Chapter 104 – A Faint Fragrance
Concubine Huang was sick? Ever since Lady Li’s face was scratched, the Second Master had been staying in Concubine Huang’s courtyard for seven or eight days out of ten. He stood up when he heard Concubine Huang was unwell. Since he had no mood for official business at this time, he nodded at the maid and left the study for the inner courtyard.
When he arrived at Concubine Huang’s residence, he saw Concubine Huang coming out with a sad expression. Upon seeing him, she covered her face with a handkerchief and cried pitiably without saying anything.
The Second Master came over and reached out to take his concubine by the hand and asked softly, “What’s the matter? How are you feeling? Just see the doctor. What are you crying for?”
“My lord, ever since I was given to you, I have always been thinking that I owe you a huge debt for I didn’t give birth to any son. It’s really my fault.” Concubine Huang cried more sadly. She buried herself in the arms of the Second Master with her eyes filled with sorrow.
“How can I blame you for such a thing? It is all heaven’s will whether you have a son or not.” Wei Luowu comforted her.
“No, it isn’t for sure. Her Ladyship can give birth, and so can I. I’ve sent for a doctor from outside to see if there is any good way for me to conceive and give birth to a child for you.”
Concubine Huang said sadly and then explained why she sent for another doctor instead of Doctor Ming.
In Wei Luowu’s eyes, this was not a big deal, so he asked gently, “What did the doctor say?”
“The doctor said….” Concubine Huang hesitated and said in the end, “You’d better see the doctor yourself first.”
Then she said to the maid, “Go to ask the doctor to come.”
The maid received the order and soon came back with the old doctor from the wing.
The old doctor came in and saw a middle-aged man with an imposing appearance sitting in the middle seat. He knew that the man must be the head of the family, so he came forward and saluted him respectfully. When he finished his salute, he suddenly smelled a faint fragrance, a very faint one that was almost non-existent to common noses.
He couldn’t help but look at the master dubiously and frowned involuntarily.
Concubine Huang had been paying attention to the old doctor’s expression. Seeing that he was frowning, she hurriedly asked, “Doctor, is there something wrong with our master?”
The old doctor had accepted Concubine Huang’s silver, so he already intended to check Wei Luowu’s pulse. At this time, he stroked his beard and said hesitantly. “Well… I’m not sure yet.”
“Doctor, our master has always been in good health. If there really is any problem, please tell us quickly.” Concubine Huang urged.
The old doctor looked up and asked, “Master, may I check your pulse?”
“My lord, please let him check. If you are sick, you can get it treated. If you are not, you can at least be sure you’re well.” Concubine Huang said coquettishly in an excited mood.
Wei Luowu actually didn’t feel sick, but when he saw Concubine Huang looking at him and holding his hand with an eager expression, he nodded casually. In any case, it was just for making sure of his health.
It wasn’t a big deal. He could take it as an act of comfort to his beautiful concubine. Therefore, Wei Luowu extended his hand.
The old doctor placed a few fingers on Wei Luowu’s vein. As soon as he felt the pulse, his expression changed slightly into inexplicable nervousness. Originally, Wei Luowu did not care about the matter at all, but when he saw the old doctor’s nervous look, he also became serious and his face sank.
Concubine Huang had been paying attention to the old doctor’s expression. She saw the change in his look and asked cautiously at this moment, “Doctor, is our master alright?”
If the Second Master really had some health problem, it would make sense why she couldn’t conceive. However, the Second Master had a son and two daughters. When she thought of that, Concubine Huang felt that the problem couldn’t possibly lie with the Second Master. Nevertheless, she herself was healthy and the other concubines didn’t seem to be ill either, but none of them ever gave birth. This was really strange.
As soon as she asked this question, the air in the room suddenly became serious.
The old doctor raised his head after a while. He looked at Wei Luowu and asked, “Master, have you been taking some medicine that tastes bitter and astringent?”
Wei Luowu thought for a moment and shook his head. His expression turned gloomy and cold. He had always been in good health and had never taken any medicine to improve his health. He said, “No! Is there anything wrong with my health? Just say what you have to say.”
Wei Luowu was clear about his health. He certainly knew that he wasn’t sick. He was the Minister of Rites and of great importance to the imperial court, so he was very concerned about his own health. However, as he saw the old doctor’s expression now, the look between his eyebrows changed slightly.
Concubine Huang was even more anxious. The issue of pregnancy was of immense relevance to her future fortune. She also asked, “Doctor, if you have anything to say, just say it to our master. Our master’s health is too important for us to waste any time.”
“Master has been taking a kind of medicine called gastrodia fruit for a long time. This medicine tastes slightly astringent and bitter. People will have a faint fragrance around them for a few days after they take it, but the smell is not strong. It will go away in a few days. Taking this medicine for a long time will make a person sterile.” The old doctor had no choice but to answer.
Wei Luowu’s face sank immediately.
