When the old lady came out of the house, she was swaying. If she hadn't been holding a silver cane, she probably would have collapsed at the door.

Struggling to conceal her physical abnormality from Madam Su, she gritted her teeth and walked out of Yi Garden. When Mei'er stepped forward to support her, she finally dropped her pretense and her body went limp.

"Madam, Madam!" Mei'er was so frightened that her face turned pale.

"Don't speak. Help me to your master's study. Don't tell anyone about this today." The old lady tugged at Mei'er and whispered her instructions. After she finished speaking, she felt a sharp pain in her chest and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Madam, sob sob..." Mei cried with heartache, but was glared at by the old lady and could only obediently shrink back her tears. Just as she was about to help the old lady toward the study, Qian Sheng caught up from behind.

"Mother!" Qian Sheng called out, his brows furrowed with worry.

"You've come at the right time. Mother is tired, so we won't go to the study. Let's carry Mother back." The old lady wearily let go of Mei'er's hand, closed her eyes in distress, and really didn't want to take another step.

"Yes!" Qian Sheng wanted to ask his mother many questions, so he answered and bent down to carry her on his back.

The mother and son walked in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Mei followed behind, keeping her distance; the atmosphere frightened her.

When they arrived at the gate of the old lady's courtyard, she was already asleep. Chen Pozi, who had settled Qian Youxue in, came out to greet her and let out a deep breath upon seeing the exhausted old lady.

Qian Sheng followed Granny Chen into the room. The old lady opened her eyes when she was placed on the bed. At that moment, the old lady's eyes were bloodshot, revealing her exhaustion.

"Mother, you're not feeling well." Qian Sheng felt somewhat guilty seeing his mother like this. Over the years, his mother had suffered a lot to raise him, and he would be grateful for that for the rest of his life.

In recent years, his career in officialdom has been too smooth, and he has become too arrogant. Sometimes he talks back to his mother, but deep down he respects her very much.

"Old Chen, go outside and keep watch. Don't let anyone in." After giving the order, the old lady sat up with difficulty.

Qian Sheng hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, and said with great distress, "I'm sorry, it's because our son hasn't been caring enough for you these days."

"Enough, I know how tough it is in officialdom these days." The old lady began to pant heavily again, as she was enduring the pain of being bitten by countless insects, and sweat dripped uncontrollably from her forehead.

Seeing that something was wrong, Qian Sheng got up to go find a doctor for his mother, but his mother grabbed his hand and said, "Sit down!"

After the old lady finished speaking with a serious expression, she pointed to the table.

Qian Sheng poured himself a glass of water, then took out a porcelain bottle from the drawer next to him, poured out two pills, and handed them to his mother.

After swallowing two pills and drinking some hot water, the old lady took a short break to regulate her breathing before slowly speaking again: "Sheng'er, do you still remember the Qian family's ancestral precepts?"

Mentioning the ancestral precepts, Qian Sheng's face turned pale. This was the thing he feared most, and he knew it was also the thing his mother feared most. He swallowed hard, staring blankly at his mother, waiting for her to say what she was about to say.

"Back then, your father was seriously injured because of the mark, your mother was hunted down, and your younger brother lost his life. So many years have passed, and I never thought that the mark would reappear. Perhaps, this is God taking pity on our Qian family and giving us hope again... Waaah..." The old lady became more and more emotional as she spoke, and burst into tears before she could finish her sentence.

Qian Sheng was stunned. Tonight's topic wasn't Bo Wen's treatment, so why did it turn to the Qian family's secret?

He remembered that Bowen didn't have that mark on his body, could it be...?

No!

How is that possible?

How could it be that good-for-nothing?