Chapter 362

After Du Mingzhu returned, she developed a high fever that night and tossed and turned in bed, talking nonsense.

Crying and laughing, she looked like she had gone mad.

Jiang Shi hurriedly ordered someone to invite Doctor Huangfu from the Baohe Hall.

After diagnosis, it was confirmed that Du Mingzhu had suffered a huge mental blow and could not bear it for a while, which was why she was emotionally unstable, anxious, and irritable, leading to symptoms of physical discomfort.

In addition, there were the injuries on her cheeks, which were severely bruised and swollen.

Doctor Huangfu prescribed a few doses of calming soup, left a box of golden sore medicine, and comforted Du Mingzhu a few words before rising to take his leave.

Jiang Shi, however, called him to a stop. "Doctor Huangfu, please stay."

Doctor Huangfu stopped and asked suspiciously, "Does Madam have anything else?"

Jiang Shi didn't answer, just signaled him to follow her.

The two entered Jiang Shi's room one after the other. Jiang Shi turned around to close the door and turned back to stare straight at Doctor Huangfu.

Doctor Huangfu's heart was pounding.

A man and a woman alone in a room, and she even closed the door—what was she trying to do?

"Madam, please speak directly if you have anything to say; as long as I can help, I will not refuse." Doctor Huangfu stepped back two steps without changing his expression.

"It's not a big deal." Jiang Shi sat down at the table and smiled. "A few days ago, I asked Doctor Huangfu to take my pulse, and you said at the time that I might be pregnant. Do you still remember?"

So it was about this.

Doctor Huangfu's heart relaxed. "I remember, but at that time, the days were still short, so it was just a suspicion and not a confirmed diagnosis."

He rolled his eyes. "Does Madam mean you want me to take a look for you again?"

Jiang Shi nodded and placed her hand on the table. "I'll trouble Doctor Huangfu."

Doctor Huangfu hurriedly put down his medicine box and sat down to take Jiang Shi's pulse.

About a quarter of an hour later, he withdrew his hand and smiled: "Congratulations, Madam, Madam is indeed pregnant, about a month and a half along."

A month and a half...

It really was a bastard child.

Jiang Shi's expression was unpredictable. After a long while, she took out a silver note from her sleeve and handed it to Doctor Huangfu. "Thank you, this is your consultation fee."

Doctor Huangfu hurriedly declined. "Madam can be considered half an owner of our Baohe Hall, so the consultation fee can be waived; besides, it doesn't need to be as much as a hundred taels."

Jiang Shi, however, insisted and stuffed it into his hand.

"Take it; it's so late and I'm still making you come for a house call, you've worked hard."

Doctor Huangfu said words of thanks, but his heart was very uneasy, always feeling that things were not that simple.

Sure enough, when he was about to leave with his medicine box on his back, Jiang Shi's voice came from behind him: "Please remember, Doctor Huangfu, if anyone asks in the future, just say that I have been pregnant for three months, not a month and a half. Don't say it wrong, do you understand?"

Doctor Huangfu suddenly realized.

So that was it.

So this hundred taels wasn't a consultation fee at all, but hush money.

"Madam, rest assured, I have been practicing medicine for decades and know what should be said and what should not." Although he didn't know the reason, if he wanted to keep his job, he had to be sensible.

"Very good." Jiang Shi nodded with satisfaction, opened the door, and sent him out. "The sky is dark and the road is slippery, be careful on the way; if you accidentally step into a pit, you will get hurt."

Doctor Huangfu heard the threat in Jiang Shi's tone, pretended to be calm, bowed to take his leave, and then slipped away.

Jiang Shi moved her gaze away from the fleeing back and looked up at the sky.

The night was dark, with no stars or moon, only boundless darkness like a giant net covering the earth.

It made people feel depressed and unable to breathe.

Suddenly, with a loud 'bang', a thunderclap erupted overhead like a warning drum, startling Jiang Shi.

"Thunder on the Winter Solstice, an ominous sign..." Jiang Shi muttered.

Thinking of the setbacks these days, Jiang Shi felt even more irritable.

She steadied herself and turned to walk toward her daughter's room.

That night, Jiang Shi stayed by Du Mingzhu's side without taking off her clothes, feeding her medicine herself and comforting her in various ways, and it was only with great difficulty that she managed to coax her to sleep.

Then, yawning, she dragged her exhausted body back to her own room.

Two days later, Du Mingzhu's condition finally improved; the high fever subsided, and the injuries on her face were not as obvious.

It was just that her mood was still unstable.

Even the little maid in her room suffered, being kicked and bitten by Du Mingzhu until she was in a miserable state.

The other servants dared to be angry but dared not speak; after all, their contracts of sale were in someone else's hands.

They could only swallow their anger.

Just when everything was moving in a good direction, someone came to the small courtyard.

It was Manager Tang from the Baohe Hall.

