“It’s good that she’s alright.”
Old Madam Lan murmured softly, looking at Lan Shuang with a bit more admiration in her eyes.
She just didn’t know whether such talent was truly a good thing.
Lan Shuang’s gaze fell on the bloodstained clothes on Lan Shan. Right now he looked like an eggplant struck by frost—completely wilted.
“Third Brother, you’re leaving for the north tomorrow, and we can’t find a doctor for now. Let me take a look at you.”
“No need.”
Lan Shan lay listlessly on the cart, as though life itself had lost all color.
Seeing him like this made Old Madam Lan furious.
“Shan-ge’er—you’re a man! How can you be so dejected!”
“Grandmother, let me talk to Third Brother.”
Lan Shuang pushed the cart into a corner. As dragon-and-phoenix twins, she and Lan Shan had always been close since childhood.
“Third Brother… are you heartbroken over Miss Zhou?”
“You and Ji Yunqian grew up together—aren’t you heartbroken too?”
Lan Shan gave a bitter smile. “The two of us really are unlucky siblings, sharing the same fate.”
“I’m not heartbroken.”
Lan Shuang spoke seriously. “Third Brother, our situations are different. If Ji Yunqian were only afraid of implicating the marquis’s household, he could’ve just divorced me.
But he didn’t. He wanted to become the imperial consort’s husband and make me a concubine—that’s humiliation. It shows his character is rotten. The next time I see him, he’ll be my enemy.”
“Yes.”
Lan Shan ground his teeth. “Ji Yunqian’s character is bad. Ru-yan is different—she must’ve been forced by her family.”
“Third Brother, in front of one’s clan and relatives, romantic feelings have to take second place.”
Lan Shuang knew exactly where Lan Shan was weakest.
“We’re already like this in the capital—who knows how Father, Mother, and our two brothers are doing now?
Right now all our hope rests on you. So let me check you over—if you reach the north sooner, we can learn about them sooner too.”
“Shuang’er… you’ve grown up.”
Lan Shan looked at his stunning younger sister with complicated eyes. She was no longer the innocent girl she’d been before marriage.
“Third Brother, with the family in such upheaval, how could I not change if I want to protect everyone?”
Lan Shan’s heart jolted.
Yes—if even his little sister understood that, how could he be so muddle-headed?
“Shuang’er, just treat me however you like—I can endure it!”
He thought bitterly that conditions were rough. Even if her medical skills were half-baked, it was better than nothing.
Lan Shuang: …
She calmly took out the wound medicine and hemostatic powder she’d prepared earlier, making Lan Shan’s eyes bulge.
“W-weren’t we searched when the house was confiscated?”
“Relax. I won’t kill you.”
Lan Shuang roughly tore open his blood-soaked robe. Lan Shan suddenly felt embarrassed.
“Um… Shuang’er, men and women shouldn’t touch. Let Su-ge’er apply the medicine for me.”
Su-ge’er was their eldest brother’s son.
Lan Shuang rolled her eyes. “You expect a three-year-old to treat your wounds?”
“Isn’t it just sprinkling some powder on?”
Lan Shan had been mischievous since childhood and loved martial arts. He’d been injured plenty of times—he was used to it.
Lan Shuang: …
“Don’t move!”
She pinned the flustered Lan Shan down and carefully cleaned his wounds. Having been roughly tossed back to the estate earlier, his outer robe was not only soaked with blood but stuck to the injuries—looking rather horrifying.
Only after cleaning everything did she apply the medicine, then bandaged him up.
“Is it done?”
Lan Shan covered his head, feeling too ashamed to face anyone, his voice muffled.
“What’s the rush? If I’m not thorough, you won’t even make it to the north.”
Perhaps influenced by the original owner’s emotions, Lan Shuang actually felt a bit of sympathy for the upright and stubborn Lan Shan.
“A real man doesn’t care about a little pain.”
Lan Shan forced himself to endure it and said stubbornly, “Just sprinkle some medicine on—it’s fine.”
“Shut up!”
Lan Shuang pressed a little harder, making him suck in a sharp breath. “Shuang’er, I’m your real brother!”
“You just deserve a lesson!”
After finishing treating him, she carefully wrapped the medicinal powder in oil paper into a thin packet.
Then she took out the banknotes and bits of silver she’d prepared earlier, breaking the coins into small pieces.
“You’re going to the north tomorrow. Those people might search you—hide these well.”
Seeing how thoroughly she’d prepared, Lan Shan was deeply moved, his expression solemn.
“Don’t worry, Shuang’er. I’ll reach the north safely—and I’ll take good care of Father, Mother, and our two brothers.”
His sister had grown up. In a situation like this, she had even managed to secretly keep silver notes and medicine. Compared to her, he really had been far too rash.
“I’ll help you.”
Lan Shuang rolled up the banknotes and slipped them into a thin wooden hairpin before handing it to him.
“Use it to tie your hair.”
Lan Shan: !!!
He stared wide-eyed as Lan Shuang taught him how to hide money in his hair.
“Are you still my naïve, simple little sister?”
“What do you think?”
Lan Shuang twitched the corner of her mouth speechlessly. Lan Shan put away his shocked look and muttered to himself:
“With Shuang’er being so clever, I believe you can take care of Grandmother. That way I can go to the north at ease.”
“Trust me.”
Lan Shuang pushed the cart back to their corner. Eldest Sister-in-law Min Shi was holding little Su-ge’er, who was exhausted yet still frightened.
Second Sister-in-law Xu Shi sobbed as she wiped her tears, unable to stop crying, while only Old Madam Lan sat there in silence.
When Lan Shuang and Lan Shan returned, Old Madam Lan gave many instructions, and finally reminded Lan Shan:
“Shan-ge’er, the journey to the north is dangerous. Your life comes first.”
“Yes, Grandmother.”
Lan Shan seemed to mature in that instant, finally realizing that the most reliable people in the world were always one’s own family.
“But Grandmother—the estate has been confiscated. You’re old, weak, pregnant, and injured… where will you go?”
“Don’t worry about us. Worst case, we’ll build a thatched hut in the countryside and stay there for now.”
Lan Shuang didn’t think it was a big problem. As long as that dog emperor didn’t keep hounding them, they would always find a way out.
Besides—she still had a whole space full of gold, silver, and supplies.
“Grandmother… my family still has an ancestral house. It’s a bit run-down, but with some repairs, people can live there.”
Second Sister-in-law Xu Shi, who had been quietly sobbing, suddenly spoke up.
Old Madam Lan had never liked this granddaughter-in-law before—mainly because Xu Shi came from an ordinary background, her parents had long passed away, and she had nothing outstanding about her. Only because her daughter-in-law supported Second Son’s marriage had she been unable to oppose it.
“That was your parents’ ancestral home. It wouldn’t be right for us to go live there.”
Old Madam Lan sighed softly. Xu Shi gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
“My parents and brothers were all killed by mountain bandits.
If not for Yong-ge saving me, I’d have died long ago. That ancestral house is empty anyway—Grandmother doesn’t need to mind.”
Though she was now a daughter-in-law of the Duke’s household, her maternal family’s house had nothing to do with the Duke’s estate.
And it was only a small wooden home. Even if His Majesty knew, he probably wouldn’t care.
“Grandmother, what Sister-in-law says makes sense. We don’t have to wander without shelter.”
Min Shi pitied the young child and didn’t want him drifting from place to place—having somewhere to stay was too important.
Lan Shuang added, “Grandmother, let’s go there for now and settle in temporarily. We can discuss the rest slowly.”