Chapter 39

Chapter 39: False Pregnancy Commandery Princess Rongjia's former husband's family was far away in Jinling, a prominent and distinguished clan in the region. Cui Lingrong preferred to know what she was dealing with. A person who would take half of her husband away from her—she ought to know the other party's background. Regarding matters of the Rong Prince Mansion, what could be learned in Bianjing was nothing more than that the Prince and Princess Rong doted on Commandery Princess Rongjia, and that since childhood, Commandery Princess Rongjia had attended all the major banquets and enjoyed a considerable reputation for talent. Anything more detailed was that Commandery Princess Rongjia had a somewhat willful temperament. But a girl raised in a prince's mansion—what of it if she was a little willful? That was only natural. So Cui Lingrong turned her attention to Commandery Princess Rongjia's former husband's family. Commandery Princess Rongjia had married far away for over a decade and lived in Jinling for so many years—whether the couple had been harmonious or at odds beneath the surface, perhaps some clues could be uncovered. When Er Shun entered, Caixia and Caiyue withdrew to the doorway, leaving only Nanny Qiu inside. "Have a cup of tea first. You've worked hard during this time." Cui Lingrong invited Er Shun to sit and speak. Er Shun drank the tea but did not sit—with his mistress present, how would he dare? "Thank you for the tea, Mistress. I spent quite a few days investigating in Jinling and thought I should return first to report what I've found. Then you can decide whether to continue sending people to Jinling." Cui Lingrong told Er Shun to speak slowly. "I'm an unfamiliar face, so as you instructed, I contacted Young Master Yu's friend in Jinling and had him make inquiries on my behalf. The easiest thing to uncover was that Commandery Princess Rongjia's husband, Elder Master Du, kept a concubine in a hidden residence—because Commandery Princess Rongjia had that concubine dragged through the streets by carriage, and many people witnessed it." Er Shun said, "This was about five or six years ago." Nanny Qiu asked, "What became of that concubine afterward?" Er Shun shook his head. "I couldn't find out. After that day, the concubine vanished without a trace, and her family also moved away from Jinling. I imagine things did not end well for her." Nanny Qiu frowned. "Being dragged through the streets in public, losing all face—even if the Du family kept her, she would have found it very hard to go on living." "Nanny Qiu is right. However, I also uncovered another matter—that concubine appeared to be pregnant at the time." Er Shun said that passersby had noticed the concubine's lower belly was slightly swollen, though it couldn't be confirmed. The Du family had sealed off the information, and Er Shun had spent considerable effort and money to uncover these details. "Pregnant?" Nanny Qiu glanced toward her mistress, then asked Er Shun again, "Speaking of which, Commandery Princess Rongjia and Elder Master Du were married for many years—did they never have a single child? Not the princess, and not any concubine either?" Er Shun shook his head and said no. "Apparently, as soon as Commandery Princess Rongjia married into the family, she sent away all of Elder Master Du's chambermaid concubines. In the following years, Elder Master Du had no concubines at all. It was only before this hidden-residence concubine that Old Madame Du arranged two concubines for him, yet neither produced a child." Cui Lingrong said, "So Commandery Princess Rongjia couldn't have children herself, and wouldn't let anyone else have them either." Thinking of how Commandery Princess Rongjia had sent medicine to Huadie, it did match her temperament. But then her thoughts turned to her own three children—once Commandery Princess Rongjia's child was born, would she... Sensing the danger, Cui Lingrong took a deep breath and continued asking, "Then did Commandery Princess Rongjia never conceive at all?" By all logic, having been married for so many years, and with Commandery Princess Rongjia and Elder Master Du having once been affectionate, there should have been children. If she had never conceived in over a decade, then one of them must have had a problem. But someone had seen the hidden-residence concubine with a slightly swollen belly, which... "To answer you, Mistress, Commandery Princess Rongjia did conceive once. A physician was called to take her pulse at the time. As for how the pregnancy was lost, I don't know—and that physician has also disappeared without a trace." Many matters, Er Shun could only uncover at the surface level. For anything deeper, he lacked the means, and investigating too much would easily arouse suspicion. Things like the hidden-residence concubine and the pregnancy were not secrets. "Disappeared without a trace?" Cui Lingrong frowned slightly. "No news at all?" "The pharmacy