Jiang Xinrou came out of the Zanyun Pavilion and whispered to the maid beside her, "Qiuhe, look at this piece of warm jade. It's really nice. When your husband comes back, give it to him. He can wear it every day to keep warm."
Xia Yun pouted and said unhappily, "Miss, you are too good to your son-in-law. You give him all the good things."
"Your hands and feet are obviously cold, so you need this warm jade even more. Even though it's spring now, the weather is still cold."
She smiled softly, with an indescribable tranquility and gentleness: "It doesn't matter, as long as my husband is fine, I'm fine. Besides, it's not like you, little girl, haven't seen how my husband treats me."
Qiu He glanced around casually, then her gaze suddenly paused. That was... her son-in-law?
But didn’t my son-in-law say he was going out of town today? Why is he nearby?
She frowned and said, "Miss, I just saw my son-in-law. He's in the alley over there."
Jiang Xinrou was stunned and looked at her in surprise: "Qiuhe, what are you talking about? My husband is out of town on an errand, how could he be in the city? Maybe you saw it wrongly?"
"No, I have always had good eyesight, so there is no way I would be wrong. Miss, why don't you follow and take a look? I wonder what the son-in-law is here for."
"This... wouldn't be a good idea? What if my husband has something important to do and I disturb him?"
Xia Yun yelled at the side: "Miss, just go and take a look. No matter what they are doing, but the son-in-law said he went out of the city but didn't leave, so he was lying. Go and see what they are doing."
Jiang Xinrou thought about it and realized that it was just a matter of going over to take a look. There was nothing to worry about.
The master, servant and two others followed and soon came to a courtyard at the end. The door was slightly ajar but not locked.
"It's strange, why did the son-in-law come to this yard? Why not go to the rental agency and ask about this yard to see who lives there."
"Okay, then go ask."
Qiu He raised her head and glanced at the yard. She felt something was wrong and said, "Wait a minute, Miss. How about I ask the neighbor in the next yard? The neighbors should know the situation best."
Jiang Xinrou nodded and said with a smile, "Okay, be polite and don't disturb others."
"Yes, I understand."
Standing at the gate of the next yard, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Soon a woman opened the door and looked at them warily: "Who are you looking for?"
Qiu He took out a tael of silver and handed it over, saying softly, "Hello, Auntie. I wanted to ask you if the yard next door is for sale. My daughter wants to buy the yard here."
When the woman saw the silver, her eyes lit up instantly.
He hurriedly reached out to take it, a flattering smile on his stiff face, stepped aside and said, "Please come in, we'll talk inside."
"Why, is there something wrong in the next yard?"
The woman looked a little strange, and hesitated to speak. "Come in and we'll talk about this. And if I tell you today, you're not allowed to tell anyone. I'm afraid of getting in trouble."
The three of them looked at each other and walked in.
He looked at the somewhat dilapidated courtyard, slowly withdrew his gaze, sat on the stone bench, and naturally would not touch the tea brought by the woman.
The woman also sat down, looked around cautiously, and lowered her voice: "You'd better not buy the yard next door. That's rented by the top scholar for his concubine to live in."
"The children are already two or three, how can I give up the yard? If you like it, you can buy my yard. It's very nice."
"Don't think it's just a little broken, but it's very convenient if you want to peek into the yard next door. Come on, I'll take you to have a look. It's really embarrassing."
Jiang Xinrou sat there in a daze, her mind going blank.
Her lips were trembling. "Auntie, you just said that the courtyard next door belongs to a top scholar, who rented it... rented it to his concubine, and he has three children."
The woman nodded and said in surprise, "Miss, why are you asking this? Everyone around here knows that Miss Lian'er is a lucky girl."
"What does it matter if it's a concubine? My husband is as gentle as jade, and the child is lively and cute. He will be raised under the name of the legitimate mother and will be her legitimate son. After the legitimate mother dies, everything will belong to her..."
Xia Yun scolded in a low voice: "How dare you! You are so bold."
Jiang Xinrou glanced at Xia Yun and suppressed her trembling: "Xia Yun, be quiet, don't interrupt your aunt."
"Auntie, who said all this? That young man or...that Miss Lian'er? I find it very interesting. Could it be that the mistress of the house knows nothing about it?"
The woman was a little frightened and pursed her lips, not wanting to say anything more.
Qiu He vaguely realized something and thought that he might know a bigger secret today, so he quickly took out two taels of silver and put them on the table.
"Aunt, just speak freely. If my young lady is satisfied, you can buy this yard."
"Really? If you're willing to buy the yard, you can ask anything you want. I'll tell you the truth."
By the time the woman finished her babble, an incense stick of time had passed.
Jiang Xinrou twisted the handkerchief tightly, biting her lips until they bled, and a few words escaped her lips: "Qiuhe, go to the bank to get the silver and buy this yard. I will move out today."
"I like this yard very much and want to move in today."
"...Ah, you're so anxious."
"As long as you are willing to give two thousand taels, everything will be fine."
A moment later, Qiu He returned, holding the land deeds and house deeds in her hands, and said worriedly, "Miss, don't think too much. Perhaps there is some misunderstanding here."
Jiang Xinrou stood up and stumbled over, standing by the wall, looking through the gap at the yard next door. A man and a woman were sitting in the yard, and three children were jumping around.
If that man is not her husband, then who is he?
From the moment she saw her husband, something was broken and it would never be possible to go back to the way it was before. Her body was trembling.
She thought that when the bracelet medicine didn't exist, everything would remain the same as before, but she didn't expect that some things had been planned from the beginning and she would not give in at all.
She looked at the heartwarming scene in a self-torturing manner, smiled miserably, tears dripping down her cheeks, and turned around and said weakly, "I want to be alone, you guys keep watching."
Xia Yun looked at her back with concern, gritting his teeth and saying, "Sister Qiuhe, is your brother-in-law crazy? Why would he treat Miss like this? How has Miss done anything wrong to him?"
Qiu He's eyes were complicated, and she whispered, "Sometimes, the truth is more cruel than what we see. Miss is infertile after all."
"Or maybe she was plotted against and can't have children. Who knows!"
"...Hmm? What does this mean? Even if the son-in-law is cruel, he wouldn't drug the young lady and make her unable to have children."
Xia Yun lay on the wall and looked over there. The son-in-law took the concubine in his arms and leaned over to kiss her. This scene made people feel cold.
"Qiu, Sister Qiu, why is my uncle so scary?"
Qiu He wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes and sighed, "I don't know the reason behind this, but it's definitely not a good thing. Now we can only wait and see what the young lady will do next."
"If you continue to pretend you don't know and deceive yourself, then the concubine's child will be adopted. Then you will be squeezed dry of everything. Will you still have a chance to survive?"
Xia Yun took a breath of cold air: "..."
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