"Madam, Consort Meng has miscarried."
At the hot spring resort, Song Xia was enjoying her tea when she heard the news. She frowned and said "Oh".
"Is it related to Liu Fangniang?"
"When Aunt Meng fell, Aunt Liu was right next to her, and the master got very angry."
Song Xia shook her head; Liu Fangniang had gone too far this time.
Ever since the incident three years ago, the old lady's health had been poor. After the spring, she released Liu Fangniang on the grounds that the old lady needed someone close to take care of her.
This trip was quite interesting. Liu Fangniang and Zhou Yongli hadn't seen each other for months and naturally missed each other terribly. However, at this time, Concubine Gao and Concubine Meng in the mansion had already received the emperor's favor. How could Liu Fangniang not be angry? How could she not resent it?
After all, Zhou Yongli rarely visited her, the main wife's, courtyard before. Liu Fangniang was only confined to the estate for a few months, and Zhou Yongli couldn't stand it anymore? How could he do this to the friendship they had built up since their youth?
Seeing that she was not in the mansion, Liu Fangniang felt relieved and began to make a fuss with Zhou Yongli. Zhou Yongli also sincerely coaxed her for a while until Aunt Gao became pregnant.
Zhou Yongli only had two sons and one daughter, which was considered a small number of offspring for someone of his official position. Moreover, Zhou Yuqing and Zhou Shuqing were often away from the mansion, and Zhou Ying had changed her personality and become taciturn. Therefore, Zhou Yongli was looking forward to this pregnancy.
He hadn't been this happy in a long time. He was often reprimanded by His Majesty in court and suppressed by Song Xia in the mansion. The birth of this child greatly enhanced his masculine demeanor and self-confidence, so he valued it highly and spent half of the month visiting Concubine Gao's courtyard.
But while he was happy, Liu Fangniang was not. This pregnancy was like solid evidence of Zhou Yongli's betrayal of her.
She could comfort herself before that Aunt Gao and Aunt Meng were just forced into the mansion by Song Xia, and that Zhou Yongli's feelings for her had not changed. But the appearance of this fetus seemed to be slapping her in the face.
Especially since Aunt Gao often flaunted her pregnancy in front of her, it made her heart bleed.
Then, starting from some unknown day, the old lady began to use her poor health as an excuse to have her two concubines, Gao and Meng, take care of her. Even when Concubine Gao was pregnant, she was not allowed to delay.
Aunt Gao begged Zhou Yongli, but Zhou Yongli couldn't go against his mother's wishes, and Aunt Gao visibly began to look haggard.
Finally, with only two months left before giving birth, Aunt Gao sought help from Song Xia, who was visiting the estate. It was Song Xia who specially sent someone back to grant her permission to waive the rules, allowing her to finally rest.
However, Aunt Gao's health deteriorated, and she gave birth a month prematurely. The child was sickly from birth.
Looking at this pitiful child, Song Xia felt that she was partly responsible for his condition, so she specially invited Physician Zhang to treat him and bestowed many treasures upon him on his 100th day.
Seeing this, Aunt Gao became even more loyal to Song Xia and hated Liu Fangniang and the old lady even more.
Every time Zhou Yongli went to Liu Fangniang's courtyard, she would send her maid to say that her daughter was not well and ask Zhou Yongli to come and take a look.
Zhou Yongli also felt guilty about his daughter's premature birth, so he would go to see her eight out of ten times.
Not only that, Aunt Gao also took good care of Aunt Meng, who came to the mansion at the same time. Given their circumstances back then, it would be an exaggeration to say that they depended on each other for survival. After entering the mansion, they became as close as sisters.
If they had any deep feelings for Zhou Yongli, that would be a lie. All they wanted was a stable and prosperous life, but these were all bestowed upon them by Song Xia, and they were very clear about Song Xia's requirements.
Although Aunt Gao's health was not good after giving birth to a daughter, she had someone to rely on in the future. Therefore, she also wanted Aunt Meng to have a child. If they could have a son, the two of them would have even less to worry about.
Therefore, whenever Meng Yiniang would use her daughter to call Zhou Yongli over, Meng Yiniang would always be there, and with Gao Yiniang's clever words, Zhou Yongli would almost always go to Meng Yiniang's courtyard with her.
Whenever this happened, Liu Fangniang would be furious, and the next time she saw Zhou Yongli, she would complain even more.
Little did she know that her actions would only push Zhou Yongli further away.
She had aged and was no longer as charming and lovely as she once was. When she complained to Zhou Yongli, it was always pleasant to hear. Now, she sounded like a resentful woman. No matter how young she dressed, her hoarse voice and the wrinkles on her cheeks couldn't be hidden. After a while, Zhou Yongli just felt annoyed and thought she was being unreasonable.
"Are you going again? Don't you know she's just pretending? Her daughter is perfectly fine! Zhou Yongli, how many times has this happened this month?"
"Can't you be a little more sensible?" Zhou Yongli finally couldn't help but shake off her hand. "Isn't Lin'er's poor health because of you?"
Liu Fangniang looked at him in shock, seemingly never expecting him to become so ruthless.
Zhou Yongli continued, "You weren't like this before, Fangniang. Can you give me a break? I'm already exhausted after court."
"Go!" Liu Fangniang cried loudly. "After you go, don't come back, and don't ever come into my Qinyaxuan again. You clearly promised that it would only be for me, so why did you lie to me if you couldn't keep your promise?"
Seeing her so distraught, Zhou Yongli felt a pang of pity. After all, how could he just sever such a long-standing friendship?
"Fine, I won't go." He sat down, but he was still angry.
He was also in a dilemma. Why couldn't Fangniang be more understanding? Aunt Gao and Aunt Meng had traveled a long way away from their families to serve him, which was not easy for them. How could he continue to neglect them?
Besides, isn't Lin Jie'er's current state all the result of Fang Niang and her mother's sins? If he visits her more often, isn't he also paying off their debts? Fang Niang is still making a fuss; she really doesn't understand anything.
That night, although Zhou Yongli stayed, he didn't say another word to Liu Fangniang.
Later, the three of them talked back and forth. Song Xia heard that Liu Fangniang had actually started taking tonics and had found a folk doctor, seemingly wanting to get pregnant again.
Song Xia really didn't understand what she was thinking. At her age, she was still thinking about getting pregnant and having children. Did she not value her life?
But since it's your wish, how could I not help you fulfill it? So when she secretly went to fetch a doctor, Song Xia took the opportunity to find the best one for her.
After some treatment, Liu Fangniang actually became pregnant. From then on, Zhou Yongli visited her courtyard half a month later.
However, whether it was because she was old or because she used too many tricks to keep Zhou Yongli, she lost the child and then began to suspect Aunt Gao and Aunt Meng, thinking that they were the ones who did it.
In fact, at Song Xia's request, the two of them did nothing, after all, Song Xia wanted to see the difficulties Liu Fangniang faced during her pregnancy.
Ever since losing her child, Liu Fangniang, Aunt Gao, and Aunt Meng have been even more vicious towards each other, regarding them as thorns in their side.
Especially this time, she had just lost her child, and that wretched Aunt Meng found out she was pregnant. If it wasn't them, who else could it be?
The snow was slippery, so who can we blame?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
