My Wife is a Frustrating Genius!!! - Chapter 28

“Hiss!”

Her heart wavered. Old Lady Lu hesitated upon hearing something that could help her hold a great-grandson sooner.

“This isn’t quite right. He’er was born without experiencing complete love, and I don’t want her child to grow up in a loveless family either.” Although Old Lady Lu desperately wanted a grandchild, resorting to drugging was truly unacceptable. After wrestling with her conscience for a moment, she ordered the old maidservant to dispose of the aphrodisiac incense.

Upon hearing this, the old maidservant tucked the medicine away, planning to discard it later. “Ah, you’re just too kind-hearted,” she said, then stood behind Old Lady Lu as usual, massaging her shoulders and back.

After Lu Jiahe and Cheng Yi escaped back to their courtyard, they began pondering why everyone in the Lu household had been acting so strangely that day. The two sat in their chairs, unable to figure it out. Guo’er, seeing their confusion, decided to tell them about the rumors spreading through the mansion since that morning.

“Young Master, Young Mistress, I have something to tell you,” Guo’er said, standing beside Lu Jiahe and signaling with her eyes for him to send Lu An away.

Thanks to years of tacit understanding, Lu Jiahe understood that Guo’er had something important to share that shouldn’t be heard by outsiders or Lu An. So, he dismissed all the maids and servants in the room except for Guo’er.

“Has something happened?” Lu Jiahe worried that her identity had been exposed and that the breakfast she’d just eaten might be her last.

Guo’er nodded with a pained expression. “Yes, it’s spread all over the mansion. Only you two are still unaware.”

Lu Jiahe pressed her lips together, carefully recalling whether she had done anything in the past two days that might have revealed her identity. “Just tell us what it is! Don’t make us guess!” she urged anxiously. If her identity had been discovered, she would surely face dire consequences.

Guo’er’s heart ached. How could such rumors be spread about her young mistress, who was actually a woman in disguise?

She fell to her knees with a thud, pouting and on the verge of tears as she clutched Lu Jiahe’s leg, wailing, “Young Master! The whole mansion is saying that Young Mistress is carrying your child! Guo’er! Guo’er is furious! Furious that they’re sullying your name with such filth!”

Lu Jiahe and Cheng Yi stared at Guo’er in stunned silence, unsure whether they were shocked by her words or her dramatic, heart-wrenching performance.

“Wait a minute,” Cheng Yi said, her lips twitching as she eyed the master and servant, wondering if this was a trap set by the Lu family to pressure her into marriage. “Do you know who started this rumor?” she asked Guo’er, her face full of disbelief.

“Wah! I don’t know either!” Guo’er lamented, sitting on the floor in despair. “Our Young Master’s impeccable reputation! Our Young Master’s purity!”

Hearing Guo’er’s final exclamations, Cheng Yi couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth. What did she mean by “Young Master’s reputation and purity”? If such a rumor spread, wouldn’t she be the one most affected?

Lu Jiahe glanced sideways at Cheng Yi, whose anger was visibly mounting. To avoid getting beaten, she hurriedly pulled Guo’er up from the floor.

“Enough, what kind of behavior is this?” Lu Jiahe licked her dry lips. “Cheng Yi and I are going to get married in the future. Let people say whatever they want, as long as it doesn’t disrupt our lives.”

Cheng Yi crossed her arms and carefully thought about Old Lady Lu and Lu Zhengliang’s behavior this morning. She realized the Lu family wasn’t trying to force a marriage, they were trying to force her to have a baby!

“The Master learned about this early this morning,” Guo’er said, sitting on a round stool and watching the two of them as she sobbed. “If the master finds out that the Young Mistress isn’t pregnant, he’ll surely take all his anger out on you, young master.”

Seeing that she was crying out of concern for him, Lu Jiahe comforted her, “It’s alright. Once I go to the academy, I won’t be staying at the mansion often. Besides, my relationship with him has never been good anyway. I don’t care about the Lu family’s fortune, so he can do as he pleases.”

“Tsk.” Cheng Yi couldn’t help but scoff at the mutual sympathy between the master and servant. “Sorry to interrupt, but it seems you’ve only considered yourselves and haven’t thought about how this affects me, have you?”

Hearing this, Lu Jiahe turned to look at Cheng Yi. “You’re right, I didn’t think it through. How about I go talk to my father now and clarify everything? I’ll also make sure the servants never bring this up again.”

“Forget it. The rumor has already spread throughout the entire Lu residence. What’s the use of explaining now?” Cheng Yi glanced at Lu Jiahe, then leisurely poured herself a cup of tea and took a sip.

Watching her calm demeanor, Lu Jiahe couldn’t detect any distress from the incident. “So, what do you want to do?”

“Ah!” Cheng Yi sighed deeply after swallowing the hot tea. “Let’s just finish setting up the shop quickly over the next few days and move out as soon as possible.”

Though that’s what she said outwardly, inwardly Cheng Yi was scheming to take advantage of the situation to squeeze a hefty sum out of Lu Zhengliang. Considering it compensation for the Lu family servants’ loose tongues, which had caused trouble for both her and Lu Jiahe.

“Is that all?” Lu Jiahe found it hard to believe her words, as in his eyes, Cheng Yi was someone who never let a grievance go unaddressed or a grudge unsettled.

Cheng Yi nodded. “Yes, that’s all.” Then, she turned her gaze to Guo’er. “Go wash your face quickly. We’re heading out soon to buy some things.”

