The carriage followed through one street, then another.
Xu Rong lifted a section of the curtain and peeked out. The further she walked, the more familiar the place seemed—she had arrived in the East City.
In her search for Mr. Su, she and Xiao Xin had wandered around this area repeatedly. Not long ago, she had accompanied Xiao Xin here again, so she was quite familiar with this place.
This area is considered a commoner's district in the capital. The wealthy and powerful in the western part of the city would not usually settle here. Xiao Lun's decision to place his mistress here was clearly deliberate, as he tried to avoid being seen by acquaintances.
The carriage grew quieter and quieter as it moved on.
Xu Rong whispered a message to the driver to slow down and increase the distance between them and the carriage in front.
With fewer shops nearby, following closely makes it easier for those in front to notice.
In truth, Chang Shuyin was easier to deal with than her. In just three days, she found out the address and went straight to the door.
Once the message got out, Xu Rong quickly realized that the car had indeed slowed down—too slow, in fact, and eventually came to a stop.
Bai Fu lifted a corner of the carriage curtain to ask outside. Hong Liu, who was sitting next to the coachman wearing a straw hat to cover his face, turned around and explained, "Grandma, it was the eldest grandma's carriage that stopped."
So they can't move anymore, or they'll go too far.
Xu Rong lifted the curtain and looked again. Although there were no high-ranking officials or nobles living here, there were quite a few ordinary wealthy families. Square courtyards stretched out, forming a quiet and tidy alley.
They were parked at the entrance of this alley.
Chang Shuyin's car was parked at the entrance of the alley ahead.
Xu Rong immediately relayed the message: "Don't stop, keep going."
Stopping like this makes you more noticeable.
The carriage started moving again.
As the carriage in front of him passed by, Xu Rong heard faint sobs.
"..." She was a little stunned.
Just as they were hesitating whether to call the carriage to stop, a more panicked and barely concealed cry came from inside the carriage: "Grandma, what's wrong? Don't scare me—"
Xu Rong said in a deep voice, "Stop the car."
The car stopped.
Xu Rong jumped out of the car and walked back.
The couple driving the carriage for Chang Shuyin were her maids. They recognized Xu Rong and, surprised and hesitant, did not stop her, letting her lift the carriage curtain open.
Inside the carriage, Chang Shuyin's face was as white as paper, her brows were furrowed, one hand pressed against her already pregnant belly, the other hand held the maid's hand, and she sat leaning against the maid with a pained expression.
She is almost five months pregnant.
She had always taken good care of herself and had long passed the three-month unstable period. Logically, nothing should have happened before she gave birth, but she never expected Xiao Lun to suddenly give her such a heavy blow.
He's clearly a devoted and gentle man, how could this happen?
She didn't believe it. She ordered an investigation. A living person needs to eat, drink, and be served. There are traces everywhere. No matter how far away they are hidden, they can be found out with an investigation.
She didn't sleep all night.
Still unwilling to believe it, clinging to the hope that it was a misunderstanding, she insisted on coming to see for herself, ignoring the advice of those around her.
Everything was fine when they set out, but as the carriage traveled further and got closer to their destination, her heart tightened more and more, as if a thread was pulling at her, making it hard for her to breathe. She clutched her chest, but the thread went down, pulling even her stomach, making it tight and painful, so much so that she could no longer sit still. Seeing that things were not going well, the maidservant called for the carriage to stop.
But to my surprise, that wasn't the worst of it.
The moment Chang Shuyin saw Xu Rong, her eyes trembled, and she subconsciously pulled her other hand back to protect her stomach.
"How did you get here?" she asked warily.
“Don’t you know? Mr. Su lives in the East City,” Xu Rong casually made up an excuse. “The Second Young Master went out early this morning and forgot to bring a homework assignment, so I brought it over for him.”
Most of what she said was true. The Su family was indeed in Dongcheng, and Xiao Xin had indeed left for the Su family before her. She remained calm as she started talking, and Chang Shuyin's vigilance lowered slightly, but she still didn't let her guard down: "Then—are you following me?"
Xu Rong nodded generously: "I found this carriage to be familiar, it looks like it belongs to our manor, but besides the Second Young Master and me, who else would come here? I was curious, so I had someone follow it for a while, and I didn't expect it to be the Eldest Madam. Eldest Madam, what are you doing here?"
