Lu Tong returned to the dwelling at the end of the long corridor and gently knocked on the door.

Yin Zheng, who had been waiting at the door, quickly pulled it open a crack, and Lu Tong hurried inside.

Yin Zheng looked at her somewhat nervously: “Miss, is everything taken care of?”

Lu Tong hummed in acknowledgment.

Only then did Yin Zheng breathe a sigh of relief. She helped Lu Tong remove her cloak and peeled off the oilcloth from the outermost layer of her shoes, taking it to the fire to burn carefully.

“Miss, that incense…” Yin Zheng asked again.

“I scattered it into the ditch on the way back. With tonight’s heavy rain, the water will wash it away without leaving any traces.”

Yin Zheng nodded, finally completely at ease: “That’s good then.”

This dwelling in Wuhuai Garden, beyond the small forest path in front, could directly connect to the abandoned side hall of Wan’en Temple. The route was somewhat roundabout, but it had the advantage of being concealed. When she first heard Du Changqing mention his mischievous childhood antics, Lu Tong had made a mental note of it.

After all these years, the small path hadn’t changed.

She had completely emptied out the burnt “Victorious Over a Thousand Cups” from the shrine, replacing it with ordinary incense ash. The ash from “Victorious Over a Thousand Cups” had long been thrown into the drainage ditch, and tonight’s heavy rain would wash away all traces.

As for Ke Chengxing…

Lu Tong changed out of her middle garment and asked Yin Zheng: “How is Wan Fu?”

“He came back long ago,” Yin Zheng answered in a low voice. “He’s playing leaf cards with the servants from the same courtyard.”

Lu Tong nodded and walked toward the bed: “Let’s sleep.”

Yin Zheng was stunned: “Going to sleep just like that?” She had many questions she wanted to ask Lu Tong, but seeing that Lu Tong had already gotten onto the bed, she could only give up. The smoke from burning oiled paper in the room dispersed with the wind. Yin Zheng closed the window, extinguished the lamp, and climbed onto the bed to sleep as well.

Perhaps it was the rainy weather that made for good sleep, or perhaps the temple bell sounds were soothing to the ears—Lu Tong slept very deeply.

She had a very long dream.

In the dream, it was her first year following Yunniang to Falling Plum Peak.

Falling Plum Peak was beautiful. Come winter, snow filled the mountains, red branches bent under the weight, everywhere was poetic scenery, with plum blossoms covering the entire ridge.

Yunniang wore a peach-red sable fur coat, her black hair arranged in a high chignon, sitting in front of the courtyard brewing medicine.

The clear, bitter fragrance of the medicinal decoction filled her nostrils. Lu Tong sat on a small stool inside the house, silently waiting for Yunniang to finish brewing the new medicine and bring it to her to drink.

On the table sat a beautiful purple clay incense burner that Yunniang had bought from down the mountain. Inside burned thin incense sticks, their fragrance rich and profound.

She waited for half an hour, but Yunniang didn’t ask her to test the medicine. Instead, Yunniang told her to go to the mountainside to gather some monkshood.

At this time of year, the mountain paths were difficult to traverse. By the time she finished gathering medicine at the mountainside and returned, it would surely be very late. To avoid delaying things, Lu Tong shouldered a bamboo basket and hurried toward the lower mountain.

She was afraid that if she moved too slowly, by the time she returned it would already be dark. In winter, wild beasts often roamed the mountains at night, and if she encountered wolves prowling outside, it would be very dangerous.

Who would have thought that after gathering the herbs and starting back, Lu Tong would suddenly feel her body go weak and collapse to the ground.

She couldn’t walk anymore, nor could she call out for help. Struggling, she crawled to a muddy area and could no longer move, watching helplessly as the sky darkened and the moon rose from the mountain hollow.

All around was covered in snow, a sheet of silver-white, with distant red plum blossoms like blood. She heard wolves howling low in the forest. In this neighboring burial ground, blue-purple phosphorescent fires gradually lit up, cluster by cluster, ghostly flames flickering.

Lu Tong was so frightened that her whole body began to tremble. Unable to move or cry out, cold and hungry, she lay among the wild graves like a rigid corpse, gritting her teeth and enduring until dawn.

