Qing Shu poured water into the stone inkstone and began grinding the ink slowly.

Before the ink was fully ground, she heard a commotion of footsteps outside. Qing Shu smiled; Yuan Shanniang had arrived surprisingly quickly.

Jiaoxing was a bit flustered, saying, “Miss, it must be Madam. Miss, you should hide!”

“The courtyard is so small; where can I hide?” Qing Shu wished for Yuan Shanniang to cause a scene, the bigger, the better.

Yuan Shanniang pushed aside the maidservant blocking her and angrily rushed into the room.

Lady Gu summoned Jiaoxing and, through gritted teeth, demanded, “Tell me the whole story, from start to finish. If you leave anything out, I’ll take your life.”

Jiaoxing, crying, recounted every detail, regretting deeply that she had ever encouraged Miss to go out. If she had kept her practicing calligraphy inside the house, none of this would have happened.

Lady Gu seethed, muttering, “That wicked woman…”

Speak of the devil, and the devil appears.

The housekeeper’s voice rang from outside, “Madam, Young Master and Madam have arrived.”

Although Lady Gu’s heart was filled with anger towards Yuan Shanniang, she quickly composed herself, saying, “Let them in.”

As soon as Gu Heping returned home and heard Yuan Shanniang’s confession of how she had knocked Qing Shu unconscious, he brought Yuan Shanniang and a bruised Gu Fugui over.

Seeing Old Madam Gu’s calm demeanor, Gu Heping felt relieved. Qing Shu should be fine; otherwise, Lady Gu wouldn’t look so composed. “Mother, how is Qing Shu?”

Lady Gu looked at Gu Heping and said, “Gu Heping, if you still consider me your mother, then write a divorce letter now and divorce this wicked woman for me.”

For all these years, no matter how unreasonable Yuan Shanniang had been, the most severe punishment she had received was being sent back to her family for reflection. Asking Gu Heping to divorce his wife was unprecedented.

Gu Heping’s face turned pale. “Mother, I know this is Sister-in-law’s fault. However, she didn’t do it on purpose.”

Yuan Shanniang was also frightened and knelt down, crying, holding onto Gu Fugui. “Mother-in-law, I was so angry at the time, and that’s why I hit Qing Shu. I didn’t do it on purpose. Mother-in-law, you can hit me or scold me, just please don’t make Heping divorce me.”

Lady Gu didn’t even spare a glance at Yuan Shanniang. She fixed her gaze on Gu Heping. “I’ll ask you again, will you write the divorce letter or not?”

Gu Heping was naturally unwilling to divorce his wife. “Mother, although Sister-in-law made a mistake, it wasn’t that serious. Besides, she has given birth to Gu Fugui and Baozhu. For the sake of our two children, I can’t divorce her.”

Lady Gu smiled and said, “You truly are a good husband and father.”

Lady Gu’s behavior was too unusual, making Gu Heping uneasy. However, he would never agree to divorce his wife.

Lady Gu called in four sturdy maids, instructing them, “Take her back to the Yuan family.”

Then she called in the steward, saying, “Deliver my message: If anyone dares to let someone with the Yuan surname set foot inside this mansion, I will sell them to the iron mines.”

Even if it meant enduring hardship, the iron mines were far worse.

Yuan Shanniang was truly terrified. “Mother, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me this time!”

The four sturdy maids held Gu Fugui down, and one blocked Gu Heping, while the other two dragged Yuan Shanniang out.

Gu Heping knew that Lady Gu was still very angry at the moment, and pleading wouldn’t help, so he took the trembling Gu Fugui and left.

Lady Gu watched the swaying door curtain with a hint of ruthlessness in her eyes. “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t indulged her, she wouldn’t have dared to lay a finger on my well-behaved girl.”

“Unc…” Before she could say “daughter,” a heavy slap landed on her face.

For Yuan Shanniang, Gu Fugui was her reliance for the rest of her life. Whoever dared to harm Gu Fugui, she would fight back with all her might. Moreover, she already despised Qing Shu, and seeing her son beaten to a pulp, Yuan Shanniang wished she could tear Qing Shu apart.

After the first slap, Yuan Shanniang’s anger was still not appeased, so she delivered a second one.

Qing Shu hadn’t been prepared for the first slap and took it directly. When the second slap was about to land, she took a step back, so it didn’t hit as hard.

Qing Shu rolled her eyes and fell to the ground.

Yuan Shanniang scolded, “Get up, don’t play dead on me.”

Jiaoxing shouted in panic, “Help! Madam is going to beat Miss to death!”

It was different from when Gu Xian was involved because Qing Shu was her real daughter, and everyone felt that she wouldn’t go so far. But Yuan Shanniang was different, and now she looked like she wanted to beat Qing Shu to death.

With a stern face, Yuan Shanniang threatened, “If you continue with your nonsense, I’ll sell you to a brothel.” When she talked about “beating Miss to death,” she was just trying to teach this unruly little thief a lesson.

After saying that, Yuan Shanniang grabbed Qing Shu’s collar and said, “If she’s really dead, hurry up and get up.”

When Hua Mama entered the room, she saw Yuan Shanniang grabbing Qing Shu’s collar and shaking her violently. She said, “Madam, what are you doing? Let go of Miss.”

Once Yuan Shanniang let go, Qing Shu fell back to the ground.

Hua Mama held Qing Shu and shouted loudly, “Quick, go fetch Doctor He!”

Qing Shu had initially been pretending to be unconscious, but Yuan Shanniang’s shaking had made her dizzy. Now, hearing Hua Mama’s scream, she really fainted.

Doctor He, upon seeing the various bruises on Qing Shu’s face, couldn’t hide his anger. “Madam, how do you take care of this child? Do you want her to die quickly? It hasn’t been long, and she has already fainted twice from being beaten.”

Grandma Gu, with tears in her eyes, said, “Doctor He, please check on my granddaughter!”

Doctor He checked Qing Shu’s pulse and didn’t say anything. He took a silver needle from his medical kit.

When Qing Shu woke up, she touched her head and cried out, “Grandmother, my head hurts so much. Grandmother, my head hurts so much.” Her head did hurt a bit, but not as much as she was pretending.

Lady Gu’s eyes welled up with tears. “Doctor He, what’s wrong with my Qing Shu?”

Doctor He, with a stern face, said, “Miss suffered from a head injury due to a beating. One after another, these beatings could have caused serious damage. She’s lucky she hasn’t been beaten into imbecility.”

“Will this happen again in the future?”

Doctor He couldn’t say for sure. But seeing Lady Gu’s heartbroken expression, he carefully chose his words. “If her head no longer hurts in a couple of days, then she should be fine.” He didn’t dare to mention the possibility of lasting damage; he was afraid Lady Gu couldn’t bear it.

Lady Gu wiped her tears and said, “Doctor He, I’m entrusting Qing Shu to you.”

Doctor He sighed and comforted her, “You must also take care of your own health. If you fall ill too, there will be no one to protect this child.” He knew all about the Gu family’s affairs, but as an outsider, he couldn’t criticize their domestic matters.

After taking the medicine, Qing Shu went to sleep.