When Gu Chaodong and Madam Gu hurried over, they could only hear Shen Guiya’s cries and wails coming from inside the room.

“What happened?” Madam Gu demanded angrily.

Shen Guiyan bowed her head and said nothing. Instead, it was Yushu, who hadn’t shown herself earlier, who knelt forward. “Please, Madam, seek justice for my young miss! Today this servant was unwell and wasn’t attending to Miss. Who would have thought that though Miss has always treated the Fourth Young Madam extremely well, the Fourth Young Madam would repay kindness with enmity today, deliberately pushing Miss down, trying to harm her child!”

“You maid weren’t even there attending to her, so how do you know the details so clearly?” Xu Mengdie laughed lightly. “Had you already planned to say this, is that it?”

Yushu froze, her eyes darting left and right. “This servant… this servant also heard it from Hongxian. Hongxian happened to be passing by at the time and saw the entire process. Otherwise, with only the Fourth Young Madam and Baoshan there, wouldn’t they be able to say whatever they wanted?”

Gu Chaodong frowned. “That Hongxian is from our courtyard. Was she the only one who saw it?”

“Yes.” Yushu lowered her head.

Gu Chaodong was about to say more when Madam Gu raised her hand to stop him. “The urgent matter is preserving the child. What use is discussing anything else!”

Everyone fell silent, looking toward the chamber door. A maid ran out and bowed to Gu Chaodong. “Young Master, the Young Madam is in critical condition. She keeps calling for you to go in.”

Critical condition?

Everyone was shocked. Gu Chaodong also frowned slightly.

Though he was disgusted by Shen Guiya’s behavior today, she was still his wife. If she truly was in critical condition, he would feel somewhat saddened.

He followed inside and the door closed behind him. Gu Chaodong swept his eyes around the room. The physician sat to one side with a complex expression. Shen Guiya lay on the bed moaning, her expression very pained, but it didn’t feel as serious as he’d imagined.

“This old one will go to the outer room to write the prescription.” Seeing Gu Chaodong enter, the physician quickly stood, picked up paper and brush, and left.

Gu Chaodong found this a bit strange. He looked up at Shen Guiya and sat by her bedside with a stern face. The maids had all withdrawn as well. Apart from a medicine chest, this place didn’t look at all like someone needed urgent treatment.

“My child.” Shen Guiya clutched her belly tightly, her tear-stained face looking at Gu Chaodong piteously. “Husband, our child was harmed by Guiyan. You must seek justice for me!”

Gu Chaodong frowned. He had never seen what a woman’s miscarriage looked like. Seeing some bloodstains on her bed and her appearing so distressed, he accepted it as truth.

Hearing what the maids had said earlier, this child’s loss couldn’t be separated from Yan’er. Gu Chaodong was very worried. The child’s loss was already irreversible, but what if Mother blamed Yan’er for it? What should he do?

“Yan’er is your own sister. How could she want to harm your child?” Gu Chaodong said. “Ya’er, you may have misunderstood.”

“What misunderstanding!” Shen Guiya said angrily. “I won’t let her off! This child is gone—I’ll make sure she pays dearly for it!”

“Ya’er!” Gu Chaodong looked at her with difficulty. “Why must you be like this? The child is gone—must you drag your own sister down with you?”

Shen Guiya gasped, looking at the man before her. Her heart truly burned with hatred. “My child is gone and you don’t even care, yet you worry whether I’ll drag her down? Gu Chaodong, I am your legitimate wife!”

Gu Chaodong turned his face away. “If not for this child, how would I have married you? Yan’er and I should have been a match made in heaven. Now Fourth Brother has taken all the advantages—isn’t it all this child’s fault?”

Shen Guiya was nearly dying of rage. This man was truly sick! He wanted an heir himself, yet blamed the child for blocking his chance to be with Shen Guiyan? If she didn’t currently have to rely on him, Shen Guiya really wanted to stab him to death.

She couldn’t lose her temper—she still had things to do. Taking a deep breath, Shen Guiya calmed down considerably. Looking at him with teary eyes, she said, “Fine. I’ll go tell Madam shortly that this child blocked your happiness with Third Sister, so being killed was deserved!”

“Don’t!” Gu Chaodong turned back. “You cannot harm Yan’er.”

“Then what about me?” Shen Guiya stared wide-eyed at him. “You were already going to divorce me. Without this child, won’t I just become an abandoned wife? She killed my child, and I’m supposed to become an abandoned wife without taking revenge on her? I’m no saint!”

Gu Chaodong was silent for a moment, then looked at her. “What do you want before you’ll let Yan’er go?”

How ridiculous. He was the one who wronged her initially, and now he was playing the devoted lover. Shen Guiya laughed coldly, clutching her belly. “Just agree to this—write a divorce agreement, you sign it and give it to me. I can separate from you whenever I want, but you cannot divorce me!”

“Divorce agreement?” Gu Chaodong looked completely baffled.

Shen Guiya thought for a moment and changed her wording. “A separation agreement. With that kind of separation, if you sign but I don’t, then only I can leave you—you cannot divorce me!”

“Absurd.” Gu Chaodong stood up angrily. “Where has such a thing ever been done? It’s completely preposterous.”

Shen Guiya raised her eyebrows and continued clutching her belly, crying out in pain. “My child—ah, it hurts so much.”

Gu Chaodong looked at her with a dark expression.

