Chapter 111 Miss has gained some weight recently
Ruan Dahuzi was, after all, a roughneck.
He divided the money and took most of the people with him, but he couldn't get household registration.
Without a household registration, it would be difficult for him to do legitimate business; he couldn't even buy a boat, let alone run a canal transport business.
He couldn't bring himself to ask Yao Qingling for help, so he looked around for connections, but some things are very realistic. Even though he had money, he couldn't get close to those officials.
The powerful and wealthy are very arrogant and cautious in their actions. They would not pay any attention to such a roughneck unless introduced by someone.
Yao Qingling sent someone to tell him to hurry up and go south to transport goods, otherwise she would have to find other boat captains.
Ruan Dahuzi was so anxious that he finally bowed his head and sent someone to tell Yao Qingling to take care of his household registration and cargo ship.
When Yao Qingling received the message, she smiled slightly and was no longer in a hurry.
She knew that Ruan Da Hu Zi wouldn't succeed, but he was proud, arrogant, and ambitious. She had to make him stumble, otherwise how could she subdue him in the future?
She agreed to meet with Ruan Da Hu Zi.
Lin Shiyuan knew she was going to meet Ruan Sheng and asked, "Do you want me to go with you?"
Yao Qingling shook her head: "No need."
She held a lens and examined the ancient paintings she had acquired closely.
Now that the bearded man is begging her, what does she have to be afraid of?
When she returned home that evening, she was in a good mood and ate an extra bowl of rice at dinner.
Xia Chan glanced at her, then hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.
Yao Qingling glanced at her: "You have something to say?" She smiled, "My Mulan Courtyard doesn't have such strict rules. You can say whatever you want, as long as it's not disrespectful to the master."
Xia Chan, however, put it more tactfully: "Miss has gained some weight recently."
Yao Qingling looked down at herself.
After finishing the divorce proceedings, she devoted herself entirely to the shop, making sure she thought about everything and made all the decisions.
She expended a lot of energy, and being pregnant, she shouldn't have gained weight.
But Taoye was worried about the fetus, so in addition to giving her medicine to prevent miscarriage, she also tried to persuade her to take it every day in different ways.
While she was looking at the account books, she would feed her snacks; when she was riding in the carriage, she could conjure up a bowl of white fungus soup to fill her stomach.
How can you not gain weight?
Qingling chuckled and complained that Taoye was feeding her like a pig.
But the cicadas don't think that way.
Unless something is special, why would Tao Ye go to such lengths to feed her?
Moreover, the young lady said last time that her period had started and she was released from the ancestral hall; Xia Chan paid special attention but did not find the menstrual belt.
Xia Chan felt that the young lady must have her reasons for keeping it a secret. She hadn't spoken up before, but now that it was obvious, she deliberately gave her a hint.
In the evening, Qingling took a bath, and Taoye served her in the washroom.
Qingling touched her own flesh and said, "You seem to have gained weight, Taoye. You're not allowed to feed me like that anymore."
Taoye said, "Miss gets so busy that she doesn't have time to eat. She hasn't eaten much. If I hadn't been watching over her, she would have become as thin as a stick."
Yao Qingling thought about it and realized that... she didn't eat much. Sometimes she would eat half of it and then be interrupted by other things.
After drying herself off, she put on her undergarments and touched her lower abdomen.
It's been almost four months, and my belly is already showing.
Yao Qingling said slowly, "Xia Chan is the most observant among you. Perhaps she has already figured it out."
Tao Ye panicked a little: "What should we do?"
Qingling said, "My pregnancy is nothing to be ashamed of. Since I've decided to have the baby, I have to face this issue."
"However, right now only people in our inner courtyard know about it. There's no need to spread the word. When it can no longer be concealed, they will naturally find out."
She just wanted to buy more time to expand and strengthen Huibafang, so that she could have more and stronger leverage to keep her child by her side.
Qing Ling took a deep breath and said, "Go and call Xia Chan and Lou Yue in."
