Chen Baoxiang pressed a hand to her stomach and returned to the cockfighting courtyard, wincing and hissing through her teeth. “Lu Qingrong, what did you give me to eat just now? Don’t tell me it was senna root.”

Lu Qingrong planted her hands on her hips in indignation. “Don’t you slander people without cause. You’re clearly afraid of losing — that’s why you snuck away for a round.”

“Who’s afraid of losing? The rooster I bought today is the King of the East Market — I paid handsomely for it.” She pushed her way into the crowd, about to carry on with the cockfight, when a group of people came surging through the courtyard gate.

“Young master, the estate has been infiltrated by an intruder. We’re afraid that all of today’s honored guests will have to be searched before they can leave.”

Pei Ruheng’s brow furrowed when he heard this. “What’s going on?”

“It is Lord Lu’s orders. The full details will be relayed shortly.”

A group of maidservants came over and each took hold of the arm of one of the female guests.

Cen Xuanyue grew somewhat indignant. “We have been here the entire time without leaving. Why should we be searched simply because the estate was robbed?”

“Exactly — what do they take us for?” Chen Baoxiang chimed in.

With the two of them speaking up, the other female guests also began voicing their displeasure.

Pei Ruheng’s brow creased. “These are all honored guests I invited here.”

“But what was taken is extremely precious. If it cannot be found, all of us will face punishment.” The maidservants were on the verge of tears. “We beg the honored guests not to make things difficult for us lowly servants.”

Lu Qingrong had a sudden inspiration and pointed straight at Chen Baoxiang. “There were so many people here just now, and only she left to use the privy. Search her and that will suffice. If she doesn’t have it, then we certainly couldn’t have it either.”

Everyone’s eyes landed on Chen Baoxiang at once.

Chen Baoxiang’s expression shifted oddly. She looked left, then right. Her gaze finally settled on Pei Ruheng.

He ought to say something. After all, this was his uncle’s home. Having everyone here and only singling out one person for a search — what kind of sense did that make?

Yet Pei Ruheng, meeting her gaze, was silent for a moment. Then he said, “I trust you. But things have come to this point, and rather than concealing anything, it would be better to prove your innocence openly.”

Zhang Zhixu, hearing those words, barely stopped himself from kicking him—

This is the man you set your heart on?

He erupted: What kind of man fails you at the critical moment?!

Chen Baoxiang had been somewhat irritated herself, but hearing the Immortal’s voice, she actually found it funny instead. Immortal, we came to this person’s home to steal. How can we blame him for not protecting us?—

But right now you haven’t been discovered yet. How can he simply push you forward like that?

That’s a fair point.

Chen Baoxiang nodded to herself. From now on when I find a man, I’ll definitely find one who truly cares for me.

But for the moment, what mattered more was how to get out of this.

The Soul-Returning Pill was not on her person, but underneath her outer garments she was still wearing the white robes she had used to play the ghost. And if these two looked just a little more carefully, they would be able to see the loosened state of her hair and the lead powder freshly applied over where her ghost makeup had been.

A sudden inspiration struck. Chen Baoxiang abruptly covered her face with both hands and crouched down, sobbing loudly.

“Boo hoo hoo—” She cried and wailed all at once. “Fengqing isn’t here, and you’re all bullying me like this!”

Two maidservants who had been advancing to search her were stopped in their tracks by the outburst.

“This honored guest…”

“What ‘honored’ — in your eyes I’m not worth anything.” She broke into a full tantrum, and as she spoke she began tearing open her own outer robe. “Go ahead, search thoroughly. Today, if I’m found to be carrying anything of the Cheng Family on my body, may I meet a bad end; but if I’m not, then Fengqing will come and demand justice from you!”

Pei Ruheng’s expression darkened. He was about to speak when Pei Ruomei tugged at his sleeve.

“Brother, you handled this badly.” She stamped her foot anxiously. “If there’s to be a search, everyone must be searched. How can you single out Sister Baoxiang alone?”

