Lu Jinxiu was startled. Using the lantern light to look at the woman who had fallen, she immediately knocked the lantern from the servant’s hand.
“What Young Madam? This is clearly a little thief. Just bind her and send her to the authorities.”
The lantern rolled on the ground and the candle flame inside went out. In the sudden darkness, with Lu Jinxiu speaking so definitively, no one dared to go confirm.
Nanyi fell flat on her face, her whole body numb. As she struggled to get up from the ground, hearing Lu Jinxiu’s long-absent voice, she thought it might be better to play dead – she still didn’t know what to say when she got up.
Admit she was the long-missing Young Madam? As long as Lu Jinxiu denied it, the servants wouldn’t dare make a sound. Even if she forced Lu Jinxiu to acknowledge her, how could she explain her sudden appearance? She was supposedly someone who had fallen seriously ill and been sent to the estate, barely clinging to life… But if she was really bound and sent away, she probably wouldn’t reach the authorities before being caught by the Qi pursuers, and the consequences would be even more unthinkable.
Nanyi suddenly reached out and grabbed Lu Jinxiu’s ankle, saying in an extremely resentful voice: “Concubine Lu… don’t you recognize me… have you forgotten… what you’ve done to me…”
In this pitch-black garden, Nanyi’s voice floated in the air, causing Lu Jinxiu to scream repeatedly, jumping around trying to shake off Nanyi’s hand.
Nanyi crawled forward like a female corpse, dark and sinister. When Lu Jinxiu shook off her right hand, her left hand grabbed on, still dragging a trail of blood beneath her.
Lu Jinxiu was terrified out of her wits, screaming continuously. After finally shaking off the “ghost hand,” she stumbled away but crashed into Xie Queshan who had come following the sound.
Torchlight blazed up like a swimming dragon.
“What happened?” Xie Queshan frowned and asked.
“Ghost, there’s a ghost…” Lu Jinxiu tremblingly pointed toward the shadows in the garden.
Nanyi hid behind the artificial mountain, thinking this was bad. She had only wanted to frighten Concubine Lu a little to make her leave quickly so she could escape, but how had she attracted this great deity Xie Queshan? He wasn’t someone easy to fool.
She knew her current appearance was very suspicious. She was afraid he would ask: Where did you come from, what are you doing? But she didn’t want to face him. She knew her clumsy lies couldn’t escape Xie Queshan’s eyes.
And deep in her heart, what she least wanted was to stand clearly in opposition to him. She was a Bingzhu Division spy resisting the Qi, while he served the Qi people. Meeting him while dressed like this made them enemies.
Her heart was in chaos, and she could hear vigorous footsteps already approaching the artificial mountain. Nanyi had nowhere left to hide.
He held a torch and looked over. Shadow and light fell on her simultaneously. She knelt on the ground, dragging an injured leg, looking at him as if prepared to die. The surprise in Xie Queshan’s eyes flashed by. He looked up at the high wall and that direction, already having a rough guess in his mind.
He calmly turned back and said: “There’s nothing here.”
“Just now there was clearly—” Lu Jinxiu began screaming.
Xie Queshan cut off her words: “Since the house is haunted, tomorrow we’ll invite a Taoist priest to perform rituals. Concubine Lu was frightened and is talking nonsense. Take her back. Don’t go out tonight, and don’t mention what you saw to anyone.”
Lu Jinxiu was somewhat unconvinced and wanted to crane her neck to look, but the people around her didn’t dare disobey Xie Queshan’s intentions and forcibly helped her away.
But Nanyi didn’t dare relax – he had sent everyone away… what did he want to do?
Finally, everyone had left cleanly. Only Xie Queshan and Nanyi remained in the garden.
Xie Queshan restrained the pity in his heart. Her return… dangerous yet tempting. Day after day walking through Wangxue Hollow’s pavilions and towers, he often missed the days when her figure moved among them. He even couldn’t help thinking – if she had always stayed by his side… He didn’t dare think further, afraid of developing excessive selfishness. He had already built the dam to hold back the surging tide and couldn’t let all efforts be wasted.
But tonight she had returned unexpectedly, throwing herself into his web. He could use some methods to keep her, but… a thread of reason still warned him that she wouldn’t be willing to be this false Young Madam again. She had to leave quickly before the pursuers came.
“Why aren’t you getting lost already.” Xie Queshan looked down, his tone ice-cold.
“Thank you.”
Nanyi felt relieved – he was showing mercy after all. She didn’t dare say more and was about to leave dragging her injured leg, but unexpectedly ran into Madam Gantang who was hurrying over.
Madam Gantang glanced at Nanyi, who had disappeared for many days and reappeared in such attire, and at Xie Queshan standing coldly there, somewhat surprised.
Nanyi was thinking about how to explain when somehow Madam Gantang suddenly rushed over, embraced Nanyi, and began crying emotionally.
“Heaven have mercy, how did you return from the estate by yourself? Did you suffer some grievance, or receive some shock?” Madam Gantang touched Nanyi’s face, then looked toward Xie Queshan and continued, “I said she had soul-separation syndrome – sending her alone to that place definitely wouldn’t work. Queshan, why don’t you take this opportunity to move back in? These times aren’t peaceful, and there’s nothing to avoid. The Xie family is so large – can’t it support one person?”
Saying this, Madam Gantang took off her outer robe and draped it over Nanyi.
Half of Nanyi’s head was buried in Madam Gantang’s warm embrace, the woman’s faint incense scent entering her nose – with the situation taking such twists and turns, she was a bit dazed.
Xie Queshan was speechless. He also didn’t understand what play his second sister was performing. He had gone through so much effort to send Nanyi away from Wangxue Hollow, and now with one act of “kindness,” she had kept the person again.
Just then, noise came over – a squad of Qi soldiers had burst in, led by the tearful Lu Jinxiu.
“Where’s the disturbance?”
“Right there! There was a ghost just now – scared me to death!”
Xie Queshan immediately understood and said: “I can’t manage the back courtyard affairs – I’ll leave them to Second Sister to handle.”
With that, he strode toward the Qi soldiers.
Nanyi also understood. It must be that Madam Gantang, seeing Qi soldiers coming to search and guessing something had happened in the back courtyard, had come to check and thought of this quick solution.
She felt Madam Gantang’s embrace was reassuring – she truly had an orchid-like heart and magnolia-like nature, wise and generous. She couldn’t help wanting to nestle in her arms a bit longer.
But Xie Queshan… he had actually accepted this explanation?
The string in Nanyi’s heart remained taut.
As soon as Xie Queshan left, Madam Gantang’s expression immediately became efficient, instructing Tang Rong who had followed her.
“Tang Rong, clean up the bloodstains here. I’ll take the Young Madam back first.”
Madam Gantang helped Nanyi up, showing her a reassuring smile.
“Don’t be afraid. Come with me.”
Nanyi looked back to see Xie Queshan blocking the Qi soldiers who wanted to break through.
“There’s no ghost there – it’s my widowed sister-in-law who’s mentally unstable, having a midnight episode. If you want to pursue the assassin, I did vaguely see a figure heading that way.”
Nanyi completely relaxed. When the Xie family wanted to protect someone, even the King of Hell had to step aside.