The night was as dark as ink, swallowing the many courtyards of the Lu family mansion.
In the Jing Si Courtyard, only a dim yellow oil lamp was lit.
Su Wanqing hadn’t slept.
She sat by the table, holding a book, but her gaze kept drifting to the path outside the window leading to the courtyard gate.
After Su Wanqing saved the Old Madam, the latter was still weak and soon fell asleep.
Su Wanqing didn’t stay long at Songhe Hall. She politely declined the Old Madam’s suggestion to move out of Jing Si Courtyard and returned alone to this dilapidated yet peaceful small courtyard.
She knew that after what happened, Liu Yuzhen and Song Tingyu wouldn’t dare to openly cause trouble for her—for now.
But that was only temporary.
The sharpness she had shown tonight was like a thorn stuck in their eyes.
Next time they acted, it would be more covert and more vicious.
And her true goal was far from achieved.
She needed an opportunity—one to be alone with Lu Zhanting and discuss their strategy together.
The Old Madam’s recovery from danger was the first stepping stone she laid.
She was betting that this stone would open the ancestral hall’s door for Lu Zhanting.
Time passed second by second. The oil in the lamp gradually depleted, and the flame flickered, emitting a faint crackling sound.
Just when Su Wanqing thought tonight’s wait would be in vain, steady and familiar footsteps sounded outside the gate.
The pace was unhurried, each step like it was beating in sync with her heartbeat.
Su Wanqing suddenly stood up and quickly went to the door, pulling it open.
Under the moonlight stood a tall and upright figure.
It was Lu Zhanting.
He seemed to have just come from the ancestral hall, still wearing a thin shirt, dust and grass stuck to it.
His complexion was pale, with dark stubble on his chin, and he looked extremely exhausted.
But the moment his eyes met Su Wanqing’s, they blazed with a fierce light.
Their eyes locked, words unspoken, all turned into silence.
Lu Zhanting strode into the courtyard, closed the door behind him, then tightly embraced Su Wanqing.
His hug was heavy and forceful, his strong arms pressing her so tightly she could barely breathe.
But Su Wanqing did not struggle.
She buried her face in his cold yet solid chest, inhaling his unique, reassuring scent mixed with the old sandalwood and dust from the ancestral hall.
All the grievances, endurance, and feigned strength of recent days found release in this moment.
Her eyes warmed; tears silently soaked his clothes.
“I’m back.”
Lu Zhanting whispered by her ear, his voice hoarse to the extreme, repeating stubbornly,
“I’m back, Wanqing.”
He released her, cupping her face, his thumb rough as he stroked her cheek repeatedly, eyes filled with deep pain and fear.
“Did they… make things difficult for you? Did they bully you?”
In the ancestral hall, he knew nothing and could do nothing.
He could only lean on the cold wall, imagining again and again how she faced that entire pack of wolves alone.
That helplessness and worry tormented him more than any punishment.
He was even ready to be expelled from the family if needed to seek justice for her.
Su Wanqing looked into his bloodshot eyes, shook her head, took his cold hand, and led him inside.
“I’m fine.”
She sat him down, turned, and poured a cup of hot water she had prepared earlier.
“Warm yourself up first.”
There was no stove in the room, but the thick quilt Su Wanqing took from her space made the room less cold.
Lu Zhanting held the warm enamel cup, greedily drawing in its heat.
He looked around; the room was simple but neat, and the book she had been reading lay on the table.
Only then did he realize that his perception of being “isolated and helpless” was somewhat inaccurate.
“What exactly happened?” he asked Su Wanqing in a deep voice. “Why did Grandpa suddenly let me out?”
“Because I saved Grandma,” Su Wanqing answered calmly and directly.
Lu Zhanting’s pupils suddenly contracted sharply.
Su Wanqing didn’t hide anything and recounted everything that happened after he was locked in the ancestral hall.
From Liu Yuzhen’s order to cut off her food, to how she silently declared she wasn’t starving by cooking rice with cured pork.
From the maid Xiao Cui’s provocations to how she cleverly tamed the first spy with hot water and ointment, combining kindness and strictness.
When he heard Su Wanqing was deliberately made to eat scraps and leftovers, his aura dropped sharply; his knuckles whitened from gripping the cup.
When she casually mentioned “I scalded her hand with hot water and healed it with ointment,” his anger turned into deep shock.
He never knew his wife had such thunderous methods and a keen mind.
