Madam Liu took half a step back, frightened by the look on his face, but quickly straightened her back again.
“Evidence? Fine, I’ll give you evidence!”
“For all these years, you’ve never married. Everyone assumes there’s something wrong with you, yet you insist on taking this child as your godson. If that isn’t a case of giving yourself away, then what is?”
Shi Yuanping let out a soft laugh, the sound brimming with mockery.
“Eldest Sister-in-law, I haven’t married because I haven’t met anyone suitable. Since you insist on linking my unmarried state to this child, then let me ask you this: You haven’t been able to give birth to a son. Should that also be linked to someone?”
His words struck Madam Liu right where it hurt most. Her face instantly flushed crimson, and her lips trembled. For a long while, she couldn’t utter a word.
The Grand Madam coughed heavily. “Enough! The two of you—quarreling like this in front of an old woman like me? What kind of behavior is that?”
Madam Liu and Shi Yuanping fell silent at the same time, but their gazes continued to clash in midair, sparks flying between them.
The Grand Madam rubbed her temples. Her voice was weary, as if she had stayed up all night.
“Madam Liu, go back for now. We’ll discuss this another day.”
Madam Liu cast Shi Huai an unwilling glance, the hatred in her eyes as thick as ink that could never be diluted.
“Mother, this child cannot remain in the marquis’s residence. If you insist on keeping him, then I… I’ll return to my parents’ home!”
The Grand Madam raised her eyelids and looked at her. “Are you threatening me?”
“I wouldn’t dare,” Madam Liu replied, her voice trembling, though her tone was as hard as stone.
“I simply feel that this household can have him without me, or me without him.”
The room fell silent once more—so quiet that the rustling of leaves stirred by the wind in the courtyard could be heard clearly.
Nestled in the Grand Madam’s arms, Shi Huai felt her hands tighten around him ever so slightly, as if she were making an extremely difficult decision.
“If you want to return to your parents’ home, I won’t stop you,” the Grand Madam finally said.
“But think carefully. Once you walk out that door, it won’t be so easy to come back.”
Madam Liu’s face turned deathly pale. Her lips trembled, but she could not speak.
She had never expected the Grand Madam to be so ruthless.
The old woman would rather keep an ugly bastard than her legitimate marquis’s wife.
“Mother, you… You’re driving your daughter-in-law away for the sake of a bastard?”
Madam Liu’s voice was filled with disbelief.
“I’m not driving you away. You’re the one who wants to leave,” the Grand Madam replied, her tone still calm.
“I already said that if you want to return to your parents’ home, I won’t stop you. But you insisted on making things absolute, saying that either he goes or you do. Then let me tell you this: I am keeping this child. You can decide what you want to do.”
Madam Liu stood there, her expression shifting from anger to fear, and then from fear to despair.
She knew she couldn’t leave. If she did, she would never be allowed to return.
Yet she had already pushed things this far. If she simply let the matter drop, how could she ever hold her head high in the marquis’s residence again?
Shi Yuanping spoke up once more, his tone gentle, as though he were trying to mediate.
“Eldest Sister-in-law, Mother is only doing this for your own good. Go back and calm down first. We can discuss the matter at length later.”
Madam Liu glared viciously at Shi Yuanping, then turned around and left with the four burly old servants, without looking back.
The sound of their footsteps gradually faded into the distance, and the room fell silent again.
The Grand Madam let out a long sigh. She lowered her head and looked at Shi Huai in her arms, her eyes as complicated as a pool of thick ink that could never be stirred clear.
“What a sin… This is all such a sin.”
Shi Yuanping rose to his feet, walked over to the Grand Madam, and crouched before her. He looked earnestly into her eyes.
“Mother, you saw it yourself. Eldest Sister-in-law cannot tolerate this child. What happened today is only the beginning. There will be more trouble in the future.”
The Grand Madam did not look at him. Her gaze remained fixed on Shi Huai’s face.
“So you want to take him away even more now?”
“Yes.” Shi Yuanping’s voice was soft but resolute. “I’ll take him away. It will be better for everyone.”
“Eldest Sister-in-law won’t have to see him and be irritated, the marquis’s residence will have fewer rumors to deal with, and the child will be able to grow up in peace.”
The Grand Madam remained silent for a long time—so long that Shi Yuanping thought she would never answer.
“Let me think about it,” she finally said, her voice hoarse beyond recognition.
“Give me some time to think it over carefully.”
Shi Yuanping nodded. He stood up, said nothing more, and turned to leave the main hall.
Only then did Qinghe dare to speak. Her voice was trembling.
“Grand Madam, you’re not really going to send the Young Master away, are you?”
The Grand Madam did not answer. She merely held Shi Huai even tighter, closed her eyes, and leaned back against the chair as though utterly exhausted.
Nestled in the Grand Madam’s arms, Shi Huai breathed in the faint sandalwood scent clinging to her. His mind churned with all sorts of thoughts.
What Madam Liu had done today might appear to have been suppressed by the Grand Madam, but in truth, she had already accomplished her purpose.
She had planted a seed of doubt in the Grand Madam’s heart.
The Grand Madam had said she needed to think about it.
That meant she had already begun seriously considering the possibility of sending Shi Huai away.
For Shi Huai, that might not necessarily be a bad thing.
Although Shi Yuanping was impossible to read, at least for now, he seemed far safer than Madam Liu.
In the marquis’s residence, Madam Liu was an enemy in plain sight, someone who might strike at any moment.
If he went with Shi Yuanping, he had no idea what he might face there, but at least he wouldn’t have to guard against someone poisoning his food every single day.
Besides, Shi Huai had his own trump card.
His looks improved a little every month. The birthmark on his face was growing paler by the day, while his features became more attractive.
By the time he could walk and speak, his face would probably no longer frighten people away.
At that point, whether he remained in the marquis’s residence or went to Shi Yuanping’s home, he would have the chance to make plans slowly and launch his counterattack step by step.
But for now, he could do nothing. He could only obediently play the part of an infant and wait for others to decide his fate.
The helplessness made Shi Huai feel stifled, but he knew this was a path he had to pass through.
Early the next morning, when Qinghe entered carrying a bowl of steamed egg custard, her eyes were swollen. It was obvious she had cried through the night.
“Young Master, do you think the Grand Madam is really going to send you away?” Qinghe asked in a small voice as she fed him the custard, her voice thick with tears.
Shi Huai opened his mouth and ate the custard, thinking, You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? I’m only a baby. How could I possibly know?
Still, he reached out with his chubby little hand and patted Qinghe’s cheek twice, letting out two soft “ah-ah” sounds in consolation.
The patting made Qinghe cry again. She hurriedly wiped her tears with her sleeve.
“If you’re really sent away, what will happen to me? The Grand Madam told me to serve you exclusively. If you’re gone, I’ll surely be sent back to the side courtyard.”
Hearing this, Shi Huai felt a pang in his heart.
Qinghe wasn’t only worried about him. She was also worried about her own position in the household.
A young maid like her, with no one to rely on, was nothing more than an easy target in the marquis’s residence—someone anyone could bully and mistreat.
