Having listened to Lang Jiuchuan’s full account, Xiao Zheng Shi understood now that a great part of the reason she had been ill for so long without recovering was this incense burner that had been attracting malevolent energy — and it was her own husband, Tang Bozhen, who had brought it home. Coupled with what Lang Jiuchuan had said about his heart wandering elsewhere, something finally snapped inside her.

Xiao Zheng Shi could hold herself together no longer. She let out a sharp cry and shook off the hands of Song Xiang and Nanny Wang, and from somewhere she found the strength — she lunged at the offering table and swept the incense burner from it with one blow, sending it and all the fruit offerings crashing to the ground. She destroyed it all with wild, furious abandon.

She raged like a woman gone mad, and Nanny Wang and the others went white with alarm, rushing forward to take hold of her. “My dear young mistress — do not hurt yourself!”

Xiao Zheng Shi wailed aloud, and with that wail she let out all the grievance and injustice she had swallowed in these past three years.

Praying for a child — forget praying for a child. She should be praying for a notice of separation so she could go home to her parents. That was the real business at hand.

Tang Bozhen, that wretched scoundrel — how had he knelt before her parents when he came to escort her to his home? He had sworn he would treasure her as something precious. Three years, and he had changed. Changed, and already his heart was elsewhere. Oh, oh, oh.

Lang Jiuchuan picked up the incense burner and turned it over in her hand to examine it. The little vessel was indeed very finely made — no larger than a palm, yet intricate in its craftsmanship. It was impossible to say how many years it had lain in a tomb. The moment she touched it, the yin-evil energy passed through into her hand, cold enough to pierce to the bone.

Lang Jiuchuan gave a soft sound and recited the Golden Light Incantation. The incantation transformed into dao-intent, which pushed back the yin-evil force with formidable authority, then wrapped itself around the incense burner.

“The mysterious origin of Heaven and Earth, the root of the ten thousand forces… The body holds golden light, covering and illuminating my person…”

As she chanted the words, they transformed into golden glowing talismanic script, sweeping across the incense burner and obliterating the yin-evil energy. That golden light then passed across the Guanyin of Son-Giving image as well, and the defilement upon it was swept entirely away, restoring the Bodhisattva to her proper compassion and serenity — no longer fierce and threatening.

“Amitabha.”

Lang Jiuchuan seemed to hear a single utterance of the Buddha’s name. She looked toward the divine image, met those eyes of merciful sorrow, and set down the incense burner. She pressed her palms together and bowed once to the Bodhisattva.

True deities should not be desecrated. She was a person of the cultivation path — having encountered this, she would naturally not ignore it. No petition from the faithful was required. She herself would clear the defilement and yin-evil that had settled upon the divine image.

This was reverence toward the divine.

And it was the original wish of the dao-heart.

Xiao Zheng Shi had stopped her frenzy. She stared at Lang Jiuchuan with something approaching awe — had they just heard the words Amitabha?

With the yin-evil cleared from the incense burner, it revealed its true nature: cast in bronze, with lotuses carved in lifelike detail, and various Buddhist symbols engraved across its surface. It was evidently of some considerable age, yet no less refined for it.

Lang Jiuchuan passed the lotus incense burner to Xiao Zheng Shi. “The yin-evil on this has been cleared. The Guanyin image has also been cleansed. It can now be used for offerings.”

Xiao Zheng Shi immediately waved her hands. “I don’t dare have it anymore — little master, just throw it away.”

“This is something of considerable antique value.”

“I don’t want it no matter how old it is. It’s a dead person’s burial object. I’d be afraid they’d come looking for me.” Xiao Zheng Shi’s face was a picture of misery. “And besides — given everything that has come to this point, does the little master think I still need to cling so desperately to the hope of bearing a child?”

Lang Jiuchuan said: “There is no need to be so despondent. Even if he was the one who brought it, he may not have known the object’s origin was problematic. As for the courtyard’s feng shui — if it was set up through ignorance, then it was simply an unfortunate coincidence. The concern lies only in the possibility that the arrangement was made deliberately by someone who knew. As for his heart wandering — it has not yet reached the point of severing the bond between husband and wife entirely.”

