Yan Sanhe ignored everyone and walked around the entire courtyard front to back on her own.

After finishing her inspection, she asked, “Who lives in this courtyard now?”

“When the residence was renovated back then, Father used his compass to calculate and said this courtyard’s feng shui matched Third Sister’s birth characters.”

Zhu Yuanmo quickly said, “So this courtyard is now where Third Sister lives.”

Yan Sanhe: “What about Fifth Uncle’s courtyard?”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Father said Fifth Uncle’s courtyard had less favorable feng shui, so it was converted into a guest courtyard—not the one where Miss Yan is staying.”

Yan Sanhe lowered her lashes and said nothing.

In the firelight, her features appeared somewhat faint.

Seeing her expression, Zhu Yuanmo felt very uneasy. “Miss Yan?”

Yan Sanhe composed herself. “Zhu Yuanmo, what is a Peach Blossom Well?”

“It means arranging a peach blossom formation inside a well. There are countless ways to arrange peach blossom formations, but the Peach Blossom Well is the most complex and also the most concealed.”

Yan Sanhe: “Explain in detail.”

“First, select the peach blossom position: Monkey, Rat, Dragon are in the due west direction; Snake, Rooster, Ox in the due south; Tiger, Horse, Dog in the due east; Pig, Rabbit, Sheep in the due north.”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Water brings wealth, wind brings change. The well’s position must have no wind to completely transform this ‘wealth’ into peach blossoms.”

Yan Sanhe: “And then?”

“In the well, first place personal items belonging to the person you want to attract peach blossoms for—like a few strands of hair, a comb, a hairpin they’re accustomed to using. Red thread must be burned black but not charred, tightly wound around these items.”

Zhu Yuanmo: “After the Awakening of Insects, plant peach blossom saplings by the well, and this will summon peach blossoms.”

Yan Sanhe: “Why must it be after the Awakening of Insects?”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Because after the Awakening of Insects, all things revive and the vital energy is strong, making the Peach Blossom Well more effective.”

Yan Sanhe understood.

Old Master Zhu had sent people down the well—there was nothing there.

There were also no peach blossoms by the well.

So this Peach Blossom Well simply didn’t exist.

Yan Sanhe’s gaze swept across the faces of the three Zhu brothers one by one, then she took a deep breath. “I trust the old monk, not your father. Go down the well!”

“Eldest Brother?”

“Shut up!”

Zhu Yuanmo glared fiercely at Third Brother. “Search the well first before saying anything more.”

Yan Sanhe turned and walked toward the well. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Xie Zhifei slumped weakly in a grand master’s chair in the corner of the courtyard.

Zhu Qing stood beside him holding an umbrella, shielding him from the snowflakes.

She walked up to him and bent down. “Are you cold?”

Xie Zhifei looked up, his voice soft. “Is someone bullying you?”

“Who would dare!”

Yan Sanhe saw a few snowflakes had landed on top of his head and gently brushed them away.

“You just stay put obediently and don’t worry about anything.”

His head was hot too, so hot that the meridians on his crown throbbed.

Xie Zhifei’s Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed. Just as he was about to speak, Yan Sanhe had already turned and walked away.

“Zhu Qing, carry me over there.”

Zhu Qing didn’t dare. Earlier in the guest courtyard, when Miss Yan had glanced at him, though the look was light, it carried considerable weight.

“Miss Yan told you to stay put obediently.”

Bastard!

Who’s your master?

Xie Zhifei didn’t have the strength to curse, so he could only glare with his eyes.

Zhu Qing bent down to properly wrap Third Master’s cloak around him. “Be careful not to get too cold. If you catch a chill, Miss Yan will worry too.”

Xie Zhifei: “…”

This kid?

This kid!

He should get two extra months’ wages as a reward.

…

In the severe cold of the ninth period of winter, the sky was a sheet of gray. At this moment, the snowflakes were falling larger and larger, with a thin layer already covering the ground.

Fortunately, well water stays warm in winter and cool in summer, so no one would freeze to death.

The two household guards preparing to go down were young men, both about eighteen or nineteen years old.

The first guard to go down was named Shi Ming.

