Chen Hexiang stood up with a jolt and anxiously asked her maid, “What? Ning Ziyan is pregnant?”

“Yes, I heard it loud and clear. Concubine Ning’s maid went to the backdoor to retrieve prenatal medicine. When I followed her, I saw her preparing the medicinal soup and giving it to Concubine Ning. She came out to wash the bowl afterward, but I didn’t see Concubine Ning coming out.”

The maid replied in a quiet voice.

It was no wonder that Ning Ziyang was behaving strangely these days. When she first fell from her pedestal as the official wife, she would go to the main courtyard and wail loudly. She stopped making such a fuss afterward and didn’t even visit her biological sister Ning Yuling anymore. She didn’t even question anything when Ning Yuling inexplicably died in the Lord Protector’s Manor, choosing to stay out of trouble.

Every time Chen Hexiang went to provoke her, she would give her the cold shoulder and recuperate in her room. Chen Hexiang gradually got bored and stopped giving her trouble. If she hadn’t learned this piece of news, she would be fooled and remain ignorant even after Ning Ziyan gave birth.

No, she mustn’t let Ning Ziyan give birth successfully. Xia Yuhang was still without a son now. It would be disastrous if Ning Ziyan bore him a son. She was the wife-born daughter of the Lord Protector’s Manor and married Xia Yuhang as his wife. It was said that one of her younger sisters became Princess Yi and another would become Prince Xiang’s consort very soon.

With so many conditions on her side, Ning Ziyan might very well return to her position as the wife. No, she mustn’t let Ning Ziyan become the wife again. Chen Hexiang knew how poorly she had treated Ning Ziyan a while ago, what was with all the sarcasm and mockery. She even bullied Ning Ziyan to vent her anger, all of which Ning Ziyan had endured. Ning Ziyan must be suffocating from all her emotions now. If Ning Ziyan became the wife again, she would surely kill her.

Chen Hexiang understood this, so she panicked. She had lost favor ever since the incident last time, but fortunately, she had always kept a low-profile and tried her best to stay out of trouble. Ning Ziyan’s fear of Xia Yuhang also helped her survive without incident.

Things were different now. Ning Ziyan would surely kill her.

No, she mustn’t let Ning Ziyan give birth to Xia Yuhang’s son safely.

After turning around twice in her room, Chen Hexiang suddenly asked, “Who sent her the medicine?”

“I think Concubine Ning must have found a way to contact the drugstore and get them to send the medicine. Concubine Ning is ill and she’s also using her money for the medicine, so Madam wouldn’t say anything about it. Moreover, I heard that Madam is treating Concubine Ning much better ever since Junior Concubine Ning passed away and that Madam would send something to her courtyard from time to time.”

The maid said indignantly.

“Then how did you find out that it was prenatal medicine?”

Chen Hexiang asked, immediately grasping the key point.

“It was the gatekeeping servant who told me. She had experience with it, so she immediately knew it was prenatal medicine after just a whiff. So, she told me that Concubine Ning is nurturing her pregnancy,” the maid answered in a deliberately low voice.

“Let’s go and take a look.” Chen Hexiang gritted her teeth. Regardless of what it was, she must first confirm it. She knew it was likely true but she still hoped that it wasn’t.

Together with her maid, she rushed to Ning Ziyan’s courtyard. Ning Yuling used to stay in this courtyard too, but Ning Ziyan was the only occupant now. Chen Hexiang shouldn’t have bothered coming at all. The servant guarding the door took one glance at her, ignored her, and continued chatting with another servant.

It was merely a feud between two unfavored concubines, so the two servants watched it play out like a joke. They had seen Chen Hexiang coming over often to provoke and mock Ning Ziyan. Since Ning Ziyan was just a concubine now, the servants watched the provocation as if it was a show and turned a deaf ear.

It didn’t matter to them who was getting bullied. They were just watching the feud for amusement.

Thus, they didn’t say anything even after seeing Chen Hexiang enter the courtyard. Two older female servants, who were chatting earlier, even turned around to give her a contemptuous look. Chen Hexiang was also an unfavored concubine. It was said that she had been hooking up with their young master even before marrying him; she was nobody virtuous.

Sure enough, there was a small pot of decoction outside the door of Ning Ziyan’s room. Chen Hexiang had seen it before. In the past, she thought that Ning Ziyan had fallen ill from her negative emotions from getting demoted from the official wife position and that the pot was for making medicine. Now that she thought about it, Ning Ziyan must have already found out about her pregnancy at that time.

Ning Ziyan had just been enduring it in silence.

When the young maid guarding the door saw Chen Hexiang coming over with an angry momentum, she became so scared that she hid inside the room.

“Is Concubine Ning ill? It’s no wonder that she keeps lying in bed all day long. We can’t let that happen. She’ll only get better once she gets some sun.” Chen Hexiang entered the room and immediately made her way toward Ning Ziyan’s bed with a smile. She reached out as if she wanted to drag Ning Ziyan up.

“Let go!” Ning Ziyan slapped her hand away and glared at her.

She could endure all of Chen Hexiang’s remarks, but she would never let this woman touch her. The one in her womb was her hope to reclaim her glory. Xia Manor would never mistreat her, even if only because of her son. No matter how terrible she was, she was still the eldest daughter of the Lord Protector’s Manor.

Once she regained her honor, she would exact revenge on Ning Xueyan. But for now, she would endure it!

