She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 484 - 482: No Principles

Chapter 484: Chapter 482: No Principles

But Maternal Aunt Liu was different. She was anxiously hoping for Ye Hongyang to return so that she could go to the Duchess’s courtyard and thoroughly inquire whether Maternal Aunt Zhao was truly pregnant.

Today, nearing noon, just as Maternal Aunt Zhao had returned to her room, Nanny Qian led two physicians over. After a round of examination, no news was disseminated; one merely saw Nanny Qian escorting the physicians out, leaving behind two servant women to guard the door of Maternal Aunt Zhao’s room.

When Nanny Qian came again, it was to lead people: a group of servant women and maids gathered Maternal Aunt Zhao’s belongings, leaving nothing behind. The crowd then accompanied Maternal Aunt Zhao, who just up and left like that.

When the two physicians had entered, Maternal Aunt Liu had already felt a bad premonition. She cautiously stepped forward to inquire twice. Although the old woman servant conversed with her politely, she said nothing of substance.

It was rather Nanny Qian who, upon seeing her standing there unwilling to leave, indifferently said, "Maternal Aunt Zhao won’t be staying here for a while and will accompany the Duchess at Yangyi Court."

Maternal Aunt Liu, keen of mind, immediately had a seventy to eighty percent guess. As soon as Nanny Qian and others left, her complexion utterly collapsed. The thing she feared most had finally happened.

Maternal Aunt Liu, completely distraught, returned to her own room. She carefully recollected, where could there have been a slip? The nights when the Princely Heir stayed in Maternal Aunt Zhao’s room—she had calculated them meticulously. Currently out of favor, she could only make compromising requests. She would rather have the Princely Heir spend a couple more nights in Maternal Aunt Zhao’s room than swap out the days when Maternal Aunt Zhao was more likely to conceive. Logically speaking, Maternal Aunt Zhao should not have been able to conceive.

Yet things still developed in the direction she feared the most.

After Maternal Aunt Zhao entered the door, she did consider giving Ye Hongyang something to consume, something that would incapacitate him from impregnating a woman.

But she didn’t dare, for Ye Hongyang and Madam Yin were different; he was the Ye Family’s root. No matter how covertly she acted, the mere knowledge of the Crown Prince’s health being compromised by Duke An and the Duchess, even without a trace of evidence, would result in her being beaten to death. Without her, her sons and daughters would not end well either, and could even be dragged into the fray, incurring Duke An’s wrath.

Thinking it over, it also made sense. Ye Hongyang was now in the prime of life, with no harmful addictions. On the matter of female affection, he had only her, and his vitality was not yet diminished. Now, with Maternal Aunt Zhao, a woman in her prime brought into the equation, pregnancy was only a matter of time. How could it possibly be prevented?

As Ye Hongyang lingered in not returning, Maternal Aunt Liu brooded alone, lamenting her hard fate in her heart. She continuously prayed to all the immortals and bodhisattvas, begging them not to let Maternal Aunt Zhao bear a son.

Currently powerless, she could do nothing, she could only pray for the Buddha’s blessing for her and her children’s future. Maternal Aunt Liu stood up to find Buddhist sutra paper, secretly resolving to start transcribing scriptures every day from this day forward. She determined to put forth the effort in front of the Buddha, earnestly praying for the Buddha’s blessing, wishing for Maternal Aunt Zhao’s current pregnancy to yield a girl, and for her to continue bearing only girls.

If it turned out to be a boy... Such occurrences are unpredictable; perhaps the heavens would favor her? Even if Maternal Aunt Zhao bore a son, as long as he lacked merit and the next Duke An was Ye Hongyang, she and her son would have a chance.

Miss Ye was so talented at her core, yet wasn’t she still held in high esteem, treated with great respect, and exalted by her and her son and daughter, only to end up a disappointment? If she had not escaped by chance, suffering hardships and living a miserable life outside, how would her true nature have been stimulated? She would have been trapped and died in the ancestral temple or been strangled to death.

Maternal Aunt Zhao’s pregnancy had caused Duke An and Marquis Zhongyong to relax their restrictions on Madam Yin’s travels completely, agreeing to let Madam Yin accompany Miss Ye to Yuyuan Prefecture for a temporary stay, ostensibly as a retreat to clear her mind.

