Font Size:
That day, Lin Xiaoyin and Lu Ke stayed at the Lin residence for a day. The next day, Lu Ke planned to take his wife back to the Lu family.
Who would’ve thought, just as they were about to get in the carriage at the gate of the Lin residence, Lin Xiaoyin suddenly felt a dull pain in her abdomen.
She had looked fine just moments before, but her face turned pale in an instant.
The Lin elders and Lu Jinnian were all startled and hurriedly sent someone to fetch a doctor.
It was the third day of the Lunar New Year, and all the medical clinics were closed.
By the time a doctor was finally found, the child in Lin Xiaoyin’s womb had already been lost.
The doctor estimated the pregnancy to be about two months along, perhaps not even that. He prescribed some medicine to help her recover and then left.
A few days earlier, Lin Xiaoyin had noticed some spotting. She didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just her period. She had noticed it was unusual and had planned to see a doctor after the New Year. Who would have thought it was actually a sign of an unstable pregnancy?
At the end of the year, the family had eaten seafood, including crab. She hadn’t abstained from anything and paid little mind to the cooling nature of those foods. As a result, it became a fatal blow to the child in her womb.
Before she could even fully experience the joy of expecting, she had already lost her baby. Lin Xiaoyin was devastated and collapsed into her mother’s arms, sobbing.
This was Lin Xiaoyin’s first child, but Lu Ke’s second, making the blow even heavier for him.
When he heard that the child was gone, Lu Ke was visibly stunned.
Due to this sudden turn of events, the Lin family sent someone to the Lu household to explain and let Lin Xiaoyin stay another day to rest.
Wen Ruyu and Zhao Shu were both shocked by the news.
After all, Lin Xiaoyin’s pregnancy had been completely silent—she herself hadn’t even realized, let alone anyone else.
When Lu Ke finally returned with his wife the next day, to show concern, Wen Ruyu brought her eldest daughter-in-law to visit the third daughter-in-law.
Aunt Qian fainted upon hearing the news the day before and was now recovering in her room, unable to come.
Lu Ke was also grieving. After returning home, he lay back in his room. He wasn’t ill but had no energy or desire to move.
Even when friends sent invitations or came to visit, he refused to see them.
His friends, puzzled by his absence, asked Lu Songnian about it.
Only then did Lu Songnian reveal that Lin Xiaoyin had suffered a miscarriage. People finally understood and no longer blamed Lu Ke for his lack of appearances.
Meanwhile, Lin Xiaoyin, seeing Wen Ruyu, was reminded of how well her mother-in-law usually treated her. Now that she had carelessly lost a Lu family descendant, she couldn’t help but cry again.
When Wen Ruyu asked how the miscarriage happened, Lin Xiaoyin couldn’t give a definite answer—only guessing that she had eaten too many cold foods the other day, and with an already unstable pregnancy, the child had been lost.
Zhao Shu stood nearby, blaming herself. She believed it was because she had left all the housework to Lin Xiaoyin in recent days, overworking her and causing the miscarriage.
Wen Ruyu could only comfort her eldest daughter-in-law, saying, “It’s not like you did it on purpose. If we had known she was pregnant, everyone would have been more careful. No one in the family noticed anything, so it’s not your fault.”
No sooner had she comforted one daughter-in-law than the third began again.
“Could it be retribution for what I’ve done?” Lin Xiaoyin sobbed. “This miscarriage came so suddenly. I keep wondering if it’s karma for what happened with Fen’er’s child.”
After all, that child had essentially been lost because of her. So she felt a lingering guilt that had only deepened today.
Wen Ruyu consoled her: “Don’t say such things. You’re only seventeen. You’re young, and your body isn’t ready—it’s normal not to carry to term.”
“This one may be lost, but there will be more. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
After a long while of comforting, Lin Xiaoyin finally stopped crying.
Just outside the screen, Fen’er had been listening. She had come with Wen Ruyu and heard everything Lin Xiaoyin said.
Moved, she wiped away tears and began to empathize with the third mistress.
Wen Ruyu watched Lin Xiaoyin drink her medicine before leaving with her eldest daughter-in-law. She instructed the servants to take extra good care of Lin Xiaoyin during this time.
Normally, a doctor would visit monthly to check on everyone’s health. Even if no one was ill, they’d still examine to see if anything needed attention.
The fetus was so small that even the previous doctor hadn’t noticed a pregnancy.
It really seemed this child had no fate with the Lu family.
Wen Ruyu sighed as she left. She glanced at Lu Ke’s room but decided not to go in and console him.
Fen’er, wiping her tears, followed. Once they reached the courtyard, she looked back, told Qingxue she needed to relieve herself, and went back to Lin Xiaoyin’s room.
Lin Xiaoyin and the maids didn’t know her intentions and thought the old lady had more instructions.
To their surprise, Fen’er suddenly dropped to her knees in front of Lin Xiaoyin, tears falling.
“What are you doing? Get up!” Lin Xiaoyin frowned. She was already depressed from the miscarriage and feared Fen’er might cause more trouble.
Lin Xiaoyin was never sure what to make of Fen’er.
She hadn’t had a good impression of her since she had once been involved with Lu Ke.
But Fen’er shook her head and said, “Mistress, don’t blame yourself. Even if there were mistakes in the past, none of this was your fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s me and the third master. It’s our mistake that caused your body harm. Heaven wouldn’t be so cruel as to punish you like this.”
