Farewell to the Old Lady
Without hesitation, the coachman hastened to drive back to the An'yang Marquis Mansion.
The Old Lady resided in the Xianghe Courtyard.
Chu Shuo had a close relationship with the Old Lady, and he nearly stumbled several times on the way due to his hurried pace.
However, as soon as they entered the Xianghe Courtyard, they felt a chilling breeze.
The Hall was filled with people, except for An'yang Marquis and his eldest son who were training in the military camp.
Both branches of the family were present.
Without Chu Shuo’s introduction, as soon as Nanli entered, a woman approached her and tightly grasping her hand.
The woman had a few strands of gray hair and a hint of sorrow between her brows.
Just by looking at her face, Nanli knew that she was her birth mother, Madam Shen, the mistress of the Marquis Mansion.
“Nan… Nanli?” Madam Shen’s originally swollen eyes welled up with tears again.
“Yes, you are Nanli, my daughter…” In this heartwarming reunion, Nanli was momentarily overwhelmed.
Fortunately, Madam Shen knew that it was not the priority now and didn’t waste any unnecessary words.
She led them inside to bid the Old Lady a final farewell.
As they entered the bedroom, the sense of gloom intensified.
Chu Shuo couldn’t help but shiver, thinking that his grandmother must be nearing the end of her life for the room to feel so cold.
However, Nanli furrowed her brows. The room was filled with an eerie aura.
The Old Lady was gravely ill, her face withered.
The imperial physician had to feed her a piece of hundred-year-old ginseng to sustain her life.
She was in a daze, unable to even open her eyes.
Seeing his grandmother in such a state, Chu Shuo knelt down and cried out, “Grandmother, your grandson has returned!”
He couldn’t accept it.
Before he left the capital, his grandmother was still healthy and even joking with him.
Madam Shen urged Nanli, who was standing aside, “Li’er, go and pay your respects to your grandmother. Before she fell ill, she was most concerned about you.”
As she spoke, she wiped the tears from her moistened eyes with a handkerchief.
Snap—
Unexpectedly, Nanli directly affixed a talisman to the headboard of the bed.
Then she instructed Chu Shuo, “Second brother, stop crying and take the ginseng out of grandmother’s mouth.”
Madam Shen was stunned.
The imperial physician angrily rebuked, “What nonsense are you spouting, little girl? The Old Lady can only sustain her life with the ginseng. It's the only way that she can keep breathing!”
Chu Shuo looked at the talisman on the headboard, which resembled a warding-off-evil pattern, and trembled as he asked, “Do you think grandmother has been affected by evil spirits? That she isn’t actually sick?”
Nanli nodded.
And the evil aura was still present in the room.
Without hesitation, Chu Shuo opened his grandmother’s mouth and removed the ginseng.
The imperial physician wanted to shout out and stop him, but Nanli directly affixed a paralyzing and silencing talisman to his forehead, preventing him from making a scene and obstructing her efforts to save the Old Lady.
Now that evil spirits were causing havoc, she couldn’t blame her for competing with the King of Hell for a soul.
She took out a protective and warding-off-evil pill and fed it to the Old Lady.
Then she opened the windows in the room, lifted the curtains of the bed, and let the sunlight fall on the Old Lady.
“Li’er, what are you doing?” Madam Shen was also alarmed but didn’t make a fuss.
This was her own daughter. If she brought her second uncle in, Nanli would undoubtedly face punishment.
“Saving her life,” Nanli replied succinctly.
The temperature in the bedroom slowly rose.
The Old Lady was immersed in a dream, constantly tormented by dark evil spirits.
No matter how she tried to escape, she couldn’t break free.
Suddenly, a golden talisman struck, dispersing the evil spirits, and she finally emerged from the dream.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Chu Shuo crying beside her bed.
“Shuo’er, why are you crying like this?” The Old Lady, though her spirit may be average, still speaks with great vigor.
The imperial physician was shocked.
Could it be that this young girl before him is an extraordinary healer in disguise?
With just a single pill, she brings people back from the brink of death?
