After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

Jiang Dusheng approached the bed, but did not immediately cast a spell. Instead, he focused his mind and observed quietly.

His gaze slowly swept over Wei Mingli's face, and then over the entire bed and its surroundings.

After a moment, Jiang Dusheng withdrew his gaze, turned to the anxiously waiting Lady Wei, and said:

"Madam, please provide Miss Wei's accurate birth date and time."

"Yes, yes, yes! It's already prepared!" The Duchess of Wei hurriedly took out a red paper from her sleeve, on which her birthday was written in neat small characters.

Jiang Dusheng took the paper, lightly touched it with his fingertips, closed his eyes and concentrated, and began to calculate in his mind.

As spiritual energy was poured in, an aura invisible to ordinary people faintly appeared on the eight characters.

Several silk threads are connected to the fate of the person in question.

Among them, a marriage line that is dark in color but exceptionally strong stands out.

It is not a naturally occurring auspicious sign of the Red Phoenix Star, but rather exudes a gloomy feeling that subtly devours the life force of the person in question.

Jiang Dusheng suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze sharp. "Madam, if I may ask, which family is engaged to Miss Wei?"

The Duchess of Wei's expression changed drastically, and her pupils contracted slightly.

The marriage arrangement between the two families was kept extremely secret. They only exchanged their birth dates and horoscopes for compatibility in secret, and no formal betrothal ceremony was held. Only a handful of close relatives knew about it.

Jiang Dusheng was able to tell at a glance that Li'er was already engaged.

Shocked, she had no doubt about Jiang Dusheng's abilities and became even more respectful, even showing a hint of awe.

"Miss Jiang is indeed a diviner." She lowered her voice, "He is... Cui Wenjing, the second son of the Cui family of Boling."

Jiang Dusheng's eyes flickered slightly.

She hesitated for a moment and said, "Madam, I might need to meet this Second Young Master Cui. Would that be convenient?"

Lady Wei was no fool; upon hearing this, she immediately understood Jiang Dusheng's implication, and her face instantly turned extremely ugly. She gripped her handkerchief tightly.

"Does Miss Jiang suspect that Li'er's actions are related to Cui Wenjing?" Her voice trembled.

Jiang Dusheng remained calm. "In matters of destiny, a single hair can affect the whole body. Miss Wei's birth chart is unusual; her marriage line is entangled with a strange aura that is eroding her life force."

"Whether it is related to Young Master Cui can only be determined after seeing his face and aura in person."

Lady Wei took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

With his daughter's life at stake, he couldn't care less about saving face or etiquette at that moment.

A resolute glint flashed in her eyes: "Very well! I will invite Second Young Master Cui to my residence for a chat, under the pretext of discussing Li'er's condition and seeking out renowned doctors."

She looked at Jiang Dusheng with earnest eyes: "I entrust everything to Miss Jiang. If you can save Li'er, the entire Weiguo Duke's Mansion will forever remember your great kindness!"

While waiting for Cui Wenjing to arrive, Jiang Dusheng did not sit idly.

She got up and walked slowly around the room, her gaze seemingly casually sweeping over everything around her, but in reality she was using her spiritual power to sense whether there were any abnormal traces of spiritual energy.

At the same time, she casually brought up the topic of the folk remedy that the Duchess of Wei had mentioned earlier:

"Madam just mentioned that she had tried some folk remedies for Miss?"

She stopped and looked at the Duchess of Wei, her tone inquiring, "What kind of prescriptions are these? Sometimes, unorthodox methods, though they may not cure the root cause, can still provide some clues in terms of their approach or the ingredients used."

The Duchess of Wei, who was anxiously wringing her handkerchief, seemed to have found an outlet for her emotions upon hearing this, and quickly said:

"If Miss Jiang hadn't brought it up, I would have been just about to tell you in detail. This folk remedy... sigh, it's a heartbreaking and helpless story."

She sighed, her tone complicated, "Speaking of this Cui family's second son, Wenjing, he truly cares deeply for our Li'er."

