“Is she okay?” Asked Qiu Yelan. She hurried to Sheng Shishui even without changing her dress. The doctor hadn’t come yet. A flock of old maidservants and maids were standing in the corridor, being at a loss. A few concubines dressed gorgeously were standing in front of the group, whispering to each other with complicated expressions. Qiu Yelan ignored them, walking into the room directly. Sheng Shishui was lying in bed with a frown. Two dowry maids were serving beside the bed nervously. She rushed to inquire about her situation.
“Yelan, thanks for coming.” Greeted Sheng Shishui, attempting to sit up.
Qiu Yelan promptly grabbed her hand, saying, “Lie down! Don’t move… How about you now?” Before Sheng Shishui answered her question, she urged, “Where is the doctor? Did you send someone to ask for a doctor? When will he arrive?”
“Don’t be nervous!” Smiled Sheng Shishui with relief. She held her hand, saying, “I have sent a servant to ask for a doctor. He will arrive at any minute.”
“Where is the rose cake?” Qiu Yelan asked, looking at her face. She looked not bad. What a relief!
Sheng Shishui pursed her lips and raised her chin toward the table, “Look, only a little was left. We will see what’s going on after the doctor is here.”
“Is it…?” Qiu Yelan was not familiar with drugs. Her words prompted her to glance at the cake, which had been bit a small mouth. There was nothing wrong with its appearance. She again looked at Sheng Shishui’s belly and asked implicitly.
“I have no clue at all. When I bit it, I thought it tasted different from the ones I bit before,” said Sheng Shishui, pursing her lips. “And then I put it down… It wasn’t before long I felt a little short of breath.”
When they were talking about the cake, they heard a noise outside saying, “The doctor is here. The doctor is here!”
“Our lady is in her room. Please check what’s going on about her!”
“Doctor, please! Please save her life…”
Noticing Sheng Shishui and Qiu Yelan were unhappy about the noise, Xiaran pulled the sleeve of Sheng Shishui’s maid, saying, “Too much noise outside. You should go outside and warn them to be quiet. Don’t disturb your lady!”
Not knowing the people outside said it intentionally or unintentionally, they even dared beg the doctor to save her life brazenly. What they said was to curse Sheng Shishui to die as soon as possible.
The maid looked at Sheng Shishui with a dumb expression. Sheng Shishui managed to force a smile, “Forget it!”
Qiu Yelan frowned after noticing she was unmoved, “I will go and ask them to be quiet!”
She hurried to go outside, seeing a grey hair old man with a toddler walking slowly toward her. Judging from Qiu Yelan’s gorgeous dress, they promptly saluted her.
“Sheng Shishui is inside. Please come in!” said Qiu Yelan with a smile. She opened the door for them, beckoning them to get in. She just stood at the door, looking at the noisy people outside with a fake smile.
Being stared by her, the people started to be quiet.
In a moment, the people realized that Qiu Yelan continued staring at them, not intending to return to the room. They kept quiet completely. Even the sound of cicadas’ chirping seemed to lower much.
“We all know that she just got pregnant. I also know you are kind to care about her. But, with so many people talking over here, I don’t think they can hear the doctor clearly inside,” said Qiu Yelan. Seeing the people flinch, she did not lash out at them as they imagined. Instead, she said softly, “So, my sister let me tell you, you all go home first.”
“Yes, my lady!” The people answered discreetly. Realizing Qiu Yelan did not plan to make things difficult for them, they had a sigh of relief. They hurried to walk away after paying a salute to her. Surely, they should be scared. They all knew that Qiu Yelan slapped her sister-in-law not long ago. And what was more, she was not punished after the slap! Let alone the maids and concubines. So, it was better to go away when she was gentle.
Seeing them going away, Qiu Yelan returned to the room. The doctor had finished his diagnosis and was writing a prescription by the window.
The room was so quiet that the atmosphere was almost stagnant.
Depending on the sight in the room, it was easy to tell that her illness was not light.
Qiu Yelan thought for a while, deciding to leave the doctor to finish his work. She walked to Sheng Shishui and asked softly, “Shishui, what did the doctor say about you?”
