Chapter 56 Young Master Xiao Protects His Wife
Yang and the others still held onto a glimmer of hope, claiming they were pregnant, and that the jailers would let them go. However, after Yun Jiaoyue bluntly exposed their lie, they were anxious but dared not reveal it.
They were gambling, hoping that Yun Zhaoxue's boldness and intelligence would allow her to slip through the net and keep the silver, giving her more security on her journey to exile.
If they were unfortunately discovered by the prison guards, they would immediately rush forward to shield Yun Zhaoxue from the whip.
"My belly is swollen because I'm pregnant. Just now, the police officer touched my belly with a knife, and I didn't let him touch it out of a mother's instinct to protect her child."
Shen Yan's younger sister, Shen Qingyu, said, "How long have you been pregnant? How can your belly be so big? You must have hidden some silver."
Yun Zhaoxue was curious about how she remembered the exact month of her pregnancy so clearly.
"Is it big? What does your belly look like when you're more than two months pregnant?"
A woman with pregnancy experience said, "The belly isn't that big at two months of pregnancy; it should be smaller."
Shen Qingyu shouted, "She cheated on him! The child isn't Xiao Shizi's!"
Yun Zhaoxue felt an urge to slap her, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She glared at her and said, "Were you hiding under my bed when I was cheating on you? A young lady who is not married yet constantly talks about cheating, how shameless! Whether I cheated on you or not, my husband knows."
"The child is mine!"
Yang didn't stand up for her daughter-in-law, saying, "Xue'er is thin, her belly is just showing."
There was a royal physician among the exiled troops.
The imperial physician explained to everyone, "If a woman is already pregnant in the second month and her belly is already showing, it is often due to water retention in the uterus, commonly known as 'water pregnancy,' or it may be twins, which is a sign of multiple pregnancies. The former feels like a sack of water when pressed, while the latter has a slippery pulse like pearls rolling on a plate."
Yun Zhaoxue pretended to rub her eyes and wipe away tears, "Water pregnancy? Multiple pregnancies? That must be so heavy. I have to walk during exile, and I can barely walk by myself. How am I supposed to carry such a big belly?"
Everyone thought that she wouldn't survive to the place of exile while pregnant, unless she miscarried now. Exposing the fetus would be harmful to her health, and she would need to rest in bed for a month. They were all in a hurry to set off, and they didn't have much time to waste on her.
Thinking of her tragic fate, and then of themselves, they wondered if they too would not survive until they reached the place of exile.
Her emotions affected everyone, and they too began to sob softly.
Shen Qingyu continued to jump out and say, "Don't be fooled by her, everyone. She's definitely hiding something."
Yun Zhaoxue slapped her at the banquet and even plotted to make her best friend Qin Yurong lose her virginity to a lowly guard.
She will get all these debts back from that bitch Yun Zhaoxue.
Wu also hated Yun Zhaoxue to the core and stood up to report, saying, "Officer, we saw it from the cell opposite hers. They hid things in their stomachs and heard them saying something about pretending to be pregnant to get away with it."
Those standing behind Yun Zhaoxue were all worried for her.
The jailers beat people without blinking an eye; she has delicate skin and might not be able to withstand even one lash.
Xiao Xuance stepped forward to block Yun Zhaoxue and said in a deep voice, "Officer, it is against the rules to have your wife lift her clothes in front of so many people."
“You’re about to be exiled, what’s the point of talking about rules? You’re the one with all the rules. Hurry up and take them off, or you’ll get whipped.”
Suddenly, the Third Prince spoke up, "Xue'er, if you speak up, I can put in a good word for you."
Yun Zhaoxue, "..."
Should she beg him?
Are you out of your mind?
It's unclear whether he was deliberately humiliating her or Xiao Xuance.
If she speaks up, people will definitely suspect that the two of them are having an affair, or they will think that Xiao Xuance is a good-for-nothing who can't even protect his own wife and children.
