"What am I asking for? What is there to ask! He leaves for three years, without a word or a glance, while Yue Niang spends all four seasons making clothes that he never accepts, even letting his underlings mock Yue Niang's maids! Mocking the maids? That is mocking Yue Niang herself!" He, too, stood up, roaring with a sharp voice, "Now that he's back, he still ignores everything. If Yue Niang hadn't humbled herself, begging him to yield, a mere maid would have been enough to bar the respectable Young Mistress from even entering her own husband's courtyard! The cold words would be one thing, but because of some concubine, he sends her away again. Xie Zhengmei, I don't believe you know nothing of these matters! And you still ask me what to investigate! Tell me what to investigate! If you cannot provide an answer today, then get back to the Shan Ning Residence this instant!" As the Marquis of Dingxi stood, Concubine Zhou and Chang Yunqi both immediately knelt down.

Upon hearing the Marquis of Dingxi utter Xie Shi's name directly and speak of sending her back to Shan Ning, one cried out for the father to calm his anger, while the other, kneeling with tear-filled eyes, crawled to Xie Shi, saying, "Madam, Madam, quickly speak well with the Marquis." She offered advice, trying to reconcile them.

Xie Shi trembled with fury and roughly flung off Concubine Zhou's hand.

"Chang—" she began to call out, but Chang Yancheng grasped her arm.

"Mother, it is my filial impiety that has provoked Father's anger." Chang Yancheng knelt before her, gripping the sleeve of her robe tightly. "Mother, this mess is the disaster I caused; I will certainly give Father an accounting." After speaking, he immediately kowtowed to the Marquis of Dingxi.

"Father, this child knows his fault; I will certainly provide you with an explanation. I only beg that Father forgive Mother for her lapse in doting upon and spoiling her child." He spoke sincerely, raising his head to look at the Marquis of Dingxi.

"Not an explanation for me, an explanation for Yue Niang," the Marquis of Dingxi said, his anger barely contained. Just as he was about to say more, the sound of stomping feet was heard from outside the door.

"Who is making noise outside!" he bellowed in fury. "What are you sneaking around for!" The person outside was terrified and immediately knelt and entered.

"My Lord, a visitor has arrived!" It was a male servant.

What visitor could possibly command such an urgent announcement into the inner courtyard, disregarding propriety?

"I won't see them," the Marquis of Dingxi grumbled dismissively.

"My Lord, it is the Prefect and his wife," the male servant urged anxiously.

The Prefect's rank was nothing in the eyes of the Marquis of Dingxi, but as the saying went, the county official is less powerful than the one currently in charge. Here, in the territory of Yongqing Prefecture, mutual respect ensured everyone got along smoothly. Furthermore, the Prefect's wife was an old acquaintance of Xie Shi. Such an uninvited, untimely arrival surely meant something critical had occurred.

"Show them to the study; I will be right there," the Marquis of Dingxi said, composing his expression.

"My Lord, they are already at the doorstep; this humble servant could not stop them," the servant confessed, bowing low.

What? Everyone in the room was astonished. What matter would cause the Prefect and his wife to disregard all common courtesy?

Before the Marquis of Dingxi could speak again, a woman’s weeping drifted from outside.

"Sister, Sister..." The Prefect's wife was carried in, sobbing, supported by a serving woman.

Everyone in the room jumped in surprise.

Xie Shi, forgetting her previous anger, rushed forward to receive her.

"What has happened?" she gasped, steadying the Prefect's wife, only to realize the woman was nearly too weak to support.

The Prefect's wife was utterly drained.

It took a noisy commotion of servants and maids to soothe and settle her down.

Chang Yancheng, Concubine Zhou, and Chang Yunqi quietly withdrew with their attendants.

The Prefect's surname was Huang. He was forty-two, born into a distinguished family. Though his official career had seen its ups and downs, it had generally progressed smoothly. Now, with sufficient seniority, he stood on the cusp of further advancement. With a virtuous wife and filial children, he was enjoying the prime of his success. In private, the Marquis of Dingxi often joked that based on his bearing, the young Prefect was destined for high office.

"Just looking at your official demeanor, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say you're ready for the Inner Court," he had often teased Prefect Huang in private.

But now, Prefect Huang appeared entirely transformed in his eyes. His expression was distraught, his face aged by at least a decade, and the white hairs at his temples seemed to have sprouted uniformly overnight.

"Kicked by a horse!" Upon learning the cause, the Marquis of Dingxi was deeply shocked, a sorrow gripping his heart. Prefect Huang had one wife and two concubines, yet children were difficult to come by. This son was cherished like a phoenix by the entire household, and what was more, the boy was brilliant—only twelve years old, yet excelling in his studies. To think he had met with such a terrible fate.

"Quickly, our residence still has a stalk of old ginseng," the Marquis of Dingxi instructed Xie Shi.

Xie Shi was personally wiping the face of the Prefect's wife, who now seemed somewhat vacant. Two older maids were helping her breathe and rub her body.

"Go get it at once," Xie Shi immediately called out.

The serving woman promptly responded and left.

The Prefect's wife, however, clutched Xie Shi's hand.

"Sister, please save my child," she gasped out.

"Tell me what you need, and I will give it to you," Xie Shi said, gripping her hand tightly.

