As for what Jax was thinking, Evan Yang had no idea. It wasn’t until half a day later that the two finally reached the Chu Family estate. Just like the Situ Clan, it was built with city walls—probably as a defense against outsiders.
As soon as Evan arrived at the city gate, he was stopped by a Chu Family disciple. "Who are you!"
"I’m a friend of Miss Chu!" Evan, who had a decent relationship with the Chu Family, didn’t want to leave a bad impression, so he replied politely to the guard.
"Which one?" Evan hadn’t made it clear who he wanted to see, so the guard asked, confused.
"Which one? Are there that many?" Evan cursed inwardly, especially since he wasn’t sure which branch Tara Chu belonged to. Just as he was about to say Tara Chu’s name, a young woman appeared—clearly older than Tara, with several maidservants following behind.
"Eldest Miss." The guard immediately bowed to the young woman.
The young woman glanced at Evan and Jax, ignored them, and asked the guard, "Who are they?"
"Eldest Miss, he said he’s looking for a Chu Family young lady, so I was asking for details." The guard answered respectfully again.
"Oh? You’re here for the jinx, aren’t you?" The young woman sneered coldly.
"Jinx? What does that mean?" Evan and Jax were both stunned.
"Leave this to me. Go patrol elsewhere." The young woman dismissed the guard, who hesitated briefly before leaving. As he walked away, he muttered to himself, "That Eldest Miss is up to her tricks again."
"You two—yes, you—are here for the jinx, aren’t you?" The young woman turned to Evan and Jax again.
"Miss, may I ask who this ‘jinx’ you’re talking about is?" Evan, still trying to avoid trouble, asked politely.
The young woman burst out laughing. "You don’t even know that, yet you dare come to the Chu Family looking for someone?"
"Hey, what are you laughing at? We’re not here for you anyway." Jax, suddenly fired up, snapped at her the moment he saw her attitude.
"You!" The young woman—Tara Chu’s cousin—was furious. It was the first time someone had insulted her in her own clan.
She prepared to attack, but Evan quickly stepped in front of Jax and said, "Miss, my friend’s in a bad mood—please forgive him. Could you let us in to find our acquaintance?"
"You’re sweeter-tongued, but if you want in, you’ll have to call Tara Chu a jinx in public. Do that, and I’ll let you enter!" The woman grinned flirtatiously at Evan.
"Patience has its limits. Don’t push me," Evan thought to himself, though he kept smiling. "I’d like to know what Tara did to offend you—why do you call her a jinx?"
"She’s a jinx, that’s all!" The woman started ranting as soon as Tara Chu was mentioned. As Tara’s friend, Evan’s face darkened, and he sneered, "Miss, if you weren’t from the Chu Family, I’d have already taught you a lesson."
"What! Who do you think you are, coming to the Chu Family to lecture me!" The woman started ranting at Evan.
"Let me handle this." Jax figured Evan wouldn’t hit a woman, so he slipped in front and slapped her hard. "Smack!"
It was the first time the woman had ever been struck by an outsider. Still stunned, she heard Jax scold, "That’s what you get for insulting our friend!"
Evan was shocked, thinking, "Since when did Jax get so close to Tara Chu?"
The woman finally snapped out of it and shouted, "You—I’ll kill you!"
She really tried to attack, but Jax easily knocked her down and started touching the back of her neck and shoulders. If Evan hadn’t stopped him, who knows what would’ve happened. The guards, who originally wanted to see her suffer a bit, rushed over to protect her when they saw Jax’s hands wandering.
The woman got up, furious and embarrassed, and yelled, "You—you little runt, how dare you take advantage of me! You—"
Hearing her say ‘take advantage,’ several guards couldn’t help but snicker. Even Evan blushed for Jax, but Jax acted like nothing happened and said calmly, "That’s what you get for slandering Miss Tara! This is payback!"
The guards all knew this young woman’s temper, so they only stepped forward to put on a show—they weren’t really planning to do anything to Tara’s two friends. The guard who first spoke to Evan even addressed the woman, "Miss, please go back and rest. We’ll ‘arrest’ them right away."
"Fine! Whoever catches them, I’ll reward you handsomely!" The woman, having hastily wrapped a cloth around her lower garments to avoid embarrassment, quickly slipped away.
"Sorry about that. If I’d known you were here to see Miss Lan, I would’ve brought you straight in. No need for all this trouble." The guard apologized awkwardly once the woman left.
"It’s our fault for making things difficult for you." Evan noticed how reasonable these guards were—unlike the arrogant types in other clans. He couldn’t tell why, but whoever trained this group must be impressive.
