The despairing Divine Lady Liu suddenly shuddered, a glimmer of clarity entering her eyes.
She had secretly made a deal with Fourth Miss Jiang—if she failed, Fourth Miss Jiang’s plans would fail too.
So where did Fourth Miss Jiang’s confidence come from?
Perhaps the mind becomes sharper in desperate situations. Divine Lady Liu vaguely grasped something and frantically tried to decipher Jiang Si’s lip movement.
Just one word—what had Fourth Miss Jiang said to her?
“Divine Lady Liu, what exactly did you give Old Madam? Confess immediately!”
Compassionate Heart Hall was in chaos, with the masters of all branches crowded inside. Upon seeing Divine Lady Liu, Second Master Jiang demanded harshly.
It was bad enough that his mother had lost sight in one eye—if anything worse happened, he would be the first to suffer.
According to the Great Zhou Dynasty’s unwritten rules, officials must observe three years of mourning after a parent’s death.
He was in his prime, at the crucial point of his career advancement. Leaving officialdom for three years would be a devastating blow to his career development.
“It was just talismanic water—” Under Second Master Jiang’s imposing manner, Divine Lady Liu responded instinctively, then suddenly froze mid-sentence.
Water!
That was the word Fourth Miss Jiang had mouthed to her—”water”!
Divine Lady Liu quickly looked toward Old Madam Feng.
Blood-tinged fluid was seeping from Old Madam Feng’s left eye, a terrifying sight.
Eye bleeding was different from bleeding elsewhere—several maids holding soft clothes didn’t know what to do, crying in their panic.
“Water!” Divine Lady Liu blurted out.
Everyone in the room turned to look at her.
At this point, Divine Lady Liu threw caution to the wind and urgently said: “Quickly wash Old Madam’s eyes with cool boiled water!”
“Enough! You’ve already harmed Old Madam to this state, and you still want to cause more damage?” Madam Xiao shouted severely.
“Afu, fetch water to wash Grandmother’s eyes.” Amid the tense atmosphere, Jiang Si suddenly spoke.
“Fourth Miss, this is no time for your reckless commands!”
“Second Aunt, even if we don’t trust Divine Lady Liu, Grandmother’s eyes need to be cleaned with water!” Jiang Si glanced at Afu. “Afu, hurry—Grandmother is uncomfortable with blood on her face.”
Afu hesitated briefly, then nodded and began cleaning Old Madam Feng’s face with a soft cloth dampened with clean water.
With master’s orders given, the maids steadied themselves and worked systematically.
Basin after basin of bloodied water was carried out until Old Madam Feng’s left eye finally stopped bleeding.
“Mother, how are you feeling?” Jiang Ancheng and the others asked anxiously.
Old Madam Feng’s closed eyelids trembled, then slowly opened.
After a moment of silence, she spoke shakily: “I think… I can see with my left eye…”