Concubine Lu’s Haitang Courtyard.
Concubine Lu had found out about Zhong Cuilan’s fall into the lake, endangering her unborn child, even earlier than Mrs. Zou. She was now glaring in the direction of Huilan Courtyard, wishing she could rush over there and strangle Zhong Cuilan to death.
What a vile woman, to go to such vicious lengths to save herself, thinking that by doing so she could secure her own life? If she dared to ruin her plans, she would make her regret it!
...
Mrs. Zou hurried back, heading straight for Zhong Cuilan’s Huilan Courtyard.
In the courtyard, Mrs. Zou’s two daughters-in-law, along with County Magistrate Zou’s five concubines, were all present. They were all staring at the tightly closed door, anxious expressions on their faces, but inwardly delighting in the prospect of Zhong Cuilan’s death.
"Ah—!"
Agonizing screams of pain ca from inside the house.
County Magistrate Zou, pacing back and forth in front of the doorway, was visibly distressed. Hearing Zhong Cuilan’s pitiful cries, he shouted into the room, "Lan’er, Lan’er, don’t be afraid. Hold on; you must save our son."
Mrs. Zou, upon hearing this, rolled her eyes internally: Son, my ass. It would be best if this scourge was miscarried.
When she had initially sent Zhong Cuilan to be with County Magistrate Zou, her intent was simply to have Zhong Cuilan divert so of Concubine Lu’s favor. Never had she intended for Zhong Cuilan to give birth to another son who would share the family property with her own son.
Regardless of her internal displeasure, she had to maintain pretenses.
Mrs. Zou hurried over to County Magistrate Zou, tears welling in her eyes, her voice choked with emotion as she asked, "Old Master, what has happened? Is Lan’er in trouble?"
Seeing her, County Magistrate Zou burst out in anger, "How do you manage this household? To let Lan’er slip and fall into the lake; she nearly lost her life, and now..."
One of the biggest reasons County Magistrate Zou was fond of Zhong Cuilan was due to her auspicious pregnancy, which not only added prestige to him but also broke the Zou family’s curse of not having new offspring for over a decade.
Hence, County Magistrate Zou was overjoyed to the point of negligence about Zhong Cuilan’s pregnancy, eagerly waiting for her to bear him a son, and then distributing red-dyed eggs to everyone in the county to flaunt his pride.
But now, his pride was gone!
County Magistrate Zou pointed to Mrs. Zou and ordered, "Send soone to investigate at once. If the person who hard Lan’er cannot be identified, you will be held accountable!"
Mrs. Zou, upon hearing this, felt extrely aggrieved. The Old Master was blaming her for not taking good care of Zhong Cuilan. Although she was not fond of Zhong Cuilan’s pregnancy, she had never thought about terminating it.
After all, the Old Master liked the child, and Zhong Cuilan was the person she brought into the manor to compete with Concubine Lu for favor. She would not move against Zhong Cuilan until Concubine Lu and her family were dealt with.
However, County Magistrate Zou was too angered to consider these points, leaving Mrs. Zou no choice but to personally lead Mrs. Hong to investigate the incident at the lake.
The door creaked open, and an elderly doctor erged, bowing to County Magistrate Zou, "Lord Zou, please forgive my limited dical skills. Mrs. Zhong took a serious fall and was agitated by the lake water. We were able to save the lady, but the child... Lord Zou, you should promptly get a midwife to terminate the pregnancy. With a proper two-month postpartum rest, Mrs. Zhong can still bear children in the future."
County Magistrate Zou, hearing this, the color drained from his face. If not for Zou Jiang supporting him, he would have surely fainted: "You, you’re saying the child is gone?"
Doctor Wen nodded and said, "Lord Zou, please accept my condolences."
"Oh, my late-in-life son, just like that, gone." County Magistrate Zou burst into tears, beating his chest and stamping his feet. After a while, he couldn’t give up hope and grabbed Doctor Wen imploringly, "Is what you said not true? My little son is still safe and sound inside Lan’er’s belly, isn’t that right?"
Doctor Wen, nearly choked by County Magistrate Zou’s grip, managed to hold onto his hand and said, "Lord Zou, please accept my condolences. Rest assured, both you and Mrs. Zhong are in good health, it will be very easy for you to have another child in the future."
Doctor Wen was helpless. County Magistrate Zou was already of advanced age, yet so keen on having a son, constantly ntioning Lan’er, which gave him the shivers.
Hearing this, County Magistrate Zou then heard Zhong Cuilan’s increasingly loud cries of agony, and finally yelled at Zou Yuqian’s wife, "Why are you still standing there? Go call the midwife imdiately."
Zou Yuqian’s wife, upon hearing this, hurriedly ordered a servant to find the midwife. Still, she absolutely despised County Magistrate Zou to her core for being so shaless. His own concubine was miscarrying, yet he had the audacity to have his daughter-in-law bustling about with duties. She was the legitimate eldest daughter-in-law. Throughout the entire Great Chu, there was no other family head who would commit such a breach of propriety.
Soon after, two midwives were brought to Huilan Courtyard and entered Zhong Cuilan’s room.
Mo Qiuyue stood beside the bed, looking at Zhong Cuilan’s agonizing screams, and turned pale with fright. She could never have imagined that Zhong Cuilan, who was fine before, would suddenly fall into the lake, and now her skirt was drenched in blood.
Zhong Cuilan’s Chief Maid Lv He found Mo Qiuyue to be in the way and pushed her aside scolding, "Move aside quickly, you’re such an eyesore. Standing there, how can the midwives attend to the concubine and induce the abortion?"
Mo Qiuyue quickly moved aside.
The two midwives, surnad Wei and Liu, were well-known in the county for their skilled craftsmanship. Within half an hour, they had succeeded in inducing the labor, and Zhong Cuilan’s fetus was delivered. It was already five months along, fully ford, and a male child.
The two midwives cleaned the stillborn in a copper basin and, after washing away the blood, they wrapped the stillborn in a swaddling cloth, and placed it in a wooden box that had been prepared in advance.
Before leaving, Midwife Wei asked Zhong Cuilan, "Concubine, the young master is leaving. According to our local customs, the birth mother leaves sothing for the young master to take with him. Do you have anything you wish to leave for him? If so, please bring it. After all, you shared a bond as mother and son; it would be good to bring full closure to this connection."
Zhong Cuilan had personally caused the death of her own child and felt guilty. Pointing to a small copper box on the dresser she said, "Let the child take the contents of that box with him."
"Eh," Midwife Wei replied, took the small copper box from the dresser, and placed it inside the wooden box with the stillborn.
But Midwife Wei didn’t leave imdiately with the wooden box. Instead, she knelt down, brought her palms together, recited a passage of scripture, and only after that did she take the wooden box and left with Midwife Liu.
County Magistrate Zou was already waiting outside. Seeing them, he asked, "Was it a boy?"
Midwife Wei responded, "To answer your excellency, it was a well-ford boy, already over six months along."
"Oh, my son!" County Magistrate Zou burst into tears upon hearing it was a boy but then snapped to his senses, his eyes blazing with fury as he stared at Midwife Wei, "What did you say just now? How many months along was the child?"
Midwife Wei replied, "Over six months, it’s such a pity. Lord Zou, please accept my condolences."
Accept your condolences my ass!
If it was truly over six months, then he had been cuckolded by Zhong Cuilan.
County Magistrate Zou rembered the first ti Zhong Cuilan attended to him in his study. He had been drinking heavily that day and stumbled into the study to find Zhong Cuilan there. After sidling up to her body, which he found curiously supple, he ended up being intimate with her.
After the deed was done, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep.
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