Everyone looked at Ruan Chuqing with suspicion. Noble ladies all knew how to embroider. Usually, they would keep their embroidery needles and silk threads in bamboo baskets and only take them out when they were embroidering. They would never carry them with them.
Aunt Jin's face turned deathly pale instantly. Others were too far away to notice Ruan Chuqing's actions, but Aunt Jin was right there and saw it clearly. Ruan Chuqing wasn't picking up the needle at all; she clearly intended to stab the embroidery needle into her abdomen to frame Shen Lixue.
"Now that the doctor is here, let's not waste any more time. Let him examine Aunt Jin's condition quickly!" Ruan Chuqing suddenly pulled her hand back, concealing the embroidery needle without leaving a trace. She stood up gracefully, quickly retreated a meter away, and looked at Aunt Jin with a cold gaze.
Shen Lixue raised an eyebrow, a faint smile playing on her lips. Since they wanted to play games, she would naturally play along. She leisurely walked to the side and watched as the doctor, carrying his medicine box, walked up to Aunt Jin and extended his fingers to take her pulse.
Aunt Jin's lips moved, and a sinister glint flashed in her eyes. Now that things had come to this, she had no way back. She could only continue to play her part, frame Shen Lixue, become the mistress of the Prime Minister's mansion, and then settle accounts with Ruan Chuqing later!
The pulse under his fingers beat gently, sometimes lightly, sometimes weakly, and the doctor frowned slightly.
"Doctor, how is my baby?" Aunt Jin asked tearfully, her beautiful eyes, hidden behind a handkerchief, gleaming with smugness and defiance. The blood beneath her was fake, but she had taken a medicine in the carriage that made the fetus appear to have an unstable pulse, which would not harm the fetus in any way.
The doctor loosened his fingers, his brows furrowing as he stroked his beard, shaking his head and sighing repeatedly: "The lady's pulse is very steady, but the fetus's pulse is faint and barely perceptible, and it doesn't seem like a miscarriage..."
"What a strange pulse!" All the guests were astonished. The fetus's pulse was weak, but it was very healthy.
Aunt Jin was taken aback and secretly glared at Ruan Chuqing. According to the doctor, the medicine only changed half of the pulse. The doctor was able to detect the health of the fetus. Was it because the medicine was ineffective? Or was the doctor's medical skills too amazing?
It doesn't matter; all she needs to do is frame Shen Lixue.
"Princess Lixue, it must have been when you pressed so hard during your diagnosis that you injured the child!" Aunt Jin covered her face with a silk handkerchief and cried miserably. Even if Shen Lixue hadn't used acupuncture, she could still use this perfect excuse to frame her for intentionally harming the Prime Minister's offspring.
“Aunt Jin is only three months pregnant. No matter how strong I am, I can’t possibly cause a miscarriage!” Shen Lixue looked at Ruan Chuqing with a cold gaze. Aunt Jin is simple-minded and couldn’t have come up with such a meticulous plan to frame her. It must be Ruan Chuqing who was secretly guiding her.
"The princess was able to beat the mysterious disfigured man that everyone feared, leaving his face covered in scars and unrecognizable. Her martial arts skills must be quite formidable. Injuring the fetus in my womb would be a piece of cake for her, sob sob sob..."
Aunt Jin wept bitterly, tears streaming down her face: "He is your brother, your own brother! How could you be so cruel as to want to kill him? My beloved child, not even born yet, not even having opened his eyes to see this beautiful world, is going to die at the hands of his own sister..."
"The doctor is not sure if the fetus in your womb has been injured. Aunt Jin keeps accusing me of harming your child, which is going too far!" Shen Lixue's eyes were cold and her tone was stern.
"Shen Lixue, you are the Princess of Qingyan, yet you look down on me, a lowly concubine. I don't blame you, but my child was seriously injured by you. Am I wrong to accuse you?" Concubine Jin's eyes were filled with tears as she angrily accused her, looking pitiful as if she had suffered a great injustice.
Shen Lixue raised her eyebrows slightly and coldly sized up Aunt Jin: "Aunt Jin has lost so much blood, yet her face is fair and rosy. She's sitting here steadily, scolding people so loudly. She doesn't seem like a pregnant woman who is weak due to a fetal injury!"
The guests, who were unsure who to believe, instantly snapped out of their daze and all turned their gazes to Aunt Jin. Pregnant women usually turn pale when they bleed a little, but Aunt Jin, despite bleeding profusely, still had such a rosy face. There must be something wrong with her pregnancy.
"Shen Lixue, stop making excuses." Aunt Jin's eyes flickered unnaturally as she glared at Shen Lixue hatefully. "You bitch, you're so clever, you figured something was wrong with me so quickly!" she thought. "I have a good constitution, is that not allowed?"
“Aunt Jin’s body is indeed extraordinary!” Shen Lixue’s smile was radiant, her words carrying a hidden meaning.
The doctor frowned; there was bleeding but no slippery pulse—this was truly strange.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind. He took Aunt Jin's pulse again and carefully examined it over and over. He nodded knowingly, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.
"I know what's going on with this strange pulse." The doctor raised his head and looked coldly at Aunt Jin, saying each word clearly: "She took a false pregnancy pill and is faking a pregnancy; there's no fetus in her belly at all!"
