Chapter 261: Chapter 261

Her gaze lingered on Aunt Hua’s face for a moment, then she lowered her eyes and began to carefully check the pulse.

Before long, she was surprised to find that this concubine claiming to be pregnant was not pregnant at all!

Li Yuzhu worried about making a mistake and checked again, but the result was the same; the concubine indeed was not pregnant.

She suddenly realized why Aunt Hua was scared upon seeing her.

Because it was a fake pregnancy.

Besides discovering Aunt Hua’s fake pregnancy, she also found a significant illness in Aunt Hua’s body.

Li Yuzhu withdrew her hand and stood up.

Aunt Hua on the bed was already pale with fright, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

The County Magistrate’s Wife looked at Aunt Hua and snorted inwardly. She asked Li Yuzhu in a gentle voice, "Miss Li, how is the child in Aunt Hua’s womb?"

The County Magistrate also asked eagerly, "Miss Li, her complexion doesn’t look good, has she disturbed the fetal energy?"

Fetal energy? There’s not even any fetal hair! Li Yuzhu wanted to laugh.

"No." Li Yuzhu shook her head.

The County Magistrate breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Aunt Hua, "Honghong, the fetal energy isn’t disturbed, you don’t need to worry."

"There is no fetus, sir." Li Yuzhu added, "I did not find a fetus in her abdomen."

The County Magistrate’s Wife’s eyes suddenly widened.

The County Magistrate was also astonished, "How can this be? She clearly has been pregnant for two months."

Li Yuzhu said, "If you doubt my medical skills, you can invite another doctor for diagnosis. If I am wrong, I am willing to be punished."

This Aunt Hua wrongfully accused her of theft, she might as well take this opportunity to punish her!

She spoke decisively, and the County Magistrate’s expression changed immediately.

"Ha!" The County Magistrate’s Wife seemed pleased and sneered at Aunt Hua, "Hua Yanrong, you’re not pregnant? I wasted so much of the finest pregnancy supplements on you! I was reluctant to use them for myself, yet gave them all to you, hoping you’d give birth to a child for the master, but to think you deceived us with a fake pregnancy! You’ve wasted the master’s affection!"

Aunt Hua was so frightened she rolled off the bed and knelt on the ground with a thud, "Master, Madam, I... I didn’t know either, the master said I was pregnant, so I thought I was. I... I’m pregnant for the first time, I don’t know anything."

First time pregnant? Li Yuzhu chuckled, this Aunt Hua was really good at lying.

"Concubine, haven’t you given birth before? How can you say it’s your first pregnancy?" Li Yuzhu added, "The pregnancy marks on your belly haven’t faded yet, have they?"

The County Magistrate’s gaze turned cold, and he demanded angrily, "Hua Yanrong, whose child have you given birth to?"

Aunt Hua trembled with fear, her body weakened on the ground.

The County Magistrate’s Wife smiled slightly. She stood up and said while holding her abdomen, "Miss Li, my stomach feels uncomfortable again. Please have a look."

Even as she spoke of discomfort, there was a smile on her face.

Li Yuzhu went over to support her, "Madam, your illness cannot be delayed any longer; you must get treated soon."

"Let’s go then, help me back," the County Magistrate’s Wife glanced at Hua Yanrong and said no more, allowing Aunt Tian and Li Yuzhu to help her out of the room.

Li Lixing tilted his head and called to his puppy, "Xiao Hua, now that Mother is leaving, we’ll leave too."

"Woof woof woof." Xiao Hua wagged its tail happily and trotted off with Li Lixing.

In the room, the two maids of Aunt Hua saw the situation wasn’t right and left quietly after the County Magistrate’s Wife.

Aunt Hua was going to be in trouble, they needed to stay far away.

Pretending to be pregnant, why would Aunt Hua do such a thing? She was really bold!

"Still won’t speak? Hua Yanrong! Whose child have you given birth to?" The County Magistrate stood in front of Aunt Hua, looking at her with anger, "You told me I was your first man, yet you bore a child with someone else?"

"Master, please, I don’t want to leave you, I’m scared that you won’t want me, that’s why... I lied." Hua Yanrong, fearing punishment, started to play the victim.

However, her tears were genuine.

She was afraid of being punished by the County Magistrate. For original chapters go to novel[f]ire.net

"Whose child did you have?" The County Magistrate asked angrily again.

"My... my senior brother, he didn’t want me, and I couldn’t afford to raise the child, so I had to... had to abort it." Aunt Hua cried again.

This statement was half true and half false.

Indeed, the child was her senior brother’s.

She and her senior brother grew up in the same troupe; her senior brother was handsome and had feelings for her.

So, they made a lifelong promise to each other.

