Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Lu Bingyan, we will never have children again...

After about two sticks of incense, Nan Heng turned back to report, stood in the corridor, and called out softly, "My dear."

Lu Chen heard the noise, reached out and touched Zhe Rou's cheek, lowered the curtains in front of the bed, stood up and walked out.

"Have you asked everything clearly?"

Nan Heng replied, "Yes." "The maid who prepared the medicine was very timid. She confessed everything after a few threats. I've questioned her repeatedly and compared the information, and there's not a single mistake or inconsistency. Chunhe's confession only passed through her and Matron Cui's hands. Matron Cui once opened the lid and peered inside while the medicine was being prepared, and Chunhe didn't dare to stop her."

I've also asked the doorman, and he's reported seeing Madam Cui leaving the mansion for the past two days, but she hasn't been buying anything and seems to be in a hurry. There's also something suspicious: Madam Cui has always had a close relationship with her family, but a few days ago, her sister-in-law suddenly showed up at our house and started crying and arguing with her at the corner gate.

After reporting, Nan Heng shut up and lowered his head. He had followed Lu Chen for many years and naturally knew how much his husband valued his wife.

Although the Madam had some grievances against my wife in the past, she had never resorted to such a sinister and vicious method as drugging her. Now this has happened, and it almost harmed her offspring. If it is really related to the Madam, then it is really too much.

Lu Chen clenched his jaw, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said in a cold voice, "Send someone immediately to bring me the brother and sister-in-law of that bitch's family for a thorough interrogation!"

After saying that, he turned around and strode out of the yard.

Nan Heng quickly responded with a "yes", held down his sword, and hurriedly followed.

Hearing Lu Chen's hurried footsteps going away, the courtyard fell into silence again. Zhe Rou slowly opened her eyes, exhaled lightly, and took out the medicine bottle.

It was quiet all around. The evening breeze blew through the pomegranate tree under the corridor, and the branches and leaves swayed and rustled.

The ceil on her head was embroidered with a pattern of prosperous descendants, which was newly purchased after she came to Shangjing.

There is a bamboo shed on the swing in the yard. She tried it a few days ago and found it very pleasant to sit on it and relax and read.

Every piece of flowers, plants and furniture in this yard was placed by her personally, and everywhere is filled with the atmosphere of her and Lu Chen's life together. When she first arrived in Shangjing, she thought this was her home, she would be the hostess here, and she would never have to wander again from now on.

But in the end it was just a dream.

Zhe Rou finally hardened her heart, uncorked the bottle, took out the pill, tilted her head back and swallowed it.

In order to make the pills easier to solidify, she mixed some locust tree honey into the pills. It should have had a slightly sweet and lingering taste, but it tasted extremely bitter when put in the mouth, so bitter that it made people cry.

Lu Bingyan...

The warmth of his palm seemed to still remain on her lower abdomen, and it turned from warm to scorching hot, burning her whole body with pain. She wished she could curl up into a ball.

But no matter how much it hurt, she would not allow herself to be weak.

She was determined not to turn back in this life and not to have anything to do with Lu Chen anymore.

**

In Songchun Courtyard, Zheng Lanbi was doing evening prayers in the small Buddhist hall. Thinking that today was Sanlang's birthday, she recited the Heart Sutra twice more and prayed for his safety.

Nanny Cui stood by with her hands hanging down, listening to the noise outside the yard with her ears perked up. Her eyelids were twitching as if there were thorns on her back, and she felt indescribably uneasy.

Towards evening, she vaguely heard some noise coming from the East Courtyard, and saw Pingchuan coming back from outside with the doctor, and she was immediately shocked.

Ever since the Madam taught Ning a lesson and angered her husband last time, there have been guards separating the two courtyards. Apart from the shared kitchen, the two courtyards never come into contact with each other. So although she was anxious, she had no idea whether anything had happened in the East Courtyard.

She wasn't sure about the effectiveness of the pills, and she didn't know if the dosage was too high.

But she really had no other choice.

Although the lady had given the order first, she was the husband's biological mother after all. Even if something terrible happened, the husband would never pick up a knife to kill his mother. But it was hard to say about her. If something really happened to Ning, she would suffer as well.

Seeing Zheng Lanbi finally finish her evening lessons, Nanny Cui hurried forward to help her stand up. She looked up at her expression and said tentatively, "Madam, there's some movement in the East Courtyard. It sounds to me like something's wrong..."

Zheng Lanbi glanced at her and asked, "What's the matter?"

