Chapter 42 [VIP]

It's quite possible that another woman would appear between her and Xiao Chuan, since Xiao Chuan is currently very interested in sex.

In the book, Xiao Chuan is a widowed king who doesn't care about women, but that's on the premise that he has never experienced the relationship between men and women. Now that he has tasted the flesh, who knows if he will become obsessed with the wonders of it, thus causing his character to collapse.

As for Yu Shaoyang and Zhen Jing, the book doesn't describe their relationship, but judging from the past few days, they are clearly very much in love and only have eyes for each other. How could a woman possibly appear in their relationship?

Even if the man were her brother, she would still want to scoff at this situation and sigh, "That's just how men are."

When Zhen Jing lifted the curtain and saw the person, she was clearly conflicted; she recognized the person but didn't want to interact with them.

Unfortunately, her time to hesitate was short. She showed her face for only a moment before the other party noticed the Xiao family's carriage.

The woman, holding her child's hand, stumbled towards Zhen Jing and called out "Sister" with tears in her eyes.

The woman's address of "sister" was so full of emotion that if Mi Yao hadn't noticed something in Zhen Jing's expression, she would have thought that this woman and Zhen Jing were sisters who had gone through many hardships to finally meet.

"Xiong'er, hurry up and greet your aunt. We've finally found your uncle and aunt."

The woman's address left Mi Yao confused. The uncle she was referring to should be Yu Shaoyang, but she was calling Yu Shaoyang "uncle" while calling Zhen Jing "auntie"?

“I don’t want to call her. She doesn’t love me. She said she would treat me like her own child, but she didn’t take me with her when we came here. I almost got kidnapped.”

As she spoke, she looked at the boy, who appeared to be five or six years old, staring intently at Zhen Jing's protruding belly.

His mother had told him that Zhen Jing couldn't have children. If she did have a child, it must have been from a witch doctor who begged an evil god, and the child would be a bad one that would steal Uncle Yu's affection from him.

"Xiong'er, how could you say that? Your aunt's affection for you is not an act. She pities you for losing your father at such a young age. She truly likes you and cares for you. Our journey has been difficult, but seeing your aunt and uncle is all that matters. Don't you think so, sister?"

The woman looked at Zhen Jing with tears in her eyes and passed the question on to her.

Mi Yao glanced at the ordinary-looking child beside the woman, but she could tell at a glance that the child had no connection with the Yu family.

The Yu family produced a beauty, not a bad bamboo shoot but a top-notch tender shoot among good bamboo shoots.

None of the original owner's siblings were ugly.

Even if she once thought Yu Xiu wasn't pretty enough, it was only a relative comparison. Besides, Yu Xiu had been well cared for at the Xiao family these past few months, and her features were already subtly developing into those of a beauty.

Upon hearing that Liang Xiaolang had almost been kidnapped, Zhen Jing swallowed the question, "Why did you come to Yizhou?" and forced a smile to make her unwelcome less obvious.

"My husband was transferred, so I left our hometown and traveled thousands of miles to Yizhou to take up my post. I didn't expect that my husband's grandparents were in the capital. Qiu Niang, will you bring him here?"

Zhen Jing, supporting her pregnant belly, got off the carriage before speaking in a gentle tone.

She didn't want to talk to Qiu Niang anymore, but with Qiu Niang blocking the gate of the Xiao residence, she couldn't very well look down on the mother and son and let others think she was arrogant.

"Sister knows perfectly well that I am clumsy and weak, and I can't even take care of myself, so how can I take care of Xiong'er? Besides, in Xiong'er's eyes, we, sister and Brother Yu are one family. He cries uncontrollably when he can't see you. I had no other choice but to bring him all the way here to find you, sister."

Zhen Jing's question struck a nerve with the woman. Her eyes turned red, and tears welled up in them, one after another. Her hands trembled as if she had Parkinson's disease, holding a handkerchief and moving back and forth. She looked very busy, but she didn't wipe away a single tear, leaving her face covered in tears, making her look extremely pitiful.

"My sister has no idea how difficult our journey has been..."

Seeing his mother's tears, Liang Jiexiong glared at Zhen Jing: "Auntie, why did you scold my mother? Why did you make her cry?! I'm going to tell Uncle that you don't love me anymore now that you have your own child, and all your kindness towards me before was just an act!"

