Jiang Qutao snorted.
“I have another way to get inside.”
Li Zhenchun thought she was going to climb over the wall. Instead, Jiang Qutao handed her a maid’s uniform from the Prime Minister’s Mansion.
“Do you think the Prime Minister’s Mansion is some small house in the west alley that you can climb into so easily? There are maids and servants everywhere. If we get caught, we’ll be handed over to the authorities.”
Li Zhenchun changed into the clothes and followed Jiang Qutao through the back entrance.
Jiang Qutao knew the mansion very well and led her straight to Yue Jingque’s courtyard.
Walking behind her, Li Zhenchun asked,
“Why are you looking for Jingque?”
Jiang Qutao turned around and stared at her.
“I wasn’t planning to do anything. But now I’m watching you to see why you’re looking for her.”
As if she would believe Jiang Qutao had entered the mansion just to look at cranes.
Outside Yue Jingque’s courtyard, many servants and older maids stood guard.
Jiang Qutao stopped some distance away and frowned.
“So that’s why they wouldn’t let me in earlier. Jingque has been locked up.”
Li Zhenchun looked at the guards, then at Jiang Qutao.
“Should we rescue her?”
“Who said we? Even if someone rescues her, it’ll be me. What does it have to do with a merchant’s daughter like you?”
Hearing that, Li Zhenchun stepped back and politely gestured toward the courtyard.
“I’ll wait for Miss Jiang’s good news.”
“Are you crazy? There are so many people there! How can I rescue her by myself?”
Jiang Qutao grabbed her arm.
“You distract those people, and I’ll go in and bring Jingque out.”
“……”
Li Zhenchun smiled awkwardly and pulled her arm away.
“I’m very weak. I probably wouldn’t even make it to the corner before getting caught. Why don’t you go instead?”
“I…”
Jiang Qutao was about to argue but then waved her hand.
“Forget it. Let’s think of another way.”
Li Zhenchun let out a sigh of relief. At least this girl had finally decided to use her brain.
Before Jiang Qutao could think of a plan, Li Zhenchun spotted Nanzhi.
“Young Madam, Miss Jiang, why are you here?”
Nanzhi looked at the two of them standing against the wall, then at the guards outside the courtyard.
“Are you here to see my lady?”
Li Zhenchun quickly nodded. Before she could explain, Nanzhi said,
“Come with me. I’ll take you inside.”
Li Zhenchun and Jiang Qutao exchanged a glance and hurried after her with their heads lowered.
Nanzhi spoke quietly with the old maid at the gate. The old maid looked Li Zhenchun and Jiang Qutao up and down. Just as the two became nervous, she finally said,
“You may go in. Be quiet. Don’t disturb Miss Yue.”
Li Zhenchun breathed a sigh of relief and followed Nanzhi inside.
Inside the room, Yue Jingque sat at her desk with a brush in hand, painting.
“Jingque!”
Only Yue Jingque and Jingxin, the maid beside her, were inside. Jiang Qutao immediately dropped her act.
“What kind of miserable life is this? First you married that useless playboy, and now your own parents have locked you up.”
She sat beside Yue Jingque.
“Are your parents forcing you to write a divorce letter to Wei Er? You refused, so they imprisoned you?”
Yue Jingque glanced at her.
“You’re as clever as ever.”
As soon as Li Zhenchun heard that, she hurried over.
“You must not write it!”
Yue Jingque looked surprised to hear her voice.
“Sister-in-law, why are you here?”
“Why else? She’s here to persuade you to go back!”
Jiang Qutao hugged one of Yue Jingque’s arms.
“Wei Er is going to die anyway. Don’t go back. Listen to your parents. Write the divorce letter and cut ties with him.”
Li Zhenchun crouched beside the desk.
“Wei Er was framed.”
“So what? Even if he was framed for murder, no one framed him into becoming a notorious playboy. Jingque, why keep such a worthless husband? Write the divorce letter and find someone better.”
Jiang Qutao picked up a brush and pushed it into Yue Jingque’s hand while talking nonstop.
“You should know the people who love you most are your parents and your brother. They’ll never intentionally hurt you. Your mother’s methods may be too harsh, but they’re doing it for your own good.”
“Wei Er isn’t a good husband. You only married him because of an accident. It’s not too late to fix everything.”
Watching Jiang Qutao repeat the same point over and over like a noisy monkey in the mountains, Li Zhenchun turned to Yue Jingque.
“What do you think? Are you still going to save Wei Xinian?”
Yue Jingque looked at her.
“You came because you found something?”
