Though she’d only seen it once, even though the years had carved another twelve years onto this face, she still recognized it at a glance.

That desperate evening, she had fallen before her family’s gate and looked up to see this very face.

So Miss Luo’s father was the leader who had besieged Prince Zhennan’s estate.

In this moment, Luo Sheng felt that heaven had played an enormous joke on her.

The middle-aged man on the bed slept unconscious, his face deathly pale, his brows tightly knit. Gone was the coldness of that night—only a patient’s helplessness remained.

Grand Marshal Luo, who struck fear into people’s hearts as the concurrent Commander of the Embroidered Guards, was Miss Luo’s father and also her enemy.

Yet she had become Miss Luo.

Luo Sheng knew that heaven would show no mercy when making a person endure suffering, but she hadn’t expected reality to always be far crueler than anticipated.

A tear quietly rolled down from the corner of her eye.

The three sisters who walked in saw Luo Sheng crying and couldn’t help but exchange glances.

Having been sisters for over ten years, they’d almost never seen Luo Sheng cry. She hadn’t even cried when she offended Prince Kaiyang and was sent away by their father—she’d only made a huge fuss with fangs and claws bared.

It had always been Luo Sheng making others cry. Today, seeing her father lying sick in bed, she actually cried?

Due to this astonishment, none of the three sisters spoke.

For a time, the room grew even quieter, until Sheng Sanlang walked in with a dark expression.

The three Luo sisters heard footsteps and all looked over together.

Sheng Sanlang’s steps slowed slightly. Fearing these three girls would wildly speculate like those women outside, he spoke first: “I am Sheng Sanlang, Luo Sheng’s third maternal cousin.”

The three sisters all curtsied together: “Greetings, Cousin.”

They were concubine-born daughters—Luo Sheng’s cousin was naturally their cousin too.

Sheng Sanlang hastily returned the courtesy and said: “I’ll check on Uncle-in-law.”

The youth was completely unaccustomed to being surrounded by several girls. He strode quickly to Luo Sheng’s side before relaxing.

“Uncle-in-law looks—” Sheng Sanlang wanted to say something while looking at the pale-faced Grand Marshal Luo, but suddenly caught sight of the tear at Luo Sheng’s eye and his attention immediately shifted. “Cousin, you’ve been crying.”

Crying in front of several people who could be considered strangers—by Princess Qingyang’s pride, this was unacceptable. Silent tears were already the limit.

Luo Sheng steadied her emotions somewhat and took a handkerchief to wipe the corner of her eye.

Sheng Sanlang was somewhat flustered: “Cousin, don’t worry. Uncle-in-law is a good person and will surely have heaven’s protection—he’ll definitely get better.”

“Good people have heaven’s protection?” Luo Sheng held the snow-white handkerchief, frowning slightly.

Grand Marshal Luo had been ambushed and his life hung by a thread. Rather than good people having heaven’s protection, she actually wanted to say that good and evil ultimately receive their due.

“Yes, Cousin. Uncle-in-law will definitely get better. Just for you and your younger cousin, he’ll recover.” Sheng Sanlang clumsily offered words of comfort.

Luo Sheng completely regained her rationality.

Yes, Grand Marshal Luo had to get better.

The Luo family wasn’t some centuries-old prestigious clan, nor did it have outstanding disciples in the clan. One could say the Luo family’s prosperity depended entirely on Grand Marshal Luo alone.

Grand Marshal Luo was a powerful minister who single-handedly held up the Luo family’s entire sky.

Not to mention how many people Grand Marshal Luo had offended in his position as Commander of the Embroidered Guards. Once this towering tree fell, it wasn’t hard to imagine what would happen to the four young ladies, including herself, and Luo Chen who was still a half-grown child.

The current Emperor’s favor toward Grand Marshal Luo was genuine, but once the man was gone, how long could this favor last?

