Several maids from the Qin household rushed into the main hall, interrupting Madam Qin’s cheerful conversation with a group of maids.
“What? Shi’san is back?” Madam Qin asked, sounding both surprised and a bit annoyed. “What kind of tutor locks someone up at home just to read… He’s probably worn out from all that studying…”
She chuckled as she stood up.
“Come on, let’s go see just how exhausted he looks.”
The maids all burst into laughter.
“No, no, Madam—Thirteenth Young Master didn’t come home. He went to the Chen household,” one of the maids said urgently.
Madam Qin froze for a moment.
“What’s he doing at the Chens’? Since when did he get so close to them?”
“Madam, it’s not about getting close—he went there to stir up trouble,” the maid said anxiously. “One of the servants just came running to report it. He’s probably already at the Chen household by now. Madam, you should hurry!”
“Causing trouble?”
Madam Qin covered her mouth with her fan and glanced at the maid beside her.
“Shi’san actually went to someone else’s house to stir up trouble?” she said with a laugh.
The maids stomped their feet.
“Madam, please, this isn’t the time to joke!”
“Alright, alright—so what happened exactly?” Madam Qin asked, still smiling and completely unconcerned. “Whatever it is, I’m sure my son did nothing wrong.”
“We’re not sure about the details,” one of the maids said. “Apparently Lady Cheng fell ill, and it seems to have something to do with the Chen family, so Young Master went to confront them.”
Madam Qin’s expression suddenly shifted.
“Lady Cheng is ill?” she asked.
The maids nodded.
“She’s been sick for two days now—seems like she’s unconscious and hasn’t woken up,” they said.
“Oh heavens, no wonder Shi’san got anxious,” Madam Qin said with a nod, quickly standing up. “Come, let’s go—hurry!”
The maids quickly surrounded Madam Qin and helped her out the door.
“…Madam, should we let the Master know as well?” they asked along the way. “…Maybe have him come along too…”
“What would he do there?” Madam Qin replied. “She’s just a young lady, and she’s ill—how could a man go see her?”
A young lady?
The maids were momentarily stunned.
“Madam, are we going to the Chen household?” they asked.
“Why would we go to the Chen household? Shi’san’s already gone—we’re going to see Lady Cheng,” Madam Qin said, looking genuinely puzzled by their question.
The maids stared at her, wide-eyed in shock.
Go to Lady Cheng’s house?
“Madam… but the Chen family, the Chen family…” they stammered, unsure how to phrase it.
“Oh, the Chen family…” Madam Qin paused in thought, then nodded slowly.
Right, the Chen family—that is the more serious matter.
The maids looked at her expectantly.
“Shi’san went alone, and he’s still young…” Madam Qin nodded, then pointed decisively. “Go inform the Master. If Shi’san can’t win the fight, then as his father, he’ll have to step in…”
What is happening!? The maids stared in stunned disbelief.
Wasn’t the idea to stop Young Master from causing trouble? Instead, not only was Madam Qin letting him go stir up trouble at the Chen household—she now wanted the Master to go too?
All for Lady Cheng?
“Of course it’s for Lady Cheng.”
At the Chen residence, inside Chen Shao’s study, Qin Shi’san-lang spoke with a faint smile:
“Master Chen, how do you plan to explain yourself?”
Chen Shao’s expression was one of shock—shocked that Cheng Jiao-niang had fallen ill, and that it happened after reading the letter he’d sent. But what truly surprised him was that the one who had come to confront him wasn’t someone from the Zhou family, but this young man instead.
Then again, perhaps it wasn’t so surprising. It had always been this young man, hadn’t it…
From the incident with Secretariat Editor Liu to the recent matter with the deserters—it all seemed coincidental on the surface, yet every time, traces of him were just at the right place and time.
“How badly is she ill? Has a doctor been called?” Chen Shao stood up as he spoke, and called for his carriage. “Bring the Madam—we’re going right away.”
