chapter 8

Liu Ruying’s pupils contracted.

“You… You are pregnant?”

My eyes curved with my smile. “I must thank you. You disposed of both my husband and my brother-in-law. The moment my child is born, he will become heir to the marquisate.”

Liu Ruying refused to believe me.

“That sickly Qin You’an could never father a child.”

“Who said the child belonged to Qin You’an?”

I leaned closer.

“Qin You’an was weak, but your husband had plenty of strength. He pleased me very well.”

I had taken fertility medicine for half a month before that night.

Heaven favored me. One encounter was enough.

“You seduced your own brother-in-law. You will die a terrible death!”

I sneered. “How did I seduce him? Weren’t you the one who gave him to me?”

The substitution had been her idea. She was also the one who recommended me to my mother-in-law.

As for the grudge between us…

We had once chosen the same bolt of cloth before either of us married. She had not brought enough silver, so I bought it.

That was all.

For such a trifling matter, she had hated me enough to destroy my life.

Xiaotao wrapped the white silk around Liu Ruying’s neck and pulled.

Liu Ruying thrashed and glared at me.

The wretch was stubborn. Xiaotao still had not strangled her, but the girl had never been very strong.

I took the other end of the silk and helped her pull.

“You have not thanked me yet. If I had not bribed someone to give you the opportunity, how could you have found a knife and attacked Qin Zhaoyuan so easily?”

“Your hands were clumsy, though. Three slashes and not one struck a vital point. I had to finish him myself.”

Of course, I had killed my husband too.

From the day I entered the residence, I gave him powerful medicines that consumed his strength. They made him appear healthier while hollowing out his body.

Liu Ruying arrived at exactly the right time. Otherwise, I would have had to find someone else to blame for his death.

Ten months passed.

After laboring through an entire night, I gave birth to a boy.

When I saw his blood-smeared little face and heard his vigorous cries, I finally let myself sleep.

His third-day washing ceremony, his first full month, and his first birthday were all celebrated lavishly.

My parents-in-law cradled him and played with him fondly.

“This is the little heir of the Marquis of Valor.”

I smiled too.

Fortunately, I had given birth to a son.

Otherwise, I would have needed the baby boy prepared in advance.

Xiaotao recorded the gifts sent by each family, the beads of her abacus rattling.

“Do not worry, my lady. On the day of the birth, Master sent the other baby back to the countryside. He also rewarded the family with fifty taels of silver.”

I nodded.

It was not that I valued boys over girls. The marquis’s family simply had a hereditary title that required a male heir.

My child grew day by day.

My younger sister’s husband was promoted to prefect, and she left the capital with him to take up his post.

My younger brother passed the imperial examinations and became an official in the capital.

Then one day, while my mother-in-law held the child, she suddenly said,

“Why does he look more and more like Zhaoyuan?”