Chapter 99 The Marquis's Commoner Wife

The old lady stood up, pointed at Ning Yan's nose, and began to scold, "Ning, what are you up to by stopping the doctor from giving Yingying her medicine? Do you secretly wish for her to die?"

"Cousin, your wife has wronged me so badly, you must stand up for me!"

Ning Yan looked wronged, biting her lip and unable to speak. After a long while, she timidly looked at her man, "Husband, I didn't..."

Han Yongjin: "Alright, stop arguing. Madam is right. Since there will be aftereffects, we should ask about them. If Doctor Zhang can't cure it, I will find another doctor."

Just then, Lie Feng came in to report, "My lord, the doctors have all arrived."

Chu Yingying, lying on the bed, was so frightened that she forgot to cry out in pain. However, the old lady quickly called other doctors to take Chu Yingying's pulse.

Chu Yingying rejected him both physically and emotionally, but she had no choice in the matter.

In less than fifteen minutes, the doctors finished examining her pulse. "This concubine has some cold uterus, which is why she suffers from severe abdominal pain during her period. I will prescribe a formula for her to drink for seven days, and she will be fine. It will not affect her ability to have children."

The other three doctors nodded in agreement. "Besides that, I also know that my aunt has... has body odor, but I don't know how to treat it."

The other doctors nodded in agreement; they had also taken their samples, but were too embarrassed to say anything.

Chu Yingying: ...

Everyone: ...

Han Yongjin asked with a cold face, "Does the four doctors mean that Aunt Chu only suffers from uterine coldness and has not been poisoned?"

"No, absolutely no poisoning!"

The first doctor to speak said, "Does your aunt like to use icebergs? Eating a lot of cold food every summer can cause cold air to enter the body and not dissipate, which can easily lead to uterine cold."

This pulse pattern is completely different from that of poisoning, how could it be poisoning!

Han Yongjin sneered at Chu Yingying, "Very good, stomach pain is attributed to poisoning, Aunt Chu, you have quite the tricks!"

Chu Yingying wanted to die at this point.

Han Yongjin, radiating murderous intent, went straight for Doctor Zhang, who had arrived first. He kicked the man to the ground and shouted, "Men, drag this quack doctor away, give him fifty strokes of the cane, and send him to Shuntian Prefecture!"

Ignoring his pain, Doctor Zhang knelt on the ground, pleading, "My lord, spare me! My lord, spare me! I didn't mean to lie! It was Concubine Chu's maid who gave me a hundred taels of silver to say this!"

Old lady: ……

Chu Yingying: ...

Chu Yingying's maids: ...

Several senior doctors said: "...They shouldn't be inside the house; they should be outside. These kinds of private matters of aristocratic families are not something they should be listening to."

In the end, Ning Yan had Qiu Sheng pay the doctors' consultation fees and also gave each of them an extra twenty taels of silver. "Our lady said that she is very grateful to the doctors for clearing her name today. This is all you deserve."

The four looked at each other in bewilderment: ...Huh? They weren't going to shut us up?

Then they understood.

After the doctors left, Han Yongjin gave the order directly: "On the first day that Concubine Chu entered the mansion, she framed the mistress. Her intentions are bad and she is not a good person. From now on, she shall be confined to her quarters for six months and fined a monthly allowance for one year."

The old lady grew anxious: "...Jin'er, you can't do this! Yingying caused this whole mess because of you. What woman wouldn't feel bad if she was neglected after her wedding day? You can't confine her to her quarters!"

Han Yongjin coldly ordered, "Men, escort the old lady back to Shou'an Hall! Beat the maid who just called for the doctor to death and seal off Wutong Courtyard."

After saying that, he grabbed Ning Yan and strode away from the Wutong Courtyard.

Only the Wutong Courtyard remained, filled with mournful cries.

The coldness emanating from Han Yongjin vanished instantly upon returning to the main courtyard. He closed the door, grabbed his wife, and hurried into the inner room.

"Yan'er, do you think I did a good job just now?"

Ning Yan immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed sweetly into his ear, "Great, absolutely wonderful!"

Especially when the Marquis speaks up for me, I'm completely captivated..."

After saying that, Ning Yan kissed Han Yongjin's lips as a reward.

Han Yongjin's eyes lit up as the beauty in his arms kissed him. He was so happy he was practically dying inside. He was even thinking that if his cousin dared to cause trouble again, he would definitely give her a good beating. Who knows, maybe his wife would even give him some kind of perk!

From that day on, Marquis Han became addicted to kissing his wife. Whenever the two were together, their sweet kissing never stopped. Marquis Han's kissing skills also improved dramatically. Many times, he would kiss Ning Yan until she was drunk and dazed, her body weak and pliable, and she would give him whatever he wanted.

Lord Han was living a life of unbridled bliss.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Seeing that her son had been bewitched by the little vixen and that her niece was unreliable, the old lady arranged for four more concubines to be assigned to her son.

Why is it called a "tongfang" (通房) instead of a "qie" (妾)?

Because she felt that her niece was the concubine, how could the maids be worthy of being on equal footing with her niece?

Han Yongjin led the four to his study. “I will only have one wife in my life. I will not touch any of you four. I will give you two options. One is to lock the four of you in a small courtyard. You are not allowed to come out unless necessary. Of course, you will not be short of food and drink.”

Secondly, I will go to the old lady to obtain your indentures, restoring your freedom. You are free to leave the manor and marry as you see fit.

One of the concubines immediately knelt down. "My lord, I have taken a liking to Guard Lie Feng and wish to marry him. If Lie Feng is unwilling, please let me leave the manor."

Lie Feng, who was guarding outside the door, blushed deeply, but his eyes kept glancing at the maid named Hongzhu. The two accidentally met each other's eyes and then turned away in surprise.

The other three concubines thought: "...Hongzhu is really cunning! We were careless. If we had known this could happen, we would have chosen Liefeng too!"

Lie Feng is different from other servants. He usually looks like a combination of a servant and a guard, but he has been on the battlefield and holds the position of an eighth-rank captain.

"Lie Feng, you heard that too. Tell me, are you willing?"

Lie Feng is already twenty-seven, a year older than the Marquis. He has been on the frontier for many years and hasn't even seen a woman. He returned to the capital this spring and didn't have time to think about his own marriage. Now that the Marquis is married, he wouldn't mind taking a wife back with him.

"Your subordinate will obey your orders, Lord Marquis."

"Alright, then your marriage is settled. Go back and prepare the betrothal gifts. I'll cover your wife's dowry."

The other three concubines looked regretful, but at the same time, a sense of resentment rose in their hearts. They didn't believe that the Marquis would stay with one woman for the rest of his life. Maybe one day they would succeed?

Seeing that the three had made their choices, Han Yongjin didn't say much. He arranged for them to stay in the most remote courtyard of the mansion, then took all four of their indentures from their mothers. He gave Hongzhu's indenture to Liefeng to remove her from the slave register, and gave the rest to Ningyan.

"If they are honest, we'll give them food; if they're not, we'll just sell them off."

With such a large family and business, it's not like we can't afford to support a few idle people.

Keeping it at home is just for show, to avoid outsiders saying that the wife is jealous for not allowing her husband to take a concubine.

(End of this chapter)