Chapter 132: Jumping into the River 2/2

The old and new docks of Chongcheng County were built along this canal.

There were always boats coming and going on the river, some of them were even large boats, and the water flow here was quite turbulent…

If Fang Xiuniang had jumped into a small river, people would have been able to rescue her quickly, but she must have really wanted to seek death, so she jumped into the canal.

Although some people went down to rescue her, they didn’t manage to save her at all!

Over the years, Fang Xiuniang had rarely left her home, and everyone thought she couldn’t swim. Seeing that she hadn’t surfaced after jumping into the river, their hearts sank.

Fang’s mother and Fang Zijian huddled in the house, also not quite understanding the situation.

They couldn’t understand why Fang Xiuniang would do this.

“Just to let her be someone’s concubine? That old man’s family is very wealthy, she would live a comfortable life in the future… Why would she jump into the river?” Fang Zijian’s lips trembled, feeling scared.

He did intend to marry off Fang Xiuniang, but he didn’t intend for her to die!

This matter in the Fang family… started a month ago.

Seeing himself being vilified by everyone in Chongcheng County, Fang Zijian wanted to move to another place – even if he couldn’t take the imperial exams, he could still find a job as a teacher or something else to make a living.

But he had no connections.

It was also at this time that he got in touch with Hong Hui, who found a way for him. That was to go and seek refuge with a senior official in the neighboring capital city who had resigned and returned to his hometown, let that senior official recommend him, and find a job elsewhere.

But to get that senior official to support him, Fang Zijian had to have something to offer… After thinking about it, Fang Zijian thought he could send his younger sister out.

When Fang Xiuniang was outside, she always kept her head down, making it hard for people to see her face, but as Fang Zijian’s younger sister, he knew what she looked like.

He dared to say that there weren’t many girls in Chongcheng County who looked better than his younger sister!

This younger sister of his, unlike his elder sister who had her own ideas and backbone, he felt that Fang Xiuniang would listen to him.

But who would have thought… Fang Xiuniang would actually jump into the river?

Fang Zijian couldn’t express what he was feeling right now, his whole being was stunned.

Fang’s mother covered her chest, feeling especially uncomfortable. “It’s all because of her older sister’s bad influence, Fang Jinniang is causing so much harm!”

Even Fang’s mother couldn’t understand why Fang Xiuniang would do this.

She had already been good enough to these two sisters! Her parents hadn’t been this good to her back then!

The mother and son looked at each other, but faced with the current situation, they were helpless.

Fang’s mother wanted to go and cause trouble for Fang Jinniang, but with Jin Xiaoye and Li Qingzhi being different from before, she didn’t dare to go and make trouble with them.

And now that Fang Xiuniang had jumped into the river in front of so many people… If she still went to Fang Jinniang to make trouble, what would others say about her? The mother and son were at a loss.

Little did they know, Fang Xiuniang was already on her way to the capital city.

Yesterday, after learning that Fang Xiuniang really intended to follow his suggestion of “escaping through death”, Li Qingzhi not only went to find Zhu Qian, but also arranged for someone to pick her up. He arranged for some of the workers, who were good at swimming, from the thirty or so laborers.

These workers dug stones underwater every day and were particularly good at holding their breath. Li Qingzhi chose three of them to take care of Fang Xiuniang.

The three pretended to be passersby and jumped into the river when Fang Xiuniang jumped, intending to take her away.

Although Fang Xiuniang said she could swim, they didn’t dare to let her take the risk!

They had all planned that if Fang Xiuniang struggled after falling into the water, they would rescue her on the spot without taking her away, to prevent any accidents.

As a result, Fang Xiuniang remained particularly calm after falling into the water, holding her breath and swimming forward by herself…

The three people who went into the water as “rescuers” were dumbfounded!

What surprised them even more was that Fang Xiuniang held her breath for a particularly long time and actually made it to the boat parked in the corner where they were supposed to pick her up. Then, she climbed up the ladder at the back of the boat without needing their help at all.

When they floated to the surface, their expressions were somewhat dazed.

The situation went smoothly to the point of being unbelievable. The person responsible for rowing the boat was Zhu Qian’s trusted aide. He couldn’t help but say to Fang Jinniang, “Young lady, you’re really good at swimming.”

Fang Xiuniang just replied with a grunt and climbed into the cabin to catch her breath.

