As the most favored young master of the Marquis’s household, Su Ming’an lived in Tingxuan Courtyard, which was not only spacious but also exquisitely furnished. Everything he ate and used was of the finest quality.
Tingxuan Courtyard housed six regular guards, three personal attendants, a steward, and five maids and servants. At that moment, all of them were gathered in the courtyard.
When they saw Steward Luo leading Shen Chuyun, her two maids, and a white wolf into the courtyard, everyone was confused and frightened.
They were especially afraid of the white wolf. It looked incredibly fierce and imposing.
“Steward Luo, why have you brought a wild beast here? What if it frightens the young master? Can you take responsibility for that? Hurry up and get it out of here!” Ding, the steward of Tingxuan Courtyard, demanded.
Before Steward Luo could say anything, Shen Chuyun planted one hand on her hip and pointed at Ding with an arrogant expression.
“I’ve taken a liking to this courtyard. Go and call Su Ming’an out. Tell him to find somewhere else to live.”
Ding flew into a rage. “Who do you think you are? How dare you come here and spout such nonsense? Aren’t you afraid of biting your tongue?”
“I’m the eldest young lady of the Marquis’s household.”
Shen Chuyun took out the jade token.
“I’m in charge of the entire household now.”
The moment Ding saw the household authority token, he looked utterly disbelieving.
Afraid that Ding might get beaten up, Steward Luo leaned close to his ear and whispered a few words.
Ding stared at Shen Chuyun in disbelief before shifting his gaze to the white wolf and the two maids behind her. When he saw the maids take out their whips and crack them loudly through the air, he immediately understood what was going on.
He hurriedly gestured toward Shen Chuyun with an inviting hand.
“So you’re the eldest young lady! This lowly servant was blind and failed to recognize you. I hope you won’t take offense. Please, come in, Young Lady!”
Shen Chuyun glanced at Ding and gave a cold snort. Leading the two maids and the white wolf, she swaggered into the courtyard with an utterly brazen air, as though she owned the entire place.
Only after she had gone some distance away did Ding quietly ask Steward Luo, “Are we really going to let her do whatever she wants without stopping her?”
Steward Luo frowned deeply. “How are we supposed to stop her? The Marquis still hasn’t regained consciousness, and the Old Madam and Madam have run into trouble as well. Even the masters can’t keep her under control. What can we, mere servants, do? Let things be for now. Once the Marquis wakes up, we’ll let him deal with her properly.”
After entering the room, Shen Chuyun saw Su Ming’an lying on the bed, suffering from a nightmare. There wasn’t the slightest trace of sympathy in her eyes.
She beckoned to Ding with her finger.
“Throw this useless younger brother of mine over to where my father is staying. From now on, have him share a room with my father.”
Ding wiped the sweat from his forehead, deeply reluctant to carry out the order.
Miao Chunxiu cracked her whip.
Ding shuddered and reluctantly gritted his teeth as he ordered the servants to carry Su Ming’an away.
After instructing the servants to clean Su Ming’an’s room, replace whatever needed replacing, and throw away everything that should be discarded, Shen Chuyun settled in.
Meanwhile, Su Ming’an was carried off and delivered to Su Zhen’s quarters.
The household physician was treating Su Zhen when Su Ming’an, looking weak and ill, was brought in. The physician’s eyelid twitched.
What on earth was going on?
Seeing that Su Zhen still hadn’t woken up, Steward Luo asked the physician, “Is the injury to the Marquis’s head serious? Why hasn’t he regained consciousness yet?”
“The injury to the Marquis’s head isn’t serious,” the physician explained. “He hasn’t woken up because his old ailment has flared up again.”
Nine years ago, after Su Zhen had suffered a blow to the head, he developed migraines. Whenever an attack occurred, he would become irritable and violent. If the pain became unbearable, he would even lose consciousness, sometimes remaining unconscious for several days.
Upon hearing this, Steward Luo grew both anxious and helpless. He had no choice but to leave for the time being.
He reminded the physician, “Take good care of the young master. Whatever happens, make sure nothing else goes wrong!”
Shaking his head with a sigh, he thought to himself:
With the jinx back, the Marquis’s household will never know peace!
After moving into Tingxuan Courtyard, Shen Chuyun finally settled down.
Seeing this, Steward Luo hurriedly led a group of servants back to the reception hall in secret. After considerable effort, they managed to carry Xu Yuru and the others to their rooms and summon the household physician to treat them.
