The room fell silent. Everyone kept their eyes to the floor, pretending not to exist, as if afraid the fire might suddenly land on them.
Suddenly, Qi Yuan found it funny. She softly asked, “Mother, is Second Sister scared already?”
Madam Wang paused. “What do you mean by that?”
Maybe it was just too funny—Qi Yuan couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
She lifted her eyes lightly to look at Madam Wang. “Second Sister only heard about these things and was scared to tears. But I—on that night—I witnessed Butcher Xu’s death with my own eyes, and was even threatened by my adoptive mother. Mother, have you ever thought about what kind of life I was living?”
Madam Wang was caught off guard.
In fact, when Zhang Mama came back that day, she had mentioned Qi Yuan’s adoptive parents.
But at the time, Madam Wang had been too shocked by Hua Momo’s death and Qi Yuan’s intent to report to the authorities to care much about anything else.
That part had simply slipped her mind.
And even when she did remember, most of what she felt was disdain—Qi Yuan being raised by those kinds of people, surely she was tainted by them too. Birds of a feather, after all. Her character likely wasn’t anything admirable either.
As for what kind of life Qi Yuan had led with that couple?
That… she really hadn’t thought about.
Now, with Qi Yuan bringing it up so casually, Madam Wang actually had no words in reply.
A sudden wave of guilt rose up in her.
Indeed—Ah Jin had only heard about it and had been terrified. And Qi Yuan…
She couldn’t help but murmur, “Ah Yuan, I really didn’t know…”
Exactly. Didn’t know.
And no one wanted to know. Had she not killed Hua Momo, had she not gone to the authorities and attracted Lu Shangshu’s attention, she probably wouldn’t have even had the right to step back into this household.
Qi Yuan wasn’t sad. Maybe she’d been hurt too many times in her past life—so much that she’d become numb.
Just then, Qi Jin scrambled down from Madam Wang’s couch and rushed over, crying as she grabbed Qi Yuan’s hand and dropped to her knees. “Sister, please don’t blame Mother—it’s all my fault!”
She wept quietly, as if grievously wronged. “It’s all my fault… I shouldn’t have brought it up and made you sad. Sister, you never should have had to suffer like that. You suffered in my place…”
Any guilt that had just risen in Madam Wang vanished in an instant.
She straightened and barked orders at the servants, “What are you standing there for? Help the Second Young Miss up!”
Then she shot Qi Yuan a cold glare and was about to scold her—
When suddenly the curtain was lifted and Qi Yunting strode in, carrying a lacquered box. Seeing Qi Jin kneeling in front of Qi Yuan, he rushed over in a few long steps.
With one hand, he yanked Qi Jin up and pulled her behind him, glaring fiercely at Qi Yuan. “What do you think you’re doing?! Who the h*ll do you think you are? Since when do you get to discipline Ah Jin in this household?!”
His finger was practically jabbing into Qi Yuan’s face.
Qi Jin, while secretly sneering in her heart, clung to Qi Yunting’s sleeve with a pitiful expression. “Brother, I’m fine… don’t upset Eldest Sister because of me…”
Qi Yuan was thoroughly disgusted.
Qi Yunting, however, was seething with rage. He suddenly grabbed Qi Yuan’s arm and raised his hand to slap her.
Seeing him lift his hand, Madam Wang jumped in fright and hurried to stop him. “Yunting!”
Qi Yunting had trained in martial arts since he was young. If he actually slapped her, it wouldn’t be a simple matter—Qi Yuan might even lose her hearing in one ear.
Even though Madam Wang wasn’t fond of this cold-tempered daughter, she didn’t want any real trouble.
Qi Jin pretended to reach out too—but didn’t actually move.
The same old act.
Qi Yuan’s face didn’t change. She sidestepped swiftly and, with one hand, grabbed Qi Yunting’s arm and gave it a hard yank forward.
Qi Yunting instantly lost his balance and fell forward. With a loud crash, he knocked over the screen behind him and landed hard on the ground.
Madam Wang had a taste for extravagance, and the screen in her room was part of her dowry—a rare piece with a rosewood base, carved with the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, inlaid with large pieces of glass.
Now, the screen crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces.
And that wasn’t even the worst part—the worst was that Qi Yunting, who fell along with it, had his face and hands cut in several places by the flying shards of glass.
Everyone was stunned.
Given Qi Yunting’s skill, they’d all assumed Qi Yuan would be the one to suffer.
Who would’ve thought the young master wouldn’t even land a hit and would end up in such a sorry state himself?
Qi Jin screamed, “Brother!”
The servants finally snapped out of it and scrambled to lift Qi Yunting.
Madam Wang rushed over and knelt beside him, inspecting him anxiously. “Quick, go fetch the doctor!”
Glass shards still protruded from Qi Yunting’s wrist.
His face and neck were smeared with blood—a horrifying sight.
Madam Wang was beside herself with panic.
Qi Jin burst into fresh tears. “Sister, how could you let Brother fall like that?”
The chaos in the room was so overwhelming that when Qi Zhen walked in, even he was taken aback.
He glanced at the weeping Qi Jin, then at Qi Yunting—now covered in blood.
Then his gaze fell on Qi Yuan, standing quietly to the side as if none of this concerned her.
He frowned, clearly developing a headache. “What’s going on here? What happened?”
Qi Jin rushed over and threw herself into his arms. “Father! Sister and Brother fought, and Brother got badly hurt because of her!”
The floor was littered with glass shards. Qi Zhen caught her, then looked over at Qi Yuan.
Sensing his gaze, Qi Yuan didn’t show a hint of fear. She gave a light chuckle. “Second Sister, how can you lie like that with your eyes wide open?”
She raised her brows. “It was clearly him who tried to hit me. I dodged—so now you’re making it sound like I, a weak girl with no strength, managed to beat him?”
Her tone turned cold. “I only just returned home. Even if you all dislike me, you shouldn’t dump everything on me like this, should you?”
Qi Jin was genuinely stunned. She hadn’t expected Qi Yuan to be this tough to deal with!
Qi Zhen, however, knew his son’s temperament all too well.
He never liked Qi Yuan and was impulsive by nature. He had clearly tried to cause trouble for her.
But Qi Yuan dodging? That wasn’t her fault.
What was she supposed to do, just stand there and take the hit?
His face darkened as he snapped at Qi Yunting, “So everything I told you before—went in one ear and out the other?!”
Madam Wang glanced at Qi Yuan with a complicated expression, motioning for her to speak up and ease the tension.
What kind of mess did this family look like now, all fighting like chickens in a pen?
Qi Yuan acted like she didn’t see it.
She wasn’t going to debase herself trying to please people who had no warmth for her.
Qi Yunting was furious and aggrieved. “Father, how is she weak? She yanked me with so much force!”
He had been pulled down by Qi Yuan!
“Shut up!” Qi Zhen roared, livid. “You still have the nerve to talk?!”
