The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Chapter 121: Chapter 121: Swallowing Teeth and Blood

Han Yao’s mind went blank. He stood there, stunned, and couldn’t help but blurt out, ”Y-You’re saying she... and the child... are still alive?!”

His tone was urgent and astonished, with not a trace of joy—only shock.

Ye Chutang raised an eyebrow. ”Yes. What’s wrong, Mr. Han? Are you not pleased?”

Han Yao retorted without thinking, ”This has nothing to do with me! What reason do I have to be pleased or not?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his reaction had been a bit too intense. He adjusted his expression. ”Miss Ye, please don’t misunderstand. I truly have no idea who the father of her child is!”

The curtain was suddenly drawn aside. Su Pei’er, pale and with red-rimmed eyes, stared at Han Yao. ”Mr. Han, how could you say such a thing? It’s one thing for you to despise me, but this child—how can you refuse to acknowledge it?”

”It’s not mine, so why should I acknowledge it?!” Han Yao frowned, his face filled with undisguised disgust and loathing. ”You, a lowly wench from a brothel—who knows whose child that really is!”

The last glimmer of light in Su Pei’er’s eyes completely vanished.

She trembled all over, looking as if she might faint at any moment.

Her young maidservant supported her, her face full of worry. ”Miss, let’s go back first. Miss Ye just instructed that you mustn’t be exposed to the wind and catch a chill—”

Su Pei’er pried the maid’s hands away, one by one, and gave Han Yao a miserable smile.

”Since Mr. Han refuses to acknowledge this mother and child, then I will prove my innocence with my life and clear my name!”

With that, she pushed the maidservant aside, hurried to the bow of the boat, and postured as if to jump into the lake!

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

Han Yao was stunned. He never would have imagined that the usually obedient and gentle Su Pei’er could be so fiery, willing to die to prove her resolve!

Just as Su Pei’er was about to jump, Ye Chutang casually tossed something that rolled to a stop at her feet.

Su Pei’er felt her foot slip, and her body fell backward uncontrollably, landing right on top of the maidservant who had just rushed over.

The young maidservant held her tightly, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest in lingering fear. She cried out tearfully, ”Miss, you can’t do this! If you—Miss? Miss!”

The young maidservant hastily looked up, her gaze pleading with Ye Chutang. ”Miss Ye! Please, come take a look! My mistress has fainted!”

At that moment, Ye Chutang was the only person she could think of to save her mistress.

Ye Chutang walked over. Seeing Su Pei’er’s eyes shut tight and her lips completely colorless, she took her wrist to check her pulse.

”This was brought on by overwhelming grief, causing her to faint from the shock. She must be taken back to rest as soon as possible.”

The young maidservant was flustered. ”Then... then we’ll go back to Chunfeng—”

”Mr. Han.” Ye Chutang turned back, her expression gentle and concerned. ”If I recall correctly, your residence isn’t too far from here. You should quickly take Miss Su back with you.”

Han Yao’s eyes flew wide. ”Wh-What?!”

’Take a pregnant brothel girl back to the family mansion in public!?’

’My reputation! The Han Family’s reputation! Would they have anything left!?’

Ye Chutang stepped to the side and picked up the silver ingot she had thrown earlier. Then she turned back and urged him on.

”Time is of the essence, so I must trouble Mr. Han to hurry. Also, for the sake of the special invitation Mr. Han extended for this lake tour, I’ll give you a fifty percent discount on my consultation fee. Five hundred taels will be sufficient. You can just consider it payment for today’s tea.”

...

「Long Princess Mansion.」

The sun sank in the west, and the sky gradually darkened.

A slender, willowy figure was walking slowly from the courtyard.

As if sensing something, Xiao Wu immediately sat up straight and looked over.

The maidservant leading the way smiled and announced, ”Eldest Princess, Doctor Ye has arrived.”

The words had barely faded when Xiao Wu was already scrambling on her short little legs, PITTER-PATTER-PITTER-PATTER, right into Ye Chutang’s arms.

Ye Chutang picked her up. ”I’m late. Have you been waiting long?”

Xiao Wu shook her head and then broke into a wide smile.

’She knew her big sister would definitely come for her, so it didn’t matter how long she had to wait!’

The Eldest Princess saw her and smiled as well. ”How was your outing today? Did you have a good time?”

Ye Chutang thought for a moment, then nodded. ”The scenery was lovely and it was very lively, but I didn’t get a chance to properly enjoy it. If there’s another opportunity, I’d like to take Xiao Wu and the others to see it.”

The Eldest Princess found that a bit strange. Ye Chutang had been gone for quite some time, so why would she say she wasn’t able to enjoy the tour?

”Right, weren’t you also planning to stay for the moon-gazing? Why are you back so early?”

Ye Chutang paused. ”There was a small incident, so everyone left early.”

The Eldest Princess’s interest was piqued. ”Oh?”

...

「Dingbei Marquis Mansion.」

Yun Cheng stood with his hands respectfully at his sides, recounting everything that had happened at Feiyue Lake that day in meticulous detail.

”...By now, Han Yao has already taken Su Pei’er back to the Han Family estate. Han Tong is also there, so there’s bound to be quite a commotion tonight.”

Shen Yanchuan’s eyebrow arched slightly. ”He’s been suspended from his duties these past few days, so he has plenty of time to deal with these matters. But Han Yao just agreed to take her back like that?”

At this, Yun Cheng couldn’t help but want to laugh.

”You may not know this, Your Grace, but Feiyue Lake was crowded with onlookers at the time, and everyone was watching. Ordinarily, a jilted woman confronting a man only to be publicly cast aside like a worn-out shoe isn’t a rare sight. This is especially true when the woman is from a brothel, as few people would care. But this Su Pei’er happened to be a brilliant pipa player. Her sorrowful, weeping melody on the lake drew a great deal of attention. Then she tried to jump into the lake in front of everyone, willing to die to prove her innocence. Faced with such a fiery display, Han Yao naturally couldn’t handle it.”

If the matter had been handled quietly, Han Yao could have easily saved face. But who would have thought Su Pei’er would cause such a massive scene?

”If Han Yao had still ignored her in front of so many people, there’s no telling how badly he would have been cursed in the future. After all, even a vicious tiger won’t eat its own cub. He could treat Su Pei’er poorly, but he couldn’t personally kill his own child.”

Yun Cheng still felt a sense of satisfaction as he recalled the scene.

”You should have seen the look on his face when Miss Ye was pressing him for the consultation fee!”

He had only heard a few things about her from Lian Zhou before, but seeing her in person today, he realized that Doctor Ye was far more unpredictable than he had imagined!

In a single stroke, she saved the lives of both Su Pei’er and her child. With just a few simple words, she threw Han Yao into the eye of the storm, forcing him into a dilemma where he had no choice but to take them back and bear the infamy.

And to top it all off, she didn’t forget to ask for her consultation fee.

It was truly...

Shen Yanchuan took a sip of tea. Hearing this, he paused and raised his eyebrows.

’In that case, when she asked me for a consultation fee back then, she was being quite... gentle?’

”One should pay for being treated and saved. Besides, she did the Han Family a huge favor.”

Shen Yanchuan set down his teacup, his tone detached.

”As long as Zhao Hanguang is found to have problems, the most likely person to be promoted is Han Tong.”

”At such a critical juncture, how could he afford a scandal? Even if it means swallowing his teeth and blood, I imagine Lord Han is quite pleased.”