Early that morning, Fan Changyu went to the marketplace and bought an old hen to take back and nourish Yan Zheng.

When she met familiar people in the alley, she greeted them warmly as usual, but they seemed to be avoiding something and only responded perfunctorily with a word or two.

As for the women who had grown close to the Song family, one of them directly rolled her eyes and avoided Fan Changyu as though fleeing from a plague.

“She really is a jinx. Her uncle only visited her house a few times before she brought him to death. And that live-in husband of hers has been sickly the whole time without improving. Luckily Sister Song specifically had their birth charts matched beforehand. If Song Yan had really married her, who knows how badly the Song family would’ve been ruined by her bad luck!”

Some of the people who had previously maintained decent relations with the Fan family quietly edged farther away after hearing those words.

Before, when the Song family broke off the engagement and claimed she was cursed with the fate of a lone heavenly fiend, not many people had taken it seriously. But over the past two days, disaster and death had struck her household repeatedly. If the soldiers had not arrived in time last night, even the elderly Zhao couple might have been dragged into calamity. It was inevitable that the neighbors would begin to fear her.

Under normal circumstances, Fan Changyu would have snapped back long ago. But it was true that the Zhao family had almost been implicated because of her, and Yan Zheng really had been injured.

She pressed her lips tightly together and silently carried the chicken toward the Zhao residence.

As she passed the doorway of the sharp-tongued woman from before, the woman deliberately dumped a basin of rice-rinsing water outside right after Fan Changyu walked past. Quite a bit of the icy water splashed onto Fan Changyu’s embroidered shoes and skirt hem.

Fan Changyu stopped and lifted a pair of calm eyes toward her.

The old woman’s surname was Kang. She had originally been neighbors with the Song family, and ever since Song Yan passed the provincial examination, she had constantly tried to curry favor with them. To please Mother Song, she often visited her to gossip and spoke endlessly of Fan Changyu’s faults.

Perhaps because she served as convenient company for Mother Song, after the Song family moved to the county town, among everyone in the alley, only she had been invited once to dine at the Song family’s new residence.

Old Madam Kang treated this as a great honor. After returning, she boasted everywhere about how beautiful the Song family’s new residence was, how they even had servants waiting on Mother Song, praised Song Yan’s abilities to the skies, and naturally stepped on Fan Changyu in the process.

Now, seeing Fan Changyu look over, Old Madam Kang directly splashed the remaining half-basin of rice water outside again and cursed, “What terrible luck first thing in the morning. I’ll have to hang some pomelo leaves at the door later!”

Among the common folk, rice water and pomelo leaves were said to ward off bad luck.

Fan Changyu’s lips moved slightly, but when she saw the surrounding neighbors either remaining silent or quietly distancing themselves from her, she ultimately only pressed her lips tighter and quickened her pace toward the Zhao residence.

The rice water soaked through her shoes and socks. The cold dampness clung to her ankles, seeping from flesh into bone, chilling her heart.

After entering the Zhao courtyard, Aunt Zhao was sweeping snow in the yard. Seeing Fan Changyu’s wet skirt and socks, she hurriedly asked, “How did this happen?”

Fan Changyu walked straight toward the kitchen and said, “There was still unmelted snow on the road. I stepped in some and got wet.”

Aunt Zhao frowned at her back, knowing she was definitely not telling the truth.

Fan Changyu’s thoughts were in complete turmoil. After killing the hen and setting it to stew in a clay pot, she feared Aunt Zhao would continue questioning her, so she used delivering medicine to Yan Zheng as an excuse and went up to the loft.

“Time to drink your medicine.”

Her voice lacked its usual energy and instead sounded muffled and dispirited.

When Xie Zheng accepted the bowl, he could not help studying her expression.

Nothing particularly showed on her face, yet he still immediately sensed that her mood was wrong.

“What happened?” he asked.

Fan Changyu only said, “Nothing. Drink the medicine while it’s hot. There’s preserved tangerine candy beside the pillow if you’re afraid it’ll taste bitter.”

She hugged her knees while sitting on a low stool beside the charcoal brazier, warming herself by the fire. With her head lowered, only a slender stretch of neck was exposed, making it impossible to see her expression clearly.

