Chapter 24: Encounter with the Mistress
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
“Big brother is fine. There’s no need to call for a doctor or tell mother,” Lu Yan Shu glanced at his third brother.
“Starting tomorrow, after your classes, come to my courtyard. I will tutor you.” Since his paralysis, he had ordered every book in his room to be taken out and burned.
Once Yuan Bao saw them off, Lu Yan Shu sat in his wheelchair and unwrapped the bandages on his wrist.
The wrist, once marred by deep wounds, was now smooth and unmarred. The once-bleeding injury had mysteriously healed.
For eight painstaking years, he’d struggled just to move his fingers, but now, they flexed with ease. His arm could even lift an inch. Eight long years!
For the first time, his hand felt strong again.
He hadn’t cried when he drowned. He didn’t cry when his fiancée hid behind the rockery and let him become paralyzed. He hadn’t cried when the engagement was broken off or when his family gave up on him.
But now, he wept.
When Yuan Bao returned, Lu Yan Shu said in a hushed voice, “Bring the golden needles and stab my legs.”
Yuan Bao’s lips trembled. In the early days of his paralysis, the young master had often ordered him to strike his legs or pierce them with needles, yet there had been no sensation. It had been years since the young master sought any sign of feeling.
Yuan Bao pulled out the golden needles and gently pushed one into the young master’s leg.
As the needle sank in, cold sweat broke out across Lu Yan Shu’s forehead.
“Young master?” Yuan Bao gasped. Once, entire needles could be buried without eliciting any response. But now…
The young master’s legs were taut, and he could feel a faint pain radiating through his body.
“Young master, something’s different! Before, your legs felt limp when I pushed the needle in. But now…” Yuan Bao stopped short, startled by the sight of sweat dripping from his master’s brow.
Yuan Bao burst into tears. “Young master! You can feel it, can’t you? You felt pain, didn’t you?”
“I’ll call a doctor! I’ll tell the Marquis and Madam!” For eight long years, Yuan Bao had suffered alongside his master. Once a favored son of heaven, Lu Yan Shu had been cast down, and Yuan Bao had tasted the world’s coldness too.
“No!” Lu Yan Shu’s gaze turned intense. “Tell no one! Do not breathe a word of this, not even a hint!”
“Do not call a doctor!” His salvation would not come from a physician.
Though bewildered, Yuan Bao nodded.
Meanwhile, Lu Chao Chao was being returned to her room by Lu Yuan Xiao, who climbed through the window.
“I’ll come steal you again in a few days,” he whispered. At that moment, Madam Xu had already returned and even dined with Lu Yuan Xiao.
The next morning, Madam Xu began preparing to take Lu Chao Chao out to buy jewelry—long-life lockets, gold rings, necklaces, and even hairpieces for her future. She was determined to spare no expense.
She’d made up her mind. If she didn’t spend the money, Lu Yuan Ze would only waste it on his mistress.
“Madam, it’s a relief to see you finally letting go,” Deng Zhi sighed quietly. “I was worried you’d dip into your private savings to support them again. Every time the Marquis furrows his brow over money, you’ve always handed it over willingly, even begging him to accept it. Truly, it was heartbreaking to see.”
Madam Xu’s expression darkened. “He wants to give Yan Shu’s engagement to that bastard. He thinks he can use my money to support his mistress and her family? Dream on!”
The carriage stopped outside Golden Quality Tower, just as another carriage arrived.
As Madam Xu stepped down, a delicate young woman alighted from the other. She wore a veiled hat and a flowing gauze dress, exuding frailty like a willow in the wind.
Behind her, a nanny carried an infant of about five or six months. The baby’s swaddling cloth bore Sanskrit markings, clearly from a temple.
The young woman lifted her gaze, locking eyes with Madam Xu. Though Madam Xu had never met her, she sensed malice in the woman’s look.
“The second floor awaits, ladies,” the shopkeeper greeted them with a bright smile, recognizing both women as valued customers.
“Elder sister should go first,” the young woman said, her voice soft but emphasizing “elder” with venom.
Madam Xu nodded slightly, but Lu Chao Chao, perched on her maid’s shoulder, was inwardly screaming like a startled marmot.
[Ahhh! It’s the bastard! The bastard! It’s the female lead and her mistress mother! She’s my father’s mistress!]
Madam Xu’s steps faltered as fury surged through her. Her lip trembled as she fought for composure.
“No wonder she stressed ‘elder sister,’” Madam Xu thought bitterly.
“You two seem fated to meet,” the shopkeeper remarked. “Your daughters are about the same age.”
Madam Xu’s gaze fell on the infant in the Sanskrit swaddle. This child, who Lu Chao Chao claimed would usurp her child’s future in another life, was thin and frail, but her eyes…
Something about those eyes unsettled Madam Xu. They seemed too mature, too calculating for a child.
The baby clutched a string of prayer beads—108 beads inscribed with Sanskrit. Madam Xu instantly recognized them as her mother-in-law’s cherished possession, an artifact she had never been allowed to touch.
Her breathing grew erratic, especially when the young woman offered a triumphant smile.
Even the shopkeeper paused, studying the beads. “There’s a tale of the Spirit-Sheltering Beads from the National Temple—108 beads blessed by generations of abbots, with a central bead containing a sacred relic. Even the late emperor failed to obtain it.”
The shopkeeper squinted. “This set looks awfully similar.”
“Madam, you flatter me,” the young woman replied sweetly, her melodious voice like a songbird’s. “But these are indeed the Spirit-Sheltering Beads.”
Her veiled eyes sparkled as she stroked her temple, basking in the admiration and envy.
However, Deng Zhi’s eyes narrowed at the hairpin in the young woman’s bun.
“When I was pregnant,” the young woman began, her voice soft, “the abbot said my child carried immense fortune and would bring great blessings. These beads were given for my daughter to play with.”
Gasps of disbelief rippled through the room.
The young woman basked in the astonishment, continuing, “The old abbot said my daughter would be greatly favored by the heavens. If treated well, she’d bring unimaginable honor to her family.”
Meanwhile, Madam Xu seethed, her thoughts as turbulent as a storm.