Farm Tough Girl

Muniang spoke wordlessly, "Qinghe, you’re changing too quickly."

But Qinghe ignored her, asked with a stern face, "What did Yu Ze say?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"He said he would ask the Imperial Physician from the palace to take a look."

"What if it doesn’t get better?"

"If it doesn’t get better, what else can we do but not have the child," Muniang said, her tone tinged with helplessness.

Qinghe, however, started to laugh, "At least he cares. Since he has said this, you don’t need to worry too much. Just focus on taking good care of yourself and don’t put too much pressure on yourself."

Muniang nodded gently, "I know."

But then they heard a knock at the door. Muniang thought it was Yu Ze and was about to speak, then she heard Mrs. Lin’s voice, "This child, why have you locked the door?"

It was Qinghe who had locked the door, initially thinking Yu Ze had let Muniang down, and she had closed the door to make arrangements against him, but had Qinghe known that the door was no obstacle for Yu Ze, she would have realized it was superfluous.

Now it was naturally unnecessary. She immediately got up to open the door, with a beaming smile, "Auntie, I was having a private conversation with Muniang, so naturally, I locked the door."

Mrs. Lin chided, "You sisters are having quite the discussion. Since you’ve come all this way, you can’t just leave like this. Have dinner before you go. Next time, why don’t you bring Zeng Gang and Xi’er with you?"

Qinghe laughed sheepishly. She was here on business, so how could she bring them along? She then noticed Muniang signaling her with her eyes and guessed that Mrs. Lin didn’t know about Muniang’s situation, otherwise, she wouldn’t be in such a good mood at the moment.

"I’ll bring them next time. Zeng Gang is busy working right now."

Mrs. Lin laughed, "That’s true, your husband is earning money, and you’ve got a goal to strive for. If you have a big, chubby boy in the future, it would be perfect."

"Auntie, you’re teasing me again."

Mrs. Lin looked at Muniang thoughtfully, "When Muniang is also with child, Xi’er will have a playmate then."

Muniang’s eyes dimmed, but then she saw Yu Ze, who had come in at some point, say, "It will happen, mother, rest assured."

Mrs. Lin smiled contentedly, her son-in-law understood her heart.

It wasn’t until Mrs. Lin had left that Yu Ze squeezed Muniang’s hand, signaling her not to be sad.

Seeing this scene, Qinghe felt completely at ease, her heart filled with endless emotion. Muniang had accidentally come across such a good man by mistake; it was indeed her fortune.

"Miss, you have sneaked out again. The master has ordered you to reflect in solitude. If you do this, you might anger the master, which wouldn’t be good," the maid Chun Jin said helplessly.

Jin Yuanyuan glared, "Reflect in solitude? Reflect on what? They are incompetent, more timid than mice; am I supposed to follow their lead and that would be fine? Look at how my father kowtows to Qiao Muniang—it’s unbearable. Could you tolerate it if you were me?"

In her mind, Chun Jin thought, if it were me, I would be the first to ingratiate myself. What’s the point of being ungrateful?

But of course, she dared not say this out loud to Jin Yuanyuan, it was just something she muttered to herself inwardly.

"But if the master finds out..."

"Just wait until I’ve knocked Qiao Muniang down a peg, then you’ll see how grateful my father will be to me!" Jin Yuanyuan spoke with exceptional confidence, as if she could resolve the matter in a matter of minutes.

Chun Jin felt utterly helpless. Even if they managed to dethrone Qiao Muniang, it wouldn’t be her turn anyway, right? Yet, she didn’t have the guts to contradict Jin Yuanyuan and had to endure her reckless behavior.

"What is Miss planning to do in Chatu Town this time? It can’t be that you’ll prevent them from discovering Qiao Muniang’s pregnancy, can it?"

Jin Yuanyuan snorted, "She’s pregnant? I want her to have the skill to get pregnant, but not the ability to give birth!"

Chun Jin was shocked, "Miss, if the He’an Prince finds out that you harmed his son, not to mention yourself, I’m afraid the entire Jin Family would be doomed."

Jin Yuanyuan glared at her, "You spineless thing, do you really think I’m an idiot? The Jin Family won’t be implicated. Just you wait and see!"

Finding herself finally in Chatu Town, Jin Yuanyuan instructed the coachman to head straight to a top-tier teahouse and chose a private room to enter.

She then dismissed a servant to make a visit to the Lu Mansion.

Chun Jin roughly understood; the Miss must be seeking out that concubine’s son from the Lu Mansion. After all, he was the only person she knew in Chatu Town.

Speaking of the relationship between this concubine’s son and their Miss, it all stemmed from Lu Ziquan acting like a toad lusting after swan meat, hoping to marry her. After all, Jin Yuanyuan was the only legitimate daughter of the Magistrate, with a brother in the mountains who also doted on her. Hence, everyone knew that marrying Jin Yuanyuan would secure a strong foothold in Chatu Town.

Although Lu Ziquan was Lord Lu’s only son, he was a concubine’s son and didn’t receive much favor from his father. Instead, Lord Lu was entirely fixated on Lu Qi’er. To secure his own position, Lu Ziquan had to act on his own, thus setting his sights on Jin Yuanyuan, visiting her frequently in Qinghua City to win her favor, all for the sake of her smile.

Jin Yuanyuan treated Lu Ziquan’s pursuit merely as amusement, neither rejecting nor accepting his advances. After all, there were plenty of men like that around her, one more or less made no difference. Yet, privately, she never even considered marrying him; how could such a man, with neither success nor status, be worthy of her?

This time, she had come with the intention of using him.

Having received her message, Lu Ziquan was also irritated. Jin Yuanyuan had played him once before, and now she had the nerve to come to him? Did she really see him as someone easy to manipulate?

But because she was, after all, the legitimate daughter of the Governor, he didn’t dare to do anything against her, and even if he was angry at her inside, he had to swallow it and hurry on over. Otherwise, if Miss’s temper flared up, she might just go to his father to complain.

When Lu Ziquan pushed the door open, Jin Yuanyuan gave him a frosty look: "What took you so long? Insisting on making me wait, were you?"

Lu Ziquan cursed inwardly but still smiled ingratiatingly, "The journey was a bit long, and that’s why I’ve arrived late. I’ve made Sister Yuanyuan wait too long, truly, I’m sorry."

Jin Yuanyuan sneered, "The journey was long? Chatu Town is the size of a palm."

This statement mocked not just Chatu Town but also Lu Ziquan.

Yet Lu Ziquan responded with a smile, "I was wrong. What’s brought Sister Yuanyuan to suddenly think of me today? I couldn’t ever imagine such good fortune befalling me."

With a hint of arrogance in her eyes, Jin Yuanyuan clearly favored Lu Ziquan’s flattery, which smoothed over her impatience, "I have come with a matter for you to attend to."

Lu Ziquan felt resentful inside. Who did this Miss think she was commanding? Did she take him for a servant? To come asking for a favor with such an attitude—he was after all the son of a County Chief!