You cause trouble and I collect your body, the little emperor’s aunt abuses the scumbag again

The old peach trees at the village entrance were in full bloom, their pink petals scattered on the ground. Meng Siya was drying the baby diapers she had prepared in the yard when suddenly the sound of hurried hooves came from the village entrance.

The sound grew closer, and she abruptly stopped what she was doing. Supporting her aching back, she turned around and saw a familiar face on the path at the village entrance.

The man, carrying a large medicine chest, looked travel-worn and had a stubble beard; it was Lin Daxiong.

Meng Siya's heart jumped into her throat. It was him, he was back. What about Xingzhi? Was Xingzhi back?

The diaper fell to the ground, but she didn't care. With her heavy belly protruding, she leaned against the wall and stumbled towards the courtyard gate, walking unsteadily along the dirt road lined with peach blossoms.

Lin Daxiong reined in his horse, but before he could jump off, Meng Siya grabbed the reins tightly, her knuckles turning white.

Her face passed over Lin Daxiong, staring straight at the empty road behind him, desperately trying to find the person she had been longing for every day, but there was nothing there, only the dust kicked up by the horses' hooves behind Lin Daxiong.

"Where is Xingzhi?"

Her voice trembled, almost as if it were being squeezed out from between her teeth.

Lin Daxiong dismounted, his movements somewhat stiff. His usually eloquent mouth was now glued shut. He avoided Meng Siya's face and wiped the sweat and dust off his face.

"Hey, look how anxious you are!"

Lin Daxiong suddenly burst into laughter, a dry and loud laugh with an indescribable strangeness.

“Your husband is a big shot in Beijing now, he’s so busy he’s practically running around like crazy. That’s why he asked me to deliver some things before you give birth, in case you need anything.”

He spoke with great enthusiasm, but his eyes, which were always darting around, dared not linger even for a moment on that expectant face. He turned around and shouted loudly at the carriage not far behind him.

Soon, several of the accompanying men began unloading things, box after box, heavy mahogany boxes bearing the seals of time-honored Beijing brands, were carried into the dilapidated courtyard.

A group of villagers had already gathered at the entrance of the courtyard to watch the commotion. In front of everyone, Lin Daxiong pried open one of the boxes.

With a whoosh, the shimmering brocade, the high-quality gold locket, and boxes of fragrant tonics filled everyone's view.

"My God, how much silver must that cost!"

The women who had gossiped behind their backs and mocked them as poor widows now had their eyes practically popping out of their sockets. The woman with the upturned eyebrows squeezed to the front, her face plastered with a fawning smile.

"Oh my, Mrs. Meng, your husband has really made something of himself! I knew you were no ordinary person!"

Meng Siya couldn't be bothered to look at these people's true colors; her heart was still hanging empty and uneasy.

Inside the house, Madam Meng came out after hearing the commotion. She looked at the mountain of gold and silver treasures, but there was no joy on her face. She walked up to Lin Daxiong and pointed at him directly with her intact hand.

"Da Xiong, tell me the truth, what's really going on with him? If he's really doing so well, why hasn't he even written a single letter home?"

Upon hearing this, all the noise in the courtyard fell silent, and Lin Daxiong almost lost his smile, stammering slightly.

"Auntie, this is urgent military business, writing a letter could easily lead to leaks, yes, leaks!"

Meng Siya's last glimmer of hope was extinguished by those words. She couldn't believe that Xingzhi, no matter how busy he was, wouldn't be unable to find time to write a few words.

When Lin Daxiong saw her expression, his heart skipped a beat. He knew this was going to be difficult. He gritted his teeth, took out a faded cloth bundle from his pocket, and solemnly handed it over.

"Although there was no letter, he asked me to bring this to you."

Meng Siya took it with trembling hands, opened it, and found a middle-aged garment, the one Xing often wore, with a bamboo leaf that she had embroidered herself on the collar.

She buried her face in her clothes and took a deep breath. It was his scent, mixed with a faint herbal fragrance and the smell of soapberry.

At this moment, her nerves, which had been tense for months, relaxed, and tears silently seeped into the fabric. She preferred to believe that he was just too busy.

"I'm going to feed the horses."

Lin Daxiong left those words behind and fled to the stable in the backyard. As soon as he entered the stable, he deflated and collapsed onto the haystack.

He raised his hand, looking at a fresh scar on the back of his hand that hadn't fully healed yet. It was from a knife cut during the breakout. Recalling the scene before he left, when Xingzhi pushed him out of the pile of dead bodies, he suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face.

Snap.

"Lin Daxiong, you're a real bastard! How long can you keep up this lie?"

He held his head in his hands, buried his face in his knees, and his shoulders trembled silently.

At dinner, Madam Meng specially killed a chicken. At the table, Lin Daxiong tried to make up for the embarrassment of the day by talking about interesting stories from the capital.

"You have no idea how powerful Xingzhi is now. That old bastard Meng Liancheng has been completely outmaneuvered by him. He tried to bite back several times, but Xingzhi anticipated his moves and made him look foolish!"

He spoke vividly, spitting as he spoke, while Meng Siya lowered her head to drink her soup, without interrupting.

She noticed that Lin Daxiong had been picking at the rice in front of him with his chopsticks for a long time, but hadn't actually eaten a single bite, and his right hand holding the chopsticks was trembling slightly.

As night deepened, Lin Daxiong was arranged to rest in the west wing. Meng Siya lay on the bed, tightly clutching the old clothes in her arms. The familiar scent made her feel at ease, but she just couldn't fall asleep.

A woman's intuition, especially that of a pregnant woman, is frighteningly accurate. Lin Daxiong's words were too perfect, as if they were a rehearsed play.

She turned the garment over and over, then took it out again and examined it closely under the oil lamp. The garment was very clean, but in an inconspicuous place on the hem, was there a little bit of dark red that hadn't been washed away?

She scratched it with her fingernail, and the color seeped into the fabric's texture, causing her heart to clench once again.

Just then, the fetus in her womb kicked her hard, making it hard for her to breathe. Meng Siya put on her clothes and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

As soon as she stepped out of the room, she froze. The light in the west wing was still on, and two silhouettes were projected onto the window paper: one was Lin Daxiong, and the other was her mother, who had also gotten up in the middle of the night.

What are they talking about?

Meng Siya held her breath and, as if possessed, quietly approached the window.

The first sound coming from inside the house was the mother's suppressed sobs, her voice choked shut, sending chills down one's spine.

"One leg, you mean his leg..."

Immediately following was Lin Daxiong's low growl, choked with sobs, almost as if he were begging for mercy.

"Auntie, I beg you, please don't let Ya Ya know. If she finds out that Xingzhi is crawling through piles of corpses to save me, she and the child will die!"

Upon hearing this, Meng Siya felt a sudden shock; the worry that had been weighing on her heart shattered.

when……

The water glass in my hand fell to the ground and shattered.

The crying and growling in the west wing abruptly stopped.

Meng Siya felt dizzy and the world was spinning around her.

A sharp pain shot through my abdomen, and warm liquid suddenly flowed down my thighs.

My water broke!