Chapter 64 — Miscarriage • Even More Vicious Thing
When Yan Shengrui and Ling Jingxuan arrived, the area outside the Ling family residence was already swarming with onlookers. The courtyard was a chaotic mess—members of the main Ling clan, the village head’s family, the Clan Patriarchs, and several elders were all crammed inside. Amidst the cacophony of gossip, sharp screams and roars of fury erupted periodically, as if a bitter argument were reaching its breaking point. Ling Jingxuan’s heart sank. He didn’t give a damn about the crowd; as Yan Shengrui forcibly cleaved a path through the throng, he slipped inside.
“Ling Jingxuan! You actually have the gall to show up? You are not welcome in the Ling house!”
THUD!
The moment he stepped in, Ling Chengtai—who nursed a murderous grudge against him over his own son’s fate—was the first to lunge forward. But before he could even get close, Ling Jingxuan’s eyes swept over him with a chilling frost. His right hand gave a subtle, almost imperceptible flick. The burly man suddenly collapsed like a felled tree, hitting the ground with a heavy dull sound—exactly the same way Ling Chenghu had gone down before. A collective gasp rippled through the crowd; people instinctively scrambled back several paces, terrified they might be the next target of his “sorcery.”
“Big Brother… Mother, she…”
Hearing the commotion, Ling Jingpeng rushed out, his eyes red and swollen. His voice was thick with a heavy sob. Seeing his brother’s state, Ling Jingxuan ignored the rabble and walked over with a grim expression. “What happened to Mother?”
“The physician said… the baby is gone. Eldest Sister-in-law is brewing the medicine for her now.”
Ling Jingpeng hung his head in agony, tears splashing onto the dirt floor. Just yesterday at this time, they were still vibrating with excitement, anticipating the birth of a little sister. And today…?
Just as I feared. Ling Jingxuan closed his eyes, a sharp pang of guilt piercing his chest. From the moment the children found him at the Zhao residence, he had guessed the pregnancy was in jeopardy. For the first time, he loathed his own clinical sharpness. He cursed his decision to wait for the “perfect opportunity” to act. If he had just brought out the money earlier, perhaps his mother wouldn’t have had to endure this.
“Go inside and see her first.”
Sensing his inner turmoil, Yan Shengrui wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder. What was done was done; guilt was a useless poison now. Besides, strictly speaking, this wasn’t Ling Jingxuan’s fault. Before the formal separation of the legal household, even if he had produced the money, the insatiable greed of the Ling clan would have just swallowed it whole. It would have solved nothing and only made it harder to break free from them later.
Opening his eyes, Ling Jingxuan entered the two cramped rooms where Ling Chenglong’s family resided. Perhaps intimidated by his ruthless opening display, or perhaps struck by a rare flicker of conscience, no one tried to block his path this time. Even the usually tyrannical Old Lady stood silently behind the Old Man, though their faces were incredibly sour.
Inside, atop a large wooden bed, Ling Wang-shi lay with her brow furrowed in pain. Her face was ashen, her breathing so thready it was barely perceptible. The cloying, metallic scent of blood saturated the air, making one’s stomach churn. By the bedside, Ling Chenglong sat like a hollow shell, his soul seemingly departed. Ling Jinghan stood behind him, lips pressed into a thin, white line. Not far away stood an old man—a physician, his face etched with deep, chrysanthemum-like wrinkles.
“Mother.”
Ling Wang-shi was a traditional village woman—hardworking, capable, and fiercely protective of her children. Though she lacked grand ambitions and could be a bit repetitive at times, Ling Jingxuan had always been fond of her. Through her, he had finally experienced the warmth of true maternal love. Seeing her lying there hovering between life and death, a wave of suffocating guilt washed over him. He reached out and gently pressed his fingers to her pulse.
The baby was indeed gone. And… she would never be able to conceive again.
As the diagnosis hit him, a fierce sting of tears pricked his eyes. Her body had already been depleted after giving birth to the twins, Jinghan and Jingpeng. Conceiving this time had been a miracle in itself. This miscarriage had utterly extinguished her hopes of motherhood. They would never have that little sister.
