Chapter 3: The Old Lady's Wager

The moonlight was a sickly white, dusting Lu Shiyuan’s pale, bloodless face like frost. It also caught the lingering silver sheen of the acupuncture needles still fresh on Su Wan’s fingertips. The biting chill had not faded; instead, it solidified into a physical chill as Grandma Lu crossed the threshold, sending a shiver of dread down the spines of everyone in the room.

The sound of the door creaking open echoed through the vast, empty hall, heavy with a suffocating weight. Grandma Lu’s eyes, sharp as razors, did not linger on the overly sentimental Lu Jingchuan. She cut straight through the darkness, locking onto the isolated figure in the corner—the girl dressed in rough cloth, reeking of medicinal herbs.

The air seemed to freeze. Even the crackle of the rekindled candles felt obnoxiously loud. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the judgment of the matriarch. The scrutiny in her gaze, the sheer pressure of it, was far more oppressive than the darkness had been, pressing directly against Su Wan’s heart.

Lu Jingchuan saw the wind shift and his mask of false civility crumbled. In its place was a flicker of panicked mockery that he tried desperately to hide. He stepped forward, the carpet sinking under his weight as he tried to seize control of the narrative. His voice dripped with condescending disdain, aiming to strip Su Wan of any credit she might have earned.

Lu Jingchuan narrowed his eyes. “Grandma, this peasant’s wild tricks are just a blind cat catching a dead rat. The Third Master has been in a coma for three years. Dozens of renowned doctors couldn't do a thing. What qualifications does she have to claim credit for a miracle? It’s pure luck, and luck isn’t something you can rely on.”

His voice was shrill, cutting through the silent hall like a knife. The servants around them instinctively flinched, shrinking back.

Su Wan did not shrink back from his venomous accusation. She straightened her previously hunched spine, meeting Lu Jingchuan’s murderous gaze with a calm, unshakeable firmness. Su Wan said softly, “Uncle Lu, if it were just luck, my last needle wouldn’t have raised the Third Master’s heart rate from forty beats per minute to sixty.”

“It wasn’t luck. It was the toxins accumulating in his body, sealing off his consciousness. In his pulse, I heard the ‘accident’ from three years ago. That’s a trail of chronic poisoning, not a simple vegetative state.”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but every word was clear, like a stone dropped into a deep pool, sending ripples outward.

Grandma Lu tapped her dragon-head cane against the floor. The sound was crisp, cold, and slow, like a funeral bell. She didn’t answer Su Wan directly. Instead, she watched with cold eyes, a faint, unreadable smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, testing this orphan girl’s courage and limits.

Grandma Lu spoke slowly. “The Lu Family doesn’t need mediocrity from charlatans. If you claim you can solve this mystery, then sign a military contract right here. Prove your skill. If you fail, don’t say the Lu Family’s rules were without mercy.”

Su Wan met the old woman’s scrutinizing gaze, neither humble nor arrogant. Her hands hung naturally at her sides, not clenched in fists, revealing her absolute calm. She knew this was her only chance to turn the tables. She dropped all pleasantries and laid out her core condition. Su Wan’s voice was icy. “I only need three months.”

“If the Third Master opens his eyes within three months, the ‘lucky charm’ debt the Lu Family owes me, Su Wan, is wiped clean. If I fail, I’ll leave the Lu Family on my own, and our lives go separate ways from then on. No interference, no guarantees.”

The words hung in the air, the room dead silent. Only the flickering candlelight cast dancing shadows on their faces, light and dark intertwining.

Lu Jingchuan saw that Su Wan dared to sign such a contract in public. A flash of viciousness crossed his eyes. He jumped in to block her, trying to strip her of her medical license on the spot. He waved his cane, shouting angrily, “No! The Lu Family’s lives are sacred. How dare you use an outsider for experiments?”

“Grandma, the Third Master’s condition is extremely unstable. If she uses that wild, untrained method to needle him and something goes wrong, who takes the blame? The Lu Family cannot afford that responsibility!”

