Inducing childbirth
However, the team that was sent out later was the first to return.
Because Yue Mingzhang requested that extra attention be paid to places where people could hide, the head of the guards led his men to search the woodshed, secret rooms, and other places first, and finally found Chun Chan's body in the well in the backyard of the Liu residence.
The body was submerged in cold water, making it difficult to determine the exact time of death; the only possible conclusion was that it occurred approximately yesterday.
At first, Master Liu denied that he had been to the backyard the day before. However, after being recognized by a servant who happened to pass by, he changed his story and insisted that he had invited Chun Chan to the backyard to discuss the matter of redeeming her from her servitude.
It wasn't until Yue Mingzhang pointed out the inconsistencies in his statements and the scattered threads found by the guards near the well that matched the tear in his clothes that presented the evidence that Liu Yuanwai had both witnesses and physical evidence that led him to confess his crimes.
The amount of information received was somewhat overwhelming, and Lin Yi needed to process it. "So, it was Master Liu who found out that Madam Liu was having an affair behind his back, plotted to murder her and her unborn child, and then, fearing exposure, killed her personal maid to silence her?"
"That's how it is according to the confession."
"But... if you're going to silence her, why not do it sooner? Why wait until the day before the trial? Aren't you afraid she might say something during that time?" Lin Yi asked, puzzled.
"..." Xie Chengnan couldn't answer this question, and he also vaguely felt that something was amiss.
According to Liu Yuanwai's confession, in order to avoid suspicion, he deliberately went to Renjitang, a pharmacy located in the suburbs, under the guise of helping his third wife with her pregnancy, to inquire about incompatible tonics that should not be taken with the medicinal herbs he had purchased from Xinglin Medical Clinic. Afterward, he sent Chunchan, the third wife's most trusted servant, to purchase the tonics. Finally, the Liu family kitchen prepared them, and Chunchan served them to the third wife.
Chun Chan has been killed and no evidence can be obtained, but the cook at the Liu residence confirmed this, as he did indeed cook hawthorn and barley water and salvia miltiorrhiza and black chicken soup several times.
Hawthorn, Job's tears, and salvia miltiorrhiza are all blood-activating substances. Consuming them with medications to prevent miscarriage can increase uterine contractions, potentially leading to miscarriage. However, the chances of this happening are extremely small.
This operation, at first glance, seems well-thought-out, but upon closer inspection, it is full of loopholes.
Moreover, one sentence in the confession caught Lin Yi's attention—Master Liu did not admit to having murderous intentions towards the Third Madam.
...
Seeing that the two of them had fallen silent, and no one had touched the delicious dishes on the table to welcome them, Xueya broke the silence by serving two bowls of soup.
She pushed the bowl full of snow-white fish meat to Lin Yi's side, "Miss, you've just gotten back, why are you thinking about these things? You have no idea how worried I've been these past few days."
"You're just anxious, but you haven't thought of me at all?" Lin Yi couldn't help but tease the little girl who was so devoted to her.
"Of course I want to, I'm both eager and eager."
Lin Yi smiled and touched the back of her hand. "You're right. Let's not think about those things. Let's eat."
In retrospect, Xinglin Medical Clinic was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire. Faced with this undeserved disaster, Lin Yi gave the clinic a holiday, and everyone was allowed to rest for seven days before resuming work.
After bidding farewell to Lin Yi, Wang Chunsheng and Erhei returned to Xinglin Garden. Before leaving, Lin Yi handed Erhei several doses of medicinal herbs.
"What is this?" Erhei asked, puzzled.
Lin Yi glanced at Wang Chunsheng, who was walking ahead, and lowered his voice, saying, "It can alleviate your master's snoring symptoms."
Wang Chunsheng's snoring was too loud. Lin Yi had only spent a short time with him when they were first imprisoned in the government office, and he couldn't stand the noise. He didn't know how Erhei had managed to endure it all these years.
Erhei clutched the packets of medicinal herbs tightly to his chest. "Thank you," he said, then trotted off to catch up with his master.
"What are you holding in your hand?" Wang Chunsheng asked.
"This is from Miss Qiu, to help you recover."
"Oh, not bad, not bad. Cook it for me when you get back."
