She rubbed her eyes and looked carefully again—
There really was no swelling.
“This…” she hesitated, then slowly reached out her hand, her fingertips lightly pressing against Su Wantang’s lower abdomen.
The touch was soft.
No hard lump.
No fetal movement.
It looked completely unlike a pregnant woman’s belly.
“What about… the pulse?” Midwife Wang asked quietly.
Su Wantang extended her wrist.
The old midwife’s rough fingers rested on it as she held her breath and concentrated.
After a long while, she frowned.
“The pulse… is weak and floating… It feels like a deficiency of qi and blood, a disorder of the spleen and stomach… It really… really doesn’t feel like a pregnancy pulse…”
Her voice was not loud, but in the silent courtyard, every word was terrifyingly clear.
The villagers standing with their backs turned began to stir.
Su Wanrou suddenly turned around.
“Impossible! She clearly vomited for a month! Her stomach also—”
She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the flat abdomen beneath Su Wantang’s lifted clothes.
The moonlight illuminated it clearly.
No swelling.
Nothing.
Su Wanrou’s pupils shrank.
“You… what did you do?!”
“Enough!”
Su Dashan shouted angrily.
He walked over with his cane, glanced at Su Wantang’s stomach, then looked at Midwife Wang.
“Are you sure? There really isn’t a pregnancy?”
Midwife Wang nodded repeatedly.
“I saw clearly… she really isn’t pregnant… She’s just weak, with stomach problems…”
Su Dashan stared at Su Wantang.
After a long while, he let out a heavy sigh and turned to Zhao Dehai.
“Secretary Zhao, you heard it too. Wantang isn’t pregnant. She’s just physically weak. Tonight’s matter… let it end here.”
Zhao Dehai was still doubtful, but Midwife Wang’s words were right there. He had no reason to continue.
He waved his hand.
“Everyone disperse! Go home!”
The villagers whispered among themselves as they slowly left.
Every person who passed by Su Wantang looked at her with curiosity—
Suspicion.
Doubt.
But no evidence.
Su Wanrou remained standing there, staring fiercely at Su Wantang’s stomach as if she wanted to burn a hole through it.
“Impossible…” she murmured to herself. “I clearly saw her vomiting… clearly…”
Wang Xiuying grabbed her and pulled her away.
Her voice was low.
“Have you not embarrassed us enough? Go home!”
After the villagers left, the Su family courtyard fell into a deathly silence.
Wang Xiuying dragged Su Wanrou into the east room, and the door slammed shut with a thunderous crash.
Su Dashan stood in the middle of the yard, his face dark and furious, staring at Su Wantang, who was crouched in the corner washing wild vegetables.
“Stand up.”
His voice was low and harsh.
Su Wantang’s fingers trembled.
The wild vegetables slipped into the wooden basin.
She slowly pushed herself up against the wall.
The fetus seemed to sense her anxiety and moved slightly.
The system panel immediately appeared:
[Fetal health value: 82/100 (minor fluctuation)]
“Dad.”
She lowered her eyes.
Su Dashan stared at her flat stomach.
The system’s disguise was flawless, but Midwife Wang’s words—“stomach disorder”—had not completely erased the suspicion in his heart.
This second daughter had been acting strangely lately:
Avoiding the clinic.
Keeping away from Su Wanrou.
Crouching by the river every morning, dry heaving…
“You said your sister saw you at the threshing ground that night.”
Su Dashan suddenly spoke.
Su Wantang’s heart tightened.
Su Wanrou really had kept a hidden card.
She hadn’t fully exposed her at the welcome gathering, but instead planted this doubt in their father’s mind.
“One month ago, you said you went to the outhouse, but you were gone for half an hour.”
Su Dashan stepped closer.
His cane struck the ground with a heavy thud.
“The threshing ground isn’t close to our house. Do you think I don’t know how far it is?”
“I…”
Su Wantang’s mind raced.
Suddenly, the system popped up:
[Detected: Su Wanrou is secretly watching through the east room window. Recommendation: Turn the situation to your advantage.]
She gritted her teeth.
Her eyes instantly reddened.