Xie Zheng noticed damp marks beneath her skirt and on her shoes and socks.

“It snowed pretty heavily in the latter half of last night.”

Fan Changyu gave a vague “Mm.”

Xie Zheng frowned slightly. There had been no snow at all during the latter half of the night. She was acting far too strangely today.

Since she stayed silent, he said nothing either after finishing the medicine and setting the bowl onto the round stool beside the bed.

The room remained quiet for a long while before Fan Changyu suddenly spoke.

“I’ll find you an inn and pay the servant extra money to take care of your food and daily needs. How about that?”

The fingers Xie Zheng rested against the bed edge tightened slightly.

“Why?”

Fan Changyu said, “The authorities still haven’t closed the case. I’m afraid those people may come back seeking revenge.”

Xie Zheng replied, “Didn’t you say soldiers are secretly guarding this place?”

After several moments of silence, Fan Changyu looked up at him solemnly.

“Then stay here and recover first. Once your injuries heal, leave.”

After she got up and descended from the loft, Xie Zheng picked up a piece of preserved tangerine candy. His lips tightened, and the candy instantly crumbled into powder between his fingers.

—

Around noon, Old Madam Kang from the alley suddenly came storming over to the Zhao residence demanding justice. Only then did Xie Zheng finally learn the reason for Fan Changyu’s unusual behavior today.

“Fan Changyu! Get out here!”

Old Madam Kang possessed an exceptionally loud voice and remarkable talent for street-corner quarrels.

The moment she shouted, many people gathered outside the Zhao residence to watch the excitement.

After hearing the pounding on the gate that sounded almost like kicking, Aunt Zhao hurried over to open it. Seeing Old Madam Kang standing there aggressively with her grandson, she asked, “What happened?”

Old Madam Kang shoved her grandson forward and cursed with hands on her hips, “Tell Fan Changyu to come out! Her little sister shoved my grandson Hu Tou down the stairs and knocked out one of his front teeth! What do you mean what happened?”

Fan Changyu had been stewing chicken in the kitchen. Hearing the shouting outside, she walked into the courtyard.

She saw Old Madam Kang’s plump, round-headed grandson crying so hard that his eyes were swollen. Two streams of snot dangled beneath his nose, constantly being sniffed back in only to slide out again. His chin was swollen, and he really had lost a tooth.

She said, “My younger sister has always been weak. Your grandson is several years older than her. How could she possibly push him?”

The moment Old Madam Kang heard Fan Changyu trying to deny responsibility, saliva immediately flew from her mouth as she shouted, “As if I’d falsely accuse you! Bring your Ningniang out and ask her yourself. Then you’ll know whether she pushed him or not!”

Seeing so many neighbors poking their heads out to watch, Aunt Zhao tried to smooth things over.

“Come inside and talk. Children getting into little fights and bumps is common. Arguing loudly at the door will only make the neighbors laugh at us.”

Old Madam Kang refused outright.

“I came to seek justice for my grandson. Why should I fear being laughed at?”

Fan Changyu knew Old Madam Kang was infamous throughout the alley for being vicious and unreasonable. Her own daughter-in-law had been driven away by her relentless torment. Even now, Old Madam Kang still called her daughter-in-law a shameless slut who ran away with another man, completely failing to realize there was anything wrong with treating her like a beast of burden.

Later, her son got involved with a widow, but Old Madam Kang disliked the fact that the woman had already been married once and that her husband had died, claiming she probably brought death to husbands. After causing enough trouble, the widow quickly cut ties with her son too. To this day, her son remained an old bachelor.

Fan Changyu did not wish to waste words on such a person and coldly said, “Whether you get justice or not depends on what my younger sister says first.”

She called out, “Ningniang, come here.”

Little Changning slowly shuffled out from the room and stood behind Fan Changyu like a tiny tail.

Fan Changyu lowered her head and asked, “Did you push Hu Tou?”

Changning pressed her lips together and tightly clenched the corners of her clothes. She nodded, then shook her head.

Old Madam Kang shrieked, “Look at that! Such a little child already knows how to lie. What wonderful family values the Fan family has! She nodded herself, and now she’s shaking her head…”

“Shut your mouth!”

