The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

On the surface, the mother and son seem to have reconciled, but in fact, each of them has selfish calculations. Mrs. Zeng needs to control this adult son, and Zeng Fu needs to use this non-blood-related mother to show his filial piety - but he has never given up the plan to get rid of the unborn "brother" in Mrs. Zeng's belly.

Unfortunately, due to the joint efforts of Zeng Suqiu and Fu Qingsu, Mrs. Zeng attached great importance to her belly. Even though Zeng Fu was still her "favorite son", they still could not find a chance to abort the fetus and could only watch Mrs. Zeng's belly grow bigger.

Just when Zeng Fu was about to give up and concentrate on studying books for the imperial examination.

Mrs. Zeng, who was visiting the Marquis of Anguo's Mansion, was suddenly carried back home.

She had a miscarriage.

Or maybe this month should be considered premature birth.

But she was not lucky enough, the fetus was too small and did not survive.

But for Mrs. Zeng, perhaps this was a kind of good luck, because if the fetus was bigger, she might not be able to deliver it from her body so easily. At that time, it is possible that two lives would be lost with one corpse.

"What exactly happened?" Doctor Zeng hadn't finished his shift yet when Zeng Suqiu was asked out by her cousin who was staying at the Yongjia Marquis' Mansion. Now Zeng Fu was the only one who could make the decision in the Zeng Mansion.

He grabbed a maid who had accompanied Madam Zeng to the Marquis of Anguo Mansion today and asked her. The maid's face turned pale and her lips trembled as she answered, "Young Master, the Marquis of Anguo Mansion was suddenly surrounded by a group of soldiers. They...they took Madam Dong away. In the panic, I don't know who pushed Madam down, so she..."

"The Marquis of Anguo's mansion has been surrounded by soldiers?!" Zeng Fu's eyes widened. "Didn't the Marquis of Anguo just win a battle and was on his way back? Why would they surround his house at this time?!"

Zeng Fu didn't know that in fact, only a few courtyards of the second house were surrounded.

After the second house of the Marquis of Anguo's Mansion was surrounded by soldiers and all the masters were arrested, the news that the Marquis of Anguo's son Ruan He had been poisoned to death slowly spread.

"Ruan He is dead?!" Fu Qingsu, who was in control of the body at the moment, was surprised for a moment, and then she was filled with doubts. "Although his body can't do anything, didn't they say before that he was sick but recovered, and his life is not in danger?"

When Fu Qingsu learned that Ruan He did not die of illness, she felt very regretful for a while.

"Now that the war is over, how come he, who has never been on the battlefield, died?" Fu Qingsu expressed extreme confusion.

The woman sitting opposite her smiled sweetly and answered in a slightly low and magnetic voice: "Maybe he was murdered, and the murderer was caught by the Marquis of Anguo."

The three of them sat in a small teahouse not far from the Anguo Marquis Mansion, enjoying the cool breeze, warming a pot of tea in a small reddish-brown ceramic stove, and there were several crispy and delicious fried meats on the table.

Fu Qingsu admitted that his brain was not very good at thinking about these complicated things, so he sat down again and ate the meat obediently.

To be honest, whether Ruan He is dead or alive has nothing to do with her. It would be better for such a scum to be dead... But, he is the only child of Zeng Suqiu's aunt in the world, and it is said that the health of the wife of Marquis Anguo is not very good. If the news of Ruan He's death reaches her ears and she gets into an accident, what should she do?

Fu Qingsu had sadness written all over his face.

The woman opposite her poured her a cup of tea gracefully. "If Miss Zeng is worried about the wife of the Marquis of Anguo, you might as well find a day to visit Ruan's villa in the suburbs. However, I think that the wife of the Marquis of Anguo should have known the news earlier than the rest of us. Since the Marquis of Anguo's mansion did not hold a funeral but took this action, I believe that the wife's health is still safe."

It is true that Marquis Anguo is in poor health, but it is also true that she has lived for more than ten years with such a sick body that looks like it could die at any time. Xue Zhuo, who has changed his name to Xie Xiangxi for a long time, comforted Fu Qingsu in a gentle voice: "Miss, you know that although the wife of Marquis Anguo is in poor health, there has never been a concubine in the inner courtyard of Marquis Anguo. Of course, this is because Marquis Anguo is a man who values ​​his promises, but you must not underestimate her means just because she is weak."

"But if my aunt is still energetic, how could she..."

How could I allow my niece to be bullied like that, even...

Fu Qingsu, who had never noticed that Xie Xiangxi had never addressed the wife of Marquis Anguo as "your aunt", suddenly had an idea in her mind, and then quickly fell into a sadness that made her spine shiver.

"When old scholar Ai was still alive, your mother (the elder Ai) and her sister (the younger Ai) were from the same family, and were sought after by hundreds of families." Xie Xiangxi was a gentle and dignified lady who was admired by people at that time, both in appearance and behavior. "In the end, your mother married Jinshi Zeng, and the younger Ai married the eldest son of the first house with a grand wedding. At that time, the eldest son had not yet inherited the title, and was not even a prince, because the old marquis was the heir to both houses."

"For the old marquis, both the first and second wives have legal wives, and the first and second masters are legitimate sons. The title of marquis does not necessarily have to fall to the older one."

When Xie Xiangxi lowered his voice, it was suddenly filled with a kind of greasy coldness: "Later, not long after Madam Xiao Ai married in, rumors spread that the second master of the Anguo Marquisate was actually the posthumous son of the old marquis's brother who died young."

"The old marquis's brother had been engaged to the second wife's old lady a long time ago, but before the second wife's old lady came to marry, she suddenly passed away due to an accident."

"It is said that this ill-fated couple had already conceived before their marriage. At that time, the elders in the family, in order to continue the incense of the second branch, could not bear to let the second master be called a bastard when he was born. Instead, they wanted to give him the title of a legitimate son of the Ruan family. That is why they asked the old marquis to marry his younger brother's wife who had not yet married into the family, and to inherit both branches."

"What happened next?" Fu Qingsu was completely attracted by the secret he was telling.

Xie Xiangxi smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes: "Not long after the news came out, the second master's biological mother and the substitute woman who became a nun in the Taoist temple to pray for her, burned themselves to death on the same day. The old marquis soon wrote a letter to pass the title to the eldest master, and sent the second master to work in the state. Not long after, the old marquis also passed away."

"But what does this have to do with my aunt?" Although Fu Qingsu couldn't help but guess that Lady Anguohou had actually been aware of Zeng Suqiu's situation for all these years but had never stopped her, she still subconsciously wanted to think well of her. Otherwise, Zeng Suqiu's fate would be too... sad.

"Before giving birth to Ruan Xiang'e, Madam Xiao Ai was actually pregnant with another child, but unfortunately, she was knocked out by the servants of the second house and could not keep the baby. Later, she went to the Taoist temple to pray for the unborn child and ran into the female priest who looked very similar to the old lady of the second house. She seemed to have learned something from her and brought her to the mansion a few days later. Then, the old lady of the second house and the female priest burned themselves to death one after another."

"Not long after the two men set themselves on fire and the old marquis passed away, Madam Xiao Ai was soon found to be pregnant again. But you know what happened afterwards. Ruan Xiang'e gave birth prematurely. At the same time, Madam Xiao Ai was hit by the successive deaths of her father and stepbrother. She has been paralyzed in bed ever since. It is really lamentable."

"But, miss, how much of this is really a coincidence or a trick of fate?"