Chapter 168: The Pig Hiding in the Water (Two Chapters in One)
We are having noodles with soybean paste tonight, which Zhao Shiqing has recently started to like.
When she first arrived in Beijing, she ate noodles with soybean paste in a restaurant.
Three words: No! Good! Eat!
Therefore, from then on, no matter how much Loach boasted, she never ate Zhajiangmian.
But that day, she had the fried noodles made by Sister Ping at Su Ji Tea House and she couldn't forget it anymore.
No wonder Niqiu always says that fried noodles with soybean paste are delicious. The ones made by Sister Ping are really delicious.
The fried sauce uses dry yellow bean paste, sweet bean paste and broad bean paste. In addition to diced meat, there are also diced mushrooms, dried tofu, garlic shoots and peanuts. The noodles are not only chewy but also very refreshing. They are served with shredded cucumber, mung bean sprouts, coriander, bok choy, bean sprouts, eggplant shreds and radish shreds. Zhao Shiqing almost cried after taking the first bite. It’s delicious, so delicious!
Sister Ping also told her that fried noodles with soybean paste should be made at home, as they are not as good as those sold in restaurants.
The current chef at home is best at cooking the flavors of Wu. Seeing Zhao Shiqing talking about fried noodles with soybean paste, Zhen Wuduo hired a maid. She was not a professional cook, but she was very skillful and could cook home-cooked dishes well.
The old lady's surname is Ji, and she lives nearby. She is a native of Beijing. In addition to the small courtyard where she lives, Aunt Ji also has a large courtyard in Shihui Hutong where she collects rent.
Aunt Ji's husband died a few years ago, her daughter is married, and her son is fifteen years old. He usually lives in the academy and can only come back twice a month.
Aunt Ji was well-off and had no shortage of money, but she was bored, so she raised a dog and made it Ah Huang's little brother. She ran to the Zhen family here all day long. When Aunt Ji came to look for the dog, she was fooled by Zhen Wuduo and came to work as a servant.
One tael of silver a month plus two meals a day. Aunt Ji would be alone when she went back, so she just ate here.
Today's fried noodles with soybean paste are what Aunt Ji is best at. When Zhao Shiqing tasted it, she was like, "Oh my god, it's as good as Sister Aping's."
After dinner, Aunt Ji was not in a hurry to go home. She sat in the yard and started gossiping.
"Have you heard? Another concubine in the Baoqing Marquis's mansion has had a miscarriage. Oh my, the baby is fully formed, with arms and legs growing out. It's a boy."
When Aunt Ji said this, she suddenly remembered that Zhao Shiqing, Xiuxiu, and Lingbo were all little girls. She quickly slapped herself on the mouth. She had to be careful with her stinky mouth in the future.
"...It's a boy, a boy!"
Zhao Shiqing's heart moved. Has it taken shape?
That definitely wasn't the sister's. One of the sisters had a miscarriage a long time ago, and the other was taken to the farm by Old Madam Wei, and it was only three or four months old.
She immediately thought of another pregnant person, Sun Lingzhi!
Did Sun Lingzhi have a miscarriage?
Ever since Xiao Zhen told her that in her dream, Zhao Yunnuan died due to the conspiracy of the women in the backyard of the marquis's mansion, she thought of Sun Lingzhi.
Last time, Zhao Yunnuan judged from Xiaoguai and Sister Aping that Rourou's miscarriage was Sun Lingzhi's plan. Since then, she asked Sister Aping for help to inquire about Sun Lingzhi. Sister Aping soon found out that before Rourou, another concubine Lan also had a miscarriage, and Sun Lingzhi was also the one who was closest to Concubine Lan.
Neither Madam Wei nor Lady Ma, the Marquis' wife, would do it themselves, so the ones who did it could only be the concubines. Considering what happened to Rourou and Aunt Lan, Zhao Shiqing deeply suspected that in the life in her dream, Sun Lingzhi was very likely involved in her sister's tragedy.
Regardless of whether this is his own guess or true, and regardless of whether Sun Lingzhi will harm his sister in this life, Zhao Shiqing must take precautions in advance.
This was what she learned from Xiao Zhen. Xiao Zhen killed Zhong Ziyang cleanly and neatly, so she wanted to do the same.
Hearing Aunt Ji talking about the Marquis Baoqing's Mansion, Zhao Shiqing hurriedly asked: "Aunt Ji, you are really amazing. You even know about the Marquis Baoqing's Mansion."
Aunt Ji smiled and said, "It's not me who's amazing, it's Aunt Wu who runs the pork stall. Aunt Wu runs the pork stall because her family is a butcher. Every morning when the city gate opens, her nephew brings the slaughtered pigs to her.