If it were the original owner, she would have happily agreed and then skipped and jumped over to throw herself into the Third Prince's arms.
Xiao Xuance's knuckles tightened suddenly, his eyes drooped slightly, and his long eyelashes cast a shadow under his eyes. A hint of gloom and self-loathing flashed across his eyes.
Just when he thought Yun Zhaoxue would agree.
A clear, cool voice rang out, "Thank you for your kindness, Third Cousin, but I don't need it."
She doesn't need it, she really doesn't need it.
If the space can't even hide this little bit of stuff, it needs to be rebuilt.
Xiao Xuance looked at her in surprise.
Yun Zhaoxue met his gaze. [What are you looking at? You should be grateful I didn't cheat on you.]
"Lift up her belly." Wu Chuang had completely lost his patience and used the hilt of his knife to poke at her stomach.
Xiao Xuance gripped the hilt of the sword and pushed hard.
Wu Chuang staggered half a step, yet he still dared to resist—he was practically courting death!
Madam Yang felt that saving her life was the most important thing right now, and whispered, "Xue'er, perhaps..."
Yun Zhaoxue quickly interrupted her, saying, "Mother, it's alright, I can handle it."
A whip lashed out at them, "Crack!"
Xiao Xuance grabbed the whip.
Wu Chuang pulled hard, but the whip didn't budge in his hand.
Enraged, he growled, "Let go! You think you can do the opposite of what you want?"
Yun Zhaoxue lifted the hem of her dress, revealing her inner garment and slightly protruding belly, and said impatiently, "Look, look, what's so interesting about a pregnant belly? Haven't you ever seen your mother give birth to an idiot?"
Yun Jiaoyue and the others looked puzzled. "No? How is that possible?"
"Why not? They took all our valuables when they raided our homes, and now they want us to pay up? They might as well just skin us alive."
Wu Chuang wanted to find something on her so he could whip the couple, but he found nothing. He was filled with anger and had nowhere to vent it.
"If you don't have one, why don't you just lift it earlier? You're wasting time."
Yun Zhaoxue retorted with a cold laugh, "Would you let your wife undress in front of other men? I may be a prisoner, but I am a person, and more importantly, a woman. Blame those few who loved to watch the drama and misled you officers, which caused the delay."
Wu Chuang was frustrated that he had nowhere to vent his anger, but after her reminder, he remembered that there was still an outlet for his anger.
He couldn't touch Yun Jiaoyue and Shen Qingyu because they were protected by the Third Prince, but there was one person he could touch.
They walked towards the back of the line and pulled Wu out.
Wu looked terrified, her hands trembling as she raised them to her chest. "Officer, spare me! Spare me! Officer, spare me!"
"You're lying through your teeth. She wasn't hiding anything on her body, yet you claim to have seen and heard it. I'll beat you to death."
Wu Chuang ignored her pleas and mercilessly lashed the whip at her.
"Slap! Slap! Slap!"
"Ah! Help! Help me! Ahhhhh!!!"
While others received two lashes, she was lashed three times, leaving a bloody welt on her cheek from the whip's tail. Her tattered prison uniform was torn to shreds.
Wu was thrown back into the line to continue the inspection. After the inspection, the line was led towards the door.
Passersby stared at them curiously, wondering, "What did these people do wrong? Why are there so many of them? There must be three or four hundred of them."
"Wow, so many people! I've never seen so many people being exiled before."
"You don't know yet? The Third Prince and the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion have both been exiled today."
"I know that the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion has colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country, but what other crimes has the Third Prince and others committed?"
"I heard that at the Third Prince's wedding banquet, a mysterious Taoist priest said that the Third Prince was destined to be an emperor and that the Third Prince's wife was born with the destiny of a phoenix. However, when the couple bowed to each other, a dragon and a phoenix appeared and became entangled with each other. Weapons were also found in his mansion, so he was probably planning to rebel and was exiled by the emperor."
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