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“Cinnabar, yellow paper, realgar—go to the Old Madam’s courtyard and fetch them. Quickly!”

With that, Ming Shu held out her hand to the wet nurse. “Give me the clothes.”

The wet nurse stared blankly at the ethereal woman before her and handed them over without thinking.

Ming Shu crouched down and gently touched Little Tree’s brow.

Madam Cheng was just about to stop her, but the child, who had been crying without pause, suddenly fell silent and gazed at Ming Shu through tear-filled eyes.

After steadying the child’s soul, Ming Shu quickly dressed him, then used her sleeve to wipe away his tears and runny nose. She said to the wet nurse, “Take him inside and give him something to eat first. He’s been crying for so long—he must be hungry.”

Madam Cheng stared in astonishment and suspicion as Little Tree obediently followed the wet nurse indoors. She immediately ordered the servants to fetch the things from the Old Madam’s courtyard.

“Now go and check on… Big Mountain?” Ming Shu was somewhat baffled. Were the young masters of this marquis’s residence given names so casually?

Fu Big Mountain? Fu Little Tree?

Madam Cheng gave a cold snort and entered the western side room. When she saw the child’s flushed face, the pain in her expression was impossible to conceal.

Ming Shu, meanwhile, was secretly alarmed.

Just as she had expected, the corpse aura on Big Mountain’s face was denser than Little Tree’s, and his symptoms were more severe.

If the fever continued like this, he certainly would not survive the day.

If something happened to the children, would Fu Zhixun think she was a troublemaker who had thrown the entire marquis’s household into chaos—and decide to kill her again?

Living under another person’s roof, she could only keep her tail tucked between her legs.

As she steadied the child’s soul, Ming Shu asked Madam Cheng, “Have you called a doctor? Have you given him anything to bring down the fever?”

“Do you take me for an idiot? Would I not call a doctor and give my child medicine? It was only because the doctor was useless that I realized this was your doing!” Madam Cheng grew angry again.

Seeing that Madam Cheng seemed determined to berate her to death, Ming Shu could no longer hold back her temper. “If this were truly my doing, everyone in this room would already be dead!”

“And even setting that aside, I had only just entered the marquis’s residence. I didn’t even know who was who yet. Why would I harm you?”

Madam Cheng planted her hands on her hips and was about to argue back, but Ming Shu silenced her with a single sentence.

“If you keep wasting time with me, both children really will die!”

“Sit there and behave yourself. I’ll save them!”

After a moment’s thought, Ming Shu instructed Muxi, “Go find the Third Young Master and tell him that the Fourth Young Master’s fever will not come down and that his life is in danger.”

Uncle Zhao should have delivered the message. Fu Zhixun would not stand by and do nothing.

Sure enough, before she had finished drawing half the talisman, Fu Zhixun arrived with Uncle Zhao.

Ming Shu looked up. “I was unconscious when the children got into trouble.” It had nothing to do with me.

“Don’t worry. I’ll certainly resolve Big Mountain and Little Tree’s problem properly.” The affairs of the marquis’s residence were her affairs too!

Fu Zhixun cast her a sidelong glance. His eyes conveyed only one thought: Ever since you arrived, there had been an extraordinary number of troubles in the marquis’s residence.

Ming Shu was speechless. What did the corpse aura in the courtyard have to do with her? In the past, if a client had treated her like this, she would have left at once.

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He had no respect whatsoever for a master of the occult!

Still, whatever his opinion of her, Fu Zhixun did take action. He immediately gestured for Uncle Zhao to treat the child.

Then he asked Ming Shu, “Tell me. What sort of demon or ghost is it this time?”

“Second Aunt, Big Mountain, and Little Tree have all been contaminated by corpse aura. Their souls are unstable, which is why they have developed fevers and cannot stop crying.”

Ming Shu’s gaze fell upon Madam Cheng’s astonished face. “Second Aunt’s symptoms are milder, but she should be experiencing some reaction as well—restlessness, nausea and loss of appetite, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and the like.”

Madam Cheng had initially wanted to accuse Ming Shu of talking nonsense, but upon hearing those words, her expression turned utterly shocked. Her mouth hung open, yet no sound came out.

Ming Shu did not pause in drawing the talisman. “The most urgent matters are, first, to bring Big Mountain’s fever down as quickly as possible, and second, to locate and destroy the source of the corpse aura completely. Only then will Big Mountain, Little Tree, and Second Aunt be safe.”

Fu Zhixun’s swordlike brows lifted slightly, and his gaze involuntarily settled on Ming Shu’s rapidly moving hand.

Both her hands were still wrapped in gauze. She had cut them while purifying Yunqing’s vengeful spirit. Uncle Zhao had said the wounds were extremely deep and would need half a month to heal completely. Removing the scars would require a special ointment as well.