“Ugh… ah…”
The unconscious Ling Wang-shi suddenly snapped her eyes open. She reached out with surprising strength, clutching Ling Jingxuan’s hand before he could withdraw it. Her mouth worked, trying to form words, but not a single clear sound emerged. Ling Jingxuan’s heart twisted. He knelt by the bed and whispered into her ear:
“Mother, I know. I know what you want to say. Don’t worry. I’m taking you away from this house today. I will never let them bully you again. The baby is gone, but we’ll just try again once you’re better. It’s alright. Father and Jinghan won’t mind if their little sister arrives a couple of years late.”
In that moment, he simply couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth—that she would never bear another child again.
“Jinhua…”
“Mother!”
Seeing her wake, Ling Chenglong and his two sons, who had been guarding the room, surged forward in a wave of agitation. These grown men all had tears shimmering in their eyes; while the loss of the long-awaited child was a bitter pill to swallow, seeing Ling Wang-shi in this deathly state was like a knife to their hearts. They were terrified she wouldn’t survive the blow.
“Mm.”
As if she hadn’t even noticed her husband and younger sons, Ling Wang-shi stared fixatedly at Ling Jingxuan. After a long moment, she gave a weak nod and closed her eyes again.
“Father, Jinghan, Jingpeng—Mother needs rest.” Fearing their distress, Ling Jingxuan turned to them, gently prying his mother’s hand loose and tucking it carefully beneath the thin quilt.
“Jingxuan, your mother… will she…?” Ling Chenglong turned his tearful gaze toward his eldest son, his voice breaking before he could finish. Ling Jingxuan cut in, his eyes hard with resolve. “She won’t die. Father, rest assured, I will not let anything happen to her.” If I can’t even save my own mother, I might as well bash my head against a wall and be done with it.
“Big Brother, this whole thing isn’t simple. I saw—”
“The medicine is here. Quickly, have the Second Daughter-in-law drink it.”
Just as Ling Jinghan was about to reveal what he had witnessed, the voice of the only outsider in the room—that old man—suddenly rang out. Simultaneously, a woman in her twenties entered, carrying a woven bamboo tray. This was Qian Xiuyun, the wife of the eldest son of the first branch, Ling Jinghong.
“Second Uncle, please, give this to Second Aunt while it’s hot.” Ling Qian-shi placed the medicine before Ling Chenglong. Her unremarkable face was clouded with a faint, genuine-looking worry.
“Thank you for the trouble, Xiuyun.”
Ling Chenglong forced himself to rally. He reached for the bowl, while Ling Jingpeng moved in tandem to prop Ling Wang-shi up against his chest. Just as Ling Jingxuan was about to step aside for his father to administer the dose, his gaze suddenly turned icy. He lunged forward, grabbing Ling Chenglong’s wrist with a grip of iron.
“Wait.”
Ignoring the bewildered looks of everyone present, Ling Jingxuan snatched the bowl and sniffed it repeatedly. He abruptly turned and stalked toward the lingering Ling Qian-shi. “Did you brew this?”
“Y-yes… it’s the prescription Physician Zhou personally prepared.”
Unaware of what was happening, Ling Qian-shi felt a bone-chilling cold radiate from Ling Jingxuan. Her voice trembled uncontrollably, and her eyes reflexively darted toward the old man.
“I prepared the medicine myself. It’s just a standard decoction for a woman following a miscarriage. Is something wrong?”
The killing intent honed over a decade as a top-tier assassin in his past life was not something an ordinary person could withstand. Meeting Ling Jingxuan’s gaze, the old man couldn’t help but shudder. Before he was even questioned, he stammered out his defense.
“Big Brother, what is it? Is there something wrong with the medicine?”
Ling Jinghan stepped up to his brother’s side, his eyes searching the dark liquid in the bowl. Ling Jingxuan didn’t answer him. Instead, he addressed Ling Qian-shi again, his voice dropping to a frigid command, “Go fetch the dregs.”
“Y-yes, right away.”
Though his voice was soft, it carried an absolute authority that brooked no argument. Scared out of her wits, Ling Qian-shi stumbled and practically ran out of the room. By the time she returned with the brewing pot, accompanied by Ling Jinghong, Ling Jingxuan had already seated himself at the table in the center of the room. Before him sat the steaming bowl of medicine.