In the inner bedroom, Yao Qingling no longer hid from them and confessed that she was pregnant and almost four months along.
Lou Yue was shocked: "Then this child, isn't he Second Master—"
She suddenly stopped speaking and swallowed it back forcefully.
Was the child conceived before the divorce?
Didn't you know at the time?
If they hadn't divorced, this child would be the heir of the Duke's mansion and the grandson of the Grand Princess of Deyang!
Given the Grand Princess's attitude towards the Second Prince, she will definitely treat the Young Master very well and value him highly.
But now it's turned out like this...
Lou Yue felt it was a pity, but she didn't dare to say it, for fear that her mistress would regret it and be sad.
The cicadas were quiet and still.
She thought that the young lady must have known she was pregnant before the divorce.
She had long noticed that Taoye often brewed medicine in the kitchen, and when asked, she would say it was for her mistress to recuperate.
Even the Second Master thought that Miss was trying to conceive, so it must have been a pregnancy-stabilizing medicine.
Yao Qingling glanced at the two maids' reactions and, as expected, Xia Chan had already figured it out.
“I deliberately concealed it, as you all know my current situation. If outsiders knew I was pregnant, the shop might be seized by the Marquis's wife, and the Grand Princess of Deyang, for the sake of the child, would ask the Marquis to demand that I remarry Zhan Xingzhuo. But I left the Duke's mansion and had no intention of going back.”
Lou Yue couldn't help but say, "But sooner or later people will find out."
Xia Chan glanced at Lou Yue, then looked at Yao Qingling.
Yao Qingling nodded and said meaningfully, "That's why I need to get my business done in the shortest amount of time."
“Now that you are with me, you are my people. I am telling you a secret so that you will keep it until I say it is time.”
She added, "You who serve here as slaves, compared to those serving in the Duke's mansion or other powerful families, will feel the difference yourselves—"
She stopped there, drawing out the last syllable, both as a threat and to make them think it through.
Xia Chan and Lou Yue were punished in both the Duke's Mansion and the New Mansion.
Especially in the new mansion, when Zhou Zhining's child accidentally fell, all of them who served her were made to kneel as punishment.
Thinking back, my knees still hurt.
In the eyes of these maids, Yao Qingling was somewhat arrogant, but she never severely punished them.
She was fair in rewarding and punishing, and she did not mistreat the servants. As long as the task was completed, she would not hold the maids against hiding away to slack off.
Moreover, she gives a lot of monthly allowance.
However, since Yao Qingling, as her master, has no power, it is possible that she could be bullied and overthrown at any time.
The Marquis's mansion couldn't protect her; even those people in the Marquis's mansion were openly bullying her. However, while she could defeat the Marquis's mansion, she might not be able to defeat other powerful figures.
Xia Chan and Lou Yue also knew that Yao Qingling now had a former Zhennan General as his manager and was also associated with bandits.
These people were ruthless; one was known as the "Butcher of Men," and others were wanted criminals by the imperial court.
But these ruthless people were all willing to follow her and acknowledge her as their master.
Xia Chan knelt down: "This servant is willing to follow my master forever!"
Lou Yue immediately knelt down as well: "This servant will also follow my master forever and will never betray him!"
She even raised her hand to swear.
Yao Qingling nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, you can all go now."
As the weather got warmer, Yao Qingling had to wear loose-fitting clothes to cover herself up.
However, after three months, the fetus was more stable and no longer needed to be afraid of riding in a horse-drawn carriage for long distances.
On such a hot day, if one were to sit on a thick mattress and be confined in a carriage for such a long time, one would surely faint from the heat.
Taoye prepared ice cubes and placed them inside the carriage. The fruits and desserts were also soaked in well water, so time passed comfortably.
Upon arriving at the meeting place, Yao Qingling alighted from the carriage.
It was an inconspicuous little thatched hut.
Qingling looked around: "Still hiding?"
Ruan the Bearded Man glared at her, his fingers resting on the broadsword at his waist: "Are you here to make fun of me?"
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