So saying, she rushed forward and took hold of Chen Baoxiang’s arms, making a show of patting her waist and sleeves. “I’ve searched her — Sister Baoxiang has nothing on her.”

Then she turned to reproach Lu Qingrong: “By Miss Lu’s reasoning, any guests who visit the Cheng estate in future won’t even be allowed to use the privy.”

The scene grew chaotic. Lu Qingrong argued her case forcefully, while on the other side the maidservants were pushing and jostling.

Chen Baoxiang, with the expression of someone whose heart had died beyond all grief, asked flatly, “The search is done. May I leave?”

“Of course.” Pei Ruomei paid no mind to anything else and took her by the arm. “Sister, let me see you out.”

Pei Ruheng stood to the side with a furrowed brow, but he didn’t stop them.

So Chen Baoxiang left the cockfighting yard, weeping and sobbing all the way.

On the road they encountered Pei Family members conducting searches in every direction. Someone came running urgently toward the rear courtyard, shouting as he ran: “General, something has happened on Manager Cheng’s end!”

Front courtyard and rear courtyard alike were in total chaos. No one noticed when a young manservant appeared behind Chen Baoxiang.

The two of them, guided by Pei Ruomei, made their way quite smoothly out through the gates and into the carriage waiting outside.

The driver cracked the whip and headed toward Xuanwumen.

Inside the carriage, the manservant raised his face and clasped his hands to Chen Baoxiang in a bow. “I am truly grateful to you today, Miss.”

Chen Baoxiang lowered the hand she had been using to shield her face, and asked with a grin: “Did you get it?”

Ningsu opened his palm. The golden bottle lay quietly in the center of it.

Sun Sihuai, seated across from them, quickly took it and gave it a sniff. The furrow in his brow, which had not eased in so long, finally relaxed. “Correct. This is the Soul-Returning Pill.”

He then bowed to Chen Baoxiang with clasped hands. “You are Fengqing’s savior.”

“That’s far too generous — it was a simple matter of lending a hand.” She glanced outside. “Set me down just up ahead. I still need to go back and release Cheng’an and his lot.”

Sun Sihuai watched her retreating figure with great satisfaction, then turned to commend her to Ningsu: “Fengqing truly didn’t get it wrong — this person lives, and Fengqing can live.”

Ningsu smiled in agreement: “Tonight’s situation was precarious. Fortunately, Miss Chen improvised a story on the spot to turn danger into safety. Anyone else, faced with Cheng Huaili, would probably have buckled at the knees.”

“What story did she improvise?”

“I didn’t quite follow it all, but she gave Cheng Huaili quite the fright.”

Cheng Huaili had already said he wasn’t afraid of ghosts — so why had he still been frightened into unconsciousness?

Ningsu didn’t think much of it. But Zhang Zhixu, the more he turned it over in his mind, the more something felt wrong—

“How did you know about the story between him and that pregnant woman?”

Chen Baoxiang walked along the road, hopping with a light step. “What’s there to know? Our Sanxiang and his hometown of Guixiang are very close. What he did — selling his wife for a ghost marriage — wasn’t exactly a secret to many.”

Zhang Zhixu was taken aback, and was about to ask why no one had filed a complaint against him — then remembered the fourth-rank official’s wife who had petitioned the Emperor with no result.

If complaints had been of any use, Cheng Huaili would have been brought down long ago, and would not have prospered in wealth and glory all the way to the present day.

“You need to be careful,” he warned Chen Baoxiang. “Cheng Huaili is the sort of person who takes revenge for even the smallest slight. Whatever happens, don’t let him see your face again.”

“He won’t see it.” She smiled. “What is my standing, and what is his? Even if I wanted him to see me, getting that audience would be no easy task.”

Cheng’an and his men were still in the dark, believing this was nothing more than a private quarrel with her — not knowing that being trapped in that large compound for a night had already meant the whole world had changed when they returned.

Zhang Zhixu paid them no further thought. After all, these men had no evidence whatsoever that Chen Baoxiang had privately stolen the Soul-Returning Pill. Even if they went back and filed a complaint, there was nothing they could do to Chen Baoxiang.