Ghost fetuses don’t harm people.

Yan Sanhe had been waiting for exactly this statement.

“Old Lady.”

Her face lost all traces of a smile. “Why did you inquire about ghost fetuses?”

Why?

Old Lady Zhao thought of all the past events and began wiping away tears again.

Childbirth for women was already stepping one foot into the gates of hell. Her daughter was carrying twins, making labor even more difficult and dangerous.

The due date was mid-seventh month. The couple had been anticipating news since early seventh month, hoping the Zheng family would bring joyful tidings of mother and children safe.

They waited and waited until late seventh month, but there was still no movement from the Zheng family.

This shouldn’t be!

Old Lady Zhao could no longer sit still. She packed her things and immediately rushed to the capital with her eldest son.

Upon arriving at the Zheng family and inquiring, they learned that their daughter Qingyun had successfully given birth to dragon-phoenix twins half a month earlier.

Old Lady Zhao’s heart filled with such joy that she immediately forgot all about the Zheng family’s failure to send news.

The steward led them toward the inner quarters.

The old lady thought they were going to her daughter’s Begonia Courtyard, but unexpectedly, they were led to Zheng Yu’s study.

In those times, women rarely entered studies. The old lady felt somewhat uneasy, wondering if her daughter had committed some offense at the Zheng family.

Then Zheng Yu strode in imposingly and, without any pleasantries, said to her:

“Madam Zhao, your daughter gave birth to a pair of ghost fetuses specifically meant to harm me and harm my Zheng family. I’ve now confined the mother and two children to Begonia Courtyard—no one is permitted to approach within half a step. Your arrival is timely. Today, take your daughter back home.”

Like a thunderbolt from clear sky.

Old Lady Zhao nearly fainted.

These words…

Did these words mean he wanted to divorce her daughter?

Next, Zheng Yu told her everything about how the twins, after being born, brought harm to him and the Zheng family. Finally, with a stern face, he said:

“I disagreed with this match from the start because of your daughter’s birth characters. Now it’s done—the children are born and can’t be stuffed back in. My Zheng family is in for misfortune. What does Madam propose we do?”

“Young lady!”

Old Lady Zhao: “I’m just a woman—what solutions could I have? I didn’t dare even breathe a word and could only slink away dejectedly. Before leaving, I repeatedly begged Zheng Yu that for the sake of my daughter surviving nine deaths to bear the Zheng family two children, he shouldn’t mistreat her and should leave her enough to eat.”

Yan Sanhe understood clearly that Zheng Yu’s entire speech was meant to frighten the Zhao family into retreating.

Miss Zhao already had a reputation in her maiden home for bringing misfortune to husbands.

After arriving at her husband’s family, she gave birth to ghost fetuses.

If divorced by the Zheng family, she could only die of old age at the Zhao family home with no hope left.

“Walking through the gates of hell, finally giving birth to dragon-phoenix twins with great difficulty, yet they happened to be born on the fourteenth of the seventh month.”

Yan Sanhe deliberately sighed. “Your daughter’s fate truly doesn’t seem very good.”

Old Lady Zhao: “To be honest with you, young lady, at first I thought so too. But as time passed, I always felt something wasn’t quite right.”

From the corner of her eye, Yan Sanhe glanced at Pei Xiao: Your turn.

Sure enough, Young Master Pei asked with a curious expression: “Old Lady, tell us quickly—what wasn’t right?”

Old Lady Zhao tremblingly extended two fingers.

“The first thing that wasn’t right: The twins brought harm to the Zheng family, not to our Zhao family. So why wouldn’t they let us even look at Begonia Courtyard once?”

Pei Xiao looked at Yan Sanhe. Seeing she’d suddenly stopped talking, he had to respond: “So you later went to the capital again, went to the Zheng family again.”

“I went.”

Zhao Fanglin: “That year I went to the capital on business and thought—I haven’t seen my sister in years, don’t even know if she’s alive or dead. I should at least get a look at her.”

Pei Xiao: “Didn’t see her?”

