Lin Mansion.
Wearing mourning clothes, Zhou Shi entered the Outer Study and found her husband, Lin Xiuyuan, sitting behind his desk with a weary look on his face, eyes closed as he rubbed his brow.
Without a word, she stepped forward, picked up the teapot, and refilled his cup.
"Get out."
Hearing the sound of tea being poured, Lin Xiuyuan kept his eyes shut as he snapped impatiently, "Didn't I say I needed some peace and quiet?"
"My lord."
"Is that you?"
At Zhou Shi's soft call, Lin Xiuyuan realized who it was. He leaned back in his chair and sighed faintly. "Sigh... Go on, what is it this time?"
Zhou Shi moved behind him and, with practiced ease, began massaging his forehead. After a long while, she whispered, "Yesterday, they searched the menfolk, but those old women and maidservants are still guarding the inner residence without leaving so much as a step."
Lin Xiuyuan had already closed his eyes again when she began pressing the acupoints on his head. Now he gave no reaction at all, as though he had fallen asleep.
After waiting a while without receiving any response, Zhou Shi continued on her own, "The way things look, it is as if they mean to dig some scandal out of our household. This..."
"Are there so few scandals in this household?"
Lin Xiuyuan suddenly interrupted her, only to fall silent again.
Having been choked off by that remark, Zhou Shi found it awkward to continue. She could only keep her head down and massage her husband's acupoints.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Xiuyuan sighed again. "It is easy to invite a god, but hard to send one away."
Clearly, by now he was beginning to regret asking Sun Shaozong to investigate the case.
But...
Even