Yu Yichen sat down again and said, "Now is not the time to think about these things. Get some rest."
This was probably the last time he would ever come up to this small building. Looking back at the little house she lived in, it was exactly as he had imagined: a small bed, a low cabinet, and nothing else. She had survived a brush with death in this room without even a window, and now she would still be in this little house deciding where she would go and what to do for the rest of her life.
Madam Su watched Yu Yichen descend the small building, then lifted her skirt and shuffled out to the east market to find the messenger to deliver a message to her aunt. Now that Zhenshu was pregnant, Du Yu should come forward to discuss how to resolve this matter. However, since she was to be the mother-in-law, regardless of her son-in-law's background, he had to first demonstrate the qualities of a mother-in-law. Therefore, it was best for Madam Su to discuss this matter with Du Yu herself.
Madam Su didn't dare go upstairs. She waited outside the small building for a long time before the messenger came running up, panting, and said, "Madam, Miss Su had her legs run over by a carriage a couple of days ago and is now lying at home. She's afraid she can't come to run errands for you. But she asked me to tell you that since that's the case, you might as well personally deliver the girl to her door. That Mr. Du will have to take her even if he doesn't want her."
Su was both anxious and angry. She took out a copper coin and gave it to the messenger, saying, "In that case, please make another trip to the Censorate to deliver a letter to Inspector Du and ask him to come to my house."
The messenger took the letter and ran off again. Mrs. Su was still downstairs, frantic as an ant on a hot plate.
The whole affair was orchestrated by Aunt Su. She only intended to change Zhenshu's temperament, but unexpectedly, she got pregnant on the first try. Now that Zhenshu is pregnant, not only is she stubborn, but it's also uncertain whether Du Yu will still be willing to have her.
The messenger had been gone for less than a quarter of an hour when Du Yu arrived, carrying his hat and covered in sweat. Seeing Madam Su standing downstairs, he clasped his hands in greeting and asked, "What brings you here, Madam?"
Madam Su took two steps closer and whispered, "Zhenshu is pregnant. She's already three months along and the pregnancy is stable. What should we do?"
Du Yu was first startled, then delighted, and turned to push open the door and run upstairs.
Zhen Shu had fallen asleep again, but the sound of his footsteps woke her up, so she sat up and bowed her head, saying, "I'm sorry."
Du Yu hurriedly said, "No, it's me who should apologize."
Zhenshu said, "After you left, a boy came to our Cai Family Temple and said his name was Tengsheng. Was he your servant?"
Du Yu said, "Yes, I told him to get rid of that lion dog, and also to take the money of the people around him at the time, and to go find you for me, to put down some silver notes first, so that I can marry you when I come back."
Zhen Shu said, "That day I was upset and ran into him by the Wei River. Tong Qisheng was also there, but I left in a hurry because I didn't want to get entangled with him. Who knew that Tong Qisheng would later kill him."
Du Yu asked, "Who is Tong Qisheng?"
Zhen Shu said, "It's the student I told you about back then, the one who verbally agreed to marry me."
Du Yu frowned and stroked his eyes, saying, "I thought he had been killed or kidnapped by the Tartars, but who knew he would find you?"
Zhen Shu said, "At that time, I'm afraid everyone in Huixian County knew my name. It wouldn't have been difficult for him to find me. I was too young then and couldn't think things through properly. I handed him over to Tong Qisheng and left. Perhaps the money he was carrying was exposed, which made Tong Qisheng want to kill him, and he died a wrongful death."
Du Yu gripped the hilt of his sword and asked, "Where is Tong Qisheng now?"
Seeing that he looked like he was about to kill someone, Zhen Shu quickly stopped him, saying, "He served as a secretary in the Ministry of Justice for a year, and now he has probably already been beaten to death by Yu Yichen's men."
Du Yu sat down again and said, "I heard from your mother that you are pregnant."
Zhen Shu said, "Yes."
Seeing that she was unrecognizable in appearance and figure, and calculating that more than three months had passed since their affair, Du Yu asked again, "Why isn't your belly bulging?"
Zhen Shu said, "It takes four or five months for a pregnant belly to swell; it's not that easy."
Du Yu said, "If you don't mind, we can move to my little courtyard. I'll hire two people to take good care of you during childbirth."
Zhenshu shook her head and said, "Although I am pregnant, I have no intention of marrying you. I do not love you, and it would be too much of a loss for you to marry me."
Du Yu asked, "So what do you plan to do?"
Zhenshu shook her head again: "I don't know. Things happened too suddenly. Let me think about it carefully."
