The man who was forced to drink the medicine was dragged out by Hongliu's brother, who twisted his arm.
He refused to leave, trying to be defiant: "I'm acting on my master's orders—"
"Then we'll talk about that when your master arrives!" Brother Hongliu retorted. "Second Madam is standing right in front of you; do you think you can be rude?"
The man fell silent, ultimately too afraid, and was dragged away.
When Zhi Tao met her former master again, she dared not sit any longer. She stood up and hastily pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her face.
Xu Rong glanced at her abdomen; it was flat, and she wasn't showing yet.
"How many months?" she asked directly.
"Two, two months." Zhi Tao was a little startled. After answering subconsciously, she realized it was inappropriate, and her face, which she had just wiped clean, turned red with embarrassment.
"That's not quite safe yet, please sit down."
Zhi Tao hesitated and didn't move. Bai Fu couldn't help but say coldly, "If the young lady tells you to sit, then sit. Are you afraid that the young lady will harm you?"
She is usually very gentle and rarely speaks like this; this time she was truly furious.
She and Zhi Tao had both served Xu Rong since childhood. Because of her cleverness and good looks, Zhi Tao ranked higher than the other maids, and she often accompanied Xu Rong on errands. On the occasion when Xu Rong learned of Xiao Lun's secret rendezvous with Chang Shuyin and rushed there in anger, she and another maid, Zi Yan, were present.
Later, Zhi Tao was punished by Madam Xu, and then Zhi Tao and her family redeemed themselves and left.
Bai Fu never imagined that their reunion in her lifetime would be like this.
Zhi Tao avoided her questioning gaze and silently sat down, leaning to one side.
Xu Rong looked around the room; it wasn't luxurious, nor was it shabby—it was the furnishings of a middle-class household.
This is a significant step up for Yu Zhitao's status.
"After leaving the Xu family, you followed Xiao Lun?" Xu Rong turned his gaze back and asked the second question.
Zhi Tao couldn't answer, but she shifted slightly, looking as if she were sitting on pins and needles.
Bai Fu couldn't take it anymore: "You—"
Xu Rong waved his hand, indicating that she didn't need to be angry, and then smiled: "Do you know why I'm the one who came to find you?"
Zhi Tao still didn't answer, but this time it was because she didn't quite understand what Xu Rong meant.
Xu Rong readily explained to her, "Because the eldest madam felt unwell halfway and turned back, otherwise, you should be seeing her right now."
Zhi Tao looked up abruptly, her eyes filled with fear.
She wasn't familiar with Chang Shuyin, but she knew what would happen to someone like her, a pregnant mistress, if she fell into the hands of the first wife.
“How could she know—” Zhi Tao finally spoke.
"Is it strange?" Xu Rong asked with interest. "Did you think you could hide forever? There are no secrets in the world. It's already too late for Grandma to find out about you now."
Zhi Tao had nothing to say.
"As for Xiao Lun, he probably didn't take you very seriously either."
After finishing with Chang Shuyin, Xu Rong continued talking about Xiao Lun, "He kept you outside the home without giving you any status. You got pregnant with his child, and he sent people to force-feed you drugs. He didn't even want the child, let alone you?"
These words triggered Zhi Tao's terrifying memories. Xu Rong didn't recognize the man, but she did—he was another servant of Xiao Lun, who rarely went out with Xiao Lun, and she had only seen him twice.
She was a little surprised to see him come alone when she opened the door today. She didn't expect that while he said he was looking for something Xiao Lun had left behind, once inside, his attitude changed completely. He said Xiao Lun had told her that the child in her womb was a source of trouble and couldn't be kept—
"Waaah..." Zhi Tao cried.
Pain belatedly swept over her, and once it did, it was unstoppable.
Xu Rong didn't have that much time to wait for her, and she wasn't saying all this to see her cry.
She took two steps with her hands behind her back and stood in front of the girl with whom she actually had little interaction: "Now, do you understand who else can help you?"
Zhi Tao: "..."