“Grandmother, you scared me! It was my younger sister Nanli who displayed her extraordinary abilities and saved you,” Chu Shuo wiped away the tears on his face and grinned happily.
The Old Lady scanned the room and with just one glance, recognized her own granddaughter.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled to sit up,
“Tongtong? Is it really you, Tongtong?”
Tongtong?
Seeing Nanli's confusion, Madam Shen spoke, “Li’er, you must have forgotten. That was your childhood name.”
Nanli froze.
How could the original host’s childhood name be the same as hers?
“Yes, when you did the birthday ritual, you tightly held onto a copper coin, so Grandmother gave you this nickname,” (Note: "Copper coins" refers to “铜钱” in Chinese, which pronounced the same as the word in her nickname“彤彤”.)
Chu Shuo explained. Nanli was completely stunned, even the details of the birthday ritual were the same.
That’s why her master gave her such a nickname.
Did Chuang-Tzu dream of being a butterfly, or did the butterfly dream of being Chuang-Tzu? (Notes: The Taoist parable of Chuang-Tzu dreaming about a butterfly articulates Taoism's challenge towards the definitions of reality vs. illusion. Here, the author used such a phrase to reveal Nanli's doubts about her identity.)
She suddenly doubted that there was no original host at all.
Whether it was the 22nd-century leader of the mysterious sect or the sixth young miss of the Chu family, they were all her, Nanli.
It’s hard to explain everything; that’s the mystery of metaphysics.
After accepting this fact, Nanli knelt down and paid her respects to the Old Lady and Madam Shen, “Greetings, Grandmother, Mother.”
“Quickly, get up!” The Old Lady exclaimed.
Madam Shen immediately stepped forward to help her up.
Once the Old Lady’s condition stabilized, Nanli removed the immobilization and silence talisman from the imperial physician.
The imperial physician’s face was filled with excitement as he pleaded with his eyes, “Can I buy a pill of the miraculous medicine which Sixth Miss apply to the Old Lady?”
“This is the Heart-Protecting and Evil-Dispelling Pill, it only works for those afflicted by evil spirits. It would be useless for you,” Nanli said.
If it were before, the imperial physician would never believe that evil spirits could harm people.
But after witnessing the astonishing scene just now, he understood that evil spirits could indeed cause illness or even death.
The Old Lady’s expression turned fearful, “Evil spirits? I fell ill because I encountered an evil spirit?”
Nanli nodded, speaking frankly, “In Grandmother’s room, it seems that an evil spirit was being worshipped, which is why it had such great power and nearly caused Grandmother’s demise.”
The Old Lady’s face darkened.
Madam Shen immediately interjected, “Li’er, do not speak recklessly. Your grandmother is upright and honest. How could she worship an evil spirit?”
Nanli no longer beat around the bush and pointed directly at the white porcelain Guanyin statue on the table, “I am not speaking recklessly. That is the evil spirit Grandmother worships.”
The expressions of those present varied.
It was the imperial physician who suddenly rubbed his chin and widened his eyes,
“Isn’t that the one bestowed by His Majesty to the Old Lady recently? How could it be…”
He dared not say the rest.
“Outrageous! This is a gift from His Majesty, how could there be a problem?”
The Old Lady’s face hardened.
Even though she loved Nanli dearly, she couldn’t allow her to slander the Emperor, as it would bring disaster upon the entire family.
“Grandmother, what little sister said must be true!” Chu Shuo couldn’t tolerate anyone questioning his capable sister.
Without hesitation, he immediately went over and smashed the white porcelain Guanyin on the ground.
As the sound of shattering echoed, a piece of wooden carving fell out.
It was an image of an evil deity, with a sinister smile.
Just looking at it made one feel uncomfortable, and a chilling wind seemed to blow through the room.
People outside heard the commotion and their footsteps became chaotic as they tried to come in and see what had happened.
Madam Shen’s expression changed, and she quickly went out to stop them.
Breaking a gift from the Emperor was a grave offense.
The Old Lady, a former female general who had been on the battlefield, quickly regained her composure.
She stared at the imperial physician, her eyes filled with a brewing killing intent.