Grandma Song stood with her hands on her hips, drawing a deep breath into her dantian, fully prepared to engage Aunt Hui in a fierce war of words that could last for hundreds of rounds.
At last, Lin Xizhi found an opening and hurriedly interrupted their verbal duel.
“Are you Song Zhuowei’s grandmother?”
“Yesterday, Captain Song bravely stepped forward and drove away the sea pirates. He saved my life.”
“I’m deeply grateful to him, and I’ve been thinking about how I can repay such a great kindness.”
“But… I have a condition that leaves me infertile. I can’t have children, so I may not be worthy of Captain Song.”
Lin Xizhi was taking the opportunity to quietly reveal the truth to Aunt Hui.
At the same time, she wanted to test the attitude of the Song family elders.
After all, a woman who could never bear children was unwelcome everywhere. Few families would willingly accept such a daughter-in-law.
Now it all depended on how Grandma Song would respond.
After hearing her, Grandma Song fell silent.
Infertile?
Unable to have children?
Then where had her precious great-grandchild come from?
She immediately turned her gaze toward Aunt Hui.
“Is her condition really that serious?”
“So serious that even a medical master like you can’t cure it?”
“From what I can see, she’s still so young. She hasn’t suffered any major illness or injury. There’s no way she can’t have children.”
“Aunt Hui… could it be that your medical skills just aren’t good enough?”
Aunt Hui let out a cold laugh.
“That trick of trying to provoke me? Your grandson already tried it on me yesterday.”
“Now you’re doing the exact same thing. It’s not fresh anymore.”
Even after her ploy was exposed, Grandma Song remained perfectly calm.
She leisurely shelled a handful of boiled peanuts and stuffed them into Lin Xizhi’s hands without another word.
Then she said, “If you really can’t treat her, then don’t waste this young lady’s time. I’ll take her to one of the major hospitals in Nansha City for another examination. There are always more solutions than problems! I refuse to believe that someone so young has an illness that can’t be cured.”
Aunt Hui glanced at the peanuts in Lin Xizhi’s hands.
Lin Xizhi didn’t know whether she should eat them or not. She stood there awkwardly, caught between the two women.
After a while, Aunt Hui finally looked away from the peanuts and turned back to Grandma Song.
“When did I ever say I couldn’t cure her?”
“I simply haven’t examined her yet. I didn’t know about this infertility.”
“Whether she truly has this condition or not can only be determined after I examine her.”
“And even if, by some chance, I really couldn’t cure her, if she needed to be sent to Nansha City for further tests, it would still have to be with my approval.”
“I’m her master. I make that decision.”
Grandma Song curled her lips in disdain.
That old spinster Aunt Hui really thought she was somebody.
Calling herself “Master” every other sentence what was there to show off?
Still, Grandma Song had already accomplished what she’d come here for today.
She had met Lin Xizhi in person, and she couldn’t have been more satisfied.
If Lin Xizhi hadn’t supposedly been infertile, Grandma Song would have found a way to snatch her into the Song family and force the two youngsters to get married that very night.
Better sooner than later.
But since Lin Xizhi needed Aunt Hui’s treatment first, there was no point rushing.
“Fine, fine,” Grandma Song relented, waving her hand. “Since she’s your disciple, naturally you’re responsible for treating her. Focus on getting well first. Comrade Xiao Lin, Grandma will come visit you again another day.”
“Alright! Thank you, Grandma Song.”
Lin Xizhi answered sweetly.
Before leaving, Grandma Song gave her the remaining half basin of salted boiled peanuts.
Lin Xizhi treasured them like precious jewels. She shelled every single peanut until she had a whole bowl of kernels, then placed it in front of Aunt Hui.
Aunt Hui rejected it with an icy expression.
“It’s only half a basin of peanuts. What’s the big deal? Do you really have to treasure them like that? Haven’t you ever eaten peanuts before?”
Lin Xizhi quietly ate one peanut after another. Only after her master had finished scolding her did she dare look up with a gentle smile.
“Master, we forgot to eat breakfast before going up the mountain this morning. I happened to be hungry, so I’m just eating a little to fill my stomach… Once I’ve rested, I’ll go make lunch for you.”
Aunt Hui choked on her own words.
She couldn’t think of another thing to scold her for.
In truth, she had never been in the habit of eating breakfast.
When she went into the mountains early to gather herbs, whether she ate or not depended entirely on luck.
