Kangxi was the sovereign of a nation, the Son of Heaven, his words carrying the weight of imperial decree. Even though he personally possessed no special abilities, because of his status, his words could easily reach heaven’s ears.

Not long after Kangxi summoned the abbot of Huguo Temple to the palace, he announced the preparation of an altar—he would perform a sacrifice to heaven.

With this heavenly sacrifice, no matter how well Jinghuan usually concealed herself, her traces were revealed.

Moreover, calling herself an immortal maiden—did that truly mean she was an immortal?

Many mortals and low-cultivation practitioners called high-cultivation practitioners immortals, but this was merely a goal. Immortals were their ultimate target.

However, attaining the Dao and becoming immortal—this path was not something ordinary people could achieve. Who knew how many brilliantly talented people had fallen and sunk like broken halberds on this path? For this reason, some chose the crooked path.

When a divine lightning bolt struck toward a certain small secret realm, Yun Shuyao felt something. She raised her eyes and looked at the sky.

The sky was clear, not a cloud for thousands of miles, so azure blue it seemed to pierce one’s heart and mind.

What truly fine weather.

Without realizing it, her mood also became as clear as the weather, and at the same time, she felt as though something that had been weighing on her heart had disappeared.

“The weather is quite nice today.”

Let’s go to the kitchen and make something delicious.

At this moment, Concubine Mei was still on the road.

For this group, the destination was correct, but no matter what, their speed couldn’t be fast.

Along this journey, Concubine Mei’s courage hadn’t completely shattered, but it was close. Not long after she set out, she regretted it. She hadn’t imagined that those rebels who dared assassinate court officials would be so brazen.

And they would even attack her!

She wanted to return to the safe capital, but the people in this convoy wouldn’t listen to her. She could only continue forward in fear and trepidation.

Along this road, she encountered arrows, river bandits, and poisoning attempts.

When leaving home, Concubine Mei had even complained about such a cumbersome convoy. Later, she never said anything similar again.

When she was nearly at Yangzhou, those assassins suddenly ceased their activities.

Why?

Were they conserving their strength, preparing for one final strike?

In her anxiety, Concubine Mei heard news that some prince in Yangzhou had led troops to raid some family’s home, and the wealthy households in Yangzhou were in a state of panic.

Once that side was raided, things quieted down on her end. Concubine Mei was overjoyed—was she safe now?! She entered Yangzhou city wading through blood at the city gates.

This was a prosperous city, except that now there weren’t many people on the streets. The occasional person seen would walk hurriedly with head lowered.

Because within the city, armored soldiers could still be seen from time to time.

When their large convoy entered the city, they were thoroughly questioned. However, since they were entering rather than leaving, it wasn’t quite as strict.

Concubine Mei entered the Lin residence anxiously, then encountered Concubine Yun.

Concubine Yun?!

“Why are you here?!” She blurted out: “I was clearly the only one who came!”

Yun Shuyao smiled slightly, her eyes curved. To Concubine Mei at this moment, she seemed especially hateful: “Sister, I departed later. You didn’t know.”

Concubine Mei’s face turned alternately green and white: “When did you arrive?”

Yun Shuyao: “Not long ago.”

Concubine Mei’s face looked terrible as she held back her anger: “…”

She nearly vomited blood.

After paying such a great price to come care for the master, it turned out Concubine Yun had arrived before her. Would the master still remember her contribution?

Her eyes reddened.

“Where is the master?”

“Doesn’t the master know I’ve arrived?”

Yun Shuyao: “The master knows, but he has a visitor.”

Lin Ruhai couldn’t possibly stay uninvolved in this wave of purges of the salt merchants in Yangzhou city.

Now it looked serious, but in reality it was impossible to catch all the salt merchants in one net—that would truly cause chaos.

There were always some who were perceptive and tactful, or who cut off their arm to save their body, and some who withdrew in time upon seeing the situation turn dire.

