Lang Jiuchuan opened the door to the room. Lang Caining was already approaching with her husband, and first made introductions for the man at her side: Wen Ze.

“Ninth younger sister.” Wen Ze clasped his hands together in a bow of greeting. “When my grandfather passed away and I came to the Marquis estate to pay my respects, we met once. I wonder if you still have any memory of it.”

Lang Jiuchuan glanced at him and gave a faint nod.

Wen Ze’s smile deepened, his expression sincere: “Everything that happened today was entirely thanks to ninth younger sister — you stopped what could have been a true tragedy. Without you, I truly would not know how it could have been resolved.”

Lang Jiuchuan replied: “This was Xueduo’s tribulation, and it was also her destined fate. Having passed through it safely, there is nothing more to worry about.”

Lang Caining had no patience for such formal and distant exchanges and pushed her husband aside: “What of Wen Yue — what is her condition?”

“Take the decoctions on schedule, sleep more, brood less — and it would be best if no unnecessary people are allowed to come trouble her. Gradually, she will return to full clarity. As for her body, she is still young. With careful tending she will recover as well.”

Lang Caining heard the pointed implication in those words: “When you say ‘unnecessary people,’ do you mean her husband? Ninth younger sister, tell me plainly — is there something wrong with Lu Ruiting?”

Wen Ze pretended to look over with casual disinterest, though Wen Yue was his elder sister, and naturally he was concerned.

Lang Jiuchuan hesitated for a moment. This matter touched on Wen Yue’s most closely guarded secret, and she had not had a chance to discuss it with her first. To blurt it out on her own — what position would that put Wen Yue in?

After years of marriage, Wen Yue had certainly already sensed that Lu Ruiting preferred men. A person cannot maintain a pretense for an entire lifetime, least of all with a spouse who shares one’s bed. And Wen Yue was born a noble daughter of the Duke’s estate — the upbringing she had received from childhood, and even her breadth of experience, far surpassed that of most women. Not to mention that she was known for her scholarly gifts, which spoke to her intelligence.

And yet she had never breathed a single word of it. That was surely deliberate. To have it exposed by someone else — would that not make a mess of things?

A Daoist practitioner is much like an imperial physician in the inner palace — not everything one knows is meant to be told. Sometimes, even when you speak, the other person does not thank you for it. They may even resent you for overstepping.

After a moment’s thought, Lang Jiuchuan said in measured, oblique terms: “When Wen Yue was married, their birth characters must have been matched for compatibility. Yet Lu Ruiting is not her true destined match — so how could the characters have shown compatibility? Mismatched birth characters between a husband and wife will inevitably lead to discord, and in the worst cases, to death or injury.”

The color in both their faces changed.

Lang Jiuchuan had spoken euphemistically — but in truth, had Wen Yue not already been injured?

Wen Ze’s face grew heavy. The compatibility reading at the time of the marriage had been done by the Lu family, and had proclaimed the match perfect — a union like pearls and jade together in harmony. Yet now, Lang Jiuchuan was saying their birth characters were incompatible.

No — she had hesitated for a moment just now. She clearly knew more of what was wrong, but was uncertain whether she ought to speak of it.

“Ninth younger sister — if there is something amiss with Lu Ruiting, you may speak frankly.”

Lang Jiuchuan said: “Wait until Wen Yue comes back to her senses — ask her yourself. It is not my place to say more on her behalf. What I mean is this: since he is not her true destined match, the sooner the marriage is dissolved the better. Regardless of the reason — staying in a fire pit only brings harm to oneself, and it is simply not worth it. As for her condition, I have administered acupuncture. Take the medicines on schedule, and she will recover. I have urgent matters to attend to, so I will take my leave. Third elder sister, there is no need to see me out — go look after the child.”

With that, she signaled a nearby maidservant to escort her out of the estate, and Jiangche leapt down at once, crouching on her shoulder.

Though she had said there was no need to see her out, this was an honored guest — and more than that, someone to whom they owed a tremendous debt. Even if she was one’s own sister-in-law, proper etiquette still demanded observance. The couple set aside the matter of Wen Yue for the moment and personally escorted her out of the estate.

