Chapter 76 [VIP]

Upon hearing Xiao Chuan's words, Mi Yao knew that he was being too nice to her.

She was so good to him that he misunderstood something.

She wanted to say a lot of harsh truths, but seeing the baby in her arms, and fearing that Xiao Chuan might suddenly attack and hurt the child, Mi Yao swallowed her words.

“When my husband said I needed to take medicine, I was initially skeptical, but because I was afraid of dying young, I tried to believe him.”

Mi Yao tried her best to remain calm, looking steadily at Xiao Chuan. "I've already thought it through. If you're lying to me, how can I abort the child without harming my body?"

She felt she had expressed her best attitude gently, but judging from Xiao Chuan's sudden change in expression, he still lacked the ability to handle it.

After staring at Mi Yao for a long time, Xiao Chuan lifted the curtain and left. Mi Yao saw him again when the carriage stopped at the post station where they would spend the night.

"Brother Xiao, have some cool soup to cool off in the summer heat."

As soon as Xiao Chuan dismounted, Miao Xueling presented him with a porcelain bowl, saying, "Riding in this weather, Brother Xiao, you must be exhausted."

Miao Xueling's voice was trembling with tears as she spoke. Xiao Chuan watched Mi Yao stride into the post station without stopping for anyone, and he was indeed furious.

Drinking herbal tea won't help with this internal heat; you need to treat the root cause.

And now, even his back is nowhere to be seen.

"If it's hot, take it and drink it."

Xiao Chuan gave an order to his subordinates behind him, then bypassed Miao Xueling, who was looking on expectantly.

"You're too kind, Madam Miao."

Zhao De took the porcelain bowl from her hand and drank it all in one gulp. After finishing, he took the large pot that the servant was holding and shared the remaining cold tea with Pu Qing and the others.

"You people, my wife's tea isn't for you to drink!"

Seeing that her master's good intentions were being wasted by a group of lowly servants, Miao Xueling's maid angrily rebuked them.

"Did you hear that? Stop drinking. This tea was given to me by Lady Miao. She's unhappy if I share it with you."

Zhao De pretended to be angry, then burst into laughter.

"It was our fault. How could we compete with Commander Zhao for Lady Miao's affections?"

The news that Xiao Chuan disrespected Miao Xueling yesterday has spread far and wide. Their master said such harsh words, yet Miao Xueling still insisted on getting closer. Naturally, they wanted to let Miao Xueling know which side they were on.

If in the past they only regarded Mi Yao as a beautiful woman their master had married, now that she had gained their master's favor and after spending the past few months together, they had come to regard Mi Yao as their mistress. Miao Xueling's attempt to sabotage their masters' relationship was simply asking for trouble.

Sensing the hostility from the group, Miao Xueling's face stiffened. She hadn't expected Mi Yao to be so respected by them.

Let those servants of hers dare to be disrespectful to her.

"That woman is really shameless. I just heard Xiu'er say that she went to her brother-in-law again. I wonder what she said to him."

After feeding the child, Zhen Jing coaxed the child to sleep and said to Mi Yao, "From yesterday to today, your brother-in-law has not given that Lady Miao a kind look. Her father and the governor's friend are separated by such a layer of relationship. Your brother-in-law has already done very well. Hu Hu, don't be angry with your brother-in-law."

When Mi Yao and Xiao Chuan were together, they wished the world only consisted of the two of them. Xiao Chuan's eyes were fixed on Mi Yao, and the two of them would appear at the same time, with no more than half a meter apart.

Therefore, it is very obvious when the two have a disagreement.

The two were no longer standing close together, and Xiao Chuan once again became a menacing Yama.

Zhen Jing thought Mi Yao was angry with Xiao Chua because of Miao Xueling. Seeing that Mi Yao didn't reply and just kept stretching out her fingers for the baby to squeeze, she couldn't help but say, "If you like children, you and your brother-in-law should have more. What did Shan'er say last time? She can have five brothers and sisters."

Hearing that Zhen Jing was also urging her to have a baby, Mi Yao sighed.

"Sister-in-law, please stop. You should know that God doesn't give all the good things to the same person. My beauty comes at the cost of my infertility. If you bring this up again, my heart will break every time you do, and I'll feel like I don't deserve to be a woman."

Mi Yao's words were bitter, and Zhen Jing couldn't tell if she was joking or serious. She paused for a moment, about to ask again, when she saw Mi Yao press her index finger to her lips.

"If my sister-in-law is my real sister-in-law, then don't ask. It makes me uncomfortable."

With that, Zhen Jing dared not ask any more questions. She had only acted out a few lines of a play and was able to gain peace. Mi Yao only regretted not having acted out the play sooner.

She never expected that after only a few days of peace, upon returning to Yizhou, she would be faced with a new round of pressure to have children.

This time, it was her father who urged her to have a child. And fearing that just verbal encouragement wouldn't work, he even brought her sisters, showing her through his actions that there were plenty of others who were willing to have children even if she wasn't.

When they were almost in Yizhou, Mi Yao received news that Yu Chengda had arrived in Yizhou with his children, saying that he was visiting her and Yu Shaoyang, but the people he brought did not seem to be the real reason.

"Father is bringing his fourteenth daughter and twelfth son, both daughters of the Li family, with him this time."

Upon seeing Mi Yao, Yu Shaoyang first frowned and explained the current situation, "As soon as Father arrived, he wanted to bring them to live in the Xiao Mansion. How could I dare to let them in? I packed my things and moved to the two-courtyard house I had found before. After I left, they couldn't make a fuss about moving into the Xiao Mansion anymore. When you see Father, Hu Hu, don't be soft-hearted. Father seems to have gone senile, bringing so many people with him."

Yu Erniangzi was the eldest daughter of the main branch of the family, three years older than Yu Shaoyang. She married early and moved back to her parents' home after her husband passed away.

As for Seventeen, she was the second wife's illegitimate daughter. She remembered that she looked somewhat like the original owner. For a while, Yu Chengda called Seventeen "Little Huhu," but the original owner found out and got very angry, so Yu Chengda changed the way he called her.

"My heart is as hard as iron."

Having conceded, Xiao Chuan didn't actively seek her out; however, whenever they occasionally bumped into each other, he would stare at her with a predatory gaze.

Yesterday, Xiao Chuan received Zhao Tianhe's urging and returned to Yizhou overnight. Before leaving, he looked at her for a long time and left behind the words, "Her heart is as hard as iron."

She was quite satisfied with his assessment. Now that he knew she was heartless, he would be more sensible in the future and do less or say things that she didn't want to respond to.

Just take one step. Don't have too high expectations of your father. Don't be fooled by his love for you; he loves his other children just as much. If you were to compete with them one-to-one, you might win.

He had known this principle for a long time, so when he grew up, he had no filial piety towards Yu Chengda, and consequently, no sense of belonging to the Yu family.

In the past, he would return to the Yu family during the New Year because of Mi Yao. This year, Mi Yao got married, so he made up an excuse not to return to the Yu family for the New Year and instead came to Yizhou to take up his post.

Upon hearing this, Mi Yao nodded, and then looked at Zhen Jing: "Sister-in-law, come and hug brother, I think he's about to cry."

"I didn't..."

Before Yu Shaoyang could finish his rebuttal, he stopped when he saw Zhen Jing's distressed gaze. Later that evening, as he rested his head against his wife's chest and felt her gentle caresses, his vulnerability turned into tenderness: "My wife, only you care about me."

Zhen Jing originally wanted to tell him about Mi Yao's infertility, but seeing his heartbroken and helpless expression, she decided against it. If he cried his heart out tonight, she wouldn't have the energy to comfort him.