Nanny Cui hesitated for a while, then said hesitantly, "I heard that she's in trouble and is urgently urging someone to invite a doctor to come over. I'm afraid it's that medicine..."

Zheng Lanbi frowned and was about to speak when she heard a loud bang and the courtyard door was suddenly kicked open from the outside. When she looked up, she saw Lu Chen walking quickly into the courtyard, followed by a row of fierce guards rushing in behind him.

When Aunt Cui saw this, the hairs on her body stood up and her legs went weak.

Lu Chen said nothing, just looked at her coldly. The two guards behind him rushed forward, grabbed Madam Cui, handcuffed her hands behind her back and tried to drag her out.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" Aunt Cui was terrified. She struggled to dodge backwards, but the guards' iron-like hands held her joints tightly. She cried out in pain, "Madam, Madam!"

Zheng Lanbi frowned and looked at Lu Chen calmly, "Don't make things difficult for Aju. She followed my instructions and gave Ning the contraceptive cold medicine. I asked the doctor, and he said the medicine has no other side effects. If Ning wants to make trouble with Qiao, she can't do that."

The veins on his forehead throbbed violently. Lu Chen didn't have the energy to argue with her anymore. His eyes were cold and gloomy. "Where is the medicine?"

Zheng Lanbi pursed her lips and did not respond.

Lu Chen completely lost his patience. He suddenly drew out the sword from his guard's waist and put his backhand against Madam Cui's throat, looking as if he was looking at a dead person.

"I ask again, where is the medicine?"

Nanny Cui looked at Zheng Lanbi hesitantly.

Lu Chen flipped his wrist, and the blade shone coldly, reflecting a pair of sharp and murderous eyes.

There was a sudden sharp pain in her throat, and she felt warm blood flowing down. Aunt Cui was so frightened that her soul flew away and she screamed.

Lu Chen stared at Zheng Lanbi and said calmly, "Mother, don't force me."

Zheng Lanbi confronted him for a moment, but was finally defeated. She closed her eyes and signaled the maid to go back to the house to get the medicine.

Lu Chen took the medicine and gave Aunt Cui a cold look. "Come here, tie up this bitch and take her to the East Courtyard."

After saying this, he went straight to find Doctor Wu without stopping for a moment.

In the main hall of the house, Doctor Wu was using silver tweezers to open a pill. He lowered his head to sniff it carefully, and his expression suddenly changed.

He looked up at Lu Chen and said sternly, "This isn't an ordinary cold medicine, but a sterilizing drug mixed with cinnabar, strychnine, and a dash of musk. The poison of this drug is that if an ordinary woman uses it, it might just appear as irregular menstruation and prolonged bleeding. But if she doesn't take it seriously, after using it for a month or two, she's likely to be unable to have children.

Fortunately, my wife was pregnant and couldn't stand the effects of the medicine, so she rushed to attack. Otherwise... the consequences would be unimaginable."

After saying this, he lowered his head, looked at his nose and his heart, and said no more.

There was a sudden silence all around, and the air seemed to have frozen.

Lu Chen's expression was extremely cold. After a long pause, he gave the order word by word, "Bring that bitch Cui to the courtyard and find out where she got this medicine from."

He knew very well that although his mother was a mean person, she would never do such a sinister thing. There must be someone behind Cui's back.

The dull sound of canes soon rang out in the yard, interspersed with cries of pain and screams.

Zheng Lanbi quickly rushed over and tried to stop it, but was silenced by Lu Chen's cold gaze.

Seeing that Madam Cui had been beaten to a pulp, Zheng Lanbi finally lost her patience and shouted angrily, "Enough! You've really become so arrogant now. Are you going to kill my dowry right in front of me? Even if she took contraceptive medicine, what does it matter?"

I did it all for you! If Madam Xu Xiang hadn't come to my house that day and deliberately threatened me, how could I have bothered to interfere with your offspring? It was all so that you could marry a noble woman! "

Lu Chen was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses and his expression gradually became gloomy.

Before he could say anything, news came from Nanheng in the front yard that Cui's brother and sister-in-law had confessed that their only son lost 800 strings of cash in gambling in Qianyuanfang and was detained in the gambling house with a broken finger. Someone came to the house with the broken finger and asked Madam Cui to obey, otherwise the Cui family would be exterminated.

Who else could be related to the Lu family and want to instigate and harm her?

There is no need to say more, it is already clear who is behind this conspiracy.

In the room, the medicine she had taken had taken effect. Zhe Rou lay on the couch, feeling hot and cold, with a dull pain in her lower abdomen. In a trance, she could hear the chaotic arguments in the yard. The resentment in her heart grew bit by bit, and her fingertips tightly grasped the quilt under her.