apprentice said the physician went to seek out relatives, and then there was no further word." Having said this, Er Shun glanced back. The main reason he had returned this time was that he had inadvertently overheard another piece of news. "Old Madame Du had given Elder Master Du two concubines, right? Both of them have now been sent to the Du family's country estate." With no children and the husband deceased, many families handled concubines in this manner—it wasn't unusual. But the fact that Er Shun had brought this up told Cui Lingrong there was something more important behind it. "I thought I'd try my luck, so I went for a stroll near the Du family estate. As it happened, I ran into a madwoman who came running out, shouting about giving her child back, saying her child had been harmed, and cursing that poisonous woman's belly as fake, that she had deceived the master." Er Shun's voice grew quieter and quieter, afraid of being overheard. "Later, several men ran over and dragged her away. That was when I learned she was one of Elder Master Du's concubines." Cui Lingrong raised one eyebrow. "Fake belly? A false pregnancy?" Er Shun said that seemed to be the meaning. "At any rate, that's what she was shouting at the time. The words of a madwoman can't be taken at face value, but for something to keep a madwoman repeating it over and over, there must be some reason behind it." "She's the concubine Old Madame Du gave him for the purpose of expanding the family line. She got pregnant, Princess Rongjia couldn't tolerate her child and harmed it—that logic holds together," Cui Lingrong analyzed. "The other concubine, like her, was also given by Old Madame Du. Seeing her pregnant, she might have faked a pregnancy to compete for favor—that's somewhat possible. But would she have that much nerve?" Anyone with sense would know that Princess Rongjia couldn't tolerate children born to other women. Even with Old Madame Du's backing, could she really give birth to the child safely? Probably not. Otherwise, Elder Master Du wouldn't have ended up without an heir. So who faked the pregnancy? Princess Rongjia? Cui Lingrong's heart pounded. That logic worked too. Princess Rongjia had been married into the Du family for years. Seeing a concubine pregnant, she might have panicked and faked a pregnancy to compete for favor, or even to seize the concubine's child—that was also possible. She had heard gossip from Yuan Mingzhu before about a household where the principal wife couldn't conceive. When a concubine became pregnant, the wife announced she was pregnant too, and once the concubine gave birth, the wife took the child as her own. That way, outsiders would believe the child was the wife's. But if Princess Rongjia had that intention, why would she harm the concubine's child? She should have protected the concubine's child instead. Cui Lingrong frowned deeply. She had received too much information at once and hadn't sorted it all out yet. "In the inner quarters, anything is possible in the scheming," Nanny Qiu said. "But paper can't wrap fire. When a concubine claims she's pregnant, the principal wife will surely call for a physician to check her pulse. A concubine might bribe one doctor and the people around her, but can she manage to bribe more doctors?" An ordinary concubine truly didn't have that ability. Cui Lingrong pondered thoughtfully. "So that means Princess Rongjia is more likely to have faked the pregnancy. She's the principal wife—she's the one with the ability to pull off such a deception." Nanny Qiu nodded in agreement. Er Shun said that was everything he had learned. "You've worked hard. Go back and rest for two days. If anything comes up, I'll send someone to find you again." As Cui Lingrong spoke, Nanny Qiu handed Er Shun a pouch of loose silver. He had run errands for her, so the reward money needed to be generous—only then would Er Shun remain loyal to her. After Er Shun left, Nanny Qiu kept her brows furrowed. "Eldest Young Madam, since Princess Rongjia married into the marquis household, she's always had physicians from the Rong Prince Mansion check her pulse and treat her illnesses. Do you think this time she..." Nanny Qiu didn't finish her sentence. Cui Lingrong understood instantly. "Old Madame is worried I might interfere. She's let Princess Rongjia handle everything in the Wutong Courtyard herself. Even if I wanted to find a physician to check Princess Rongjia's pulse, I'm afraid it can't be done." "Where there's a will, there's a way. As long as it's fake, there will be flaws," Nanny Qiu said. "What I don't understand is, if she's faking a pregnancy this time, what's her goal? There are no pregnant concubines in the marquis household right now. Surely she can't conjure up a child eight months from now?" Cui Lingrong had just finished speaking when her eyes widened. That wasn't impossible either. The priority now was to confirm whether Princess Rongjia was truly pregnant or faking it.