shell and the filling inside is very fragrant. Paired with a bowl of mixed soup, they taste quite good."

Yu Dajia originally had little appetite, but her words made her a little hungry.

She hesitated only slightly before nodding, "Okay."

So she and Chen Hui bought some sugar cakes, and then went to the sugar cake shop to drink a bowl of mixed soup. The mixed soup was spicy, and after drinking it, they felt warm all over.

Chen Hui waited until she finished eating before carrying the sugar cakes and walking back with her.

At this time, the sky was turning white, and it was almost dawn.

Walking through these bustling city streets, the anxiety I felt earlier seemed to have been soothed away.

When they returned to Changpingfang, Chen Hui led Yu Dajia into the shop, while she went to the backyard.

She knocked on Achan's door and waited for a while before hearing a sleepy voice from inside: "Huiniang, I'm not awake yet."

"Get up! Didn't you say you wanted to eat sugar pancakes? If you don't get up, the sugar pancakes will get cold."

"It's okay, I'm not picky about food." People who like to stay in bed never complain about their breakfast.

Chen Hui chuckled and stopped teasing her: "Master Yu is here and is waiting for you outside."

The room was quiet for a while, and when the voice came out again, it was much clearer: "Could you please entertain my guests for me? I'll be right out."

Achan sat on her tiger-skin rug, getting dressed, feeling warm all over and not cold at all.

She quickly washed up in the room before going to the front.

The shop was not yet open, and it was still dark inside. Yu Dajia, who had changed his face, was sitting in a chair. At first glance, Achan almost did not recognize him.

"Master Yu?" Achan walked over and looked at the person sitting in the chair with some surprise.

Yu Dajia stood up and said to Achan, "I think it would be better to appear here with a different appearance, just in case."

When Achan proposed the plan, she was excited, but afterwards she was worried that it would be fine if the investigation found her, but it would be bad if it implicated the other party.

"Your Excellency has considered everything thoroughly."

Knowing why she had come so early, Achan didn't chat with her. Instead, she turned around and went behind the counter, taking out three sealed bottles of perfume powder from the cabinet below.

Yu Dajia got up and took the bottle. Just as he was about to open it, Achan stopped him.

"The powder in this bottle has no effect on ordinary people, but you'd better not touch it. The powder works on her, and it will work on you too."

Seeing that everyone had put their hands down, Achan continued, "These three portions of incense powder can be used in three separate applications. The first two applications can be used at any time, as long as they are burned as ordinary incense powder. However, the third application should ideally be made one to two hours before the start of the palace banquet."

Everyone listened attentively, nodding occasionally, without mentioning the harsh conditions for its use that A-Chan had mentioned.

Ah Chan has already solved the most difficult part. If she can't handle the remaining problems, how can she talk about revenge?

"I wonder what will happen if we use the perfume powder?" Yu asked.

"The first two times, you should only feel a little itchy on your face. After the last use, that layer of skin will lose its activity." Achan smiled, thinking that the scene would be very interesting. "Her face will fall off."

Yu Dajia laughed too, but as she laughed, the smile gradually faded from her face. She felt a deep sadness, but no more tears would fall.

More than a decade has passed, and in the end, the only people who helped her were strangers she had never met.

She stood up and bowed respectfully to Achan: "Thank you for your help, young lady. I don't even know your name?"

After accepting her greeting, Achan said, "My name is Ji Chan, you can just call me Achan."

"A-Chan." Yu Dajia murmured a couple of times before introducing herself, "My original name was Bai Yuan, but that name was taken by someone else. Later, I got the name Yu An, which I originally thought meant peace for the rest of my life. Now that I think about it, it might also mean that I want to live a more peaceful life for the rest of my life."

"Regardless of what the name means, it's really not a good name," Achan said bluntly. "Have you ever thought about changing your name?"

The others didn't immediately understand what A-Chan meant: "Change your name?"

Ah Chan had no choice but to rephrase it in a more easily understood way: "After that fake county princess was exposed, have you thought about what you're going to do in the future?"

"The future?" Yu Dajia was lost in thought for a moment; she had considered it.

She had thought that if she avenged herself, she would leave the capital and go somewhere where no one knew her to start over.

She is no longer the county princess she once was. She has her own means of making a living and has saved a lot of money. Her life will not be too bad.

But can she really leave the capital?

How could His Majesty not investigate the matter thoroughly after such a major incident at His Majesty's birthday banquet?

Yu Dajia snapped out of his thoughts and said to Achan, "To be honest, I've even thought about the expressions on my parents' and elder brother's faces when they see me faceless after the truth comes out and I'm brought before His Majesty."

His Majesty might take pity on me and not pursue the matter, and I might become my parents' daughter again, but I am no longer... Bai Yuan, and everything is irreversible.

After thinking about it, Achan realized that Yu Dajia's guess was quite possible. Similarly, she also sensed the coldness in Yu Dajia's words.

"Don't you want to be found and taken back?"

“I don’t want to,” Yu Dajia answered without hesitation. “I just want to see my enemies suffer a terrible death. I don’t want to face my former family, I don’t want to know what they think, and I don’t want anyone to know that I’ve become like this.”

“If you don’t want to, then think of a new name for yourself and get a face you like,” Achan said.

Yu Dajia touched his face: "But even if I leave the city, I will still be found."

She never doubted the capabilities of the Mingjing Division. They would find out about her sooner or later, and her face, which could be removed at any time, was the best evidence. She couldn't hide it from them at all.

"It's alright, I can help you keep it from them. After you use the face powder for the last time, if you don't want anyone to find out, come find me."

“But that would implicate you,” Yu Dajia said hesitantly.

Achan shook her head: "As long as they can't find you, you won't implicate me."

She lowered her head and twirled the ring on her finger. Whether it was Yu Dajia or not, Bai Xiuming would eventually guess it was her.

However, speculation cannot be used as evidence unless the man takes her back and tortures her severely.

Perhaps it was because Achan's tone was too confident that the rest of us no longer hesitated.

“Okay,” she said.

Seeing this, Achan smiled and said as if chatting with her, "I heard from some guests the other day that the weather has been cold lately, and they have started using hand warmers early. Coincidentally, the incense powder I gave you can be used in a hand warmer."

Yu Dajia was taken aback at first, but then he understood what Achan meant.

Her eyes held a complex mix of emotions: "I really don't know how to thank you enough."

Applying face powder to Han Xiaotong was easy the first two times, but the last time was the difficult one.

Ah Chan had even come up with a solution for her.

"I'm just saying, whether this works out or not depends on you."

"It will succeed."