Chapter 30 (Revised)
She wanted to kill me.
The deer fell straight into the water, and the pool instantly turned a blood red.
She struggled a few times and then stopped moving, her hands fell limp, and she was completely submerged in the pool.
The koi in the pond were startled and darted around in all directions.
"Deer antler scutellaria!"
While Aunt Zhao was still standing there, bewildered, Hao Jingshi rushed over, shoved her aside, and jumped into the pool.
How could this happen! The original plan didn't include the possibility of falling into the water!
Lu Qin isn't good at swimming, so please be careful nothing happens to her!
Another splash of water rose up, hitting the edge of the pool, wet and reflecting the light like an irregular mirror.
Seeing Hao Jingshi jump into the pond, Xuan Lan, who was following closely behind, was terrified and quickly ran to direct several servants, "Go get blankets! Get two! Go help in the backyard!"
Upon hearing this, the servants scattered and ran away. Xuan Lan hurriedly turned around and ran back to the banquet hall to inform Master Hao.
"Something terrible has happened! Master, Madam, the young mistress is in trouble!"
"What's wrong with Qin'er?"
Seeing Xuan Lan in a panic, Master Lu didn't bother to ask what was going on. He hurriedly got up and rushed to the backyard.
Ling'er quickly followed.
Thinking that her mother hadn't returned for a long time, Lu Ping felt something was wrong and went after her.
An awkward moment ensued on the field.
The relatives present looked at each other in bewilderment and put down their bowls and chopsticks: "What happened?"
"I'll go take a look. You stay here." Madam Hao frowned, instructed Mr. Hao, and then stood up to apologize to the guests, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry, I must take my leave."
After saying that, she hurriedly followed Master Lu away.
When Mr. Lu and Mrs. Hao rushed to the pond in the backyard, they saw that the pond was blood red, the pondside was a mess, and a gemstone hairpin lay forlornly to the side.
Master Lu felt that the hairpin looked familiar, so he walked over, picked it up, and squinted to examine it closely.
"This is your hairpin, isn't it?" He held it up in front of Aunt Zhao.
Aunt Zhao, who had been standing there dumbfounded, finally came to her senses and immediately cried out, "Master, this hairpin..."
"Young Master! Young Madam!"
Aunt Zhao's voice was drowned out by the shouts of the servants.
Seeing Hao Jingshi emerge from the water carrying Lu Qin, Master Lu's attention was diverted. He put down the hairpin and took a few steps toward the other side of the pool.
"Qin'er!"
He called out anxiously, only to see Lu Qin pointing at Aunt Zhao, barely breathing.
She choked on the water, looking like a drowned rat, with water droplets constantly dripping from her hair, and blood continuously spitting out of her mouth.
Her lips trembled, but before she could utter a clear word, the hand fell heavily, and then she closed her eyes and leaned against Hao Jingshi's chest, motionless.
"Madam!" Hao Jingshi cried out in anguish.
The servants rushed forward and pulled Hao Jingshi up, covering him with a thick blanket. Hao Jingshi, disregarding everything else, carried Lu Qin and ran to the nearest room.
Seeing blood flowing from Lu Qin's body, dripping all the way, Old Madam Hao gasped and hurriedly followed.
The bloodstains on the ground were particularly glaring. Aunt Zhao's eyes trembled, and she immediately realized that Lu Qin's baby was definitely doomed.
"She..." She tried to explain, but then Master Lu slapped her across the face.
"Slap."
Aunt Zhao was stunned by the blow and slowly raised her hand to cover one cheek.
"Father!" Lu Ping was terrified when she saw her father's anger as soon as she arrived. She rushed over in three steps, "Father, please calm down!"
Master Lu pointed at Aunt Zhao, trembling with anger, unable to utter a word.
Just as he was about to slap her again, Lu Ping grabbed his arm and hurriedly advised, "Father, we can't tell what happened right now. We should check on our elder sister first!"
Aunt Zhao kept her face covered, not saying a word, but tears streamed down her face.
In his fury, Master Lu coughed a few times and withdrew his trembling hand.
He said nothing, leaving Aunt Zhao behind, and went to the side room to check on Lu Qin's condition.
Aunt Zhao's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.
Seeing this, Lu Ping went to help her up with heartache, but was pushed away.
She covered her cheek with one hand and waved the other, saying, "Lu Qin... Lu Qin framed me... Go with your father..."
"My daughter knows!"