The doctor's calm words were like a thunderclap, leaving everyone stunned for a long time.
All the disdainful gazes fell on Aunt Jin. The people present were all from noble families who valued offspring highly. Many of the concubines and mistresses in the household would go to any lengths to get pregnant. They had all heard of fake pregnancy drugs and hated them. Aunt Jin was arrogant and domineering. She took this drug to fake a pregnancy and even framed others. She was truly shameless!
Aunt Jin was so shocked that she forgot to cry. Large tears hung on her cheeks as she glared fiercely at the doctor: "You quack! Do you even know how to diagnose? My child is a real fetus, and it's been inside me for more than three months. How could it be fake? Don't lie and frame me."
"I have practiced medicine for half my life and never cheated my patients. This is medicine to eliminate false pregnancy. Does Madam dare to take it?" The doctor snorted coldly, his eyes full of anger, and took out a pill and handed it to Aunt Jin.
The black pills emitted a faint medicinal fragrance, clearly indicating that they were rare and precious medicines. Aunt Jin's eyes flickered unnaturally. She also wanted to know whether the child in her womb was a real pregnancy or a false pregnancy, but since she wanted to frame Shen Lixue, the public eye was not the best time to verify the truth.
She turned her head to the side and scoffed disdainfully, "What if this is an abortion pill? If I take it, you'll kill my perfectly good baby!"
"I guarantee this medicine will not harm the fetus!" the doctor explained coldly, his brows furrowed.
Aunt Jin glanced at the pill out of the corner of her eye: "If it's harmful and my child dies, you wouldn't be able to pay for it with ten lives..."
Shen Lixue's lips curved into a graceful smile. With a flick of her slender fingers, she unleashed an invisible yet powerful internal force that struck the pill. The pill instantly detached from the doctor's hand and flew straight into Aunt Jin's incessantly chattering mouth.
Aunt Jin felt a lump in her throat, and an unidentified object flowed down her throat and into her stomach. Holding her throat, she coughed a few times awkwardly: "What just happened?"
"The lady has taken the medicine to test whether she is pregnant or not!" the doctor replied coldly, his face expressionless.
"What?! You actually secretly gave me medicine!" Aunt Jin exclaimed in shock, her eyes wide open. Like a shrew, she gritted her teeth and lunged at the doctor: "Incompetent doctor! You harmed my child! I'll fight you to the death!"
Shen Lixue reached out and grabbed Aunt Jin's arm, easily pressing her back into her seat. Her calm voice was laced with sarcasm: "Aunt Jin has lost so much blood, yet she still has the strength to lecture the doctor. Her physical condition is truly enviable!"
"Shen Lixue, did you do this?" Aunt Jin's beautiful eyes were spitting fire with anger. She glared at Shen Lixue through gritted teeth, wishing she could devour her alive: "You bribed this doctor and deliberately plotted to kill my child! I'll fight you to the death!"
Like an octopus, Aunt Jin stretched out her sharp claws and viciously grabbed at Shen Lixue's neck.
Shen Lixue raised an eyebrow and kicked the chair askew. Aunt Jin lost her balance and fell to the ground with a thud. The hairpin on her head flew several meters away, the exquisite hairpin scattered messily, her hair disheveled, making her look like a madwoman.
"Shen Lixue!" Aunt Jin roared, no longer caring about her image. She scrambled to her feet, her eyes bloodshot, and charged fiercely at Shen Lixue. This bitch had ruined her plans time and time again; she was determined to teach this bitch a lesson.
"Look, her belly is gone!" someone among the guests exclaimed, and everyone's eyes instantly focused on Aunt Jin's lower abdomen, where it was flat and no longer had the bulge from before.
"She really is faking her pregnancy!" a guest exclaimed.
"That's right. If she were really pregnant, she would definitely be weak and bleeding after taking abortion pills. Look at her now, clenching her fists as if she wanted to hit someone, she's full of energy, there's not a trace of miscarriage!" A guest said with a mocking look.
"My child was real, how could he be gone?" Aunt Jin repeatedly stroked her flat belly, her eyes filled with panic. This child was the heir of the Prime Minister's mansion, the future head of the mansion, her support for the rest of her life, and the bargaining chip for her to become the mistress of the Prime Minister's mansion. How could he just be gone like that? This can't be real, this can't be real.
The guests' accusations grew louder and louder. Aunt Jin, grieving the loss of her beloved son, cried out to the heavens, pointing at the assembled guests with a crazed look in her eyes: "You, you, you, and you, you all conspired to kill my child! I'll fight you to the death!"
Aunt Jin roared, her face contorted with rage, and picked up a chair, smashing it hard at the guests.
The guests were startled and quickly dodged. The chairs crashed onto the long table, smashing the teacups, teapots, fruit platters, and snacks to pieces, which then fell to the ground with a thud.
"This woman has gone mad!" The guests, still in shock, stared blankly at Aunt Jin.
"I think she's faking madness!" A guest looked at Aunt Jin, who was disheveled, with a distorted face, and looked like a madwoman, and mocked her mercilessly: "Her fake pregnancy has been exposed, she can't save face, and on top of that, framing Princess Qingyan is a serious crime. If she doesn't pretend to be crazy, she'll be in jail!"