The door curtain was lifted, and Madam Liu walked in.
Two years had passed since they last met. She looked older than before: the fine lines at the corners of her eyes had multiplied, and the creases around her mouth had deepened.
Yet not a trace of her sharp, caustic manner had changed. If anything, it had only grown stronger.
Her gaze fell upon Shi Huai on the bed. She froze for a moment, then her pupils suddenly contracted. The surprise on her face shifted into utter disbelief.
“Th-this... is that child?” Madam Liu’s voice trembled as she pointed straight at Shi Huai.
Nanny Zhou stepped in front of the bed, her tone neither servile nor overbearing. “Madam, this is the young master. The Grand Madam asked for him to return and stay for a few days.”
Madam Liu stared at Shi Huai’s face for a long while. Her lips quivered, but she could not force out a single word.
She had never imagined that the infant so hideous it had been revolting to look at would grow into this after three years.
His little face was fair and clean, his features delicate. His large eyes were dark and bright, like two black grape seeds, and he was looking at her quietly.
“Impossible. This is impossible.” Madam Liu’s voice rose sharply, and her expression twisted almost grotesquely.
“That child’s face was covered in blue birthmarks. He was ugly as a ghost. How could he possibly be this one? Where did you find this bastard child, trying to pass him off as one of the family to cheat the Marquis’s household out of its property?”
Grand Madam coughed. Though her voice was weak, her tone remained firm.
“Madam Liu, watch your mouth. He carries the Shi family bloodline. He is not a bastard.”
Madam Liu whirled toward Grand Madam, rage in her eyes fierce enough to burn through the entire room. “Mother, have you gone senile? Everyone in this household saw what that child looked like.”
“His face was covered in blue birthmarks—he was so ugly it made people sick. And now, barely three years later, every mark has vanished? Do you take me for a three-year-old child?”
Nanny Zhou could not hold back any longer. “Madam, children often change as they grow. If you do not believe it, ask the old servants in the household. When the young master first came to the Marquis’s residence, he truly did have blue marks on his face, but they gradually faded afterward.”
“Gradually faded?” Madam Liu sneered, walking to the bedside and looking down at Shi Huai.
“His face is spotless, without so much as a trace. And you expect me to believe they gradually faded? Nanny Zhou, do you think I’m a fool?”
Shi Huai lay beside Grand Madam, quietly watching Madam Liu. He neither cried nor fussed, nor did he seem afraid.
He had expected Madam Liu to say this. After all, the speed of his transformation in appearance truly exceeded anything normal people could comprehend.
Grand Madam coughed several times. Though her voice was weak, every word was clear.
“If you do not believe it, go and investigate. When the eldest brought him back all those years ago, many people in the household saw him. You may ask them.”
“Ask them what? Whether this child’s face was covered in blue birthmarks?” Madam Liu’s voice was so shrill it nearly pierced the eardrums.
“Of course they would say yes, because you are all in this together! You are conspiring to deceive me, planning to use this bastard child to steal my daughter’s inheritance!”
Shi Yuanping spoke then. His voice was neither loud nor soft, but it carried an unmistakable chill.
“Elder Sister-in-law, you keep calling this child a bastard. What evidence do you have?”
Madam Liu abruptly turned toward Shi Yuanping, the hatred in her eyes as thick and inky as something that could never be dissolved:
“Shi Yuanping, don’t think I don’t know it was you who arranged for this bastard to show up! You want to use him to steal the Marquisate!”
Leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest, Shi Yuanping replied, “Sister-in-law, you say I arranged all this. Then tell me—what do I stand to gain?”
“What do you stand to gain?” Madam Liu gave a cold laugh, jabbing a finger straight at Shi Yuanping’s chest.
“You’re after the Marquisate! Do you think I don’t know what you’re plotting?”
“You’ve remained unmarried all these years just so you could wait for this day, haven’t you?”
“You’ll have this bastard acknowledged by the family, then use your position as his second uncle to meddle in the affairs of the Marquis’s household. Little by little, you’ll sideline the Marquis, and in the end, this bastard will inherit the title while you pull the strings from behind the scenes as the supreme... Marquis...”
Grand Madam coughed, her voice weak, yet every word cut to the bone.
“Madam Liu, aren’t you being a little too dramatic?”
Madam Liu choked on her words, her face flushing crimson. “Mother! You’re still defending him, even now? Open your eyes and look at what the two of them have done to this family!”
Lying in bed, Grand Madam’s cloudy eyes flickered with weariness. “Don’t you know perfectly well what has become of this household?”
“You’ve been married into this family for more than ten years. You couldn’t bear a son, yet you refused to let my eldest take a concubine, turning this household upside down.”
“Now that my eldest has a son outside the household, you refuse to let it go and keep making a scene, disturbing the peace of the entire estate. And you still have the nerve to blame others?”
Madam Liu’s face went pale at once. Her lips trembled, but for a long while, she could not utter a single word.
Shi Huai lay beside Grand Madam, quietly watching the scene unfold like a spectator enjoying a show.
Madam Liu took a deep breath, as though trying to suppress the fury on the verge of bursting forth. Even her voice trembled. “Mother, you say your daughter-in-law cannot bear a son. Fine—I admit it.”
“But I will not accept your claim that I have thrown the Marquis’s household into chaos. Everything I have done was for this family, for this estate!”
Grand Madam closed her eyes, her voice as weary as if she had been awake all night. “For this household? You sent people to investigate the boy’s origins and spread rumors everywhere that he was not of the Marquis’s blood. Is that for the household?”
“You threaten divorce every other day and make the affairs of this estate the talk of the entire city. Is that for the household? Madam Liu, stop pretending you’re so noble. Which one of the things you’ve done was truly for this household? They were all for yourself!”
Madam Liu was left speechless. As she stood there, the expression on her face shifted from fury to grievance, then from grievance to venomous resentment.
At that moment, Shi Yuanping spoke. His tone remained mild, but his words were as sharp as a blade wrapped in silk.
“Sister-in-law, Mother is right. If you truly care about this household, then stop making trouble.”
“Since the child has returned, let him stay for a few days and keep Mother company. If you don’t want to see him, stay in your own courtyard. Out of sight, out of mind.”
Madam Liu whirled toward Shi Yuanping, the rage in her eyes nearly enough to burn straight through him. “Shi Yuanping, stop pretending to be the good man here! Let me tell you—this bastard will never set foot inside the Marquis’s estate!”
Just then, a man’s voice rang out from beyond the doorway.
“Enough!”
The door curtain lifted, and the Marquis, Shi Yuanzhi, stepped inside, his face plainly etched with impatience and fatigue.
He glanced at the Grand Madam on the bed, then at Madam Liu, before finally letting his gaze fall on Shi Huai. He paused slightly.
Three years apart had transformed the child who had once been hideously ugly beyond description.
A fair, clean little face, delicate features, and a pair of dark, bright eyes that regarded him quietly.
Shi Yuanzhi froze for a moment, then looked away. In a stiff voice, he said, “Enough. The child stays. Madam, return to your courtyard.”