Li Zhenchun glanced at Jiang Qutao.
Yue Jingque said,
“Jiang Fourth isn’t an outsider.”
Li Zhenchun no longer hesitated.
“Your brother and Lian Chengbi worked together to frame Wei Er.”
Jiang Qutao immediately slammed the table and stood up.
“Nonsense! How could Yue Feng work with that idiot Lian Chengbi to frame Wei Er?”
“What she said is true,” Yue Jingque replied calmly. “The youngest son of the Chang family is still being held in the mansion’s back courtyard.”
Jiang Qutao slowly sat back down, still holding Yue Jingque’s arm.
“What do you mean?”
“My brother kidnapped the Chang family’s youngest son and forced Miss Chang to accuse Wei Er with her life.”
She looked at Jiang Qutao.
“She isn’t wrong. Yue Feng isn’t a good person.”
Jiang Qutao licked her lips, turned her head away, and stayed silent.
Yue Jingque then looked at Li Zhenchun.
“Sister-in-law, don’t worry. I’ll clear Wei Er’s name.”
Just as Li Zhenchun was about to ask how, Nanzhi hurried inside.
“My lady, Madam, has arrived.”
Li Zhenchun and Jiang Qutao quickly stood up and rushed behind the folding screen.
“Jingque, Mother made your favorite silver-thread fish soup. Drink some to warm yourself.”
Yue Jingque looked at Madam Yue, then at the bowl of soup.
“I’m pregnant. Fish soup makes me feel sick.”
Behind the screen, both Li Zhenchun and Jiang Qutao widened their eyes in disbelief.
Pregnant?
Already?
Li Zhenchun bit her finger.
That couldn’t be right. Yue Jingque had only recently finished her monthly period. How could she already be pregnant?
“What did you say?”
Madam Yue raised her voice and stepped forward.
“How could you possibly be pregnant?”
Yue Jingque calmly looked at her.
“Why can’t I be?”
She slowly stood up.
“Wei Xinian is a man. I am a woman. We are married. A husband and wife can naturally conceive a child. Why shouldn’t I be pregnant?”
Madam Yue stepped back, her voice trembling.
“Wei Er is not a good husband.”
Yue Jingque nodded.
“He isn’t. You all despise him. So does that mean my brother has the right to kill him?”
“Your brother has always loved you. Right after your wedding, Wei Er ran off to have fun. Even when you returned to visit your parents, he showed no respect to this family. How could your brother swallow such an insult?”
Madam Yue stepped forward and held Yue Jingque’s hand.
“Jingque, we’ve treasured you since you were little. How could we watch you suffer after getting married?”
Yue Jingque looked at her.
“So now you want me to get rid of this child?”
Madam Yue’s hands turned cold. She opened her mouth to speak, but Yue Jingque interrupted calmly.
“You know my health is weak. If I drink abortion medicine, I might die along with the child.”
She gently pulled her hand away.
“Go back and think carefully. Do you want me to spend the rest of my life as a widow with this child, or should my brother release that boy so Wei Xinian’s innocence can be proven?”
Madam Yue looked at her, clenching and unclenching her hands.
“I’ll find a doctor to check your pregnancy. Get some rest first.”
She still didn’t believe Yue Jingque was truly pregnant.
After Madam Yue left, Jiang Qutao and Li Zhenchun peeked out from behind the screen at the same time.
“Are you really pregnant?”
Jiang Qutao pushed Li Zhenchun aside and hurried over.
She knelt in front of Yue Jingque.
“If Wei Xinian dies, won’t this child be born without a father?”
Li Zhenchun also crouched in front of her and stared at her stomach.
She knew Yue Jingque couldn’t really be pregnant. But Yue Jingque wasn’t foolish enough to fake a pregnancy without a plan. Any doctor could expose the lie. Since she looked so calm, she clearly wasn’t worried about being examined.
How was she planning to pull this off?
Just as Li Zhenchun was about to ask, Nanzhi rushed in again.
“My lady, Young Master Xie, has arrived.”
Jiang Qutao frowned and stood up.
“What? They stopped me at the gate, but he gets to walk in openly?”
“Probably because the Prime Minister has chosen him as your lady’s next husband.”
Nanzhi replied.
Li Zhenchun gasped.
“The first husband isn’t even dead yet, and they’re already choosing the next one?”
Jiang Qutao exploded.
“I’m Jingque’s best friend! Why is he allowed in? Tell him to get lost. We’re already upset enough.”
Nanzhi looked at Yue Jingque.
“My lady, shall I invite him in?”