“Stop pretending to care like a cat mourning a mouse,” Qin Shi’san-lang interrupted coldly.
“Shi’san-lang, what’s that supposed to mean?” Chen Shao frowned.
“That letter—you meant for her to receive it, didn’t you?” Qin Shi’san-lang asked with a cold sneer.
“That letter wasn’t from me. It was from someone from her past who wanted to give it to her. If I had stopped it, that would’ve been wrong,” Chen Shao replied.
“Someone from her past? Who’s to say it wasn’t your old acquaintance—or someone else’s?” Qin Shi’san-lang said, fixing Chen Shao with a sharp gaze. “She had only just recovered from her madness—her mind is still fragile, and she doesn’t remember the past. And yet you went out of your way to dig up someone from it? Master Chen, have you heard of somnambulism?”
Chen Shao’s brows furrowed slightly.
“A sleepwalker must never be startled awake,” Qin Shi’san-lang continued, “Others must either quietly avoid them or gently go along with them. If someone suddenly shouts and wakes a sleepwalker, it can throw their mind into chaos. Right now, Lady Cheng is like a sleepwalker—hazy, unaware of her past. And you—you jump out of nowhere and shout, ‘Who are you?’ It’s like striking a normal person over the head—how could she possibly take it?”
So that’s how it is… it was like that all along…
Chen Shao let out a complicated sigh.
“Shi’san-lang, the person truly was from her past. As for the letter, we didn’t even know what it said. We just hoped she could reconnect with someone from before—perhaps even her master. We were only thinking how happy she might be. We overlooked… this.” He sighed again and shook his head. “We really didn’t expect it to turn out like this…”
“Overlooked? But I imagine the outcome is rather satisfying, no?” Qin Shi’san-lang said with a faint smile.
“Shi’san-lang, you’re the younger one here—I won’t stoop to argue with you,” Chen Shao said heavily. “I, Chen Shao, am who I am, with a clear conscience. I’m not afraid of your baseless accusations.”
“Then tell me, Master Chen,” Qin Shi’san-lang said, eyes fixed on him with a trace of mockery, “do you know what exactly I’m accusing you of?”
Chen Shao paused slightly, his expression tightening.
“She cured your father, yet didn’t seek shelter under your household. Before long, she’d already found her footing in the capital. And those who tried to seize her property—ended up dead or ruined. From local thugs to Secretariat Editor Liu—she’s surprised you more than once. And every time you were surprised, deep down, weren’t you also starting to feel just a little… wary?”
Qin Shi’san-lang spoke slowly, his voice clear and steady with a young man’s sharp conviction. As he went on, scene after scene from the past seemed to flash before Chen Shao’s eyes.
“A young girl like her, killing without lifting a blade—how could you not be on guard? And then finally, it was your turn…”
“No one expected your long-standing dispute with Grand Coordinator Gao to end the way it did—so sudden, so inexplicable, and so humiliating. And all of it, it seems, began after she had a private conversation with Master Jiangzhou, who had previously stayed out of the matter entirely. Just one conversation—and all the plans so many of you had spent months working on fell apart.”
“So many people lost everything because of her—their wealth, their futures. A person like that… yes, quite terrifying, isn’t she?” Qin Shi’san-lang smiled faintly. “So when someone like her suddenly falls ill and slips into unconsciousness… wasn’t there just the slightest bit of relief in your heart?”
A sharp thud suddenly rang out—a book had been slammed against the desk.
The servants standing outside instinctively stepped back again.
“Petty-minded!” Chen Shao shouted angrily. “I, Chen Shao, have always walked a righteous path—do you think I’m afraid of your malicious suspicions, boy?”
Qin Shi’san-lang looked at him silently, gave a polite cupped-fist salute, and turned to leave.
“So it was something you handled privately, then,” Chen Shao’s voice rang out behind him.
Qin Shi’san-lang stopped in his tracks and turned to look back.
