Young Master Pei methodically pushed aside the floating leaves in his teacup, methodically took a sip, methodically set down the teacup, and finally methodically began speaking.

“Reciting sutras didn’t work, so I thought Big Brother Zhu is an expert in this area. I went to find him.”

Zhu Yuanmo smoothly picked up the thread.

“When Young Master Pei found me, I was also greatly shocked. I immediately divined fortune and misfortune for your household. The result…”

“What was the result?” Shen Yande’s heart was in complete turmoil.

“The result wasn’t good. The divination showed that within half a year, three coffins would be carried from your household.”

Three deaths?

Shen Yande’s face looked worse than a ghost’s, his eyes filled with terror.

“The old physician has shown kindness to our Zhu family. I took it upon myself to bring Young Master Pei to examine your ancestral grave. But who would have known…”

Oh my, Director Zhu, please don’t keep us in suspense.

Old Shen rushed directly before Zhu Yuanmo. “What about our family’s ancestral grave?”

“A black mist shrouds the area above your family’s ancestral grave.”

Zhu Yuanmo decisively stood. “Director Shen, enough words. First accompany me to your family’s ancestral grave to take a look.”

“No, no, no…”

Shen Yande had already begun speaking incoherently. “You, you, you first tell me—what will happen with black mist shrouding it?”

“Black energy is death energy. Death energy means people will die. This corresponds to the divination I made for your family—three coffins will be carried out.”

Shen Yande’s hands pressed hard on a nearby small table, the only thing preventing his body from collapsing.

“If the black energy isn’t removed, the Shen family will have no peace. The day three coffins are carried out will be the day the Shen family begins its decline.”

Zhu Yuanmo drew out his tone. “Moreover…”

“Moreover what else?”

Shen Yande was so anxious his vision darkened, his voice cracking. “Speak!”

“If the black mist grows increasingly thick, your family will continue to lose people. Even more critically, the black mist has destroyed your ancestral grave’s feng shui. I’m afraid your household’s women won’t be able to bear sons in the future.”

“My ancestor above!”

Shen Yande slapped his thigh and jumped up cursing: “That Shen Duruo, that harbinger of disaster! She wants to end the Shen family line!”

Zhu Yuanmo sighed. “The matter is too grave. Young Master Pei and I discussed it and brought Third Master along to your door.”

Shen Yande was so frightened he’d lost his wits. How could he still think about why they’d brought Third Master Xie?

He turned and roared at his own father:

“Alive, she brought our family nothing but trouble. Dead, she still won’t let people rest! What sin did our Shen family commit to be entangled with such a person?”

Shen Wei in the grand armchair had a blue-white face, his entire body trembling violently like a fallen leaf shivering in a gale.

Xie Zhifei withdrew his gaze, glancing toward Yan Sanhe.

Just then, Yan Sanhe also looked up at him.

Their gazes met.

The same thought arose simultaneously in both their minds: This old physician most likely knows the truth.

At that moment, Old Physician Shen spoke with trembling lips, asking Zhu Yuanmo: “Grand-nephew, is there any way to resolve this?”

“Right, right, right—see if there’s any way to resolve it. No matter how much silver it costs, just name your price.”

“Uncle Shen, you’re being too formal with those words.”

Young Master Pei suddenly turned stern. “Is Big Brother Zhu the kind of person who’s greedy for silver? Big Brother Zhu’s sole intention is to repay kindness.”

“Look at this mouth of mine—can I still speak properly?”

Shen Yande lightly slapped himself. “Brother Zhu, is there a way to resolve this?”

“Yes.”

Zhu Yuanmo: “As long as we find the root of her deep sins, I have a way to resolve it.”

“Big Brother Zhu, resolution comes later.”

Young Master Pei: “Come, let’s first accompany Uncle Shen to see the ancestral grave.”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Right, let’s look at the ancestral grave first.”

“No need to look!”

Old Physician Shen struck his cane heavily. “Eldest, go outside.”

Go outside for what?

Shen Yande was completely bewildered. “Father…”

“Out!”

