"What else?"
Xuemei put down her cup. "So that little slut is allowed to push Madam into the water, but Madam isn't allowed to pretend to be sick?"
At this point, Xuemei was also filled with curiosity and doubt.
Previously, the old lady and the lord clearly loathed that little wretch, so why have they started to change their attitude towards her?
Oh right, it seems it started a few days ago when a woman from Consort Ye's family came to the manor!
Xuemei didn't care at first who that woman was, but now that she thinks about it, something seems off.
"Where will you be resting tonight, sir?" she asked Min'er.
“She’s with Aunt Lin,” Min’er replied.
Xuemei stood up. "It's still early. Let's go to Mingyue Pavilion to see how Aunt Ye is doing and whether she's sick."
Min'er's eyes darted around, and she said with a grin, "She must be sick. With her frail body, she might never recover."
We arrived at Mingyue Pavilion.
There was no doctor here, but there was a charcoal brazier burning in the room. She was sitting on the bed, wrapped in a thick quilt, drinking her medicine.
"Oh dear, it looks so serious!" Xuemei walked over gracefully, holding a handkerchief.
“Aunt Mei,” Ye Jiaoniang glanced at her, “Aunt Mei, you should stay away from me. You’re pregnant, and I don’t want to pass on my illness to you.”
Xuemei really stopped in her tracks.
"Did you come here specifically to see me make a fool of myself?" Ye Jiaoniang finished her medicine and looked coldly at Xue Mei.
"How could that be?" Xuemei sighed and sat down on the stool. "I just heard that the Earl went to visit his new concubine, so I came here specifically to see you."
"This Aunt Lin looks quite ordinary, but I didn't expect her to be so good at winning over the Earl."
“Even when the lady was ill, the Earl didn’t go to see her. Sister, you’re in such a state, yet the Earl is still thinking about his sweet romance with his new concubine.”
"Don't try to sow discord with me." Ye Jiaoniang's expression grew colder and colder. She said with disgust, "You should use that energy to take care of your pregnancy, so you don't end up like me."
"..."
When it came to the fetus in her womb, Xue Mei's expression betrayed her reservations.
The female doctor said that her baby was very likely a boy, and even if it was born out of wedlock, it would still be the eldest son of the Earl.
She had a hard life from a young age. She didn't ask for great wealth or status, but only hoped to have a son so that she would have someone to rely on for the rest of her life.
Xuemei gently placed one hand on her abdomen, looked at Ye Jiaoniang, and smiled: "Yes, I can't compare to the relationship between you and the Earl, but as long as you have the Earl's favor, you will have many opportunities in the future."
"but---"
Xuemei pursed her lips and said, "After such a fight with Madam today, even if you gain the Earl's favor in the future, I wonder if Madam will have someone prepare a contraceptive soup for you."
"..."
Ye Jiaoniang was startled.
Xuemei, however, had already slowly gotten up and, with Min'er's help, gracefully left the house.
"No, no..." Ye Jiaoniang's hands, hidden under the blanket, clenched tightly. "She wouldn't..."
Qin Sheng doesn't love Yin Wenxiao at all!
Although... she herself couldn't say whether she still loved that man, at least for now, Yin Wenxiao was the best fate Ye Jiaoniang could fight for for herself.
...
For the next period of time, both Madam Yin and Qin Sheng claimed to be ill, and doctors came every day to examine them, take their pulses, and prescribe medicine.
But for some reason, the old lady and the lady of the house showed no signs of improvement whatsoever.
Qin Sheng knew that she was faking illness, as did Madam Yin.
The two seemed to be competing with each other.
Although Qin Sheng did not leave the courtyard, he had people closely watching the actions of Old Madam Yin and Yin Wenxiao.
"Madam, Madam!" Caiyue rushed in. "Madam, the Earl went out early this morning, and my cousin just returned in his carriage!"
Qin Sheng was leaning against the kang (a heated brick bed) reading a book when she heard this. She looked up and asked, "Where did you go?"
“Qingfeng Hutong,” Caiyue said. “My cousin said that a strange woman lives in a house over there in Qingfeng Hutong.”
"..."
Qin Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and for some reason she thought of the woman who came to the Yin residence that day. That woman must be Ye Jiao's birth mother.
Could it be that Madam Yin and Yin Wenxiao arranged for the person to stay in a separate courtyard of the Yin family in Qingfeng Hutong?
Caiyue continued, "At first, my cousin thought that the Earl was keeping a mistress in the villa, but later he found out that the woman looked quite old, at least over thirty, and the Earl treated her very politely."
Unfortunately, Caiyue's cousin, Awei, didn't hear what the two of them were saying.
He waited in the courtyard, while the Earl and the woman were talking inside the house, their voices very soft.
"Tell your cousin he's done a great job." Qin Sheng smiled and pulled open a small drawer to the side, taking out a money bag. "There are ten taels of silver here, which is my reward for his hard work."
Caiyue quickly accepted it, saying, "This servant thanks Madam for the reward on behalf of my cousin."
While waiting for Caiyue to leave, Qin Sheng lost interest in reading.
She couldn't help but mentally go through the events of the past few days in chronological order.
If Ye Jiaoniang is indeed the daughter of the late Emperor Hui who was lost and wandering, what would Yin Wenxiao and his mother, Madam Yin, do?
In comparison, although Qin Sheng was the legitimate daughter of the Left Censorate, she could never compare to a princess of noble birth.
Given the profit-driven nature of that mother and son, will Yin Wenxiao divorce her?
Qin Sheng initially wanted to divorce Yin Wenxiao. Divorce and being abandoned by her husband would naturally have vastly different effects on her reputation.
She doesn't care about her reputation, but she has to consider her family.
My brother is not married yet. If there is a sister-in-law who has been divorced and returned to the family, which girl would dare to marry into the family in the future?
Can---
Qin Sheng couldn't explain why, but she had a very bad feeling; she felt like something terrible was about to happen.
...
Soon, the bad feeling that had been lingering in Qin Sheng's heart was confirmed.
Caiyue's cousin, Awei, said that the old master had been frequently visiting the house in Qingfeng Hutong these past few days. Not only the old master went there, but even the old lady, who was 'sick,' secretly went there once through the back door.
When the old lady visited, quite a few other people came to the mansion, and judging from their clothes and appearance, they were all wealthy and noble.
But Awei was just a stable boy; he couldn't get into the house, nor could he know who the other people inside were besides the Earl and the Old Madam.
However, while waiting for the Earl outside the courtyard, he saw a slightly older man with strange behavior.
Caiyue paused for a moment, then gestured and said, "My cousin said that the man looked to be at least fifty years old, but his chin was clean-shaven and he didn't have a beard. Also, when he walked, his body seemed to be unconsciously hunched over."
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