Lang Jiuchuan returned to her own courtyard in anxious haste and sat down. Jian Lan did not dare breathe loudly — the expression on the Young Miss’s face was truly unfathomable.

She carefully offered a cup of hot tea, holding it before Lang Jiuchuan, who took it and tilted her head back to drink it in one go.

“Young Miss, be careful, it is hot—”

“Cough, cough.”

Lang Jiuchuan choked, and waved a hand.

Jian Lan hurried to offer a handkerchief, then reached out to pat her on the back, and as she did, she felt how little flesh lay beneath her palm — she could feel the bones.

Jian Lan lowered her head, and a sorrowful feeling crept over her. Her eyes began to redden.

Lang Jiuchuan happened to glance at her reddened eyes and said: “What is the matter with you? I only choked for a moment; I will not punish you for it. Set your mind at ease.”

“This servant would actually welcome the Young Miss punishing me.” Jian Lan’s voice was low and subdued, and she murmured: “That way, at least the Young Miss would seem like a proper young mistress, rather than a little young lady who is merely here as a guest.”

Lang Jiuchuan was mild in temperament. She would not lash out at servants over trivial matters, nor would she make a great fuss over minor dissatisfactions. In every way she made those around her feel she was easy to serve — apart from the study, which no one was permitted to enter uninvited. In all things, she seemed indifferent.

And precisely because of this manner, people felt she was like a guest at the Marquis’ residence. The boundary she maintained was clear; she would not easily cross it.

This in turn gave people the sense that she felt no sense of belonging to the household — and so she treated those around her as she would strangers: indifferent, distant, and polite.

Lang Jiuchuan caught the subdued feeling in those words and raised an eyebrow: “Have you truly come to regard me as your mistress? How long have you even been in my service?”

Jian Lan’s eyes reddened further. “People have their own bonds and affinities. It does not matter if the Young Miss does not believe it.”

As she said this, she bent her knees in a bow and stepped back toward the door. At the threshold, she turned her head back, seeming as though she wished to say something more, but in the end, she held it back and said nothing.

After she left, Jiangche spoke: “Look at you — wounding such a young girl like that. How can you still doubt the sincerity of her heart?”

“A sincere heart is easy to harm.” Lang Jiuchuan murmured the words softly.

Jiangche asked again: “Setting that aside — what was that earlier? Your emotions surged, and you even said you would leave. Did you not say that, in order to draw upon whatever protection the Lang Family’s ancestors might offer, you would not leave for now?”

“I suspect that the people targeting the Lang Family and the people targeting me are the same group. Although the Lang Family has had political rivals and enemies in the past, there has never been a case of someone using Xuan Arts to bring harm upon them like this. I returned as Lang Jiuchuan, and this disaster appeared. Is that not a remarkable coincidence? If I truly am the one who brought this upon them, then my leaving would actually be better for them.”

Jiangche went silent.

He stared fixedly at Lang Jiuchuan for a long while before finally squeezing out a single sentence: “If I called you a walking curse star, would you answer to it?”

She would answer — answering was completely out of the question!

She could hit him instead!

Lang Jiuchuan grabbed hold of his spiritual sense and kneaded it forcefully, then used the Dizhong’s whisk threads to bind it into the shape of a ribbon.

That’ll teach you to have a foul mouth.

Jiangche let out a string of piteous wails. Better to offend a petty person than to offend the vicious Lang Jiu — why did he never learn his lesson?

Lang Jiuchuan vented her frustration and finally released him, letting out a heavy “hmph.” “Go get to work. Large or small, find out everything you can.”

Jiangche: “…”

Not even a slave driver would work a tiger like this.

Under Lang Jiuchuan’s glare, he shuffled off in aggrieved compliance.

Once he was gone, Lang Jiuchuan cupped her cheeks in both hands and let out a long sigh. If she truly was a curse star, she had no idea how she would account for herself to Lang Zhengping. She felt a little guilty.

The very Lang Zhengping who was being thought of sneezed at that moment, right in the middle of listening to his trusted aide’s report.

