Duke Jin’an said nothing.
Silence hung in the room for a long time. Night gradually fell, and neither of them lit a lamp.
“Your Highness.”
Someone called softly from outside the door.
“It’s time to return, Your Highness,” said Doctor Li, lighting the lamp on the desk as he spoke, and taking out a porcelain bottle to hand to him.
Since he came to see the doctor, naturally he couldn’t leave empty-handed.
Duke Jin’an reached out to take it, turned, and walked out.
The mid-autumn night already carried a hint of chill. Walking along the path flanked by the towering palace halls, the atmosphere grew all the more bleak.
“She suffered a shock—her spirit is in turmoil, her mind clouded and senses blocked.”
“It may sound absurd, but illnesses of the heart are the hardest to cure. No medicine can truly help.”
“She kept asking me who I was, which suggests her mind is trapped. Like someone locked inside a room—still aware, but unable to find a way out…”
Duke Jin’an suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The attendants before and behind him quickly halted, confused.
“I understand now,” he said.
“Your Highness? Understand what?” an attendant asked, puzzled.
But Duke Jin’an paid them no heed. Instead, he began to laugh.
“I understand now. I understand,” he said, gripping his hands in excitement, repeating the words again and again. “I understand.”
I understand—I finally know how I might be able to help her!
He lifted his feet and strode forward, moving faster and faster, until he broke into a run. In the darkness, his cloak billowed behind him like a great bird spreading its wings and taking flight.
A young lady of the Cheng family living near the Yudai Bridge had fallen ill. But in the grand scheme of the capital, it was as quiet and unnoticed as a pebble dropped into water.
At Tai Ping Residence, people still came and went as usual. The Tai Ping Tofu destined for Puxiu Temple had just been loaded onto carts and sent off.
“It really was wise of Miss not to get involved in the business,” said the maid. “She rarely came by, was never really present—so even now that she isn’t around, nothing has changed.”
“You can rest assured,” said Manager Wu. “Everything’s running smoothly and by the book. Even though I’m not here all the time, Li Dashao is, and the newly hired manager is someone I trust completely.”
The maid nodded.
Someone knocked gently on the door outside. When it was opened, the current manager of Tai Ping Residence stepped in.
“Here are this month’s account books. Please have a look,” the manager said with a respectful smile, sliding the ledger forward.
“Alright, go on with your work,” Manager Wu said with a nod and a smile.
The manager bowed and took his leave.
“Have a look,” Manager Wu said, pushing the ledger toward the maid.
The maid looked at the account book in front of her. In the past, she had only read poetry and classical texts with the old master—this was her first time seeing something like an account ledger.
“Let me teach you,” said Manager Wu.
The maid nodded and reached out to pick up the book.
It’s just learning—what’s there to fear? After all, she hadn’t known how to read at first either, but she’d learned bit by bit.
“How is she today?”
Master Zhou stepped into the hall and asked as he looked at Madam Zhou, who was sitting and drinking tea.
“They came back and said—still the same,” Madam Zhou replied.
Master Zhou frowned slightly.
“They”? You didn’t go yourself again?” he asked, sitting down.
A maid brought over tea.
“She’s the same anyway. Me going wouldn’t make any difference,” Madam Zhou said lazily.
Master Zhou let out a sigh.
“It’s been so many days already,” he said. “Why hasn’t a single doctor come up with a solution?”
“It’s not that surprising,” Madam Zhou replied, slowly sipping her tea. “After all, those kinds of dull-minded illnesses are usually something one’s born with. It’s not like they just get better overnight.”
“So she’s gone back to being a fool?” Master Zhou said, lifting his tea cup—only to put it back down, having lost his appetite.
“That’s how it seems for now,” Madam Zhou replied. “Madam Chen even invited Imperial Doctor Li, and he said there’s nothing he can do.”
“What kind of nonsense is this! She was a fool for all those years—we bore the burden along with her. Then she suddenly got better and stirred up a whole mess. Just when we were starting to breathe easier, she turns foolish again!” Master Zhou slapped his leg. “Heavens must be out to make life hard for our family!”
“I said long ago she was a jinx,” Madam Zhou muttered. Then something came to her, and she quickly set down her tea bowl. “Jiao-niang is sick—and there’s that Immortal’s Abode, Tai Ping Residence, and Yichun Hall too! You’d better—keep an eye on all that.”
The Immortal’s Abode, Tai Ping Residence, Yichun Hall!
That’s right—there were all those businesses!
They raked in money by the bucketload!
Master Zhou stood up in a fluster, but accidentally knocked over the tea bowl in front of him.