Although everyone knew that Madam Yin no longer cared about any of Ye Hongyang’s affairs. Yet, seeing Ye Hongyang’s woman’s belly grow day by day, the mansion’s people exuberant with joy, her mood certainly wouldn’t be good.

Regardless of who it was for the better, Madam Yin taking a leave for some time was indeed a good idea.

Ye Xinyan heard about Maternal Aunt Zhao’s pregnancy on the first day, and the very next day, she heard that Duke An had officially agreed to allow Madam Yin to go to Yuyuan Prefecture and even arranged additional escorts for their journey.

Ye Xinyan watched the joyous bustle within the mansion and almost couldn’t keep the corners of her mouth from reaching her ears. Did these elders have no sense of propriety or principle at all? They had refused to agree to Madam Yin accompanying her for so long, but as soon as Maternal Aunt Zhao’s pregnancy was confirmed, they immediately changed their minds and readily gave their promises.

Was Madam Yin such a malicious woman that she would harm Maternal Aunt Zhao? Or was Duke An worried that if Madam Yin stayed in the mansion, Maternal Aunt Zhao’s mood would be negatively affected, which in turn would impact the growth and development of Duke An’s future grandson? Had the legitimate wife of Ye Hongyang really fallen so low in status at Duke An’s Mansion?

Before Ye Xinyan could fully retract the corners of her mouth that were turned up in scorn, a message came from Duke An summoning her to his study, stating he had matters to discuss with her.

Ye Xinyan was stunned for a moment, wondering what he wanted with her at this time. In recent times, only two things had happened in Duke An’s Mansion. One was Madam Yin going to Yuyuan Prefecture with her, which Duke An had already agreed to. The other was Maternal Aunt Zhao’s pregnancy, which had nothing to do with her.

Seeing her in a bad mood and still seated, Madam Yin quickly urged, "Didn’t you hear your grandfather calling you? Go quickly and see what he wants."

"Isn’t that what I’m trying to guess—what could grandfather possibly want with me?" Ye Xinyan remained seated on the couch, unmoved.

"Stop guessing. Your grandfather still cares about you. Go and listen to what the old man has to say," Madam Yin continued to urge her. In Madam Yin’s eyes, anyone who was good to her daughter was a good person, deserving of kind treatment.

Ye Xinyan stood up reluctantly, answered affirmatively, and dragged her feet as she walked out.

Well, considering that the old man had been somewhat thoughtful toward her since she returned, she decided not to take issue with his agreement to Madam Yin’s trip under these circumstances.

Upon entering the study, Ye Xinyan paid her respects to Duke An and then sat in a chair without uttering a word.

Duke An, looking at her brooding expression, asked in surprise, "What’s the matter, why such a gloomy face? Did someone make Miss Ye feel aggrieved?"

Ye Xinyan spoke frankly, "Grandfather, did you agree to let my mother and me stay temporarily in Yuyuan Prefecture because Maternal Aunt Zhao is pregnant? Are you worried that having my mother in the mansion would make Maternal Aunt Zhao unhappy?"

Duke An couldn’t help but laugh, "I thought you’d be happy about this. Haven’t you considered that the title of Duke An must be passed down? Surely you don’t hope that the Duke’s Mansion ends up in Maternal Aunt Liu’s hands?"

Ye Xinyan blinked, well, that was true. The thing was, she wasn’t unhappy about Maternal Aunt Zhao’s pregnancy. What made her angry was that her mother had been suffocating in Duke An’s Mansion all these years and still remained so overlooked to this day.

"Still such a childish temperament," Duke An sighed. "Alright, alright, just think about it. Your mother won’t have to endure the mansion’s jubilant anticipation of the birth of Maternal Aunt Zhao’s offspring. That should cool your irritation. Even if you and your mother stayed here, I wouldn’t have the entire household pull long faces just to cater to your mood."

Ye Xinyan pursed her lips once more, unable to accept the ancient people’s stubborn obsession with bloodline continuity.

Agreeing to disagree, Ye Xinyan asked, "What did you want to see me for?"