“So it’s Master….” Concubine Huang clutched her handkerchief and covered her mouth with it. She looked extremely shocked. “Who… who is it that wants to make His Lordship unable to have children….”
Her words successfully made Wei Luowu’s complexion darkened more. Wei Luowu slapped his hand heavily on the table and stood up. Then, he waved his sleeve and walked out.
“My lord, my lord….” Concubine Huang was shocked by Wei Luowu’s movement. She hurriedly waved her handkerchief and wanted to chase after him, but was left far behind. However, from his threatening looking, she knew that Wei Luowu was going to vent his anger. Needless to say, the object of his anger was no one in the mansion other than Lady Li.
Now that her goal was achieved, Concubine Huang stood in her chamber and wiped her tears with her handkerchief. She asked the maid to pay the doctor and escort him out of the gate.
Wei Luowu went angrily to Lady Li’s courtyard. The reason why his destination was so decided was that it would be no one other than Lady Li if there was anyone in this mansion who didn’t want his concubines to have children. Moreover, he remembered now that Lady Li would send him soup for health preservation around the middle of each month.
According to Lady Li, there were some herbs in the soup to help improve his health, so the soup tasted slightly bitter and astringent. Wei Luowu had never paid special attention to it. Yesterday was the middle of the month, and he had just taken the health-preserving soup served by Lady Li. Now Wei Luowu put all the clues into one picture, how could he fail to figure out that Lady Li had been stabbing him in the back?
Wei Luowu was so angry that he almost trembled. The veins on his forehead kept twitching. The matter of giving birth to sons was of utmost importance. Moreover, considering the situation in this mansion…
Lady Li had just returned from the family temple. She would go to the temple every day to see Wei Yan and also to discuss with her daughter how to work with Concubine Dong to push Wei Yuewu to a death trap. Both of them hated Wei Yuewu to the extreme. Yet after all the previous plots failed, they didn’t dare to make a rash move anymore.
Lady Li had hardly returned to her chamber and sat down when she heard that the Second Master came. She stood up excitedly and went to welcome her husband.
The wound on her face had healed but it left a scar. Besides, the matter regarding Wei Yan was really annoying. As a result, Wei Luowu came to see her only occasionally at first and later on, he only came to her place once every several days. This made Lady Li hate Concubine Huang so much that she secretly scolded Concubine Huang as a bitch slut. However, since Concubine Huang could not conceive, Lady Li did not scheme against her no matter how much she was favored.
In Lady Li’s eyes, the concubine was just a plaything that was unable to give birth to a child and was therefore not a barrier to her.
“My lord, why aren’t you in the study at this time but coming to my courtyard?” Lady Li welcomed her husband with a smile but was greeted with a fierce slap. She fell backward a few steps and hit heavily onto a pillar on the side before she managed to stand still.
“Bitch, how dare you?” Wei Luowu’s entire face was ashen with anger as long as he thought that Lady Li made it impossible for him to have more sons. He came over and pulled Lady Li up and slapped her fiercely again. Lady Li fell to the ground again.
After Lady Li was beaten to the ground, she covered her face with her hand and said in a wronged and shocked tone, “My lord, you… are you crazy?”
“Bitch, gastrodia fruit? You bitch.” Wei Luowu was furious when he thought that he had only one son, which made him even inferior to his third younger brother in this aspect, whom he had always looked down on. How could he be willing to accept this reality?
Originally, he had thought that the problem was attributed to those concubines, because he already had a son and two daughters. Now he knew what was actually going on, how could he not be angry?
Gastrodia fruit?
A shiver ran through Lady Li’s entire body. She subconsciously trembled and felt cold all over. When Wei Luowu said “gastrodia fruit” to her, it meant he knew what she had done to him.
Seeing Wei Luowu’s murderous face, of course Lady Li knew that she couldn’t admit it. She raised her head and looked at Wei Luowu with an aggrieved expression. “My lord, what did you say? I don’t understand. What wrong have I done that you are treating me like this?”
To be able to climb to the positon of Minister of Rites meant that Wei Luowu was not an ordinary person. He could tell from Lady Li’s reaction that this matter must have something to do with her. He stared coldly at her.
“This treatment is still too lenient to you. I will report to mother in a moment and divorce you immediately. The mansion of Marquis Hua Yang doesn’t want a poisonous woman like you.” Wei Luowu said hatefully. He then turned around to leave for the Madam Dowager’s place.
How could Lady Li let Wei Luowu leave at this time? She hurriedly crawled over and held Wei Luowu by the leg, crying, “My lord, I have been married with you for so many years and I gave birth to two daughters and a son for you. That at least deserves some kind of recognition if not reward. How can you treat me like this and want to divorce me just because of the instigation of a concubine? How are you going to let me and my three children live?”
Those words only made her situation worse. Wei Luowu’s face turned ashen when he heard her words….
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