After the replacement marriage, I was forced to fight at home

Chapter 197 Xiaohuan is pregnant

In Zhongcui Garden, Xie Fen coaxed her son to sleep and returned to the inner room, where she saw Zhou Ming leaning on the chaise longue and looking at the account book under the light of a palace lantern.

"It's cold now, it's not good to walk barefoot like this, let's go to the kang quickly." Xie Fen said as she sat in front of the dressing table and slowly combed her hair.

Zhou Ming put down the account book in his hand, rubbed his eyes and said, "It's almost the end of the year, and I don't know how this year's income will be. Yesterday, my father told me to wait for it to be delivered, and I should save more this year."

"Save? What for? How much of the annual income is taken away by the princess? Doesn't the prince know?" Xie Fen thought about the hard work of the couple, and how the bulk of the money at the end of each year was taken away by Mrs. Hu. Looking at her two children who did nothing but wait for the money, if the prince gave her two more silver notes, Mrs. Hu would be in a bad mood for several days. Not to mention that there was also Mrs. Li who was watching eagerly, waiting for her son to save some at the end of the year so that she could take it back to her parents' home.

"I told my father indirectly that it's hard to predict what will happen this year, with the rain and insect plague. The shop is in trouble because of a few princes... Alas, who can see through it?"

"By the way, Xiaohuan beside my mother is pregnant."

"Ah? When did it happen?" Zhou Ming stood up, walked to the kang, took off his shoes and sat on it. He picked up a small silk doll that Brother Hong was playing with on the table and frowned.

"The princess told me this tonight when we were having dinner. I didn't hear anything about it, and I don't know if it was mother who told the princess. I'll ask her tomorrow." Xie Fen patted the ointment off her face.

"How could this happen? Didn't her mother ask her to take the medicine?" Zhou Ming asked.

"How could I not give her the drink? It's one thing to let her win the prince's heart, but it's another to get pregnant."

"I just don't know if my father knows about this. Xiaohuan is from my mother's room. Will the princess..." Zhou Ming tapped the table lightly.

"This must have been arranged by the princess. The second young master just got married, so he can't stretch his hands that far. Besides, a daughter-in-law like that is enough to give him a headache every day. It's even more impossible for Yu to do that. She only wants to pull the prince to her yard every day, so how can she let Xiaohuan get pregnant? Li doesn't even dare to speak loudly on weekdays, so it's only the princess who can do it."

"But what is the princess's intention?" Zhou Ming looked up at his wife.

Xie Fen said, "This is also something I don't understand, but no matter what, this child cannot be kept. We have to think of a way."

Zhou Ming kneaded the doll slowly in his hands, frowning.

"But this method is hard to think of. First, if the prince knew about it, he would be very happy and would of course send someone to serve her. Second, Xiaohuan is someone from my mother's room. If something really happens to her, my mother will also be held responsible, right?" Xie Fen was really having a headache. When would this Li stop holding him back?

"That's right, that's why I want you to think of a comprehensive solution." After Zhou Ming finished speaking, he threw the doll onto the table, pushed the table back, and lay down first.

Xie Fen felt indescribable. What should I think? It was always like this. She would just leave it at that after giving her the order. She only cared about the result and never asked or discussed anything. If the result was good, it was fine. If it was not effective, she would not come into the house for ten days or half a month to slap her in the face.

Also, which daughter-in-law would call her aunt "mother"? But Zhou Ming, after recognizing her relatives on the first day of her marriage, went to Li's yard and asked her to kowtow and call him "mother", which made her almost vomit blood in anger. From then on, she had to call him like that when no one was around, and Li also acted like a mother-in-law.

Xie Fen lay down but couldn't fall asleep. Her father would not harm her. He must have his reasons for choosing Zhou Ming for her. However, Xie Fen still couldn't see any direction at all.

I turned over and still couldn't fall asleep. How should I get rid of the baby in Xiaohuan's belly? Who should take the blame? This is not an easy matter. Although I have been acting as Hu's thug since I got married, this is the first time that someone's life has been lost, even though it is an unborn child.

A few days later, all the servants in the Shen County Prince's Mansion were rewarded with a month's allowance, which was arranged by the princess herself. Because the prince had a son in his old age, he was very happy. He made an exception and did not use an integer and convened a family banquet. He promised that as long as the child was born, no matter it was a boy or a girl, Xiaohuan would be promoted to a concubine. During the period of waiting for delivery, she would still live in Concubine Li's courtyard, and her daily life would be taken care of by Li.

Meng Wan looked coldly at the girl named Xiao Huan opposite her, not showing any joy at all about being pregnant. As it was still early in the pregnancy, she couldn't see any signs of pregnancy, so the princess didn't dare to sit down completely even though she was invited to sit, and only sat halfway on the seat.

She was quite pretty, but maybe it was because of morning sickness or some other reason, her face was pale and her big eyes looked even more hollow.

Mrs. Hu showed an extremely abnormal joy and kept saying nice things to Zhou Yiheng, which made Mrs. Li sneer with her handkerchief covering her mouth.

"If you ask me, the biggest contributor is Concubine Li. She is very good at disciplining people." Hu said with a smile while pouring tea for the prince.

