"What nonsense are you spouting?" The Prime Minister’s wife’s face turned stern, devoid of any tenderness.
"Our family rules have always been clear: no concubines unless there are no heirs, let alone becoming someone’s mistress!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yanyan burst into tears and shook her head.
"Forget it, forget it. It seems that he and his family despise me. Why should I bother?"
The Prime Minister’s wife was taken aback by her daughter’s words.
Lu Yanyan had always been hot-tempered, either looking down on others or being disregarded by them.
But now, hearing that her daughter had feelings for someone, she was astonished.
"You haven’t even met him, how can you be so sure? Though your temperament may be flawed, you come from a good family background. Others may not necessarily reject you. Tell me, which young gentleman has captured your heart?"
Lu Yanyan also felt that her mother was right.
After hesitating for a while, she finally said, "It’s... the second son of the Anyang Marquis Mansion."
The Prime Minister’s wife’s mouth twitched.
She had never expected it to be Chu Shuo.
After all, the aristocratic circles in the capital looked down upon merchants, and Chu Shuo happened to have a businesswoman as his aunt.
Moreover, he was personally involved in his family’s business and had no intention of entering the court as an official.
As a mother with one son and one daughter, she wanted to find good matches for her children. But someone like Chu Shuo was not to her liking.
The Prime Minister’s wife thought carefully and realized that her daughter must have developed feelings for Chu Shuo during their time at the Wanfo Temple.
How could they have been left alone together for half a day?
Buddha, were you blind or something? Why did you let them have such an opportunity?
Seeing the expression on her mother’s face, Lu Yanyan’s own face fell.
She asked, "Mother, do you think I am not worthy of Chu Shuo, or do you simply dislike him?"
The Prime Minister’s wife sighed.
"Both, but based on what you just said, it seems he has already made a marriage arrangement. If you were to marry into his household, you would become a concubine. How could your father agree to that? Furthermore, you caused a scene at Chu Nanli’s coming-of-age banquet. The Chu family must not like you. Why put yourself through this?"
In short, Chu Shuo was not a suitable match.
The Prime Minister’s wife feared that her daughter would suffer after marrying into the Marquis’s residence.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yanyan lowered her head in despair and said, "Mother, you’re right."
She looked at the gifts on the table, pondered for a moment, and decided to leave them behind.
After all, they were the remnants of her aspirations.
The Prime Minister’s wife thought the matter had ended there, but to her surprise, her daughter fell ill just two days later.
The illness came on suddenly, and the Prime Minister’s wife initially thought it was lovesickness.
She specifically invited an old acquaintance, Doctor Guan, to examine her daughter.
After checking her pulse, Doctor Guan asked about the symptoms.
Learning that Lu Yanyan had not regained consciousness, he took out a talisman for testing.
Indeed, this was the same doctor who had given the testing talisman to Nanli.
He exclaimed, "Oh my, the young lady’s soul is damaged. I am powerless to help. We need to find a powerful Taoist priest."
The Prime Minister’s wife panicked. "How could her soul be damaged when everything was fine?"
Doctor Guan was a medical practitioner and had no idea why. "Madam, please find someone quickly. It would be best to seek Miss Chu’s help. She gave me this talisman."
He had given it that name, and it proved to be quite useful.
The Prime Minister immediately sent someone to invite Chu Nanli.
He muttered to himself, "Why did something happen to Zheng’er, and now it’s Yan Yan? We must have the Feng Shui checked by Sixth Miss to ward off any evil spirits."
Not long after, Nanli arrived with Zhi Mi.
Zhi Mi remembered their previous visit and said, "Prime Minister, you’re patronizing our business again."
The Prime Minister’s face stiffened.
"Junior brother, mind your manners." Nanli interjected, "You should say, ’This time, I’ll definitely give you a discount.’"
Prime Minister thought that these two utterances bear no distinction.
Physician Guan eagerly approached, wearing a beaming smile, and said, "Miss, it is truly delightful to see you! As soon as I detected that Miss Lu’s soul was damaged, I immediately requested the Prime Minister to summon you. Look, could you perhaps bestow upon me two more Soul-Divining Talismans?"
An acquaintance, it turns out?
Nanli straightforwardly replied, "No bestowal, only purchase."
Ever since the opening of her self-diagnosis medical clinic, money flowed like a river each day, with the majority of her earnings being poured into it.
Now, even a couple of silver coins were a substantial sum for her!
"Very well!" Physician Guan hastily agreed.
If Nanli didn’t bestow, then she didn’t bestow.
Spending money to acquire it was no issue, as this talisman held great value for him.
At this moment, the Prime Minister’s wife urged, "Miss Chu, please take a look at Yanyan. She has been running a high fever and has yet to regain consciousness."
Nanli nodded and assured them, then walked over to the bedside to examine Yanyan’s condition.
Deliberately, she refrained from speaking first, allowing Zhi Mi to speak.
Zhi Mi used a talisman and discovered that Yanyan’s soul was indeed fragmented.
"Sister, her life soul has been snatched away, but judging from her condition, her life soul is still within this room."
Zhi Mi glanced around but couldn’t see Yanyan’s life soul.
"You speak the truth." Nanli praised, her gaze approving.
In a few more years of cultivation, Zhi Mi wouldn’t need a talisman to see clearly anymore.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Zhi Mi’s mouth, but he restrained his joy in consideration of the Prime Minister and his wife’s presence.
Nanli surveyed the surroundings and quickly approached the dressing table, opening a drawer and retrieving an intricately crafted golden hairpin.
This hairpin was exquisitely made, with a red gemstone embedded at its end, indicating its considerable value.
She saw that a faint mist coiled around it, precisely Yanyan’s life soul.
"Sister, this..." Zhi Mi also noticed, "This hairpin is quite peculiar. How could it snatch someone’s life soul?"
The soul-snatching power of this hairpin was extraordinary, not something easily coerced.
Nanli examined it and noticed a lingering trace of ethereal aura.
"It should be a failed magical treasure, which is why it possesses such peculiar power."
Having perused ancient texts, she knew that before the closure of the Immortal Sect, a few magical treasures had fallen into the mortal realm.
This failed soul-snatching hairpin was likely one of them.
Zhi Mi suddenly understood and nodded, "I see. Sister, do you have a way to retrieve the life soul?"
For a moment, Nanli found herself at a loss.
At this moment, the Prime Minister’s wife couldn’t help but interject, "This hairpin... seems to have been given to Yanyan by your second brother as a surprise."
Knowing that this hairpin could snatch souls, she would never allow her daughter to accept it.
"... "Nanli’s mouth twitched slightly.
She hadn’t expected her second brother’s luck to be so dire, to the point of implicating Yanyan.
However, every magical treasure possessed its own spirituality, and this hairpin had existed for a thousand years, likely nurturing its own hairpin spirit.
Immediately, she formed a hand seal, gathering a trace of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, and infused it into the hairpin.
A silver light flashed across the hairpin, revealing a semi-transparent hairpin spirit. The hairpin spirit, dressed in a gossamer gown, possessed delicate features, appearing to be around fifteen or sixteen years old.
Being forced out by Nanli, it was somewhat annoyed. "How dare you, insignificant mortal, summon me?"