Guo’er stared at Cheng Yi, sizing her up, wondering how she could be so indifferent to something that affected her reputation as a young woman.

Lu Jiahe also scrutinized Cheng Yi carefully, worried she might be plotting some mischief to make him suffer.

Under the intense stares of the master and servant, Cheng Yi felt goosebumps. “Hurry up. Get things done while I still have patience. If I lose it” She narrowed her eyes at Lu Jiahe. “You’ll be in for a beating.”

At her words, Lu Jiahe’s face instantly paled with fear, and he quickly pushed Guo’er out of the room to wash her face.

That day, the two of them, along with a group of servants, braved the scorching sun to purchase numerous items for the shop. Taking advantage of Lu Zhengliang’s words from the morning, Cheng Yi unhesitatingly replaced all the shop’s furnishings with decorations of the same standard as those she had seen that night at the brothel.

“Shopkeeper, it’s so late. What brings you here?” Cheng Yi, who had been resting on a chair in the main hall, hurriedly stood up to greet the shop owner as he arrived. She was worried he had found out about them driving away the ghost and intended to raise the rent.

“Lady Lu,” the shop owner greeted her with a respectful bow.

This completely stumped Cheng Yi. She stood at a distance, sizing up the other person for a long while, until Lu Jiahe finally rushed over and helped the shopkeeper, who was bowing in greeting, to his feet.

“Young Master Lu,” the shopkeeper greeted, squinting with a smile as he saw Lu Jiahe approach.

Lu Jiahe, observing the shopkeeper’s demeanor, felt a twinge of suspicion. “Shopkeeper, what brings you here today? Could it be that the silver I sent with my servant didn’t reach you?”

“No, no, Young Master Lu, you’re overthinking it,” the Shopkeeper quickly shook his head in response. “It’s just that Master Lu came to my place this morning and bought this property outright.” With that, he pulled the land deed and property title from his sleeve and handed them to Lu Jiahe. “I came to deliver these to you and Lady Lu.”

Hearing this, Lu Jiahe’s heart sank. She hadn’t expected her father to be so obsessed with the idea of a grandchild that he would go to such lengths.

“This.” Lu Jiahe held the deeds, unsure of what to do, and turned to look at the woman beside her.

Cheng Yi was equally taken aback. She never imagined that Lu Zhengliang, who had once been so “rebellious,” would now do something like this.

“Let me take a look.”

She reached out, took the deeds from Lu Jiahe, and examined them carefully. “Since it’s a gesture of goodwill from Father-in-law, we might as well accept it, even if it feels a bit awkward.”

Lu Jiahe was truly astonished. She knew full well that her father had given these things because he believed she was pregnant, yet Cheng Yi could accept them so calmly and without a hint of guilt.

“It was very kind of you to make the trip to deliver these. Would you like to stay for some tea?” After putting the deeds away, Cheng Yi poured a cup of tea for the shopkeeper.

The Shopkeeper was no fool; he understood the underlying message in her words. After taking a small sip of the tea, he made an excuse and left.

Once everything in the shop was settled, the two of them returned to the Lu residence with their attendants.

The elderly maid, who had been waiting in Lu Jiahe’s courtyard, led them to the ancestral matriarch’s quarters for dinner as soon as they arrived.

“Don’t take Liang’er’s words today too much to heart, and don’t feel pressured,” the Old Madam Lu said personally as she served Cheng Yi a bowl of soup. “Zheng’er and Hao’er have been married for years without a single child, so the news of your pregnancy has made him especially excited. I understand your situation. Whatever he gives you, just accept it. Consider it compensation for what you’ve been through.”

Originally, Cheng Yi had taken Lu Zhengliang’s gifts as a way to make him pay for his mistreatment of Lu Jiahe. But after hearing the Old Lady’s words, she couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.

Lu Jiahe, who had been quietly eating beside Cheng Yi, glanced at her and, under the pretense of serving her more food, leaned in and whispered, “Since Grandmother has said so, just keep everything.”

Cheng Yi shot the girl a sidelong glance, thinking to herself that she had only taken those things for Lu Jiahe’s sake. If she and Lu Jiahe were to part ways in the future, she wouldn’t take a single thing from the Lu family with her.

By the end of the meal, the old madam could tell that the distance between the two had lessened. She then instructed the elderly maid to prepare the medicinal baths in their respective bathing chambers.

“An old friend of mine brought over some medicinal bath blends for nourishing the body today. I’ve already had them prepared in your bathing chambers. Once you’re done eating, go back and soak in them to relieve your fatigue.”

Old Lady Lu had originally intended to have the two of them take the medicinal bath during the day, but after much deliberation, she realized that doing so abruptly in broad daylight would surely arouse suspicion. So, she used the excuse that they had been out shopping all day and were exhausted to persuade them to take the bath, which contained the secret fertility formula.

The two, who hadn’t experienced as much as the old lady had eaten rice, never imagined she was setting a trap for them. Lu Jiahe kindly reminded Cheng Yi to avoid getting wet during her special time, but Cheng Yi, eager to try the effects of the medicinal bath, paid no heed to the warning.

To be safe, Old Lady Lu specifically arranged for two maids to assist them with their bath before they returned to the courtyard. Lu Jiahe naturally had Guo’er to attend to her, but the two maids assigned to Cheng Yi were purely there to ensure she actually soaked in the medicinal bath.

Cheng Yi, who had always prided herself on being clever, never expected Old Lady Lu to be so cunning. In the future, when she found herself pregnant, she would surely curse her present self for indulging in that moment of pleasure.