“Xiong’er, you mustn’t speak to your aunt like that. How could your aunt not care about you now that she has her own child? She didn’t bully me; I was just too happy to see your aunt.”

As she spoke, the woman burst into tears again, holding her child and trembling all over, looking as if she might faint at any moment.

"I don't believe it!"

Liang Xiaolang glared at Zhen Jing from Qiu Niang's arms, wanting to hear her say that she liked him more than that bastard.

Seeing that Qiu Niang and her son had attracted the attention of many passersby, Zhen Jing's face was covered with a layer of gray anxiety: "Where are you staying? We'll go to your place to talk."

Hearing Zhen Jing ask about their lodgings, Qiu Niang cried even harder: "We've already exhausted all our resources to get to Yizhou, where would we get the money to find a place to stay? If we hadn't found you today, we'd probably be sleeping on the streets..."

Seeing Qiu Niang reach out to grab Zhen Jing, regardless of whether she wanted to hug her arm or hug her, Mi Yao called out to Shi Ya.

Without Mi Yao needing to remind her, Shi Ya understood her meaning. While blocking Qiu Niang from getting closer, she said, "Madam, my sister-in-law is pregnant. You can speak your mind directly, but you can't just grab and pull her like that. If something happens, no one can bear the responsibility."

"How could I hurt my sister?"

Qiu Niang retorted with a sob in her voice, "I treated my sister as my own sister, as another mother to Xiong'er. I thought my sister felt the same way about me, so it didn't matter. It's only now that I realize..."

She was pregnant.

Zhen Jing spoke up to explain, not wanting to be taboo, lest Qiu Niang burst into tears again and say that she was not an outsider.

"Even though I only found out now, I'm still happy for my sister. Once her child is born, she'll definitely prove those gossipy people wrong."

Qiu Niang seemed genuinely happy for Zhen Jing, and an exaggerated smile bloomed on her tear-streaked face.

Her strangely smiling face looked worse than when she was crying.

“Since they are people your sister-in-law and brother know, we can’t let them sleep on the streets. Shiya, take some money and find them a place to stay.”

Mi Yao enjoys watching the drama unfold, but Zhen Jing is heavily pregnant, and she's afraid that if she stays by her side and doesn't intervene, Zhen Jing might get so angry with this woman that she'll suffer a serious injury.

Interrupting Qiu Niang's enthusiasm, Mi Yao pointed to the gilded "Xiao" character on the mansion gate while Qiu Niang was still in a daze, "My husband doesn't like strangers to disturb him, so I won't invite you two into the mansion."

Qiu Niang knew that Yu Shaoyang had a beautiful younger sister, and that part of the reason Yu Shaoyang was transferred to Yizhou was because his sister was there.

Mi Yao is beautiful. Just now, when she was crying to Zhen Jing, she noticed Mi Yao standing next to her.

Thinking that she was crying so hard, Mi Yao would probably wonder what her relationship with Yu Shaoyang was.

Unexpectedly, Mi Yao wouldn't even let her enter the Xiao residence.

She started crying again as soon as she thought about it.

"Someone cover her mouth!"

Mi Yao frowned and instructed, "Madam, before you came to Yizhou, did you not inquire about my husband's reputation? Are you trying to squander my husband's good fortune by crying in front of the Xiao mansion?"

As she spoke, she glanced at the little boy who was tearing at Shi Ya's clothes and trying to save Qiu Niang: "You ignorant and ugly child, my husband just dealt with one a few days ago."

Mi Yao's gaze was captivating, and her words showed no fear of the onlookers. Qiu Niang realized that Yu Shaoyang's sister, though seemingly a fairy, had the heart of a vengeful ghost, and dared not resist any longer, only looking longingly at Zhen Jing.

"What use is my sister-in-law? She's not the one who makes the decisions in the Xiao family. I told you I'd find you a place to stay. If your ears are just for decoration, then you might as well cut them off."

After Mi Yao spoke, Qiu Niang didn't even dare to look at Zhen Jing anymore.

Even the usually domineering Liang Xiaolang was now terrified, bowing his head with his mother, afraid to look at Mi Yao for fear of having his ears cut off.

