LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 66 - Safety
This mirror had been bought from Jia Dairu, who was initially puzzled as to why someone wanted to purchase it. It wasn’t until he visited his grandson and saw him staring blankly into the mirror, looking completely disheveled, that Jia Dairu was startled. If someone hadn’t paid for it, he would have thrown it out immediately.
So, he practically sold the mirror as if it were a hot potato.
The object was far too eerie—his grandson had almost lost his life because of it. Since someone wanted it, he was glad to be rid of it quickly.
This mirror could reflect on both sides. Concerned it might pose a problem, Yun Shuyao had it wrapped in cloth before it was delivered and tested on some small animals, like chicks and puppies.
During the tests, when one side of the mirror reflected the animals, they would become excited, as if they had seen something they liked. When reflected by the other side, some entered a state of arousal, while others behaved as if they were seeing their favorite food, stirring up their appetite.
The two sides of the mirror had different effects.
Yun Shuyao then wrapped the mirror in cloth again and looked at her own spirit mirror, which was trembling slightly.
When the Mirror got close, her spirit mirror nearly flew toward it, but Yun Shuyao managed to stop it.
She didn’t plan to risk testing the true power of the Mirror herself, so she decided to stop her investigation. The moment she let go, her “little coin” eagerly flew over. Last time, when dealing with the Buddhist prayer beads, the spirit mirror had quickly turned them to powder, but this time, it was working much more slowly.
The entire coin stuck to the Mirror, which instinctively tried to escape. However, being in a masterless state, it could only passively activate its limited protective abilities.
The Mirror wasn’t a defensive magical artifact, so it didn’t take long for the spirit mirror to break through its defenses. While the mirror surface remained smooth, the surrounding decorations gradually dimmed. Seeing that there wouldn’t be any major progress anytime soon, Yun Shuyao placed it in a box, letting the spirit mirror slowly absorb it.
After putting it away, Yun Shuyao headed to the kitchen and brought some soup to Luoyu and the old madam.
Recently, the old madam’s health had been poor—low-grade fevers, nightmares, and she couldn’t sleep peacefully. Even when she did manage to fall asleep, she would wake up shortly after, unable to distinguish between her dreams and reality. Only when she saw the children safe could her heart be at ease.
When she was fully awake and feeling better, she would urge the children to rest, worried that they were too exhausted.
When Yun Shuyao arrived, she saw Luoyu sitting wearily by the bedside, gazing out of the window, lost in thought. The bed curtains around the old madam were drawn, indicating she had fallen asleep.
Yun Shuyao quietly walked over, gently pulling Luoyu outside and giving her the bowl of soup to drink.
Although Luoyu had little appetite, she slowly finished the small bowl of soup.
After Luoyu drank it, Yun Shuyao asked her to extend her hand for a pulse check. Obediently, Luoyu let her.
“You need to rest more,” Yun Shuyao advised.
Luoyu didn’t respond. How could she rest?
There was still no news from her father, and her grandmother had been ill for a long time without recovering, making it impossible for her to feel at ease.
Yun Shuyao knew what Luoyu was worrying about and sighed softly. Without saying much more, she told her to close her eyes and began massaging her to help her relax.
“Auntie, you need to take care of yourself too. Have you eaten?” Luoyu knew that her aunt was worried about her, but she had many responsibilities herself and had also grown thinner. With their grandmother already bedridden, Luoyu didn’t want to see her aunt fall ill as well.
“I’m fine.”
She wasn’t about to collapse anytime soon, but she couldn’t help feeling powerless.
There was so little she could do. With Lin Ruhai severely injured, what could she possibly do?
Although she knew some medicine, her skills were nowhere near as advanced as Dr. Zhou’s. Her time was divided into many fragmented pieces, and she wasn’t particularly gifted in medicine.
However, Dr. Zhou was different. Apart from treating the Lin family, he devoted almost all his time to studying medicine, diligently honing his skills. His medical expertise had become increasingly refined.
Luoyu asked, “Auntie, father will be okay, right?”
Yun Shuyao, reassuring both Luoyu and herself, said, “I believe that as long as there’s the slightest chance, he will fight to survive.”
Luoyu quietly responded, “Mm.” Then she asked, “Auntie, are there still any thieves coming around?”
As she said the word “thief,” a fierce look flashed in her eyes.
Yun Shuyao replied, “Not in the last couple of days. After all, this is the capital.”
Luoyu let out a sigh of relief.
At that moment, the grandmother suddenly woke from a nightmare, shouting, “No, no!”
Hearing this, Luoyu immediately rushed into the room, quickly walking to her bedside. “Grandmother, grandmother, it’s okay. It was just a dream.”
“A dream?” The grandmother stared blankly at her and then tightly grabbed her hand. “Where is your brother? Where is he?”
“He’s in the room next door. He’s asleep.”
The old lady sat up. “Help me up. I want to see him.”
Originally, Chenyu had been staying in his own courtyard, but due to the old lady’s condition, he had moved into the room next door.
Luoyu, seeing her grandmother’s worn-out appearance, said, “Don’t move. I’ll go get him.”
Her brother was also exhausted, but he was young.
The old lady shook her head. “No need, I’ll go see him myself.” She glanced at the time. “He hasn’t been asleep for long, right? Let him rest. I’ll just take a look at him.”
She was insistent.
Luoyu couldn’t argue with her, so she and her aunt supported her on either side, helping her change clothes and head to the room next door.
As soon as someone opened the door, Chenyu woke up. Seeing his grandmother, he quickly sat up and was about to get out of bed.
