The moment Lang Jiuchuan’s words fell, everyone in the room was frightened — especially seeing Xiao Zheng Shi clutch at her chest, face ashen, unable to draw breath — and they all surged forward at once.

“Step back, all of you,” said Lang Jiuchuan, pushing through to the front. “Crowding in like this will only make it harder for her to breathe.” With both hands she swept the maidservants and matrons aside, then drew from the large pouch at her waist a needle case, took out a single gold needle, seized Xiao Zheng Shi’s hand, and guided qi through the needle, pressing it into the middle finger.

Xiao Zheng Shi let out a small sound. She watched as the gold needle trembled faintly at her fingertip, and felt a warm current rise from that point, spreading upward — wherever it passed, a gentle heat suffused her, a warmth she had not felt in all these days of illness.

Her color improved at once. She stared at the faintly quivering needle, momentarily blank.

Just one needle — and so much of the cold yin that had clung to her body had already dispersed. Did this young woman also know medicine?

Seeing Xiao Zheng Shi’s breathing steady, Nanny Wang and the others let out a collective breath, though cold sweat had soaked through their backs. They had been terrified that Xiao Zheng Shi might work herself into a fit and be frightened to death by Lang Jiuchuan’s words on the spot.

Nanny Wang looked at Lang Jiuchuan with an expression that was half plea — could she not be a little more subtle? That had been far too alarming.

Lang Jiuchuan withdrew the gold needle and looked at Xiao Zheng Shi. “You asked me here to deal with your condition. I don’t have a gentle way of speaking, but I have told you half of what I have to say. Do you want to hear the rest? If yes, I will continue. If not, pay the consultation fee and I’ll be on my way.”

The corner of Xiao Zheng Shi’s mouth twitched — she was actually startled into a laugh despite herself, a faint flush rising in her otherwise pale face.

She studied Lang Jiuchuan. This slight young sister looked fragile, and her complexion, honestly, was not much better than Xiao Zheng Shi’s own — yet the presence that surrounded her was immense.

She had been told by the person Nanny Wang sent ahead of time that this young girl was the very “little master” her elder sister had wanted to recommend to her.

She knew she was young. She had not known she was this young — and she looked rather…unimpressive, at that… Ahem.

She had been the one with poor judgment.

Xiao Zheng Shi coughed urgently several times, touched her fingertip, and asked hoarsely: “What did you mean just now? You said my life is in danger — but all I have is a mild cold…”

“A mild cold can kill a person too. That is not so unusual,” Lang Jiuchuan interrupted. “And besides, what afflicts you is not merely a matter of a cold. The feng shui configuration of the courtyard where you live is problematic — it has created a dragon-and-tiger-conflict formation around you and your husband. And now there is something malevolent in your Buddha hall. The yin-evil energy it produces has spread and settled, and combining with this configuration, it has fully manifested into the White Tiger Inauspicious Configuration.”

“You and your husband correspond to the azure dragon and the white tiger. The female is the white tiger. Now that the white tiger has met the inauspicious force, this naturally bodes ill for the mistress of the household — frequent illness, a body worn down. And with yin-evil energy clinging to you without release, no amount of medicine will ever truly heal you.” Lang Jiuchuan looked at her. “Surely you have not been thinking that the cold, yin feeling inside you is simply the effect of the cold you caught?”

Xiao Zheng Shi’s expression shifted with alarm. “Is it not?”

What was yin-evil energy? What kind of thing was that?

“Of course not. Yin-evil energy is a form of dark, malignant force. For someone who has been touched by it, misfortune and illness are the most common effects. If yin-evil energy fully enters the body and refuses to leave, the person will grow weaker and weaker until they finally perish. What you have attracted is not only affecting you — those who serve you closely have also been touched by it to varying degrees. I imagine they have all been feeling unsettled and cold these past days, things going wrong, and perhaps some minor ailments here and there.”

