Chapter 9

On the day Lu Zhao and Lin Pianyue were married, all the relatives and friends connected to the Lu and Lin families by blood or by marriage were present.

The courtyard was packed with people.

But somehow, Lin Pianyue fainted just after completing the wedding ceremony.

A doctor who knew the family well quickly checked her pulse.

“Sister Li, can you guess what happened?”

Liu’er looked at me, his eyes full of gloating, but his hands didn’t stop feeding the fire for me.

I grabbed a handful of wontons and threw them into the pot without even looking up. “What happened?”

“Your sister-the new bride of the Lu family-is pregnant! She’s almost four months along!”

“Four months?”

It had only been three months since Squire Qian’s family was raided, and my sister had only come home since then…

“Exactly! That scoundrel Lu’s face turned dark on the spot! The ceremony was over, and not only did he get a wife, he also got to be a father! What great fortune!”

…

I heard that Lu Zhao had invited quite a few people from the county office that day, and the expressions on everyone’s faces changed several times over.

Lu Zhao had no choice but to grit his teeth and acknowledge the child, taking on the scolding for lacking propriety for nothing.

But behind closed doors, everyone knew whose child it really was.

Good news travels slowly, but bad news travels far.

Even the workers from the docks who came to eat at my place knew about it.

They said Lin Pianyue thought she had been frightened senseless in prison and hadn’t paid attention to her period.

Who would have thought she was actually pregnant?

After this came out, even Lu Zhao’s mother, who had been bedridden for years, was so furious she sat up.

With her spirit back, she could argue with Lin Pianyue for three days and nights without stopping.

Before going to the embroidery workshop, Lin Pianyue had her mother to do the washing and cooking. After she started at the workshop, I took over those chores.

She knew nothing about housework.

Especially since most of the customers at the embroidery workshop were the daughters of the wealthiest families in Changning Town.

Lin Pianyue saw them often and inevitably developed aspirations of her own.

She became especially fond of her own face and hands.

Even when I came home late at night and the whole family waited for dinner, she was never willing to lend a hand.

Liu’er leaned in close to my ear: “That scoundrel Lu’s mother was ruthless, calling your shameless sister a piece of trash thrown out by someone else.”

I thought for a moment, then said quietly, “Society is very harsh on women. It’s best we mind our own business.”