Chapter 170 It's all that wretched maid Zhou Zhining's fault! She tore apart my son's perfectly good family.
A moment of silence.
After Yao Qingling left the Duke's mansion, the Grand Princess Deyang neither caused trouble for Yao Qingling nor had any contact with her.
Even the princess forbade her servants to make purchases from her renowned shop.
Just pretend this person in the mansion never existed.
In fact, the Duke's mansion had been very oppressive during this period. Except for the time when Zhan Xingzhuo returned to the capital to report on his duties, when the Grand Princess had a slight smile on her face, she mostly kept a tense expression and did not want to see anyone.
How could he possibly swallow this insult after being humiliated by his daughter-in-law?
Princess Deyang remained silent, waiting for the right opportunity.
She would only take action once things had completely calmed down and no one was discussing this highly publicized divorce anymore.
At the time, Yao Qingling's reason for the divorce was that she did not want to associate with Zhou Zhining, a remnant of the criminals. It was not aimed at the Princess or the Duke's Mansion. Outsiders' discussions were actually limited, and their attention was all on Zhou Zhining.
The Grand Princess, remembering Yao Qingling's past filial piety, should turn a blind eye and let the matter pass.
But Zhan Xingzhuo is, after all, her son. How could a mother not feel heartbroken when he was forced to go to such an impoverished place as Luozhou?
Moreover, since Zhou Zhining had become a government slave, it had relieved her of her resentment. The Grand Princess felt that Yao Qingling should also be punished.
If she hadn't caused trouble, things wouldn't have turned out this way—her perfectly good family would have fallen apart.
But if the Grand Princess had retaliated then, people would have said that she was bullying the weak and taking advantage of the powerful, and that she was taking advantage of a little orphan girl.
The Grand Princess's plan was that once things calmed down, if Yao Qingling was having a hard time, people would only say that she had left the Duke's Mansion and was making her life worse and worse.
It should have been time to make a move, but then news broke that Yao Qingling was pregnant.
Madam Cui knew that the Grand Princess's feelings for Qingling were complicated. She absolutely could not let Yao Qingling have a chance to return to the mansion, nor did she want the Grand Princess to snatch the child. After thinking it over several times, she smiled gently and said, "I have good news for Mother. Fang has just been diagnosed with pregnancy. Mother, you will be a grandmother again."
Fang was a concubine of Prince Zhan; and the prince had more than one concubine.
Madam Cui wanted the Grand Princess to know that the Duke's mansion had plenty of children, and it didn't matter if the child in Yao Qingling's belly was from the Zhan family.
The Grand Princess glanced at her and said coldly, "This is Fang's third pregnancy, isn't it? And you? You only have Qi'er as your child. What are you so happy about?"
Cui: "..."
She shouldn't have spoken.
She touched her belly, wondering what was wrong, as there had been no further developments since giving birth to Qi'er.
When Yao Qingling was in the manor, she could still comfort herself that Yao Qingling couldn't give birth to a son. But now, she was actually using the fact that a concubine was pregnant to please the Grand Princess. It was really humiliating.
Fortunately, Cui's family was of a much higher social standing than those of the concubines, so her position with the heir was secure.
Cui looked embarrassed and depressed.
Zhan Xingxiang couldn't hold back any longer and whispered, "Mother, is the child in Yao's belly my second brother's?"
She overheard the servants in the mansion gossiping that the child in Yao's belly was not her second brother's.
Some say that Yao Qingling was slept with by bandits at Yongning Temple. She survived, but dared not return home. It took her many days to show her face, as she was hiding away to recover from her injuries.
Some people say that Yao Qingling cheated on her husband and that she owned a house outside the home specifically for her secret rendezvous with him.
Some people have seen the man entering and leaving that private residence, the two of them acting suspiciously.
She later returned to the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence, using business as a pretext to frequently stay out all night.
Zhan Xingxiang felt that those people were wrong; Yao Qingling was not that kind of person.