“T-these are the dregs. I swear, everything in here is exactly what Physician Zhou prescribed. I haven’t added or removed a single thing.”
Ling Qian-shi glanced at her husband, and only after receiving an encouraging nod from him did she step forward to offer the medicine pot. She didn’t forget to voice her innocence; she wasn’t stupid. Ling Jingxuan’s behavior made it glaringly obvious there was something wrong with the brew, and she had no intention of being the scapegoat.
Ling Jingxuan ignored her. He took the pot and unceremoniously dumped the dregs across the tabletop. Aside from Yan Shengui and Ling Jinghan, no one noticed how his soul-stirring phoenix eyes grew dark and cavernous, flickering with a murderous glint. His hand, which seemed to be idly sifting through the sodden herbs, suddenly pinched a piece of dark medicinal bark. He leveled his gaze at the old physician leaning in.
“Was this part of your prescription, too?”
“This is… impossible! I would never prescribe such a thing!”
As he peered closer to see what was held between Jingxuan’s fingers, the old man’s face went white. He waved his hands frantically in denial. It was a piece of Rougui. While it was a powerful medicinal for reinforcing “fire” and dispelling cold, it was also a potent blood-activator. Used correctly, it saved lives; used on a pregnant woman or someone who had just miscarried, it would trigger massive hemorrhaging—leading to a violent death by blood-loss.
The old man was just a village doctor; even if you lent him a hundred lives’ worth of courage, he wouldn’t dare commit murder.
“Big Brother, what on earth is going on?”
Ling Jingpeng lacked the patience of the others. After carefully settling their mother, he rushed over. Subconsciously, he had already guessed the truth—he just didn’t want to believe it.
“It’s nothing,” Ling Jingxuan replied. His tone was eerily soft, masking a killing intent so terrifying only he could truly feel its depth. “Just that someone decided to take this opportunity to end Mother’s life.”
“WHAT?!” Ling Chenglong roared in shock. Ling Jingpeng and the others—including the couple from the first branch—stumbled back in horror. Yan Shengrui, who had remained silent, frowned almost imperceptibly. Just a bunch of country peasants… where do they get the sheer audacity to attempt cold-blooded murder?
“The medicine was prescribed by Physician Zhou and brewed by Eldest Sister-in-law. On the surface, they are the prime suspects. But this courtyard was swarming with people today; anyone could have slipped something in. Big Brother, I’m afraid we might just have to swallow this grievance.”
Ling Jinghan had moved closer at some point, his handsome, pale face clouded with naked helplessness and heartache. The person trying to destroy them was undoubtedly a member of the Ling clan, but finding ironclad evidence now seemed impossible.
“Not necessarily.” A cruel smirk quirked the corner of Ling Jingxuan’s mouth. He cast a frigid glance over the trembling physician and the ashen-faced Qian-shi, then looked back at his mother—whose life force was so faint she was almost a ghost—before finally meeting the grief-stricken, furious eyes of his father.
“Father, I will ask you one last time: are you still determined to split the family and live on your own?”
The people of the Ling clan had become so depraved they were literally hunting for their lives. He could not leave his mother here a moment longer. If his father was unwilling to separate, then Ling Jingxuan would have no choice but to demand a letter of divorce for his mother just to get her out.
“Split. We must split!”
Ling Chenglong closed his eyes and spoke with finality, his dark, weathered face etched with agony. He no longer held any hope for this “family.” If they didn’t get out now, his wife and sons would be picked off one by one until they were all dead.
“Good. Then we split today.”
Having received the answer he needed, Ling Jingxuan turned and swept the dregs back into the pot. Ling Jingpeng leaned in close, whispering in a voice meant only for his brother: “Brother, will they actually agree to it?”
“They don’t have a choice!”
With an arrogant, predatory tilt of his lips, Ling Jingxuan’s eyes burned with lethal intent. He wasn’t just going to separate the family; he was going to make them pay the price they owed, ensuring his parents and brothers were rid of these people forever.
Seeing this, Ling Jingpeng and Ling Jinghan exchanged a look and nodded firmly. Leaving Yan Shengrui to guard and protect Ling Wang-shi, the three brothers took up the medicine pot and flanked Ling Chenglong as they marched out of the room.
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Translator: LazyHermitGal
Author: LazyHermitGal
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