"Mom, you can come home as long as you admit your mistake, why bother!" Qin Huairu was speechless.
Regardless of whether Jia Zhangshi was pregnant or not, as long as she admitted that she shouldn't have hit someone, the officials could have let her go. But Jia Zhangshi was acting like she was having a fit and refused to admit her mistake.
"I did nothing wrong! That guy is a quack doctor. He's trying to ruin my reputation by accusing me of being pregnant!" Jia Zhangshi, who had spent the entire night in the yamen, was still very agitated: "Qin Huairu, you're no better!"
Jia Zhangshi strongly suspected that the old Chinese medicine doctor was in cahoots with Qin Huairu, and that their purpose was to sabotage her relationship with He Daqing.
Qin Huairu felt extremely wronged upon hearing this.
She kindly took Jia Zhangshi to see a doctor, but was instead splashed with dirty water.
"Since that's what you think, then stay in the yamen." Qin Huairu said, then turned to leave.
Seeing this, Jia Zhangshi became even more agitated. She suddenly stood up and started punching her stomach with her fists.
"I can't live like this anymore, I can't live like this anymore, my daughter-in-law is going to drive her to her death."
"Old Jia, you'd better bring Dongxu back to see me quickly! Qin Huairu, that vicious woman, is trying to kill me!"
The police officer standing nearby was startled by Jia Zhangshi and tried to pull her back, but found that the middle-aged woman was surprisingly strong.
"I'm not pregnant! It's the old Chinese medicine doctor and my daughter-in-law who are slandering me!"
In an attempt to prove her innocence, Jia Zhangshi desperately pounded her stomach.
"See this? This is meat, fat!"
It took a full half hour for Jia Zhangshi to finally calm down, panting heavily.
"Sign here and you can go home. If you can't write, just leave your fingerprint." The policeman handed a piece of paper to Jia Zhangshi.
She was released not because Jia Zhangshi was making a scene, but because the police believed that Jia Zhangshi did not have any bad children.
After all, such a violent blow to the lower abdomen would have caused problems for most pregnant women long ago.
But Jia Zhangshi was completely unharmed.
Clearly, Jia Zhangshi's bulging belly was all fat, so she was unharmed after being pounded so many times.
The police believe that it is highly likely that the traditional Chinese medicine doctor made a wrong diagnosis.
But upon closer reflection, the old Chinese medicine doctor didn't rule out any possibility yesterday; he only said there was an 80% chance.
"Hmph, it's only because I'm kind-hearted that I didn't make you pay me some money!"
Madam Jia grumbled and pressed her fingerprint on the document, then strode away from the yamen.
Although the matter here has been resolved, the courtyard is now incredibly lively.
It is said that good news does not travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. The news of Jia Zhangshi's pregnancy spread unintentionally from the back alley. After some promotion by several information spreaders at the alley entrance, the aunties of the courtyard at No. 95 also knew about the news.
"Have you heard? Qin Huairu took Jia Zhangshi to see a doctor in the back yesterday, and the doctor found out she was pregnant. Oh my, I feel so ashamed just hearing about it."
"Jia Zhangshi is pregnant? Really? She's not a hen, she can't lay eggs on her own?"
"Are you stupid? Jia Zhangshi must have had someone cheat on her!"
"No way, who would want her? Everyone within a ten-mile radius knows that Jia Zhangshi is ugly and has a bad temper."
"This came from the alley behind, from the old Chinese medicine doctor who treated Jia Dongxu, his neighbor said it himself."
"Goodness gracious, that news must be true!"
"No wonder Madam Jia didn't come back last night; she was taken away by the officials!"
The older women in the courtyard hadn't talked about such an exciting topic in a long time, and they all started chatting away, making the courtyard lively.
"Shh!! Madam Jia is back!"
Just as the older women were chatting enthusiastically, one of the three older women suddenly caught a glimpse of Jia Zhangshi's figure out of the corner of her eye.
For a moment, an eerie silence fell over the scene, and the women all turned to look at Jia Zhangshi.
Suddenly being stared at by so many eyes, Madam Jia couldn't help but frown.
"Why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?"
"Jia Zhangshi, why didn't you come back last night?"
Second Aunt spoke first, but her eyes were fixed on Jia Zhangshi's belly as she spoke.
It was indeed bulging, but it was hard to be sure if she was really pregnant, because Jia Zhangshi was already overweight and her belly had always been large.
"I......."
Jia Zhangshi instinctively wanted to say that she had been taken away by the yamen, but then she thought that she couldn't say that. After thinking for a moment, she made up a lie: "I went back to my hometown in the countryside yesterday!"
"Your old home in the countryside?" Auntie Er suppressed a laugh and continued, "You must have had dinner at home yesterday, why are you in such a hurry to go back to the countryside!"
"Hey, you're really meddling! I can go back to the countryside whenever I want!"
Madam Jia's face twitched, and then she went back to the backyard grumbling.
Seeing her guilty look, the older women in the courtyard became even more convinced that what they had just discussed was true.
Jia Zhangshi is definitely pregnant.
"You know, Jia Zhangshi didn't get pregnant earlier or later, but she got pregnant right after He Daqing came back. Could it be that the two of them were having an affair?" Auntie Er casually said.
But these words immediately garnered widespread approval.
"You know what, it's actually possible. Jia Zhangshi has been talking about He Daqing all the time lately. If you didn't know better, you'd think they'd already gotten their marriage certificate!"
"But He Daqing didn't say anything, and would He Daqing even look down on Jia Zhangshi?"
Whether it was Sha Zhu's deceased mother or the White Widow of Baozhou, both far surpassed Jia Zhangshi in appearance.
Moreover, Jia Zhangshi had such a terrible temper that He Daqing couldn't possibly be unaware of it.
"It's hard to say. The men in the He family are all a bit abnormal. Sha Zhu's grandfather only had Cai Quanwu because he married a widow. He Daqing went to Baozhou because of the widow Bai. What if He Daqing likes widows? Jia Zhangshi would be perfect for that." An old woman living in the front yard shared her analysis.
"That makes sense, there doesn't seem to be anyone else besides He Daqing."
The women quickly reached a consensus on this matter.
"He Daqing, come here for a moment!"
Just as the older women were chatting happily, He Daqing tidied up and prepared to leave, but was called over by the third older woman.
He Daqing felt a subconscious resistance because he felt that the women were looking at him strangely.
He couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong, but Sha Zhu had warned him not to get too close to those people, so He Daqing didn't want to associate with them.
"Hey, come here, we have some good news for you." The third aunt waved again.
Seeing this, He Daqing walked over, but before he could ask anything, an older woman spoke up first: "Judging from your appearance, you probably don't know, do you?"
"Know what?" He Daqing looked completely bewildered.
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