The next day, as the sky brightened, Lu Tong’s entire body was stiff as stone. However, perhaps because she had dressed heavily when going out, she surprisingly hadn’t frozen to death. And because this burial ground was haunted by ghostly fires and spirits, even wild beasts dared not approach, by strange coincidence preserving her life.

When she dragged her bamboo basket back to the small courtyard, Yunniang was sitting at the table eating breakfast. The just-made red bean glutinous rice cakes steamed with heat, and lotus heart drink had honey added to remove the bitter taste.

Seeing Lu Tong’s disheveled appearance, she seemed somewhat surprised. She wiped the corners of her mouth clean with a handkerchief before walking to Lu Tong, looking her over, and asking: “How did you end up in such a state?”

Lu Tong replied woodenly: “…Halfway there, I suddenly couldn’t exert any strength and couldn’t speak either.”

Yunniang questioned her carefully about the situation at the time, then smiled happily: “In that case, the new medicine is a success.”

She picked up the exquisite purple clay incense burner from the table, sniffing it with an intoxicated expression, then said: “Yesterday after I made this incense, I really didn’t know how effective it would be. I didn’t expect that after you smelled it for just a moment, you had a reaction by the time you reached the foot of the mountain. But it still needs some modification to work even faster.”

She pondered over the newly made poisonous incense by herself. Only after a long while did she notice Lu Tong standing to the side, then said to Lu Tong with a pleasant expression: “You’re quite fortunate to not have frozen to death like that. You’ve worked hard this time too. There’s food on the table—go eat quickly.”

Lu Tong responded numbly and climbed onto the stool, grabbing the glutinous rice cakes from the table and wolfing them down.

She was really too hungry and too cold.

Behind her, Yunniang continued talking: “Body stiff, mouth numb, unable to move, yet with clear consciousness, like being in a drunken state, surpassing drinking a thousand cups of strong liquor. Why not call it ‘Victorious Over a Thousand Cups’?”

Victorious Over a Thousand Cups…

There seemed to be distant, clear bell sounds in her ears, accompanied by people’s screams and shouts. Lu Tong suddenly opened her eyes.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the carved wooden window, casting mottled light and shadows on the ground.

After a night of rain, the sun rose and the sky cleared.

Yin Zheng hurried in from outside: “Miss, something has happened.”

Lu Tong looked at her.

She said in a low voice: “Someone died in the temple.”

Someone had died in Wan’en Temple.

It had rained all night. The mountain temple was quiet. This morning when the monks went to the hall to move the turtles and soft-shelled turtles for release that would be used in the dharma assembly, they discovered a person had drowned in the water vat in the hall.

This incident alarmed the entire temple. The night before the Blue Lotus Dharma Assembly, someone dying in the Buddha hall—no matter how you looked at it, this was an ominous sign.

Lu Tong and Yin Zheng left their room to find Wuhuai Garden in complete chaos. The female pilgrims and family members, upon hearing this news, had all come out of their rooms, everyone wearing expressions of alarm.

Someone nearby was asking: “Did you hear? Someone died in the temple last night, and it was someone from our Wuhuai Garden!”

Another person said: “Someone from our side? Who?”

“Don’t know, the officials are questioning people. Amitabha, why did someone have to die at this time?”

Lu Tong paid no attention to the discussions around her, only looking ahead where officials in black robes were hurrying toward the side hall.

Just as she was watching, a voice suddenly came from behind: “Doctor Lu?”

Lu Tong paused and turned around.

She saw at the entrance to Wuhuai Garden, under the fresh sunlight after rain, in the shade of drooping willows, leaned a young man wearing a black round-collared narrow-sleeved brocade robe. His black hair was bound with a golden crown, and he had an jade-like quality and golden appearance—extremely handsome.

He was still holding a cluster of fresh, tender willow branches in his hand. Seeing Lu Tong look over, he smiled brilliantly and said: “We meet again.”

Lu Tong was slightly stunned.

It was actually that Heir of Duke Zhaoning, Right Army Commander of the Palace Command Pei Yunying.