“Especially birth dates and times—they cannot be casually told to others. They contain a person’s fate and fortune.”

Zhu Yuanmo’s face was full of shame, yet he still said slowly:

“A person’s fate and fortune—when they’re reborn, Heaven has already roughly arranged it for them. What’s called fate and fortune—first is fate, then fortune. Fate determines one’s lifetime, fortune is temporary.”

“Young Master Pei, Miss Li, remember this.”

Zhu Yuanzhao continued: “Not only can birth dates and times not be casually told to others, personal items must be checked regularly. After hair and fingernails are cut, remember to burn them in a charcoal basin.”

Young Master Pei: “…” Frightening.

Li Buyan: “…” Terrifying.

“Let’s not stray so far off topic.”

Yan Sanhe’s gaze shifted, pulling the conversation back. “Old Steward, after Concubine Fu passed away, Zhu Xuanjiu must have been very heartbroken?”

The old steward: “The master was ill for a whole month.”

Yan Sanhe: “The Old Madam proposed wanting to bring Zhu Xuanjiu to her side to personally care for him. Zhu Xuanjiu didn’t agree.”

“That’s right.”

The old steward: “The Madam was worried about the master living alone at Wutong Court. She mentioned it to the Old Master several times. The Old Master had no objection, but the master said he could manage on his own.”

“By rights, a concubine-born son, just nine years old, whose birth mother had died—when his legitimate mother wanted to raise him by her side, and this legitimate mother was also his aunt by blood…”

Yan Sanhe: “Normally, very few would refuse. Yet he flatly refused. Why?”

“He feared his legitimate mother would harm him.”

Young Master Pei blurted this out.

Having said it, even he was stunned.

Strange—why would I think this way?

But Yan Sanhe nodded at him.

Young Master Pei: “…” I actually got it right?

“At age nine, Zhu Xuanjiu had already begun guarding against his legitimate mother. Why guard against her?”

Yan Sanhe stated the answer directly.

“Because Zhu Xuanjiu clearly knew in his heart that he’d crippled First Uncle. In the competition for Zhu family head, only he and Fifth Uncle remained. And someone who harms others fears most that others will also harm him.”

This was a child who’d just turned nine!

Everyone simultaneously let out this sigh in their hearts.

“Old Steward, please help me brew another pot of hot tea. The tea’s gotten weak.”

“Yes.”

When the hot tea was served, Yan Sanhe used the tea lid to move the tea leaves aside and took a sip.

The hot water flowed down her throat into her stomach, warming her five organs and six viscera. Only then did she slowly continue.

“Between Zhu Xuanjiu and Fifth Uncle’s talents, Fifth Uncle was slightly superior. However, Fifth Uncle’s health was a major problem. For the Zhu family’s future, the Old Master might not necessarily choose Zhu Xuanjiu as family head.”

Yan Sanhe looked at the old steward. “I think the Old Master considered this, right?”

By now, the old steward was utterly convinced by this slender young woman.

“To be honest with Miss Yan, the master truly considered this.”

“However, Zhu Xuanjiu was concubine-born.”

“Miss has guessed correctly again.”

The old steward: “Throughout Zhu family history, family heads have basically been legitimate-born. Concubine-born heads have been extremely rare—only one or two in total. So the Old Master had reservations.”

“So initially, the possibility of Fifth Uncle versus Zhu Xuanjiu becoming family head was eighty percent for Fifth Uncle, twenty percent for Zhu Xuanjiu. Correct?”

“Correct.”

The old steward: “Among so many sons, the person the Old Master truly loved most was actually Fifth Uncle. This old servant could see it.”

Yan Sanhe’s gaze drifted to Zhu Yuanmo.

“When timing, location, and all conditions are unfavorable to you, what would you do if you wanted to secure the family head position?”

Zhu Yuanmo was startled by the question.

“You would work hard in the shadows.”

Yan Sanhe: “And since Zhu Xuanjiu had already used devious methods once, he would naturally use them a second time. Thus the life-stealing nails began to be laid.”

Zhu Yuanmo steadied his breathing.