It turned out that she couldn't keep the child because of the Xu family.

What a vicious calculation.

Why? Should she let them abuse her like this?

She originally wanted to avoid disturbing Lu Chen so that she could leave quietly later.

But now, after listening to these secret calculations, she suddenly didn't want to hide it anymore and had to suppress her anger.

Zhe Rou gritted her teeth, called Xiao Chan, and asked her to go to the yard to call Lu Chen over.

Xiaochan replied anxiously, walked to the corridor, and called out to her husband anxiously, "My wife wants to see you for something."

Lu Chen was slightly startled when he heard this. For no reason, he suddenly felt an extremely uneasy premonition in his heart. He turned around abruptly and rushed back to the main room.

There was no one in front of the couch, only the soft curtains fluttering gently, and there seemed to be a faint sound. When he lifted the bed curtain, Zhe Rou was curled up in the quilt, her body trembling constantly, her face and lips were pale, and a thick layer of cold sweat oozed from her temples.

Lu Chen's heart tightened, and he immediately realized something was wrong. He subconsciously reached into her quilt, and his fingertips suddenly touched something wet, hot, and sticky.

He was very familiar with this touch.

"妱妱!"

His heart sank suddenly, and Lu Chen tore open the quilt, only to see Zhe Rou bleeding profusely. Large clumps of bright red, wet blood stained the emerald green folded skirt, and the bloody smell rushed into his nose.

With a loud buzzing sound in his head, Lu Chen rushed forward and hugged her in his arms, shouting outside, "Go get Doctor Wu! Quick!"

Nan Heng was shocked and hurried to the front yard to find the imperial physician.

There was more and more blood in front of him, and the person in his arms was breathing weakly. For the first time, Lu Chen felt his legs go weak, and his voice was shaking uncontrollably. He stroked her cheek repeatedly, "Miss, look at me, don't fall asleep!"

Zhe Rou simply turned her face slightly towards the couch, closed her eyes, and did not respond.

Along with the pain in her lower abdomen, she felt the warm and sticky blood flowing out from under her body. In a daze, it seemed as if a part of her body was also flowing out. Her heart sank empty, not knowing where it would fall.

Doctor Wu rushed over upon hearing the news. When he saw the bloodstains on the bed, his expression changed drastically. After he went forward to check the patient's pulse, his heart sank completely.

After hesitating for a while, he turned around and whispered, "General, please accept my condolences."

It was as if a rolling thunder had exploded overhead. Lu Chen's eyes instantly turned red. He gritted his teeth and demanded, "Excuse me? What kind of condolences do you want me to offer?"

He was so frightened and angry that there was no longer any gentleness and elegance in his eyes and brows. Instead, he was filled with murderous and murderous aura that was cold and intimidating.

Doctor Wu was stunned, his heart pounding. He spoke cautiously, "According to my diagnosis, Madam's health is fine. She can be carefully cared for...but...but the little boy in your belly...is truly gone."

Zhe Rou was sweating profusely from the pain, curled up on the bed with her eyes closed. In a daze, she heard the words of the imperial physician, and her heart was filled with both joy and sadness, tears streaming uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes.

Seeing her tears and listening to her weak breathing, Lu Chen felt his heart aching, as if she was holding it tightly, and the pain was so severe that he could hardly straighten his back.

"How could this be? Didn't they say it would be safe for the time being?"

Doctor Wu licked his lips, carefully weighing his words. "That's how it should be... Or perhaps the infertility drug was too potent, and Madam's body couldn't handle it, which is why she suffered this injury."

Lu Chen fell silent for a moment, his body frozen for a long moment before he finally spoke hoarsely, "Sir, please prescribe some nourishing and hemostatic medicine for my wife. Please make sure nothing remains."

Doctor Wu quickly responded and went out to write a prescription and boil the medicine.

After taking a few ginseng pills, Zhe Rou felt that her strength was gradually restored. Her eyelashes trembled slightly and she opened her eyes.

Seeing that she was somewhat more conscious, Lu Chen raised his hand and stroked her cold cheek, comforting her softly: "Don't be afraid, Xiaoxiao, we will still..."

But before Lu Chen could finish, Zhe Rou shook her head very slowly, grabbed his hand that was covering her cheek, and pushed it away with all her strength, her tone so calm that there was almost no fluctuation: "Lu Bingyan, we will not have any more children."

As Lu Chen stared blankly, her face pale as she looked up and smiled at him. There was a hint of satisfaction in her tone as she said word by word, "I don't want this child myself."