With such commotion at the gate, Chen Shi’s people quickly learned of it and hurriedly invited the old lady of Duke Deqing inside.

The old lady of Duke Deqing was directly helped into Chen Shi’s room, where a daybed was arranged for her to lie down.

Chen Shi was lying on the bed opposite.

“What happened?” Chen Shi sat up and asked in surprise. “How did you let the old lady come out?”

The old lady, in her seventies, had basically stopped going out over a decade ago.

The old lady of Duke Deqing drank some tea and was massaged and tended to by several servant women, finally recovering her composure.

She looked at Chen Shi, also very surprised.

“Why do you look so pale?” she asked, about to get up. “You child, you’re ill and didn’t say anything!”

She called for imperial physicians.

“Doctor Zhou has already examined me and prescribed medicine that I’m taking,” Chen Shi said with a smile, having people stop her.

Since Zhou Maochun had seen her, the old lady of Duke Deqing was somewhat relieved.

“That woman you brought back…” she began to ask, then forgot how to address her, “that woman who moved into your father’s room…”

This sounded so strange that the surrounding servant women hurriedly reminded her in low voices.

“Miss Qi.” Only then did the old lady remember, continuing, “What kind of person is she?”

Chen Shi smiled.

The old lady was becoming increasingly confused, often forgetting things mid-sentence, and the servant women beside her had to remind her in low voices.

“That’s not what I mean,” the old lady of Duke Deqing said impatiently, waving her hand and still looking at Chen Shi. “She, she’s just like, like that family’s child?”

That family? Which family?

The surrounding servant women were completely confused.

Chen Shi just smiled.

“Which family?” she said, her tone questioning but her expression calm.

“Xueniang, you know who I’m talking about!” the old lady said sternly.

Chen Shi lowered her head with a smile, then raised it again.

“Really? I can’t remember clearly. If Auntie says she resembles someone, then she must,” she said.

Qi Yue was unaware of what was happening at Chen Shi’s place. She had already kowtowed to the Emperor and was opening the box she had brought.

“Miss Qi is truly clever and intelligent,” the Emperor said with a smile, looking at the woman kneeling before him.

Qi Yue was no longer as constrained as during her first few meetings with the Emperor. Hearing this, she looked up with a smile.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” she said.

The eunuchs beside them couldn’t help but tsk-tsk—this woman was really quite bold.

The Emperor’s smile grew deeper.

He no longer needed to say the explanation he had prepared for why he had summoned her.

“This subject knows Your Majesty must be waiting to see the progress,” Qi Yue said, lowering her head while taking things out of the box.

The Emperor looked at her.

“Rise,” he said.

Qi Yue looked up again with a smile.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I’m quite comfortable like this,” she said, changing to a kneeling position.

This was the first time the eunuchs had seen someone refuse the Emperor’s command so casually and easily, and looking at both the speaker and listener, neither seemed particularly aware of it. The conversation seemed perfectly natural.

Qi Yue then took out scissors and knives, startling the eunuchs.

“Oh my, this won’t do,” they said, quickly standing and surrounding Qi Yue.

Qi Yue was somewhat puzzled.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You can’t bring these weapons before His Majesty,” the eunuchs said urgently.

Weapons?

“Get out of the way, you’re making a fuss and embarrassing me,” the Emperor said with displeasure.

The eunuchs sheepishly moved aside, watching as the Emperor not only showed no concern but also didn’t have the eunuchs present the items to him. Instead, he got up and walked over, standing in front of Qi Yue.

“These…” he bent down slightly to look at the items Qi Yue had arranged in a row, asking curiously, “are these the things you use to demonstrate your divine skills?”

“Yes,” Qi Yue said with a smile, pointing them out to him one by one. “Forceps, surgical knife, scissors—these are divided into many types…”

The Emperor first bent down slightly to look, then simply sat down. The eunuchs were surprised again and hurriedly brought cushions.

Were these things really so interesting to look at?

Or was it…

The eunuchs stood to the side, their lowered gazes inevitably falling on the woman sitting across from the Emperor.

Qi Yue had already laid out everything and explained what each item was.

“This syringe is the one you mentioned last time for drawing air from Elder Li’s stomach?” the Emperor asked, extending his slender finger to hesitantly pick up the syringe.

“This isn’t that one. This is an injection syringe. What Elder Li used was a puncture syringe,” Qi Yue said with a smile, rummaging through the box, then smiling apologetically, “It hasn’t been made yet.”

The Emperor looked at her and smiled, putting the syringe back.

There shouldn’t be anything else, right? She had already shown His Majesty that she wasn’t slacking off. Qi Yue began preparing to pack up.

“So how is this surgical knife used?” the Emperor asked, pointing again.

He still wanted to know how to use it?

Qi Yue smiled and reached out to pick it up, holding it like a writing brush.

“Like this,” she said, then changed her grip, “and like this, and this way…”

The Emperor smiled as he watched the woman’s hands nimbly change positions. The surrounding eunuchs’ hearts rose to their throats—goodness, she was so skilled with blades, how dangerous…

It wasn’t just the eunuchs before the Emperor who were nervous. At this moment, Rao Chen Shi was pacing back and forth at home, constantly asking if the old lady had returned. Fortunately, not long after, word came that she had returned. Overjoyed, she hurried over.