"Oh~ How come she is the most meritorious person again? Shouldn't it be me, the prince?" Zhou Yiheng rarely joked like this. When he said this, Mrs. Hu was stunned, and then she said, "Look at what I said, then Concubine Li will be ranked second. Your Majesty must reward her well."

When Li heard the two people say this, she quickly stood up and said, "It is all because of the prince's vigor and the princess's kindness that Xiaohuan has such a good fortune. I dare not take credit for it."

Meng Wan was about to vomit up the food he had eaten the night before. What kind of person was this? He could say such things in front of a room full of children and grandchildren.

Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Zhou Yu, who was sitting in front of him, slowly say, "In this case, why don't you arrange for some people to go to Hongluo Temple to pray for the safety of my unborn brother."

This was the first time Zhou Yu spoke at a family dinner since he smashed the chair last time. As soon as he said this, the room fell silent, and everyone looked at him with different expressions.

Zhou Yu picked up the tea and took a sip slowly before continuing, "This is a happy event in the mansion. In my opinion, all courtyards should share in the joy. So, each courtyard should send two people. This will also show that we are sincere."

Zhou Yiheng nodded when he heard this. Although Mrs. Hu didn't know what Zhou Yu wanted to do, she certainly wouldn't say no when she saw the prince's expression of no objection, so she smiled and said,

"The Second Young Master has thought it through thoroughly. I will check the almanac and choose a good day. Each courtyard will send two maids or old women to pray for the safety of Xiaohuan and the baby in her belly." Because the maid was pregnant, only the maids or old women from each courtyard could go. This was the rule.

When Zhou Ming heard Zhou Yu say this, he looked up at him, and Zhou Yu gave him an indifferent smile, the kind that made people's teeth itch.

"Mom, I want to go to Hongluo Temple too. The last time I went there was in spring." Zhou Yingning stood up and said in a soft voice.

"What are you going to do, for a..." Hu was about to say a servant, but immediately felt something was wrong, because the servant was pregnant with the prince's child, so she changed the topic and said, "It's not good for you to go to make a wish for an unborn child. You have to go once during the Chinese New Year."

After listening to this, Zhou Yingning glanced at Zhou Yiheng, and seeing that the prince had no intention of speaking for her, she sat back unhappily.

When one topic came to an end and moved on to the next one, it was Zhou Yiheng's time to show his fatherly love as usual. His sons followed him to the study in the inner courtyard.

Seeing that the prince had gone out, Zhou Yingning came up again, holding Hu's arm and saying, "Mother, please let me go. I heard that the scenery of Hongluo Temple at the beginning of winter is very special. I haven't even seen it."

"Shut up." Mrs. Hu said sternly, "You're making a wish for a servant, and it's your turn as the daughter of a royal family. Aren't you afraid of shortening her life?"

When Mrs. Li heard this, her face turned pale, and Xiaohuan stood up from the embroidery stool in panic, not knowing what to do.

Mrs. Hu was furious. She stood up from her chair and said to Madam Hong, "Immediately find someone to pick a date. Make sure to pick a good one. Ask each courtyard to report the names of the people going to Hongluo Temple and prepare the carriages. We'll let Mrs. Song and Seventh Sister go."

Then he glanced at Li, "You heard what the prince said just now. Xiaohuan was originally yours, so you should pay more attention to everything. I won't say anything else. The child of that person died a few years ago. You know what the prince is like."

After saying that, he shook his sleeves and went into the inner room. Zhou Yingning thought for a moment and quickly followed him.

The handkerchief in Li's hand was torn out of shape by her, and she was so angry that she had no place to vent. She had thought of everything, but she didn't expect Xiaohuan to get pregnant, which was far from her original intention. Now, even if she wanted to do something, she didn't dare to do it.

Seeing Xiao Huan still standing there in a daze, Li was furious and twisted her body to walk out, "What? Do we have to carry a sedan chair for you? Aunt Huan?"

When Xiaohuan heard what Li said, her shoulders shrank, her eyes filled with tears, and she lowered her head and followed him out the door.

Meng Wan looked at the performance of several people and became more certain that Mrs. Hu had no good intentions in this matter of Xiao Huan. There must be a big drama to be played. No matter what she was going to play, she had to be careful.

After they walked out of the door and down the steps, Chuan'er took a few quick steps and said to Meng Wan, "Mrs. Song was the one who reported the news from the Chuihua Gate of Junyue Residence, and the seventh sister was the one sweeping the yard. I heard that her brain is not very good, but she has a lot of strength."

So that's how it is. Just by looking at the two people arranged by Hu, we can tell that Hu is extremely unhappy about Xiaohuan's pregnancy, but she has to pretend to be happy. And Li's attitude is also unhappy, so how did Xiaohuan get pregnant under Li's nose? The twists and turns here need to be analyzed carefully.

In this case, we can take advantage of this opportunity. Zhou Yu would not make this suggestion for no reason. He must want to do something.

"Also, Cai'er found out that Xiaohuan is the niece of Mrs. Zhong from the accounting office."

Meng Wan looked at Chuan'er in surprise. If that was the case, she had to think about it carefully. Xiaohuan was in a very awkward situation. Some people wanted to keep her child, while others didn't. Xiaohuan was like a fish on the chopping board, at the mercy of others. No one cared about Xiaohuan's thoughts.

This is an opportunity for me, especially since Xiaohuan and Mrs. Zhong still have this kind of relationship.