Chapter 66: The Truth Behind Tang Wanning’s Premature Birth

Fresh blood flowed into Shuang’er’s eyes, turning everything around her a deep red. Her face was cold as she glared at Ye Chutang, who in her eyes had transformed into a hellish demon with the power to take lives.

“The madam did not order me to do anything, only to keep an eye on the young miss, and later report her movements to the madam,” Shuang’er said.

But now, she was constantly scrubbing toilets, and couldn’t keep her eyes on Ye Chutang at all.

Ye Chutang knew that Shuang’er would not lie.

It seemed that Kong Ru had yet to come up with a way to deal with her and was just waiting for an opportunity.

She said to Shuang’er, “Get up, continue scrubbing the toilet. If there’s any movement from Kong Ru’s side, report it to me immediately.”

“Yes, miss. I will obey.”

Ye Chutang knew Shuang’er wasn’t being honest, so she warned, “Don’t think of faking your death. I have the means to make you sleep forever before you can fake it!”

Shuang’er, who had just started to rise, was terrified by these words and fell to her knees again.

How did the young miss know that the madam wanted her to fake death to break free from the shackles of the slave contract?

“P… please, miss, I don’t understand what you mean,” Shuang’er stammered.

Ye Chutang patted Shuang’er on the shoulder. “Your performance is too fake.”

Then, she got up and walked over to Shan’er, who was stewing pork rib soup. “Go and wake Hong Xiu to eat.”

“Yes, young miss.”

As Shan’er left the kitchen, she deliberately stepped on Shuang’er’s hands, which were covered in blisters.

Ye Chutang caught her small movement and smiled faintly.

Taking advantage of Shuang’er’s groans of pain, she added some spiritual spring water into the pot.

Apart from the sellout Shuang’er and the already eaten Le’er in the large kitchen, everyone sat at the table together.

Hong Xiu had been recuperating for two or three days and was much better, with her tongue less swollen and her appetite greatly increased.

The soup that evening was especially fragrant, and it was consumed completely by the group.

After the meal, Ye Chutang treated Jun’er with acupuncture.

Le’er went to the kitchen to brew medicine.

Once the acupuncture was finished, Ye Chutang went to the Liuli Courtyard.

Hong Xiu caught up with her, speaking with a hoarse voice, “Miss, my body has recovered quite a bit. It’s not suitable for me to continue living in your boudoir. I’d like to sleep in the Eastern Ear Room.”

The Eastern Ear Room was a large common dormitory that could accommodate several maids.

Ye Chutang nodded. She called Shan’er. “Arrange a bed for Hong Xiu in the Eastern Ear Room.”

After speaking, she left.

When she arrived at the Liuli Courtyard, Kong Ru had already fainted from the pain.

Ye Jingchuan paced back and forth outside the courtyard, looking up eagerly.

As soon as he saw Ye Chutang, he hurried over. “Chutai, why are you only here now?”

“Did you want me to come later?” Ye Chutang teased.

Ye Jingchuan was startled and quickly corrected himself. “You can come whenever you want.”

It didn’t matter if Kong Ru suffered a little longer, as long as she didn’t die.

He asked again, “How’s Jun’er?”

“He ate a year’s worth of medicine and poison. His body has completely collapsed. He won’t recover in less than a year or so,” Ye Chutang said.

“Chutai, you need to work harder. Jun’er is a poor child.”

“Unfortunately, he didn’t have a good mother or a good father,” Ye Chutang replied coldly.

After speaking, she entered Kong Ru’s room.

A strong, bloody stench hit her immediately, causing her to frown.

Kong Ru’s two personal maids immediately kneeled in front of Ye Chutang, bowing their heads to the ground.

“Please, young miss, save the madam.”

Ye Chutang walked up to the bed and, seeing Kong Ru’s face turn blue, took out her silver needles and pierced two acupoints.

Kong Ru slowly opened her eyes, her murky pupils filled with pain.

Her gaze slowly focused, and she saw Ye Chutang standing in front of her.

“Save me,” Kong Ru’s voice was dry and hoarse, trembling from the pain in her stomach.

Ye Chutang stared coldly at Kong Ru, asking, “Why did my mother have a premature birth?” Before Kong Ru could speak, Chun Tao and Qiu He spoke first.