Following the line of her hands upward, one saw a small, snow-white face, dark brows and eyes, and soft pink lips. Gone was the ghastly pallor that had surrounded her like a ghostly aura a few days ago. Her beauty now truly possessed an otherworldly, almost celestial quality.

No wonder the Crown Prince refused to let the matter rest and kept watching the marquis’s residence, hoping to take her away.

“How do we find the source of the corpse aura?”

Ming Shu finished the final stroke. “Each yellow talisman represents a direction. Whichever talisman burns indicates where the corpse aura has gathered—that is, its source.”

She walked into the courtyard and, according to the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams, placed the corresponding yellow talismans in their respective positions.

The cold wind rustled through the courtyard, stirring the talismans. Suddenly, crimson flames sprang up one after another, and every yellow talisman turned to ash in an instant.

Madam Cheng and the servants were astonished.

Ming Shu herself was stunned.

“So this means the entire courtyard is filled with corpse aura, and the courtyard itself is the source?” Fu Zhixun asked, his tone carrying a trace of mockery.

“That can’t be right.” Ming Shu shook her head and indicated several servants with her eyes. “If that were the case, they should have corpse aura on them too. But only Second Aunt, Big Mountain, and Little Tree have been contaminated. That makes no sense.”

Fu Zhixun’s expression grew solemn. He knew that Ming Shu could see things ordinary people could not.

“What causes someone to become contaminated by corpse aura?” he asked.

“Corpse aura, as the name suggests, is the foul energy found on corpses. Generally, only the dead and things placed together with the dead would possess it…” Ming Shu suddenly understood. “Is there anything here connected to a corpse?”

The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted asking. Surely Second Aunt would lose her temper again.

Yet Madam Cheng remained silent. Not only her—even Fu Zhixun’s expression had become rather complicated.

Ming Shu’s thoughts stirred. Judging from the antique furnishings of the western courtyard, there were probably quite a few old treasures here.

And many antiques were burial objects, dug out from beneath the earth…

After hesitating, Ming Shu tentatively asked Fu Zhixun, “May I examine the antiques in this courtyard?”

Fu Zhixun gave her a half-smile. “This is the residence of Second Uncle and Second Aunt.”

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Ming Shu was speechless. Of course she knew that. But if she asked openly, would Second Aunt agree? Men truly could not be relied upon at all.

At that moment, a hearty voice rang out.

“Third Nephew, what wind has blown you here today?”

Ming Shu turned toward the voice and saw a slightly plump, middle-aged man entering the courtyard. He had a little belly and walked with his feet turned outward.

Ming Shu stared at his face.

His fair features were covered in an intense corpse aura—several times denser than that of Madam Cheng and the two children!

“Second Uncle—”

Before Fu Zhixun could finish his greeting, the middle-aged man grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the house.

“Why are you standing around in the courtyard? Come inside and take a look at the treasure your Second Uncle just acquired! I’m telling you, I truly struck an incredible bargain this time!”

Behind him, two young servants each carried a wooden chest, moving with extreme caution.

“What do you mean, look? You still have the mind to fuss over your worthless junk when Big Mountain and Little Tree are in trouble!” Madam Cheng snapped.

Fu Yanshan stopped in his tracks. “What happened?”

“She says the children have been contaminated by corpse aura and are about to die!” Madam Cheng pointed at Ming Shu.

“Corpse what? Those are just the scare tactics of charlatans. How could you believe…” Fu Yanshan finally got a clear look at Ming Shu, and his voice instinctively lowered. Someone with a face like that hardly seemed to need to swindle people for money. “Who is she?”

“Your Third Nephew’s wife.”

Fu Yanshan seemed startled. He turned to Fu Zhixun. “Is she… that person?”

Fu Zhixun calmly gave a quiet acknowledgment. “The Fanyin Princess of the Nanning Kingdom.”

Fu Yanshan’s expression darkened slightly. He had learned something about what had happened in the Old Madam’s courtyard a few days earlier.

This princess of a fallen kingdom was indeed somewhat uncanny.

“I’ll go see Big Mountain and Little Tree first.” Fu Yanshan rushed straight into the room, with Madam Cheng close behind.

After a brief moment’s thought, Ming Shu walked over to Fu Zhixun and said in a low voice, “The corpse aura on Second Uncle is heavier than that on Second Aunt and the two children. If I’m not mistaken, all four of them have handled some antique or burial object, and Second Uncle came into contact with the greatest amount of it.”

Fu Zhixun cast her a glance. “The servants must have handled the things Second Uncle and Second Aunt touched. If contact alone caused contamination, why are the servants unharmed?”

Ming Shu was at a loss for words.

That was precisely what she could not understand.

It was just like how her yellow talismans had failed to locate the source of the corpse aura.

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