Chapter 24: Prime Minister Residence"s New Madame
"Steward Li, what is this!?" roared Ye Liyu, his face was flushed with anger. His hands were clenched so tightly into fists that cracking sounds could be heard and his veins bulged on his forehead.
"Replying Prince… This old servant doesn"t know either. After this old servant got back from the bank, the residence was already like this…" answered Steward Li timidly, his face extremely pale. Even the dumbest person would be able to guess that it was because Prince had offended someone he shouldn"t have offended and this was that person"s retaliation. However, he was confused as well. His master was the biological younger brother of the current emperor. Who would have the guts to attack the prince"s residence?
"This is preposterous! Who is it? Who exactly is it!?" Ye Liyu"s eyes were bloodshot with fury as he bellowed in rage. Right at this moment, a phantom-like shadow flashed past. Before Ye Liyu could even react, Steward Li had already fallen to the ground and was vomiting blood while convulsing.
"Show yourself! Show yourself! Arghhh…" Ye Liyu roared as he pulled out his sword and slashed at the air in a frenzy. However, his beast-like howls were the only sounds in the large residence.
He shouted until he was out of strength, but that phantom-like figure didn"t reappear. As he took in the b.l.o.o.d.y mess in this residence, he threw his sword to the ground angrily. Regardless of who it was that did this, he wouldn"t let them off!
In Prime Minister Yao"s residence, Yao Mowan was pressing her ear lightly against Li Qingqing"s slightly bulging belly with a smile.
"Little Brother is moving!" Yao Mowan got up excitedly.
"Right? He"s so lively! Sometimes he kicks so much that this subject can"t even sleep at night. For the master"s son, this subject has seriously suffered a lot!" Li Qingqing stroked her belly with a proud expression, her face glowing with a slight blush.
Suffered? Yao Zhenting was just a step short of putting Li Qingqing on an ancestral pedestal to worship. As of now, Li Qingqing"s food, clothing, and housing weren"t inferior in anyways to those of the imperial consorts and concubines.
"That"s right ah! Bad baby! Di Mother will be tired, you can"t be like this! Wan er didn"t know what Di Mother would like, so Wan er brought a lot of the pastries from the palace. Liu Xing, hurry and bring them in!" Yao Mowan looked towards Li Qingqing with a sincere expression even as she inwardly remarked that Li Qingqing was sure good at acting. She was clearly pregnant with a b.a.s.t.a.r.d child, but she still had the nerve to act like this was such an achievement.
Liu Xing immediately walked in and placed the food box he was holding on the table before taking out all the exquisite pastries.
"Although the things from the palace are good, this subject isn"t hungry right now. Ju Er, have the kitchen stew me a bowl of blood swallow"s nest. Just say that the little young master"s thirsty!" Li Qingqing glanced at the pastries with disgust before turning to give this instruction to the maid. Yao Mowan hid her smile. If it weren"t for the fact that she was a fool, Li Qingqing wouldn"t have dared to be this unbridled. However, she didn"t mind. Those who were evil would eventually suffer at the hands of those who were more evil. The more Li Qingqing was like this, the happier she"d feel.
Right after Ju Er left, a middle-aged man dressed in gorgeous satin ran in, his forehead covered with sweat.
"Sister ah! You have to save your older brother, otherwise your older brother"s going to die for sure this time!" The man had very wretched looks. His cheekbones protruded too much while his nose bridge was flat. His eyes were also very tiny like those of a mouse"s. Currently, he was grabbing Li Qingqing"s hands with his sweaty ones and gasping for breath as he begged for help.
"What did you do this time?" Li Qingqing frowned slightly as she looked towards this troublesome older brother of hers.
"Someone"s died! That widow, she… I didn"t think she was that unyielding. I was just playing around, but she actually pulled out a knife to threaten me. I panicked and…" Li Jian"s voice was upset and regretful.
"Seriously! If you wanted woman, just go to a brothel! There"s plenty of women there for you to pick from! Why did you insist on provoking a widow? Forget it, isn"t it just a widow? Just throw her family a couple pieces of silver and tell them to scram!" Li Qingqing flung off his hand as she said this.
