This mirror was purchased with money from Jia Dairui. Jia Dairui had been puzzled at first about why someone would seek him out to buy a mirror, until he went to find his grandson and saw him staring at the mirror in a trance, his body still in that unseemly state. Jia Dairui was startled, and if someone hadn’t been willing to pay for it, he would have wanted to throw it out immediately.

So he sold the mirror almost as if he were getting rid of a hot potato.

This thing was too sinister. His grandson’s life was nearly lost. Since someone wanted it, he hastened to send it away.

This mirror could reflect images on both sides. Yun Shuyao, worried there might be problems, had others wrap it in cloth before bringing it over, then tested it with small chickens and dogs.

Upon testing, she discovered that when one side was used to reflect them, these chickens and dogs would become excited, as if they saw something they liked. But with the other side, some would enter a state of desire, while others would have their appetites stimulated as if their favorite food were before them.

The two sides of the mirror had different functions.

Yun Shuyao wrapped the mirror in cloth again, then looked at her spirit mirror, which was trembling slightly.

When the风月宝鉴 (Fengyue Baojian – Precious Mirror of Romance and Moon) drew near, it had nearly flown over directly, but was stopped by Yun Shuyao.

Yun Shuyao didn’t plan to risk testing the true function of the Fengyue Baojian herself, so she gave up on further research and let go. The moment she released it, the “little copper coin” immediately flew over eagerly. Last time with the Buddhist prayer bead bracelet, the spirit mirror had turned those beads into powder before long, but this time its speed was much slower.

The entire copper coin stuck to the Fengyue Baojian. The Fengyue Baojian instinctively wanted to escape, but in its masterless state, it could only passively deploy limited protective abilities.

It wasn’t a defensive magical treasure either, so before long the spirit mirror broke through its defenses. The mirror surface of the Fengyue Baojian remained smooth, but the decorations around it gradually grew dim. Seeing this situation, knowing there wouldn’t be significant progress for a while, Yun Shuyao found a box to store it in, letting the spirit mirror absorb it slowly.

After putting it away, Yun Shuyao went to the kitchen and took soup to Luo Yu and the old lady.

During this period, the old lady’s mental state had been very poor—low fever, nightmares, unable to sleep peacefully every day. Even when she did fall asleep, she would wake up before long, unable to distinguish between the dream world and reality.

Only when she saw the children could her heart be at ease.

When she was fully awake and her mental state improved somewhat, she would urge the children to go rest quickly, feeling distressed that they were too tired.

When Yun Shuyao arrived, she saw Luo Yu sitting haggardly against the edge of the bed, staring vacantly in the direction of the window. The old lady’s bed curtains were drawn down, indicating she was sleeping now.

Yun Shuyao walked over quietly, pulled her outside, and had Luo Yu drink the bowl of soup.

Though Luo Yu had no appetite, she still slowly finished the small cup of soup.

After Yun Shuyao watched her drink it, she had her extend her hand. Luo Yu obediently let her take her pulse.

“You should rest more.”

Luo Yu said nothing. How could she rest?

There was still no news from Father’s side, and Grandmother’s illness persisted. There was truly no way to feel at ease.

Yun Shuyao knew what she was worried about. She sighed and said no more, having her close her eyes while she gave her a massage to help her relax.

“Concubine, you must also take care of yourself. Have you drunk yours?” Luo Yu knew her concubine mother was worried about her, but she had so many matters on her hands too. She had also grown thin. Grandmother had already collapsed—she didn’t want to see her concubine mother collapse as well.

“I’m fine.”

She wasn’t about to collapse so quickly, though she inevitably felt powerless.

There was so little she could do. Lin Ruhai was severely injured—what could she do?

She knew medical arts, but her medical skills were definitely not more brilliant than Doctor Zhou’s. Her time was fragmented into many pieces, and she didn’t have heaven-sent talent in the study of medicine.

But Doctor Zhou was different. Apart from treating the Lin family members, he basically devoted all his remaining time to medical arts, concentrating on research. His medical skills grew increasingly brilliant.

Luo Yu: “Concubine, Father will be alright, won’t he?”

Yun Shuyao spoke to her and to herself: “I believe that as long as there’s even a thread of opportunity, he will struggle to survive.”

Luo Yu gave a low sound of agreement: “Concubine, have any thieves come to the door recently?”

When she mentioned these two words “little thief,” a fierce look flashed in her eyes.

Yun Shuyao: “Not in these past two days. This is the capital, after all.”

Luo Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, the old lady suddenly woke from her sleep with a start. “No, no!”

Hearing this commotion, Luo Yu immediately entered the room, walking quickly to her bedside. “Grandmother, Grandmother, it’s alright. It’s just a dream.”

“A dream?” The old lady looked at her blankly, then gripped her hand tightly. “Where is your brother? Where is he?”

“He’s next door. He’s sleeping.”

The old lady got up: “Help me up. I want to go see him.”

Originally Chen Yu had lived in his own courtyard, but because of the old lady’s condition, he had now moved to the adjacent room.

Luo Yu looked at her grandmother’s haggard appearance. “Don’t move. I’ll go call brother over.”

Though brother was also tired, he was young.

The old lady shook her head: “No need. I’ll go see him.” She looked at the time: “He hasn’t been asleep long, has he? Let him sleep. I’ll just go look at him.”

She was very insistent.

Luo Yu couldn’t dissuade her, so she could only support her on the left while her concubine mother supported on the right. They changed into different clothes and went next door.

When someone opened the door and entered, Chen Yu woke up. Seeing his grandmother, he turned over and sat up, about to get out of bed.

