Chapter 49 Methods to Ensure the Succession of Offspring

"Yangyang?"

Seeing Xiao Wan looking panicked and unsteady on her feet, Cui Ying quickly ran forward to support her arm and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Your face is so pale."

Xiao Shu also came over, puzzled, and asked, "Yeah, didn't you go to find the cat? Why did you come back in such a hurry?"

Xiao Wan seemed to be startled awake from a deep sleep. Her body trembled slightly, and she looked around blankly, muttering to herself, "Yes, I went to find the cat. Where is the cat? Where is the cat..."

Just then, a maid ran over, carrying a fluffy little orange cat that was innocently licking its paws.

It turned out the little guy hadn't gone far at all; he had climbed up a tree and fallen asleep. Everyone was busy looking down and no one looked up, so they didn't find him for a long time.

Xiao Shu took the cat, put it in Xiao Wan's arms, and laughed, "Your precious little darling is right here. Look how anxious you are. Quickly pet it a couple of times to calm yourself down."

Xiao Wan hugged the cat, still in a daze. Suddenly, she grabbed Xiao Shu's hand tightly, her knuckles turning white. Her voice choked as she looked at her and said, "Huixin, you...you promise me, you must not listen to anyone or see anyone you shouldn't see lately. Wherever you go, make sure you are surrounded by many people. Don't be alone. You...you must take good care of yourself."

Xiao Shu was quite startled by her commotion, and opened her eyes wide, saying, "Xiao Liu, what's wrong with you? Why are you talking nonsense?"

Xiao Wan bit her lip, unable to utter a single word.

She couldn't very well say that she overheard Qian Qiuchan and Qian Peng having an affair while looking for the cat, and that she also heard Qian Peng plotting to make Xiao Shu's relationship a fait accompli. If she said that, the whole family would be in chaos. How could her third brother face anyone after being cuckolded like that? And how could her grandmother, who was so old and in poor health, bear it?

Seeing Xiao Wan's clenched teeth and her slightly trembling body, Cui Ying reached out and placed her palm on Xiao Wan's forehead. Her expression darkened, and she asked worriedly, "It seems a little hot. Yangyang, did you catch a cold from the wind?"

Xiao Shu immediately said, "Then I will send someone to fetch the royal physician to give her a proper examination."

At this moment, Xiao Wan turned her head away from Cui Ying's hand, took a step back while holding the cat, and said in a forced calm voice, "I'm fine, just a little tired. I'll go back first. You two have fun, don't let me spoil your mood."

After saying that, she picked up the cat and left, looking absent-minded.

Cui Ying stared in the direction where she disappeared, his brows furrowing more and more. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Xiao Wan's appearance just now was not simply due to catching a cold. The fear in her eyes was undeniable; she was genuinely terrified.

Her heart felt heavy, and she immediately lost interest in playing in the water. She pulled Xiao Shu, who was also full of doubts, out of the pool and back to the shade of the tree where they had been playing football.

As the sun sets in the west, the sky is ablaze with rosy light, and the dazzling light and shadows pierce through the gaps in the branches and leaves, swaying on the delicate skirts of the young girls.

Cui Ying's hair was not yet completely dry; a few strands of black hair clung damply to her delicate cheeks and neck, making her skin appear even whiter and more lustrous, her cheeks rosy and radiant, as beautiful as a lotus emerging from the water.

She was frowning, analyzing Xiao Wan's unusual behavior with Xiao Shu in a low voice, when a turquoise-colored outer garment suddenly fell from the sky, covering her head and instantly obscuring her vision.

Cui Ying thought it had suddenly gotten dark. It wasn't until she hurriedly pulled her clothes off her head, saw the color and pattern of the clothes, and smelled the familiar scent of soap that she realized what had happened and subconsciously looked in the direction of Xiao Qiyu.

As the evening breeze blew by, the young man stood under the tree, his figure elegant and graceful. His hair fluttered gently in the breeze. When he saw her damp hair, his thick eyebrows furrowed slightly, his thin lips pursed, and there seemed to be a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes.

"I'm going back now. Go and dry your hair."

Xiao Qiyu's voice remained calm, revealing little emotion. After a pause, he continued, "Also, I am your husband. Keep a close eye on me when you're out, lest someone take advantage of the situation."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Qiyu turned around, took long strides, and strode towards Qiyun Pavilion without looking back. His back looked particularly tall and straight in the rosy light, with a cold and unapproachable air about him.

Cui Ying was completely confused and couldn't help but want to chase after him to ask what he meant, what "make sure it's sturdy" meant, and what "find a loophole" meant.

At this moment, Qin Wan, who had been standing quietly to the side, walked over with a pale face. She gave a slight bow to Cui Ying and Xiao Shu, her voice soft but carrying a hint of sadness: "Sisters, I am a little tired, so I will take my leave without keeping you company any longer."

After saying that, he hurriedly left with his maid.

Cui Ying felt strange and wiped her hair with Xiao Qiyu's outer robe, saying suspiciously, "It's really strange, why do all of them look so pale?"

Xiao Shu couldn't figure it out either, and could only shake her head.

...

For three days in a row, Xiao Wan remained in a daze, with a persistent high fever, and even the medicine she took was of no use.

Mrs. Zhang was extremely anxious and had no other choice but to invite a skilled shaman to her home to take a look.

The old woman looked at Xiao Wan's face and immediately knew that she had been frightened and needed to have her "soul retrieved".

So they burned talismans, chanted incantations, and performed rituals to send off evil spirits, which took two whole days.

