Farmer girl swaps husbands: buys a sickly villain and pampers him

Chapter 276 Adding a Child
Zhang Zhaodi understood what Su Yaoguang meant.

Su Yaoguang was only worried about her health, meaning she was still very happy about the birth of the child.

Zhang Zhaodi stroked her belly, her eyes welling up with tears.

“I’m old and shouldn’t be ashamed of myself. But this child is here to witness the happiness of our whole family, and I want to welcome him with joy. Whether he is a son or a daughter, he is Yaoguang’s family in this world, and a testament to the happiness of your father and me after our long separation.”

“If Madam wants to have a baby, then we will. I will definitely hire the best doctors to take care of Madam and welcome the baby with her.” Su Rende touched Zhang Zhaodi’s belly and said, “When Madam gave birth to Yaoguang, I knew nothing and let Madam suffer alone. Now, I want to make it up to Madam.”

"If you want to make amends, it should be to Yaoguang. This one in your belly doesn't need your help," Zhang Zhaodi said irritably.

"I want to make amends to my wife first, and then to Yaoguang. Yaoguang will always be my most precious daughter, and even the one in my belly can't surpass her."

Su Yaoguang was amused by the two people's subtle and overt reassurances.

She clung to Zhou Wangshu's arm and said, "Don't be so sentimental. I'm already married and have a husband who loves me. I won't compete with this younger brother or sister for his affections."

She's not a child, so why would she worry that they love the baby in her belly more than her? She's someone who's lived two lives, how could she possibly compete for attention with a little brat?

Zhang Zhaodi is three months pregnant.

Now that a pregnancy has been diagnosed, we must immediately notify the other two Zhang sisters, as well as Jiang Jing and Jia Chunni, among others.

As a doctor, Jiang Jing had to come frequently to check Zhang Zhaodi's pulse and make sure she and the baby in her womb were safe.

Zhang Zhaodi was an older mother, so there were many things she needed to be careful about. When Jiang Jing and the others heard that she was pregnant, they were taken aback for a while before deciding to move to the General's Mansion.

Previously, when they were asked to move to the General's Mansion, none of them wanted to be restricted, feeling that it would be inconvenient. Now that they heard that Zhang Zhaodi is pregnant, they all want to move over to take care of her.

"How are you doing, Jing'er?" Zhang Yingdi asked.

"Don't worry, Auntie, your godmother is in great health," Jiang Jing said. "I've been taking care of your health all these years, and finally, your physical condition has improved."

“Your godmother is getting old, and she can’t give birth as easily as a young person. You need to spend more time helping her.”

Zhang Pandi said from the side, "Tell us what you need to pay attention to and what you need to eat, and we'll cooperate."

Jia Chunni nodded repeatedly beside her.

She then thought of Zhang Pandi's health and asked Jiang Jing, "Sister Jiang Jing, how is my mother's health? If she gets married, will she be able to give me a younger brother or sister?"

Zhang Pandi was so embarrassed that she pulled Jia Chunni away, forbidding her from saying anything out of line.

“Don’t worry, Chunni, your second aunt is in good health,” Jiang Jing said. “As long as she’s willing, she can definitely have a baby.”

Zhang Pandi was a few years younger than Zhang Zhaodi.

Zhang Pandi's eyes reddened: "My health had already collapsed a few years ago. Let alone having children, I was afraid I wouldn't live more than three years. If I hadn't met my eldest sister and Yaoguang, and then met Jiang Jing, I'm afraid I would have turned into a pile of yellow earth by now, and Chunni would have been married off to some cripple or old bachelor just to get a dowry."

“I’m fine as I am now, and I haven’t thought about anything else. That Mr. Song did say he wanted to marry me, but I felt I wasn’t good enough for him, so I didn’t agree,” Zhang Pandi said.

“That’s where you went wrong,” Zhang Yingdi said. “No wonder Mr. Song has seemed so lost and dejected these past few days. It’s all because of you! He sincerely asked you to marry him, and you actually rejected him.”

“Mother, Uncle Song is doing well,” Jia Chunni said.

“None of these things are in a hurry,” Zhang Pandi said. “Right now, the person in our family who needs the most care and protection is our eldest sister. Until she gives birth safely, we will put everything else aside and focus on taking care of her during childbirth.”

Zhang Zhaodi thus became a key person under protection.

Two younger sisters, an adopted daughter, and a niece take turns caring for her. If she goes to Taoyaofang, the scene becomes even more exaggerated. Everyone inside and outside Taoyaofang treats her like a rare animal.

Inside the prison, Marquis Cheng'an lay there on the verge of death. Upon hearing footsteps, he seemed to sense something and slowly raised his head.

