"Unlike you, who could harm even their own flesh and blood, what is there for me to fear seeing?" Qi Yue laughed, standing on the threshold looking down.

This statement ignited the surrounding crowd further, stirring up a wave of buzzing commentary.

"Vile woman, cease your nonsensical prattling!" Old Master Liu knew how sharp-tongued, shameless, and cunning this woman was, so he quickly retorted loudly, "Tend to your own household mess before pointing fingers at others."

"So then, why are you here bothering me?" Qi Yue nodded, saying.

"The ways of the world are declining, that is why I speak," Old Master Liu snorted. "The Marquis of Dingxi lacks proper conduct, defying the Imperial Edict. I have already submitted a petition to the authorities..."

Before he could finish, Qi Yue burst into laughter and cut him off.

"Hey, Old Master, are you saying the Marquis of Dingxi shouldn't divorce me, or that I should be the one divorced?" she asked with a smile. "Are you speaking for me or for the Marquis's estate? Think clearly before you speak. We might at least be able to afford you a favor one way or the other, but don't end up like Pigsy looking in the mirror—ugly on both sides."

The crowd roared with laughter. Though they didn't fully grasp the meaning of Pigsy looking in the mirror, it sounded highly amusing, and laughter erupted everywhere, drowning out the rest of Old Master Liu's words.

When the laughter finally subsided, Old Master Liu had to strain his voice to shout:

"She should have been divorced long ago! She shouldn't have been married at all!"

"Enough, Old Master. I am very busy here. If you have nothing else to discuss, please go home and stop making trouble," Qi Yue said, shaking her head and waving her hand with a hint of impatience.

This childish behavior was too much for Old Master Liu to control his temper.

"How can an inauspicious, vile woman like you treat the sick and save lives? Beware the wrath of heaven!" he cried out, trembling, pointing a finger towards the sky.

Qi Yue took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Old Master Liu, can you please stop branding things as inauspicious and unlucky?" she said sternly. "There are never inherently unlucky things, only unlucky hearts! What a person is, is what a person sees!"

Having said this, she turned and called out for Yan'er.

Yan'er, who had been standing quietly behind the doorframe, immediately rushed out.

"Yan'er, would you mind letting everyone know about your situation?" Qi Yue bent down and asked quietly.

Yan'er shook her head. Never mind telling her story; if Qi Yue asked her to die, the child wouldn't hesitate in the slightest.

Seeing Yan'er emerge, Old Master Liu, who was about to speak, froze. If it weren't for the name, he almost wouldn't have recognized his own granddaughter.

He had never truly seen what his granddaughter looked like, let alone now that she had changed her appearance.

Changed appearance...

Old Master Liu looked at the little girl with disbelief.

Large eyes, a tiny nose, sharp cheekbones, dressed in a petite nurse's uniform specially tailored by Qi Yue—she looked quite endearing, although the scar across her mouth was a noticeable flaw.

Endearing...

Old Master Liu had never imagined he would use that word for this child.

"This child originally had a cleft lip, what you commonly call a 'harelip'," Qi Yue said to the crowd, leading Yan'er forward.

At these words, the people on the street gasped in shock; some tried to move away while others surged forward to look closer.

"Because of this, when she was born, her own grandfather tried to drown her. Only through her mother's desperate pleas was her life spared. After enduring scorn her whole life, now her own grandfather is forcing her out of the home to die in a temple," Qi Yue stated.

Yan'er faced the surging crowd without the slightest sign of retreat or fear; instead, she took a small step forward, straightened her back, allowing everyone a clearer view.

Look, she is no longer an ugly duckling; she is a swan now, perhaps not perfectly beautiful yet, but she will certainly grow more so.

"Inauspicious? A bringer of bad luck?" Qi Yue continued. "No, neither. This is merely an illness."

The onlookers showed less fear and more curiosity upon hearing this, causing more people to press forward, squeezing Old Master Liu until he could barely stand steady.

"Since it is an illness, it can be treated. So I treated her. Although she cannot be completely like a normal person, it is no longer that terrifying," Qi Yue went on.

The crowd looked at Yan'er, pointing and murmuring in admiration.

"You think just because it's stitched up, she’s no longer a harelipped child?" Old Master Liu scoffed. "No one can change the fact that she is a harelipped child! They cannot change the fact that she brings bad luck! They cannot change the fact that you all are inauspicious!"

"Yes, that's right, it can't be changed, but it’s not us, it’s you!" Qi Yue retorted, her eyebrows raised. "Liu, this condition is hereditary. The Marquis of Dingxi's estate has never had this, so it must be in your family. I dare bet that there is another child with a cleft lip in your house! If I lose this bet, I will kneel to you right here in the street!"

This Madam Qi loved making bets with people, but last time Wang Qinchun scurried away like a turtle, and everyone missed the sight of someone kneeling. Perhaps they would see it this time?

For a moment, everyone's attention shifted from Yan'er to Old Master Liu.

He had been pleased when he was the center of attention earlier, but now he felt like he was on a griddle, deeply uncomfortable.

"Liu, do you dare face your revered Sage Master and declare that I have lost? If you dare speak it, I dare kneel!" Qi Yue stepped forward again, glaring at Old Master Liu and demanding.

Old Master Liu's face was pale, a layer of sweat beaded on his forehead. His face—whether damp with sweat or from the recent crowding—was flushed. His beard, hair, and robes were slightly disheveled; the imposing air he held moments ago was completely gone.