Watching her go, Wen Ze turned to Lang Caining: “It is fortunate that ninth younger sister lent us her aid today. When you have a chance, send a generous gift back to the Marquis estate on our behalf. Ning’er — I am sorry. My mother was in the wrong today, and nearly brought harm upon Xueduo. I offer an apology on her behalf — and as for your elder sister, she… sigh.”

Lang Caining had been holding grievances in her heart, but seeing him so subdued and conciliatory — and given that in all their years of marriage they had never had any serious rift between them — she said: “Since you are apologizing, and Xueduo came through today without real harm, I will let the matter rest. But going forward with your mother — I will show her the respect she is owed, I will be right by the principle and hold no personal grudge against the person, but I will not bend over backwards to accommodate her at every turn. Do not blame me for that. It is only because the sight of elder sister throwing the child today will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

“Agreed!”

Lang Caining felt a loosening in her chest, and then said: “Elder sister’s matter is what truly presses on me. Today at the Lu household — setting aside Lady Lu’s insufferable air of superiority, always looking down on people like us as if we were newly enriched upstarts — I could see that her treatment of elder sister was nothing more than a surface courtesy. A difficult relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is normal, and whatever her attitude is, let that pass. But her husband — today I saw something in him unlike all the restrained, elegant, refined composure I had always known him to display. It was as though he were wearing a false mask. Husband, I feel that brother-in-law is strange. And frightening.”

“I will inform Father and Mother, and then conduct a careful investigation — and have their birth characters re-matched from the beginning.” Wen Ze was, in truth, already displeased with Lu Ruiting. The man presented an image of an unrivaled noble gentleman to the outside world — and yet his own wife had been reduced to a state of madness. However much grief at losing a child one might attribute it to — this had gone on for far too long. If husband and wife were truly devoted to one another, what obstacle could they not surmount together?

The reality, however, was that his elder sister — once the epitome of gentle grace among noble daughters, a model of the finest upbringing — had been reduced to something barely distinguishable from a madwoman.

On that basis alone, he could not be satisfied with Lu Ruiting.

Lang Jiuchuan left the Duke’s estate with Jiangche, but did not head straight for Canglang Temple. First, she went to Wanshi Pavilion to prepare several things.

Canglang Temple had been founded by the National Preceptor. It was bustling with incense and worshippers. She had never been there before — throughout her years of cultivation, she had always followed him at Cang Mountain. But since it was his domain, she could not venture in recklessly.

When it came to that old fox, caution above all else.

“Wen Yue’s child is hidden in Canglang Temple?” Jiangche was somewhat puzzled. “By all logic, it has already been more than five months since she gave birth. They took the child away and hid her there — why? If it were that devious old fox who wanted her, he would never simply leave the child sitting there like that, where even you could trace her presence.”

“That is precisely what I want to know as well — which is why I find myself curious about this whole affair. Whether it was something he personally orchestrated, or whether Canglang Temple acted on his behalf.” Lang Jiuchuan said: “But regardless of whether it was his own doing, this matter cannot be severed from its connection to him.”

Jiangche said: “Why not let me go first and test the depths?”

Lang Jiuchuan said: “The abbot of Canglang Temple is also one of the disciples he personally raised and trained. You are not yet his match — and you would also risk having your true form detected. If he were to catch you and force a binding contract, who is going to compensate me for a white tiger spirit beast?”

“My ability to conceal my presence has already reached a state of near-perfect mastery.” Jiangche was not entirely satisfied with this assessment.

“But I still want you, this tiger, to play the pig and serve as a surprise reinforcement — the kind that strikes from an unexpected angle. For instance, a feint to distract the enemy. If we truly do locate the child, I will hold Dao Jicang’s attention while you take the child in your mouth and spirit her away to safety.” Lang Jiuchuan said.

Jiangche: “The saying is ‘the pig plays dumb to devour the tiger’ — you have it backwards. You want me to play the pig?”

A profound and utter humiliation!

When you got to the bottom of it, she simply looked down on it. Hmph.

A’Piao watched the exchange between the two of them with cool detachment, and said to Lang Jiuchuan: “Going to Canglang Temple is a great gamble. What if this is a trap, and the child is merely bait? You would be walking a lamb straight into a tiger’s den.”

Lang Jiuchuan narrowed her eyes: “If I do not dare even to enter Canglang Temple, how will I ever dare to enter Cang Mountain in the future?”