If a newcomer to the capital asked what the hottest topic was, even the street children would tell them: The Third Young Master of Wu’an Marquis Mansion is corrupt!
“What? He’s not corrupt?”
If he’s not corrupt, then why, under the wide-open sky, did blood rain down upon his head?
Could this not be a warning from heaven?
The blood orb grew larger and larger, even reaching the ears of the emperor in the palace.
The master from Huguo Temple who had blessed the Third Young Master at birth—Master Faji—was summoned to both the palace and the mansion for questioning again.
Shen Ruyi didn’t know whether Master Faji truly had powers or was just bluffing, but his skill in persuasion was undeniably impressive.
All she, a lowly maid, heard was that— the Third Young Master was indeed born as a lucky star for the family, bringing good fortune to the grandmother.
But something had happened over the past decade, and now, he was said to be possessed by evil.
If the evil was not expelled promptly, it could bring disaster to the entire family.
Thus, the mansion respectfully invited Master Faji back to perform an exorcism.
The Third Young Master was tied up and made to kneel in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by monks from Huguo Temple, led by Master Faji chanting sutras.
“You bunch of bald-headed fools! How dare you bind me! If you don’t release me, just wait— once I’m free, I’ll burn down your lousy temple, and take each of your heads and kick them like balls!”
Perhaps due to recent shocks, the Third Young Master, kneeling amidst the monks, raged and cursed openly.
At first, it was just the bald-headed monks, but soon he even cursed the Old Madam and the Marquis.
The little maids and servants watching from afar went pale, trembling, and fled at lightning speed.
The other maids sent to gather news by the masters looked like death, heads bowed as they hurried back to their quarters.
The mansion’s steward and Elder Liu, in charge of this matter, exchanged nervous glances, sweating, and rushed forward to stuff two handkerchiefs into the Third Young Master’s shouting mouth.
Only after muffling him did they wipe the sweat streaming down his face—whether from heat or fear, who could say?
“Master—”
“Senior—”
“Uncle—”
The moment the Third Young Master’s mouth was blocked, the monks suddenly shouted in alarm.
The steward and Elder Liu looked up to see Master Faji spitting blood, his face pale, falling backward onto the ground, unmoving.
The chanting monks lost all focus, lifted Master Faji, and hurried back to Huguo Temple.
That day, the temple announced that Master Faji had revealed too many heavenly secrets and was under divine punishment, requiring 81 days of secluded meditation.
…
One dramatic scene after another, Shen Ruyi, already familiar with the inner workings, was still left wide-eyed.
The maids, usually eager to be in the Old Madam’s presence, now waited silently in the courtyard.
The quiet in the hall was absolute, broken only briefly by a cicada before silence returned.
Inside, the Old Madam and Elder Liu remained in their usual positions—one sitting, one standing.
The Old Madam’s right hand rested on the low table, tightly gripping her polished prayer beads, eyes gazing toward the open doorway, lost in thought.
Her normally kind face was now icy, like a winter frost.
In the scorching heat of July, the chill sent shivers down one’s spine.
Elder Liu stood respectfully, face and waist slightly bowed, still as a silent wooden statue.
“Go, summon the Marquis.”
The Old Madam, previously silent, spoke suddenly, her voice ethereal, as if drifting from a distant temple.
Elder Liu barely twitched, “Yes, Old Madam.”
She left to call a senior maid to fetch the Marquis, then returned to stand by the Old Madam.
When Wu’an Marquis finally entered the hall, the maids and nannies outside exhaled nearly inaudibly.
Elder Liu handed him two cups of hot tea, then exited, closing the main hall doors.
With the staff and maids dispersed, she stood at the corridor outside, guarding silently.
No one knew what the Old Madam and the Marquis discussed inside.
That night, Guo Ping and Guo An were quietly removed from the mansion by a few rarely seen guards, as if they had never existed.
The next day, at dawn, someone was carried out from the Third Young Master’s courtyard, sleeping soundly.
A sharp-eyed maid noticed the figure resembled the Third Young Master, but seeing that the carriers were the Marquis’s attendants, she bowed her head in fear.
At the third quarter of dawn, a carriage left the side gate of the mansion.
Those who saw it recognized that the Marquis’s attendants were driving, heading toward the Wu’an Marquis’s ancestral home in Xiangcheng.
After the disappearance of the Third Young Master and his two attendants, Shen Ruyi’s life in the mansion became even more carefree.
And by “carefree,” she truly meant she was free to fish in murky waters.
Two years passed. Shen Ruyi finally realized she had not traveled to the late Ming dynasty—but to the Da Yue Dynasty!
A dynasty not found in history books, likely a parallel or fictional world.
The current emperor was Da Yue’s third ruler—Emperor Yue Jing—already over seventy.
The well in her space was not some legendary life-and-death mystical water, but it had remarkable effects on medicinal herbs.
Any herbs watered with the well’s water grew much faster than normal crops and reached peak medicinal potency, far better than regular farm-grown herbs.
Shen Ruyi had grown several batches of food in the space. Once half the room was filled, she switched entirely to herbs.
Short-cycle herbs had already been sold to pharmacies.
For convenience and higher profit, she now planted long-cycle herbs exclusively.
She had purchased all the ginseng seeds from the pharmacy to grow in her space.
Later, she realized that when Zhenzhu had given medicine to Er Ya, that’s why she herself had no lingering symptoms upon waking.
Thanks to the well, the herbs’ potency acted quickly in her body, curing her fever.
Over the past two years, her space had enough food, necessities, and seasonal clothes, and she had accumulated a significant amount of silver.