However, the meat her parents sent her was just a side job. They came to the city mainly to deliver meat to the Mansion of Marquis Baoqing and the Mansion of Earl Yan'an. The meat these two families ate was all sent by her parents.
So, the things going on in these two houses cannot be hidden from her family."
The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously. Two days later, when the fifth aunt's nephew Dabao went to the Baoqing Marquis's mansion to deliver pork again, there were two little brothers with him. Dabao said that these were new employees in his family and they were still on probation. If they passed the probation, they would stay, otherwise they would be sent away.
The two little brothers are one white and one black, but both are very smart.
There were four pigs on Dabao's cart, all covered with wet cloths and covered with ice. The kitchen staff at Baoqing Marquis's mansion were already used to seeing this and said with a smile, "The Yan'an Earl's mansion has requested quite a few today, including four pigs."
Dabao was a little embarrassed: "The other two are for my aunt, my aunt's business has been good recently."
The people in the kitchen remembered that Dabao had an aunt who set up a stall in the vegetable market to sell pork.
Dabao took out an oil-paper bag from the car and stuffed it into the man's hand: "Uncle, take this with your wine."
The man pinched the oil paper package and found that they were a few pig tails.
He really liked it.
"Thanks, let's go, the ice will melt if we delay any longer."
......
The butcher's mule cart left the Baoqing Marquis' Mansion and went to the Yan'an Earl's Mansion. It circled the city and finally stopped in front of the Ruyi Boat. The remaining two pieces of pork, along with the meat and cloth, were carried in by the two younger brothers.
Dabao was about to drive away when he suddenly noticed something shining where he had just put the pork. He looked closely and found that it was a gold ingot.
Dabao took a look at the two people walking away, quickly stuffed the gold ingot into his arms, and got on the mule cart and left.
In the kitchen of Ruyi Fang, Xiao Zhen looked at the woman trapped between two pieces of pork and gave Zhao Shiqing a thumbs-up: "Second Miss is a master."
Zhao Shiqing was very proud. He picked up a bucket of cold water and poured it on the woman. The woman slowly opened her eyes, looked around, and then looked at the two people standing in front of her. Her face was pale. "What kind of place is this? Who are you?"
She was lying on the bed, fell asleep in a daze, and woke up here.
Zhao Shiqing looked at her and said, "Sun Lingzhi, how did you lose your child?"
Zhao Shiqing had found out everything before taking action. Everyone in the mansion said that the child in Sun Lingzhi's belly was killed by Madam Ma, the Marquis. They also said that Sun Lingzhi was pushed to the ground by Madam Ma, which was why the child was lost.
Upon learning that Sun Lingzhi had given birth to a boy, Lord Zhu was furious and wrote a letter of divorce to Madam Ma that same day.
Ma was a noble marquis' wife, a lady of a higher rank, so she couldn't just divorce him.
Therefore, this divorce letter was just written but not valid.
However, Ma was completely abandoned by Marquis Zhu. She is no longer in the Marquis's mansion, but has been sent to a farm. Even Ma's family did not support her.
There is no mistress in the Marquis' Mansion for the time being, and the other families are arguing about separation. The second wife, the third wife and the fifth wife are all pretending to be deaf and dumb, and they don't care about anything except what happens in their own yard.
Marquis Zhu had a new love outside a long time ago. He used to be looked after by Old Madam Wei, but now that Old Madam Wei went to the farm to recuperate, Marquis Zhu simply decided not to come back.
Therefore, now that the Marquis' Mansion was in chaos, Zhao Shiqing was able to take advantage of the situation and steal Sun Lingzhi out without much effort.
Although everyone said that Sun Lingzhi's child was killed by Ma, Zhao Shiqing didn't think so.
What the Baoqing Marquisate lacks most now is children. No matter whether it is the posthumous child of Marquis Zhu or Zhu Yu, as long as it is the offspring of this father and son, it is a treasure.
Mrs. Ma is said to have been disfigured. She wants her concubine to give birth to a child more than anyone else. The concubine's child is hers. As long as the child is registered under her name, it is her child.
No matter whether the child in Sun Lingzhi's belly is Marquis Zhu's or Zhu Yu's, as long as she is Marquis Zhu's concubine, the child must call Madam Ma his legal mother.
Why did Mrs. Ma abort the child?
Wouldn’t it be better to kill the mother and keep the child?
Therefore, the child in Sun Lingzhi's belly was definitely not aborted by Mrs. Ma.
Sun Lingzhi never expected that the person in front of her tied her up just to ask this.
She wasn't panicked at all, just smiled faintly, "It was the Marquis' wife. She's been jealous for a long time. When she found out I was pregnant, she tampered with my food and aborted a perfectly formed baby boy."
Zhao Shiqing looked at her and remembered what Xiao Zhen had said, that her sister died at the hands of a woman in the harem.
