Chapter 980: Chapter 827, Disgrace

Due to Princess Consort Ma’s people following too closely, Luo Qiong’s carriage had just stopped in front of the Duke Residence when the gatekeeper noticed the furtive followers behind.

Seeing the bodyguards from the Duke Residence quietly keeping tabs on those individuals and vigilantly checking the surroundings, the Hidden Guards sent by Xiao Yeyang didn’t dare to get too close and could only watch from a distance.

Here, Luo Qiong heard the words reported by the Guard Captain and knew that it was Princess Consort Ma who had people tracking her, and her heart suddenly filled with dread.

The Duchess noticed her daughter’s pale face and instantly realized there was a problem. She quickly asked, “What happened, why would your mother-in-law send people to follow you?”

Luo Qiong, pale-faced and biting her lip, remained silent.

Seeing her like this, the Duchess grew even more anxious. “You must speak, if something has happened, tell your mother, I will help you.”

Luo Qiong timidly looked up, her hands covering her stomach, thinking of her husband and mother-in-law’s successive tests, hesitated for a long time, and finally revealed the truth, “The child in my stomach is not Xiao Yechen’s.”

Hearing this, it was as if a bomb had gone off next to the Duchess, and she stared blankly at Luo Qiong, her face full of disbelief. After a long while, she berated Luo Qiong heartbrokenly, “How could you be so foolish?”

“Don’t you know, for us women, chastity is the most important thing. Now, not only did you commit adultery, but you’re also carrying an illegitimate child. Do you no longer wish to live?”

When the Duchess referred to the child in her stomach as an illegitimate child, Luo Qiong suddenly felt unhappy. “Mother, this is my flesh and blood, your grandson, you must not speak of him that way.”

The Duchess, with a pained face, looked at her daughter and thought of her own tragic experiences, tears streaming down her face.

To outsiders, she was the high and mighty Duchess, full of glory. But what kind of life she really led inside, only she knew.

Seeing the Duchess in tears, Luo Qiong softened her tone, “Mother, I do not regret having this child, and I will definitely give birth to him.”

The Duchess wiped her tears and looked at Luo Qiong sternly, “Who is the father of the child?”

Luo Qiong’s gaze shifted away, her lips pressed tightly shut in silence.

The Duchess, visibly frustrated with Luo Qiong, pressed, “Even now, you’re still keeping secrets from me? Now that your mother-in-law has people following you, she must be suspicious. If you don’t come clean to me, how can I help you?”

Luo Qiong’s voice was as soft as a mosquito’s, “It’s Brother Chi’s.”

The Duchess painfully closed her eyes, and after a while, she pointed tremblingly at Luo Qiong, “How could you be so foolish?”

“Setting aside Xiao Yechi’s status, he married the Imperial Tartar Princess when he was at the Northern Frontier. His return to seek your grandfather has already put our family at risk, why are you rushing to add to it?”

Luo Qiong’s eyelids drooped, “Brother Chi told me all this; it was my choice to be with him. We truly love each other.”

The Duchess couldn’t help but snort in disdain, “True love? If he had even a bit of consideration for you, he wouldn’t have had secret meetings with you. Foolish child, he’s deceiving you.”

“After he finishes his business here, he will leave. Once he leaves, what will become of you and the child inside you?”

Luo Qiong paid no attention to what the Duchess said, tenderly caressing her stomach, “Brother Chi gave me a child, I ask for nothing more.”

Hearing this, the Duchess’s face was a mixture of bitterness and helplessness.

Luo Qiong looked at the Duchess, “Mother, you must help me. My mother-in-law has grown suspicious and even said she will invite the Imperial Physician again to examine me. Doesn’t our family have connections in the Imperial Medical Bureau…”

Before she could finish, the Duchess interrupted Luo Qiong curtly, “We mustn’t use the Duke Residence’s connections. If we do, your father will immediately find out.”

“We can’t let your father know that you’re carrying Xiao Yechi’s child; he would absolutely force you to terminate the pregnancy.”

No one knew better than she how much the Duke despised illegitimate children.

The Duchess could not help but think again of her son Luo Hongyuan, the son who had forever nailed her to the pillar of shame. She despised him deeply in her heart, yet every time she thought of him, her heart ached.

Thinking of how the old Duke had forced her in those days, the Duchess felt an itch in her teeth with hatred.

It clearly wasn’t her fault, but the old Duke and the Duke had pushed all the blame onto her, and for many years, they had been punishing and tormenting her.

Hongyuan should never have come into this world, but the Duke had forced her to give birth to the child, using him to force the old Duke to hand over the title, and at the same time, he used his existence to torment her body and mind deeply.

Hongyuan had thoroughly become the sacrificial victim of both the old Duke and the Duke.

She still clearly remembered, when the Duke personally ended Hongyuan’s life, those wide-open eyes of his, filled with disbelief.

Just because Honghao had overheard the old Duke and the Duke’s conversation, the two men unhesitatingly killed him.

This father and son pair was truly both ruthless and cold-hearted.

Luo Qiong, thinking of her father’s sternness, quickly dismissed the thought, “Mother, then I want to see Brother Chi, he still has some people in Beijing, he can surely dispel my mother-in-law’s suspicions.”

The Duchess frowned, “Your mother-in-law is already having people follow you, and you still want to meet him, afraid things aren’t exposed quickly enough?” she said seriously, “Your affair with Xiao Yechi, not a single bit of it can be known by your grandfather and father, do you hear?”

The line of the Eighth Prince had now no chance of rising again. The Duke and the old Duke both were eagerly wanting to abandon this path; if they knew their daughter was involved with Xiao Yechi, this ruthless father and son pair might not even spare their own daughter.

Luo Qiong was frightened by the stern tone of the Duchess and quickly nodded her head.

The Duchess looked at Luo Qiong’s belly, a chill passing through her eyes. The existence of the child was always a potential threat; for her daughter’s future, she absolutely could not stay.

Luo Qiong felt the Duchess’s gaze change and covered her belly with her hand.

The Duchess said, “I’ll come up with a solution for your mother-in-law’s suspicions. You should head back to Prince Residence now.”

…

On the carriage back to Prince Residence, the more Luo Qiong thought about it, the more she felt her mother’s gaze was wrong, feeling very uneasy in her heart. After thinking it over, she sent Xue Ling to the old residence of the Wan Family again.

The Hidden Guard hurried to follow, but unfortunately, apart from seeing that fortune-telling middle-aged man again, they still found nothing.

“Able to start but not finish!” Xiao Yeyang paced several times in the study after hearing that Princess Consort’s people had disturbed Luo Qiong, irritated.

Daohua handed him a cup of tea, “Calm down, if it didn’t work this time, there is always a next time.”

Xiao Yeyang said anxiously, “No matter what the Eighth Prince’s people came back to Beijing for, the Dragon Boat Festival is coming soon, over five months have passed, they should have finished their business, and I’m worried they won’t stay much longer.”

Daohua, “Luo Qiong has already sent the message out, there will surely be a response, we just wait.”

After dinner, having washed up, Daohua and Xiao Yeyang were about to rest when Wang Manman came over and said, “Miss, the wife of Ping Ji is here.”

Daohua took a look at Xiao Yeyang, put on her overcoat, and went out to meet the wife of Ping Ji.

The wife of Ping Ji said, “Second grandma, just now the first grandma was shouting about stomach pain, said she was startled, and begged the Princess Consort, hoping to go to the temple to offer prayers tomorrow.”

Daohua, “Did the Princess Consort agree?”

The wife of Ping Ji nodded, “She agreed.”