He promised to take care of her and told her to stop performing, to stay home and focus on nurturing the baby.

She agreed to his arrangement.

But dreams are beautiful, and reality is cruel.

The senior brother who played the pipa had his right fingers crippled in a dispute.

From then on, he could no longer make a living playing the pipa.

Their days became tight, and they began to sell jewelry.

But the money they had saved wasn’t much, and when she was more than six months pregnant, she finally couldn’t stand the poverty and hunger and bought a strong medicine to abort the child.

After resting for some time, she returned to the opera troupe.

The senior brother had knelt down and begged her to go back, but she would rather die than live with the poor senior brother.

She was fed up with the days of eating wild vegetables and cornbread!

She was good-looking, she could marry a rich man, why should she suffer with the useless senior brother?

Finally, last year, she was noticed by the County Magistrate passing by.

The County Magistrate came to take office here, sent away his other concubines, and only brought her along.

But somehow, though a year had passed since the abortion and she had been taken as the County Magistrate’s woman for more than half a year, she still couldn’t get pregnant.

She also discovered that the County Magistrate had started looking for other concubines.

Fearing to lose favor, she took a risk and pretended to be pregnant, as long as she could keep the County Magistrate tied to her bed, she would surely conceive within two months.

No fear if the dates don’t add up, she could lie that the fetus was a symbol of good fortune and hence delayed.

But who knew, halfway through, a country girl came and messed up her plans!

The County Magistrate was a clever man, and he had a bad temper; she dared not hide it any longer and confessed honestly.

"You once had a child and aborted it, I do not blame you, but why did you deceive me saying you were pregnant?" The County Magistrate said angrily.

"This humble one was afraid of losing Master; this humble one heard that Master wanted to take a concubine, this humble one feared that Master would never come to see this humble one again, this humble one only loves Master, boo hoo hoo—" Aunt Hua crawled on her knees a few steps forward, hugging the County Magistrate’s leg, wailing loudly.

Thinking of the past, the County Magistrate’s heart softened at the crying.

"Get up." The County Magistrate patted her shoulder.

Aunt Hua listened to this familiar tone and was overjoyed; was he not blaming her anymore?

"This humble one won’t get up, this humble one is guilty, boo hoo hoo hoo..." She continued to cry loudly.

The County Magistrate’s heart softened even more, patting her shoulder, and had to say, "Alright, I don’t blame you, get up."

Aunt Hua was coaxed into delight, she got up from the ground and threw herself into the County Magistrate’s arms, acting spoiled and crying.

The County Magistrate had no choice but to continue coaxing.

At this time, Li Lixing ran back, leaned on the edge of the screen, stuck out half his little head, and shouted, "Dad, Xiao Hua found something strange, I called Mom to look, but she said she didn’t understand, so she told me to find Dad."

The County Magistrate was busy comforting Aunt Hua, impatiently said, "Talk later!" Such a good son educated by his wife! Not a bit of decency.

"A blood-stained doll with many needles stuck in it, and Mom’s name written on it, Dad," Li Lixing said again.

The County Magistrate’s mind buzzed.

He released Aunt Hua and strode towards Li Lixing, "What did you say?"

"A doll this big, stained with blood, with many embroidery needles stuck in its belly, Xiao Hua dug it out with its paws in the garden." Li Lixing gestured the size of the doll with his hands and pointed a direction, "Found it there, Li Xing’an said it’s not a good thing, told me to throw it outside the house. But since it had Mom’s name on it, I didn’t throw it away, called Mom to look, but she wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to go; she told me to take Dad to see it."

Aunt Hua turned pale with fright, her body shuddered violently.

The County Magistrate’s eyes were cold and harsh, "Take me to see!"

"Mm, Dad, follow me!" Li Lixing turned around and ran.

The little flower dog he kept barked, following along.

The little flower dog was clever and quickly ran ahead of Li Lixing.

Finally, it stopped at a corner of the backyard.

"Woof woof woof—" The little flower dog stood next to a patch of loose soil, barking loudly, "Woof woof woof—"

Its expression anxious, pacing back and forth beside the loose soil.

When the County Magistrate and Li Lixing approached, it began to circle around the loose soil.

"Here, I was looking for crickets, and Xiao Hua dug up a needle-pierced doll with its paws," Li Lixing said, pointing to the loose soil.

On the loose soil, were some freshly broken branches covering it.

"Where’s the thing?" The County Magistrate squinted his eyes, asking in a deep voice.

"I didn’t dare to touch it, so I covered it with soil again." Li Lixing said, calling to the little flower dog, "Xiao Hua, quickly dig it out, Dad wants to see."

"Woof woof woof woof." The little flower dog bit away the branches covering the soil and began digging with its front paws.