Madam Wang found nothing to like about Qi Yuan, no matter how she looked at her.
Why was it that before Qi Yuan returned, everything at home was perfectly fine? Her son was obedient and sensible, her daughter sweet and considerate—there were no troubles whatsoever.
But the moment Qi Yuan came back, the house turned into utter chaos!
She even wanted to take Qi Yuan’s birth chart to a fortune teller to see if the girl was truly a bringer of bad luck.
Gao Mama couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
If Qi Yuan had been foolish and dull, it would have been one thing. A dull girl wouldn’t have any ambitions and would have no choice but to rely on her birth mother—even if her mother disliked her, she’d have nowhere else to turn.
But the problem was, Qi Yuan was frighteningly clever.
And Madam Wang treated her so coldly and harshly—Gao Mama feared the young lady would never want to be close to her mother again.
She hesitated, wanting to speak, but in the end only shook her head silently.
Qi Yuan acted as though she hadn’t heard any of it.
She’d heard plenty of cold remarks and cruel words in her past life. Nothing Madam Wang said now could faze her.
She simply gazed downward at her skirt, serene and unbothered.
Her composure made Madam Wang even angrier. She just couldn’t understand—how could Qi Yuan remain so calm?!
With a bitter tone, she couldn’t help but snap: “Do you even have a conscience? Your brother and sister are in trouble, and you haven’t even asked what happened to them?”
Qi Yuan let out a sigh.
She didn’t like Madam Wang and couldn’t feel close to her, but she had never intended for them to be in constant conflict.
Yet Madam Wang insisted on treating her like an enemy.
She looked up at Madam Wang and said unhurriedly, “Does Madam want me to ask? If I did, I fear you’d accuse me of gloating. So I didn’t ask.”
‘Madam’—she couldn’t even bring herself to say ‘mother.’
To her, Li Xiuniang’s cruelty had a reason—after all, she wasn’t her real daughter.
But Madam Wang was her birth mother.
Li Xiuniang was willing to give everything for Qi Jin, who was her blood. But Madam Wang only ever gave her coldness and disdain.
It wasn’t her fault they were switched at birth.
Madam Wang felt her head ring when she heard Qi Yuan call her “Madam.” Fury flared up again: “You—!”
Gao Mama’s heart leapt with anxiety, afraid the two were about to quarrel again.
Just in time, a servant ran in to report: “Madam, Young Miss—the old marquis and the old madam have returned. The marquis is already welcoming them into Ankang Courtyard!”
Ankang Courtyard—where the old marquis and old madam resided.
Madam Wang shot Qi Yuan a glare full of anger and stormed off.
Qi Yuan calmly followed behind her toward Ankang Courtyard.
Inside, the old marquis and old madam sat at the head of the room, their faces stern as they listened to Qi Zhen speak.
When Madam Wang entered, they didn’t look at her first, but rather at the girl behind her—Qi Yuan.
The moment they saw her, both their expressions softened slightly.
—If nothing else, she looked unmistakably like a Qi family member, and no less beautiful than Qi Jin.
Qi Yuan stepped forward and knelt gracefully, giving them a formal greeting: “Greetings to Grandfather and Grandmother. I wish you peace and health.”
The tense air in the room eased a little.
The old marquis nodded with a kindly smile, “Rise.”
The old madam waved her over: “Come, sit by Grandmother.”
Qi Yuan obeyed and came forward.
The old madam took her hand and looked her over. Smiling, she said, “You look like your father.”
Then she asked about her life in the countryside.
After a pause, she gently asked, “Did your foster parents treat you well?”
Madam Wang lowered her eyes. Qi Zhen let out a dry cough.
Since Qi Yuan’s return, not a single person had asked her about her life in the countryside.
They all avoided it instinctively. The idea of her being raised in a pig butcher’s home was just too shameful.
Qi Yuan thought for a moment and asked the old madam, “Do you want to hear the truth, or a polite lie?”
The old madam paused, studied her for a moment, and then replied, “The truth.”
“Then it wasn’t very good,” Qi Yuan said, eyes lowered. “I had to get up before dawn to cut grass and feed fish. After sunrise, I’d feed the pigs. During the day, I chopped wood and cooked. At night, I washed clothes and did chores. There was no rest. When I got sick, my foster parents would press a hot bowl against me to scald me, saying I was faking it.”
She spoke as if describing the weather—calm, detached.
The old madam’s lips pressed into a thin line, and she shut her eyes.
Qi Zhen, shocked, asked, “They dared treat you like that?!”
Madam Wang’s emotions were complicated—she hadn’t expected Qi Yuan’s life to be so miserable.
But… it wasn’t her fault, was it?
She thought to herself: If it hadn’t been Qi Yuan, it would’ve been Qi Jin who suffered all that.
And Qi Jin was delicate—how could she have endured such hardship?
The old madam suddenly turned to Madam Wang and said, “You go prepare the dinner banquet. Now that we’re back, we’ll have dinner with the second and third branches tonight.”
Madam Wang felt more and more uneasy as the conversation went on, and gratefully took this excuse to leave.
As soon as she was gone, the old madam turned to Qi Yuan and asked sternly: “Is it because of how they mistreated you that you were so ruthless to Qi Jin?”
The old marquis had remained silent the whole time, simply observing from the side.
But now he added coldly, “We’ve investigated. The reason Xuesong knew that Qi Jin went to the villa and followed her was because someone told him to go curry favor with Yunting.”
He gave a dry chuckle: “No need for us to spell it out, right?”
All three of them watched Qi Yuan closely, waiting to see panic on her face.
But Qi Yuan didn’t flinch. She only looked up calmly and said, “I don’t think that was ruthlessness. I call it justice. She had no mercy when she dealt with me either.”
She was running out of patience and said directly: “Since Grandfather and Grandmother have investigated this much, surely you’ve also found out what Qi Jin and Qi Yunting did to me.”
What a remarkable girl—unshaken even in the face of pressure.
How could she stay so composed?
The old marquis fixed her with a deep gaze: “You certainly speak with conviction. Qi Jin wasn’t even related to you, and she stole your place—so your resentment is understandable. But your brother is your blood. How could you bear to hurt him too?”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Qi Yuan answered without hesitation. “If I didn’t fight back, what kind of end would I have met?”
Qi Zhen’s feelings were conflicted as he shouted harshly, “Impudent! Is that any way to speak to your grandmother?!”