Zhou Wangshu stood in front of him.

"I heard you wanted to see me. What's the matter?"

Marquis Cheng'an said weakly, "Jing'er, I am your own father, how could you treat me like this?"

"You killed my maternal grandfather, my maternal uncle, and even drove my own mother to her death." Zhou Wangshu looked calmly at Marquis Cheng'an. "If you think you can plead with me because of that meager blood relation, you'll be disappointed. Since I personally brought you here, there's no way I can bring you back. Marquis Cheng'an, weren't you very arrogant? Your sister-in-law is Consort Chen, using her as a front to buy and sell official positions, embezzle and accept bribes. Your son is even more ruthless, killing without hesitation and treating ordinary people like dirt. You should understand that everything in this world has its retribution."

“I’m willing to give you everything I have—my title and my wealth—in exchange for my life.”

"Your life isn't worth that much money," Zhou Wangshu said calmly. "By the way, I didn't come to see you out of pity or to show you mercy. I came to tell you that your precious son, Xia Zhen, has become completely insane, and your second wife, Tang Shi, is locked in Xia Zhen's room. The two of them have to fight over a single morsel of food every day to survive. Tell me, who lives longer, your second wife, Tang Shi, or your insane son?"

"As for you, you won't die so quickly, because I won't let you die so easily."

When Marquis Cheng'an saw that Zhou Wangshu was unwilling to let him go, he was no longer willing to pretend to be a hypocritical and loving father.

“I shouldn’t have been soft-hearted back then and kept you, this scourge. If I had dealt with you and your mother together, none of this would have happened. You are ultimately a bastard of the Zhou family, always siding with the Zhou family and never considering that you should bear the surname Xia. I truly regret bringing you back. I would rather have no descendants to inherit the title than bring back a thankless wretch like you.”

The jailer next to him couldn't stand it any longer and asked Zhou Wangshu, "Sir, should we pull out his tongue?"

“No need,” Zhou Wangshu said calmly. “If we pull out his tongue, we won’t hear his sweet pleas for mercy anymore. From today onwards, you will use a different form of torture on him every day until you have used all the tortures available here. Then, have a doctor bandage his wounds. Do you understand what I mean?”

The jailer wasn't stupid; how could he not understand what he meant?
From the conversation just now, we know that Marquis Cheng'an murdered his first wife and also plotted against her family. Now Zhou Wangshu has returned to the capital to seek revenge on this family.

Zhou Wangshu left the prison.

He stood at the prison gate, listening to the screams coming from inside.

That was the scream of Marquis Cheng'an. The feeling of having one's life and death in someone's hands must have been unbearable.

Zhou Wangshu returned to the Cheng'an Marquis's residence from the yamen. As soon as he arrived, he saw Su Yaoguang moving things.

"Madam, what's wrong...?"

When Su Yaoguang saw him return, she said, "Mother is pregnant now, and Second Aunt, Third Aunt, and Jing'er have all moved to the General's Mansion. There are no people or things here that would bother us, so I also want to move back to the General's Mansion."

“Alright, then let’s move back together.” Zhou Wangshu had no objections. “No matter what, I’m still your son-in-law. Wherever Madam says we should go, we’ll go.”

Su Yaoguang noticed that something was wrong with his mood, so she stopped what she was doing, went over and hugged him.

"you're not feeling OK?"

Zhou Wangshu leaned on her shoulder and said bitterly, "Over the years, I've been thinking about returning to the capital to take revenge. In the first few years, I thought this revenge would be difficult to achieve. In order not to implicate you, I had to leave secretly once I found a good opportunity, so as not to implicate you when I committed a capital crime."

"So what happened later that you changed your mind?"

“I don’t want to leave.” Zhou Wangshu pinched her cheek. “I haven’t left yet, and you’ve been telling everyone that we’re a fake couple and that we’ll get divorced sooner or later. Those hungry wolves are watching you all day long. Once I leave, I’m afraid they’ll devour you. I’ve been thinking about it, and revenge is necessary, but it doesn’t have to be done in an extreme way.”

There are countless ways to take revenge in this world. Some methods involve harming the enemy a thousand while also harming yourself eight hundred, while others are like boiling a frog in lukewarm water—it doesn't hurt at first, but it will eventually kill the frog. If he wants to escape unscathed, he has to use the lukewarm method.

"At that time, the Cheng'an Marquis's mansion seemed incredibly grand to me. It was like a mountain, pressing down on me and making it hard to breathe. Later, you stayed by my side and helped me through many difficulties. I watched you save people from the brink of death time and time again, and I thought to myself, if a young woman like you can do it, what wouldn't I dare to do?"