The blue veins in his forehead pulsed, betraying his inner agitation and reluctance to accept defeat.

Su Wan let out a cold laugh, tearing off Lu Jingchuan’s hypocritical mask without mercy. The finger she pointed at him did not tremble; her eyes were full of contempt and sharpness. Su Wan demanded, “Uncle Lu, if you’re so worried about errors, why did you swap out the antidote formula back then? Your so-called ‘protection’ is just covering up your crime of delaying treatment and plotting to harm the Third Master.”

“Now, with his consciousness still unclear, this is the perfect time to uncover the truth of that year. You aren’t stopping me; you’re stopping your own conscience.” This sentence was like a blade drawn from its scabbard, striking at the heart. Lu Jingchuan’s face instantly drained of color.

Bai Jingxing, who had been watching coldly from the side, finally spoke, trying to counter Su Wan’s radical therapy from a medical standpoint. Bai Jingxing pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. The eyes behind the lenses glinted with arrogance. His tone was haughty. “Miss Su, toxin-induced consciousness blockage isn’t an unsolvable problem, but forceful acupuncture will only accelerate organ failure.”

“Your judgment lacks modern medical imaging support. It’s pure speculation.” Su Wan glanced at him. Her fingertip turned lightly, as if replaying a pulse diagram in her mind. She shot back coldly, “Associate Director Bai, did you forget about the chronic ailment in your own liver pulse?”

“Your pride in ‘authoritative judgment’ is just a frog looking at the moon before true divine forces. It’s small and shallow.”

Grandma Lu slammed her palm down on the table, the shockwave rattling the beams. Dust fell in a shower. She ignored Lu Jingchuan’s obstruction and Bai Jingxing’s doubts, and firmly placed Su Wan in the position of the Third Master’s future wife. Her gaze blazed, sweeping the room. Her voice carried the weight of absolute command. Grandma Lu decreed, “Jingchuan, shut up.”

“If Miss Su dares to sign the contract, she can bear the responsibility. Bai Jingxing, step down. From today, the Third Master’s treatment is entirely under Su Wan’s charge. Whoever dares to interfere again, get out of the Lu Family.”

To break any potential blockade from Lu Jingchuan, Grandma Lu gave him no chance to counterattack. She issued a thunderous command on the spot. She turned to the steward by her side, her tone unmistakable. Grandma Lu ordered, “Assign Miss Su a side courtyard as a private clinic. All personnel entering or exiting must be reported. I want to ensure her treatment environment is absolutely pure.”

“This is the highest authority of the Lu Family. Execute it immediately. No mistakes allowed.” The steward received the order, bowed deeply, and retreated, his hurried footsteps breaking the heavy stagnation in the hall.

Lu Jingchuan was brave in words but weak in spirit. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, but he refused to give up. He forced his last shred of dignity and threatened Su Wan. “Su Wan, if you dare to mess with the Third Master, it’s a crime against the crown and the state. The Lu Family’s rules—carve them into your brain. Otherwise, that side courtyard will be your grave.”

His voice remained tough, but the wind was out of him. Deep wariness shone in his eyes.

Su Wan calmly wiped the medicinal stains from her palms, paying no mind to the threat. She looked at Lu Jingchuan, the corner of her mouth curling into an icy arc. Su Wan replied, “Uncle Lu, as long as the Third Master wakes up, all the charges pinned on my head will collapse on their own.”

“On the contrary, those shady deals of yours from before will likely be exposed to the daylight along with his waking. You had best pray he wakes up slowly.”

Grandma Lu watched it all unfold, finally making the final call. She gave Su Wan maximum support while drawing a cruel life-and-death line. She turned her cane, signaling for everyone to leave. Her voice was aged but firm. Grandma Lu promised, “The monthly quota of rare medicinal herbs will be disbursed directly to you by the accounting office, doubled in amount. But remember, if you make a mistake, the Lu Family will not be lenient.”

“You had better pray your hands are steadier than your mouth.”