Yue Jingque looked at Jiang Qutao and Li Zhenchun.
Li Zhenchun immediately understood and was about to hide again, but Jiang Qutao said,
“I’m not hiding. Why should I hide from some man? I want to see what’s so special about him that he can walk into your courtyard.”
She turned to Li Zhenchun.
“You don’t hide either! We had to sneak in dressed as maids, but he gets to stroll in openly!”
Yue Jingque nodded to Nanzhi.
“Let him in.”
After giving the order, she turned to Jiang Qutao.
“I can’t stop you if you want to stay. But you should understand—I can’t accept Xie Weian’s feelings.”
“I know. If you weren’t pregnant, I’d definitely tell you to divorce Wei Er and marry someone else. But now that you’re carrying a child, even if I don’t like Wei Xinian, I still care about your baby.”
Jiang Qutao sat proudly beside Yue Jingque. Then she looked at Li Zhenchun and suddenly cried out,
“Wait! Don’t let Nanzhi bring him in yet! I need to change my clothes!”
If Xie Weian found out he entered proudly through the front gate while she had sneaked in disguised as a maid, he would laugh at her for half a year.
She could never accept that.
She looked at Li Zhenchun.
“You’re coming with me. Let’s change together!”
She dragged Li Zhenchun behind the screen. By the time Xie Weian entered, only Yue Jingque and Nanzhi were visible.
“I brought you some sweet rice wine from Guichun Street. You used to enjoy drinking it while reading.”
Behind the screen, Jiang Qutao crouched beside Li Zhenchun and pressed a finger to her lips, telling her to stay quiet.
Li Zhenchun covered her own mouth to show she understood.
The two women squatted face to face behind the screen, listening carefully.
Jiang Qutao planned to wait until Xie Weian said something disgusting before coming out to embarrass him.
Li Zhenchun hugged her knees.
If Yue Jingque kept pretending to be pregnant, Yue Feng would have to consider the child in her womb. As long as he released the Chang family’s youngest son, the Chang family’s testimony could be changed.
Looking through the screen, Li Zhenchun watched Yue Jingque’s shadow.
With such clever methods, Yue Jingque would probably do very well as an official.
Yue Jingque leaned back in her chair.
“I’m pregnant. I can’t drink alcohol.”
Xie Weian froze.
Then he suddenly asked,
“Whose child is it?”
“Watch your words, Young Master Xie!”
Nanzhi shouted sharply.
Yue Jingque was married. Her child could only belong to one man.
Ignoring Nanzhi, Xie Weian looked at Yue Jingque’s stomach for only a moment before looking away.
He folded his fan and tapped it against his palm.
“Your little sister-in-law told me you and Wei Er never shared a wedding night.”
Li Zhenchun couldn’t see Yue Jingque’s expression, but Jiang Qutao suddenly turned her head.
The hairpin in her hair scraped across the screen with a ripping sound.
The screen tore open.
Before Jiang Qutao could glare at Li Zhenchun, she met Xie Weian’s eyes through the small tear.
Jiang Qutao: “…”
Xie Weian: “…”
Jiang Qutao thought, Showing only my eyes makes me look so stupid. Being caught makes it even worse.
Xie Weian thought, She really is stupid.
Yue Jingque picked up her tea and took a sip to hide her amusement.
“Jiang Fourth, if you’ve finished changing, you may come out.”
After all, this was her room. If Jiang Qutao was discovered hiding there, it would embarrass Yue Jingque as well.
Jiang Qutao looked at Li Zhenchun.
Li Zhenchun shook her head desperately and pointed behind Jiang Qutao, telling her to go out alone and not drag her into it.
If she went out now, Xie Weian would probably glare holes through her.
She regretted ever looking for him or saying those things. With Yue Jingque handling everything, she had no reason to interfere.
Jiang Qutao cleared her throat.
“Little Sister-in-law changed clothes too, didn’t she? Let’s go out together.”
Li Zhenchun’s eyes became as wide as saucers.
Jiang Fourth betrayed me!
Jiang Qutao grabbed her arm and dragged her out.
She smiled falsely at Xie Weian.
“What were you saying just now? My little sister-in-law is right here. Say it again in front of her.”
Li Zhenchun laughed awkwardly at Xie Weian, scratching her head.
“My memory isn’t very good. After just a few days, I forget what happened before.”
“And… My mother didn’t teach me very well. Since I was little, I’ve talked without thinking. I like asking about other people’s business, and I even like spreading rumors. Sometimes I tell so many rumors that even I forget what’s true.”