Old Physician Shen struck his cane with resounding bangs. “No matter who he is, he’s not permitted to step foot in this courtyard!”

Each strike was like a blow to the hearts of Yan Sanhe and the others.

The old physician was sending his eldest son away. From this, it was clear—

Regarding Shen Duruo’s past affairs, aside from the old physician, no one in the Shen household knew!

Xie Zhifei covered his lips and coughed: Below, the old physician is key.

Zhu Yuanmo’s eyes revealed some worry: They say the old become cunning—he may not be easy to handle.

Young Master Pei: Follow the plan we discussed. I’m exiting, divine woman enters.

Yan Sanhe straightened her posture: Step aside, I’m up!

For today’s performance, they had rehearsed the entire previous day.

Who says what…

How to deliver the next line…

Who leads…

How to gradually draw someone into the trap…

The divine woman—this was their second stratagem.

…

Even though Shen Yande’s official position had reached third-in-command at the Imperial Medical Bureau, he didn’t dare disobey his old father.

The door creaked shut.

Shen Wei’s turbid eyes looked toward Yan Sanhe in the corner. “Grand-nephew, have your young servant leave as well.”

“Old Physician.”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Look carefully at who she is.”

Yan Sanhe walked from the corner to stand before Shen Wei, lifting her face. “Old Physician, do you recognize me?”

“You are…”

Shen Wei paused. “You’re from the Xie family…”

Zhu Yuanmo: “She’s Xie Daozhi’s adopted daughter, Yan Sanhe. She can commune with the dead.”

No lie told.

The Yin Realm is where the dead reside—this counts as a form of spirit communication.

Young Master Pei: “Besides communing with spirits, she can also help the dead resolve their grievances.”

No lie told.

Resolving heart demons is helping the dead resolve grievances, isn’t it?

Xie Zhifei cleared his throat. “Old Physician, you mustn’t speak of this outside. Sanhe still needs to marry and bear children in the future. If word gets out, no one will dare marry her.”

A lie told.

I dare marry her!

Shen Wei stared at Yan Sanhe in shock.

He’d never imagined this young woman could be…

“At this point, I won’t hide it from the old physician.”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Young Master Pei and I originally wanted to quietly resolve this matter without alarming you. So we contacted Miss Yan through Third Master Xie to see if she could sense anything.”

Yan Sanhe’s eyes were cold as ice. “I originally didn’t want to bother. First, Third Master pleaded with me. Second, the old physician treated my foot injury.”

Shen Wei had no reason not to believe. “You, what did you sense?”

“Those wronged spirits told me they were killed by your daughter.”

Yan Sanhe: “But your daughter was a traveling physician—healing and saving people accumulates virtue. They couldn’t harm her, could only follow by her side all along.”

Shen Wei’s facial expression slowly twisted, his entire body shaking more violently.

“After your daughter died, when the coffin was transported back to the capital, they followed to the capital, followed into Qingliang Temple.”

Yan Sanhe: “Buddhist pure land, everywhere bodhisattvas preside, plus eminent monks chanting sutras—until your daughter was buried, the wronged spirits had no way to touch her. That’s why they wailed at midnight.”

Shen Wei’s lips trembled. “Then, that black energy…”

“The black energy is the wronged spirits’ revenge.”

Yan Sanhe: “She never married in her lifetime. After death, she was buried in the Shen family ancestral grave—they found your Shen family.”

After a pause, she slowly continued:

“What Zhu Yuanmo just said was putting it lightly. These wronged spirits told me that even if it means their souls scatter, they’ll make your Shen family members die terrible deaths, one by one.”

“Clang!”

The cane fell with a crash.

The skin on Shen Wei’s face twitched incessantly as two lines of turbid tears slid down.

“It was me who harmed her, I who harmed the Shen family! It was me, all me!”

In the hall.

The four exchanged bewildered looks, hardly daring to believe what they’d just heard.

So it turns out—behind Shen Duruo’s involvement in the Witchcraft Case, an old physician was also hidden?