As soon as Manager Tang arrived, he looked miserable and sighed. Under Jiang Shi's questioning, he told her some bad news.

In the past few days, rumors had suddenly spread throughout Fengyang Prefecture.

It was said that the ugly patient at the Apricot Forest Assembly was not an ordinary village girl at all, but the young lady of the Du family, the Assistant Magistrate of Wutou Xian. Not only was her identity fake, but even her name was fake.

Her real name was Du Mingzhu.

Not only was Du Mingzhu's true background exposed, but even her mother, Jiang Shi, did not escape.

It was said that Jiang Shi knew that the man already had a wife, yet she still insisted on breaking up the couple, using her power to force the man to divorce his wife and remarry.

It was said that like mother, like daughter; Du Mingzhu inherited Jiang Shi's vicious nature, persecuting her elder sister born to the first wife in every possible way—poisoning her, ruining her face, and even forcing her to marry into a poor family in her place.

She was extremely cruel to the servants in the house.

Cutting off hands.

Chopping off feet.

Gouging out eyes.

All kinds of evil deeds were simply too numerous to record!

Later, the rumors became more and more intense, saying that Du Mingzhu was an evil god from heaven who had descended to earth, and because she had committed too many sins, she had suffered a backlash, which was why she had become the ghost she was now.

It was also said that whoever married her would have a restless household at best, and their entire family would die at worst!

Now the whole street was discussing this matter, and it had reached a point where it was out of control...

"I don't know which bastard leaked the news and exposed the relationship between Madam and the Baohe Hall; those people have gone crazy and are actually swarming over to cause trouble."

Speaking of this, Manager Tang's mouth was twisted with anger. "I even snuck out the back door. Madam, you don't know, the front door has already been blocked by them, cursing and swearing, throwing rotten vegetable leaves, stinking eggs, stones, and even dog shit, smashing the gate of our Baohe Hall to pieces! It's been two full days, and there hasn't been a single patient. If this continues, I'm afraid our Baohe Hall will have to close down!"

Slap, Jiang Shi slapped the table.

"Abominable, a group of brainless pigs who only know how to parrot others."

"Who says it isn't?"

Manager Tang thought for a while and said, "I always feel there is something strange about this matter. Logically, rumors shouldn't spread so fast. I'm afraid someone is fueling the flames behind the scenes, wanting to ruin the reputation of Madam and the young lady."

Jiang Shi sneered. "Who else could it be? Except for that slut, who else would hate us so much?"

Good for you, Du Ruo.

Ruining Zhu'er's appearance wasn't enough; she even wanted to completely ruin Zhu'er's reputation. Truly vicious.

If she had known, she should have done it once and for all back then and killed that mother and daughter!

"Since things have reached this point, we must think of a countermeasure." Manager Tang carefully observed Jiang Shi's expression and said hesitantly, "How about Madam takes the young lady back to Wutou Xian to avoid the limelight first? After a while, when things have faded, you can come back whenever you want..."

Jiang Shi was silent for a long while before nodding. "That's fine, having been away for so long, it's time to go back."

She didn't want to make things difficult for Manager Tang.

Manager Tang was also forced by circumstances; the Baohe Hall was a very important industry for her elder brother Jiang Huaizuo, and once something went wrong, the impact would be huge.

Anyway, the things she had come to Fengyang Prefecture to do this time were basically finished.

Although Nanny Kang's body had been thrown into the black water by water bandits and could never be found again, she had already built a cenotaph for her in Nanny Kang's hometown and invited a high monk to perform rituals, which could be considered letting Nanny Kang's soul return to her hometown and ascend to the Pure Land.

As for Zhu'er's face...

She could only write a letter to her brother and entrust him to help find a famous doctor in the capital.

After sending Manager Tang away, Jiang Shi went next door to inform Du Mingzhu of the decision to return home, and then began to pack her luggage, intending to set off the next day.

Du Mingzhu was surprisingly calm, as if she had already accepted her fate.

But no one knew that in the secret dark night, she buried herself deep in the quilt, cursing her enemies with the most vicious words and grinding her sharp claws with bone-eroding jealousy.

Until she fell into a deep sleep.

In the room, besides silence, there was darkness, boundless darkness.

Bang!

Another thunderclap.

"Hoo—" Du Mingzhu sat up from the bed suddenly, gasping for air.

She had a dream, dreaming that she had become a great beauty, with countless men flocking to her, all drooling and looking at her with covetous eyes.

Those people surrounded her and, with ferocious smiles, took turns bullying her.

She cried and screamed, but it was of no use.

In the end, she was divided into countless bloody pieces of meat and swallowed into the men's stomachs.

So, so scary.

Du Mingzhu slowly raised her hand and groped her face; the raised bumps on her face reminded her that it was just a nightmare.

Because her beauty was gone forever...

"Do you want to restore your beauty?" In the night, a clear, jade-like voice suddenly sounded, filled with laughter.