She felt as if she had been illuminated by a light, yet she couldn't believe it. "Miss—Miss, you're willing to help me?"
When she left the Xu family, Xu Rong was still unmarried, so she maintained the way she used to address him.
Xu Rong looked down at her: "That depends on how many answers you can give me."
Zhi Tao was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized what was happening and felt a little relieved: Xu Rong certainly wouldn't help her unconditionally.
Then she struggled.
Xu Rong gave her time to think it over. She was certain that Zhi Tao had no other choice. The mistress was indeed terrifying, but even the man who should have been on her side was unreliable. What else could she do?
"Miss, what does Miss want to ask me?" Sure enough, Zhi Tao moved her lips and spoke.
Xu Rong repeated the second question from before, and this time Zhi Tao replied, "...Hmm."
"Did you have an affair with him before?"
Zhi Tao hurriedly replied, "No! I was with you every day back then, how could I dare to do that?"
I'm afraid it's not that I don't dare, but that I don't have the opportunity.
Xu Rong didn't expose her, but continued to ask, "Where did you get the money to redeem yourself?"
Zhi Tao didn't leave alone; her brother, sister-in-law, and their family were with her. She might be able to afford the money even if she sold everything she owned, but if she spent all her savings, would her whole family starve after leaving?
There must be another source.
"Yes, yes—" Zhi Tao stammered, not expecting her to suddenly ask this question.
“Xiao Lun gave it to you, didn’t he?” Xu Rong said knowingly. “At least before you left the manor, you had already made contact with Xiao Lun.”
During that time, she was recuperating from her injuries, Xu Huazhang was imprisoned, and the Marquis's mansion was in chaos. Zhi Tao wanted to take the opportunity to sneak out of the mansion to do something, but Madam Xu, as the mistress of the house, had no time to pay attention.
"What did you offer Xiao Lun in exchange, or—did you blackmail him?" Xu Rong asked again.
Her voice was gentle, but Zhi Tao seemed to have heard something terrifying, and her expression turned even more terrified than before.
Xu Rong nodded, he guessed correctly.
At that time, the Xiao family was determined to break off their engagement with her. Xiao Lun had no reason to get involved with her maid under those circumstances. Although Zhi Tao was pretty, she wasn't a celestial beauty.
Compared to being blinded by lust, it makes more sense to say that one has no choice but to do it.
“You don’t have much to offer him,” Xu Rong continued calmly. “Should I say it, or should you say it yourself?”
"..." Zhi Tao couldn't sit still, and slid down softly, kneeling on the ground.
Bai Fu glared at her, both shocked and furious: "What have you done? Did you harm the girl?!"
"I didn't! I... I just—"
Seeing that she was stuck again, Xu Rong reminded her, "If you don't say anything and just let me say everything, then you're useless to me."
The blue brick floor was already cold and hard in late autumn. Zhi Tao shivered and blurted out, "No, I heard it—"
"What did you hear?" Xu Rong pressed for an answer.
“Why ask me, young lady?” Zhi Tao suddenly smiled bitterly. “You still remember something, don’t you? Otherwise, why would you change your address and call the young master by his name as soon as you woke up?”
Xu Rong remained unmoved, simply because the substance had been changed.
Seeing that she remained silent, Zhi Tao felt uncertain and continued, "I swear to God, I didn't harm you, Miss. It's just that on that day, after you fell, I ran to your side first. You were still somewhat conscious at the time, and you grabbed my hand and said, 'It's Xiao Lun...'"
Just those three words.
But that was enough for Zhi Tao, who was a personal maid, to hear the problem.
Even after learning of Xiao Lun's affair with Chang Shuyin, Xu Rong never addressed Xiao Lun by his given name.
The girl Xu Rong didn't have time to say what the last two words were, but there was no need to say them now.
"He pushed the girl!" Bai Fu exclaimed in shock. "He keeps denying it! And you, the girl clearly told you what happened, but you didn't say a word and just let her be bullied by their family!"
“What’s the use of me saying it?” Zhi Tao sobbed. “The girl only said those three words. They can’t be used as evidence.”