Xiao Zheng Shi knit her brows in thought.

Then from outside came an eruption of noise and commotion.

The group exchanged glances and filed out of the Buddha hall. They called someone over to inquire and learned that Tang Bozhen had been brought back.

Xiao Zheng Shi’s expression went dark as she leaned against Nanny Wang.

It was curious, actually: she had been ill and listless for days, barely able to drag herself out of bed, drained of all energy. Yet since Lang Jiuchuan’s arrival — first the acupuncture and the transfer of warmth, then the full explanation — she found herself considerably more alert than before, with markedly more strength.

The development in the Buddha hall especially had made her feel as though some of the oppressive weight pressing down on her heart had finally lifted a little.

This was, in fact, one of the benefits of dispelling an inauspicious configuration. Feng shui was such that even the smallest change produced a shift in fortune.

So although Xiao Zheng Shi remained thin and pale, there was a vitality to her now that had not been there before.

And with vitality came the strength to go and demand answers.

Tang Bozhen had been carried back to the Fallen Petals Court with his broken leg, with the estate’s physician in tow. A bone-setting doctor would have to be summoned separately. The one carrying Tang Bozhen on his back was none other than his elder brother, Tang Bozhen.

Lang Jiuchuan heard the howls of pain — somewhere between tearing down the heavens and collapsing the earth — and followed along to see what was happening.

The main room belonged to Xiao Zheng Shi, who was still ill and not in a state to receive him, so Tang Bozhen was installed in the east side room, which had been his regular quarters for some time. Lang Jiuchuan followed Xiao Zheng Shi and the others out of the main room, and saw a man of slightly stocky build with a broad, good-natured face carrying on his back a man taller and leaner than himself, with refined and handsome features.

These were the two Tang brothers.

Tang Bozhen, the elder, was startled to see his sister-in-law being helped outside — had she not been too ill to leave her bed?

“Sister-in-law — Second Brother has broken his leg, but do not worry. A bone-setting physician has been sent for. Please go back and rest. I will stay here to look after things.” Tang Bozhen was slightly out of breath as he spoke — he was shorter than his brother, and had been carrying the man some distance.

Xiao Zheng Shi fixed Tang Bozhen, the younger, with a burning stare, her eyes reddening with rage. That pitiful howling did not wring a single shred of pity from her.

Serve you right, you miserable wretch.

Tang Bozhen was genuinely in agony, but he also became aware of that scorching gaze. He looked up and startled — his wife’s eyes were terrifying, as though she wanted to take a blade to him.

But he was in no position to take issue with it. His leg simply hurt too much.

Tang Bozhen, the younger, was carried into the east side room. Shortly after, another wave of people came rushing through the courtyard gate — the Countess herself, her expression frantic. She nearly stumbled crossing the threshold and was only saved from falling by those beside her.

The Countess spotted her daughter-in-law being supported as she stood before the main room door. “Why are you up too — go and lie down. I will see to things here.” She then noticed the unfamiliar young woman behind Xiao Zheng Shi — who was this girl? But her concern for Tang Bozhen’s younger brother was too pressing for questions. She hurried straight into the east side room.

Xiao Zheng Shi was vexed beyond measure.

Lang Jiuchuan, however, was lightly tapping the Dizhong at her waist, a particular expression in her eyes. She asked Nanny Wang: “You said that the Tang household’s inner quarters were free of dark intrigue, and that the brothers and sisters got along harmoniously?”

Nanny Wang’s heart lurched. “Well — compared to other households, the family conduct is… decent enough?”

She was no longer entirely certain, in truth. Lang Jiuchuan had a way of saying nothing right up until she spoke — and when she did speak, it invariably proved devastatingly accurate. And now she was deliberately drawing attention to the subject of brothers and sisters, which could only mean she had noticed something amiss.

Xiao Zheng Shi had also caught the question. She turned to look at Lang Jiuchuan, frowning. “Little master — what else have you seen?”

Say it plainly, she could take it. At this point, what was one more thing?

Lang Jiuchuan glanced at the east side room, and said, without particular inflection: “That elder brother of yours by marriage — he is not quite as guileless and honest as he appears on the surface.”