Chapter 43
"Second Young Master, the Young Madam has been experiencing severe abdominal pain since returning from the Wei Residence... The doctor examined her and said it was caused by the bumpy ride and shock..."
Li Lin'an returned home from the Hanlin Academy. Before he had time to change his clothes, he heard this news that made him feel bad from the servant.
"Is it serious?"
The servant replied, "The doctor said that the lady fell down the stone steps a few days ago and has damaged the foundation of her fetus. If she doesn't take good care of herself, I'm afraid..."
Li Lin'an pursed his lips, said nothing more, and walked straight to the inner courtyard.
Wei was leaning on an embroidered pillow, having just finished a bowl of pregnancy-maintaining medicine. With a dazed look in her eyes, she let the maid wipe the medicine stains from the corner of her lips.
"Second Young Madam, the Second Master has returned home." A maid lifted the curtain and came in to report.
Wei, who was lost in thought, froze when she heard this, and her fingertips unconsciously clenched the quilt.
Looking up, she saw the figure in official uniform approaching. She forced herself to calm her nerves and gaze towards the newcomer.
The man approached slowly, his figure tall and straight, his face as handsome as a jade, his every move revealing the refined demeanor of a scholar. He had already joined the Imperial Academy at such a young age. In terms of family background, character, appearance, talent, and future prospects, he was undoubtedly a top choice.
Being able to marry such a husband was once her proudest thing.
But now...
The person in front of her clearly hadn't changed, yet it seemed as if every aspect of him had changed into a different person, making her feel inexplicably frightened and unfamiliar.
"The Second Master is back." Wei forced a smile on her pale face.
"Does it still hurt?" Li Linan sat down on the edge of the bed and held one of her hands.
His palm was icy cold, and Wei felt as if she was being entangled by a poisonous snake, and she couldn't help but shiver.
"I feel better after taking the medicine." She replied, resisting the urge to pull her hand back.
"That's good."
He changed the subject and asked gently, "Come to think of it, why did you suddenly think of going back to the Wei family today?"
Wei forced a smile and said, "I missed my mother a little, so I went back to see her."
"Really?" An unreadable look flashed across Li Lin'an's eyes, but his tone remained gentle. "But didn't I tell you yesterday to stay home and take good care of yourself? When did you become so careless?"
Wei's body stiffened, and she met his gradually colder gaze and whispered, "Yes...I was negligent."
Li Linan looked at her uneasy eyes and suddenly asked with interest, "Yu'er, you seem to be very afraid of me now. Why is that?"
"How could that be..." Wei said hurriedly, then her eyes dimmed, "I'm just worried about the baby in my belly getting hurt."
In the past, such words would surely be exchanged for the husband's warm words of comfort.
She was thinking this subconsciously at this moment.
But Li Lin'an's eyes grew colder, and he said in a deep voice, "I don't want to hear such words from you again. This child can't have any mishaps. Do you understand?"
Although his father had treated him as usual recently, he must have been dissatisfied in his heart.
Her father also attached great importance to the fetus in her womb.
When this child is born, he will be the eldest grandson of the Li family. Wei's breath hitched, and she nodded in shock.
Li Linan glanced at her one last time and said, "Take good care of yourself. I'm going to the study to take care of some official business."
When Wei heard the word "study", her heart tightened.
Even if she had put the items back in their original places, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't notice something from her strange behavior.
It was normal for Li Linan to go to the study every day, but everything she encountered today had shocked her mind. She was so nervous that she could not relax for a moment.
Li Lin'an walked out of the inner room and instructed the head nanny, "Madam is not feeling well and is very active. Please keep a close eye on her. Unless it's important, don't let her move around."
Mammy nodded in agreement.
The maid standing beside her changed her expression when she heard this. Is the Second Master going to stop the Young Mistress from walking?
After Li Linan entered the study, the maid came to the inner room and reported to Wei everything he had just instructed the nanny.
After hearing this, Wei's pupils suddenly shrank.
My husband wants to... put her under house arrest?
Or do you no longer believe in her?
Or... already disgusted with it?
However, what frightened her more than anything else was something else.
"It's a bit stuffy, open the window quickly." Wei was having difficulty breathing.
The maid quickly opened the window.
Wei looked through the window at the study room which was already lit.
Inside the closed door, the light illuminated a tall figure standing quietly in front of the bookshelf.
She held her breath, her terrified eyes fixed on the motionless figure.
The figure stood in front of the bookshelf for a long time, so long that... it seemed as if it had noticed something...
Will he treat me the same way he treated Zhao Wuyou?