Du Yu was so happy that he couldn't help but laugh. But Zhen Shu looked so sad, and he was afraid that if he laughed, he would disgust her. So he forced himself to sit there with a sorrowful expression until Zhen Shu urged him to get up and go downstairs.
When he got downstairs, he saw Huang Zijing standing there as well. He clasped his hands in farewell to Su and the other woman and walked around the corner before patting Huang Zijing on the shoulder and laughing loudly, "My wife is pregnant."
After thinking about it for a while, Huang Zijing said, "So, boss, you succeeded last time."
Du Yu said, "What do you know? Come on, let's buy some big fish, big meat, big chicken and big duck to nourish her properly and make her belly bulge."
After saying that, he gritted his teeth and said, "First, go to the Ministry of Justice and find a doctor surnamed Tong. Even if he dies, I'll poke two more holes in him and drag him down to hell with me."
In fact, Tong Qisheng was not dead. On the contrary, he was now surrounded by many imperial physicians treating his injuries. His face was distorted from Yu Yichen's punches, and he kept muttering to himself. Privy Councilor Wang Zhen listened with his eyes closed, while his short, stout daughter beside him clutched her handkerchief and wept bitterly.
An official brought in a young man from outside the door. Wang Zhen quickly stepped forward and asked, "What did Du Wu say?"
The young man shook his head and said, "Duke Du said that he himself is in dire need of protection, please take care of yourself, sir."
"That damn Du Wu!" Wang Zhen angrily swung his hand and cursed, "I've been protecting him all these years, but when it comes to my own troubles, he just hides away."
Another young man rushed in, and Wang Zhen went up to him and asked, "What did the Sage say?"
The young man also shook his head: "The sage said that she herself has difficulty protecting herself, let alone helping the adults!"
Wang Zhen paced back and forth in anger. When he saw a servant bring in some medicine, he knocked it over and said, "Why are you feeding this shallow and ignorant person any medicine? What kind of treatment is this? Get out of here right now!"
Soon after, a commotion erupted outside the courtyard as family members and servants screamed and pushed their way into the courtyard where Wang Zhen was. Imperial guards with spears also rushed in. Xu Xiuxian cleared a path and escorted Yu Yichen into the courtyard.
Yu Yichen was a eunuch, and a very wicked one at that. But he was exceptionally handsome, with a slender figure and captivating demeanor, neither male nor female, possessing a certain alluring charm. People tend to be more forgiving and expectant of those with outstanding appearances, even if they are utterly depraved and commit heinous acts; subconsciously, they will always find a way to explain away the possibility that they were not acting out of their own free will.
But today, his expression was that of a demon in a fit of rage. He held a sword behind his back, stretched out his hands to have Sun Yuan tie the black cloak around his neck, tilted his head back and told him to tighten the front straps, before looking at Wang Zhen, whose hands had already been bound by the Imperial Guards, and asked in a shrill voice, "Where is Tong Qisheng?"
Wang Zhen screamed, "I'll give that guy to you, but Eunuch Yu, think carefully. You can't arrest me. If you arrest me, who in the world can stand against Du Wu? You're only doing this for someone else..."
Yu Yichen waved his hand, ordering his men to drag Wang Zhen away. He then saw a short, plump woman inside the hall and had her cleared out. He then ordered his guards to stand watch at the door. He glanced at the plaque and sneered, "What a fine 'Eternal Reputation'."
He entered the inner hall, and Mei Xun immediately stepped forward to close the door. Everyone stood outside holding their breath, watching as Tong Qisheng's wailing gradually subsided until it finally stopped. After a long while, Yu Yichen opened the door himself. Sun Yuan hurriedly stepped forward, handing Yu Yichen a handkerchief to wipe his hands, and took the sword from him.
After wiping his hands, Yu Yichen took off his cloak and threw it to Sun Yuan. He then went out and instructed Xu Xiu, "Hang Tong Qisheng at the city gate as a warning. Arrest everyone in this prefecture and send them to Yingtian Prefecture. Send Wang Zhen to my residence separately."
This was a perfect opportunity, allowing him to both vent his anger and eliminate a formidable obstacle. After learning the true purpose of Prince Ping's return to the capital, Yu Yichen had been racking his brains, trying to figure out which of these two strongholds, Wang Zhen and Du Wu, should be taken down first to benefit the future situation.
He was no longer willing to fight, so he left with his beloved woman, went into seclusion, and lived a normal life, seeking the ordinary happiness he had never longed for in his life.
