Chapter 143: Chaos in Time and Space

Si Rong first wanted to confirm her own guess.

"Back then, when I went to you for treatment, you said I was unlikely to conceive, and then the few prescriptions you gave me—were there problems with them?"

Zhu Yun nodded.

His head began to ache again; a physician cannot heal himself, and he attributed all of this to retribution for having done too many unconscionable things in his youth.

"It was Shen Lan who instructed you, but was there anyone else?"

She did not believe that Li Xuan had nothing to do with this.

"It was Shen Lan, but before he brought you, he had come with another woman, and that woman was wearing a mask."

Zhu Yun squinted his aged eyes as he recalled.

"That woman was pregnant."

He had never thought Shen Lan was a good person; on one hand, he had a woman bearing his children, while on the other, he married another woman and forbade her from getting pregnant and giving birth.

"What kind of medicine did he have you prepare for me? Why was it that later, when I saw so many physicians, none of them could tell that my infertility was caused by medicine?"

This was also one of the things Si Rong had always been very puzzled about.

"A type of Ancient Method Contraceptive Soup."

Zhu Yun's ancestors had served as Imperial Physician, and such a prescription had been passed down.

"So that's how it is," Si Rong thought; over these many years, she feared many women had fallen victim to Zhu Yun's poisonous hands.

It was truly a pity that such superb medical skill was not used on the righteous path.

"Then, some time ago, what did Shen Lan come to you for?"

"He asked me to prepare the medicine from back then again," the old man gave a bitter smile, knowing Si Rong would not believe him, but still said, "After I knew it was for you, I prepared a Fertility-Assisting Medicine instead."

For her?

But Shen Lan currently had no opportunity to get close to her, let alone secretly drug her as he had when they were husband and wife.

Si Rong suddenly remembered something: when she attended the Spring Dance Competition, Li Xuan's eyes had been filled with eager anticipation for her to drink the tea.

Could it be that she had drugged the thermos while she was on stage?

At this moment, Si Rong could not help but feel grateful for her own little habits.

That Zhu Yun said he had swapped the infertility medicine for Fertility-Assisting Medicine was actually somewhat credible.

But it could not absolve him of his crimes.

Just as the police would not forgive you for killing someone simply because you saved another person.

Of course, what was even more hateful were those two scoundrels, who actually still wanted to use that medicine to harm her; she dared not imagine if she hadn't been on guard back then and had instead slipped the medicine back into Li Xuan's cup, how could she have the little baby in her womb today? Li Xuan could be considered to have brought this upon herself.

"All these years, have you been staying in Huaiyang?" Si Rong asked again.

Zhu Yun shook his head, "Not long after I gave Shen Lan the medicine back then, I found out about your identity and left Huaiyang."

He was afraid of the Si Family, afraid that he would meet with disaster once the matter was exposed.

"Looking at it this way, Mr. Zhu is also a smart man," Si Rong's waist felt a bit tired from standing, so she paced to the rattan chair and sat down again, "Smart people know how to assess the situation; a wise bird chooses its tree to nest in. What about you, Mr. Zhu?"

Zhu Yun looked at her with some surprise.

Originally, he had thought that being brought here today meant he would likely face imprisonment or a beating.

"What do you mean?"

The roses on the trellis withered in the wind, swaying for a long time.

It was another half-day before Zhu Yun left.

Si Rong pursed her lips and watched his retreating figure with a smile.

Good deeds have good rewards, and evil deeds have evil rewards.

This phrase surfaced in her mind once again.

She taught Jiang Zhi not to forgive because this was her own outlook on life; why should she forgive those who hurt her?

Forgiving them is God's business; she would just help a little by letting them go see God as soon as possible.

She also did not agree with the saying that one should accumulate blessings for the child in the womb; children and grandchildren have their own fortunes, and what she, as a mother, needed to do was to make the path smoother for her child after they were born.

