"Alas, Little Tao, even if you do this, they won't be grateful to you. Why must you humiliate yourself?" Lin Zhenfei sighed and tried to persuade her.
"My Lord, righteousness is honored, a family is honored by harmony, and one's self is honored by peace. Moreover, your concubine has already..." Madam Tao said, raising her hand to stroke her belly, a motherly smile curving her lips.
Lin Zhenfei's gaze first paused at the movement of her hand, then he reacted. At this moment, his eyes lit up with a fervent glow, shining brightly.
"Little Tao, you're pregnant?" Lin Zhenfei asked, his face filled with surprise.
"Mmmhmm~" Madam Tao nodded shyly.
"Really!"
"Oh my god! This is truly wonderful!"
"I never thought I, Lin Zhenfei, would be a father again."
"Little Tao, you've worked so hard. From now on, whatever you want to eat, just tell the kitchen to make it. I'll instruct them right away," Lin Zhenfei said to Madam Tao, his joy overflowing.
"No, no, no, my Lord. This matter should not be publicized for now, nor should any third person know about it, otherwise..." Madam Tao spoke, raising her hand to touch her still flat belly, her face filled with worry.
Lin Zhenfei immediately understood Madam Tao's meaning as he looked at her belly.
"Alas, it's all my fault for being too happy just now and not thinking things through. The matter of your pregnancy truly cannot be known by too many people, otherwise, those few people will surely try to harm you." Lin Zhenfei strongly agreed with Madam Tao's approach.
In fact, over the years, his concubines had conceived, but before he could even rejoice, the children in their wombs inexplicably miscarried. Once or twice might be a coincidence, and perhaps some people would still believe it, but several of his concubines had experienced the same thing, losing their children. This clearly indicated a problem. It was hard for him to believe that there was no foul play from certain people in his mansion. Therefore, Madam Tao's actions were truly understandable.
"Alright, my Lord, you should hurry and go see the Heir Apparent," Madam Tao reminded him with a smile.
"Alright, I'll go see that unfilial son first. You go back and rest well. Be careful when you walk, don't fall," Lin Zhenfei instructed her with a smile.
"Yes, my Lord, your concubine will be careful!" Madam Tao lightly pursed her ruby lips and smiled faintly. She was already pretty and delicate, and her smile was somewhat unpracticed, making her appearance very pure and charming. After speaking, she waved goodbye to Lin Zhenfei.
Lin Zhenfei turned away reluctantly, gazing at Madam Tao's enchanting smile. After Lin Zhenfei left, Madam Tao's smile gradually faded, and unspeakable sadness appeared in her eyes, though her face was filled with hatred and worry. She never expected to conceive Lin Zhenfei's child despite being so careful every time. Lin Zhenfei was her enemy, and she could not possibly give birth to the child in her womb. Nor did she have much maternal love for the child she carried. She would only treat this child as a tool for her revenge. And her deliberate act of having Lin Zhenfei deliver the hemostatic ointment to Lin Hongtao was to sow discord between him and Lady Lin's mother and son. Hmph!
Meanwhile, Lin Zhenfei did not suspect Madam Tao's true intentions. Instead, he happily took the hemostatic ointment given by Madam Tao and went to Lin Hongtao's room.
"You've finally deigned to visit your son. I thought you would be waylaid by some vixen in the backyard again." The Duchess Lin mocked as she saw Lin Zhenfei's late arrival.
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting, you madwoman?" Lin Zhenfei's extremely good mood soured instantly upon hearing the Duchess Lin's words. He thought to himself: Every time I hear this woman speak, it ruins my mood. It's my Little Tao who is truly considerate.
"Did I say something wrong? How far is Tao'er's room from the mansion's garden? I just sent someone to notify you from the garden, and it's been nearly an hour since then, and you're only now slowly entering Tao'er's doorway." The Duchess Lin, Qin Minzhi, replied righteously. Her words left Lin Zhenfei speechless.
"Hmph! I can't be bothered with you, you madwoman." Lin Zhenfei angrily flicked his sleeve and walked to the bedside. He glanced at Lin Hongtao's wounds, then turned to the doctor and asked, "Doctor, has the bleeding from this unfilial son's injuries stopped?"
"Replying to Duke Lin, the wounds on Young Master Lin have stopped bleeding. However, due to significant blood loss, he may need one to two months of recuperation to regain his normal physical strength," the doctor said to Lin Zhenfei.
"Oh, oh, that's good! Thank you for your trouble today, Doctor." Lin Hongtao spoke to the doctor with rare politeness, which made both the doctor and the Duchess Lin slightly stunned.
However, he then took out a small box from his sleeve.
"Doctor, please take a look for me. Is this small box filled with hemostatic ointment?" Lin Zhenfei handed the small box to the doctor and asked in a solemn tone.
"Yes, Duke Lin!" The doctor could not refuse and could only brace herself. She pried open the lid of the ointment placed in her hand by the Duke, sniffed it, and her eyes instantly lit up.
"Duke Lin, this box contains a top-grade hemostatic ointment. It is perfect for the Young Master." The doctor looked at the ointment in her hand with a greedy expression, indicating how coveted the ointment Madam Tao had given him was.
Instantly, Lin Zhenfei's good impression of Madam Tao surged again. He had initially thought Madam Tao would just grab any ointment to curry favor with him. To his surprise, it was truly beyond his expectations. The ointment Madam Tao had asked him to give to Lin Hongtao was indeed a hemostatic ointment.
"Doctor, is there anything special about this top-grade hemostatic ointment?" he asked curiously at this moment. Even the Duchess Lin, who had been acting unreasonably, quieted down and listened attentively to the doctor.
"Duke Lin, Lady Lin, such top-grade ointments are made by blending rare Crane Grass and Hemostatic Needleleaf Grass. Nowadays, there are very few people who know how to concoct such ointments," the doctor lamented with great regret in her heart.
Hearing the doctor's words, Lin Zhenfei's mind raced with many thoughts. One of them was that he couldn't understand how a woman from a commoner background could possess such a precious item...
As Lin Zhenfei was deep in thought, the Duchess Lin snatched the box of ointment from the doctor's hand.
"Haha, my Lord, why didn't you take out this hemostatic ointment to use on Tao earlier? If he had used this box of ointment sooner, he would have suffered less." The Duchess Lin muttered discontentedly, looking at Lin Zhenfei.
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhenfei immediately glanced at her and said faintly, "This box of hemostatic ointment is not mine. It was Little Tao who reluctantly parted with it to be used on Tao'er."
After hearing this, the Duchess Lin's hand holding the ointment trembled violently. She was reluctant to discard it, yet she felt uneasy keeping it.