"Although this marriage was arranged privately by our two families years ago, since Li'er fell ill, he has consulted countless doctors and sought out numerous renowned physicians..."

She paused, her voice tinged with gratitude and tenderness for Cui Wenjing, "A few days ago, he heard about a folk remedy from somewhere, which was said to be extremely effective."

Jiang Dusheng's gaze narrowed slightly, but his expression remained unchanged as he listened quietly.

The Duchess of Wei lowered her voice, seemingly finding the prescription somewhat difficult to discuss:

"That prescription... sigh, it says it requires the flesh from the future son-in-law's chest as a medicinal ingredient, mixed with the first dew of a hundred flowers in the morning, and then slowly cooked into a porridge over a low flame before feeding it to the patient..."

"They say it's about using one's heart's blood as a pact, drawing upon the essence of a hundred flowers, and calling the soul back to its rightful place."

She sighed: "We all thought it was absurd and horrifying, and we had no intention of trying it."

"But Cui Erlang, without saying a word, immediately began to undress and take his flesh. His determination...we were both shocked and truly moved."

"In the end, we stopped him and pleaded with him to bring in the royal physician to perform the procedure. He avoided vital organs and removed a piece of flesh about the size of a fingernail from above his left chest."

The Duchess of Wei recalled, her tone still tinged with reluctance, "That child didn't even flinch. After the medicine was prepared according to the prescription, he personally, disregarding the taboo between men and women, sat by Li'er's bedside, gently blowing on it to warm it, and patiently fed it to her..."

"It's strange," the Duchess of Wei's voice became excited, "only two hours after feeding her that medicine, Li'er's complexion really did become rosier. Although she hasn't woken up yet, she looks... she seems to have some life in her now."

"We all thought this folk remedy had really worked; even the imperial physician said it was a good sign. But..."

Her voice suddenly dropped, filled with disappointment: "The good times lasted only two days. The next morning, Li'er's breathing was even weaker than before, and her face quickly turned ashen. No matter how much we called or shook her, she didn't respond at all."

"Since then, no matter what medicine I gave her, there was no further response. That brief improvement was like a final burst of energy before death, or like a dream."

The Duchess of Wei's voice choked with emotion, "That Second Brother Cui also seemed to have suffered a blow. Although he still came to visit often afterward, he never mentioned any folk remedies again, and he became much more silent..."

Jiang Dusheng listened quietly.

Using flesh and blood as the catalyst, and the morning dew of a hundred flowers as the medium…

A brief resurgence, followed by further decline...

This doesn't sound like a typical prescription for healing; it sounds more like some kind of witchcraft with a contract attached.

In particular, the chest flesh of the future son-in-law, which is close to the heart and where the heart's blood gathers, is often regarded in Taoism as something related to the life soul.

Jiang Dusheng looked at the Duchess of Wei and confirmed, "Madam, are you sure that the process of taking the meat, preparing the medicine, and feeding the medicine all took place in front of everyone in the manor? That meat... was indeed taken from Young Master Cui's body?"

Upon hearing this, the Duchess of Wei nodded firmly, her tone resolute:

"Absolutely true! When the meat was being taken, besides the physician, my trusted nanny and two head maids were all guarding the outer room. After Cui Erlang undressed, the physician went in to take the meat, which I then personally inspected before handing it over to a specialist for processing."

"From mixing the dew and decocting the medicine to feeding it to the entire process, my trusted maidservant kept a close watch on it without ever leaving for a moment, and I never delegated the task to anyone else."

She sighed: "Cui Erlang's eagerness and sincerity at that time were genuine; we all saw it."

Jiang Dusheng did not immediately refute or draw a conclusion, but his eyes deepened.

It's hard to tell whether something is true or false just by listening to the description.

If Cui Wenjing really has a problem, this act of cutting off his own flesh can be a testament to his deep affection and unwavering loyalty, winning the trust and gratitude of the entire Wei family.

Could it also be a cover for performing some kind of secret magic under the noses of everyone?