When Granny Zhang saw that the old Taoist priest in the green robe had given her a blank talisman, she held it in her hand and examined it for a long time. She then laughed at the old Taoist priest and said, "Whether other people's talismans are effective or not, at least they are covered with all kinds of strange patterns and have been painstakingly crafted. Could it be that you are an illiterate and extremely lazy Taoist priest? I suppose your Taoist skills are still shallow."
However, the old Taoist priest didn't seem angry at all. Instead, he stroked his white beard, put on a smile, turned around and left, muttering to himself as he went, "A mountain is not famous because of its height, but because of the immortals who dwell there. Water is not sacred because of its depth, but because of the dragons that inhabit it. Everything is predestined; if you believe, it exists; if you don't believe, it doesn't."
Thinking of this, I wonder if the talisman I gave to Physician Yue in my moment of panic is still effective.
Even though she was now at her wit's end and truly had no idea what to do with this seemingly innocent but actually cunning woman, she was only resorting to desperate measures. Holding onto her last shred of hope with a mix of belief and doubt, she silently prayed that if this time she could truly make the master of the Qin Prince's mansion open his eyes and see the true face of this masked woman, she would be willing to shorten her lifespan by ten years, and even if she died, she would have no regrets.
So she quickly picked up the basin of water and walked towards Xuan Yuanhan, who was lying on the sickbed.
Just then, Lu Tianjiao was taken aback and hurriedly stepped forward to block her way. However, he still glanced at the basin of water that Zhang Mama was holding with a hint of fear in his eyes and asked, "Is there something wrong with this water? What do you want to do with it?"
Granny Zhang snorted coldly, glaring at her with disdain, and said, "What this old woman wants to do is none of your business, you outsider of the Prince of Qin's mansion, a murderer. Get out of my way!"
Unexpectedly, Lu Tianjiao suddenly raised his voice as well, domineeringly stopping him, saying, "No!"
Seeing that her emotions seemed to suddenly become agitated again, Zhang Mama then looked down at the painting of the Zen temple's water flow floating in the basin. She hadn't expected that Yue Song could paint it so realistically, as if she had seen it with her own eyes, after she had only given a brief description to Physician Yue.
After a slight hesitation, Zhang Mama slowly raised her head and deliberately probed, "No? What's wrong? This is holy water soaked with a divine talisman, the kind of holy water that can awaken His Highness. Why can't it be? Could it be... could it be that eight years ago, you killed the Dowager Consort, and now you want His Highness's life too? No wonder you haven't served His Highness to wipe his eyes yet. Are you afraid that he will wake up and see your ugly face, or... are you still... still the Empress Dowager's person?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Tianjiao immediately flew into a rage, exclaiming, "Nonsense! Utter nonsense! How could I possibly harm Brother Han? Even if the entire world were to hurt him, I, Lu Tianjiao, would never harm Brother Han in the slightest, much less be someone the Empress Dowager works for! From that moment on, I..."
As he was speaking, Lu Tianjiao suddenly realized that he had gotten too excited and had said something inappropriate. He quickly lowered his head and stopped talking, shrinking back down and remaining motionless in place.
In this situation, everyone present was undoubtedly surprised and their eyes fell on her repeatedly.
Granny Zhang stood there staring at her for a long time. Seeing that she had already confessed without being asked, she walked straight to the bed.
Lu Tianjiao suddenly looked up, seemingly wanting to speak but then stopped. She even tried to step forward to stop him, but Cheng Liang inside the hall gave her a look and ordered the two guards to step forward and grab her two delicate arms. They easily dragged her backward to the window next to the carved wooden shelf where the water basin was placed.
As she struggled, she cried out, "Let me go, let me go..." But when she met Cheng Liang's furrowed brows, serious expression, and angry gaze, she immediately stopped and turned her head away, giving him a cold snort that seemed to show her displeasure even now.
As soon as Zhang Mama reached the bedside, she picked up a clean, soft white cloth and carefully folded it neatly. Then, she pinched one end and soaked it completely in the basin of water, before gently squeezing out the excess water.
Following the instructions of the Taoist priest in the green robe, he repeatedly and repeatedly wiped around Xuan Yuanhan's tightly closed eyes in circles, while lowering his voice and devoutly murmuring, "The true dragon emerges from the sea, the spiritual realm is unified, the phoenix rises from the ashes, reborn from the flames, life is death, and death is life..."
After repeating this countless times, Granny Zhang finally stopped what she was doing and slowly opened her eyes.
However, when she opened her eyes and anxiously looked at the face of the person on the sickbed before her, she immediately revealed a look of despair and hopelessness. For on that noble, seemingly naturally handsome face, his eyes remained deeply glazed over, unchanged from before. There was no indication, as the Taoist priest in the green robe had said, that after she followed his instructions to wipe his eyes with the holy water and silently recite the incantation 17 times, the nobleman in the mansion would immediately awaken.
At that moment, it wasn't just Granny Zhang who was there. As she began to silently recite the mantra, everything around her, even the air itself, seemed to freeze and stand still. Everyone in the hall held their breath, sincerely praying and anticipating the appearance of this miracle.
Inside and outside Lin Yuexuan's bedroom, all was silent.
Suddenly, Lu Tianjiao withdrew her pleading gaze from the face of the person on the sickbed, and let out a cold laugh indignantly, "Hahahaha... How about that? I told you that the water was problematic, but you insisted on using it. Now you should believe me, right? That's just a trick by those idle people who pretend to be mysterious all day long, with bad intentions, trying to swindle money from people. Only a fool would believe it."
