Gu Xiang jerked, pointing at him, "Is he having a seizure?"
Zhou Zishu's face was solemn. He got to the boy, brushing over the acupuncture point that would help him pass out. When Zhang Chengling turned soft and unconscious in his arms, he carefully laid him down. He sighed, "His mind shut down from the memory onslaught. Just let him rest for a while first."
He turned to the panicked woman, "Is someone plotting against the Zhang family, Aunt?"
Seeing Zhang Chengling in that state, she lost all will. After many tears and snot, she finally recounted the exact events — at midnight, the backyard suddenly caught fire; then came the men in black who appeared out of nowhere, looking like hoards of demons dropping from the sky.
The most terrifying thing was that all the guests, those "masters" who could detect everything from the flick of the grass were unable to fight back and left without anyone knowing.
There was only eccentric Old Li left. He arrived at Suzhou five years ago, always protecting the Zhangs from afar, refusing to enter the holdings — he reasoned that to be able to have the Zhang's food, you had to be a guest; he was simply someone who came to pay a debt.
It was that eccentricity that had helped save the Zhang bloodline, though just barely.
After a while, Zhou Zishu sighed. "Old Brother Li was a special man among us." He turned to the woman in tears again; she was only a servant, unable to understand everything. "Do you have any relatives?"
She nodded, "I have a nephew living down south."
Zhou Zishu gave her a gold ingot. "Take this and go; you've been showing your utmost loyalty by following the Zhang's young master here. Don't let yourself suffer further at your old age."
She took the money, biting it by instinct, then smiling in embarrassment once she realized what she did. The tears had stopped, and she told him softly, "Yes, this one is too old now, just gonna a burden for Young Master."
Practically, staying at a place where a dead body was buried and grass grew everywhere was not really a good idea either, so she left immediately. Zhou Zishu thought that she was just a servant, so it was unlikely that she would be chased after. She showed her gratitude and walked away while he watched her expressionlessly.
It was midnight, so Zhou Zishu knew the prickling pain in his chest right now was the Nails acting up. It was not the kind of pain that mangle your body, or the slow, simmering kind as seen with internal injuries, but one that felt like someone was cutting his meridians apart one by one.
Fortunately, after more than a year of suffering he had well adapted to the pain; nothing showed on his face. He also was still wearing a mask, making it harder for Gu Xiang to see his real expressions.
Zhou Zishu tried to divert his attention by thinking about the girl's ignorance while discussing Zhang Yusen, asking her, "Is the one with you at the tavern not here today?"
Gu Xiang startled, "How do you know he's with me?" Then nodded, "Right, you heard us talking, didn't you — that's why back when I asked you the question, you answered exactly like my master."
She pursed her lips, showing disdain at his cheating act.
Zhou Zishu smiled, "Yes, is your master here right now?"
Gu Xiang sat on the incense table1 with her legs swinging, not touching the ground. She tilted her head, eyes casting downwards, appearing completely innocent. Then she shrugged, "He went to see his old lover."
Zhou Zishu stared at her doubtfully. She was very pretty, so he had though she was one of the man's concubines.
Gu Xiang wrinkled her nose, glaring at him, "Why do you look at me like that? Do you want me to guard outside his window and hear him doing it with another man?"