good season

Tonight we're having noodles with soybean paste, something Zhao Shiqing has only recently started to like.

When she first arrived in Beijing, she ate noodles with soybean paste at a restaurant.

Three words: No! Yes! Eat!
Therefore, no matter how much the mudfish boasted, she never ate zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste) again.

But after eating Sister Ping's fried noodles at Su's Tea Shop that day, she couldn't forget it.

No wonder Mudfish always says that Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste) is delicious; Sister Aping's is truly the best.

The fried sauce uses dry yellow soybean paste, sweet bean sauce, and broad bean paste. In addition to diced meat, there are also diced shiitake mushrooms, dried tofu, garlic sprouts, and peanuts. The noodles are not only chewy but also very refreshing. It is served with cucumber shreds, mung bean sprouts, cilantro, bok choy, bean sprouts, eggplant shreds, and radish shreds. After taking the first bite, Zhao Shiqing almost cried. It was so delicious!
Sister Ping also told her that you have to eat homemade Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste) because restaurants don't serve good ones.

The chef currently employed at home is most skilled in Wu-style cuisine. When Zhao Shiqing mentioned Zha Jiang Mian (noodles with soybean paste), Zhen Wuduo hired an elderly woman who was a helper. She wasn't a professional chef, but she was quick and efficient and could cook home-style dishes.

The old lady's surname is Ji, and she lives nearby. She is a native of Beijing. In addition to her own small courtyard house, Aunt Ji also has a large tenement house in Shihui Hutong where she collects rent.

Aunt Ji's husband died a few years ago, her daughter got married, and her son is fifteen years old. He usually lives in the academy and can only come back twice a month.

Aunt Ji was well-off and had plenty of money, but she was bored. She raised a dog that became Ah Huang's little brother. Ah Huang would run to the Zhen family's house all day long. When Aunt Ji came to look for the dog, she was persuaded by Zhen Wu to come and work as a maid.

With one tael of silver a month plus two meals a day, Aunt Ji would be alone anyway if she went back home, so she simply ate here.

Today's noodles with soybean paste are Aunt Ji's specialty. When Zhao Shiqing took a bite, oh my goodness, it was just as delicious as Sister Aping's.

After finishing her meal, Aunt Ji wasn't in a hurry to go back. Instead, she sat in the courtyard and started gossiping.

"Have you heard? Another concubine in the Baoqing Marquis's mansion has miscarried. Oh my, it was already formed, with little arms and legs, and it's a boy."

As Aunt Ji spoke, she suddenly remembered Zhao Shiqing and Xiuxiu, and even Lingbo were all young girls. She quickly slapped her own mouth, thinking, "I'll have to watch my mouth from now on."

"It's a boy, a boy!"

A thought struck Zhao Shiqing: It's already taken shape?
That definitely wasn't the twin sisters. One of them had already miscarried, and the other had been taken to the estate by Old Madam Wei. Besides, if you count the days, it's only been three or four months.

She immediately thought of another pregnant woman, Sun Lingzhi!
Did Sun Lingzhi miscarry?
Ever since Xiao Zhen told her that in her dream, Zhao Yunnuan died from the schemes of the women in the Hou Mansion, she thought of Sun Lingzhi.

From what Xiao Guai and Sister A Ping said last time, Zhao Yunnuan deduced that Rou Rou's miscarriage was Sun Lingzhi's scheme. Since then, she asked Sister A Ping for help to find out about Sun Lingzhi. Sister A Ping quickly found out that before Rou Rou, there was also Aunt Lan who had miscarried, and Sun Lingzhi was the one who was closest to Aunt Lan.

Neither Madam Wei nor Madam Ma would personally take action, so it could only be the concubines who did it. Considering Rou Rou and Aunt Lan's experiences, Zhao Shiqing deeply suspected that in the life she dreamed of, Sun Lingzhi was very likely involved in her sister's tragedy.

Whether this is just her speculation or it's true, and regardless of whether Sun Lingzhi will harm her sister in this life, Zhao Shiqing must take precautions.

This is something she learned from Xiao Zhen. Xiao Zhen killed Zhong Ziyang cleanly and efficiently, and she wanted to do the same.

Upon hearing Aunt Ji mention the Baoqing Marquis's residence, Zhao Shiqing quickly asked, "Aunt Ji, you're really amazing! You even know about the Baoqing Marquis's residence."

Aunt Ji said with a smile, "It's not that I'm good, it's that Aunt Wu at the pork stall is good. The reason Aunt Wu sets up a stall to sell meat is because her family are butchers. Every morning when the city gates open, her nephew brings over the slaughtered pig."

However, her family sending her meat was just a side trip; they mainly came to the city to deliver meat to the Marquis of Baoqing's residence and the Earl of Yan'an's residence. The meat that these two families ate was all sent by her family.