The maids hurried to clean it up while Master Zhou shook out his robe, visibly rattled.
“Yes, yes—those are all her businesses,” he said. “We’ve been so focused on her illness that we completely forgot about them. And no one’s keeping watch—what if someone from the shops runs off with the money? I need to go check right now!”
With that, he rushed toward the door.
“Your coat—your coat!” Madam Zhou called after him.
Only then did Master Zhou come to his senses and turn back. Madam Zhou hurriedly helped him pick out a change of clothes and sent him out the door herself.
The maid furrowed her brows in concentration as she studied the account book for a while.
“Can’t make sense of it again?” Ban Qin asked, turning to look at her.
The maid nodded, then picked up a brush and scribbled a few notes to the side.
“Still no good. I’ll have to go ask Manager Wu again,” she said with a slight smile, glancing over at the couch. “I wonder if Miss knows how to read account books?”
The girl lying on the couch remained quiet and still. Her clothes had just been changed by Ban Qin, who was now gently helping her turn over.
“Of course she does,” Ban Qin said, a little proudly.
“Right—she always said that apart from writing poetry, there’s nothing she can’t do,” the maid replied, looking at Cheng Jiao-niang. “Still, even without her teaching me, I’ll learn eventually.”
As she spoke, something came to mind and she smiled with delight.
“Hey, Ban Qin—when Miss wakes up, don’t tell her I can read account books yet. Let’s give her a little scare.”
Ban Qin burst out laughing as she combed Cheng Jiao-niang’s hair.
“You think that would really scare her?” she asked.
What in this world could possibly scare Miss?
Both of them pictured Cheng Jiao-niang’s ever-expressionless face.
Even if the sky were to fall, she’d probably just let out an “oh.”
They both looked toward Cheng Jiao-niang lying on the couch. With her eyes closed, her face now seemed unusually soft.
The maid picked up the account book and quietly stepped outside.
Ban Qin knew she had gone out to shed a few tears.
She lowered her head; two drops of her own tears fell. Taking a deep breath, she continued combing the girl’s hair.
From the courtyard came Jin Ge’er’s voice:
“Ban Qin! Ban Qin! Manager Wu says you need to come quickly—someone’s causing trouble at the restaurant!”
Though the name was the same, Ban Qin knew that shout wasn’t meant for her.
Footsteps echoed under the corridor, and in the room next door, the sound of a maid washing up and changing clothes could be heard. There was no rush, no panic—just a calm, steady rhythm, everything done step by step.
“Jin Ge’er, look after the house.”
Moments later, the maid’s voice sounded outside the door, followed by Jin Ge’er’s reply. Then their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Ban Qin lowered her head, set down the comb, and began to gently massage Cheng Jiao-niang’s body.
This was something Doctor Li had instructed—they had to regularly turn her and massage her, as bedridden patients were prone to bedsores.
She couldn’t do anything else, but what she could do was take care of her lady. And she was determined to do it well.
“You’re asking me who I am? Don’t play dumb!”
The sudden outburst of a man’s voice shattered the usual quiet of the Immortal’s Abode, drawing the attention of everyone in the main hall. Even through the private room’s walls, the voice was so loud that it was hard to imagine just how heated things must be inside.
“Master Zhou.”
A maid pulled the door closed behind her and looked toward Master Zhou, who stood inside the room, his face filled with fury.
“Good, you’re here. Come—tell him who I am,” Master Zhou said, turning to look at Manager Wu. “And once you know, you can get the hell out.”
“Master Zhou, what are you doing here?” the maid asked instead of answering.
“Of course, I’m here to check on the shop,” Master Zhou frowned as he spoke, slapping his thigh. “Bring the account books quickly. Jiao Jiao has been sick for several days—has the shop fallen into chaos?”
He glanced back at an elderly man.
“You take a good look at the accounts later.”
The old man nodded repeatedly in agreement.
“Master Zhou, you’re not allowed to look at these account books,” the maid said firmly.
“Why not?” Master Zhou asked, staring at her.
“They belong to the mistress,” the maid replied.
Master Zhou remained neither anxious nor angry, simply nodding.
“Yes, your mistress’s,” he said. “But do you know whose daughter your mistress really is?”
The maid’s expression flickered, but she said nothing.
Master Zhou slammed his hand down on the desk with a bang.
“She’s my family’s daughter!” he shouted, raising his eyebrows as he glared at the maid. “My niece is ill. Even I can’t see her property, yet you two servants are controlling it. What do you think you’re doing? Tyrannical slaves seizing their mistress’s assets? You’ve got some nerve!”