The old lady quickened her pace to stop him, holding his hand. “Don’t move. Grandmother just wants to look at you.”

Touching the living warmth, then touching his face, confirming that her grandson was still well, the old lady’s heart finally settled.

Such scenes repeated frequently.

The old lady had thought she wouldn’t wake him—she had already lightened her footsteps. “Continue resting. Grandmother is going back now. Be good and sleep.”

Chen Yu rubbed his somewhat aching brow and lay back down.

The several of them took turns staying by Grandmother’s side. The last one was him, and he was indeed tired now.

After leaving the room, the old lady didn’t return to her own room but made another turn to see Daiyu.

Daiyu was resting, and the room was filled with a strong medicinal smell.

She was also ill, having cried too much and grieved excessively.

Moreover, she was young and her body wasn’t very healthy to begin with. With this illness, she developed a high fever, making the old lady regret that her son’s condition should have been kept from Daiyu first.

After seeing Daiyu, she glanced at Ying Yu beside her, seeing that she was also resting. Ying Yu slept rather deeply and hadn’t noticed someone had come.

The children were all here.

Only then did the old lady feel fatigue and prepared to go back and lie down again.

Her son’s situation was dire, and no news had returned yet. She didn’t know how things were now. She prayed to the gods and Buddha to bless him with safety, but she had to prepare herself for the worst.

If her son couldn’t be saved, her grandchildren absolutely could not leave her sight.

To put it somewhat coldly, Concubine Mei’s journey carried risks, but this was something she had proposed herself. She wanted to take the gamble, and regardless of the consequences, it was her own decision.

She had already requested enough personnel for her. She hoped she would succeed smoothly.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait too long. A trusted servant from the Lin residence returned at full gallop.

They should have arrived much earlier, but they encountered an ambush on the road. They could only take a detour, and because of the madness in Yangzhou, they were very worried whether something had also happened in the capital.

Fortunately, this was at the feet of the Son of Heaven after all, and the Lin family’s gates were also heavily guarded. Nothing had happened.

This letter was like a miraculous elixir, allowing all the masters of the Lin family to breathe a sigh of relief.

This letter was written in Lin Ruhai’s own hand. The letter contained no other news, only a report of his safety.

He was injured, but not to the point of near death. He told them not to worry. However, there were many matters in Yangzhou, and he still had business to attend to. He emphasized once more that his mother and children should stay well in the capital and not leave the city.

He repeatedly emphasized this point in the letter.

After putting Yun Shuyao’s mind at ease, she fell into thought.

What he said wasn’t “don’t come to Yangzhou,” but “don’t leave the capital.” Had he discovered something?

Chen Yu carefully examined the letter. Much could be seen from a person’s calligraphy.

For instance, this time, Father’s characters were softer than before, yet their backbone remained unchanged, and they had become even sharper.

In any case, it was good that Father was alright.

Just knowing this result was enough to put their hearts at ease.

Immediately, the old lady’s illness improved by half.

The atmosphere in the Lin household also turned from overcast to partly cloudy.

The reason it didn’t clear completely was because Lin Ruhai’s situation over there wasn’t very good.

Yun Shuyao sighed inwardly. She checked the spirit mirror’s progress at regular intervals. Perhaps because this Fengyue Baojian’s grade was relatively high, its speed of devouring was very slow, but every day, changes could be seen. The iron color on the spirit mirror’s body became increasingly jade-like.

At first it was an extremely pale green color, and each day, the color deepened compared to before.

By the time the Fengyue Baojian was completely absorbed by it, it had become a vibrant green like an emerald, full of life. Moreover, the mirror in the center of the spirit mirror that had been there before disappeared. It had looked like a copper coin, but now it could no longer be mistaken for a copper coin. Instead, it was a small and exquisite portable mirror.

Yun Shuyao: “…”

It was quite capable.

This transformation could be called a complete metamorphosis. Correspondingly, the Fengyue Baojian turned into powder, and when the wind blew, it dispersed.

As it dispersed, somewhere else, Jinghuan suddenly had a premonition. She seemed to have lost something important. She calculated with her fingers, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.

That Fengyue Baojian was a treasure she had obtained with great difficulty. Only for this scheme had she reluctantly erased the contract between them. Now the contract had been broken.

Who was it?!

Who dared to steal her Fengyue Baojian?! Could it be Zhiliao again? How many times had he ruined her plans? She must never let him discover who this Master Zhiliao was—they would fight to the death!

Anger aside, Jinghuan immediately contacted those two fools, the monk and the Taoist.

The monk and Taoist: “…”

The Fengyue Baojian?

Wasn’t it at Jia Dairui’s place? They were waiting for news of a death in Jia Dairui’s household so they could go retrieve the Fengyue Baojian.

Jinghuan: “…”

She nearly spurted another mouthful of blood: “Go quickly!”

The monk and Taoist hurried to Jia Dairui’s home, and then they saw Jia Rui recuperating. The doctor said he had lost too much essence and nearly had a serious incident. Fortunately, it was stopped in time, or he would have lost his life. The Jia Dairui couple was terrified, and having also learned of their grandson’s delusions, they planned to send him away immediately once he recovered.

This was their son’s only bloodline. If Phoenix Spicy knew about it, what would happen?

Because of these worries, they were keeping watch at Jia Rui’s bedside. Now seeing this monk and Taoist, they immediately grabbed brooms to chase them away.

That sinister mirror was sent by these charlatans—they absolutely were not good people.

The monk and Taoist ignored the brooms and looked around, discovering nothing: “…”

Oh no, where was the Fengyue Baojian?

It really was lost?!