Besides Nanny Wang, there were two trusted senior maidservants in the room. At these words, both of them changed expression. It was all too accurate.

They crossed their arms, exchanging a glance — they truly had been feeling a cold, dark chill, and a kind of inner restlessness. Even looking at their mistress lying there, sick and strange-spirited, they had found themselves feeling a strange irritation.

But how was that possible? They had grown up alongside their mistress and were utterly devoted to her — how could they feel vexed by her?

They had chalked it all up to anxiety over their mistress’s illness and worry for their own futures. But now this little master had spoken, and the answer was this thing called yin-evil energy.

Xiao Zheng Shi’s brow furrowed. “Dragon and tiger in conflict — what does that mean?”

“The orientation of this courtyard is off by several degrees. On top of that, both you and your husband value refinement — the courtyard’s arrangement is elegant, yes, but it has been laid out without attention to feng shui principles. Take this inner bedchamber, for example.” Lang Jiuchuan walked to the lattice window, pushed it open, and pointed at the eaves above the main room. “Look at the corner of those eaves — the upward curve is too extreme. Like the tip of a blade. When the sunlight strikes it, that blade-shadow falls straight into the inner room.”

She pointed to a shadow falling across the windowsill, and everyone could see it clearly now — the shadow did indeed take the shape of a curved blade.

Xiao Zheng Shi insisted that Song Xiang help her up so she could see for herself, and her expression grew heavy.

“A blade enters the room — at its mildest, it depletes both blood and vital energy; at its worst, it brings death. Now look outside the window. That pond — I genuinely cannot imagine what possessed anyone to dig it there. Open the window, and willow branches drift in the spring breeze — beautiful in the third month, certainly, and the air is pleasantly cool. But look where your bed is placed — directly facing the window. At night, watching those willow branches drift outside — what does that bring to mind? Especially in those moments when you wake suddenly in the middle of the night.”

Xiao Zheng Shi stiffened. “Like ghost claws.”

It had been a night last April — she had been woken by an urgent need to relieve herself. Outside, the willows were swaying, and it was just before and after the Qingming season. Half-asleep, she had seen the willow branches reaching toward the window like ghost hands, and cried out in terror.

Later she had wanted the tree cut down. But Tang Bozhen loved willows — this one he had planted years ago, and it had grown beautifully into shade. He often painted it. He would never agree to have it cut. They had even quarreled over it.

Now that Lang Jiuchuan raised it, she remembered all of this at once.

Lang Jiuchuan gave a nod. “Precisely. That weeping willow is like a ghost hand reaching through the window. Living here, subject to this influence again and again — how could the heart ever settle? Moreover, willow belongs by nature to the yin category, and it has grown lush and full, drawing in still more yin.”

She turned around and looked at Xiao Zheng Shi. “When I looked earlier at the southwest corner of this courtyard, I saw that the position holds not only the kitchen but also an old pear tree beside it. The southwest is the Kun position — the position of earth, associated with the female and with the wellbeing of the women in the household. But your kitchen is there, with its constant smoke and fire. A kitchen means food preparation, which means meat and poultry, blood and the polluting energy of slaughter — all of which generate an inauspicious force. And that willow by the pond has grown into such thick shade that it sends yin wind pouring through the southeast position and into the room. Living here day and night — how could your spirit remain settled, your body strong? Of course your mind will be restless, your body sickly, your chances of bearing children slim, and your relationship with your husband tense and growing cold.”

Xiao Zheng Shi swayed, her face drained of all color.

“This courtyard falls under the dragon-and-tiger-conflict configuration. In such a feng shui arrangement, no matter how deep the love between husband and wife, if they live here long enough, that love will wither into indifference. For the woman in the household, encountering the White Tiger Inauspicious Configuration will sooner or later lead to death through illness.” Lang Jiuchuan’s voice was cool and clear. “That is my reason for saying that continuing to live here means you will lose your life within this very courtyard.”