Therefore, the affairs of these two households could not be kept from her maternal family.

What was said in jest was taken seriously. Two days later, when Fifth Aunt's nephew, Da Bao, delivered pork to the Marquis of Baoqing's residence, he was accompanied by two young men. Da Bao explained that these were his new employees, still on trial. If they passed the trial, they would stay; otherwise, they would be sent away.

The two little brothers, one fair-skinned and one dark-skinned, were both very clever.

There were four pigs on Da Bao's cart, all covered with damp cloths and weighed down with ice. The kitchen staff of the Baoqing Marquis's mansion were used to this and said with a smile, "The Yan'an Earl's mansion has ordered quite a lot today, four pigs."

Da Bao was a little embarrassed: "The other two doors are for my aunt. Her business has been good lately."

The people in the kitchen remembered that Da Bao had a aunt who sold pork at the market.

Da Bao pulled an oil paper package from the car and shoved it into the man's hand: "Uncle, take this to have with your drinks."

The man pinched the package through the oil paper; it contained several pig tails.

He really likes this kind of thing.

"Thanks, let's go quickly, or the ice will melt."

The butcher's mule cart left the Marquis of Baoqing's residence and went to the Earl of Yan'an's residence. After circling around the city, it stopped in front of the Ruyi Boat. The two remaining pork patties, along with the cloth, were carried inside by the two young men.

Just as Da Bao was about to leave, he suddenly noticed something glittering where the pork had been. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a gold ingot.

Da Bao glanced at the two departing people, quickly stuffed the gold ingot into his pocket, and got on the mule cart and left.

In the kitchen of Ruyi Pavilion, Xiao Zhen looked at the woman sandwiched between two pieces of pork and gave Zhao Shiqing a thumbs up: "Second Miss is truly a master."

Zhao Shiqing, smug and triumphant, picked up a bucket of cold water and splashed it on the woman. The woman slowly opened her eyes, looked around at her surroundings, and then at the two people standing in front of her. Her face turned pale: "Where is this place? And who are you?"

She was lying in bed, and drifted off to sleep. When she woke up, she was here.

Zhao Shiqing looked at her and said, "Sun Lingzhi, how did you lose your child?"

Before taking action, Zhao Shiqing had already inquired about the situation. Everyone in the manor said that the child in Sun Lingzhi's womb was caused by Madam Ma, the wife of the Marquis. They also said that Sun Lingzhi was pushed to the ground by Madam Ma, which is why the child could not be saved.

Upon learning that Sun Lingzhi had left behind a male heir, Lord Zhu was furious and immediately wrote a letter of divorce to Madam Ma.

As the wife of a marquis, Lady Ma was dressed in a grand manner befitting a first-rank official, so it was impossible for her to be divorced so easily.

Therefore, the letter of divorce was written but did not count.

However, Madam Ma has been completely rejected by Lord Zhu and is no longer in the manor. She has been sent to the estate, and even her maternal family has not supported her.

There is currently no mistress of the household in the Marquis's mansion, and the other branches of the family are currently arguing about dividing the property. The second, third, and fifth wives are all turning a blind eye and doing nothing except dealing with matters in their own courtyards. Marquis Zhu has long since found a new lover outside. In the past, he was kept in check by Old Madam Wei, but now that Old Madam Wei has gone to the estate to recuperate, Marquis Zhu has simply stopped coming back.

Therefore, with the Marquis's mansion in such chaos, Zhao Shiqing was able to take advantage of the situation and steal Sun Lingzhi away without much effort.

Although everyone said that Sun Lingzhi's child was killed by Ma, Zhao Shiqing didn't think so.

What the Baoqing Marquis's mansion needs most right now is children. Whether it's the posthumous child of Marquis Zhu or Zhu Yu, as long as it's the offspring of this father and son, it's a treasure.

It is said that Madam Ma has been disfigured. Now she wants her concubine to have children more than anyone else. The concubine's children are hers. As long as they are registered in her name, they are her children.

Whether the child in Sun Lingzhi's womb is Zhu Houye's or Zhu Yu's, as long as she is Zhu Houye's concubine, the child must address Madam Ma as his legal mother.

Why did Mrs. Ma abort the child?

Wouldn't it be better to remove the mother and keep the child?
Therefore, the child in Sun Lingzhi's belly was definitely not aborted by Madam Ma.

Sun Lingzhi never expected that the person in front of her had brought her here to ask this question.

She showed no panic, only a faint smile: "It's the Lady Hou. The Lady Hou has been jealous for a long time. When she found out I was pregnant, she tampered with my food and aborted a perfectly healthy baby boy."

As Zhao Shiqing looked at her, she recalled what Xiao Zhen had said: her sister had died at the hands of women in the inner quarters.