Lin Xiaoyin had been consumed with grief and guilt, but Fen’er’s words broke through her pain.
She had always thought of Fen’er as the typical concubine—scheming and stirring up trouble.
She hadn’t expected Fen’er to show such empathy, let alone say such comforting words. For the first time, she saw Fen’er in a new light.
Fen’er genuinely liked the third mistress.
Afraid Lin Xiaoyin might overthink, Fen’er said her piece, kowtowed twice, then got up and ran off.
But her words had lifted a weight from Lin Xiaoyin’s heart.
In the following half month, the entire third branch of the Lu family was shrouded in illness and grief. Even though Lu Ke wasn’t physically unwell, he was overwhelmed by sorrow and couldn’t pull himself together.
Eventually, the Lantern Festival arrived. The festive atmosphere helped lighten the mood somewhat in the third branch.
On the Lantern Festival, Lu Songnian bought two crab-shaped lanterns—one big and one small. He gave the big one to Lu Mingzhu and originally intended to give the small one to her as well, but Lu Qing threw a fit, so he gave it to Lu Qing instead.
The family enjoyed lanterns and a night of opera. After that, the festive spirit of the New Year began to fade.
After the Lantern Festival, both the eldest and third branches began packing. The eldest and third sons were preparing to go to the capital for the imperial exams.
Now that both were official scholars, their status was elevated. Wen Ruyu hired a security escort team of about ten people for a hundred taels of silver to ensure Lu Songnian and Lu Ke’s safe journey to the capital.
These two were the Lu family’s future, so Wen Ruyu took special care.
Before they left, she gave each of them 200 taels of silver.
One part was for travel expenses; the other was for hosting banquets and rewarding subordinates if they succeeded in the exams.
To show support, the whole family saw them off at the city outskirts.
Water travel would have been faster, but there had been recent reports of river bandits. As they were in the southern region, they didn’t dare take the water route lightly.
So they would travel by land first and switch to water when it was safer.
Wen Ruyu only saw them off as far as a short pavilion, then claimed a headache and turned back.
Only the two daughters-in-law and two other sons continued to accompany them for a while.
After two weeks of rest, Lin Xiaoyin’s health had mostly recovered.
Wen Ruyu originally urged her to rest more, but Lin Xiaoyin, thinking of her newlywed husband, insisted on accompanying him for part of the journey.
As Wen Ruyu returned home, someone came to report that Qin Fu of the Xu family had given birth to a son on the Lantern Festival and had sent red eggs to celebrate.
Wen Ruyu was genuinely happy to hear the news.
She congratulated the messenger and ordered a proper send-off.
After a brief rest, Lu Bainian and Zhao Shu also returned.
Life in the household settled again. Due to Lin Xiaoyin’s miscarriage and Zhao Shu’s pregnancy, Wen Ruyu took over half the household responsibilities herself.
It wasn’t until February, when Lin Xiaoyin finished her month of postpartum recovery, that Wen Ruyu finally had a little free time.
She immediately resumed plans to expand the estate. With land purchases and construction, the house was once again buzzing with activity.
Fortunately, the same workers who had built the garden remained, and the job this time was easier.
After all, the family was growing. The eldest daughter-in-law was pregnant, and another mouth would soon be added.
The Lu family now had some standing, and with more descendants to come, it would be inappropriate if each young master or lady didn’t have their own room.
In Wen Ruyu’s era, three- or four-courtyard residences were not restricted—as long as one was a local gentry, they could live in a four-courtyard house.
Only the main gate needed to follow regulations—certain ranks required specific standards.
After hiring someone to draft the layout and choosing an auspicious day, the Lu family began construction again.
As the festive mood faded, everyone went back to their routine.
Before spring fully arrived in Jiangnan, shocking news came from the court: the army fighting the Xiongnu had suffered a devastating defeat. Tens of thousands of civilians in a city were massacred.
The Kingdom of Yufeng, which had never lost to the Xiongnu before, was now crushed.
The defeat was so humiliating that scholars across the country rose up to criticize the government.
The Empress Dowager executed several generals to calm public anger—but refused to kill the General of the West, who had escaped with the remaining troops, sparking even more outrage.
There were two major grievances:
One, the Xiongnu had massacred nearly all able-bodied men in the city they captured. The people of the Central Plains, men and women alike, demanded revenge.
Two, the Xiongnu, emboldened by victory, now demanded annual tribute and a royal princess in marriage—or they wouldn’t stop.
If the court gave in, the ruling power would be condemned for generations. And to give tribute yearly was akin to recognizing the Xiongnu as their overlords.
What’s more, the money for tribute would ultimately come from the people.
Taxes were already high, and with poor harvests in the south, there wasn’t much left to give—this was a death sentence for the common folk.
This year’s rainfall had improved the harvest slightly, which had seemed like a blessing—until news of the military defeat crushed that hope.
Even if the court refused to pay tribute and chose to fight on, it would still require silver to support the army.
That meant even higher taxes—and no matter what, it was the people who suffered.
Wen Ruyu, unaware of the full situation outside, called her youngest son over to talk.
She wanted to ask about the military affairs—after all, family matters, national affairs, and worldly matters are all worth caring about.