"It can't be used as evidence, but it can be used for blackmail."
Zhi Tao's crying stopped abruptly.
"You used your daughter's last trust in you as a stepping stone to climb the social ladder."
Zhi Tao didn't understand the deeper meaning behind those words. She just felt guilty and started crying again: "Miss, I was bewitched. I'm so sorry, Miss. I've told you everything I know. Please help me, Miss. This child is the one I finally got pregnant with, sob sob..."
Bai Fu was so angry she wanted to hit her, but having never done such a thing before, she could only spit at her and say, "How dare you beg a young lady like that! Young lady, let's go and let her suffer the consequences of her own actions."
"Don't rush," Xu Rong reassured her, then turned to Zhi Tao, "You already said it? I don't think so. You're using this to blackmail Xiao Lun, and he'll actually just let you have your way?"
She didn't think Xiao Lun was such a good-tempered person. It would be more in line with his character to pretend to agree to keep Zhi Tao under control before killing her.
When Zhi Tao's family left the Marquis of Ji'an's residence, they did not leave a clear destination. For Xiao Lun, it would not be a difficult thing to let such a family disappear into the vast sea of people in the capital.
“…I asked my brother and sister-in-law to leave the capital,” Zhi Tao said somewhat hesitantly. “I made an agreement with them that I would send money over regularly. If I don’t send it over the deadline, then something has happened.”
Her account was incomplete and did not reveal the whereabouts of her brother and sister-in-law. Xu Rong did not press for details, but simply nodded: "I see."
Zhi Tao wasn't that naive.
She may have admired Xiao Lun and went to great lengths to become his mistress, but she also left herself an escape route and Xiao Lun a potential threat.
Xu Rong wasn't particularly interested in knowing how they had been locked in a tug-of-war for nearly a year, each with their own hidden agendas; he only cared about the current outcome: Zhi Tao had successfully conceived, while Xiao Lun refused to have the illegitimate child.
Both sides have their wins and losses, yet neither side truly wins nor loses.
Xu Rong didn't ask about her brother and sister-in-law, which relieved Zhi Tao, but she immediately became nervous again because Xu Rong asked her, "So what do you want to do now?"
"I want to keep it!" Zhi Tao blurted out, clutching her lower abdomen.
After much effort, Xiao Lun finally couldn't control himself and started visiting her more often after Chang Shuyin became pregnant. She seized the opportunity and got pregnant; she couldn't bear to give it up.
More importantly, she may only have this one chance, and Xiao Lun is more ruthless than she expected, not giving her another chance to get pregnant.
A concubine without children is hardly better than a drifting duckweed, and she has already given so much, unwilling to turn back, yet unable to turn back.
"Okay, I can help you."
Zhi Tao and Bai Fu both looked over, but one was more pleased than the other.
“But I can only point you in the right direction. Whether you can make it or not depends on you,” Xu Rong said.
Zhi Tao nodded hurriedly—afraid that she might change her mind: "Please save me, young lady! I will never forget your great kindness. I will do whatever you ask!"
Xu Rong remained calm and said slowly, "You don't need to thank me. Your only chance of survival is not with me, but with Madam Xiao's decision. I will take you to see her, but whether you can move her depends on you."
"..."
Zhi Tao's expression gradually changed from fear to determination.
She dared not see Madam Xiao. She had already witnessed Madam Xiao's power when the Xu family was in trouble. Knowing that the Xu family could not defeat Madam Xiao, she secretly sought another way out for herself.
But she couldn't refuse to see him.
For the sake of her child, for the sake of her future, she had to step over the blades ahead.
Otherwise, you'll just be played for nothing and brought back to reality.
...
Bai Fu watched reluctantly as Zhi Tao climbed onto the carriage first.
“Grandma, she wronged you so much, she deserved to fall from grace. Why should I help her?”
Xu Rong chuckled: "Fun."
Seeing that Bai Fu was still puffing up her cheeks in anger, she smiled and said playfully, "Don't you think Zhi Tao and Xiao Lun are a perfect match?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