She would never let Ning Xueyan, that little bitch, off. The moment Prince Yi got bored with playing with that slut, she would make that slut wish she was dead.

“Concubine Ning, you’re so unhealthy. You need more sun. If you stay in such a dark room all day long, you’ll get sick if you aren’t already. Listen to me. Let’s take a walk in the garden and get some sun. It’s better than staying cooped up here, no?”

Chen Hexiang was so well-mannered today and kept a smile on her face at all times. She sounded as if she was truly concerned for Ning Ziyan. She reached out and grabbed Ning Ziyan’s hand forcefully, wanting to drag her outside. She was determined to see if Ning Ziyan was pregnant so she could think of countermeasures.

If Ning Ziyan was pregnant, she ought to show signs by now.

Ning Ziyan slapped Chen Hexiang’s hand with her other hand and said angrily, “I’m not going!”

She used so much force that a blue mark immediately formed on Chen Hexiang’s hand. It then turned red and swollen.

Feeling the stinging pain on her hand, Chen Hexiang couldn’t maintain her smile anymore. She had always been a cruel woman, or she wouldn’t have pushed the weak Ning Ziying into the water and nearly killed her to win Xia Yuhang over. She was truly angry, so angry that she shoved aside the maid who tried to protect Ning Ziyan.

This time, she grabbed Ning Ziyan’s hands with both hands and dragged her out with force.

Compared to Chen Hexiang, Ning Ziyan had grown up spoiled and pampered. She didn’t have much strength in her hands. Moreover, she was pregnant and caught up in a tense situation. She was no match for Chen Hexiang at all. Chen Hexiang’s force dragged her out of bed and sent her crashing to the floor.

With a yelp, Ning Ziyan fell to the floor along with her quilt. She covered her stomach with her hands and started groaning in pain as she rolled into a ball. Blood seeped from under her skirt and slowly formed a pool.

“Ahh! Someone, please come! Concubine Ning has a miscarriage! Concubine Chen pushed her and made her miscarry her child!” Ning Ziyan’s maid, who knew about her master’s condition, immediately cried out loud. She ran outside and yelled for the other servants to come.

Chen Hexiang was stunned. She didn’t think she could drag Ning Ziyan out of bed and even cause her to miscarry. She started to tremble. She came here to verify Ning Ziyan’s pregnancy, not to make her miscarry in front of everyone.

“It wasn’t me… It wasn’t me…” she muttered to herself, watching Ning Ziyan cry in pain while holding her stomach. Her face was pale from fright.

Xia Yuhang had been childless all this while, so Xia Manor placed great importance on the matter of his heirs. They would kill her if they found out that she caused the death of Xia Yuhang’s child.

“Concubine, hurry up and run! Are you going to wait here for death?” Someone tugged at her sleeve. Chen Hexiang was so frightened that she didn’t notice that it was her maid until several tugs later. The maid looked shocked too. She pulled Chen Hexiang’s hem with force and said, “Concubine, wake up! Let’s run immediately. Once the others get here, both of us will surely die.”

Yes, run! They must run before others notice.

In just minutes, the older female servants outside rushed in. It was one thing to neglect Ning Ziyan, but Ning Ziyan’s child was another. The child, the most important heir to Xia Manor, was dying. No one would dare to delay the matter. Someone immediately helped Ning Ziyan get back to her feet, someone summoned a physician, while another ran to inform the Madam. The courtyard was a mess.

No one noticed Concubine Chen, the instigator of the incident, sneaking away with her maid.

Madam Xia rushed to Ning Ziyan’s courtyard immediately, as did the physician in the manor. Still, they failed to save the child. Madam Xia turned red from anger. She sent servants to bring Chen Hexiang over after hearing that it was her fault, only to hear that she was gone. Chen Hexiang had run away through the back door.

Madam Xia became so agitated that she nearly fainted. She ordered the servants to send a letter to the Ministry of Justice, requesting them to arrest a fugitive concubine.

How could Madam Xia not be angry? Ning Ziyan had married her son as his official wife. The pressure from Madam Ling’s incident was so great that they had to remove Ning Ziyan from her position but Madam Xia had privately promised Ning Ziyan that she would restore her position, provided that the public pressure ceased and no one pursued it anymore.

After all, her son was currently under punishment. It would be difficult for him to marry a lady with high status.

Moreover, the Fifth Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor had become Princess Yi, and the Fourth Young Lady would soon be Prince Xiang’s consort. The Lord Protector’s Manor seemed invincible. Even though the Fifth Young Lady appeared to be on bad terms with Ning Ziyan because of Madam Ling, blood would always be thicker than water. Even if Princess Yi disliked Ning Ziyan, other people wouldn’t dare to mistreat Ning Ziyan because of her.

Thus, restoring Ning Ziyan’s wife position was the best choice and the child in her womb provide the ultimate excuse. Even if only for her child’s sake, Ning Ziyan should become Xia Yuhang’s wife again.

However, Chen Hexiang had ruined this perfect excuse. How could Madam Xia not be angry? She swore to capture Chen Hexiang to vent anger for the Lord Protector’s Manor. Capturing a concubine who didn’t know her way around the city ought to be quite a quick affair.

Little did she expect that Chen Hexiang would exit Xia Manor through the back door, get into a carriage that someone had prepared for her, and vanished from the capital. The officials from the Ministry of Justice couldn’t have imagined that Chen Hexiang’s escape was an important segment of a bigger plan.