Shi Ming stripped down to just his undergarment, tucked two night-luminous pearls into the left and right pockets of his undergarment, and tied a fist-thick long rope around his waist.

Just as he was about to descend, Li Bu Yan, holding a torch, grabbed him. “Carefully search all around the well walls.”

Young Master Pei: “Search thoroughly at the bottom of the well too.”

Ding Yi brought his torch closer. “Dig through the sand and silt with your hands, sift through it.”

Huang Qi: “Come up to switch when you’re tired.”

Listening from the side, Zhu Yuanhao’s chest kept heaving.

What was this—everyone trusting outsiders instead of my father?

Zhu Yuanhao gritted his teeth and simply said, “Search carefully. Don’t miss even an inch.”

“Yes, Third Master.”

Shi Ming acknowledged and slowly climbed down along the well wall.

Li Bu Yan and the others all shone their torches at the well opening, their gazes fixed unblinkingly on the well below.

“Splash!”

The young man entered the water and tugged the rope, signaling those above to let him descend.

The other guard, named Shi Bai, was Shi Ming’s twin brother.

He immediately let the rope slide down smoothly.

Without the resistance at his waist, Shi Ming’s body sank down, descending into the well.

Silence.

Heart-clutching silence.

Young Master Pei felt an eerie chill. One moment he walked to Yan Sanhe’s side and rubbed his hands; the next moment he went to Xie Zhifei and stamped his feet; then he leaned over the well to look inside.

He couldn’t stay still for even a moment.

Why wasn’t he coming up yet?

Why was there no movement at all?

“How deep is this well?” he asked.

None of the three Zhu masters knew this, so they all looked at the old steward.

Old Steward: “This well was passed down from our ancestors. Each well’s position was determined by our ancestors using feng shui and compass readings before excavation. It should be about ten meters deep.”

Ten meters?

Young Master Pei gasped. He wondered if that person could dive down ten meters.

Shi Ming sank down.

The water was very clear. The night-luminous pearls emitted a ghostly blue light underwater, making everything in the well visible.

He didn’t first look at things on the stone walls but held his breath and sank all the way down to roughly gauge how deep the well actually was.

The well wasn’t too deep. The bottom was clean—there was nothing there.

Shi Ming began searching inch by inch up along the well wall.

Reaching the water surface, he burst out with a “splash,” took several deep breaths, then sank back down.

After repeating this several times, Shi Ming tugged the rope at his waist.

Sensing this, Shi Bai quickly pulled him up.

Shi Ming’s head emerged from the well. “Eldest Master, I’ve searched all around the stone walls—there’s nothing. Now I need to dig through the well bottom.”

Digging through the well bottom meant the well water would become murky.

Zhu Yuanmo didn’t dare make the decision himself and turned to look at Yan Sanhe.

Yan Sanhe was crisp and decisive. “Dig.”

Time passed bit by bit, with still no movement from the well bottom.

Yan Sanhe’s scalp tightened and cold sweat began forming in her palms. Meanwhile, everyone else by the well wore extremely grave expressions, even holding their breath.

Just when everyone’s patience was wearing thin, Shi Ming leaped out of the water, spat out a mouthful of water, and shouted:

“Eldest Master, I’ve felt through the entire well bottom—there’s nothing there.”

“Could it have rotted away?”

Young Master Pei frowned deeply. “So many years have passed.”

Zhu Yuanmo shook his head. “Young Master Pei, black thread is cursed. Things inside black thread can remain intact for decades.”

Li Bu Yan: “Then perhaps it used just a few of the Eldest Master’s hairs. Black thread wound around hair would be too thin to detect.”

Zhu Yuanmo: “That’s also possible.”

“There’s another possibility.”

Zhu Yuanhao sneered coldly. “My father did nothing at all. He’s innocent. The old monk and Geng Songsheng are both lying.”

Under the eaves.

Hearing these words, Xie Erli’s dark eyes looked toward Zhu Weixi in the distance.

Zhu Weixi wore a hooded cloak. Seeming to sense something, she also turned to look at him.

They gazed at each other across the distance.

From the woman’s face, Xie Erli saw a trace of unwillingness.