Chang Shuyin was speechless at her question, and the strain caused her abdominal pain to intensify, with cold sweat pouring down her forehead.
The maidservant watching over her grew even more anxious: "Madam!"
Chang Shuyin only came today to confirm. She was not completely convinced and had not figured out what to do. She was also afraid of making a mistake and disturbing Madam Xiao. With all these concerns, she only brought a pair of maids and a personal maid with her. Now that the incident had occurred halfway, she didn't even have anyone to help her.
The maid was so frightened she didn't know what to do. A pair of women from the maid's quarters, who were married and had given birth, were more composed and advised from outside the carriage, "Madam, you should go back. Be careful not to hurt the young master. Even if that slut outside has a child, how can she compare to our young master?"
But this comparison itself was a stimulus for Chang Shuyin.
She gritted her teeth and said, "I'm fine... I just need to rest."
Xu Rong feigned surprise and interjected, "What bastards outside?"
The woman realized she had spoken out of turn and hurriedly looked away.
Chang Shuyin glared at her, gritting her teeth: "This is none of your business. You can leave."
She cried out in pain as soon as she finished speaking.
The girl's legs went weak, and she quickly knelt down: "Grandma!"
"...He kicked me." After a while, Chang Shuyin recovered and whispered, rubbing her stomach.
Her voice was still weak, but she struggled to look ahead and said, "Let's go."
“No, Grandma,” the maid actually knelt down before her, “You really can’t work any longer, let’s call it a day.”
Chang Shuyin forced a stern look: "I told you I'm fine, why aren't you listening to me?"
The girl sobbed. She could neither disobey nor dare to listen. If something really went wrong with Chang Shuyin's pregnancy, she would die without a burial place.
"When I came over, I saw a clinic over there," Xu Rong said after being ignored for a while.
The girl's eyes lit up, and she looked over.
"I'll lead the way, let's rest there," Xu Rong decided.
She only intended to use Chang Shuyin as a test, and had no intention of doing anything to a pregnant woman; she had that bottom line.
The girl nodded repeatedly, as if grasping at a straw.
Chang Shuyin refused: "I don't need it—"
“It’s not up to you,” Xu Rong interrupted her abruptly. “The patient should shut up and rest. If you want to argue, wait until you’re better.”
Chang Shuyin was both unwilling and angry. When did she ever want to argue? She still had orders to give, but her servants, who no longer dared to defy her, had received outside help and obeyed her orders like lightning. She could only struggle to pull open the small curtain next to her for a peek, but was quickly pinned down by the maid: "Madam, be careful not to catch a cold."
Both carriages started moving again, but this time they were switched places, one in front of the other.
Xu Rong knew this area better than anyone else, and in less than a quarter of an hour, he found the clinic they had passed by and directed everyone to stop.
The maid and the woman accompanying her helped Chang Shuyin, whose forehead was covered in another layer of sweat, down. Xu Rong instructed them, "We don't know how skilled the doctor outside is. If it's not very serious, don't take his medicine. Just rest here. One of you go back to the manor and call someone to come and fetch you."
The maidservant quickly agreed, but then, seeing that Xu Rong was about to leave, she became a little anxious: "Second Madam, aren't you going to stay and keep her company?"
Xu Rong turned around and smiled, "I still need to deliver my homework to the Second Young Master. Besides, I'm afraid your Madam won't be at ease if I stay."
Chang Shuyin leaned against the maid, then turned her face away upon hearing this.
It was just one step away... but it was stopped from happening again.
She was unwilling to accept it, but deep down, she also hesitated and feared what would happen if she really lost the child because of her willfulness—
How much regret will she feel?
By then, it would have been too late.
Xu Rong had already gotten into the carriage and left. Chang Shuyin wanted to turn her head to look, but in the end she didn't, and let the servants help her into the clinic.
**
Xu Rong certainly didn't actually go to deliver any homework to Xiao Xin.
As soon as she got in the car, she ordered the driver to go back to the original location.
Chang Shuyin looked out twice, and she could see clearly from below the car that she was looking at the alley just ahead.
It's called Goldfish Alley.
If I wasn't mistaken, that was the mistress's hiding place.
