Yan Qin was so startled by her maid’s shrieking that she immediately pulled a long face. “What are you shouting about? Have you no manners at all? Yes, the First Madam is under house arrest right now — but I, the Second Young Madam, am still here. Do you all think there’s nobody left to manage this household? You don’t give me a shred of respect — after all, I am the mistress of this family…”

Yan Qin rattled on at length, until the poor little maid stood there with her eyes wide and a sentence stuck in her throat that she couldn’t get out no matter how hard she tried.

Once Yan Qin, invoking the authority of the Second Young Madam, had finished her scolding, she asked casually, “What was it you were saying just now was wrong?”

Only then did the maid manage to speak. “It’s Eighth Miss. Eighth Miss has started bleeding heavily and has been taken to the hospital.”

“Bleeding heavily? Where is she bleeding from?” Yan Qin’s eyes went wide.

“Down there.” The maid’s cheeks flushed slightly. “At first they thought her monthly cycle had come. But the blood kept flowing and flowing, and nothing could stop it. San Yitai was terrified and immediately had her rushed to the hospital.”

“I understand. You may go.”

After the maid left, Yan Qin paced back and forth across the room. She didn’t know whether Shi Yutong’s hospitalization had anything to do with that packet of croton powder. But thinking it over, croton powder made people run to the outhouse — it didn’t cause blood in the stool. This matter surely had nothing to do with her.

Right, it had nothing to do with her. Definitely nothing.

While Yan Qin was still trying to reassure herself, Shi Yutong in the hospital was still being resuscitated.

San Yitai stood outside with her pregnant belly, Cai Yue and Cai Xia at her sides — one massaging her shoulders, the other pressing her head — offering her endless reassurance.

Luo Huaimeng was currently managing the inner household of the Shi Mansion. When she learned of the situation, she came over bringing Yan Qing with her.

“Out of nowhere, how could this happen…” Luo Huaimeng glanced at the operating room. “What a pity.”

San Yitai began weeping again at that.

Yan Qing called Cai Yue aside. “Tell me exactly what happened to Eighth Miss today.”

Cai Yue said, “Eighth Miss was perfectly lively and energetic this morning. She had dinner together with San Yitai. After eating, she went back to her room. But not long after that, she cried out that her stomach was hurting. Then the pain had her rolling around on the bed, and then the bleeding started. We thought it was her monthly cycle, so we brought a cloth pad — but the blood just kept flowing and flowing and flowing, like a tap had been turned on. It was very frightening.”

Yan Qing furrowed her brow slightly at this. “When was the last time Eighth Miss had her monthly cycle?”

“I believe it was in the latter part of last month.”

“That’s strange, then. It’s only the beginning of July now. Being a few days early is possible, but this early? That makes no sense.” Yan Qing glanced toward the operating room, a large question mark forming in her mind.

“Who visited your young lady before she went to sleep?”

“Second Young Madam.” Qiu Yue thought for a moment. “Second Young Madam spent a while in Miss’s room. The two of them talked for a long time. After that, Second Young Madam left.”

“And then?”

“And then…” Cai Yue’s eyes lit up. “When Eighth Miss and Second Young Madam were together, she took a packet of medicinal powder and had someone dissolve half a bowl of it, then frowned and drank it all down.”

Medicinal powder?

“Is there any of that powder left?”

“Yes, quite a bit remains.”

Yan Qing instructed, “Go back to the mansion right now and bring that powder here. Go quietly, without alerting anyone — especially Second Young Madam.”

Cai Yue dimly sensed that something grave had occurred and dared not delay. She said a word to San Yitai and left.

“Does Seventh Young Madam suspect something suspicious about Yutong’s illness?” San Yitai had overheard what Cai Yue said and stopped her crying.

Yan Qing said, “I can’t say for certain whether there’s something suspicious about it yet. Eighth Miss’s illness came on very strangely — it’s best to pay close attention.”

San Yitai looked at Yan Qing for a long moment. Though she was young, her eyes were clear and bright, and concealed in the depths of her brows was a trace of sharp, keen intelligence.

Recalling how Yan Qing had outsmarted the First Madam step by step with meticulous precision on that previous occasion, San Yitai no longer dared to underestimate her.

To have such deep scheming at her age was truly rare.

Before San Yitai could think much further, the door to the operating room was pushed open. Cai Xia immediately supported San Yitai as she rushed forward.

“Doctor, how is my daughter?”

The doctor shook his head. “The situation is not optimistic. I need to discuss the next course of action with the family. The patient has not stopped bleeding, and in order to save her life, we will have to remove the uterus. If we don’t, the patient will bleed to death.”

“Remove the uterus?” San Yitai was thunderstruck. Everyone around her was equally stunned.

“There is no other option.” The doctor shook his head again. “Madam, you have one minute to decide. The patient must go into surgery immediately.”

San Yitai staggered backward, and the people beside her rushed to catch her.

“How can this be? How can this be? Yutong hasn’t married yet — how will she remarry in the future? Heavens, why has this happened?” San Yitai broke down in sobs.

Luo Huaimeng stepped forward and said, “San Yitai, the doctor is still waiting.”

“Doctor, is there truly no other way?” Yan Qing asked.

The doctor shook his head. “The patient’s uterus is too severely damaged. There is no option but removal.”

