Jinzhi had been pregnant before, so she knew the difference between morning sickness and mere nausea.
Ye Chutang glanced at the blurred figure behind the screen and admitted, "Aunt Jin, I’m about a month along."
Jinzhi hurried out from behind the screen, her eyes reddening with heartache as she looked at Ye Chutang.
"Young Mistress, how… how could you…?"
She was so shocked she forgot to use the proper honorific.
Ye Chutang curled her lips in amusement. "I wasn’t taken advantage of—I was the one who took advantage of someone else."
Jinzhi: "…"
Suddenly, she wasn’t sure whether she should keep grieving.
"What does the Young Mistress plan to do about the child?"
"Keep it."
"An abortion would harm your health, so keeping it is good. When will you and the child’s father marry?"
Ye Chutang laid out her plans.
"I don’t intend to marry. I’ll raise the child myself. In a while, we’ll leave the capital and return only when the child is older. To outsiders, we’ll say the father passed away from illness."
Hearing this, Jinzhi assumed the father must be a scoundrel.
She wanted to curse him, but then remembered Ye Chutang had been the one to "take advantage" of him. At a loss for words, she hesitated.
"Young Mistress, even if you leave the capital, people will gossip about an unmarried woman with child. The little…"
She suddenly didn’t know how to refer to Ye Chutang’s unborn child.
Ye Chutang said, "Aunt Jin, from now on, just call me 'Mistress.' Otherwise, the child won’t know what to call me."
She had always found "Young Mistress" cumbersome, but since "Mistress" was how Jinzhi addressed her late mother, she hadn’t asked her to change it. Now, with circumstances forcing her hand, she had no choice.
"This servant will obey, Mistress."
Jinzhi then resumed her earlier concerns.
"Mistress, if you don’t marry, you’ll be an unwed mother. People will scorn you wherever you go, and the child—whether a young mistress or young master—will face ridicule."
Ye Chutang had already considered this.
She planned to stay in an unfamiliar place for the birth.
If anyone asked, she would say her husband had died, leaving her with his posthumous child, and that her cruel in-laws had cast her out.
Once the child could walk, she would travel with them for a few years before returning to the capital.
"Aunt Jin, since I’ve chosen to keep this child, I won’t let them suffer because of me."
Seeing that Ye Chutang had solutions for every concern, Jinzhi stopped urging her to marry.
"Mistress, this servant will stay by your side always."
"Aunt Jin, I’ll write down some medicinal recipes to ease the morning sickness. Until we leave the capital, you’ll handle the cooking."
"Understood, Mistress."
Serene Courtyard.
Ye Siyin stared at the enormous dowry chest in the storeroom, her eyes brimming with venom.
"Ye Chutang, you never intended to give me this dowry! You’ve been playing me for a fool from the start!"
But the dowry wasn’t the only problem—there was also Kong Ru.
Though Kong Ru had been wicked, she was still the legal wife. Her death meant her children had to observe three years of mourning!
What would happen to Ye Siyin’s marriage plans?
The thought made her want to kill Ye Chutang.
Ye Siyin kicked the dowry chest. "You wretch! I won’t let you have it easy!"
After venting, she left the storeroom and went to Concubine Jiang’s chambers.
At the sight of her mother lying disfigured on the bed, her eyes reddened.
"Mother, does it still hurt?"
As a concubine’s daughter, Ye Siyin addressed her as "Concubine Jiang" in public but called her "Mother" in private.
Concubine Jiang was still in too much pain to speak, her vision blurred by tears.
She knew Kong Ru was dead—and that her daughter’s marriage prospects might now be ruined.
Helpless and frantic, she cursed her own weakness. Without influential relatives to rely on, she had dragged her daughter down with her.
Ye Siyin wiped her mother’s tears. "Don’t worry, Mother. I will marry Jiang Huai."
Not in three years, though—she would do it during the mourning period!
Concubine Jiang trusted her daughter’s cunning and managed a faint smile.
Ye Siyin asked, "Mother, is Ye Chutang really pregnant?"
She knew her mother was too calculating to falsely accuse Ye Chutang without reason.
Gritting through the pain, Concubine Jiang forced out a few words.
"Almost certainly."
She had outright declared Ye Chutang pregnant to sow doubt in Prince Chen’s mind—and to gauge Ye Chutang’s reaction.
Though she hadn’t gotten a clear answer, her instincts told her she was right.
Seeing Ye Siyin’s vengeful look, Concubine Jiang grabbed her hand and shook her head.
Ye Chutang was too ruthless. They couldn’t win against her!
Ye Siyin patted her mother’s hand. "Don’t worry, Mother. I know what I’m doing."
With that, she tucked the blankets around Concubine Jiang.
"Rest well, Mother."
She left the room, exited Serene Courtyard, and headed for the back gate.
The gatekeeper there was her informant, tasked with gathering and relaying news.
The next day.
Since learning of her pregnancy, Ye Chutang had been sleeping heavily.
She woke to bright daylight.
Entering her space, she brushed her teeth, washed her face, and took folic acid.
After freshening up, she sorted through the treasures looted from the Emperor’s private vault.
The nine crates of tribute, tainted with poison, remained untouched and were pushed to the side.
Emerging from her space, she dressed.
Dan’er, waiting in the courtyard, called out urgently upon hearing movement.
"Young Mistress, this servant is coming in!"
Ye Chutang sensed trouble from her tone.
"Enter."
Dan’er rushed in, her face anxious. "Young Mistress, it’s terrible! The whole capital is spreading rumors about you… about you…"
Seeing Dan’er hesitate, Ye Chutang guessed someone had twisted her morning sickness into something vile.
"Go on. What are they saying?"
"That you’re shameless, that you… indulged without marriage, that the child is… is a bastard."
The last word was barely a whisper.
Ye Chutang finished dressing. "Dan’er, go to Apothecary Hall at once. Tell Shopkeeper Lin to spread word that I’ll be there in an hour, inviting every physician in the capital to examine me."
First, she would silence the rumors. Then, she would find who started them.