Night had fallen deep. The wind in the side courtyard was colder than in the main house, whipping dead leaves against the window frames. Su Wan sat on the hard wooden bed, a unsheathed silver needle in her hand. She closed her eyes to rest, trying to suppress the ringing in her ears left behind by using the 【Pulse Resonance】 technique. The tinnitus hummed in her ears like cicada wings, inducing a wave of dizziness.

The steward knocked on the door, delivering the first basket of “precious” herbs, claiming they were specially selected by the Head of the Household. Su Wan lifted the lid, and a pungent smell of mold hit her. She picked up a ginseng root, finding the cross-section had already turned black.

Su Wan looked at the basket, every single herb moldy and spoiled. Her heart sank. She looked up at the pitch-black night outside the window, her fingertip stroking the rotting ginseng root. Her eyes grew deep and dangerous. This Lu Family was dirtier than she had imagined.

The steward did not retreat despite Su Wan’s silence. Instead, with a slightly insolent smile, he leaned in and lowered his voice. “The Third Master is practically a living dead. He doesn’t need good herbs. These ‘aged ginsengs’ are specifically for clearing blockages in the heart. If the smell is too strong, I’ll have them light a fire to smoke it out and remove the moldy odor.”

Su Wan ignored the provocation. She simply dropped the black ginseng back into the basket. She knew exactly what this meant. Although the Second Branch of the Lu Family insisted she was just a lucky blind cat, Grandma Lu’s signing of the contract meant Lu Jingchuan had become the whole family’s political chip.

As long as he didn’t wake up, the Second Branch could hold their ground. If he woke up, those shady transactions would flood in like a burst dam, crushing the existing balance. So, even though Grandma Lu had issued the order, the people below would do everything in their power to obstruct her. These moldy herbs weren’t an oversight; they were a kill shot.

She snapped her eyes open, a cold light flashing in them. Since you sent poison, I’ll use it to test your medicine.

Su Wan pulled a plain sheet of paper from her sleeve, dipped her brush in ink, and moved quickly. She didn’t write a complaint or demand for good medicine. Instead, she listed a special formula. The formula not only included the waking herbs needed for Lu Jingchuan’s comatose state, but also mixed in three extremely rare Chinese herbs that could trigger intense toxic reactions.

Used alone, these three herbs were harmless. But if mixed with the mold toxins from the rotting ginseng roots and boiled at a specific temperature, they would generate a deadly substance called “Ghost Orchid Powder.”

The steward glancing at the writing on the paper, his face changed slightly. He reached out to snatch it. “Third Miss, this formula is too violent. The Third Master’s foundation isn’t stable. If something goes wrong, we can’t explain it to the Lady.”

“Can’t explain it?” Su Wan laughed coldly and tossed the paper onto the floor near the steward’s feet. “Then let them try. If the ‘Ghost Orchid’ signs don’t appear in the Third Master’s body in three days, I admit defeat and leave the Lu Family. But if he shows abnormalities…” She paused, tapping her finger on the table. “Then it’s the Second Branch’s poison, not my medicine.”

This move was called killing with a borrowed sword, but in reality, it was a trap inviting the tiger into the cage. She didn’t just want Lu Jingchuan to wake up; she wanted the Second Branch to leave undeniable traces while trying to poison him. The moldy medicine was their leverage, and it was also the lever for her counter-move.

The steward’s face was green. He clutched the yellowed prescription paper, his knuckles white from the grip. He hissed a low warning through his teeth, “Su Wan, you’re asking for death.”

Su Wan lay back on the hard bed, closing her eyes, the corner of her mouth curling into a eerie arc. Death? In this meat-grinder of a Lu Family, she was long past the point of dying in a fix.

The wind outside grew fiercer, snuffing out the last flickering lamp. In the darkness, only the prescription paper, clenched tight in the steward’s hand, radiated a fatal danger. And deep in the side courtyard, that rotting ginseng root waited silently for the moment it would be thrown into the furnace.