"Your family's physician, send him quickly to save my child!" The Prefect's wife struggled to rise. "I will kneel to you..."

In her panic, Xie Shi quickly helped her up.

"Our family's physician? Sister, you are confused. My family has no physician." She shook her head, glancing at the Marquis of Dingxi, "Where is a good doctor you know? Hurry and invite them."

The Marquis of Dingxi frowned, about to consider, when Prefect Huang grabbed his arm.

"My Lord, your household's excellent physician!" he pleaded urgently.

When both husband and wife said this, it could not be nonsense.

"It was in mid-July; a maid was beaten with canes, and the steward asked this old man to examine her," Doctor Guo stated, head bowed, cleverly avoiding mention of leg injuries. Having frequented many wealthy households, he knew well how these unsightly matters were usually handled. "This girl had a weak constitution; the internal injury from the reversal of her qi and blood had affected her vital organs. I said I couldn't save her and left. Unexpectedly, just a short while ago, someone came to the residence again, and I encountered this very maid, and she was still alive and well..."

The Marquis of Dingxi was greatly surprised upon hearing this and immediately ordered the steward who had summoned the doctor to be questioned.

Meanwhile, Mama Su understood immediately who was being discussed and looked towards Xie Shi, her shock undisguised. Back then, they had been very surprised that the maid recovered, but they hadn't thought much of it, assuming the girl's strong constitution had seen her through the ordeal. Could it be that someone had actually treated her?

"That's impossible, Doctor, you must have been mistaken. She was fine before; she just needed rest to recover," Xie Shi said.

"Impossible! This was an illness, proven by her pulse! How could I be wrong?" Doctor Guo cried out, agitated.

"We truly do not know. Since the condition you describe was so critical, it certainly couldn't have been cured by an ordinary doctor, but we never sent anyone out to seek a physician," Xie Shi stated.

"To tell you the truth, Madam, that maid refused to tell me the truth. No matter how I pressed, she wouldn't say who cured her. Perhaps you could question her?" Doctor Guo bowed.

Xie Shi still hesitated, but the Prefect's wife, clutching her hand, began to weep uncontrollably.

"Go, ask her," Xie Shi conceded.

Mama Su bowed and left.

The Marquis of Dingxi was utterly confused.

"Who?" he asked.

Xie Shi glanced at him, a faint smile touching her lips.

"Ah Hao," she said.

The face of the Marquis of Dingxi instantly filled with stunned disbelief.

Not long after, Mama Su returned.

"That maid claimed she was fine; she said she recovered on her own," she reported.

"See?" Xie Shi said to Prefect Huang with exasperation.

Before she could finish, Doctor Guo exclaimed.

"Impossible! She simply refuses to speak," he cried, frantically tugging at his beard.

"Did you explain the gravity of the situation to her?" Xie Shi then inquired of Mama Su.

Mama Su nodded.

"I did, My Lady, and I told her if she dared to conceal the truth, she would be thrown out," she replied.

Xie Shi looked at Doctor Guo with a measure of helplessness.

Doctor Guo began pacing frantically around the room.

"For this kind of ailment, only Hua Tuo alive, performing abdominal surgery, could save her—abdominal surgery, abdominal surgery!" He abruptly stopped his pacing, spun around to face Mama Su, and lunged forward, his eyes blazing.

Mama Su instinctively backed away several steps. Did this old man truly lose his mind? "You... go look at her stomach," Doctor Guo demanded, his eyes wide and his expression desperate.

"I—what business do I have looking at her stomach!" Mama Su stammered, thinking this old rogue...

"See if her stomach has a scar. If it doesn't, then I was mistaken. If it does..."

Doctor Guo stared intensely at Mama Su, trembling with excitement and tension.

Mama Su looked helplessly toward Xie Shi.

"Go quickly!" The Marquis of Dingxi slammed the table. "This is a matter of life and death!" In a flurry, Mama Su rushed out.

The room fell into a silence so profound it felt as if time had stopped.

"Speaking of physicians, my eldest daughter-in-law also knows a bit," the Marquis of Dingxi remarked, breaking the tension.

"Is that true?" Prefect Huang, now jumpy at the mention of a doctor, grew agitated.

"My Lord, what Yue Niang knows is nothing but herbal remedies and folk cures; this is hardly the time for jokes," Xie Shi interjected.

Indeed. The Marquis of Dingxi coughed awkwardly, regaining his composure.

While soothing the Prefect's wife, Xie Shi sneered inwardly. It was just a pretty face that the Marquis held in such high regard that he would bring it up at a time like this—saving lives, calling for a doctor, bah! A beggar's worthless life...

The sound of running footsteps echoed from outside the door. Doctor Guo stiffened instantly, almost ceasing his breath; each footfall seemed to hammer against his heart.

"Madam, Madam!" Mama Su burst back in, her face pale with terror. "There is a wound! There is truly a wound!"

"What?"

Everyone shot to their feet at once.

"There is such a long scar on her stomach, as if it were sewn up with thread!" Mama Su cried out, her teeth chattering.

Mama Su was still shaking uncontrollably. How could such a thing have been done? A line stitched across a person's abdomen—it was too terrifying! Absolutely terrifying!