Xu Rong knew nothing about this mistress, but a few things were clear without him needing to know: she was a young, beautiful woman, and lived a comfortable life.
Xu Rong got off the bus at the entrance of the alley. There were about ten households in the alley, and she walked back and forth once.
Eliminate any sounds of children laughing coming from inside; eliminate any sounds of young couples leaving together; eliminate any sounds of several middle-aged women chatting and preparing vegetables with their doors wide open.
Of course, no one would live alone in the outer room, but none of these households meet the most important profile of an outer room—theft.
In homes with a strong sense of everyday life, there's less of an atmosphere conducive to "stealing."
That leaves five households.
Xu Rong started knocking on the first door.
I knocked several times, but no one answered.
The neighbors next door were chatting with their door open. One of the women, a woman in her thirties, leaned out with a bunch of scallions in her hand and said, "Don't knock. The Wang family just moved away. Nobody's home."
"Really? Thank you." Xu Rong greeted her with a smile.
Seeing that she was well-dressed, the woman asked her with some curiosity, "Are you a relative of his?"
Xu Rong shook his head: "No. The family I'm looking for isn't surnamed Wang. I have a cousin who sent word that she married a good man in the capital and is now pregnant. I just arrived in the capital and wanted to come and stay with her, but the letter only said she lives in Jinyu Hutong, without specifying which household she lives in—"
She stopped speaking when she saw a meaningful expression on the woman's face.
"Is your cousin's surname Zhang?" the woman asked her.
Xu Rong nodded calmly: "That's right. Does your sister-in-law know her?"
"I don't know her." The woman immediately shook her head, but hesitated, then said mysteriously, "You seem like a good family's daughter-in-law, but your cousin—"
"Third Sister, if someone asks for directions, just point them out. Why are you being so nosy?" Another older woman came out of the courtyard, scolded the first woman back, then pointed forward and said with a pursed mouth, "Look, just go to the fourth house."
After Xu Rong finished thanking them, he walked forward, and at the same time, he heard an uncontrollable buzz of discussion behind him: "What good family? That family looks suspicious. What respectable family lives like that..."
"Then you can talk about it behind her back. Why talk about it in front of her sister?"
"She came to seek refuge, but I was worried she'd be scammed. Just now, I went out to get some water and saw another man go in. He looked completely different from the others who had come before..."
"Really? What does it look like?"
Another woman asked curiously. Xu Rong had already reached the door of that house and raised his hand to knock, but found that the door was ajar.
She turned to look at her brother Hongliu, who was accompanying her. Hongliu nodded nervously, tiptoed, and went in first.
The main house is in the center, with side rooms on both sides and a pomegranate tree in front of the courtyard, creating a typical and tranquil setting.
What was discordant was the noise of things being overturned inside.
Thinking of what the women had said, Xu Rong quickened her pace and rushed into the main room before her brother Hongliu. The curtain leading to the bedroom was drawn up, and she could see directly into the room.
A young man was pinning a woman to a chair and stuffing something into her mouth. The woman was waving her hands helplessly. A wooden table lay overturned on the floor, presumably having been knocked over by her.
Xu Rong's heart skipped a beat, and he shouted, "Stop!"
The man was startled by them and instinctively stopped what he was doing, turning his head to look.
The woman finally had a moment to herself. Her face streaked with tears, she straightened up, clutched her clothes, coughed, and gasped for breath.
Xu Rong stared intently at her.
That's really unexpected.
"Second-Grandma?" the young man asked hesitantly.
Xu Rong didn't recognize him, but from that voice, she knew he was also a member of the Changxing Marquis's household. There were hundreds of servants in the household, but only a few masters. It was always much easier for servants to remember their masters.
"Mmm," she replied casually.
"Second Grandma—why did you come here?" The young man was a little flustered, and looked bewildered.
Xu Rong did not answer him this time, but just stared at the woman.
She was indeed a young and beautiful woman, but she hadn't expected her to look so familiar.
"Cough cough—"
After coughing for a while, the woman finally caught her breath and looked at her with teary eyes.
Then, even more surprised than the man, she exclaimed, "Girl?!"
Xu Rong nodded and said meaningfully, "Long time no see."
She emphasized her words slightly, "Zhi Tao."
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