However, so many people were talking about it that even the eldest sister-in-law thought the child might not be the second brother's.
"...Think about it, if the child in her belly is Second Master's, and Second Master loves children so much, wouldn't he dote on his own? With this child, Yao Qingling won't have to worry about Zhou Zhining and her child anymore. A child is the foundation for a woman's standing in her husband's family. But she's taking such a big risk and insisting on a divorce, isn't that just because she's guilty?"
Seeing that the Grand Princess's face had darkened further, Granny Jia reminded Zhan Xingxiang, "Third Miss, you shouldn't be discussing this matter."
Regardless of whether Yao Qingling's child is Zhan Xingzhuo's, it is a thorny issue for the Duke's mansion.
If so, the Duke's mansion would naturally not allow its bloodline to be lost to outsiders.
If not, then things will be even more complicated. Master Zhan being cuckolded is damaging to his reputation. His career is on the rise, and there are many in the court who want to bring him down; such a scandalous affair would be too unpleasant to hear.
Granny Rong asked cautiously, "Should we tell the Second Master to come back?"
The Grand Princess had a terrible headache. She rubbed it for a long time, but the more she rubbed, the more it hurt.
She waved her hand: "Xingzhuo is in Luozhou, just waiting for the official to take over his post. After a while, he will be able to return to the capital to assume the post of Vice Minister of Revenue. We shouldn't let him be distracted at this time. If something goes wrong, all his hard work in Luozhou will be in vain."
Granny Rong nodded: "The princess is indeed very thoughtful..."
The Grand Princess seemed to have an idea and told Cui Shi and Zhan Xingxiang to leave.
Behind closed doors, the Grand Princess said to her two trusted maids, "Go and summon the doctor from the He family's pharmacy to the mansion."
The two matrons exchanged a glance and understood what the Grand Princess meant.
Soon, Doctor He entered the gate of the Duke's mansion.
This time, Dr. He didn't try to hide anything and directly admitted that he had lied.
After that night at Yongning Temple, Yao Qingling didn't recuperate at his shop, but instead stayed at a house in Tongluo Lane.
Dr. He also said that Yao Qingling was heartbroken after that night and was determined to divorce Zhan Erye even though she was pregnant.
"...At that time, the young mistress... said that if she could not get a divorce, she should ask me to prepare a bowl of abortion soup for her. Yao was adamant, and out of a doctor's compassion, I agreed to help her."
Doctor He also said, "Ever since Madam Yao entered the Duke's mansion, I have been her regular doctor. Madam Yao was pregnant in February, that's for sure, and the young mistress was very happy at the time. Her maid said that if the second master knew, he would be very happy... Oh, by the way, I remember that it rained heavily that day."
"But a day later, I was summoned to the new mansion to examine Yao's pulse. Yao had caught a cold and seemed very unhappy. Later I learned that the sinner Zhou was staying at the mansion."
"After that, Madam Yao looked worried and became less close to the Second Master. Madam Yao even begged me to keep it a secret and not let anyone know. At the time, I thought Madam Yao wanted to protect herself from Madam Zhou..."
Doctor He repeated to the Grand Princess everything Qingling had taught him.
The Grand Princess of Deyang sent someone to give Doctor He a reward of silver.
After Dr. He left, both Granny Jia and Granny Rong breathed a sigh of relief.
Now it can be confirmed that Yao Qingling's child is indeed Second Master's, and Second Master was not cuckolded.
She got pregnant in February, so she's eight months along now and will be giving birth soon!
Yao Qingling is truly good at hiding her true feelings; she's endured until now.
And she walked around with her big belly, and no one could tell at all.
With a smile, Granny Jia said, "Now it's time to congratulate the princess, you're going to be a grandmother again."
After Yao Qingling gave birth to the child, the child could only return to the Duke's mansion; she couldn't take it from him.
The Grand Princess was both happy and angry, and said, "It's all that wretched maid Zhou Zhining's fault for breaking up my son's perfectly good family!"
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