Su Wanqing continued, telling of the afternoon at Songhe Hall—the grand banquet of tea ceremony and poetry as battleground.
“… Song Tingyu tried to humiliate me with her specialty, to make me lose face in front of Grandma. Unfortunately, her flashy skills were simply not enough,” Su Wanqing’s lips curled into a faint sneer.
Lu Zhanting listened intently.
He could not imagine the scene—his country-born wife, citing classics and commenting on tea in front of the top socialites of the capital, casually reciting such magnificent verses.
It was beyond anything he had known.
“And then?” he pressed.
“Then,” Su Wanqing’s tone grew serious, “Song Tingyu, ashamed and angry, foolishly added warming dried ginger and red dates to Grandma’s tea, not knowing Grandma’s internal heat. The conflict caused Grandma’s breathlessness and collapse on the spot.”
Lu Zhanting felt his heart leap into his throat.
“I used acupuncture to prick and drain the heart fire to save Grandma.”
Su Wanqing looked up at him, eyes clear.
“The doctor confirmed my method was effective. Grandpa might still be angry, but Grandma is the only one in the family who can speak up to him. Once she opens her mouth, you naturally will be released from the ancestral hall.”
After the story was told, the room fell into a long silence.
Lu Zhanting looked at Su Wanqing with extremely complex eyes.
There was shock, pride, fear, but most of all, heartfelt admiration and… guilt.
He had always thought bringing her to the capital meant putting her in danger, that he had to protect her like a fledgling under his wings.
But he was wrong.
She was never a fragile fledgling needing shelter.
She was a fully winged eagle who had merely restrained her sharpness in front of him.
Once he was trapped, she would not hesitate to reveal her claws to fight for herself and for him, carving out a sky to soar.
“I’m sorry.”
After a long while, Lu Zhanting squeezed out three words,
“Wanqing, I… I always thought I needed to protect you, but forgot you never needed protection.”
“You need me.”
Su Wanqing sat beside him, putting her hand over his holding the cup.
“Lu Zhanting, I told you—we are husband and wife. If the sky falls, we bear it together. You charge ahead, but I can’t just stand idly behind.”
Her hand was soft and warm.
The warmth spread along his hand to soothe his heart.
Lu Zhanting grasped her hand tightly in return.
“Today, it’s thanks to you,” he sincerely said, “Grandma’s position in the Lu family is special. Though she doesn’t manage affairs, Grandpa always respects her somewhat. You saved her—that planted the most important wedge in Grandpa’s heart.”
“But just one wedge isn’t enough.”
Su Wanqing shook her head, her expression serious.
“That only lets us catch our breath for now. Liu Yuzhen and Song Tingyu took such a big loss; they won’t give up easily. We’re standing at the edge of a cliff—seemingly stable, but just a little push from them, and we’ll fall.”
Lu Zhanting’s eyes darkened: “They dare.”
“Of course they do. If they can’t be open about it, they’ll come in secret.”
Su Wanqing analyzed calmly, “So, we can’t wait any longer. We have to take the initiative.”
“What do you plan to do?”
Lu Zhanting looked at her, eyes full of trust.
From this moment on, he fully regarded her as an equal ally, ready to fight side by side.
“To firmly establish yourself in this family, flattering Grandma or even Liu Yuzhen is useless. There is only one key person.”
Su Wanqing’s gaze sharpened.
“That person is your grandfather, Lu Zhenguo.”
Lu Zhanting frowned. “Grandpa’s temper… once he makes a decision, not even nine oxen can pull him back. He sees our marriage as nonsense, a stain on the Lu family. It’s too difficult to make him change his mind.”
“Of course it’s hard if you confront him head-on,” Su Wanqing said. “But what if I can do something even he can’t? What if this so-called ‘stain’ in his eyes could become an indispensable ‘value’ to him?”
Lu Zhanting’s breath caught; he seemed to understand.
“You mean… Grandpa’s illness?”
“That’s right.”
A gleam of intelligence lit Su Wanqing’s eyes.
“This afternoon at Songhe Hall, while I was diagnosing Grandma’s pulse, I also observed your grandfather. Although he appears vigorous, his qi is weak and floating, his brow is darkened, and when he talks, he unconsciously presses the Taiyang acupoint. These are signs of a long-term stubborn headache.”
“I remember you mentioned on the train that he has an old war injury that flares up in rainy weather, right?”