“…The Department of Works’ Bureau Director Lu Changxue is a diligent and easygoing person — in dealings with others, he always leaves three parts of room for face, never offends anyone, and never pushes himself forward. He handles all matters appropriately and competently, and is well-regarded by everyone above and below him in the Department of Works.” Gu Quan stood with his hands tucked into his sleeves as he delivered his report. “Lu Madam comes from a scholarly family in Xuzhou in the Jiangnan region. After her marriage to Director Lu, she has always stayed within the inner household, supporting her husband and raising the children with great virtue. Once the sons each started their own families, she devoted herself largely to Buddhist devotion, and to this day she goes to Huguo Temple on the first day of every month to offer incense and fast for one day, without fail in rain or shine. At present, the management of the Lu household is in the hands of the Third Young Madam of the Lu family, and she runs it in a well-ordered fashion.”

“The third daughter-in-law manages the household — what of the first two?”

“The eldest daughter-in-law is with the Lu family’s eldest son, who is serving in an outer post. The second daughter-in-law is the niece of Magistrate Yao of the Capital Prefecture. And this Third Young Madam Lu comes from the Li Clan of Longxi — though she is from a branch line, her family background is the most distinguished among the three daughters-in-law. Even so, she is exceptionally respectful toward Lu Madam and consults her on all matters.”

The Li Clan of Longxi.

Lang Zhengping thought carefully. With such a background, she ought to be somewhat haughty and self-important — yet she was exceedingly respectful toward her mother-in-law. Was it truly a matter of her own upbringing, or was there another reason?

“Both the Lu household’s mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have a reputation in capital society circles for being virtuous and gentle, and they get along quite well with the wives of many powerful families.” Gu Quan recounted the information he had gathered, then suddenly added: “There is also an interesting anecdote — it is said that on one occasion when Director Lu was attending a banquet with his wife, someone at the table playfully asked Director Lu to compose a poem for a dancing foreign woman. Lu Madam did nothing more than glance mildly at Director Lu — and he promptly excused himself to use the privy.”

Lang Zhengping was startled: “I never heard word in public that Lu Changxue was henpecked.”

Gu Quan nodded. “His two concubines were even personally selected and brought into the household by Lu Madam herself. ‘Henpecked’ does not quite fit — but one hears he holds his wife in the utmost esteem and respect.”

Lang Zhengping nodded. A virtuous wife means fewer disasters for a husband; a truly virtuous wife produces three generations of fine children. A man who respects and honors his legal wife — that was right and proper. That was no issue whatsoever.

And yet to yield entirely at a single glance… He closed his eyes and tried to picture that easygoing Lu Changxue in such a moment, and found he could not imagine it at all feeling out of place.

So then — the true decision-maker in the Lu household was this Lu Madam?

“Someone come, please invite…” Lang Zhengping started the order, then checked himself.

Let it be. The Qi Family had sent people today, and by all accounts had given Lang Jiuchuan such a fright that the color had drained from her face and she had nearly fainted. She was likely still resting. He would not disturb her.

It was fortunate that the letter from the Gong Family had arrived in time today. The moment he heard the news, he had decisively ordered the maidservant to bring it to the front courtyard for his sister-in-law, making clear in front of the Qi Family representatives exactly where the letter had come from.

It was also good to let those insufferable members of the Qi Family know that the Lang Family, too, had acquaintances among the Xuan Clan. If they wanted to come to this household and cause trouble, they had better weigh the matter carefully first.

But then, thinking again of why the Qi Family had sent people in the first place — because Lang Jiuchuan had gotten into a conflict with the Qi Family’s insufferable County Princess — this child’s notorious mouth had proved its power once more. Lang Zhengping felt a wave of exasperated speechlessness, mixed with a certain reverent awe.

“If there had been no death of that Concubine Rong and the cousin, the Lu Family would look like an ordinary, rather clean household — but it is precisely because those two died so suddenly that makes it seem not so simple. Continue having the current people watch the Lu household, and separately find some unfamiliar faces, inconspicuous ones, to trail a few of the Lu household members — the Lu Madam in particular — no limit on the duration, watch carefully, and the expenses required are to be drawn from the common fund.”

“Yes, Young Lord.”

“Also post a group of people to keep watch on the Qi Family side. Note any developments and report them at once.” Lang Zhengping rubbed his aching temples. What was going on? It felt as though their family was making more and more enemies.