As darkness approached, it was time to personally “escort” Divine Lady Liu out.

With no movement from Compassionate Heart Hall, Second Madam Xiao’s heart finally settled as she led her maids and matrons to Divine Lady Liu’s quarters.

“Divine Lady, shall we?”

The young maid glanced at Divine Lady Liu before silently picking up the small bundle packed yesterday.

Divine Lady Liu drew a deep breath, struggling to suppress her near-breakdown emotions.

She had truly boarded Fourth Miss Jiang’s pirate ship with no way off.

Now the ship had capsized, and she was about to drown in the ditch, except… her shipmate could swim!

Seeing Divine Lady Liu’s tense expression, Madam Xiao laughed with satisfaction. “If Divine Lady wishes to stay for dinner before leaving, that can be arranged.”

“No, that won’t be necessary…” Divine Lady Liu closed her eyes briefly, her expression wooden as she walked out.

Forget about whether the woman who lost her child would drag her to the authorities—she was certain that once she stepped outside the Earl’s manor gates, the spectators would tear her apart.

Her reputation, her future—everything would be gone.

Divine Lady Liu walked step by step, her legs feeling like thousand-pound weights.

Madam Xiao stopped, coldly watching Divine Lady Liu’s dejected figure move toward the main gate.

The side entrance beside the main gate was already open, and the doorkeeper looked at the approaching Divine Lady Liu with contempt.

“Mind the steps, Divine Lady. Don’t trip.”

Divine Lady Liu faltered the doorkeeper’s words making her face grow even paler.

“She’s coming out! She’s coming out!” The crowd outside was a dark mass, their voices mixing with excitement as Divine Lady Liu’s figure finally appeared.

“Did East Peace Earl’s Old Madam’s eyes recover or not?”

“Not—look at Divine Lady Liu’s funeral expression!”

“Ah, we expected this outcome. How boring—won’t even make much money winning the bet.”

“Come on, think of it as free money. At least enough for a meat dinner.”

“True, free money indeed.”

The sunset was fading, casting a soft orange glow across the western sky. Divine Lady Liu stared at the darkness before her outside the gate, lacking the courage to take another step.

She was finished, truly finished!

“Pfft, nothing but a fraudulent con artist!” A woman holding a child spat.

This curse seemed to ignite the crowd’s emotions, and rotten eggs and vegetable leaves flew toward Divine Lady Liu.

With a splat, Divine Lady Liu was hit by a rotten egg. As the foul liquid ran down her cheek, she remained unresponsive in her despair.

The doorkeeper, however, began to panic: “Stop throwing! Stop throwing!”

He’d be the one cleaning up the mess in front of the Earl’s manor.

“Quick, move along!” Seeing the instant layer of refuse accumulating at the manor entrance, the doorkeeper began shooing people away with a dark face.

“Divine Lady, let’s go.” The bundle-carrying maid was nearly in tears.

By now, the maid was also covered in rotten vegetable leaves.

“Go.” Divine Lady Liu forced out the word and moved forward.

The woman in blue rushed forward and grabbed Divine Lady Liu: “You fraud, give me back my child’s life!”

Divine Lady Liu remained expressionless, allowing the woman to shake her repeatedly.

Head maid Afu came running urgently, shouting as she ran: “Stop her! Don’t let her leave!”

This sudden shout energized the gossip-seeking crowd as if they’d been injected with stimulants.

“What’s happening? Did the Old Madam’s eyes recover?”

“No way, could there be such a twist?”

In the blink of an eye, Afu caught up and urgently called to the doorkeeper: “Don’t let Divine Lady Liu leave—Old Madam’s eyes are bleeding!”

Hearing this, the doorkeeper immediately blocked Divine Lady Liu: “You can’t leave. Our Old Madam’s eyes are bleeding.”

“What?” Divine Lady Liu’s eyes flickered.

What was happening? The talismanic water she gave Old Madam should have only cleared her digestive system—how could it have such severe consequences?

“Seize her and take her to Compassionate Heart Hall to await the masters’ judgment!” Afu gave Divine Lady Liu a cold look as if already viewing her as dead.

Two matrons quickly flanked Divine Lady Liu and dragged her inside.

In her stumbling journey, Divine Lady Liu brushed past Jiang Si, who stood in Compassionate Heart Hall’s courtyard.

Feeling doom approaching, Divine Lady Liu instinctively looked at Jiang Si.

Jiang Si’s lips moved, silently forming a single word.

Her expression remained calm, the kind of calm that suggested complete control, as if she were the victor.

Victor?

The despairing Divine Lady Liu suddenly shuddered, a glimmer of clarity entering her eyes.

She had secretly made a deal with Fourth Miss Jiang—if she failed, Fourth Miss Jiang’s plans would fail too.

So where did Fourth Miss Jiang’s confidence come from?

Perhaps the mind becomes sharper in desperate situations. Divine Lady Liu vaguely grasped something and frantically tried to decipher Jiang Si’s lip movement.

Just one word—what had Fourth Miss Jiang said to her?

“Divine Lady Liu, what exactly did you give Old Madam? Confess immediately!”

Compassionate Heart Hall was in chaos, with the masters of all branches crowded inside. Upon seeing Divine Lady Liu, Second Master Jiang demanded harshly.

It was bad enough that his mother had lost sight in one eye—if anything worse happened, he would be the first to suffer.

According to the Great Zhou Dynasty’s unwritten rules, officials must observe three years of mourning after a parent’s death.

He was in his prime, at the crucial point of his career advancement. Leaving officialdom for three years would be a devastating blow to his career development.

“It was just talismanic water—” Under Second Master Jiang’s imposing manner, Divine Lady Liu responded instinctively, then suddenly froze mid-sentence.

Water!

That was the word Fourth Miss Jiang had mouthed to her—”water”!

Divine Lady Liu quickly looked toward Old Madam Feng.

Blood-tinged fluid was seeping from Old Madam Feng’s left eye, a terrifying sight.

Eye bleeding was different from bleeding elsewhere—several maids holding soft clothes didn’t know what to do, crying in their panic.

“Water!” Divine Lady Liu blurted out.

Everyone in the room turned to look at her.

At this point, Divine Lady Liu threw caution to the wind and urgently said: “Quickly wash Old Madam’s eyes with cool boiled water!”

“Enough! You’ve already harmed Old Madam to this state, and you still want to cause more damage?” Madam Xiao shouted severely.

“Afu, fetch water to wash Grandmother’s eyes.” Amid the tense atmosphere, Jiang Si suddenly spoke.

“Fourth Miss, this is no time for your reckless commands!”

“Second Aunt, even if we don’t trust Divine Lady Liu, Grandmother’s eyes need to be cleaned with water!” Jiang Si glanced at Afu. “Afu, hurry—Grandmother is uncomfortable with blood on her face.”

Afu hesitated briefly, then nodded and began cleaning Old Madam Feng’s face with a soft cloth dampened with clean water.

With master’s orders given, the maids steadied themselves and worked systematically.

Basin after basin of bloodied water was carried out until Old Madam Feng’s left eye finally stopped bleeding.

“Mother, how are you feeling?” Jiang Ancheng and the others asked anxiously.

Old Madam Feng’s closed eyelids trembled, then slowly opened.

After a moment of silence, she spoke shakily: “I think… I can see with my left eye…”