“Madam wasn’t careful and fell.”

“The master is speaking, what are you two interrupting for?” Ye Chutang kicked the two maids away, sending them crashing into the wall where they fell unconscious.

Ye Jingchuan jumped in shock and took a step back.

Kong Ru was frightened by Ye Chutang’s ruthless behavior and no longer dared to plead for help. She curled up, her body trembling from the pain.

Ye Chutang looked at Kong Ru with mockery in her eyes, pinched her chin, and forced her to make eye contact.

“What are you guilty of? Did you kill my brother? Has he come to you in dreams, asking for you to pay with your life?”

These words suddenly brought Kong Ru back to the time when she had plotted against Tang Wanning, causing her to fall, have a premature birth, and struggle in childbirth.

She had kneeled in the delivery room, pretending to pray for Tang Wanning’s safe delivery, but in reality, she was praying for her to die and the child to be lost.

In the end, Tang Wanning gave birth to her legitimate firstborn son before losing consciousness from exhaustion.

The child had been trapped in the womb for too long and had difficulty breathing, so he didn’t cry out immediately.

Because he was born prematurely, he was the size of a palm, his small face wrinkled and covered in blood, his body a purplish hue.

He looked terrifying.

The midwife, already bribed by Kong Ru, had told everyone that Tang Wanning had delivered a stillborn baby.

She covered the child’s face, handed him over to Ye Jingchuan, and pretended to be devastated.

Ye Jingchuan hated that Tang Wanning had caused the death of their firstborn son. He also thought the dead child brought bad luck and ordered Steward Chen to throw him into the river, erasing his existence.

As a result, apart from a few people, no one knew that Tang Wanning had ever given birth to a son.

That very night, Kong Ru had nightmares, dreaming of a ghostly child coming for her. She woke up several times in fear.

For several days, it was the same.

She didn’t dare to sleep, growing thinner and more haggard.

Fortunately, she was good at disguising her emotions and had long created a false image of being deeply bonded with Tang Wanning.

Everyone thought she was just grieving for Tang Wanning’s loss.

As time passed, the nightmares no longer affected her.

She then poisoned Tang Wanning, ending her life early, and took her place as the head of the house.

Kong Ru recalled the events quickly, meeting Ye Chutang’s gaze without flinching.

“I never harmed anyone. I didn’t have nightmares.”

Ye Chutang tightened her grip on Kong Ru’s chin, smiling eerily, like a hellish demon.

“I have a medicine that can make people tell the truth.”

After saying this, she blocked Ye Jingchuan’s view, took out a syringe from her space, and injected Kong Ru with a transparent liquid.

She then placed the empty syringe back into her space and released Kong Ru’s chin.

Kong Ru collapsed onto the bed, her eyes losing focus at a visible speed, and her tense body relaxed.

“Now, tell me, how did you cause my mother’s fall and premature birth?”

Kong Ru’s pale lips moved.

“I pretended to befriend Tang Wanning, gained her trust, learned the path she took every day to digest food, bribed the maids around her, and used round stones to make her slip and have a premature birth. The maid then picked up the stones. Everything was seamless.”

It had been winter, and the ground was sometimes frosty. Slipping often happened, so no one suspected anything.

Ye Jingchuan only knew that Kong Ru was behind Tang Wanning’s death, but he didn’t know she was also responsible for her premature birth.

He hurried over to the bedside, glaring at Kong Ru, his teeth clenched in fury.

“Tang Wanning’s premature birth wasn’t an accident?”

Kong Ru no longer had any consciousness. With a blank expression, she answered Ye Jingchuan.

“No, it was my calculation.”

Ye Jingchuan was so enraged that he wanted to strangle her.

Back then, he had fallen out of love with Tang Wanning because she wouldn’t allow him to marry another woman.

But he had been very eager for his legitimate firstborn son.

When he learned that the child had been born stillborn, he was both depressed and furious.

He would often bring it up, blaming Tang Wanning for being careless and causing the death of their son.

And now, the truth was revealed.

Ye Chutang ignored Ye Jingchuan’s false pretenses and asked Kong Ru, “My brother was born a stillborn?”