Although she secretly hoped that this so-called talisman could really wake her brother Han up, the reality in front of her made her act recklessly again.
Upon hearing this, everyone frowned and glared at her angrily, but Zhang Mama was still staring blankly into Xuan Yuanhan's eyes, seemingly unwilling to give up and waiting.
Just then, a gust of night wind blew in through the window next to Lu Tianjiao, knocking a piece of white paper stuck to the outside corner of the window down and landing right at Lu Tianjiao's feet.
Upon seeing this, Lu Tianjiao frowned slightly and bent down to pick it up. Everyone around her felt a jolt of anxiety and instantly became tense.
Lu Tianjiao held the white paper in his hand, examining it carefully for a moment. Then he brought it close to his nose and smelled the slightly dried, pasty residue on it. He muttered to himself, puzzled, "This is... Arisaema and... vinegar... The incessant knocking on the window earlier was caused by this tampered white paper?... Is this the secret technique of 'Ghostly Gate'? Then..."
As she spoke, she seemed to recall another strange incident, and hurriedly looked around the hall for the yellow paper talisman. The moment her gaze locked onto it, she swiftly darted over and scooped it up, examining it carefully from head to toe. She brought it close to her nose and smelled it. "A talisman drawn with alum and... scutellaria... characters floating on water... so that's what happened! How could I have been so foolish not to realize sooner that they used a little-known secret technique on me? Damn it... so damn it..."
Just as Lu Tianjiao finally understood what had happened that night, Xuan Yuanhan, lying on his sickbed, slowly opened his long-unseen deep eyes.
When Zhang Mama saw her master wake up, she was instantly stunned.
She gazed into his eyes with a look of joy, as if they hadn't seen each other for years, or as if she were seeing someone who had just returned from the brink of death. She was terrified, afraid that he, like his mother eight years ago, would lose his life in his sweet sleep.
At this moment, Granny Zhang's mouth opened wider and wider, as if she were about to cry tears of joy. In fact, her eyes were already brimming with tears. She was about to shout out in excitement when Xuan Yuanhan reached out and grabbed her tightly. Then, he gently shook his head at her, signaling her to remain silent.
As if she instantly understood his intention, Zhang Mama nodded cautiously to him, turned around and quietly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. Then she picked up the basin and went back to the carved wooden stand to put it back in its original place, preparing to continue to play this role with him with full confidence.
Just then, Lu Tianjiao, who already knew everything, seemed to suddenly lose her mind. She rushed towards Zhang Mama, who was holding a basin of water, grabbed her arm with one hand, and pointed at the basin with the other, her face contorted with rage. She bared her teeth and said, "Old hag, so everything tonight was your doing, wasn't it? You had people use the 'Ghost Gate' and 'Floating Words on Water' techniques on me. You all... you all saw the Zen Temple's water flow diagram in this basin, didn't you? And you... you deliberately dressed up as the Empress Dowager to scare me and force me to reveal the truth about the fire eight years ago, didn't you?"
"Hmph, these alone are probably not enough to affect your mind and composure, Miss Lu?" Xuan Yuanhan had already woken up, so Zhang Mama was naturally not afraid to confront him face to face and clarify everything that had happened.
"Just these? You mean... there's something else... what is it, what else did you do to me?" Lu Tianjiao said, puzzled, while vigorously shaking Zhang Mama's arm.
Seeing this, Cheng Liang was about to step forward to stop him, but was stopped by a furtive glance from Zhang Mama towards Xuan Yuanhan's bedside. Cheng Liang couldn't help but also secretly glance at him in the distance.
Seeing that Granny Zhang remained silent, Lu Tianjiao suddenly raised her head and glanced around. Her gaze suddenly fell on the two guards, and then she quickly looked at the several dishes of congee and side dishes and the teacup on the table, which had long since gone cold and remained untouched. Only then did she remember that the guard had dawdled and grumbled for a long time, until he persuaded her to finish the bowl of flower tea before he was willing to leave the hall.
Then, she suddenly realized, "Was it that bowl of tea?... There was a very small amount of sleeping potion in that tea... That's what made me hallucinate? In addition, with your carefully arranged secret scheme, I was able to tell you everything that happened eight years ago without reservation."
Upon hearing this, Granny Zhang sighed and said, "Miss Lu is indeed Miss Lu, exceptionally intelligent. That means Miss Lu has now personally admitted to everything she said in this bedchamber tonight."
"Hahahaha... Yes, I admit that everything I said tonight is true. But so what? The master of the Qin Prince's Mansion is Brother Han, not you servile lackeys. Between what you said and what I said, guess... who he will choose to believe?" Lu Tianjiao laughed loudly, then leaned close to Zhang Mama's ear and said wantonly.
With a stern face, Granny Zhang solemnly and sternly ordered her, "Kneel down and kowtow to the master of the Prince of Qin's mansion to admit your guilt!"
"The master of the Prince of Qin's mansion? You mean... Brother Han who has been unconscious for many days, or the Dowager Consort who passed away eight years ago, or you, this audacious servant who is selling your body under a dog's head?" Lu Tianjiao's words were extremely presumptuous.
Just then, a man's deep voice suddenly rang out from inside the hall: "Kneel down!"
"Who's speaking?" Upon hearing this, Lu Tianjiao quickly turned around and looked towards Cheng Liang and the guards...
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