The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

"Moreover, the doctor also said that you shouldn't think too much, as it's bad for your health."

Upon hearing this, Du Mingxian's eyes lit up. This is...this is...Master Liu's legal wife?

She looked to be only in her early twenties, sickly and frail, with a perpetually deep sorrow between her brows.

He was sick, but not as badly as Master Liu had said. Apart from having something on his mind, he was fine and lived a quiet life, without any problems.

As the two walked past, the maid helped them out, offering words of encouragement.

Thinking about how Master Liu treated his concubine today, and then looking at his wife... the man's heart isn't with her, how can she have a child? And yet she still wants a child.

Du Mingxian didn't know what to say.

The Liu family's carriage hadn't left yet, and the old woman was getting the medicine. Ling Silang had already bought the medicine and came over. He noticed her looking outside and was quite curious. "Did you run into someone you know?"

“No.” Du Mingxian pulled him a few steps forward and quietly pointed to the carriage behind them, “The carriage of Master Liu’s wife.”

"But what's the problem?"

"No, I just heard that this concubine came to see the baby being born, but she looks terrible. It's probably going to be difficult for her to have a baby. Besides, Master Liu is particularly fond of his favorite concubine."

As a local official, Ling Silang knew a bit about these people's family affairs. "Actually, Madam Liu is a pitiful person."

"A pitiful person?"

"Yes, she is the only daughter in her family. Her family is quite well-off. Before he married, Master Liu was just a small shop owner."

"After he married his current wife, their lives gradually improved. However, this good fortune did not last long. His wife's family had a misfortune, and now only his father remains."

Du Mingxian frowned. "Her mother is gone?"

"Yes, a year after Madam Liu got married, I heard that she went to offer incense and encountered bandits, and was killed by them."

"That's quite pitiful. I just heard her maid trying to comfort her and tell her not to worry too much."

Seeing Du Mingxian's expression, Ling Silang casually asked, "Are you trying to help her?"

"No, not really. We don't know each other. I'm just quite curious about the Liu family. I think we can have Xia Yu look into it. We're just killing time anyway."

"The backyard is safe now, so we can go and check it out."

When Du Mingxian returned, Ling Silang stayed with her the whole time, but Xiangyang was so anxious when he came back after finding out the gossip that he couldn't find a time to talk to his wife about it alone. She could only keep the gossip to herself and go to sleep for one night.

Xiang Yang got up early the next day and waited outside Du Mingxian's door until Ling Silang had breakfast and left. Only then did he rush into the main hall.

"Madam, I finally have a chance to speak! I've been so suffocated!"

"Suffocating? Is there something you want to say to me alone? Is it inconvenient with the master here?"

"I wanted to talk about it privately, but with the master around, I was a little scared and didn't dare to gossip in front of him. So when I heard the news yesterday, I didn't dare to say it in front of the madam."

Du Mingxian chuckled, "Next time you really want to say that, you can sneak in and tell me, and I'll send the adults away."

"The slaves dare not."

Du Mingxian stopped teasing her, "Then tell me quickly, what's the big news that made you so eager to come and tell me?"

Xiangyang immediately began to speak, "Madam, you don't know, didn't you throw that Liu Yuanwai's concubine out during the banquet? The banquet was busy at the time, and no one in the manor had a chance to gossip with me."

"After finishing our work yesterday, Master Liu is here again today. Everyone in our household has heard about it, and those old women in the back courtyard are getting restless."

Du Mingxian listened for a long time but still couldn't get to the point. "How about we get to the point?"

"Some say that the former magistrate was a lecher. He went to the Liu family mansion and slept with the Liu family man's legal wife. That's why the Liu family man didn't like his legal wife and preferred to take his concubine with him wherever he went."

"Nowadays, when the Liu family goes out, it is always the concubines who represent them, and that is also because of this reason."

Du Mingxian was forced to swallow a huge mouthful of melon, and she really didn't know what to say. She couldn't believe such a thing had happened. "You could have told me this last night."

"It's not that I'm afraid of adults," Xiangyang said, a little embarrassed.

In fact, whenever she saw the master and his wife together, she dared not disturb them. Except when she needed to serve them, they were willing to wait outside.

It's like an aura; when adults and their wives are together, their presence makes it seem like their aura can't penetrate.

It's hard to say.

"Is there anything else? How did the people in the backyard find out about this?"

"According to the young woman from the needlework department, she had a very good relationship with the wife of another yamen runner. That yamen runner died when he went out on official business with the former magistrate."

"Oh, that's right."

It must have been that the constable went back and mentioned it to his wife, who then told her best friend. Now that they've arrived, these people, eager to curry favor and angered by the Liu family's situation, are all happy to say a few words.

That's how the news got out.

"It's best not to talk about this, after all, it affects Madam Liu's reputation."

Du Mingxian thought about the state of Madam Liu when she saw her today. If a woman like that knew that her husband had given her to another man, she probably wouldn't ask about having children anymore.

Or perhaps she didn't know that everything could be accomplished through underhanded means.

“This servant knows that this matter is too important, so this servant only dares to say this when Madam is alone.”

Du Mingxian nodded slightly, "Well done. If this gets out, Madam Liu probably won't be able to survive."

Even if that beast Liu knew what he was doing was wrong, he was still willing to push his wife out to achieve his own goals, so he certainly didn't mind.

But for women... it's hard to say, especially for such a frail woman, there's a real possibility she wouldn't survive.

"Any other gossip?"

"It's still from the Liu family. I heard that Liu's concubine was with Master Liu from a very early age. Before he married the main wife, he kept that concubine outside. Only after the main wife entered the family and the main wife's mother died was she brought back to the mansion."

Du Mingxian sensed that something was amiss, and something significant.