Yan Ze dared not send either of them away and simply knelt down swiftly, not even daring to lift his head.

Such a direct dismissal—how could the Madam not understand it? She held back her cough with great effort, stood firm with the help of Lan Hua, and looked straight at the young woman who was neither dodging nor avoiding her gaze. That kind of thriving, vibrant vitality was something a person trapped in the past could never possess.

Her voice was hoarse as she asked, “You’re feeling wronged on his behalf?”

“The one who suffered wrongs for him was his birth mother. My relationship with him isn’t close enough for me to feel wronged on his behalf. If you hadn’t come to trouble me today, I wouldn’t have said a word about your affairs.” Shi Buyu’s tone was calm. “To put it plainly, my relationship with him is just a transaction. As for you, you have nothing to do with me. How you two get along is none of my business. But since you insisted on coming to accuse me, I merely fought back. If I happened to hit a sore spot, you’ll just have to bear it. After all, I endured your intimidating aura when you arrived.”

The Madam was now certain—Shi Buyu truly had no fear of her. She suddenly remembered what Lan Hua had said about how Shi Buyu had no ulterior motives. If she did have any, she wouldn’t have dared speak to her like this.

But a mother knows her son best—she could see that Ji An did have deeper feelings. And from the bottom of her heart, she believed this girl could not be allowed to stay.

“There’s one thing I forgot to say. That so-called old friend isn’t someone from the Shi family. But that’s probably irrelevant to you, so I won’t say who it is.” Shi Buyu stood up. “Some things will become clear when the time is right. I’ll just give you one piece of advice: you’d best not target me. Whether or not you succeed is one thing, but if you do manage to hit me, be careful—hitting the young might draw out the old and ruin your bigger plans. Since you’re already standing, I assume you’re leaving. I won’t see you out.”

She clasped her hands in a courteous farewell and went back into the house.

The Madam watched her walk away, realizing what had just happened—she had been threatened. The words weren’t harsh, even a little childish, but the meaning behind them was crystal clear.

And as her anger slowly faded and reason took over, she knew she had to take those words seriously. She didn’t know who the “old friend” was, but clearly there was someone behind Shi Buyu who knew Ji An’s identity was real. That alone made the threat something she had to swallow.

She had come with an agenda, but left with nothing achieved—only a threat received. The cough she had been suppressing broke out uncontrollably. She didn’t want to show weakness here, so she gripped Lan Hua’s arm tightly and made her way out.

Once in the carriage, Lan Hua helped her mistress lean against her for comfort.

After a long silence, the Madam whispered, “Have I grown old? I can’t even handle a young girl.”

Lan Hua spoke gently, trying to comfort her: “It’s not that you’ve grown old, it’s because this is Miss Shi. She doesn’t care about the things other noblewomen care about. She has no other intentions toward the young master, and she’s not afraid of offending you. That’s why you can’t control her. If it were someone else, they definitely wouldn’t have been able to stand up to you.”

Is that really the case?

But she said, “She can’t stay. Her influence on Shi An is too great.”

“My lady, perhaps you should let it be.” Lan Hua couldn’t help but speak on the young master’s behalf. “Forgive me for overstepping, but in all these years, it’s the first time I’ve seen the young master smile so freely. Maybe just this once, let him have this. If he truly becomes lazy or indifferent to that matter because of Miss Shi, then whatever you do afterward, he won’t hate you for it. But look—he hasn’t delayed anything. He even attended the provincial exams. He’s been diligent all along!”

The Madam suddenly sat up, staring hard at her: “Even you are siding with her? You think what she said was right? That I shouldn’t control him? That I shouldn’t push him down the right path?”

“My lady—”

“No need to say more!” The Madam leaned back against the carriage wall, shutting her eyes. She didn’t want to hear, didn’t want to see, didn’t want to think.

She wasn’t wrong! How could she be wrong?

If she hadn’t exhausted every effort, if she hadn’t controlled every detail, where would Ji An be today?

Lan Hua sighed quietly in her heart. Helpless, yet without any solution. After all these years, her mistress had only grown more stubborn, absolutely convinced that all her decisions were correct and that the young master had to follow her arrangements. She had hoped Miss Shi’s blunt confrontation would at least shake her mistress a little. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Once the young master came out of the examination compound and learned what had happened, who knew how he would react? And her mistress’s health was worsening by the day… At this rate, no one knew how much longer she could hold on.

Lan Hua gently laid a small quilt over the Madam and sighed once more.

Meanwhile, back at the residence, Shi Buyu was lying on her bed, fuming as she spoke to Ah Gu.

“What kind of person does that? Coming to find trouble with someone completely unrelated just because of something between her and her son? If she’d run into someone with a weaker temperament, what did she want—drive them away or kill them? Does she really want Yan Shi’an to be a puppet for her to control at will?”

Wan Xia finished tidying the bedding and lay down beside the girl. “When she was in her maiden home, she was a noble lady. After entering the palace, she became a favored consort. She had status and the Emperor’s favor. After everything fell apart, she still handled it with courage and wit. Later, she began to take all of Young Master Yan’s accomplishments as the result of her own teaching. Bit by bit, she began to think everything she said and did was correct, and that everyone around her had to listen to her—especially Young Master Yan. Over time, it became what it is now.”

Shi Buyu turned and lay on the edge of the bed. “Even if Yan Shi’an becomes Emperor, does he still have to listen to her?”

Wan Xia chuckled. “Once you’re used to controlling everything, it’s hard to change.”

“Yan Shi’an wouldn’t want to be controlled. When that time comes, it’ll be a war between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. There are plenty of cases like that in history.”

“You spoke up for him a lot today, miss.”

Shi Buyu rested her head on her arm. “At first, I wanted to give way. After hearing about her past, I thought she was impressive. So even though she came at me aggressively, knowing full well this was just a deal between me and Yan Shi’an and still trying to drive me off, I was willing to be the bigger person. But then I started to feel like she was treating Yan Shi’an far too poorly. Even if they’re mother and son, it shouldn’t be like that. Yan Shi’an… he’s actually really good.”

Shi Buyu rolled over to face Ah Gu. “Sometimes, when I compare myself to him, I feel like he’s too good, and I’m just too bad. Sometimes I even think, Whitebeard took me to so many places—why didn’t we go to Baishui County? If I’d known him as a kid, I would’ve taken him far, far away. Just like Fan Can, somewhere his family couldn’t find him. Then I’d go find Whitebeard and my brothers to back him up. I’d play polo with him, give him tons of sticks and balls, raise the best horses for him, so that when he grew up and talked about polo, it would be full of happy memories instead of regrets.”

Shi Buyu smiled. “But sometimes I think… maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t know me back then. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have turned out this well.”

Wan Xia leaned over and ruffled the girl’s hair. Her young miss truly was the kindest child in the world.