If she found wild fruit, she’d eat that to stave off hunger.
If she found nothing, she’d simply go without.
She had long since grown accustomed to hunger.
But Lin Xizhi…
With her delicate, pampered appearance…
She really didn’t look like someone who could endure going hungry.
More than half of Aunt Hui’s anger dissipated.
“If you’re hungry, then eat. I don’t like peanuts anyway. You can have them all.”
“Thank you, Master!”
Lin Xizhi smiled as she reached for the bowl.
The moment she raised her arm, Aunt Hui grabbed her right wrist.
Lin Xizhi had no choice but to hold her hand suspended while her master took her pulse.
After feeling her pulse for a while, Aunt Hui suddenly frowned.
She carefully examined Lin Xizhi’s eyes, tongue, fingernails, and even strands of her hair.
Then her face changed dramatically.
“You’ve been poisoned.”
This time, it was Lin Xizhi who froze.
“Poisoned?!”
In her previous life, Pei Yunnuo had never told her she was infertile, so she had never mentioned anything about her condition to her master.
She had simply followed Aunt Hui’s health-building techniques to gradually improve her physical constitution.
But in this life, she had deliberately brought up infertility to test Grandma Song’s attitude.
She had never expected her master to discover something else entirely.
Aunt Hui took out a pouch of silver needles and inserted several into Lin Xizhi’s body.
After removing them, she became even more certain.
“You’ve definitely been poisoned.”
“The dosage wasn’t large. If you hadn’t mentioned infertility, I might never have noticed its effects.”
“The poison seems mild, but over time it gradually seeps into your bones and meridians. Eventually, it really can make you unable to bear children.”
She paused before looking up at Lin Xizhi.
“What kind of tonics did your family always give you?”
“This poison is hidden so deeply that it was most likely mixed into those so-called nourishing soups.”
Instantly, Lin Xizhi thought of the Five Red Soup that Zhang Lirou and her daughter always talked about.
They constantly claimed that Lin Xizhi suffered from poor blood circulation and low vitality and needed nourishing remedies.
The Five Red Soup itself was a perfectly legitimate traditional medicinal recipe.
It should have contained nothing more than red dates, red beans, red-skinned peanuts, goji berries, and brown sugar.
Its purpose was to replenish qi and blood while strengthening the spleen and warming the stomach.
It had been perfectly suited to Lin Xizhi’s weak constitution.
However…
Every bowl she had ever drunk had been personally prepared by Pei Yunnuo.
Since childhood, Lin Xizhi had never enjoyed cooking.
She spent her days practicing the arts music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
Or discussing bilingual Chinese-English opera and theater scripts with her friends.
Or gathering to enjoy tea, appreciate incense, and immerse herself in an elegant, artistic lifestyle.
There was nothing wrong with any of that.
But if someone had deliberately tampered with her daily meals, she would never have noticed.
And if that person had been someone close to her…
It would have been impossible to guard against.
Across two lifetimes…
Lin Xizhi had never once suspected Pei Yunnuo.
But now her master had clearly told her
She had been suffering from chronic poisoning.
That left only one possible suspect.
Pei Yunnuo.
But why?
In her previous life, Lin Xizhi had treated Pei Yunnuo like her own younger sister.
Whenever a new fabric arrived in Mingzhu City, she always bought the first batch and split it evenly with Pei Yunnuo so they could make matching new clothes.
Whenever she found delicious food or something fun, she never forgot Pei Yunnuo’s share.
Pei Yunnuo was always saying,
“Big Sister is the person I love most.”
Yet behind her back…
She had been slowly poisoning her?
How utterly vicious.
Sure enough, every single member of the Pei family was rotten to the core.
Not a single exception.
A series of subtle expressions flickered across Lin Xizhi’s face.
Aunt Hui caught every one of them.
“It seems,” Aunt Hui said, pressing her lips together into a faint, knowing smile, “you already know who poisoned you.”
“It’s good that you’ve figured it out.”
“The poison hasn’t gone too deep yet. If we start treating it now, there’s still time to reverse the damage.”
Lin Xizhi looked up at her.
“Master, this is too important. I need to confirm it beyond any doubt.”
Aunt Hui raised an eyebrow.
“And how do you plan to confirm it?”
Lin Xizhi gazed out the window, speaking each word slowly and deliberately.
“That depends on whether you’re willing to have one more person in this house to handle the cooking and laundry.”