The steward thought it over. Indeed, if madam’s reputation was ruined, she would definitely take it out on him as well. Weighing the pros and cons, the steward gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, reached for the teapot on the table, squeezed his eyes shut, steeled his heart, and whoosh—poured the whole pot of tea over Lady Zhang’s head...

"Aaahhh...!"

Lady Zhang let out a shrill, miserable scream, jumped up like she’d gone mad, clawing frantically at the clothes on her body, her expression twisted with pain.

The steward and the Doctor were delighted; this move really worked. Lady Zhang let go of the Doctor. It was just... something felt off. Her expression seemed a bit too exaggerated, didn’t it? It was just a pot of tea—did it really warrant that kind of reaction?

The Maid at the side stared wide‑eyed at the steward in disbelief and asked, "Steward, why did you pour boiling water on madam?"

Hearing this, the steward was utterly stunned. "W‑what? B‑boiling water?"

The Maid said angrily, "What you just poured on madam was hot tea freshly made with boiling water."

The steward looked at the Maid in disbelief. "Impossible. You’ve got to be kidding me. I personally brought madam her tea before she went to sleep. I clearly remember the tea was warm."

The Maid: "How is it impossible? This pot of tea is what this maid just went to the kitchen to fetch. It’s very hot; the water was just brought to a boil."

When the steward heard that, he nearly collapsed on the spot. He finally understood why madam’s expression was so off—turns out he’d scalded her with hot tea. This time he was done for. He couldn’t help roaring at the Maid, "Aiya, this time you’ve gotten me killed! In the middle of the damn night, what were you doing changing out the tea for no reason?"

The Maid looked utterly wronged, thinking, What are you yelling at me for? It’s not like I told you to scald madam. "This maid was thinking the Heavenly Master wasn’t feeling well and needed hot water and hot tea, right? This maid only did it just in case."

The steward was so furious he was almost speechless. "You... you..."

"Steward, is your skin itching for a beating? You actually dare splash this madam with hot water?" Lady Zhang had been drenched like a drowned chicken; her clothes and hair were soaked through. Thankfully, the teapot was small and couldn’t hold much boiling water, otherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable.

Lady Zhang’s entire face had been scalded red. At this moment she stood with her hands on her hips, so furious her hair almost bristled upright. "You’ve got some nerve, steward. Last time you sold this madam out in front of the Old Master, I haven’t even settled that score with you yet, and now you push your luck and use boiling water to scald this madam. How can your heart be this vicious?"

The steward was so scared he dropped to his knees with a thud, his face a picture of misery. "Madam, this lowly one did it unintentionally. It was only to save you that I acted like that."

Madam: "Bullshit. I’ve never heard of pouring boiling water on someone as a way of saving them. I think you damned servant are trying to murder this madam. What’s your real intention, huh? Do you think that just because something happened to the Old Master and there’s no one in the Celestial Master’s Mansion who can keep you in line, you can just bully your Master as you please?"

Lady Zhang’s tirade scared the steward so badly his Soul Scatter. He instantly flattened himself on the floor, kowtowing with all his might, and swore solemnly, "This servant has been utterly loyal to the Heavenly Master and madam. In this lifetime, you will always be this servant’s Masters. This servant would never dare to bully his Master."

Lady Zhang: "Then why did you just splash this madam with hot tea?"

The steward trembled all over as he lay on the floor and recounted exactly what had happened just now to Lady Zhang, without leaving anything out.

Lady Zhang refused to believe it. "What a joke. Other than the Old Master, would this madam ever be holding some other man?"

The steward nodded vigorously. "It’s true. If madam doesn’t believe me, you can ask the Doctor."

After he finished speaking, the steward turned his head to look for the Doctor, but the room was empty; the Doctor was long gone.

Turns out the Doctor had seen the steward screw up—actually grabbing freshly boiled tea and pouring it over Lady Zhang. Afraid of getting dragged into trouble, he took advantage of the chaos and quietly slipped away.