Lu Zhanting nodded in shock. “Yes. It’s an old problem of decades. He’s seen countless famous doctors, tried both Chinese and Western medicines, but only relief, never a cure. When it flares up, the pain keeps him awake all night, which is a major reason for his increasingly bad temper. How did you… just by looking, figure this out?”
“I know a little bit of the basics of inspection, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking,” Su Wanqing said, not elaborating further. It was her biggest secret; now was not the time to reveal everything.
“The key is, I’m confident I can cure his illness.”
Those words struck Lu Zhanting’s mind like thunder.
Cure Grandpa’s decades-old stubborn disease?
How is that possible?
If before he could attribute Su Wanqing saving Grandma to luck, now she actually said she was confident to completely cure a headache that even all the capital’s top doctors were helpless against!
He looked at Su Wanqing, at her confident and determined eyes, his heart turbulent.
“Wanqing, this isn’t a small matter.”
He suppressed his shock and spoke seriously.
“How confident are you?”
“Completely.”
Su Wanqing said these two words without any hesitation.
With her spirit spring water and countless rare medicines, Lu Zhenguo’s illness was nothing difficult or complicated.
She had countless ways to cure him thoroughly without any aftereffects.
Lu Zhanting was infected by her unwavering confidence, and the last doubts in his heart vanished.
His wife seemed always capable of miracles.
“Good!” He punched his palm. “I trust you! Tell me, what should I do?”
“First, we cannot bring this up ourselves.”
Su Wanqing shook her head.
“The eager buyer loses out. If we propose it first, they’ll only suspect us of ulterior motives, or even think I’m trying to poison him. We must create an opportunity—one where he comes to us willingly, or at least has no choice but to believe us.”
“That opportunity must come from Grandma.”
Su Wanqing’s thinking was clear and precise.
“I saved her today, but only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. Grandma has been vegetarian and Buddhist for years, her body very weak. Next, I will make medicinal meals daily for her under the guise of ‘nourishment.’ These meals will naturally use my ‘secret recipe.’”
Her “secret recipe” naturally referred to the spirit spring water.
“Grandma’s health will visibly improve day by day under my care. This visible change will be the best living advertisement. Your grandfather will see it. Even if he doesn’t say it, what will he think inside?”
Lu Zhanting’s eyes brightened; he completely followed Su Wanqing’s reasoning.
“He will suspect, be curious, and even… be moved.”
“Exactly.”
Su Wanqing snapped her fingers.
“When his headaches flare up again, unbearable and uncontrollable, and all doctors and medicines fail once more, Grandma’s ‘miracle’ will be his only lifeline. Then it won’t be us begging him, but him begging us.”
“Brilliant plan!” Lu Zhanting couldn’t help but praise. “Cutting off the root, attacking the heart!”
“This is just the first step.”
Su Wanqing’s gaze looked even further.
“While treating Grandpa, I can legitimately enter the main house and get close to the family core. By then, I won’t be the invisible person in this Jing Si Courtyard who anyone can bully.”
“And you,” she turned to Lu Zhanting, “need to protect my flank during this time.”
“Liu Yuzhen and Song Tingyu are the biggest variables. They will never watch me gain Grandpa’s approval quietly. They will do everything to sabotage, even frame me.”
“Your mission is to keep a close eye on them and collect their dirt. When necessary, we must not only defend but also counterattack, making them too busy to cause trouble.”
Lu Zhanting nodded heavily, his eyes shooting a wolfish sharp light.
“Understood. If they dare touch a single hair on you, I will make them pay.”
As the night deepened, the oil lamp in the room had long since gone out.
Moonlight poured in through the window, bathing the two sitting close together.
A thrilling plan quietly took shape in this rundown little room.
Lu Zhanting looked at his wife, heart full of mixed emotions.
He reached out and pulled her into his arms again, resting his chin on her head, voice solemn like never before.
“Wanqing, from today on, we are true allies.”
“Not me protecting you, nor you helping me.”
“But us, fighting side by side, sharing life and death.”
Su Wanqing leaned into his embrace, feeling his strong, steady heartbeat, her heart peaceful.
She knew that this vast, cold fortress called the capital had just developed its first crack.
Next, they must work together to widen that crack until it completely collapsed, revealing the warm core inside—something that could truly be called “home.”
She instinctively placed her hand gently on her lower abdomen.
There, a new life was quietly growing.
It was their future, and the softest, strongest force in her heart.
For that future, she feared nothing.