“Miss Yan, life-stealing nails aren’t difficult to place—in bed boards, on beams, on rooftops, even setting up a feng shui formation would work. One just needs Fifth Uncle’s birth characters and hair and fingernails.”

Yan Sanhe: “But that’s not enough.”

“What’s not enough?”

“Just having life-stealing nails isn’t enough.”

Yan Sanhe: “Zhu Xuanjiu hated Fifth Uncle most. He had to reduce Fifth Uncle’s possibility of becoming family head to zero. He had to ensure his own ascension was foolproof. Only then would it be enough.”

Young Master Pei said “Oh”: “So he set his sights on Lady Mao.”

Li Buyan said “Oh”: “He wanted to borrow Lady Mao’s good fate and good fortune for himself.”

Xie Zhifei, lounging in the master’s chair, managed to say weakly:

“There’s another important reason—Lady Mao’s family background was truly excellent. Marrying such a person would bring him a hundred benefits and no harm in becoming family head.”

Yan Sanhe looked at the three people before her, a slight smile curving her lips.

Back when they went to Nanning Prefecture, the journey was full of mishaps—diarrhea here, losing money there.

Now…

They were beginning to develop chemistry.

“That’s right. He set his sights on Lady Mao.”

Yan Sanhe shifted her tone.

“Zhu Xuanjiu had helpers—the two personal servants closest to him. These two had followed Zhu Xuanjiu since childhood; their bond was extraordinary.

Everything bad Zhu Xuanjiu did before becoming family head—including the peach blossom well, the life-stealing nails, including investigating and scheming against Lady Mao—was inseparable from them.”

“We’re searching. Zhu Qing is on it.” Xie Zhifei spoke weakly.

“Talk less.”

Yan Sanhe glared at him, then turned to look at the old steward. “There’s another reason Zhu Xuanjiu targeted Lady Mao—he didn’t want the Old Madam interfering with his marriage.”

The old steward’s expression changed several times.

“Before her death, Concubine Fu entrusted her son’s marriage to the Old Madam. The Old Madam had been keeping watch very early.”

For concubine-born sons, marriage prospects were always neither high nor low. After searching around, the Old Madam couldn’t find anyone suitable.

Yan Sanhe: “That assignment to Luoyang Prefecture that year—did it happen to fall to Zhu Xuanjiu?”

The old steward frowned, thinking hard. “Miss Yan, it’s been too long. This old servant truly can’t remember.”

“If you can’t remember, it doesn’t matter.”

Yan Sanhe: “If it fell to him, that was his good fortune. If not, given his scheming mind, he would certainly have ensured that whoever was supposed to accompany the Old Master encountered some mishap.”

Some mishap?

“Miss Yan, this old servant remembers now.”

The old steward slapped his thigh, saying excitedly: “That assignment should have been Third Uncle accompanying the Old Master. Two days before departure, Third Uncle fell from his horse and broke his arm.”

Young Master Pei said sarcastically: “What a coincidence, isn’t it?”

Li Buyan said sarcastically: “Just that coincidental!”

“There’s an even bigger coincidence!”

Yan Sanhe sneered. “At a lantern festival full of people, Lady Mao encountered no one else but happened to meet him?”

Young Master Pei’s eyes lit up: “This must also have been calculated by him.”

Yan Sanhe: “Not only did they meet, but he was very considerate, wanting to give Lady Mao a rat lantern.”

Li Buyan’s eyes lit up: “Nine times out of ten, he’d been following behind her.”

Yan Sanhe: “Seeing Lady Mao didn’t recognize him, he deliberately brought up Jietai Temple, even claiming Lady Mao had smiled at him.”

Xie Zhifei was about to interject but remembered Yan Sanhe’s warning and dutifully closed his mouth.

Nearby, Ding Yi spoke for his master: “This, this is a tactic to attract the young lady’s attention.”

Yan Sanhe: “He thrust the rat lantern into Lady Mao’s hand, his fingertip inadvertently brushing across her palm.”

Huang Qi said indignantly: “This, this is blatant seduction.”

“Is this just seduction?”

Yan Sanhe suddenly looked at Zhu Yuanmo.