"Let’s hurry and take you to see Miss Tara. If she finds out we made her guests wait, she’ll scold us for sure." The guard chuckled and quickly led the two into the city.
When Evan and Jax reached a certain building, they were stopped by a middle-aged man.
"Who are you?" The sudden voice startled the guard, who quickly answered, "Chief Steward, these are Miss Tara’s friends."
Hearing they were Tara Chu’s friends, the man’s face turned grim. "Don’t you know the Second Young Miss is ill? How could you bring strangers here!"
"Uh..." The guard was a bit embarrassed.
"Take them away at once." Without even asking for details, the man ordered the guard to remove Evan and Jax. Jax wanted to argue but was pulled aside by the guard. Only after the Chief Steward was out of sight did Jax mutter, "That Chief Steward clearly sides with the First Patriarch."
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"First Patriarch? You have more than one patriarch in the Chu Family?" It was the first time Evan had heard of a family with several patriarchs.
With the guard's explanation, Evan Yang and Jax Jia finally understood the structure of the Chu Family—it was beset by troubles both inside and out.
Internally, the main conflict was between the Chu First Patriarch and Tara Chu's father, the Second Patriarch. This led to the First Patriarch's daughter—Flora Chu, the woman who had stopped Evan and Jax earlier—being at odds with Tara by nature. Whenever Flora encountered setbacks, she always blamed Tara. Fortunately, Tara had a good temperament and got along well with the guards and disciples, who generally favored her, so Flora often vented her frustrations on them.
"So how do we get inside?" Evan knew the Chu Family's relationships were complicated, and he didn't want to get involved—he just wanted to see Tara Chu as soon as possible and find out how she was.
"If the Second Patriarch were here, it would be easy." The guard sighed helplessly.
"You mean Miss Chu's father? Where did he go?" Evan was curious—his own daughter was seriously ill, so why wasn't her father at home?
The guard explained, "He went to major sects and great families seeking medical help, hoping to find a cure for Miss Chu's illness."
"Is there really no other way in?" Jax finally couldn't help but ask after listening for a while.
"Unless Miss Chu comes out herself, the Chief Steward won't let you in," the guard replied after thinking it over. But in her current state, that was impossible—Tara was gravely ill, barely conscious most of the time, and even when she woke up, no one knew what might happen.
"Looks like we need to lure the Chief Steward away," Jax mused after thinking for a moment.
"That's almost impossible—he won't leave unless there's a major family emergency," the guard shook his head.
"Really? If someone broke into the Chu Family Library, would he go?" Jax asked with a knowing smile, as if he understood the Chu Family well.
The guard froze for a moment, then replied, "You're right, but the First Patriarch is also cultivating in the library. I'm worried about your cultivation level."
He meant that whoever acted as bait would definitely be discovered.
Evan agreed—it would be too dangerous to try something like this in a major clan, and the First Patriarch would definitely notice.
"Relax, I have a way to escape. All you need to do is tell the Chief Steward someone has infiltrated the library. As for Evan, Tara Chu is your responsibility—whether you see her or not, that's up to you." Jax confidently explained his plan, pointing first at the guard and then at Evan.
"This is too risky," Evan said, uneasy.
The guard nodded, "Yeah, it's not good. The First Patriarch's strength is equal to the Second Patriarch's—aside from him, no one in the clan can match him."
"Don't worry, like I said, I've got a way." Jax laughed, then dragged the guard away to set his plan in motion.
Once they were gone, Evan could only wait. He found a spot far away, watching the Chief Steward, who sat quietly with his eyes closed, as if cultivating.
"Looks like I can only wait." To avoid attracting attention, Evan waited in place. Strangely, the area was so quiet—aside from a few people by the wall, everywhere else seemed deserted.
"Don't they worry about intruders?" Evan looked around—besides the Chief Steward, there was no one else in sight.
Just as Evan was wondering why there were so few people inside, a sharp alarm suddenly rang out. The guard rushed to the Chief Steward, breathlessly reporting, "Chief Steward, bad news! That visitor just went to the library to steal something!"
Sure enough, the Chief Steward was furious when he heard this. "What? Stop him, quick!"
He hurried off toward the library, grumbling nonstop, "Damn it, how could someone cause trouble right when both patriarchs are busy!"
Once the complaints faded, Evan flashed forward to the building, checked his surroundings to make sure no one was there, then pushed the door open and quietly closed it behind him.
Inside, he found the structure was tower-like, meaning he had to climb stairs. Not knowing which floor Tara Chu's room was on, Evan moved upward step by step. When he finally reached the eighth floor—the top level—he stopped, just in time to see a young woman lying in bed, half-conscious and feverish.