But the old lady hurried over and stopped him, holding his hand. “Don’t move. Grandmother just wanted to check on you.”
She touched his warm skin and then his face, confirming that her grandson was still in good health. Only then did she feel at ease.
This scene had repeated itself often.
The old lady had thought she wouldn’t wake him, as she had walked very quietly. “Go back to sleep, Grandmother is going back too. Be good, and sleep well.”
Chenyu rubbed his aching forehead and lay back down.
They had been taking turns staying by their grandmother’s side. He had been the last one, and now he was indeed exhausted.
After leaving Chenyu’s room, the old lady didn’t return to her own room. Instead, she detoured to check on Daiyu.
Daiyu was resting, and the room was filled with the strong smell of medicine.
She had also fallen ill, having cried too much and been overwhelmed by grief.
Moreover, she was still young and not very healthy to begin with. This illness had brought on a high fever, making the grandmother regret not keeping her son’s condition a secret from Daiyu.
After checking on Daiyu, she glanced at Yingyu, who was also resting. Yingyu was sleeping deeply and didn’t notice anyone had come in.
Seeing that all the children were present, the grandmother finally felt her exhaustion and prepared to return to her room to rest again.
Things on her son’s side were not looking good, and no news had come back yet. She didn’t know how he was doing now, so she prayed to the gods for his safety, but she had to prepare for the worst.
If her son couldn’t be saved, her grandson and granddaughter could not be out of her sight.
To put it a bit bluntly, Concubine Mei’s journey was risky. However, she had volunteered for it, wanting to take a chance. Regardless of the outcome, it was her own decision.
She had already arranged enough people to accompany Concubine Mei, hoping everything would go smoothly.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long. A trusted servant from the Lin family rushed back on horseback.
They should have returned earlier, but they encountered an ambush on the road and had to take a detour. Due to the chaos in Yangzhou, they were also worried that something might happen in the capital.
Thankfully, this was, after all, the heart of the empire, and the Lin family’s residence was heavily guarded, so nothing went wrong.
The letter they brought back was like a miracle cure, instantly relieving the tension among the Lin family members.
It was a personal letter from Lin Ruhai himself. There wasn’t much information in the letter, only a message assuring them of his safety.
He was indeed injured, but not to the point of being at death’s door. He reassured them not to worry. Yangzhou had many issues to deal with, and he was still busy. He repeatedly emphasized that his mother and children should stay in the capital and not leave.
He stressed this point several times in the letter.
After reading it, Yun Shuyao felt relieved, but also thoughtful.
What Lin Ruhai said wasn’t just not to go to Yangzhou, but specifically not to leave the capital. Had he discovered something?
Chenyu carefully examined the letter. A lot can be understood from a person’s handwriting. For example, compared to before, his father’s writing was weaker, but its underlying strength remained, and it had become even sharper.
No matter what, knowing that his father was safe was enough to put their minds at ease.
With this news, half of the old lady’s illness seemed to have already lifted.
The atmosphere in the Lin family also shifted from gloom to overcast.
The reason it hadn’t completely cleared up was that Lin Ruhai’s situation was still not ideal.
Yun Shuyao sighed inwardly. Every now and then, she would check on the progress of the spiritual mirror. She wondered if the Mirror had a higher quality, as its absorption process was slow. But each day, she could see its transformation. The iron color on the spiritual mirror gradually became more jade-like.
Initially, it was an extremely pale green, and each day, the color deepened a little more.
By the time the Mirror was fully absorbed, it had turned into a vibrant emerald green. The mirror in the center of the spiritual mirror had disappeared, making it look like a copper coin at first glance. But now, it no longer resembled a copper coin, instead appearing as a small, exquisite, portable mirror.
Yun Shuyao: “…”
It really was quite capable.
This transformation could indeed be described as a complete rebirth. Correspondingly, the Mirror crumbled into powder and, with a gust of wind, dispersed completely.
At the moment it vanished, in another place, Jing Huan suddenly had a premonition. She sensed that she had lost something important. After calculating with her fingers, she immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
The Mirror was a treasure that Jing Huan had obtained with great difficulty. It was only for the sake of this particular scheme that she painfully erased their contract. Now, the contract was broken.
Who did this?!
Who had the audacity to take her Mirror?! Could it be Zhile again? He had already ruined her plans several times. If she ever found out who this Master Zhile was, it would be a fight to the death!
Though furious, Jing Huan immediately contacted the monk and the Taoist, those two fools.
The monk and Taoist: “…”
The Mirror?
Wasn’t it still at Jia Dairu’s house? They had been waiting for news of someone’s death in the Jia family so they could retrieve the Mirror.
Jing Huan: “…”
She almost spat out another mouthful of blood. “Go now!”
The monk and the Taoist hurried to Jia Dairu’s home, only to find Jia Rui recovering from illness. The doctor said that Jia Rui had nearly died due to excessive ‘Essence’ loss, and it was only thanks to timely intervention that his life was spared. Jia Dairu and his wife, both terrified, had decided to send their grandson away as soon as he recovered.
This was their son’s only bloodline. If Feng Lazi found out, there would be serious consequences.
Because of these concerns, they had been keeping watch by Jia Rui’s bedside. When they saw the monk and the Taoist arrive, they immediately grabbed brooms to chase them away.
That cursed mirror had been brought by these wicked people, so they couldn’t be good.
The monk and Taoist ignored the brooms and looked around, but didn’t find what they were looking for: “…”
Oh no, where’s the Mirror?
It’s really gone?!