Sheng Shishui looked frustrated. She said, “I’m afraid that you have to tell grandmother…”
She took a deep breath and subconsciously stroked her belly, saying with a trembling voice, “The doctor told me that the rose cake contained the gelsemium elegan powder, which can kill people. Luckily, I did not eat much. The doctor said that I am okay… But the baby I am carrying…” Speaking of this, although she was always calm, she couldn’t help the tears falling from her eyes!
Qiu Yelan felt very depressed! Although she had expected something that would happen to Sheng Shishui, she still felt frustrated when she heard in person–there were only three sisters-in-law in the fourth branch. Two of them had suffered a lot within less than one month since her living in the family! She knew that the rumor about her would be spread in days. It must be like Qiu Yelan was a jinx. Accidents happened often after she got married and lived in the family.
“Luckily, Yashuang does not have concubines. Or I would kill them for my safety after seeing the loss Madame Tao Junior and Sheng Shishui suffered!” She tried to hold back her emotions to comfort Sheng Shishui with a serious face. She talked with the doctor about her situation in detail, got a copy of the prescription, and then said goodbye to Sheng Shishui. She was in a hurry to meet Madame Tao.
In the first place, she did not expect that she could meet Madame Tao shortly. Jiang Yazhu’s status was inferior to Jiang Yadan and Sheng Shishui was not in a severe condition. What was more, as the people from the Tao Family had been here, Jiang Yadan and his wife, their servants and maids had been waiting in the room for being interrogated by the Madame. Unexpectedly, after Qiu Yelan arrived, a maid said to her that Madame Tao asked her to wait for her in the Flower Hall, “Madame will meet you after she has a cup of tea.”
She was stunned, asking in a low voice, “How about Madame Tao Junior?”
“They were talking nonsense. What they said made Madame outraged!” The maid knew that Madame Tao liked her much, so she continued to whisper, “At the moment, she heard that the young lady Shishui was almost murdered. Madame rushed here, leaving them behind. She wants to ask you about her condition!”
As they were talking, Madame Tao walked into the door with the help of Mom Hu.
“Grandmother!” Greeted Qiu Yelan, paying her salute.
“Be seated. Tell me everything. How about Sheng Shishui now?” Asked Madame Tao seriously. She walked directly to the top seat and settled herself down. And then she pointed to the lower seat and asked.
Qiu Yelan realized that she was really furious about what was happening in the family. She pursed her lips and told her everything she knew. She stressed the noise made by the concubines and maids when the doctor was coming and the words which, on the surface, seemed to care about Sheng Shishui, but in essence, cursed her. “… To simply put, Shishui is very scared. She is afraid that the baby may dead… The doctor did not give us a specific result. So, Shishui asked me to come here, telling grandmother what has happened to her. Grandmother, please help her!”
“Boom!” Madame Tao smacked her hand down on to the table. She commanded Mom Hu, “Go to Shishui’s house, get all her servants, maids and housekeepers over here… Now!”
Madame was already in a bad mood. But now, the accident happened in Jiang Yazhu’s house. The servants, maids and housekeepers served as a vent to her anger.
Unexpectedly, after all the people serving in Jiang Yazhu’s house arrived, Madame just ordered a whipping for everyone without even asking a question in the first place. She then chose two concubines and one housekeeper to interrogate after they were whipped badly.
As Jiang Yazhu hadn’t had a high status in the Jiang Family, and what was more, Madame showed her ruthlessness in the first place, the interrogation went smoothly. Within half an hour, the whole story was clear: Yanniang, a maid-turned-concubine got pregnant. She was about to tell the news to everyone when she heard that the lady of the house also got pregnant. In order to get care and attention, Yanniang used her aunt who was serving in the kitchen. She pretended to visit her aunt and took a chance to mix the gelsemium elegan powder into the ingredients of the rose cake that was prepared for Sheng Shishui.