“Actually,” he said with a faint smile, “I not only handle things in private. My lord, if anything happens to Lady Cheng… you’ll soon see how I deal with matters openly, properly, and in broad daylight.”
With that, he turned and strode off without hesitation.
Chen Shao stood in the room, face dark. He shook his head, then sighed.
“That boy…!” he muttered, rising to his feet. “Prepare the carriage, quickly!”
The servant outside immediately responded and ran off. Chen Shao didn’t linger either, hurrying out of the study toward the inner courtyard.
The maid encountered Qin Shi’san-lang just as he was leaving the Chen household. Upon seeing him, she froze for a moment.
“Is that the letter?” Qin Shi’san-lang asked.
“You—how did you know?” the maid asked in surprise, glancing down at the letter she was holding.
Qin Shi’san-lang reached out, took it from her, and unfolded it to read for a moment.
“I told you—if anything happened, go find my servant. Why didn’t you?” he asked.
The young man no longer carried the usual calm and gentle air—instead, his expression was heavy and stern.
The maid was at a loss for words.
“In the future, if anything comes up, you can go to the Zhou residence as well,” Qin Shi’san-lang said with a nod, not waiting for a reply. “The servant Zhou Liu-lang left behind is still stationed at the gate—telling him is the same. He’ll pass the message to me.”
He shoved the letter back into the maid’s hands and strode off.
The maid gave a small “Oh,” glanced at the Chen household’s gate, then looked back at Qin Shi’san-lang.
“Go back and take care of your mistress, or tend to the shop properly. As for everything else—leave it to me,” Qin Shi’san-lang said without turning his head. Then he swung onto his horse, spurred it forward, and galloped off before the maid could get a word in.
She turned around, calling out softly a couple of times, but the young man was already far away.
“I came today to let you know that I’ll be away often lately, studying under a newly hired tutor. If you need anything, just send someone to my house—I’ve already given instructions.”
The boy’s words from earlier echoed in her ears.
What had seemed like a casual, offhand comment… turned out to be completely genuine.
The maid exhaled, looked up at the Chen family’s front gate, gave a small snort, and turned on her heel to leave with brisk steps.
At the inn, Wang Shiqilang’s servant hurried in with quick steps.
“Young Master! Young Master! Bad news!”
Wang Shi’qi-lang, already in a sour mood, grew even more annoyed.
“I’m the one who’s bad? I’m about to die!” he shouted.
“No, Young Master, it’s not you who’s dying—it’s that Lady Cheng from the Cheng family,” the servant shouted back.
What?
Wang Shi’qi-lang sat upright, and the other attendants also gathered around.
“What nonsense are you talking? She’s fine. Why would she die?” he asked.
“Well, I just went to tell her about our departure the day after tomorrow, but was stopped outside. Quite a few people were there, saying she’s ill. What kind of illness causes so much coming and going, and they wouldn’t even let me in,” the servant hurriedly explained. “It must be something serious.”
Ill? So that means we don’t have to leave?
Wang Shi’qi-lang jumped up with joy.
“Quick, I’ll go check it out,” he said.
“Master, you can’t go—there are taboos about visiting the sick,” an older attendant quickly blocked him, his expression serious. He pointed to another servant. “You go check what’s going on and find out exactly what illness it is.”
The servant responded with a nod.
“Watch carefully. If she’s truly ill, then we’ll wait a while. We can’t let her travel while sick,” Wang Shi’qi-lang instructed.
The servant nodded again.
The old attendant quietly shook his head.
He understood what the master was thinking. Some things could be ignored, but others could not.
If Lady Cheng really was ill, then there was absolutely no way to take her on the journey. Forget the journey—even the marriage arrangement would have to be called off. After all, this match was just to amuse the young master—it was never intended to be a proper, formal marriage. If she really was sick, then so much the better; it would give the young master a reason to drop the matter.