"..."
Lin Yi felt even better as he watched the master and apprentice walk away.
The reason she didn't give it directly to Wang Chunsheng was naturally because—even a miracle doctor has face.
Otherwise, why wouldn't he have been cured after so many years, despite his medical skills? Erhei, out of consideration for his feelings, wouldn't reveal the truth, so Wang Chunsheng naturally didn't know he had this symptom.
Wang Chunsheng took Erhei back to Xinglin Garden, and the rest of the medical staff also returned to their homes. Lin Yi and Xie Chengnan also set off to return to the Qiu family mansion. After this ordeal, it was only right and proper for her to go back and report her safety to Qiu's parents. Xueya and Cang Xie also accompanied them.
Qiu's mother had also learned of her daughter's return home early on, and personally cooked a meal for her daughter.
At the family dinner, the mother and daughter shared a deep bond.
"I told you this morning, our Ah Ye is so intelligent, how could his clinic possibly kill someone by mistake?" Madam Qiu said with a smile. The dishes she had piled up in Lin Yi's bowl had already reached the top of a pyramid. Seeing that there was no more room, she turned her chopsticks and put the glistening pork knuckle into Xie Chengnan's bowl.
"This time, we have to thank our son-in-law. If it weren't for you running around and mediating, A-Ye wouldn't have been able to come back so quickly."
"You're being too kind. This is my duty." Madam Qiu was picking up food too quickly, and Xie Chengnan saw that the food in his bowl was getting higher and higher. He wanted to reach out and protect it, but then he thought that covering the bowl in public would be disrespectful to Madam Qiu, so he gave up and accepted it calmly.
Madam Qiu smiled and said, "I know you two have a good relationship."
"When are you two planning to have a child?"
"Cough cough cough...!" For the first time in his life, Xie Chengnan was forced to give birth and couldn't help but choke on a few grains of rice.
Lin Yi blushed and called out, "Mother—"
"What's there to be shy about? When I was your age, you were already running around."
"Ahem." Qiu Baiji coughed twice to stop talking. Seeing his wife's displeased look, he continued, "Your mother is right. You're twenty now. Now that you're married, have a child and settle down."
"us--"
“There’s no rush,” Xie Chengnan said first. “Qingye’s clinic is just starting out. Besides, I will inherit the title when I turn eighteen, according to the laws of Da’an. We can talk about it after that.”
“That’s right, do as you please,” Qiu Baiji said.
Lin Yi avoided Xie Chengnan's gaze, but in the blink of an eye, she inadvertently met Aunt Xue's eyes.
Just as Lin Yi was about to force a smile, she saw Aunt Xue quickly avert her eyes. Although she looked away quickly, Lin Yi still caught the other woman's unease and fear.
Lin Yi immediately made a decision.
The meal lasted longer than usual as they ate and chatted, but no one urged them to hurry.
Lin Yi had already eaten half full, and it was not advisable to eat too much at night, so he stopped eating, rolled up his sleeves, and began peeling shrimp for Qiu's father and mother.
The boiled live shrimp were very fresh. Since they had been deveined and their backs opened before cooking, they were easy to peel, and I soon had a whole plate full of them.
After distributing a few shrimp to Qiu's father and mother, she didn't pause, and then very naturally picked up one for each of Qiu Yulin and Aunt Xue.
"Yu Lin is growing, he should eat more." After saying that, Lin Yi placed the remaining peeled shrimp along with the plate in front of Qiu Yu Lin.
Qiu Yulin stared blankly at the plate of plump, glistening shrimp meat in front of him, "...Thank you, elder sister."
"Thank you, Miss," Aunt Xue said hastily, flattered.
Lin Yi remained calm and composed, showing no embarrassment at being thanked.
But when she turned her head, she saw Xie Chengnan's slightly resentful gaze.
?
Xie Chengnan: "..."
Lin Yi belatedly realized that in her thoughtfulness and attentiveness just now, she seemed to have overlooked one person.
Upon realizing this, Lin Yi's first reaction wasn't whether Xie Chengnan would be angry, but rather that Qiu's mother had just said that he and his wife had a good relationship, and forgetting this now felt like a slap in the face.