Unfortunately, the physician had no way to counteract the Softening Incense. They could only wait for its effects to wear off.
Xu Yuru gritted her teeth furiously.
“Where is that little wretch?”
Steward Luo answered cautiously, “She moved into Tingxuan Courtyard and sent the young master to stay with the Marquis.”
Xu Yuru slapped the bed in anger.
“Useless! You’re all useless! With so many people in the Marquis’s household, not one of you could stop her? You just let her run wild! That little wretch is far too brazen. Who exactly is backing her?”
The more Xu Yuru thought about it, the more suspicious she became. She summoned Steward Luo and whispered a few instructions into his ear.
Steward Luo nodded. After leaving Xu Yuru’s room, he went straight out of the Marquis’s residence.
He traveled by carriage to a farmstead on the outskirts of the capital, where he met an elderly woman.
“Has anyone come here to see the heir?” Steward Luo asked.
The elderly woman shook her head. “No one has come. The heir has remained in his room the entire time and hasn’t stepped outside even once. No outsiders have been allowed to see him. Steward Luo, you came here in such a hurry just to ask about this? Has something happened?”
Steward Luo’s gaze turned cold.
“Something serious has indeed happened, but we cannot speak of it outside the household. Take me to see the heir.”
He wanted to confirm with his own eyes that Su Linzhou was still at the estate.
The elderly woman nodded. “Please follow me, Steward Luo.”
She led him to a side room. Through the window, he saw a young man bound tightly to the bed.
Seeing that the boy was still there, Steward Luo secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After giving the elderly woman a few more instructions, he left.
He failed to notice that, on a tree beside the farmstead, a black crow was perched on a branch, watching the half-open window.
As soon as Steward Luo departed, the crow took flight as well. It returned to the Marquis’s residence even before he did.
Inside Tingxuan Courtyard, Shen Chuyun stood in the yard. When she spotted a black bird flying overhead, she raised one arm, and the bird slowly descended onto it.
“Yaya, did you find him?” Shen Chuyun asked.
Yaya nodded.
Shen Chuyun’s face lit up with delight.
“Wonderful!”
She had never intended to waste time playing a long game with the Marquis’s household. She simply wanted to find her older brother as quickly as possible.
But Su Zhen and Xu Yuru had hidden him away and certainly wouldn’t release him willingly.
Since that was the case, she would have to use her own methods.
“Good Yaya, you did wonderfully! All this bird food is yours!”
Shen Chuyun took out a packet of bird food and placed it in front of Yaya.
After Yaya had eaten her fill, Shen Chuyun informed her two maids of her plans, slung on the backpack she had prepared earlier, and climbed over the wall to leave the Marquis’s residence. Following Yaya, she headed toward the farmstead.
By the time they arrived, night had fallen.
There weren’t many people at the farmstead, and most of them were busy washing up for the night.
Guided by Yaya, Shen Chuyun quietly slipped inside. At last, she found Su Linzhou in a side room.
Under the moonlight, she saw the frail young man bound tightly to the bed, and her heart ached terribly.
Was this really her older brother?
When she had been born, she couldn’t see, so she had never known what her older brother, mother, or Xiangyu looked like. She remembered only their voices.
Shen Chuyun approached the bed and took out a glowing pearl to illuminate the young man’s face.
The boy was not only tied up, but his entire body was filthy. His face was so dirty that his original features were almost unrecognizable. He was so thin that he looked like a refugee who had gone hungry for a long time.
His hair was disheveled, and he wore coarse cloth clothing. The skin around both of his knees was torn and bloody.
In such a miserable state, he hardly looked like the heir of the Marquis’s household.
Shen Chuyun’s gaze settled on his knees.
Her sixth senior brother had written in his letter that her older brother had fallen from a horse and broken his leg. By her calculations, more than forty days had already passed.
Yet the external wounds on the boy’s knees looked fresh.
She carefully examined both of his legs. The injuries on the surface were indeed recent, but the bones underneath had suffered severe comminuted fractures some time ago.
In other words, after the boy had been sent to the farmstead with both legs already crippled, he had suffered further injuries in recent days.
If his legs weren’t treated immediately, even Hua Tuo himself—the legendary physician renowned for his extraordinary medical skills—would be powerless to save them.
The boy would become permanently disabled.
Shen Chuyun’s expression instantly turned icy.
Su Zhen. Xu Yuru. You two deserve to die!