“If you don’t agree, I’ll go before Madam shortly and tell her exactly how she pushed me. Even if she doesn’t receive family punishment, she’ll be heavily penalized. But if you agree, I’ll say I was careless. Husband, you decide.”

Gu Chaodong had never encountered a woman who spoke like this. He had always been high-minded, rarely visiting pleasure quarters. He couldn’t even think of how to deal with Shen Guiya. After hesitating a while, he said, “Let me consider for one day. Is that acceptable?”

“Certainly.” Perfect, actually. Shen Guiya said, “My condition will surely keep me unconscious for one day. Husband will have plenty of time.”

It would also be good to see what fate awaited Shen Guiyan while bearing the suspicion of murdering an heir.

Gu Chaodong had no idea what Shen Guiya was scheming. He didn’t think that far ahead, only instructing the physician to quickly provide treatment before leaving.

“How is she?” Madam Gu came forward with concern outside.

“Her life isn’t in danger.” Gu Chaodong instinctively glanced at Shen Guiyan. “Only the child couldn’t be saved. She may be unconscious for a day. We’ll discuss further after she awakens tomorrow. Your son feels rather upset and will go rest first.”

Madam Gu, mindful of his grief over losing a child, only sighed and let him go. But when she turned to meet Shen Guiyan’s eyes, her expression was far less friendly.

“This child was the only one the Gu family currently had, and our legitimate eldest grandson at that.” Madam Gu said gravely. “Some people, even if they dislike Guiya, should still respect propriety.”

Shen Guiyan lowered her head. “Madam, Yan’er is truly innocent.”

“Hongxian saw it with her own eyes. What innocence is there?” Yushu said angrily. “The Fourth Young Madam must have wanted to harm my Miss’s child so you could take advantage and seize the position of the Gu family’s eldest son!”

“Any crime can be fabricated if one wishes.” Shen Guiyan said. “I didn’t do it, and my conscience is clear.”

“Stop arguing, all of you!” Madam Gu said angrily. “Everyone go to the main hall. Stop disturbing Ya’er’s rest.”

Everyone fell silent. Baoshan nervously tugged at Shen Guiyan’s sleeve. “Miss, what should we do?”

Last time when Xu Mengdie lost her child, there was no investigation because Xu Mengdie herself didn’t want to pursue it. But if one truly investigated the punishment for murdering an heir, it was extremely severe. At minimum, family punishment; at worst, divorce with orders never to remarry. A child in the womb was always more precious than one already born.

“There’s no ‘what should we do.’ We can only take it one step at a time.” Shen Guiyan sighed. “If she insists it was us and there’s no other evidence, we can only endure it.”

Baoshan’s eyes widened. “But it was clearly she herself who…”

“Would anyone believe it if we said so?” Shen Guiyan smiled bitterly. “Such a precious child—who would think she’d lose it just to frame me? Everyone would see that as a losing proposition. Why would Shen Guiya do such a thing?”

“Then…” Baoshan gritted her teeth. “The first push was this servant’s doing. At worst, this servant will take the blame.”

“Can you bear such blame?” Shen Guiyan shook her head. “If I take responsibility for this matter, there’s still a way out. If it were you, they’d drag you out and beat you to death before I could save you. Remember this—don’t be foolish and confess.”

Baoshan was frightened, torn between options. But Shen Guiyan’s expression remained quite composed.

Facing an unavoidable disaster, she had already worked out several possible outcomes in her mind. Either she would bear this guilt and, for Gu Chaobei’s sake, endure some family punishment—which, considering it was a human life, would still be lenient. Or Shen Guiya would have a change of heart and let her off, and she wouldn’t have to bear anything.

The latter possibility was too slim. Shen Guiyan no longer wanted to consider it. The problem with this situation was that both motive and witness testimony favored Shen Guiya. Her rebuttals would be useless.

Following everyone to the main hall, Madam Gu slammed her hand on the table the moment she sat down. “Concubine Guan!”

Guan Shi jumped in fright and quickly stepped forward. “Madam?”

“You’re an old member of the household who knows many things. You tell me—years ago when a concubine in our manor harmed an heir, what was her fate!”

Guan Fengyue breathed a sigh of relief, patted her chest, and glanced at Shen Guiyan. “That concubine had both legs broken and was divorced from the household.”

Shen Guiyan stepped forward and stood there. Hearing this, she showed no panic and didn’t kneel.

“Did you hear that?” Madam Gu looked up at Shen Guiyan.

“In response to Madam, yes, I heard.” Shen Guiyan lowered her eyes. “But Yan’er didn’t do it, so naturally I have nothing to fear.”

Madam Gu frowned. Seeing Shen Guiyan’s righteous bearing, she felt slightly uncertain.

But Concubine Guan, standing beside her, came close and said quietly, “Since the Fourth Young Madam married into the household, two children have been lost one after another. Doesn’t Madam find this strange?”

These words struck at Madam Gu’s sore spot. Her expression instantly darkened. She swept her hand and sent a cup of hot tea crashing at Shen Guiyan’s feet, splashing hot water all over her.

“Miss!” Baoshan couldn’t help crying out softly.

“Only four people were present for today’s incident. Ya’er is unconscious, and Hongxian has no grievances with you—she couldn’t possibly harm you. If it wasn’t you, who else could it be?!”

Shen Guiyan pressed her lips together and finally knelt. “Madam, please investigate clearly. Yan’er would absolutely never harm a human life.”