A huge fear engulfed her. Everything before her seemed ready to fall apart at any moment, and the dark shadow in the study was like an invisible giant hand, ready to drag her into an abyss of no return.
After standing there for an unknown amount of time, the figure finally left the bookshelf and slowly sat down behind the desk.
Wei shuddered inexplicably. Although it was just a silhouette, she could clearly feel her husband's gaze penetrating the door and windows, staring straight at her.
"Quick, close the window!"
Her voice trembled and she quickly lay down.
The maid quickly closed the window, walked to the bedside, tucked in the corners of the quilt for her, and asked worriedly, "Is the young lady okay?"
If she had known this, she shouldn't have told the young mistress about the puppet. Although the young mistress said it was nothing, she was still frightened.
Although she was also afraid, she forgot about it as soon as she turned around.
But the Second Young Madam looked like she was clearly terrified.
But where did Second Mistress get that puppet? Why did even Second Master deliberately conceal it?
The maid was puzzled, but did not dare to ask any more questions.
Seeing that Wei was still silent, the maid could only gently comfort her: "The doctor said that you need to rest. You should go to sleep. I will stay here to watch over you."
Wei slowly relaxed her tightly pursed lips and teeth, and finally forced herself to close her eyes.
It's time to rest.
The flesh and blood in the belly must be protected at all costs.
However, all the strange phenomena in recent days have been like a heavy burden pressing down on her, making it hard for her to breathe.
Maybe... all this is just a nightmare?
When she woke up, her husband was still the gentle and considerate lover, and she was still the second young lady of the Li family who was envied by everyone and had everything going smoothly.
Yes, that must be the case.
Wei repeated these words in her mind, but even in her dreams she could not find peace.
In the dream, a female ghost with disheveled hair suddenly appeared in the dream, wailing miserably and threatening to be reborn as her child to avenge the blood feud in the previous life.
"No...it has nothing to do with me, it has nothing to do with me!"
She suddenly opened her eyes wide and woke up from her dream with a scream, her chest heaving violently and gasping for breath.
The candles in the room had gone out, leaving only a few faint lights in the corridor, barely reflecting some outlines.
She stared at the bed curtain in shock, and suddenly turned to the side as if possessed by a ghost.
Suddenly, she met a pair of eyes hidden in the darkness, and she didn't know how long they had been staring at her.
"ah……!"
She screamed, propped herself up, and huddled in the corner of the bed.
“Don’t… don’t kill me…”
Li Linan sat up slowly and looked at her with interest.
"Yu'er, what's going on?"
Her husband's voice brought her back to reality, but the fear in her heart did not diminish at all.
He has been guarding here all this time?
How long did you watch it?
How will she be dealt with?
The coldness in that gaze made her hair stand on end, and she almost screamed just thinking about it.
She was no longer able to conceal her physical discomfort and mental collapse. She could only hug her knees tightly, not daring to look at her husband in the dark.
A barely perceptible trace of disgust flashed across Li Lin'an's eyes.
It turns out that she is a spoiled daughter, but she is so useless.
Except for the pair of eyes that looked like hers, everything else was not as good as that person.
Such a vulnerable character is really unpleasant.
If she hadn't been carrying his child...
Li Linan suppressed his impatience and reached out to touch Wei's forehead.
Wen Yan said, "I think you had a nightmare. I just heard you mumbling non-stop. I was worried about you, so I stayed with you. You have a fever now, so let's ask the doctor to take a look."
Wei remained silent and didn't dare to respond at all.
The maid outside heard the sound and came in with a lamp.
On the dark roof, Captain Wang frowned as he looked at the brightly lit courtyard.
The young lady of the Li family was having nightmares and screaming. Could it be that she was scared to death?
He would have to report to the prince later.
He looked around and saw that the lights in the mansion were gradually lighting up, which made his task much easier.
…
At noon the next day, Wang was leaning on Xiang Fei's couch, with her eyes closed, while her maid massaged her temples.
Even so, the worry between her brows still did not ease.
She was already uneasy about her youngest son's affairs, and even then, her usually polite daughter-in-law was no less worrying. Coming from a humble family, she was not presentable after all, and knowing that her body could not withstand the rough ride, she returned to her parents' home without a word.
This time she had a miscarriage and then had a sudden high fever at night. When I went to see her this morning, I heard her talking nonsense, talking about "ghosts" and "souls", as if she was possessed by an evil spirit.
After the doctor examined her, he said that it was inconvenient to use strong medicine while she was pregnant, and that she could only use a cold towel to hold on. However, if the fever continued like this, it would eventually harm the fetus.