☆、116|Desperate Situation
But life was so cruel to him, as if the heavens and earth were against him, pushing him to the brink of despair time and time again.
His murderous intent resurfaced and became uncontrollable.
Zhenshu lay in bed for two whole days, racking her brains but unable to come up with a solution. The first time she had been intimate with Du Yu, Su Shi had reminded her to go out twice to buy abortion pills, fearing that her pregnancy would become too big and expose her, only to find it was a false alarm. This time, however, she was completely unprepared and actually became pregnant, and more than three months had passed in the blink of an eye. She was no longer a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl who could be so ruthless as to do anything.
She also wanted a child, a delicate little girl like Zhenyu's daughter or Zhenyuan's Xi'er, someone she could cuddle and hold all day without getting tired or annoyed. Ever since she agreed to marry Yu Yichen, she had long since given up the idea of having children in this life. Now that she had a child, and it was Du Yu's, it seemed that the marriage could no longer proceed for Yu Yichen.
Fortunately, the weather is getting colder and everyone is wearing thick cotton-padded coats and long coats. She is already tall and slender, so even if her belly is a little big, people will just think that she has just gained weight. It won't be noticeable in the next few months.
That day, she had just driven away Du Yu, who had been personally humbly cooking fish soup in the kitchen, when she arrived at the shop and saw a servant from Zhenyu's household standing at the door. Upon seeing Zhenshu, the servant stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Manager Song, my lady requests your presence."
Zhenshu, not knowing what business she had come to see, went back inside to put on a very large, thick coat before leaving the mounting shop with the servant. Du Yu was chatting with Huang Zijing outside the shop when he saw Zhenshu come out and hurriedly ran over to ask, "Where are you going, madam? I'll take you there."
Zhenshu said, "I don't need you to take me. I can walk there myself."
Du Yu then asked, "Should I hire a carriage?"
Zhenshu had already walked quickly forward: "I finally got out for a walk, why do I have to take a carriage?"
Du Yu chuckled and followed behind, quietly asking Huang Zijing, "Do you see your belly is a little bulging?"
Huang Zijing shook his head and said, "I can't tell, but her chest seems to have swelled up a lot."
Du Yu patted Huang Zijing on the head and said, "Look where you should look. What are you doing, always glancing around like that?"
Upon reaching the gate of Zhenyu's residence, Du Yu stopped, turned around, and deliberately walked back. Zhenshu knew he was afraid of running into Dou Mingluan, so she sneered twice and went inside. Zhenyu's house no longer had an underfloor heating system, although several braziers were burning, but it wasn't as warm and smokeless as an underfloor heating system, and she herself had blisters on her lips from the smoke.
Seeing Zhenshu enter, Zhenyu looked up at Jichun and said, "Go and bring the Fourth Miss here."
Zhenshu exclaimed in surprise, "You actually found Zhenxiu?"
Zhenyu also sneered: "If she hadn't run to the Ministry of Justice crying to collect Tong Qisheng's body, I really wouldn't have been able to find her."
Zhenshu asked, "Where has she been hiding for over a year?"
Zhenyu said, "Hiding in brothels, living with those prostitutes, I heard she was pregnant and miscarried, I'm afraid she's slept with countless clients. Second Uncle is a scholar, he can sell his calligraphy and paintings for money, how could he raise such a shameless bunch of daughters? Zhenyuan is pregnant and no one wants her, she's looking for a husband everywhere, while you're going to marry a eunuch. Zhenxiu is hiding in a brothel as a head prostitute, and Zhenyi? She's just a little prostitute, all she knows is dressing up and flaunting her charms."
Zhenshu said in a low voice, "If you want to scold me and Zhenxiu, then go ahead. Eldest sister has finally gotten married, while Zhenyi hasn't found a good match yet. You really shouldn't be so harsh on them."
Zhenyu said, "Am I wrong? It's one thing to deal with my third uncle, since people in other counties don't know. And we don't need to worry about my fourth uncle having two sons. Do you know how much reputation I've ruined for you? I still have Nannan. With an aunt like you who has such a good reputation, how will she be able to negotiate marriage with wealthy and powerful families in the future?"
Everyone in the capital gossiped about Zhenshu behind her back; she was used to it. This was the first time her own sisters had insulted her to her face. But the truth was undeniable, leaving her no room for argument. Zhenshu's legs were getting tired, and she braced herself against her back, wanting to rub her stomach, but fearing Zhenyu would notice and become even angrier, she endured the backache. Just then, two middle-aged maids brought in a woman bound with ropes.