The old lady of Duke Deqing walked quickly with a stern face, supported by two servant women.

With Chen Xueniang’s strange temperament, had even mother failed to get anywhere with her?

“Mother, what did Xueniang say?” she asked.

“She said nothing,” the old lady of Duke Deqing replied. “I can see she knows very well what’s going on.”

“She’s doing it on purpose!” Rao Chen Shi said with a nod, angry, anxious, and aggrieved. “I’ve never provoked her. From childhood I’ve always deferred to her, truly treating her as a sister. How can she be so heartless, putting me in such an unrighteous position! I’ll have no face to enter the Rao family door after this.”

“What are you talking about?” the old lady of Duke Deqing seemed to come to her senses, frowning. “How did she frame you?”

Rao Chen Shi was stunned by the question.

“Wasn’t it she who requested the divorce decree?” she asked.

“How would I know,” the old lady of Duke Deqing said.

Rao Chen Shi was going crazy.

“Didn’t you ask her? Didn’t you say she admitted it?” she said.

The old lady of Duke Deqing suddenly understood.

“Oh that—I forgot to ask,” she said.

Rao Chen Shi nearly choked.

“Then what did you go there for?” she said.

The old lady of Duke Deqing looked confused.

“Right, what did I go there for?” she murmured.

Rao Chen Shi was frustrated beyond measure.

“Weren’t we going to play cards? Have the people arrived?” the old lady of Duke Deqing asked again.

The old lady’s confusion was acting up again. The servant women hurriedly supported and coaxed her.

“They’ve arrived, they’ve arrived. Just waiting for you, old lady.”

Rao Chen Shi helplessly waved her hand.

“Quick, help mother take her medicine,” she said.

The old lady of Duke Deqing heard her speak.

“Er Hua? How did you come? When did you arrive?” she asked.

Rao Chen Shi rubbed her forehead and sighed.

“Mother, I’ve been here for several days. I’m about to leave now. I’ll come see you another day,” she said, and without waiting for the old lady of Duke Deqing to speak again, she hurried away.

The servant women supported the old lady as they walked inside.

“Go to the master’s place,” the old lady suddenly said.

The servant women were stunned, thinking the old lady was severely confused, so they agreed verbally but didn’t change direction.

“Oh my, I’m not confused,” the old lady said irritably, shaking off the servant women and walking tremblingly toward Chen Xue’s brother’s residence.

Unable to tell when the old lady was confused and when she was clear, the servant women helplessly followed.

Chen Xue had two older brothers, both nearly fifty, living in the eastern courtyard of Duke Deqing’s mansion. One courtyard was divided into two, with the brothers living separately. Both were sickly and had resigned from office early to stay home. They had few children, and those they had were sent far away. Now the younger generation had almost forgotten that the Chen family’s main branch had these two men.

The old lady of Duke Deqing went straight to Master Chen’s side.

Master Chen loved practicing Taoism and only came out of his meditation room to meet her when he heard that the old lady of Duke Deqing had come. If it were anyone else, they would only be able to speak through servants.

“Have you seen the woman Xueniang brought back?” the old lady of Duke Deqing asked directly.

Master Chen shook his head.

“I’ve only heard my second brother mention her, but haven’t seen her,” he said.

The old lady of Duke Deqing was silent for a moment.

“I suspect this woman is related to someone,” she said.

Master Chen looked at her.

The old lady of Duke Deqing seemed to have difficulty speaking.

“Wanning Villa,” she said.

Master Chen’s expression changed dramatically.

“Aunt, such words… cannot be spoken carelessly…” he said in a low voice.

“I naturally know such words cannot be spoken carelessly,” the old lady of Duke Deqing said. Having spoken these words that had been weighing on her heart, she seemed somewhat relieved, squinting as if seeing far away. “But today I saw her. I was nearly frightened to death. Those eyes, that appearance, exactly like that child…”

“Didn’t they say it was a woman?” Master Chen questioned quietly.

“Wasn’t that child handsome enough to look like a woman? One look and Xueniang was enchanted…” the old lady of Duke Deqing said with a snort, then coughed and stopped, looking at Master Chen and remembering something. “Oh right, you never saw him.”

She sighed and squinted.

“None of you saw him. Speaking of resemblance, this woman actually looks more like that child’s grandmother, Noble Consort Zheng…” she murmured.

Before she finished speaking, Master Chen suddenly stood up.

“Aunt!” he cut off the old lady’s words.

“Enough, I’m this old—don’t startle me with your outbursts,” the old lady glared at him. “You siblings frightening me is enough for me to bear.”

Master Chen gasped and paced back and forth.

“Impossible. That great fire—no one escaped, they all died, completely dead,” he murmured, then nodded decisively. “Aunt, it’s just some resemblance. There are many people in this world who look alike.”

The old lady of Duke Deqing looked at him.

“Given Xueniang’s feelings for that person, seeing someone who resembles him so much, it’s understandable that she would do something extreme,” Master Chen said.

The old lady of Duke Deqing sighed and looked toward the door.

“Yes, there are many people in this world who look alike. Given Xueniang’s temperament, such behavior is quite normal. But why would the old lady of Marquis Dingxi do such a thing?” she said slowly, a flash of light appearing in her usually cloudy eyes. “A beggar’s background, a life-saving debt—would anyone really believe such dubious claims?”