Shen Lan and Li Xuan were two of a kind; when she had just married Jiang Cheng, they were already thinking of giving her this kind of medicine—who could guarantee they wouldn't plot against her or the child in her womb in the future?

Rather than sit and wait for death, it was better to take the initiative.

She closed her eyes slightly and stroked her lower abdomen with both hands.

Baby, don't blame Mommy for being ruthless; it's just that those people bullied others too much!

Jiang Cheng returned from work and happened to run into that disheveled fellow walking out of his house.

After he entered the door, he saw the resolute expression on Si Rong's face.

He immediately realized in his heart that his wife was hiding something from him.

But Si Rong had no intention of saying anything; she only held him tighter when they slept at night.

"Can't sleep?"

The two had slept together for a long time; one could tell if the other was fast asleep just by listening to their breathing.

When Si Rong had something on her mind, her sleep would not be very good.

"Mm, Jiang Cheng, will you tell me a bedtime story?"

Si Rong's fingers idly stroked the stubble that had just sprouted on his chin.

Jiang Cheng thought for a moment; he didn't like reading much, and had only been interested in strange tales for a period of time when he was in school.

"Then I'll tell you a story about a scholar and a fox spirit,"

Jiang Cheng gently patted Si Rong's back with his hand, his tone calm and soft, like a babbling brook, "On a rainy night, a scholar saved a fox from a hunter, but the next day it disappeared, replaced by a beautiful young woman at the door. The woman claimed she had nowhere to go and begged to be taken in. They kept each other company for two or three months, their feelings grew deeper, and they fell in love."

"The scholar decided to marry the woman. But on the day of the grand wedding, a Daoist priest broke in, claiming the woman was a fox demon, and managed to make the fox spirit reveal her true form. The scholar was shocked, and when the fox spirit wanted to throw herself into his arms to seek protection, he used the sword given by the priest to stab the fox spirit to death with trembling hands."

Si Rong:...

Very well, now I am even less able to sleep.

"And then?"

Jiang Cheng continued to pat her gently, "The fox woman was protected by the Fox Bead her mother gave her and escaped the disaster, but then she discovered that a space-time disturbance had occurred, and she had returned to the time when the scholar was young."

Hearing the words "space-time disturbance," Si Rong could not help but grip the corner of the quilt tightly.

The Future Phone she received was likely a situation caused by a space-time disturbance.

"Upon seeing the young scholar, the fox woman felt pity and revealed her true form directly in front of him, thinking that in this lifetime, as long as she let the scholar know she was a fox before the Daoist did, and cherished and loved him, he would surely not end up with the tragic fate of the previous life."

Hearing this, Si Rong felt a sense of unbearable pity in her heart.

She could almost already foresee the fox woman's ending.

"The young scholar was not afraid when he saw the girl turn into a fox; instead, he stroked her fur and praised her for being cute, which made the girl very happy. In this lifetime, they had plenty of time, and she used her supernatural abilities to help the scholar a great deal; the scholar's family became prosperous, he never suffered from minor illnesses or disasters, and even his supreme, glorious official rank was obtained because the fox woman stole the exam questions in advance, allowing the scholar to leap to become the Zhuangyuan, truly bright and upright, the center of everyone's attention."

"The fox woman was very happy; such a Zhuangyuan had been raised by her own hands, and the scholar had also promised that the day he became Zhuangyuan would be the day of their grand wedding."

"And then?" Si Rong urged; she now urgently wanted to know if the ending was what she had guessed.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Cheng lay flat on the bed and closed his eyes, "It is time to sleep."

Si Rong:...

She sat up, pried Jiang Cheng's eyes open, and grabbed his large palm to place it on her belly, "Tell me! Your son and daughter want to hear it!"

It was not just because she wanted to know the fox woman's ending; it was the first time Si Rong had heard a story related to space-time disturbances, and she wanted to know if a space-time disturbance could change an ending.