At that time, my sister was the wife of the heir apparent. Given her shrewdness, she would definitely be wary of Old Madam Wei and Madam Ma. But what if it were Sun Lingzhi?
Would the sister still be wary of a delicate, frail, and lowly concubine, who is also her father-in-law's concubine?

Zhao Shiqing put herself in her shoes; she knew she definitely wouldn't have done the same.

Although there was no evidence, Zhao Shiqing became increasingly certain that her sister's death in the dream was definitely related to Sun Lingzhi.

"No, Madam Ma did nothing to you. You didn't want the child anymore, so you aborted it yourself, but you're trying to frame Madam Ma."

Let me think, why don't you want that child anymore?

"The baby had a problem, it died in your womb, didn't it?"

The baby died in the womb!

Although Zhao Shiqing was still a young girl, she had heard of such things.

An aunt in Baihe Village had a stillbirth; the doctor had already said that the child couldn't be saved and was already a stillborn.

The doctor prescribed medicine to induce an abortion in my aunt, but she didn't believe it was a stillbirth. She wanted to have a son, and this pregnancy clearly indicated a boy.

She was determined to give birth to her son, so she refused to have an abortion.

In the end, this woman was unable to give birth to a son and nearly died. Although she survived, she could no longer have children.

Zhao Shiqing was just a child when this happened, but she remembers it vividly. The aunt's mother-in-law came to her in the middle of the night, begging for some ginseng slices to prolong her aunt's life.

The master took out a ginseng root that was thirty years old, and the old woman cried and kowtowed to the master and her disciple.

Zhao Shiqing had a vivid memory of it, so she naturally thought of the phrase "stillbirth".

Sun Lingzhi's expression changed drastically. She never expected that the person in front of her would know this secret.

Zhao Shiqing guessed correctly; Sun Lingzhi's child had died. She was unwilling to accept it, but she had no choice but to have an abortion.

Before going to see Madam Ma, she had already taken an abortifacient. She deliberately provoked Madam Ma, who raised her hand to hit her. She took the opportunity to fall to the ground.
Her pregnancy ended very quickly; there was no time to call a doctor before the baby was born. When she saw the fully formed male fetus, Ma was stunned. She couldn't say a word and her whole body was trembling.

After that, no one listened to her anymore; she was just jealous, she was a wicked woman, she deserved to die.

Thinking about everything she had done, a smug look flashed in Sun Lingzhi's eyes.

She harmed Aunt Lan, she harmed Rou Rou, and now she's harmed Madam Ma. It's only because Rou Rou ran away quickly that she suffered the same fate as Rou Rou.

Looking at her smug expression, Zhao Shiqing suddenly asked, "If Zhu Yu hadn't died, and he were still the heir apparent, and had married a woman of high status who had no support in the capital, you would have had another master above you. Would you have framed her like this too?"

Sun Lingzhi had actually thought about this issue long ago, before Zhu Yu became a eunuch.

Zhu Yu will eventually marry another noblewoman, and in the eyes of that future heir's wife, she is not even a vixen. She might even try to make Zhu Yu despise her and then have Madam Ma sell her off.

The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became, so she had already come up with a plan to deal with it.

However, Zhu Yu was later castrated, but Sun Lingzhi's plan was not wasted; she used it on Aunt Lan.

It's such a pity that such a good plan couldn't be used on that noble lady of the prince's family, but instead it was given to that wretched woman, Aunt Lan. What a waste!
Sun Lingzhi smiled coldly: "That's right, I won't let her live well. I want to watch her die. It's a pity that the Baoqing Marquis's mansion will not have a heir's wife for more than ten years. Marquis Zhu will never let a son from another branch of the family become the heir."

"I understand now. You tied me up here because of that vile woman, Aunt Lan, right? What's your relationship with her?"

After her miscarriage, Aunt Lan's health never recovered, and she died not long after.

After Aunt Lan died, Lord Zhu did not feel much reluctance to part with his beloved concubine. He did not even come back to see her one last time. It was Sun Lingzhi who took care of Aunt Lan's funeral arrangements.

How ridiculous! If Aunt Lan knew in the afterlife that the person who arranged her funeral was the murderer who killed her, she would probably flip the coffin lid off.

Seeing that she had misunderstood, Zhao Shiqing simply said, "A life for a life. Aunt Lan died because of you, shouldn't you pay for it with your life?"

Sun Lingzhi giggled: "I was just saying, hahaha, don't pretend to be a good person who helps others in front of me. That Lan was sold by her own mother. She has no relatives or friends. Even if she dies, no one will stand up for her."

"You brought me here not to avenge her, nor for money. I'm just a concubine; the Zhu family won't pay my ransom. Tell me, what do you want me to do? I'll cooperate, okay? Just release me, and I'll agree to any conditions." (End of Chapter)