Fan Changyu’s cold shout instantly overwhelmed Old Madam Kang’s piercing voice like a blizzard.

After splashing that basin of rice water earlier that morning and seeing Fan Changyu silently endure it, Old Madam Kang had assumed she was easy to bully. Now, suddenly being shouted down like this stunned her for a moment before she screeched even louder.

“Is there no justice anymore? Everyone look! The Fan family sure acts arrogantly! They injured my grandson like this and still dare act righteous about it!”

Up in the loft, even Xie Zheng’s ears were beginning to ache from the shrill screaming. He impatiently frowned.

Were old women in the marketplace always this noisy?

Just as irritation rose in him, he heard the woman’s voice below, cold and sharp.

“Keep screaming and see whether I toss you upside down into the slop bucket!”

Every inch of Fan Changyu’s brows and eyes radiated coldness. She had endured Old Madam Kang this morning because she genuinely felt guilty over the disasters her enemies had brought upon others. But now that Old Madam Kang wanted to push her luck, Fan Changyu had no intention of tolerating her.

Meeting Fan Changyu’s gaze, Old Madam Kang felt a sudden inexplicable fear. She hurriedly looked toward the crowd, clearly intending to use the onlookers to pressure Fan Changyu further.

But Fan Changyu had already seen through her tricks.

“You and that old witch from the Song family gossip about me behind my back every day as if I don’t know? My reputation’s already been ruined to this extent by you people. Do you really think I still care what others think? If I truly decided to make a move, how many people here do you think would rush out to stop me?”

Those words completely extinguished Old Madam Kang’s courage. She swallowed hard. The mouth that could normally curse nonstop for an entire day now seemed sewn shut, unable to force out another sentence.

Only then did Fan Changyu crouch down and ask her younger sister gently, “Earlier, when Big Sister asked if you pushed Hu Tou, why did you nod and then shake your head?”

Changning’s round black grape-like eyes had already reddened. Clutching her clothes tightly with soft pale fingers, she said, “I did push him, but he was too fat and I couldn’t move him. Then he chased me and slipped down the stairs himself, which is how he broke his front tooth.”

Old Madam Kang immediately started yelling again.

“My Hu Tou said you pushed him—”

Fan Changyu shot her a cold glance, and Old Madam Kang instantly fell silent again.

Fan Changyu continued asking, “Why did Ningniang push him?”

Changning lowered her head. Large tears instantly rolled from her eyes.

“He pulled my hair, stole my pine nut candy, and splashed water on me. He said his grandma splashed rice water on Big Sister this morning to get rid of bad luck. He said I’m the younger sister of a jinx too, so I should also be splashed with water to drive away bad luck…”

After hearing this, Fan Changyu’s face turned frighteningly cold.

Aunt Zhao’s eyes reddened with fury as well. She had wondered why Fan Changyu’s shoes and skirt were wet this morning. So it had been because that vicious old woman had splashed rice water on her.

Rice water was used in folk customs to dispel evil and misfortune. Splashing it after Fan Changyu passed by—how malicious could one be?

Grinding her teeth, Aunt Zhao cursed, “You filthy old hag who won’t even deserve a coffin when you die! If you won’t accumulate virtue for yourself, at least do it for your descendants! Aren’t you afraid King Yama will rip out your tongue someday?”

Old Madam Kang felt guilty at first, but after decades of never yielding in arguments, she quickly raised her chin defiantly.

“How am I not accumulating virtue? Did I kill her parents? Did I murder all those people who died at her house these past days? Who in this town doesn’t know she’s a jinx now? Only you and your old man, who’ll probably die without anyone to bury you, would foolishly shelter that disaster of a family. Aren’t you afraid she’ll bring death upon you too one day? If you ask me, the Fan family should’ve long ago gotten out of this alley. Who knows when their enemies might return?”

“You…” Aunt Zhao trembled with anger.

Fan Changyu wiped the tears from her younger sister’s face with her thumb and slowly stood up, her gaze sharp as ice blades.

“If I’m going to bring misfortune to anyone, I’ll start with you, you old hag!”