At that time, my sister was the Crown Prince's wife. With her alertness, she would definitely be wary of Madam Wei and Madam Ma, but what about Sun Lingzhi?
A humble concubine who is so delicate, weak and fragile, and moreover, the concubine of her own father-in-law, would her sister still be on guard against her?
Zhao Shiqing put herself in their shoes and realized that she would definitely not do that.
Although there was no evidence, Zhao Shiqing became more and more certain that her sister's death in the dream must be related to Sun Lingzhi.
"No, Madam Ma didn't do anything to you at all. It was you who didn't want the child anymore, so you aborted the child and put the blame on Madam Ma.
Let me think, why don't you want that child anymore?
Something went wrong with the baby and it died in your belly, right?"
Stillborn!
Although Zhao Shiqing was still a little girl, she had heard of such things.
An aunt in Baihe Village lost her fetus in her womb. The doctor said at the time that the baby could not be saved and was already dead.
The doctor prescribed medicine and asked my aunt to have an abortion, but she didn't believe it was a stillbirth. She wanted to have a son, and the pregnancy signs of this baby showed that it was a son.
She tried her best to give birth to her son and refused to have an abortion.
In the end, this aunt failed to give birth to a son and she herself survived a near-death experience. Although she survived, she could no longer give birth.
Zhao Shiqing was still a child when this happened, but she remembered it vividly. Her aunt's mother-in-law came to her in the middle of the night to ask for some ginseng slices to save her aunt's life.
The master took out a thirty-year-old ginseng, and the old woman kowtowed to them while crying.
Zhao Shiqing had a deep memory, so she naturally thought of the four words "stillborn".
Sun Lingzhi's face changed drastically. She never expected that the person in front of her would know this secret.
Zhao Shiqing guessed correctly that Sun Lingzhi's child was dead. She was unwilling to accept this, but she had to have an abortion.
Before she went to see Ma, she had already taken an abortion drug. She deliberately provoked Ma, and Ma raised her hand to hit her, and she took the opportunity to fall to the ground...
Her pregnancy went very quickly and there was no time to call a doctor. When Ma saw the fully formed male fetus, she was completely stunned. She couldn't say a word and her whole body was shaking.
And after that, no one was willing to listen to what she said. She was jealous, a vicious woman, and she deserved to die.
Thinking of all that she had done, a glimmer of satisfaction flashed in Sun Lingzhi's eyes.
She harmed Aunt Lan, Rourou, and now she has harmed Madam Ma. It was fortunate that Rourou ran away quickly, otherwise she would have suffered the same fate as Rourou.
Zhao Shiqing looked at her smug expression and suddenly asked, "If Zhu Yu hadn't died, and he was still the Crown Prince, and he married a lady of noble status who had no support in the capital, and you had another master above you, would you have framed her like this?"
Sun Lingzhi had actually thought about this problem a long time ago. She had thought about it countless times before Zhu Yu became a eunuch.
Zhu Yu would sooner or later marry another noble lady, but in the eyes of the future prince's wife, she was not even a vixen. She might even try every means to make Zhu Yu dislike her and then let Madam Ma sell her.
The more she thought about it, the more scared she became, so she had already thought of a plan to deal with it.
But later Zhu Yu was castrated, but Sun Lingzhi's plan was not wasted. She used her plan on Aunt Lan.
It's a pity that such a good plan could not be used on the prince's wife of noble birth, but was given to the bitch Aunt Lan. What a pity!
Sun Lingzhi smiled coldly: "That's right, I won't let her live well, I want to watch her die. Unfortunately, there won't be a prince's wife in Baoqing Marquis' Mansion for more than ten years, and Lord Zhu will never let a son from another branch become the prince.
I understand. You brought me here because of that bitch Aunt Lan, right? What is your relationship with her?"
After Aunt Lan had the miscarriage, her health never recovered and she died not long after.
After Aunt Lan died, Marquis Zhu did not feel too much reluctance to part with his former beloved daughter and did not even come back to see her for the last time. It was Sun Lingzhi who took care of Aunt Lan's funeral.
How ridiculous! If Aunt Lan knew that the person who arranged her funeral was the one who killed her, she would probably throw the lid of her coffin over her head.
Zhao Shiqing realized she had misunderstood, so she simply said, "Killing someone means paying with your life. Aunt Lan died because of you, so shouldn't you pay with your life for hers?"
Sun Lingzhi giggled: "I was just talking, hahaha, don't pretend to be a good person in front of me. The one surnamed Lan was sold by her own mother. She has no relatives or friends. Even if she died, no one would stand up for her.
You brought me here, not to avenge her, nor for money. I'm just a concubine, and the Zhu family won't pay me a ransom. Tell me, what do you want me to do? I'll cooperate. As long as you release me, I'll agree to any conditions.
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