“Doctor, the patient’s bleeding is starting up again,” called the nurse from inside in an urgent voice.

The doctor looked to San Yitai. San Yitai was visibly shaken by that cry. She quickly raised her head, stepped forward, and seized the doctor’s hand. “Doctor, save her life. Save my daughter’s life first.”

“We will do our best.” With San Yitai’s answer obtained, the doctor turned and re-entered the operating room.

Yan Qing looked at San Yitai sitting in the chair, sobbing without cease, and felt a pang of sorrow.

Shi Yutong was hateful, yes — but San Yitai had never done anything to harm her. The woman sitting before her now was no more than an ordinary mother.

During the surgery, the Commander also rushed over. Upon hearing that Shi Yutong would have her uterus removed, it was as if the sky had fallen upon him. His eyes instantly reddened.

“Commander, what will Yutong do in the future?” San Yitai wept against the Commander’s chest. A woman who could not bear children — no matter how distinguished her family background, no one would marry her.

The Commander gently patted San Yitai’s back. “Linghua, stop crying. Think of the child in your belly.”

Luo Huaimeng glanced at the two of them and quietly turned her head away.

The surgery was not yet over when Cai Yue came running back, drenched in sweat.

Seeing the Commander here, Cai Yue didn’t dare approach right away. Instead she caught Yan Qing’s eye with a careful look.

Yan Qing said, “You brought the things?”

“I did.”

“Let me see.” Yan Qing reached out and took the medicine packet from Cai Yue, then held it near her nose and inhaled.

San Yitai immediately looked over with tense eyes.

“This is a medicine used to induce labor. If consumed by someone who is not pregnant, it will cause a hemorrhage.” Yan Qing’s expression became grave. “Why would Eighth Miss have taken this kind of medicine?”

“What?” The Commander could not believe it. He snatched the medicine packet from Yan Qing’s hands. “How did Yutong come to have this? And she drank it?”

Cai Yue said from the side, “When Second Young Madam was with Eighth Miss in her room, I don’t know what they discussed, but Eighth Miss had someone dissolve half a bowl of the powder and drank it down.”

“This medicine was sent by Weizhi’s wife?”

“Yes.”

“This is outrageous.” The Commander’s rage was extreme. “First the mother-in-law is imprisoned, and the daughter-in-law still won’t let up. She wants to kill them all.”

First they had tried to harm San Yitai and the child she carried. Now this hand had reached out toward Shi Yutong.

“How dare she — how dare she!” The Commander’s eyes were bloodshot, his voice trembling.

The Commander felt that Madam Shi had no fear of consequences. No matter what she did, she always came out unscathed, relying entirely on the backing of the Meng family. And so she never changed her ways — she only escalated. Realizing this, the small flame that had been quietly smoldering in the Commander’s heart suddenly blazed up high.

The Meng family… the Meng family!

What the Commander was thinking, Yan Qing could read clearly. But she felt this matter was not as simple as it appeared on the surface. Yan Qin, even at her most foolish, would not harm Shi Yutong. For Yan Qin, cultivating a good relationship with Shi Yutong was essential to maintaining any foothold in this mansion. Would she really be so senseless as to cut off her own lifeline?

If it wasn’t Yan Qin who did it, then who else could it be? The answer was already on the tip of the tongue.

Shi Yutong’s surgery went smoothly, but her uterus had been removed. She was still unconscious and would not know what had happened to her, nor would she yet know how her fate had changed because of this.

The Commander, afraid that San Yitai would ruin her health with crying, insisted on sending her back to the Shi Mansion. Several maids were left at the hospital to attend, waiting for Shi Yutong to wake before notifying San Yitai and the Commander.

Yan Qing and Luo Huaimeng also returned home. Luo Huaimeng’s expression was calm — this affair clearly had not unsettled her.

“What do you think the Commander will do?” Once inside the courtyard, Luo Huaimeng asked calmly.

Yan Qing helped her sit down in a chair, personally brewed the tea, and only after the tea was poured did she speak. “My Fifth Sister was used as a tool this time around. The Commander doesn’t dare touch the First Madam because she has the Meng family behind her. But my Fifth Sister has only the Yan family behind her — and we are mere merchants. The Commander has nothing to fear from offending us. Furthermore, the First Madam has long been displeased with this daughter-in-law; she has endured it until now only because a divorce from the Shi Mansion would be bad for appearances. Now that she has a pretext like this, how could she possibly let it go? With one move, she has pierced San Yitai’s heart, and at the same time, rid herself of a daughter-in-law she despised. Madam Shi struck two birds with one stone.”

Luo Huaimeng took a sip of tea and said serenely, “And she isn’t afraid of losing the Commander’s heart?”

“Madam Shi has thrown caution to the wind now. She relies on the Meng family’s backing and isn’t afraid of offending the Commander. After what happened last time — something that serious — she still walked away unharmed. What is there left to fear? Except…” Yan Qing smiled slightly. “She has ultimately underestimated the Commander’s authority. After all, he is the Commander.”

“True enough.” Luo Huaimeng let out a cold laugh. “I’ll wait and watch her lift a stone only to drop it on her own feet. That day cannot be far off now.”

The very next morning, Murong rushed in to wake Yan Qing.

“Miss, Father is here.”

The moment Yan Qing heard that Father was here, her drowsiness vanished without a trace.