"Say it quickly. What is there to fear about that?"

The idle bystanders egged him on.

Yet, Qi Yue was not doing much better; her palms were nervously sweating. This was truly a gamble...

"Yan'er." A frail, elderly woman's voice cut through the air.

A short, stout old woman squeezed through the crowd, looking at Yan'er with utter astonishment.

Yan'er saw her too, hesitating, remaining still and silent.

"Are you Yan'er?" The old woman pushed aside the person supporting her and rushed forward a few steps, scrutinizing Yan'er in disbelief, then grasping her face, her eyes fixed on her mouth and nose. "Your... your... how is it healed?"

"Grandmother," Yan'er finally spoke.

Hearing her speak made the old woman even more astonished.

"You... you can speak clearly now too?" she stammered again, her expression one of profound shock.

Over the past month, Yan'er had diligently practiced vocalization according to Qi Yue's instructions. Though delayed, children progress rapidly; besides a few specific sounds, her daily conversation had been corrected almost entirely.

"Auntie cured me," Yan'er nodded and said loudly.

The old woman tremblingly rubbed Yan'er's face.

"Healed? Healed?" she repeated. "It can be cured?"

"Of course it can be cured," Qi Yue said. "And the sooner the better. Yan'er's case is already late; if it had been done when she was a few months old, her recovery would be even better now."

Saying this, she reached out and gently patted Yan'er's head.

"It can be cured..." the old woman murmured, her legs suddenly buckling as she nearly collapsed.

Qi Yue quickly reached out to support her.

"What are you doing here? Who let you out!" Old Master Liu shouted from his side.

As soon as his words fell, the old woman shoved Qi Yue away and rushed towards Old Master Liu.

"Is that your grandmother?" Qi Yue whispered to Yan'er.

Yan'er nodded. Before she could say anything, a commotion erupted from that direction, accompanied by the old woman's cries.

"Give me back my daughter!"

Qi Yue and Yan'er stared in astonishment as the old woman suddenly grabbed Old Master Liu's beard with one hand and wildly struck him with the other.

This action completely surprised everyone, even Old Master Liu, leaving him utterly flustered.

"What are you doing? Insolent!" he roared angrily.

But it was useless. The old woman seemed to muster the strength of her entire life, gripping the old man's beard tightly and beating him fiercely.

"Give me back my daughter! You said she was a demon! You said her harelip was inauspicious, that she wouldn't live! You made me drown her with my own hands!" the old woman wailed, her voice hoarse. "My daughter, she was so tiny... my daughter... I drowned her..."

By the end, she was delirious, unable to stand, and collapsed weakly, her hand still tightly clutching Old Master Liu's beard, tearing off a lock of it by sheer force.

The street fell into an uproar.

Qi Yue was also momentarily stunned. Indeed... she had guessed correctly...

The last time she was at the Marquis of Dingxi's residence, the moment she mentioned heredity, she noticed Old Master Liu's expression shift oddly. That sharp-tongued old man failed to retort then, and he didn't even support his son when he argued—it had to be guilt. There must have been a child with this condition in their ancestry.

So she took a gamble, pulling in the respect scholars held for the Sages. What if the old Liu man, for the sake of face, flatly denied it? Would she then have to kneel?

Nonsense. Was Qi Yue the type to do that? She hadn't specified whether the Liu family had other cleft-lipped children in the past or the future. If there were none in the past, who could guarantee there wouldn't be any in the future?

It wouldn't be too late to kneel after confirming there truly were no other children with the condition later. As for when that would be? Who knew...

Now, even if Old Master Liu refused to admit it, someone else had validated it for him.

Old Master Liu's face was ashen; he looked utterly lost.

"...My daughter..." The old woman slumped on the ground, tears streaming down her face, her hands gesturing feebly in front of her. "...She was so tiny... You said it was my mother who wickedly fed me rabbit meat... I cut ties with my maternal family... You said I bore a harelipped child, that I was an inauspicious body, and I couldn't lift my head in your house for decades... But it turns out...."

She couldn't continue, looking down at her empty hands.

For decades, every time she woke up in the dead of night, she could still see that infant.

She had borne no other daughters in her life; this must be heaven's punishment for her.

When Yan'er was born, she had fainted from shock.

That was her daughter returning for revenge...

The clamor on the street died down. Watching the devastated old woman sitting on the ground, the surrounding onlookers felt their eyes grow moist.

To personally kill one's own child—is there any pain more agonizing than this for a mother?

Qi Yue quickly pulled Yan'er over.

This elder was old, and the emotional turmoil might be too much.

"Grandmother, please don't cry," Yan'er said, taking the old woman's hand.

She had hardly ever interacted with this grandmother before, but seeing the old woman weep like this, the young girl’s nature compelled her to offer comfort.

The Old Madam Liu looked at Yan'er, her gaze momentarily vacant.

"...Cheng Hui..." she murmured, grasping Yan'er's hand tightly. "Cheng Hui... my daughter."

She finally burst into deep sobs and embraced Yan'er tightly.

Yan'er startled and tried to pull away, but Qi Yue quickly shook her head.

"Let your grandmother cry it out. Crying will help," she advised.

Yan'er naturally obeyed Qi Yue's words and allowed the old woman to hold her, even extending her small hand to gently stroke the old woman's back, making soft, soothing sounds like a mother comforting her child.

Old Madam Liu wept without restraint.

Still delivering at the second watch! If you have any spare votes, please offer a few! ~RS

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