Lu Ping was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, and hurriedly ran to the side room.
Before the group of people outside came in, Hao Jingshi, as Lu Qin had instructed, bandaged up a non-existent wound on her stomach to cover it up.
He drew the curtains by the bed, using the excuse of inconvenience to keep everyone outside, while he stayed by the bedside wiping away the remaining blood plasma from Lu Qin.
The crowd was unaware of what was happening, but when they saw him throwing out one red-stained handkerchief after another, their hearts clenched.
Seeing that Master Lu was pacing back and forth restlessly, Madam Hao asked cautiously, "Jingshi, Qin'er, how is Qin'er?"
Hao Jingshi then tossed a blood-stained handkerchief and said, "Madam was stabbed in the abdomen and drowned. She has lost too much blood and is unconscious. I will do my best to save her life, but I'm afraid..."
"What are you afraid of?"
"Mother, your son is incompetent; the child in your womb will surely be lost..."
"What……"
Everyone was shocked to hear the bad news.
Old Madam Hao almost lost her balance, but luckily Ling'er helped her up in time.
She murmured in anguish, "How could this have happened..."
“It wasn’t a random incident.” Hao Jingshi wiped away the blood and peeked out from behind the curtain. “I arrived just before Madam fell into the water and saw her arguing with Aunt Zhao. Aunt Zhao seemed to be furious…”
"Brother-in-law, don't talk nonsense!" Lu Ping blurted out anxiously. "My mother would never harm anyone!"
Hao Jingshi glanced at her: "I only said what I saw, I didn't say that Aunt Zhao harmed people, why are you so agitated?"
Lu Ping blushed instantly: "I was just afraid my brother-in-law would misunderstand!"
"We're all family, what misunderstanding could there be?" Hao Jingshi retorted. "Could it be that your mother did something wrong, and you were involved, which is why you're so sensitive?"
"I..." Seeing her father looking at her, Lu Ping looked aggrieved. "Father, I don't know what I did wrong to make my brother-in-law hate me so much, and even slander me!"
"Whether I'm slandering you or not, you know the answer in your heart. Why did you want to become a concubine in the Hao family in the first place? Was it Aunt Zhao who instigated you to tell me the truth?"
"You! You're talking nonsense!" Lu Ping didn't expect to become the target, her face instantly turned red, and her voice became eight octaves higher.
Upon hearing this, Master Lu glanced at Lu Ping.
Ever since she started crying and demanding to share a husband with Lu Qin, he had found it strange, but he hadn't thought much of it. Now, seeing her so guilty, he couldn't help but ponder Hao Jingshi's words and began to suspect her motives.
Seeing Hao Jingshi's blunt words, Old Madam Hao was both angry and anxious: "Jingshi! Shut up! Are you crazy? What nonsense are you spouting!"
Hao Jingshi was furious and wanted to continue arguing, but considering that Master Lu was still there, he didn't want to offend Lu Ping too much, so he turned his head away disdainfully and apologized to Lu Ping.
"I was extremely worried about Madam's serious injury, and I spoke impulsively just now. Please don't take it to heart, little sister."
Lu Ping forced a smile and said awkwardly, "It's alright. My brother-in-law is so concerned about my elder sister. It's truly enviable."
Hao Jingshi ignored her and turned to the two elders, saying, "This matter is still unclear. Why don't we wait until Madam wakes up and then call Aunt Zhao to ask her about the details?"
“Mother, my uncles are still alive. We need to give them an explanation. We can’t just leave them standing there.”
"You're right," Madam Hao sighed. "Father-in-law, I'll head back to the banquet hall now. You can stay here with Qin'er."
Master Lu nodded.
"Jingshi, you stay here and take care of things too," Madam Hao said to Hao Jingshi. "Don't talk nonsense again."
...
After Madam Hao left, Hao Jingshi gave up his seat for Master Lu so that he could stay by Lu Qin's side, while he went back to his room to change into clean clothes.
He brought back a new outfit for Lu Qin and had Ling'er help her change. He then carried Lu Qin back to her bedroom and covered her with a blanket.
Not long after, Lu Qin suddenly sat up with a jolt, opened her eyes wide, and shouted.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"
The shout startled all three people present. Master Lu quickly helped Lu Qin up, saying, "Qin'er! Qin'er! No one wants to kill you, Father is here!"
"Father!" Lu Qin threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Father, she's going to kill me, she's going to kill me..."
"Don't be afraid, tell me who wants to kill you."