Whether it was because the effects of the medicine finally wore off, or because the old woman really did have some shady skills, Xiao Wan's high fever gradually subsided, and she became more lucid.

After this incident, she became even more quiet and taciturn than before, preferring to stay in her room all day and rarely speaking to anyone.

When Wang heard that her granddaughter had suffered such a calamity, she was distraught and began to burn incense and chant scriptures morning and evening. She spent most of her days under the Buddhist altar and lost a lot of weight.

Qin, serving by her side, couldn't help but offer words of comfort, asking the old lady to put her mind at ease.

Wang said, “I understand the principles you mentioned, but lately I’ve been having dreams where my ancestors look at me coldly and don’t say a word. I always feel that this house is not very clean, otherwise why would my ancestors come to me in my dreams to give me advice?”

Madam Qin replied, “Mother, what are you saying? Although our Xiao family dares not compare itself to those noble families, we are still a kind and benevolent family. We distribute porridge and help the poor during festivals and have never done anything immoral. The most useless one in the family is my good-for-nothing son, Ye. But at most, he just doesn’t like studying and is into cockfighting and dog racing. He has no bad habits or vices. A family like ours is protected by the spirits of our ancestors in heaven. Smooth sailing is the only way for us.”

Madam Wang sighed, “The sage said that the blessings of a virtuous person will last for five generations. The Xiao family has been prosperous for about a hundred years. When I was young, I was a granddaughter-in-law, serving my grandmother and grandfather, bearing children and continuing the family line. The prosperity of the family was incomparable to what it is today. Now that I am a grandmother, my grandchildren are few and far between, and no new members have been added to the family for a long time. Who knows if it is not because I have failed in managing the household, and that the ancestors are blaming me?”

Wang was speechless for a moment.

Xiao Heng had been married for four years without children, which was a source of great distress not only for Lady Wang but also for Lady Qin.

Qin knew all too well that her son loathed Qian Qiuchan and would never share a bed with her. She had even tried to arrange for her son to have a few concubines. Even if they didn't have legitimate sons or daughters, illegitimate ones would do, as it was better than a stagnant situation.

Xiao Heng, however, was like an old monk in deep meditation. At the prime of his life, he devoted himself entirely to official duties. While his peers had children running around, he not only didn't care about romantic relationships, but he even despised them.

Qin Shi didn't ask, but she knew in her heart that the reason still lay with Qian Qiuchan.

Back then, she gambled with Xiao Heng's future, forcing the Marquis's mansion to comply. Her actions were enough to make Xiao Heng give up all thoughts of love and romance.

Even when Qin Shi belatedly realized that the reason why the old lady was so eager to ask the Empress Dowager to grant a marriage for the seventh son to marry Cui Ying when she was seriously ill was probably to prevent the emergence of a second "Qian Qiuchan" who would use the same trick to make a big fuss about the seventh son's marriage.

Leaving the Bodhi Hall, Qin walked along the path to the Jingsong Hall, having made up her mind:

You must divorce Qian Qiuchan as soon as possible and find your son a new wife from a respectable family so that the couple can live in harmony and quickly have children.

Unexpectedly, just as Qin returned to Jingsong Hall, Qian Qiuchan arrived, smiling and saying, "Your daughter-in-law has recently learned a wonderful skill in massaging acupoints on the head. Mother, you work hard serving the old lady all day long, so your daughter-in-law has come to relieve your fatigue."

One shouldn't hit a smiling face, so Qin suppressed her disgust and didn't chase her away, nodding to allow her to approach.

Qian Qiuchan's fingers were slender yet skillful, clearly showing that she had put in a lot of effort to learn.

Seeing Qin Shi's furrowed brows, Qian Qiuchan said, "Mother, don't worry, Sixth Sister's fever has subsided. It seems that good people are always blessed, and she will surely recover well."

When Xiao Wan first fell ill, Qian Qiuchan felt something was amiss and was always uneasy. She frequently tried to get information from Qin Shi.

Qin said, "It has nothing to do with your sixth sister."

Qian Qiuchan: "What is troubling Mother?"

Unable to contain her anger, Qin almost pointed at her and cursed her, calling her a jinx who had ruined her son and hadn't been able to have a child for four whole years, saying that she was trying to make their second branch of the family line die out!

But reason prevailed over impulse. Qin closed her eyes to rest, and casually picked out a topic from her mind, slowly saying, "Your seventh sister-in-law lost one of her personal maids a few days ago, so I picked two likable little maids to serve her. After serving her for a while, those two maids told me that the young couple sleeps in separate beds every day and has never been close to each other."

“As an aunt, I shouldn’t interfere in their lives, but the old lady is eager to have a great-grandson and worries about it every few days. I get angry about it too, and I wish they could get along well so that the Marquis’s family could continue to have offspring.”

Qian Qiuchan thought to herself that she was helpless and alone in the Marquis's mansion, and could not rely on Xiao Heng. She could only rely on pleasing Qin Shi to survive. Now that Qin Shi was troubled by this, if she could solve this urgent problem, she would surely be looked up to.

It's just about getting the young couple to sleep together; she has plenty of tricks up her sleeve.

Qian Qiuchan thought of the aphrodisiac incense that Qian Peng had just sent and laughed, "This is no difficult task. You can hand this job over to your daughter-in-law, and I guarantee that the couple will be inseparable."

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Author's Note: Meibao: Achoo!

Someone's trying to harm me!!! [Crying uncontrollably]