Chapter 10: Ninth Miss is Frail and Short-lived

The Marquis's Manor.

Lang Zhengping questioned the servants and hurried toward the wing where Lang Jiuchuan had been taken. Seeing Lady Cui standing at the doorway with a dark expression, refusing to enter, his footsteps faltered slightly.

Hearing the footsteps, Lady Cui turned her head and gave him a formal curtsy. "Elder Brother."

Seeing her, Lang Zhengping was reminded of his own biological brother. When the Lang family was in decline, his brother had emerged as the brave and strategic General of Anbei. He had stabilized the nation and protected the people; he was the pride of the Lang family. Yet, that very pride had perished prematurely on the battlefield.

The night before the second brother died, Lady Cui had suddenly gone into premature labor. The seven-month-old fetus struggled through labor for a day and a night, and by the time the child was born, news of the second brother's death had reached the household.

With her husband dead, Lady Cui lost her mind. She became possessed, insisting that the child was not hers but a jinx. Not only did she nearly cost herself her life in the process, but she also almost killed the child.

Because of this, Lang Jiuchuan was raised in her mother's courtyard after birth. It was thought that this would allow them to live in peace, but when the child reached three years old, during the third anniversary of the second brother's death, Lady Cui nearly drowned the child in the water. It was said that her eyes at that moment looked as if she were staring at a mortal enemy.

At that time, Grandmaster Xuanjing of the Protectorate Temple had said that to raise the child successfully, mother and daughter must not live together. Thus, the mother took the child to live at a manor for two years, and ever since, the child had been raised there.

As for Lady Cui, she had never remarried, living as a widow in her own courtyard. Yet, after all these years, she still could not let go.

As the eldest uncle, and considering she had been a widow for her husband for so many years, he found it difficult to criticize his sister-in-law. After a moment's thought, he said, "Sister-in-law, the child has just returned. We can teach her slowly."

For a mother to slap a young lady—especially in front of outsiders—was to wound the child's dignity, and the child was the second brother's only flesh and blood.

Lady Cui lowered her eyes and remained silent.

"Young Lord, Second Madam."

An old nanny hurried forward, bowed to the two of them, and said, "Miss Jiu has returned. The Old Madam was very happy to hear the news and wishes to see her."

A look of joy appeared on Lang Zhengping's face. "Has Mother regained her senses?"

Nanny Wang gave a bitter smile and shook her head. "You know the Old Madam's memory; it gets worse with every passing year. Even with Miss Jiu..." She glanced at Lady Cui and continued, "She only remembers occasionally. Is the young lady inside? This old servant will go in to pay her respects."

Lang Jiuchuan had long heard the commotion outside. As she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard a sharp intake of breath. Looking over, she saw the physician of the Kaiping Marquis Manor—the one Lady Wu had insisted on calling to examine her hand injury. He was currently staring at her in shock, his face pale.

"Physician Chen, what is it?" Seeing the doctor's expression, Lady Wu's heart leaped into her throat. Could it be that her husband had actually caused an injury to his sister-in-law's hand?

"This pulse..."

Lang Jiuchuan followed his gaze to her hand, and her heart sank.

*This is bad.*

She had been so preoccupied with her anger that she had forgotten to sustain her frail body; her pulse had vanished.

"I have been physically weak since childhood. Could you take a closer look?" As she extended her left hand, she simultaneously guided a thread of *qi* through it.

Physician Chen steadied himself, thinking to himself that he must be exhausted from performing pulse readings and prescribing medicine for the household during the recent funeral rites; otherwise, how could he fail to detect a pulse?

He took a deep breath, placed two fingers on her left hand, and concentrated on the pulse. After a long moment, he withdrew his hand and let out a small sigh of relief; he had indeed misread it.

But very quickly, his brow furrowed again. The young lady's body was simply too weak, suffering from severe depletion; she was practically a short-lived soul.

"Miss Jiu's pulse is extremely fine, weak, deep, and slow. This is a deficiency and weakness brought from the womb, compounded by a severe depletion of both *qi* and blood. She must be carefully nurtured, otherwise..." Physician Chen hesitated before saying, "If she is not properly treated, let alone the difficulty of marrying and bearing children, I fear it will affect her lifespan."

He held back even more words: that her constitution was no better than that of a dying elderly person.

Delicate, weak, and short-lived.

Understanding the implication of the physician's words, Lady Wu froze. She instinctively looked toward Lady Cui appearing at the door, and then at Lang Jiuchuan, who stood there with a calm expression despite the handprint on her face. She couldn't help but feel a sense of stifled frustration.

(End of Chapter)