“Get Yanniang out and drown her in the river,” Madame Tao commanded seriously after hearing their confession. “Anyone who is related to her, no matter he or she was involved in this case, must be sent out of the house! And what’s more, is Jiang Yazhu at home now? If he is at home, get him over here!!!”
Mom Hu coughed, “Madame, Yanniang, she is carrying… The young master’s baby…”
“Sheng Shishui is also pregnant,” said Madame Tao coldly. “It proves that Yazhu may have many children in the future. Who will care a child given birth by a cheap concubine! Go, drown her today. Make it as a warning for others!”
Mom Hu stopped talking immediately.
“You go and bring some gifts to see Shishui in the name of me,” said Madame tiredly. She continued to say with a sigh, “Tell Yelan what’s going on here, and ask her to do Shuijin a favor, to carry out a rectification movement. We need to avoid any more of this kind of accident, which has made wives live as if they were walking on thin ice!”
Madame glanced at the hall seriously when she said the last words!
Mom Hu accepted her order, rushing to the Sheng Shishui’s house. She delivered Madame Tao’s care and told her the punishment result. Sheng Shishui was good at reading people because of her living experience. After hearing the delivered words, she expressed her appreciation. However, she began to be hesitant after that.
Realizing she wanted to say something, Mom Hu asked promptly, “My lady, do you have difficulties? Please don’t hesitate to tell me! Madame has instructed me before I came over. She told me that as you suffered a lot, if you have any difficulties, just tell her and she would help you!”
Seeing Sheng Shishui wanted to say something but not opened her mouth, Qiu Yelan, who had reported the case to Madame Tao a moment ago and returned to Sheng Shishui’s room later, was stunned. The punishment Madame Tao did was partial much to Sheng Shishui. She helped her get rid of her opponents in the house. And what was more, when Madame Tao got rid of Yanniang, she also killed the baby that Yanniang was carrying. Against this backdrop, if Sheng Shuijin required more, she must overreact.
Surely, Sheng Shishui would not make such a stupid mistake.
It was as expected, she hesitated for seconds, and then she opened her mouth, “As grandmother cared me so much, I have no difficulty at all… But… Despite the fact that Yanniang is a malicious woman, the baby she is carrying is my husband’s baby. I think… No matter what… Don’t kill the baby?”
Her words surprised everyone in the room. Sheng Shishui’s dowry maid felt so unfair that she plucked “My lady” out of air. Sheng Shishui stared at her, which made her stop talking immediately.
After a short awkward silence, Sheng Shishui began to hold back her tears, whispering, “I just think that we are not sure what will happen to the baby I am carrying. If… I mean in case of… Yanniang’s baby. They can support each other in the future, right?”
Looking at her sister-in-law who tried to pretend to be nice, Qiu Yelan thought for a while with a complicated sight in her eyes. But she said nothing in the end.
Mom Hu paused for a while and said, “As you said so. I will go back and report to Madame… But Madame is very angry about the case. Whether she would agree or not, I am not sure. After all, Yanniang is a concubine and she did a very bad thing. No matter a boy or a girl she will give birth to, her baby is definitely inferior to your baby.”
After Mom Hu went back, Sheng Shishui rubbed her face, smiling to Qiu Yelan tiredly, “Sorry, make you see this.”
“Don’t say that. Yanniang is lucky to have you, the lady of the house,” Qiu Yelan smiled. She stood up and said, “It’s late now. I must go home and cook… What do you want to have, Shishui?”
“You have been here, staying with me for a whole day. And you also helped me to report to grandmother. How can I dare ask you to cook for me? Just ask Mrs. Li to cook one or two dishes for me. I am not a picky eater,” said Sheng Shishui promptly.
Qiu Yelan said, “That’s all right. Anyway, I will cook for Yashuang. I will cook dishes for you at the same time.”
Qiu Yelan was so generous that Sheng Shishui couldn’t refuse. She chose some dishes which were easy to cook. Qiu Yelan wrote them down and said goodbye. After arriving at her yard, Su He couldn’t help but ask, “My lady, why did the young lady Shishui want to save Yanniang’s baby? What if that child is raised with hatred?”