"Since we've already reached the main gate, let the gatekeeper remove the threshold and we can enter the mansion directly through the main gate. I'm too lazy to go around."

After saying that, Mi Yao covered her mouth and yawned, and Yu Xiu quickly helped Zhen Jing into the carriage.

As the carriage turned, Zhen Jing finally came to her senses and stared blankly at her sister-in-law once the carriage entered the mansion.

She had heard how Mi Yao treated the Wu family and Xiao Chua's sister's family, and she thought Mi Yao was amazing based on the rumors, but that was, after all, just what other people said.

Now that she has seen it with her own eyes, she realizes just how amazing her sister-in-law is.

She had known Qiu Niang and her son for so long, and she had never seen the mother and son shrink back, not daring to utter a single cry.

"The woman just now was called Qiu Niang. She was the widow of one of your brother's close classmates."

With only the two sisters-in-law remaining, Zhen Jing knew she should explain to Mi Yao what was going on with Qiu Niang.

But as soon as Qiu Niang's name was mentioned, Zhen Jing's brows furrowed tightly. "When we were in the capital, because we pitied them and their child for losing their support at such a young age, your brother and I took good care of them. But we never expected them to follow us to Yizhou..."

Zhen Jing never expected to see Qiu Niang and her son in Yizhou. The journey from Shangjing to Yizhou was more than a month, and they came alone without any servants or attendants.

It's unclear whether they found out she and Yu Shaoyang had come to Yizhou, or whether Yu Shaoyang told the mother and son without her knowledge before leaving for the capital.

If it were the latter possibility, she would faint from anger right now.

"Has the doctor that the young master invited arrived at the manor yet?"

Before digging into her brother and sister-in-law's gossip, Mi Yao glanced at Zhen Jing's expression and asked Shuang Hua a question first.

Zhen Jing had a habit of having her pulse checked every month in the capital. After she became pregnant, Yu Shaoyang hired a female doctor to live with them. When they came to Yizhou, the female doctor was unwilling to leave her hometown, so Zhen Jing no longer had anyone to treat her at any time.

So as soon as he landed in Yizhou, Yu Shaoyang asked Xiao Chuan to find a suitable doctor who could take care of Zhen Jing until she gave birth.

Seeing that Shuanghua gave an affirmative answer, Miyao continued to ask Zhenjing, "Why does that Qiu Niang have her son call your sister-in-law 'aunt,' but call my brother 'uncle'?"

This is a completely inappropriate way of addressing someone of a different generation. If someone who doesn't know the situation heard it, they wouldn't think that Zhen Jing and Yu Shaoyang are a couple at all, and they wouldn't know how Zhen Jing managed to refrain from correcting it.

“Liang Xiaolang always called your elder brother ‘uncle.’ As for calling me, I don’t know what his mother was thinking. One day, she ran to the house where your elder brother and I lived, crying and saying that it would be great if Liang Xiaolang had two mothers who loved him. Then she made Liang Xiaolang call me ‘aunt’.”

Seeing that Zhen Jing was getting angrier and angrier, Mi Yao felt even more that she had been prescient and asked the doctor if he was waiting at the mansion.

However, judging from Zhen Jing's expression, she didn't understand why Zhen Jing, who was clearly full of anger towards Qiu Niang and her son, was so tolerant when facing them.

"Sister-in-law, please don't tell me that Qiu Niang's husband died because he was saving my brother?"

If what she guessed was true, then it was all too dramatic, but Zhen Jing's forbearance made sense.

"Liang Dalang's death had nothing to do with the young master. It was just that the two of them had agreed to go mountain climbing together that day. Who knew that the weather would change on the way? A torrential rain loosened the soil and rocks, and the two of them were trapped. The young master escaped the disaster, but Liang Dalang was hit on the head by a rock."

Although there was no direct relationship of saving or being saved, the two were in the same accident, and Yu Shaoyang, being the lucky one, helped arrange Liang Dalang's funeral.

Who would have thought that the Liang family elders, grieving the loss of their son, would not hold a grudge against Yu Shaoyang, nor would they covet Yu Shaoyang's official position? On the contrary, Liang Dalang's wife would often come to the couple for help.