Looking through the history books, how many ministers deeply favored by emperors faced overwhelming impeachment the moment they closed their eyes, their bodies not yet cold before being burdened with countless accusations?

If the families of these ministers could return to their hometowns and live peacefully, that was already the best outcome. More often they suffered the calamity of house raids and fell into slavery or prostitution.

Luo Sheng gazed at the middle-aged man lying quietly on the bed, the corners of her mouth curling with barely detectable mockery.

How ironic. Facing someone whose hands were stained with the blood of Prince Zhennan’s estate, the first thing she had to do was find a way to wake him up and keep him alive.

Hurried footsteps sounded, and a man rushed in.

“Third Sister, it really is you!” The man walked quickly to Luo Sheng, still with an expression of disbelief.

Luo Sheng looked at him and said indifferently: “Call me Luo Sheng, or Third Miss.”

She’d heard Hong Dou mention that Grand Marshal Luo had five sworn sons. She didn’t know which one this man before her was.

However, whichever one he was, this form of address “Third Sister” was truly unbearable.

The man froze and stiffly changed his address: “Third… Miss, weren’t you in Jinsha? How did you come back?”

At this point, Fourth Miss Luo Yue interjected: “Fifth Brother, isn’t that side under your management? You didn’t know Third Sister came back?”

Hearing this, Luo Sheng raised her eyebrows slightly.

So the man before her was Grand Marshal Luo’s fifth sworn son, Yun Dong.

Being questioned like this by Luo Yue, Yun Dong’s expression became extremely ugly, and he cursed under his breath: “Those bastards!”

After cursing, Yun Dong asked again: “Why did Third Miss return to the capital?”

Calculating the time for ordinary carriage travel, Luo Sheng must have set out when her sworn father had already been unconscious for many days.

At this moment, Sheng Sanlang also puzzled it through.

Wait, something was wrong. Didn’t his cousin come to the capital after receiving Uncle-in-law’s letter? But calculating the time, Uncle-in-law was unconscious then—how could he have written a letter?

Looking at the young woman’s calm brows and eyes, Sheng Sanlang had a bold guess: Could that letter have been forged by his cousin?

Impossible. Who could be so composed while holding a forged letter?

Besides, Grandmother had seen Uncle-in-law’s handwriting—she couldn’t have been mistaken.

This matter was somewhat bizarre—Sheng Sanlang scratched his head, unable to sort it out for the moment.

“Isn’t Fifth Brother also here?” Luo Sheng countered.

Yun Dong frowned slightly.

He had very thick eyebrows with peaks like swords and a face like carved with a knife, giving an impression of stern coldness. Yet his tone when speaking to Luo Sheng could be considered gentle: “When I received news that my sworn father had been ambushed and was unconscious, I rushed here from Jinling Prefecture.”

Hearing Yun Dong’s words, Luo Sheng’s thoughts raced.

Just as she’d previously deduced, there must be Embroidered Guards in Jinling Prefecture watching Miss Luo and her siblings. Even if they weren’t monitoring constantly, after she’d been traveling for so long, news should have reached the ears of the leader of the Embroidered Guards stationed in Jinling Prefecture—that is, this man before her.

Yet Yun Dong acted as if he didn’t know.

If he wasn’t lying, then there was a problem with message transmission within the Embroidered Guards, and this was probably connected to her encountering the assassination attempt.

Of course, the possibility that Yun Dong was feigning ignorance couldn’t be ruled out. If that were the case, this person would have a big problem.

“I know now!” Luo Yue realized. “Third Sister, you returned on your own without permission!”

Everyone looked at Luo Sheng in unison, including Sheng Sanlang.

Had his cousin really forged Uncle-in-law’s letter and run back on her own?

Under everyone’s gaze, Luo Sheng raised her chin slightly, her tone indifferent: “I only need to account to Father for my return. Must I explain to others?”

She’d merely forged a letter to return to the capital—how big a deal was it? They all looked as if they’d caught her in some weakness.