Even now, people were still busy carrying out confiscation tasks.

Assassinating court officials and artificially inflating salt prices were both serious crimes. Moreover, if investigated carefully, finding problems with these great clans was as easy as finding lice on an ox.

However, these salt merchants often had powerful forces they depended on, often people of high position and authority, or else they had capable descendants serving as officials at court.

This time, Lin Ruhai had offended these people terribly.

Even if it benefited the nation and the people, they didn’t care.

What they cared about was only their own interests.

Fortunately, Kangxi hadn’t compromised.

Yun Shuyao’s thoughts scattered, then gathered back: “Sister has traveled far and worked hard. I’ve already prepared your courtyard in advance.”

At this moment, a maid stepped forward and bowed to Concubine Mei.

Concubine Mei gave a light snort, her eyes nearly flying up at the corners. The way she said this clearly indicated that she was managing the inner quarters here—she had arrived late.

She couldn’t help but glare at Yun Shuyao before leaving.

Yun Shuyao’s eyes curved even deeper.

The serving maid nearby: “…”

Both of the master’s concubines were beautiful, giving them quite a feast for the eyes. But how did their personalities seem somewhat… hmm, with an indescribable sense of déjà vu?

Lin Ruhai was in the study discussing matters with his visitor until lanterns were first lit, when the other party finally took their leave. Lin Ruhai saw them off, then returned to the study.

He was currently busy. The transfer wouldn’t happen so quickly—he had to see things through. Once he settled this mess, it would be time for his transfer.

Lin Ruhai’s injury was recovering well.

Yun Shuyao didn’t know how much effect the Spring Return Talisman had, but seeing the color return more and more to his face still gave her a sense of accomplishment. When he was busy with official duties, she didn’t interfere, but once he exceeded the time limit, she would go remind him it was time to rest.

When Lin Ruhai found time to hold a welcoming banquet for Concubine Mei at home, it was already the evening of the second day.

Concubine Mei felt she was truly aggrieved. She had traveled thousands of miles to come here, not only working hard but also experiencing so many dangers. She had finally arrived in Yangzhou, originally thinking the master would be moved, but instead the master didn’t value her at all—he only saw her on the second day.

She had wanted to come care for the master and deepen her standing with him. Now it seemed, was the master angry with her?

It must be that Yun Shi had whispered nonsense in the master’s ear about her being uncaring, and that’s why the master was angry. How could this be?

So when Lin Ruhai first appeared, what he saw was a tearful, hesitant-to-speak Concubine Mei.

Seeing her familiar posture, even Yun Shuyao couldn’t help but secretly laugh.

Lin Ruhai felt somewhat helpless as he comforted her. “Why are you crying?”

Concubine Mei: “Master suffered such a severe injury this time, and you still won’t allow me to cry? We were all terrified.”

“Master, you don’t know—when I first heard this news, my soul nearly flew away in fright. When I heard the news, I hurried to the old lady to confirm whether it was true, then said I wanted to come to Yangzhou to care for you. If not for the troubles on the road, I would have arrived much earlier. The old lady understands my heart toward you, Master. Seeing that I wanted to come care for you, she immediately agreed.”

“Sister Yun was there too and can testify for me.”

She said this with complete confidence. She had indeed behaved this way—no one could say she was being false.

To say she was being false was indeed impossible. Yun Shuyao also had no intention of saying otherwise, smiling in agreement: “Sister Mei was indeed very worried.” Yun Shuyao sighed: “But who wasn’t worried? Not long after hearing the news, the old lady and Third Miss fell ill, and everyone else lost weight too.”

Lin Ruhai also knew this. That Mother and Daiyu fell ill, and that others lost weight, was not surprising. For instance, both of these two women had lost quite a bit of weight compared to before.

His expression softened: “I’ll be more careful in the future. It won’t happen again.” He said this with certainty, causing Yun Shuyao to look at him sideways. There was nothing wrong with his words, except he seemed overly confident, which appeared somewhat strange.

