Before this, Su Su didn’t have a clue about how to remove the evil bone, but the Scarlet Flame Wasps incident gave her inspiration.
It had been a long time since the last war between the immortals and devils. Countless immortal seniors had fallen, while the demons were all suppressed in the Abyss of Desolation and sealed inside the barrier.
The cultivators retired after winning the battle, but their vital energy had been greatly damaged. Every hundred years, the mountain of Immortals would only accept disciples with excellent aptitudes.
Before Su Su came to the past, she had asked her dad——
“Can I find dad from five hundred years ago to ask for help?”
The green-robed Immortal Lord breathed out a sigh. “You mustn’t. I was in seclusion five hundred years ago and I’m afraid it will be decades before I come out of it.”
“Can I find mum then?” Su Su was looking forward to this as she had never met her own mother before.
A rare silence came from the green-robed Immortal Lord. “You will never find her.” That was all he would say.
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The weakened seal and awakened Tortoise Deity were a hopeful chance to remove the evil bone, but simultaneously, they were also signs of the beginning of a crisis.
In that case, all the more reason not to let Tantai Jin die right now. Once he died, his evil bone would be awakened. At that time, when the evil spirits broke out of the Abyss of Desolation, there would be nothing more she could do.
Su Su pondered for a while and called out to the butler, “Can you help me buy some talisman papers and cinnabar?”
The butler was very surprised. “Third Miss, what do you need these things for?”
“It’s good for the residence to prepare things that could ward off evil spirits since demonic creatures have appeared,” Su Su said, “Please remember that the talisman paper must be made of peach wood that is over a hundred years old and the cinnabar must be made from the blood of ferocious beasts.”
Su Su didn’t have any spiritual energy, but luckily she had learned how to draw talismans.
The butler found it difficult, but seeing Su Su’s persistence, he could only nod his head. “I will help Miss look for them.”
After he left, a little beggar came to report. “Miss, the Third Young Master went to the gambling house again!”
Su Su gave him a silver ingot. “Thank you.”
She put on a veil and brought Chun Tao along to the gambling house that the little beggar spoke of.
Su Su sat in the teahouse across the street for some time. As expected, she saw the Third Young Master, Ye Zheyun, and the Personnel Minister’s son walking out from the place with their arms around each other’s shoulders.
The smiles on their faces were exceptionally radiant. A guy that looked like the owner of the gambling house sent them out, and after a while, Su Su instructed Chun Tao to stay put before she went out.
She found a young lad that was advertising business outside the gambling house and apologetically said, “Would you please help me to pass the message that I am here to pay off the rest of the gambling debts for Third Young Master Ye. Have a look to see if these are enough.”
She took out a few ingots of gold.
“Miss, didn’t the Third Young Master’s gambling debt get paid off a few days ago?” the young lad said with surprise.
Su Su understood it clearly in her heart. Thinking of Aunt Lian’s estimated value of the stolen properties, she added, “I thought that the six thousand taels that Third Young Master Ye brought weren’t enough to pay back the gambling house.”
The young lad scratched his head, feeling perplexed. “The Third Young Master only owed five thousand taels, and it was paid off some time ago.”
“In that case, maybe it was me who wrongly remembered. I will stop disturbing you then.”
Su Su had been still unsure whether it was the Second Young Master or Third Young Master who had initially taken things, but now the culprit was obviously Ye Zheyun. How much did that Third Brother of hers get in exchange for those items that were worth six or seven thousand taels of silver? Judging by his completely guiltless expression, he didn’t know how serious the consequences would be. Or perhaps, he knew the consequences, but he thought that Tantai Jin would carry all the blame.
Chun Tao realized it too. “The Third Young Master has gone too far! How dare he take the Old Madam’s Jade Guanyin and put the blame on the hostage prince!” Chun Tao said angrily. “Fortunately, Miss found out the truth, otherwise, the hostage prince would have greatly suffered.”
“Would they break his hand?” Su Su recalled what had been said last time.
Chun Tao shook her head. “Not necessarily. But if it’s the hostage prince, Aunt Lian would surely not let him go easily.” Aunt Lian appeared to be good-natured, but all the servants knew that she was two-faced1.
“Miss, what should we do now?” Chun Tao asked.
“Let’s go back to the residence first.”
As soon as Su Su reached the General’s residence, Xi Xi hurriedly came out to greet her. “Third Miss, you finally came back. The Old Madam found out that the Jade Guanyin was missing, and got so angry that her heart ached. Because of that, Aunt Lian was reprimanded. In order to console the Old Madam, she released her anger out on the hostage prince!”
Su Su knew that this matter couldn’t be hidden for long, so she promptly followed Xi Xi to the main hall. But she was well aware of the situation this time, so she wasn’t anxious at all.
It was the same scene from last time, only this time, the Old Madam, Second Young Master, and Third Young Master were also present. Ye Chufeng sat on the chair submissively, trying hard to minimize his presence, whereas Ye Zheyun was eating grapes while looking at Tantai Jin, feeling schadenfreude.
The Old Madam covered her heart with her hand and said to Tantai Jin, “If you don’t bring the Jade Guanyin back, the General’s residence won’t have room for you anymore!”
Su Su hurriedly extended her arm to support the Old Madam. “Grandmother, please calm down.”
She also knew how important the Jade Guanyin was to the Old Madam. It was not that valuable, but it was given to her personally by Abbot Tong Hui before he passed away.
It had great meaning.
“Third Miss, you’ve also seen it, someone has to take responsibility for the filthy things done by the hostage prince,” said Aunt Lian.
Su Su helped the Old Madam to calm her anger. She somewhat felt like laughing. “Then, in Aunt Lian’s opinion, how should the person who stole the Jade Guanyin and Second Sister’s dowry be punished?”
Aunt Lian let out a sigh and said, “As long as the hostage prince speaks out about the whereabouts of the Jade Guanyin, a lighter punishment will be given, thirty strokes to end this matter.”
Thirty strokes, what great mercy. If the person’s body is weak, half of their life would be gone.
Ye Zheyun smiled mischievously and said, “Third Sister, aunt is being very merciful already. Don’t tell me that you can’t bear it?”
As soon as those words were spoken, Tantai Jin looked towards Su Su.
Su Su propped her chin and said, “What is Third Brother talking about? Of course I can bear it.”
Tantai Jin pursed his lips, and his eyes suddenly sank.