At first, she felt sorry for Qiu Niang and her son, but as time went on, she became annoyed.

"If sister-in-law is annoyed, why not talk to brother and let him take care of this mother and child?" Mi Yao asked, puzzled.

In her view, Yu Shaoyang was not a fool and would not let his wife suffer because of a moment of kindness.

Upon hearing Mi Yao's words, Zhen Jing's expression stiffened: "You know your brother, he's kind-hearted. How could he not help Qiu Niang and her son, who are such pitiful people?"

Yeah?

Mi Yao recalled the first day Yu Shaoyang met her. He first asked if his half-sister Yu Xiu was annoying and whether he should send her back to the Yu family to avoid causing her trouble.

Then she added that if she found the three children an eyesore, she should help her find a way, whether it was to use the Yu family to put pressure on them or to talk to the military governor to separate the three children from Xiao Chuan.

Is this something a kind-hearted man would say?

Mi Yao felt that Zhen Jing saw beauty in the eye of the beholder, and that she viewed Yu Shaoyang differently from how others viewed him.

Thinking about this, she carefully considered how the couple usually interacted and felt that Yu Shaoyang might have some misunderstanding about Zhen Jing.

Just like when she chatted with Zhen Jing in private, Zhen Jing would laugh out loud when they got excited, and would also push her to express embarrassment or excitement.

When Zhen Jing was with Yu Shaoyang, she spoke softly and her smiles were more restrained.

Thinking about it that way, the relationship between Yu Shaoyang and his wife was even more fake than that between her and Xiao Chuan.

With a slight twitch of her lips, Mi Yao suddenly found it amusing.

I'm starting to look forward to Yu Shaoyang's reaction when he returns to the manor and learns about the scoundrels who have chased him all the way to Yizhou.

Surely the couple isn't both seething with anger but acting all restrained?

"Greetings, ladies."

The doctor Xiao Chuan invited looked to be around forty years old. Compared to the usual kind-faced physicians, this Doctor Jiang seemed like a Confucian scholar with a strict and meticulous character.

Mi Yao and Zhen Jing were sizing up the doctor, and the doctor was also sizing up the two of them. Seeing that they had sat down, he stepped forward and put down the pillow. Before taking Zhen Jing's pulse, he said, "Madam Zhen is pregnant and should not get angry."

Was my anger very obvious?

Zhen Jing touched her cheek. She had dealt with Qiu Niang quite a bit in the capital, but the old doctor living at home couldn't tell that she was annoyed every time she saw Qiu Niang.

She thought she had covered it up well.

"The pulse is floating and tight, indicating that the mother's emotions are fluctuating too much. However, Madam Zhen is in good health, and as long as she does not get angry frequently, this level of anger will not affect the fetus."

Upon hearing Doctor Jiang's words, even though his final conclusion was that everything was fine, Mi Yao instructed the maid to quickly escort Zhen Jing back to her room to rest.

Before leaving, Zhen Jing whispered a few words to Mi Yao, and only left the flower hall with peace of mind after seeing Mi Yao nod.

After losing sight of Zhen Jing's back, Mi Yao couldn't help but laugh.

Zhen Jing told her not to tell Yu Shaoyang about her anger, so as not to worry him. She told her to just say that Qiu Niang and her son were kind.

It's unclear what she was trying to hide from Yu Shaoyang.

"Please extend your wrist, Madam."

After taking Zhen Jing's pulse, Doctor Jiang did not leave, but turned to Mi Yao and said something to her.

Meeting Doctor Jiang's solemn gaze, Mi Yao looked bewildered: "Doctor, you're not going to tell me that there's something wrong with my complexion, or that I have some serious illness, are you?"

"The lady has a rosy complexion and is full of vitality, so she probably doesn't have any serious illness."

Hearing Doctor Jiang say this, Mi Yao was even more puzzled: "If that's the case, why did you take my pulse?"

"I'll just examine the lady's pulse to make sure she's feeling well."

As she spoke, Doctor Jiang raised his hand. It can only be said that Doctor Jiang was too authoritative, so Mi Yao originally felt that there was no need to check her pulse. However, when she saw Doctor Jiang raise his hand to lower it, she automatically placed her hand on the bright red auspicious patterned pillow.