What had he done?

However, Lin Ruhai had no intention of saying more. He asked warmly about Concubine Mei’s hardships along the way.

Originally, Concubine Mei was still unhappy about what Yun Shuyao had just said. She wanted to claim credit for herself, but after Yun Shuyao put it that way, she seemed plain and ordinary. Moreover, with the old lady and Lin Daiyu falling ill, it made those of them who hadn’t fallen sick seem less worried, and she somehow felt she had lost.

Unwilling to accept this, she exaggerated her hardships along the journey. Even Yun Shuyao fell silent listening to it. If it had truly been this dangerous, never mind anything else, probably only legendary martial arts masters or immortal beings could have passed through safely. Even if the Lin residence’s guards and hired escorts were excellent, there was still considerable distance between them and these two categories.

When she said these things, hadn’t she considered that matters large and small from the journey would certainly be reported?

Saying she worked hard was fine—travel in ancient times was indeed hard work, and with assassins it was even harder. But exaggerating it this much, even if Lin Ruhai was somewhat moved, he would have to discount it with bittersweet amusement.

However, this also showed that after all these years, the Lin family’s living environment was indeed very comfortable, allowing her to maintain her original temperament all along.

Yun Shuyao thought about her own days these past years and nodded affirmatively. Indeed, very comfortable.

This work environment had, without her realizing it, eliminated any thought of jumping ship to go solo. In the blink of an eye, she had already become a senior employee.

Concubine Mei spent almost the entire time complaining. When the welcoming banquet ended and it was time to rest, she thought the master would go to her quarters to comfort her, but instead the master followed Concubine Yun without hesitation.

Concubine Mei: “…”

She stamped her foot in anger. Yun Shi had ruined her plans again. Why was she everywhere!

In fact, Lin Ruhai hadn’t thought of this aspect at all. Since Shuyao arrived, she had been living with him. She also knew some medical arts. Living together meant she could pay extra attention to whether there were any unexpected situations around the residence. Moreover, even if they slept in the same bed, they couldn’t share intimacy.

When they returned to the room, it was time to change Lin Ruhai’s dressing. Yun Shuyao unwrapped the gauze, examined the wound, confirmed there were no problems, changed the medicine, and rebandaged it. Just after finishing the bandaging, Doctor Zhou arrived carrying freshly prepared medicine.

Since arriving here, he had personally handled brewing medicine and prescribing treatments.

Because as soon as he arrived, the steward told him about how someone had previously switched the medicinal ingredients in Lin Ruhai’s medicine.

He took Lin Ruhai’s pulse. After a long while, he smiled and nodded: “Master’s injury has greatly improved.”

Lin Ruhai smiled: “Many thanks for Doctor Zhou’s hard work.” Then he thanked Yun Shuyao as well: “You’ve also worked hard.”

Doctor Zhou was cheerful: “This is what I should do. Concubine Yun has indeed worked hard—I must thank you too.”

The difference between having a woman in the household and not having one was quite significant. Before Concubine Yun arrived, all the necessary items were present, but after Concubine Yun came and took over the inner quarters, living was much more comfortable than before. Even the master’s recovery speed surprised him.

The next day, the Lin residence received a calling card.

It was from the Zhen family.

Yun Shuyao had come quietly. Apart from the Lin residence’s people, no one else knew. But Concubine Mei had arrived with great fanfare.

Since being injured, Lin Ruhai hadn’t stepped out once. Anyone who wanted to visit had to pass through the soldiers standing guard. Those who wanted to meet him to plead for favors couldn’t even see him.

Now finally a female family member had arrived, and those people knew—the opportunity had finally come.

Moreover, although this female family member was only a concubine, Lin Ruhai’s legitimate wife had died long ago. This concubine had the Lin family’s eldest daughter under her care—she was no ordinary person.