“I did go to the threshing ground that night…”
“That night Zhao Jianguo was drunk and blocked me at the village entrance. I ran toward the threshing ground to avoid him.”
This was half true and half false.
Zhao Jianguo really had harassed her before.
She had simply blurred the timing.
Su Dashan froze.
“Zhao Jianguo?”
Behind the east room window, Su Wanrou’s breathing paused almost imperceptibly.
“I didn’t dare tell anyone,” Su Wantang whispered, wiping away her tears.
“I was afraid Mother would worry… and afraid… afraid it would ruin my reputation.”
Her acting reached its peak under the pressure of survival.
“Did Sister misunderstand? It was very dark at the threshing ground that night.”
Su Dashan fell silent.
Zhao Jianguo harassing village girls was nothing new.
The secretary’s troublesome son already had a terrible reputation.
If that was really what happened…
“But you’re still not innocent!”
The east room door suddenly opened.
Su Wanrou rushed out.
Her eyes were swollen from crying, but they burned with a vicious light.
“Midwife Wang can examine your body, but she can’t prove whether the child in your belly is a bastard or not!”
“Dad, for the sake of the Su family’s reputation, we must perform a blood test!”
“If she really is a member of the Su family, then we’ll discuss the pregnancy separately. But if she isn’t, then that child is an outsider’s bastard, and it has nothing to do with our family!”
Her words were vicious.
She avoided the question of whether Su Wantang was pregnant and attacked the deeper issue of bloodline.
At the same time, she placed the label of “bastard” on both Su Wantang and the unborn child.
Wang Xiuying followed out, her lips trembling.
“Wanrou… what nonsense are you saying…”
“I’m not talking nonsense!”
Su Wanrou pulled out an old, yellowed family genealogy book from her clothes.
She flipped to a certain page.
“Grandfather once escorted goods and rescued an outsider woman. He kept her in our home for three months before sending her away with money. Who knows if there was something suspicious about that?”
Her finger pointed at a faded line of writing.
Su Dashan’s expression changed dramatically.
That was a secret of the Su family.
Su Wantang had never heard of it.
But at that moment, the system displayed information:
[Data fragment unlocked: Su family ancestor Su Tieshan rescued a fallen female opera performer eighteen years ago. He sheltered her for three months before giving her money and sending her away. Rumors did exist in the village.]
“Blood test.”
Su Dashan closed his eyes, then opened them again.
Every word sounded as if it had been forced out between his teeth.
“Now. Immediately.”
A bowl of clear water was placed carefully on the Eight Immortals table.
Hearing the news, villagers gathered outside the Su family courtyard again, peering through the fence.
Midwife Wang was called back.
Shaking, she laid out a silver needle and porcelain bowl.
Su Wanrou volunteered to help pour the water.
When she turned away, her fingers flicked slightly inside her sleeve.
A tiny amount of white powder fell into the bowl.
The system alarm exploded inside Su Wantang’s mind:
[Warning: Alum detected dissolved in water! This substance can cause any blood samples to merge!]
Su Wantang’s palm became sweaty.
She watched as Su Wanrou placed the bowl on the table.
A fleeting cold smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
“Order of seniority.”
Su Wanrou pricked her finger first.
A bead of blood fell into the water and slowly spread into a red thread.
When it was Su Dashan’s turn, he stared at the bowl.
His hand trembled slightly before he finally pricked his finger.
Two drops of blood floated in the water.
Moved closer.
Then…
Slowly merged together.
The courtyard outside erupted.
Su Wanrou revealed an expression that said, Exactly as expected.
She turned toward Su Wantang.
“Your turn.”
Every gaze fell upon her.
Wang Xiuying covered her mouth.
Su Dashan looked at the blood that had merged in the bowl.
His eyes turned complicated as he looked at Su Wantang.
There was concern there.
But more than that, there was relief.
At least his eldest daughter was truly his.
Su Wantang walked toward the table.
Just as her fingertip was about to touch the silver needle—
Her foot suddenly caught.
Her entire body slammed into the table.
“Ah!”
The porcelain bowl overturned.
Clear water spilled all over the ground.
Su Wanrou screamed:
“You did that on purpose!”