She sneered.

“You want me to move out of the alley? Based on what? Based on your rotten tongue flapping around gossiping? If you’re that afraid, why don’t you move away yourself?”

Old Madam Kang was rendered speechless. She pointed at Fan Changyu, still wanting to curse back, but Fan Changyu continued coldly:

“And keep your grandson under control. If he dares touch even a single strand of my younger sister’s hair again, whichever hand he uses, I’ll chop that hand off.”

Meeting Fan Changyu’s fierce gaze, Old Madam Kang’s grandson instantly burst into loud sobs, tears and snot streaming everywhere.

Old Madam Kang hurriedly pulled her grandson behind her and blustered weakly, “Bullying a child—what kind of ability is that…”

The corners of Fan Changyu’s lips curved coldly.

“Bullying? I’m not bluffing.”

As she spoke, she glanced at the boy’s arm.

“I can chop through a pig’s trotter in one strike. Cutting off an arm would be even easier.”

Old Madam Kang’s grandson instinctively covered one arm and cried while tugging her backward.

“Grandma, let’s go home… I want to go home…”

Seeing her grandson terrified like this, Old Madam Kang was furious and anxious, yet she did not dare confront Fan Changyu head-on.

All she could do was curse under her breath while dragging her grandson away. But just as she stepped down from the Zhao family’s doorway, something suddenly struck the back of her knee.

“Ah!”

She let out a miserable scream and tumbled down the steps, her chin smashing directly against the final stair. She remained sprawled there for quite a while, screaming in agony with blood all over her mouth.

The neighbors watching the spectacle exchanged stunned glances.

Fan Changyu herself froze briefly before instinctively looking toward the Zhao family loft. As expected, she caught a fleeting glimpse of a dark blue robe disappearing from sight.

After her initial shock, Aunt Zhao immediately exclaimed, “Serves her right! Everyone saw it—neither Changyu nor I even moved from the doorway. That old hag fell by herself! This is karma!”

Old Madam Kang was already elderly. That fall knocked out several more teeth. Sitting on the ground, she burst into tears and pointed at Fan Changyu.

“It was her! That jinx must’ve kicked me!”

The neighbors who had watched the entire scene really had not seen Fan Changyu move at all. Seeing Old Madam Kang continue stirring trouble, they could not help speaking up.

“That’s enough, Old Madam Kang. Everyone was watching. Changyu never moved at all. You simply slipped and fell yourself!”

Old Madam Kang still wanted to argue, but Fan Changyu let out a cold snort.

“You’ve done too many guilty things. Maybe a ghost pushed you.”

The older people got, the more easily they believed in supernatural things.

Those words frightened Old Madam Kang badly. She really had felt something slam into the back of her knee before she fell. Thinking of Fan Changyu’s supposedly cursed fate, her lips immediately trembled.

“It’s you! You jinxed me!”

Fan Changyu crossed her arms.

“If you don’t hurry and leave, maybe I’ll curse you to death next.”

This time, Old Madam Kang was genuinely frightened. Covering her bloody chin, she dragged her grandson away from the Zhao residence in utter humiliation.

“She really brought this upon herself!”

“Who in this alley hasn’t been insulted by that mouth of hers? This is karma!”

After exchanging a few comments while laughing, the neighbors gradually dispersed.

Once the courtyard gate closed again, Fan Changyu crouched down to meet her younger sister’s eyes and earnestly said, “In the future, if anyone bullies Ningniang outside, you must tell Big Sister immediately, understand?”

Changning obediently nodded.

Thinking about all the things Old Madam Kang had said, Aunt Zhao secretly cried for Fan Changyu afterward.

Fan Changyu comforted Aunt Zhao with a few words. Then her gaze landed on a piece of preserved tangerine candy near the courtyard entrance, and she found an excuse to head up to the loft.

When she pushed open the door, Xie Zheng was indeed no longer lying on the bed. Instead, he sat by the window in a bamboo chair. Though his complexion was still somewhat pale, he looked much better than the previous two days.

Before she could speak, his indifferent gaze had already swept toward her.

“So what you told me this morning was only because of a few words from other people?”