At this moment, Qin Kaiyu clearly discovered that he was just like his father – they both wanted to smother Xu Shi to death.

If Xu Shi died, the scandal would be covered up, and father and son would have a future!

Otherwise…

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew from somewhere. Though the weather was gradually getting warmer, both father and son shivered.

Under the heavy lamp shadows, Qin Kaiyu’s hand involuntarily rose, reaching toward the unconscious Xu Shi on the bed. This posture suggested he was about to smother Xu Shi.

“Kaiyu!”

Qin Yongtao suddenly shouted.

Qin Kaiyu turned to look at Qin Yongtao in the shadows, saying nothing, but his face showed a streak of cruelty.

Qin Yongtao met Qin Kaiyu’s gaze, his heart also trembling.

These past days, after Qin Kaiyu learned of Xu Shi’s pregnancy, he had been furious.

Furious that Qin Yongtao and Xu Shi had been so careless, so foolish, to actually do such a stupid thing during grandmother’s mourning period. Calculating the time, the forty-nine days hadn’t even passed yet!

The couple had shamelessly indulged in pleasure, never thinking about what kind of criticism their children would face, never considering what kind of abyss his, Qin Kaiyu’s, barely recovering career would plunge into.

What a selfish and self-serving couple!

Qin Yongtao knew of his son’s anger and depression, so these past days he hadn’t avoided him in some matters, and tonight he had specifically brought Qin Kaiyu along.

This matter, after all, was his own wrongdoing toward his son.

Qin Yongtao’s Adam’s apple moved, and he said in a low voice: “Let me do it!”

Qin Kaiyu stood for a moment, his voice hoarse as he said: “Good.”

It should have been this way from the start.

Qin Kaiyu stepped aside, and Qin Yongtao moved to the bedside, staring at the motionless Xu Shi.

Under the lamplight, Xu Shi’s complexion looked even more deathly pale, like paper.

Qin Yongtao reached out his hand, slowly grasping the quilt.

This was, after all, his legitimate wife, the woman who had accompanied him for over thirty years. Could he really smother her to death?

Qin Yongtao’s hand began to tremble.

“Father.”

Qin Kaiyu spoke softly from behind, the ruthlessness still in his eyes.

Qin Yongtao steeled his heart, gripped the head of the quilt, and was about to pull it over Xu Shi’s face.

Just at that moment—

Xu Shi’s eyes suddenly opened.

Filled with grief and indignation, with unwillingness, with resentment.

Qin Yongtao was startled, then involuntarily stepped back several paces. He had been standing on the footstool, and with this retreat, his foot stepped into empty air. He staggered several steps before stopping, his left foot in piercing pain – he had twisted his ankle.

Xu Shi stared with wide eyes, making muffled “wu wu wu” sounds from her mouth, her eyes containing both anger and sorrow.

Seeing this, Qin Kaiyu ultimately couldn’t bring himself to act, turning back to look silently at Qin Yongtao.

Qin Yongtao supported himself against the table, gasping heavily, his heart pounding wildly. That look from Xu Shi – he understood it: Xu Shi knew that he, Qin Yongtao, was about to smother her to death.

Having reached this point, Qin Yongtao no longer dared approach the bed. He waved his hand dismissively and walked away hunched over.

Qin Kaiyu stood for a long while before saying to Xu Shi, whose eyes now showed fear: “Mother, rest well and recover. I’m going to sleep.”

Xu Shi couldn’t speak, could only painfully endure the extreme pain from Qin Yongtao’s compression of her abdomen, as well as the mental exhaustion from knowing that her husband and son actually wanted to kill her.

She had suffered a stroke and couldn’t move her body or speak, but she could still feel pain. Because she couldn’t speak, her hearing seemed even more acute.

A tear flowed down from the corner of Xu Shi’s eye. All these years of hardship and toil – who had it all been for?

In the end, her husband and son wanted her dead, Feifei couldn’t even show her face, and Yunyun had been cold and distant, mocking and sarcastic toward her ever since her confinement began…

The next morning, when the maids went to wake Xu Shi, they discovered that her bed was covered in fresh blood, and she was staring at them with wide eyes. They immediately screamed in terror.

Dong Shi was just preparing to come over when she heard the screaming and immediately quickened her pace. Upon entering and seeing Xu Shi staring with wide eyes, lying on a bed full of blood stains, barely breathing.

The Qin household was once again in chaos. A physician came and felt Xu Shi’s pulse, shaking his head repeatedly.

Qin Yongtao thought the blood was because the fetus in Xu Shi’s belly was gone, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Yet he was also afraid she might say something inappropriate, keeping his heart on edge.

Fortunately, this old physician had already been hinted at by Qin Yongtao on the way over. Being shrewd, he only said one sentence: “This is from excessive nourishment…”

Though some people found it strange – wasn’t excessive nourishment supposed to cause nosebleeds? How could it cause bleeding from the lower body?

However, Xu Shi had suffered a stroke before, and these past days she had indeed been heavily nourished, so excessive nourishment seemed plausible.

Thus, the old physician prescribed a few medicines for Xu Shi to recover properly.

With this illness, Xu Shi’s body completely collapsed, yet she couldn’t die. She lay in bed staring blankly, making strange whimpering sounds from her mouth.

The next day, Qin Shuying came to visit Xu Shi again.

“Mother, Seventh Young Mistress is thinking of you and has come to see you again.”

Dong Shi leaned down by the bed and spoke to Xu Shi.

Hearing Dong Shi’s words, Xu Shi’s previously somewhat vacant eyes immediately widened, filled with an indescribable terror – terror so intense that from keeping her eyes open too long, they became sore and tears flowed out.

Qin Shuying happened to reach the bedside and gently sighed: “Aunt, it’s only right for your niece to come visit you. Aunt needn’t be so sorrowful. In the past, when your niece was ill, it was aunt who cared for me. Your niece is returning kindness with kindness – naturally I should repay aunt well.”

Xu Shi’s eyes widened even more, so sore from the tears that they flowed continuously, unstoppably.

There was only so much space by the bedside. When Qin Shuying drew near, Dong Shi stepped back a bit.

To show her regard for Qin Shuying’s current status, Dong Shi turned to direct the maids to pour tea for Qin Shuying.

Qin Shuying took out her fragrant handkerchief and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of Xu Shi’s eyes, adding in a low voice: “And I will also repay Concubine Lian well.”

Xu Shi’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Qin Shuying gently raised her sleeve to dab at the corner of her own eye, as if unable to bear seeing Xu Shi’s current pitiful state. Her voice slightly raised: “Aunt, seeing you like this, your niece truly doesn’t know how heartbroken I am.”

More tears flowed from the corners of Xu Shi’s eyes. Qin Shuying again used her handkerchief to wipe Xu Shi’s tears, and while wiping them, she leaned down and said in a low voice: “Mother, does this feeling taste good?”

Xu Shi’s eyes went blank.

After Qin Yunyun returned home from becoming a nun, she had told her that Qin Shuying was Qin Yaoyao.

Xu Shi had thought Qin Yunyun resented Qin Shuying too much, which was why she said such things.

Xu Shi hadn’t believed Qin Yunyun’s words.

But now…

Qin Shuying smiled faintly, her eyes full of mockery and coldness.

Dong Shi and the maids were pouring tea at the table. Dong Shi occasionally looked up at Qin Shuying’s direction and even offered comfort: “Shuying, we’ve invited several physicians, and they all say mother’s illness came suddenly – great joy and great sorrow, great ups and downs, which led to this condition. You needn’t be too sorrowful. After all, with proper care, she’ll gradually get better day by day.”