Upon closer inspection, Zhenshu exclaimed in surprise, "Zhenxiu, what happened to you?"
Zhenxiu forced the servant woman to kneel on the ground, unable to get up. When she saw Zhenshu, she cried, "Second sister, please save me!"
In the Song family, Zhenyu was the second son, and in the second branch of the family, Zhenshu was the second son. Therefore, Zhenyu thought Zhenxiu was calling her and sneered, "I'll save you if you spit out the silver."
Zhenshu was about to go over and untie her when the maidservant said coldly, "Miss, she is a prisoner we captured with great difficulty. If you release her, don't blame us for turning against you."
Zhenshu's stomach was a little bloated and she couldn't squat down, so she knelt on one knee and asked Zhenxiu, "Did you really take their money?"
Zhenxiu shook her head and said, "Second sister, I really didn't."
Ji Chun took a small table and placed it to the side. Zhen Yu came over and sat down, saying, "Although Tong Qisheng has married the daughter of Vice Minister Wang, the court is not run by Vice Minister Wang's family. He doesn't oversee the Six Ministries. It is said that the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice cost 50,000 taels of silver. Did you not get it by chance or did it fall from the sky?"
Zhenxiu shook her head and said, "If that's the case, you might as well kill me."
Zhenyu pointed at Zhenxiu and said to Zhenshu, "Look at her, she's like that. She won't admit it or not. She's just taking advantage of the fact that we're sisters and I can't kill her. She's just being unreasonable. As for whether she took it or not, it doesn't matter if she doesn't admit it. The money shop owner remembers her. He came to recognize her the other day and pointed out that she was the one who took the silver that day."
Zhenshu then asked Zhenxiu, "Where is the silver now? Such a large sum of silver needs to be stored somewhere. Why don't you just tell Zhenyu to take it?"
Zhenxiu lowered her head and said, "I really don't know."
She had fair skin and used to be a bit plump, but she had somehow lost weight over the past year. She was so thin that she was practically skin and bones, and her exposed body was covered with bluish-purple marks, clearly from being pinched by the servants.
Zhenshu's legs ached from kneeling for so long, so she stood up and said to Zhenyu, "Since you can't figure it out, why don't you transfer this case to Yingtian Prefecture? Maybe they can find out."
Zhenyu said, "If it could be reported to Yingtian Prefecture, I would have done so long ago. This silver was originally the Dowager Consort's personal savings. She wanted to secretly transfer it to Prince Ping when she thought she was dying. If the Emperor found out, he was afraid that the brothers would become suspicious again, so she kept it a secret and only asked me to investigate it privately."
Zhenshu glanced back at Zhenxiu and couldn't help but kneel down again to persuade her, "Although we've always bickered, we're still sisters. If you really took the money, give it to Zhenyu. When you get married, I'll make sure all your dowry earns interest in the shop, okay?"
Zhenxiu looked up and said, "Yu Yichen's men have ravaged Tong Qisheng beyond recognition. Good sister, please bury his body for me. The entire Wang family has been imprisoned by Yu Yichen, and no one cares about him anymore. Please help me. I will never forget your great kindness in my next life."
Since she had committed to the belief that she would die, what could others do to her?
Zhenyu waved for the two maids to take Zhenxiu away, then clasped her hands and sat down on the small couch. She glanced coldly at Zhenshu and said, "Look at her, how can I deal with such a rascal?"
Zhenshu advised, "Since it's stolen silver, and she has nowhere to spend it, I'm afraid a large sum is still missing. Don't worry too much, and don't let those servants be too harsh. Just detain her and wait. I'll ask someone to quietly inquire around for you and see if they can find out where the silver is."
Zhenyu's expression was not good, but she nodded slightly and said, "I don't have the methods of our ancestor, otherwise I would definitely be able to subdue her completely."
Zhenshu had only taken a few steps after leaving Zhenyu's residence when Du Yu suddenly appeared out of nowhere, following behind with a grin. Zhenshu turned around, walked a few steps to him, and asked, "Are you familiar with Yingtian Prefecture?"
Du Yu said, "I lived there for several years and I know everyone there."
Zhenshu then explained the origin and destination of the silver from the Dowager, and asked, "Could you have someone secretly investigate to see where the silver went?"
When his wife gave the order, Du Yu had no choice but to obey, and he hurriedly nodded and bowed, saying, "I will definitely do as I say, I will definitely do as I say."
The two walked slowly along the street when Du Yu suddenly pointed to Zhen Shu's belly and said, "It looks a bit bulging to me."