Whether you like it or not, whether you have things you can't let go of or not, time always moves forward at its own pace, and the year comes at its own leisurely rhythm.
It wasn't until the whole family was about to have their New Year's Eve dinner in the side hall of the old lady's courtyard that Ning went to the old lady's courtyard through the second gate. Not long after she arrived, someone from the front gatehouse came to report the news.
Ning hurriedly apologized to the old lady and rushed to the front yard.
One of the returning guards brought handwritten letters from Xu Yao and Lin Zhining respectively. After reading them, Ning felt a mix of anger, sadness, and relief.
After Xu Yao became pregnant, the old nanny who knew how to take care of pregnant women and mothers went home, so there was no suitable person in the mansion to take care of her. Lin Zhining's mother had a midwife who knew how to give birth, so Lin Zhining's mother sent her to Xu Yao's side.
Because it was Xu Yao's second pregnancy and she had always been in good health, she didn't pay much attention to it. However, the old nanny took Lin's mother's words as gospel, not only preventing Xu Yao from getting out of bed and moving around freely, but also inviting a doctor from the city to come to the house to examine Xu Yao. The doctor kept saying that Xu Yao's pregnancy was unstable and prescribed medicine to stabilize the pregnancy. The old nanny brewed the medicine and insisted that Xu Yao drink it. Xu Yao refused to drink it, so the old nanny found Xu Yao's mother-in-law to supervise.
Because there was no one around who knew medicine, Xu Yao really didn't want to drink those pregnancy-preserving medicines. She often heard Chen Zhaoci say that all medicines have some toxicity. Later, Xu Yao's mother-in-law would often come over, implying that Xu Yao should drink the medicine quickly and have more children for the Lin family. She also said that the Lin family had such a large estate, and Lin Zhining was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), yet they only had one child. All the concubines and maids had been driven away, which was really inappropriate.
Xu Yao didn't want to argue with her mother-in-law. Lin Zhining was busy with the year-end accounting of the family's farmland and shops, and she also had to accompany her uncle, Xu Bai, and Chen Yuyuan on their travels. Xu Yao really didn't want to trouble Lin Zhining with her own affairs, so she secretly poured away the medicine that the old nanny had brewed. However, the old nanny accidentally discovered it and brought it up in front of Lin's mother.
This old nanny had been by Lin's mother's side since she was a few years old, accompanying her through the difficult times of the national crisis. Therefore, Lin's mother trusted this old nanny very much. When the old nanny went to Lin's mother to cry, Lin's mother immediately came over and started crying to Xu Yao.
Xu Yao was so annoyed by her mother-in-law that she finally drank the bowl of medicine that had already gone cold in a fit of pique.
After drinking it, she vomited for a long time, which terrified her servants. Then, in the middle of the night, Xu Yao started to have stomach pains and started to bleed slightly.
Xu Yao was terrified and completely lost her composure. Her servants quickly went to find Lin Zhining, who was still busy doing accounts in the front yard. When Lin Zhining returned and saw that Xu Yao's face was pale with pain, he sent his attendant to invite a doctor he trusted. After examining Xu Yao, the doctor said that Xu Yao had eaten something wrong. Xu Yao's servants were more cautious. When the old nanny was decocting the medicine, she used a small clay stove in the yard. After the medicine was poured out, a little maidservant next to the old nanny wanted to throw away the dregs. The servant gave the little maidservant a large handful of copper coins and replaced the dregs with the medicine.
After the doctor carefully examined the dregs of the medicine, he found that there was some abortifacient material in it, but the amount was small. It was because Xu Yao had been in a bad mood these past few days due to the old nanny's antics, and after drinking this abortifacient medicine, she showed signs of miscarriage.
Lin Zhining was both angry and scared. Such a thing had happened right under his nose. His relationship with Xu Yao was beyond reproach. Most importantly, if something happened to Xu Yao, would the Yongning Marquis's Mansion in the capital let him off the hook? Lin Zhining thought to himself that even if the Yongning Marquis's Mansion let him off the hook, he probably wouldn't let himself off the hook.
Lin Zhining imprisoned the old nanny, and had his mother's courtyard surrounded. Before the whole story could be investigated, people from the capital arrived.
Xu Yao was incredibly surprised to see Bai Mi. After Bai Mi explained how she got there, Xu Yao's eyes filled with tears as she said, "I really didn't spoil Bai Ge'er for nothing. If he didn't care about me, his fourth sister, how could he have seen things so clearly? Even the servants around me couldn't keep track of what was going on here."
Bai Mi had already examined Xu Yao carefully. Although she had used abortifacient drugs before, the dosage was small. It was estimated that those who wanted to harm Xu Yao were afraid that if they used too much at once, Lin Zhining would find out, so they planned to use it little by little. At the beginning, the old nanny kept saying that Xu Yao's pregnancy was not good, and just like that, she ended up having a miscarriage.
Bai Mi smiled and said, "That's right, our Seventh Master is a good judge of things. He even told our Madam about it when he got back."
Xu Yao felt incredibly safe and sighed deeply, saying, "It's only because my third aunt is a doctor and knows the importance of this matter, and my mother loves us so much that she insisted on having my sister and several guards come all this way. Otherwise, I wouldn't have wanted to stay in Gaoqing County for the New Year. Sigh, I never expected my mother-in-law to be so blind. I treated her with all my heart as an elder, but who knew she would be so unable to distinguish right from wrong."
Xu Yao understood Lin's mother's thoughts perfectly well. She just disliked her for not allowing Lin Zhining to take a concubine. Ever since Xu Yao entered the family, Lin Zhining's two original concubines had left. Lin Zhining had not been close to any other women except Xu Yao. Everyone in Gaoqing County said that the matriarch of the Lin family was a jealous woman who could not tolerate other women. Lin's mother was often teased about this.
Lin Zhining hadn't expected the capital to react this way. Just because of Xu Bai's few words, the Marquis of Yongning had sent his personal guards over to check on Xu Yao's well-being. What made Lin Zhining realize the Marquis of Yongning's family value their child the most was Bai Mi's arrival. Lin Zhining was well aware of Bai Mi's medical skills, and sending Bai Mi over showed a degree of distrust towards the Lin family.
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