"Father, Aunt Zhao stabbed my stomach with a hairpin, and she pushed me! She's trying to kill me!"
As Lu Qin spoke, she screamed repeatedly, looking extremely frightened.
Master Lu was terrified and quickly called Hao Jingshi over, making room for him. Hao Jingshi jogged over, supported Lu Qin, and checked her pulse.
Lu Ping stood aside, observing secretly.
"Husband, husband..." Lu Qin tugged at Hao Jingshi's sleeve, "My stomach hurts so much, my baby, is my baby alright..."
She gazed at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.
Even though he knew it was all an act, Hao Jingshi still felt a pang of guilt, as if he had truly lost their child.
“The child…” he paused, “The child is gone… You, you shouldn’t be too sad.”
Lu Qin paused for a few seconds, then looked down and touched her stomach.
When she touched the bandage wrapped around his chest, she burst into tears and began pounding on Hao Jingshi's chest.
"You're lying to me! You're lying to me! Tell me you're lying!"
She punched him repeatedly, landing hard. Hao Jingshi winced in pain and forcibly pulled her into his arms, saying, "Madam, calm down, calm down. Tell me what happened, and I will definitely avenge you."
"Waaah...you lied to me..." Lu Qin struggled a few times, but couldn't break free, so she buried her face in his arms and sobbed.
Seeing this, Master Lu felt sorry for her and said, "Qin'er, tell your father, why would Aunt Zhao want to kill you for no reason?"
Lu Qin cried out, "Father, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have pressed Aunt Zhao for answers in a fit of anger, and now I've lost my child... Waaah..."
Master Lu asked, "What did you interrogate her about?"
"The matter of the clothing shop, and Mother..."
Lu Qin choked up as she recounted the whole story.
"My elder brother sold substandard clothes, harming many people, yet I'm the one who has to take the blame... I went to every household to apologize, and only after questioning them did I learn that the people causing trouble at the clothing shop were sent by Aunt Zhao..."
"Also, an old maid in the manor told me that my mother was killed by Concubine Zhao. I didn't believe it, so I went around investigating and found out that Concubine Zhao really was the murderer..."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ping sensed something was wrong and uneasily moved away, wanting to let Aunt Zhao know.
Lu Qin caught a glimpse of her subtle movements and then said, "Lu Ping is also an accomplice. She insisted on becoming a concubine in the Hao family just to kill me and silence me, because she was afraid that things would be exposed!"
Lu Ping, who was about to slip away, quickly stopped and said with a forced smile, "Father, I think my elder sister is confused from being too frightened. Why don't you let my brother-in-law stay with her for now, and we'll come to visit her again when she's better!"
“I’m not confused, I’m perfectly clear-headed!” Lu Qin retorted firmly. “You and your mother are both heartless snakes!”
"..." Lu Ping was so angry at her scolding that she could only stare blankly.
"Qin'er, you can't say things like that." Hearing this, Master Lu frowned deeply. "I know you care about your mother and don't like Aunt Zhao, but she's not a bad person. When your mother died, it was Aunt Zhao who searched day and night and found her whole body. How could she have killed your mother?"
“My daughter didn’t lie. She has witnesses and physical evidence!” Lu Qin said. “My daughter came to confront her because she was extremely angry… My daughter wanted her to confess on her own, but she became enraged and even tried to kill me to silence me…”
Master Lu paused, still somewhat skeptical.
He knew Lu Qin wouldn't lie to him, but he also didn't believe that the usually gentle and considerate Aunt Zhao could be a ruthless person.
Seeing her father hesitate, Lu Qin knew the time had come, and then winked at Ling'er.
"Since Father doesn't believe me, I'll have Ling'er bring witnesses so we can confront Aunt Zhao face to face!"
"..."
When Master Lu saw that she spoke with such certainty, his face began to darken.
He did indeed dote on Aunt Zhao, but no matter how much he doted on her, she could never compare to his childhood sweetheart and his legal wife in his heart.
His wife passed away young, and two years later, he still couldn't shake the guilt in his heart, regretting that he hadn't gone with her to the afterlife.
Now Lu Qin is telling him that there's more to the story.
He absolutely could not tolerate that his beloved concubine was the murderer of his first wife.
"I always thought she was kind and virtuous, but I never expected her to have this side to her," Master Lu said thoughtfully. "Ping'er, bring your mother here."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ping was extremely anxious, but she had no choice but to do it.
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