"That won"t work this time. The Zhao family won"t let this go and they insist on reporting this to the officials! They"ve even surrounded Li Residence and keep causing a riot! If it weren"t for that, I wouldn"t have come to you!" Li Jian looked towards Li Qingqing beseechingly.
"They want to report this to the officials? Have they gone dumb? Could it be that they don"t know your sister"s husband, my husband, is the current prime minister?" Li Qingqing reacted like she had just heard the most ridiculous joke ever.
"You mean… Brother-in-law can help me this time?" When Li Jian heard this, his scrunched up face immediately relaxed and he ran behind Li Qingqing to start hammering her shoulders in an ingratiating way.
"Of course! You"re his son"s uncle after all!" Li Qingqing smugly stroked her bulging belly. To this pair of siblings, Yao Mowan was like air.
Yao Mowan had also slowly walked over to take a seat and take this in coldly. She also wanted to know whether Father would help Li Jian with this.
Truly, mention Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrived. As soon as Yao Zhenting got out of court, he went to check on his unborn son.
"Master, you"re finally back!" The moment Yao Zhenting walked into the room, Li Qingqing got up and walked over while supporting her stomach.
"Madame, hurry and sit lest the child"s disturbed! The doctor said that the child"s about to be born so Madame must rest well! Only then will you have the strength to give birth to the child!" Yao Zhenting carefully helped Li Qingqing over to sit back down. After doing this, he finally looked around and noticed Yao Mowan.
"This old man kowtows in salute to Your Highness Consort Yao!" Ever since Yao Zhenting"s relationship with Yao Suluan turned sour, he became quite respectful towards Yao Mowan.
"Father, hurry and get up. There"s no way Wan er can take Father"s kowtow. Wan er…" Yao Mowan wanted to exchange a couple more conventional greetings, but Li Qingqing stopped her.
"Master ah, you must help my older brother this time! This Zhao family consists of total rogues! That widow was clearly seeking death on her own, but they insist on blaming this on my brother and they"re even rioting in front of our Li Residence! What is with them!?" Li Qingqing tugged at Yao Zhenting"s sleeve with both hands as she said this a spoiled manner.
When Yao Zhenting heard this, he looked over at Li Jian sharply without saying anything.
"Master! Qingqing swears that this matter doesn"t have anything to do with Older Brother! You have to get justice with Older Brother!" Li Qingqing was a little worried now. In the past, as long as she asked for it, Yao Zhenting would immediately agree to it, but this time was proving to be an exception.
"Follow me outside!" said Yao Zhenting sternly. Li Jian"s knees went weak and he looked towards Li Qingqing for help.
"Master, this wife begs you! This wife only has this older brother. If anything happens to him, this wife can"t live either! Son… Mother"s sorry… Wuuwuu…" As Li Qingqing spoke, she started crying. As soon as she moved to kneel, Yao Zhenting went over to stop her.
"Madame, don"t cry. This isn"t good for the child!" When Yao Mowan saw the heartache on Yao Zhenting"s face, she couldn"t help but snort. He was feeling that much heartache for someone else"s child? Yao Zhenting, this must be your retribution.
"Ah… it hurts… Master, this wife"s stomach hurts so much!" Li Qingqing knitted her brows as she leaned into Yao Zhenting"s arms while trembling.
"Fine! This old man agrees, alright? Hurry and get up! Don"t hurt the child!" Yao Zhenting finally relented.
"It"s real… Master, this wife"s probably about to give birth. Ah…" Unbearable pain came from her abdomen, causing her forehead to be covered with cold sweat. Upon hearing this, Yao Zhenting looked down and found that Li Qingqing"s legs were covered with blood.
"Hurry! Go get the midwife! Madame"s about to give brith!" After Yao Zhenting shouted this in pleasant surprise, the entire residence immediately got busy. Maids and manservants kept running back and forth to prepare the necessary things. Four midwives helped with the delivery inside while Yao Zhenting paced around anxiously outside the room.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira"s Corner]
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