When she was young, she did indeed have good swimming skills, but after so many years, her swimming skills weren’t as good as they used to be. She even hardly knew how to swim anymore.

The reason she was able to escape so smoothly this time was entirely because she had resigned herself to fate and didn’t care about life or death.

Not fearing death, she also wouldn’t panic or struggle in the water.

Plus, she already liked holding her breath… as she moved forward and climbed while underwater, she felt quite good.

She even didn’t want to come out of the water at one point… Later, when she thought of her sister, she came to her senses and climbed onto the boat.

Today, when the Shen family’s fleet arrived in Chongcheng County, the docks were crowded with boats, and there were many boats in the canal.

Fang Xiuniang jumping into the river attracted the attention of countless people even more.

The boat carrying Fang Xiuniang docked at a place quite distant from where Fang Xiuniang jumped into the river. Now, as the boat quietly left, it didn’t attract any attention.

The boat left the canal and sailed into a small river in the county town, arriving at the backyard of Zhu’s house.

The door to Zhu’s backyard was open, and Fang Jinniang was standing by the door.

Fang Xiuniang lifted the curtain on the cabin, glanced at Fang Jinniang, and at the same time, an old woman arranged by Zhu Qian boarded the boat.

This old woman would accompany Fang Xiuniang to the capital city.

Fang Xiuniang didn’t speak to Fang Jinniang. She stared at her sister for a while, then dropped the curtain, and followed along as the boat rocked forward.

Fang Jinniang watched her younger sister leave, feeling indescribable emotions.

These days, she has been very worried and scared, but after relaxing a bit, she couldn’t help but start to feel nauseous.

“Jinniang, what’s wrong with you?” Jin Xiaoshu asked worriedly.

Fang Jinniang didn’t answer Jin Xiaoshu’s question, she just said, “Xiaoshu, when we’re out there later, if someone tells me about Xiuniang’s situation, I’ll pretend to faint, and then you can take me to the clinic.”

Fang Jinniang’s menstrual period had been delayed for more than half a month, and she felt like she might be pregnant.

If it weren’t for her sister’s situation, she would have gone to the clinic a few days earlier. But these days, she had been preoccupied with her sister’s affairs and hadn’t been in the mood.

As for why she was going now… her sister had an accident. Normally, she would cry and then go to her mother to cause trouble. But she knew her sister was fine, so she didn’t want to do those things and decided to feign fainting instead.

Then, she could naturally go back to her village and rest before returning to Miaoqian Village.

“Okay,” Jin Xiaoshu agreed without hesitation.

The two of them left Zhu’s house and walked to the place where Fang Xiuniang “jumped into the river”. It didn’t take long for them to meet someone they knew.

When that person saw Fang Jinniang, he immediately said, “Jinniang, something’s wrong! Your sister jumped into the river!”

“What?” Fang Jinniang exclaimed.

“I heard that your mother and your brother were going to sell your sister, so she jumped into the river!” the person said.

Fang Jinniang covered her chest, closed her eyes, and collapsed towards where Jin Xiaoshu was. Jin Xiaoshu quickly caught her, “Jinniang, are you okay?”

Fang Jinniang didn’t move.

Jin Xiaoshu knew this was fake, but still panicked, picked up Fang Jinniang, and ran to the clinic.

These days, Fang Jinniang seemed to have some problems with her body, so she must go and check it out!

The two entered the clinic, where the experienced old doctor felt the pulse while asking Jin Xiaoshu, “Is this your wife? How long has it been since her last menstrual period?”

Jin Xiaoshu nodded, immediately stating the last time it occurred, then asked, “Doctor, she used to be late by a day or two at most. But this time, it’s been so long. Is she sick?”

Jin Xiaoshu had always known that women have menstrual periods. When his sister hadn’t married yet, whenever it happened, she would hand over all the work to him. However, he didn’t know that menstruation stops after pregnancy… His mother hadn’t given birth to any children after him, and his sister was pregnant while living with the Li family.

The old doctor said, “She’s pregnant! This girl’s health is okay, no major issues. Take her home and take good care of her, let her eat well.”

“Pregnant? But her belly isn’t big!” Jin Xiaoshu was somewhat dumbfounded.

The doctor was speechless, “Who gets a big belly right after getting pregnant?”

Jin Xiaoshu thought carefully and realized it was true.

So… he was going to be a father?!