In the past, I could have gone to the palace to summon an imperial physician. Unfortunately, my youngest son's case hadn't been resolved yet. Not only would I have summoned an imperial physician, but even entering the palace would have been displeasing to His Majesty...
Not to mention that if news came out that his daughter-in-law was unwell at this time, it would probably only cause more gossip for his son.
As a mother, how can you allow others to make unwarranted assumptions about your beloved son?
First, he was framed for no reason, and now his offspring are encountering frequent misfortunes.
Her son has suffered too many unexpected disasters recently.
After the storm subsides, I must invite a Taoist master to exorcise evil spirits and ward off disasters for my son.
Just as Wang was thinking about this, she suddenly saw a maid enter and whispered, "Madam, a wandering Taoist has come in through the back door."
"Taoist?"
Wang frowned slightly.
It is raining heavily outside the window at this moment.
The maid hesitated and continued, "The Taoist said that from afar, he saw an evil spirit lingering in the mansion, and it's bound to rise again. If we don't exorcise it now, I'm afraid there will be endless troubles."
Wang frowned, then sneered, "There will be endless trouble. Everyone in the capital knows about this incident at my house. I guess he saw an opportunity and came here to cheat me."
She is not the kind of ignorant woman who panics and tries all kinds of treatment when encountering problems.
"Is it worth reporting to such a quack? Just send him away! I think you are confused!" Wang glared at the maid who had always been useful to her with displeasure.
"Madam, please allow me to report," the maidservant, who was always willing to speak her mind, lowered her voice even further, "That Taoist is indeed quite mysterious. He immediately identified the source of the evil spirit, pointing in the direction of the Second Master's courtyard. He also calculated that someone in the mansion has evil spirits in their body, with a high fever that won't subside. If the evil spirit isn't exorcised soon... within three days, I'm afraid there will be one corpse and two lives..."
If the Taoist hadn't said it so seriously, she wouldn't have dared to say anything.
Wang's expression changed when she heard this.
Evil spirits entering the body? High fever persists?
One corpse, two lives?
Isn’t this talking about the Wei family?
But after Wei fell ill, she was treated by doctors in the mansion, and she deliberately kept the news secret, making it impossible for it to be leaked.
What's more, the maids and servants around Wei were all under surveillance and were not allowed to leave the house.
Where did this Taoist know this?
"Did the Taoist priest say anything else?" Wang asked.
"He also said... that evil creature was extremely vicious and fed on the blood of livestock to nourish its evil spirit..." The maid tried hard to recall, but her words were not complete.
Wang was unable to make a decision after hearing these incoherent words.
Whether Wei lived or died was her own fault, but the fetus in her womb was ultimately innocent. Her eldest son had only two daughters, and she had been eagerly awaiting the birth of her second son.
When it comes to the existence of ghosts and gods, people have always preferred to believe in them.
Moreover, she only believed in those who were truly capable. Wang was pondering this when she heard hurried footsteps.
The person who came was an old lady wearing a gray cloth jacket, with raindrops still on her hair.
"Is Wei's condition improving?" Wang asked anxiously.
"I'm here to report this," the old maid said gravely. "The young mistress had just finally fallen asleep, and I don't know what she dreamed of. She screamed and fell off the couch, hitting her forehead on the footstool, and she bled immediately. To put it bluntly, she looked like she'd been possessed by a demon."
Wang's eye twitched.
This Wei is going crazy!
She has even arranged the chef for her child's full-month banquet early on. Could it be that the wedding banquet is really going to turn into a funeral?
"There's another strange thing," the old woman continued. "When I came here, I saw Doctor Bian, who is in charge of the horses in the backyard. He said that all the horses and mules in the mansion had died for some unknown reason..."
"All dead?" Wang was shocked.
On ordinary days, she would never take such things to heart.
But now it is very different.
"Have you checked it out? Is it a sudden emergency, or is someone secretly interfering?"
She has never been someone who can be easily fooled.
"Doctor Bian examined it and said that it was caused by convulsions. He was locked in the stable just fine, but it rained and I don't know how he became like this..." The old woman shook her head and sighed.
There has been a lot of unrest in the mansion lately.
Wang's expression changed several times. She was about to tell the maid something, but she saw her looking outside the door.
A second-class maid came in hurriedly.
The head maid immediately asked, "Who let you in? Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on that Taoist priest?"
The maid replied, "The Taoist priest refused to wait any longer and has already left..."
Upon hearing this, Wang suddenly stood up and said, "Send someone after them immediately!"
Such masters value opportunities the most. If you miss it, it will be difficult to find them again!
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