So, she tried to salvage the situation by saying, "Chengnan doesn't like shrimp, so you guys can eat it."
"Who said that? Well, I really don't like it."
Just as Xie Chengnan was about to blurt out, "Who says I don't like to eat this?", Lin Yi pinched his thigh with such force that he almost lost his composure.
Xie Chengnan had no choice but to change his tune with a sinister smile.
After looking at it several times, no one questioned the truth of the statement. Only Qiu's mother silently noted that her son-in-law did not like to eat shrimp, and subsequently removed the dish from every family banquet in which Xie Chengnan participated.
That's a story for another time.
Qiu Baiji, who was over fifty years old, finally got to eat shrimp peeled by his daughter for the first time. He was in a great mood, and his tone softened unconsciously: "Did those annotations I wrote last time come in handy?"
Actually, before those notes about conflicting medicinal properties could even take effect, Master Liu confessed, and Lin Yi was immediately released. But she still said, "Thanks to my father's handwritten notes, they were a great help, but there are still a few parts I don't quite understand."
"Where?" Hearing her earnestness and eagerness to learn, Qiu Baiji also became interested.
"The prescription I gave to the Liu family included Chuanxiong and Huangqi, and the meal that Master Liu sent to his third wife included a Danshen chicken soup. Huangqi and Danshen together have the effect of invigorating qi and promoting blood circulation. However, in the list of incompatible herbs you mentioned, it only mentioned that it could cause unstable fetal movement. Yet, Madam Liu's third wife still died. I am not questioning your medical skills, but if you want to cause someone's death, are there any more stringent conditions required?"
The two people from different generations became more engrossed in discussing the properties of medicine than ever before, and before they knew it, their conversation had moved from the dining room to the study. Qiu Baiji hadn't enlightened anyone in a long time, let alone his beloved daughter, so he spoke at length on and on.
By the time Lin Yi came out of the study, the bright moon was already high in the sky.
As Lin Yi gazed at the bright, distant crescent moon, he suddenly remembered that they hadn't agreed on their return journey before going back to the Qiu residence.
Perhaps Xie Chengnan only intended to have dinner with him before returning to the Xie residence. He was eager to learn, and his father was unusually in a bad mood, so he forgot to tell him and wondered if Xie Chengnan was still at the residence.
"Miss, you've finally come out." Xueya draped a gauze cloak over her shoulders.
"Xueya, what are you doing here?"
"My son-in-law said it was windy at night, so he told me to take some clothes and wait for you."
Lin Yi paused briefly in front of her neck, her hand holding the ribbon in a knot, and then deftly tied a bow with her interlaced fingers.
"He's gone?"
"Guard Cang has returned. The young master is waiting for you at the villa. Madam said it's too late today and the night road is not safe, so you and the young master can leave tomorrow."
Qiu Qing also usually lived in Qinggui Villa.
Marrying off a daughter is different from marrying off a wife. There is no custom of preparing a wedding room in the mansion. Therefore, Qiu Qingye still only had her boudoir before marriage.
Outsiders, unaware of the details, assumed that Xie Chengnan was staying overnight and would naturally be staying with her, and that no other room would be prepared.
Lin Yi was surprised that Xie Chengnan hadn't returned with Cang Xie; perhaps he was afraid the Qiu family would become suspicious. But could he really leave Xie Chengfeng alone in the Xie residence...?
Before pushing the door open, she was a little nervous. She made a knocking gesture with her right hand, hesitated for a moment, then gave up and pushed the door open directly.
If you knock before entering your own room, wouldn't it make you even more suspicious if someone saw you?
Xie Chengnan had already retired for the night. He was half-lying on the inside of Qiu Qingye's bed, wearing only a snow-white undergarment, and sitting by the headboard watching her.
Lin Yi felt a chill run down her spine from his gaze, but she still pretended to be calm and sat down next to him.
After removing her cloak and hairpins, she lay down without changing her clothes, stiff and unsure of what to do with her hands and feet.
She closed her eyes and gradually felt another person's presence getting closer and closer...
Lin Yi still didn't open her eyes until Xie Chengnan chuckled softly, his voice brushing against her face: "You said, since we're already married, how about we officially establish this status?"
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