"you did it."

“I collected their evidence, and found various pieces of evidence and witnesses, all so that one day I could uproot them completely.”

"Wangshu, let's not talk about those people anymore. You've avenged your great grudge, let's find some time to go and offer incense to your maternal grandfather and the others!"

Zhou Wangshu nodded: "Okay, let's move the things to the General's Mansion first."

After the incident at the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence, Zhou Wangshu and Su Yaoguang moved back to the General's Mansion in a grand procession.

In the afternoon, the verdict concerning the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence was announced.

Xia Zhen and Tang Shi, being ignorant of court affairs, were spared punishment. The evidence against Marquis Cheng'an was irrefutable, so the only recourse was to throw him into a salt mine for labor, where he would never be able to escape for the rest of his life.

Zhou Wangshu had already given instructions when he left the prison: whatever the sentence for Marquis Cheng'an is, he must be beaten for a full eighty-one days, as a way of making him kowtow and apologize to his maternal grandfather's family.

Zhou Wangshu's maternal family was exonerated and was no longer considered criminals.

Zhou Wangshu was rewarded for his meritorious service in exonerating his maternal grandfather, and was granted the title of Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness.

The Earl of Anping's mansion has vanished and no longer exists; yet, another Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness has been added to this world.

The Marquis of Zhongyi's mansion belongs to Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu, and can be passed down to their children in the future. The Marquis of Zhongyi's mansion is right next to the Protector General's mansion. If the adjacent wall were to be knocked down, both families could use it as one.

Su Rende suggested breaking down the wall, but Su Yaoguang refused.

Su Yaoguang thought that opening the door would be easy, but resealing it later would be much more difficult, and that could easily hurt feelings.

Anyway, it's just next door, I can come back anytime, it's only a short walk.

“Yaoguang is unwilling to break down the wall today,” Zhang Zhaodi said, leaning on the table. “She must still be bothered by this child.”

Zhang Pandi said from the side, "Elder sister, now that you're pregnant, it's easy for you to overthink things. Yaoguang is so sensible; she's always cared for you and looked after you all these years. She's the one who most wants you to be happy. Her refusal today is for everyone's sake. Think about it, whether this child in your belly is a boy or a girl, it will be your child, Yaoguang's brother or sister. If this house is opened up, the Zhongyi Marquis's residence will belong to her, but what about this side? Will it be hers, or her younger siblings'?"

"If she likes it, then give it to her. I've said it before, Yaoguang is my most important child. Her thoughts are more important than anyone else's."

"Yaoguang, come quick, your mother's throwing a tantrum again." Unable to persuade Zhang Zhaodi, Zhang Pandi could only pull Su Yaoguang over to comfort her.

Su Yaoguang, carrying the soup, sat down next to Zhang Zhaodi and said, "Is it really worth getting upset over a house? Here's what I'm thinking: Look how capable your son-in-law is. Won't he rise even higher in the future? Once he does, won't His Majesty bestow an even bigger house upon him? If we combine our houses, making our two families one, and the Emperor sees how well we live and how big our house is, what need is there for a bestowal? In the end, because of the merger, my husband won't even be able to receive any rewards. Wouldn't that be a loss for him?"

Zhang Zhaodi nodded gently as she listened to Su Yaoguang's words.

"You are still thoughtful."

The others chuckled quietly.

“Yaoguang, now that Marquis Cheng’an and his wife are under your control, no one can harm you in the slightest. You no longer need to use contraception and can start thinking about having children,” Jiang Jing said.

"Have Yaoguang and the others been using contraception all along?" Zhang Zhaodi asked.

Jiang Jing looked at Su Yaoguang, who glared at her, implying that she was a big mouth.

Jiang Jing felt embarrassed and wanted to make amends, but then she heard Su Yaoguang readily admit it.

"Yes, Mother, you saw it yourselves recently. That Lady Cheng'an and her beast-like son are always keeping a close eye on us. We dare not be negligent in the slightest, so we dare not have children too early. We hope that our children can grow up in a healthy and safe environment, and we don't want them to live in fear with me."

"Now? Is it okay now?" Zhang Pandi asked.

“Not yet,” Su Yaoguang said. “Have you forgotten that Father has been leaving early and returning late lately, saying he’s training the troops? There’s a high possibility there will be fighting on the border again.”

Zhang Zhaodi looked worried.

Last time, when she was pregnant with her daughter, Su Rende disappeared for several years, leaving her to care for her daughter as a widow. Now, the family has finally reunited, but before they could enjoy their happiness for even a few days, unrest has broken out again.