Zhao Fanglin shook his head: “No matter how much I pleaded, they wouldn’t let me see her.”

Pei Xiao: “What reason did they give?”

Zhao Fanglin: “No reason—just said the General had ordered that no one was allowed to see her.”

At this point, Xie Zhifei suddenly spoke: “Did you see your brother-in-law?”

Zhao Fanglin: “I saw Huantang. He had a drink with me and talked about Qingyun and the children’s situation. He also said he had no solution either—everything in the Zheng family had to follow the General’s orders.”

Pei Xiao frowned. “This detail is indeed somewhat unreasonable. After all, the Zhao family is her maiden family. How could they not even allow one visit?”

Yan Sanhe nodded, indicating complete agreement with Young Master Pei’s words.

Pei Xiao: “And the second thing, Old Lady?”

Old Lady Zhao: “Since they wouldn’t let us see her, my husband wrote letters—one every three months—asking about our daughter’s health and the twins’ condition.”

Pei Xiao: “And the result?”

“The result was that our son-in-law always replied.”

Old Lady Zhao: “But my daughter is literate! Confined to a single courtyard all day—why wouldn’t she think to write a letter to her maiden family to pour out her grievances?”

Pei Xiao pondered for a long while. “Looking at it this way, it’s indeed quite unreasonable.”

“Therefore.”

Yan Sanhe suddenly spoke: “So you, Old Lady, went to inquire whether ghost fetuses harm people or not?”

“Young lady, although the Zheng family never failed to send seasonal gifts year-round, and Huantang always slipped silver to us old couple during holidays, our Zhao family wasn’t selling our daughter.

Old Lady Zhao fell silent for a moment, then continued:

“The two children were confined to the courtyard all year round. They’d never seen the sky or earth outside—how pitiful! They couldn’t be confined for a lifetime!”

She thought the root problem lay with those twins, so she asked high masters everywhere whether ghost fetuses would harm people.

Some said they would, some said they wouldn’t—there was no definitive answer.

So she kept careful track. When she found someone who said “harm,” she drew a horizontal line under the word “harm.” When someone said “no harm,” she drew a line under “no harm.”

After several years of inquiries, there were eighteen lines under “harm” and thirty-two lines under “no harm.”

She discussed it with Old Master Zhao and decided to take the little notebook to the Zheng family to demand an explanation while Old General was fighting in the northern territories.

This time, no matter what, they would see their daughter and grandchildren.

“Young lady!”

Old Lady Zhao’s voice suddenly choked.

“We’d just decided to set out when news arrived that the Zheng family had been massacred. My husband coughed up blood on the spot and fainted in shock. My very soul was frightened away—I lay in bed for a full three months before my soul finally returned.”

Even though ten years had passed, the old lady’s face was still deathly pale, her chest heaving up and down, her emotions clearly agitated.

Zhao Dongrong quickly reached out to pat the old lady’s back and took over:

“Before my father set out, he specially selected many fine books from the academy, excitedly saying he would send them to the two children.

My father was a teacher—children were what he loved most.

He said my sister was a woman who naturally should stay in the inner quarters to support her husband and teach her children. He just felt sorry for the two children.

Especially Huaizuo—my father had been determined to personally teach him to read. Who could have known white-haired people would send off black-haired ones?”

“Because of this matter, my father always harbored regret, saying he hadn’t been tough enough to go earlier to the Zheng family to see his daughter and grandchildren.”

Zhao Fanglin took over with a gloomy expression: “Elderly people can’t keep troubles bottled up inside. Too many troubles damage health. Within a few years, my father passed away.”

Zhao Dongrong: “On his deathbed, he kept murmuring about Huaizuo and Huaiyou, reluctant to close his eyes for a long time. I held his hand and said, ‘Father, rest assured—every year on the children’s birth dates, we brothers will burn plenty of paper offerings.’ Only then did he slowly close his eyes.”

Xie Zhifei turned his gaze toward the window.

Only by looking out the window and tilting his head back slightly could he prevent tears from falling.