Of the four diagnostic methods of Physician Jiang—observation, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation—observation is the most powerful. While concentrating on taking her pulse, he stared directly at Mi Yao's face.

There was no appreciation a man could have for a woman in his eyes, nor could you discern any clear emotion in his scrutiny. Mi Yao felt as if she were in modern times, being examined through a cold instrument.

This made her relaxed heart clench slightly.

Fortunately, Dr. Jiang's examination did not last too long. He looked away, and Mi Yao relaxed again.

"The lady's pulse is healthier than that of Lady Zhen, with all six pulses in harmony, and her complexion is full of qi and blood."

"That's good."

Mi Yao smiled and said.

She didn't want to pamper this new body by eating and sleeping all day, only to end up with some incurable illness.

Mi Yao sent a maid to give Doctor Jiang a red envelope, then went back to her room for a midday nap. She slept until Xiao Chuan and Yu Shaoyang finished their shift.

Thinking that she could watch the excitement when Yu Shaoyang returned, she immediately washed and combed her hair with great enthusiasm, intending to become a badger in the melon field.

Because her attention was focused on the relationship between Qiu Niang and her son and Yu Shaoyang, she overlooked some minor details, such as when Yu Shaoyang returned home, the doctor Jiang, whom he had specially invited for Zhen Jing, did not immediately discuss Zhen Jing's pregnancy with Yu Shaoyang.

Instead, he went to see Xiao Chuan.

“Governor, if I am not mistaken, someone must have given the lady drugs that would hinder her ability to have children.”

Upon seeing Xiao Chua, Doctor Jiang bowed respectfully and then immediately offered his own speculation.

After speaking, Doctor Jiang paused, his gaze meeting Xiao Chuan's suddenly fierce phoenix eyes. "The moment I saw Madam, I smelled a strong musk scent. Although it was masked by other fragrances, I was not mistaken. Some ladies like musk and use it as incense. A small amount of use will not affect their ability to have children, but after taking Madam's pulse, I can tell that she has been taking incense pills with musk as the main ingredient for a long time."

As for whether Mi Yao was drugged or whether she knew the effects of musk and ate it like candy, he didn't speculate.

"The town magistrate said that the lady's menstrual blood was dark, probably because she took the musk pills, which caused her menstrual flow to be sluggish, resulting in dark blood and abdominal pain."

"Thank you for your hard work, doctor."

The fierceness in Xiao Chuan's eyes came and went quickly. When he spoke, his expression had returned to calm, as if he hadn't taken Doctor Jiang's words to heart at all.

After Doctor Jiang left the study, he stood in the room for a long time.

He found the results of Dr. Jiang's consultation interesting.

He remembered that when Mi Yao had her period, the blood was dark red. Although he had no experience and didn't know, he vaguely felt from the color and amount that her body wasn't very healthy.

In addition, after he went to pick up Yu Shaoyang and his wife to return to the Xiao residence, Pu Qing mentioned that she once had abdominal pain so severe that her face turned pale, and she suddenly couldn't walk while taking a walk in the courtyard.

Fearing that his possession might be too large to harm Mi Yao, he decided to find a doctor to examine her. Coincidentally, he happened to run into Yu Shaoyang looking for a doctor, which provided him with a proper solution to his inexplicable concern for Mi Yao.

Who knew that Mi Yao would give him such a surprise.

Doctor Jiang said that someone had drugged Mi Yao, but he didn't believe it at all.

He had cursed Mi Yao in his heart more than once for being stupid, but he also knew clearly that she was not only not stupid, but also had her own way of surviving.

No one could force her to take such a large amount of musk except herself.

Therefore, he thought that Mei Xiang, who seduced him, was merely using this as a means to avoid bearing his children.

That's really great.

From standing quietly to fidgeting, Xiao Chuan only realized that his volatile emotions had taken control of his legs when he met Mi Yao's blank and innocent eyes. He followed the nauseating smell emanating from Mi Yao from the study and found her without any mishap.

"What's wrong, Xiao Lang? Why are you coming over so aggressively? Do you also have a friend's widow who has come to your door seeking your help?"

Meeting Xiao Chuan's deep, dark eyes, Mi Yao jokingly teased him.