Long Aotian flinched and couldn't hide his momentary disgust from Bai Lianhua's eagle eyes. She really couldn't understand the point of his system - why make people fall in love with you and use them? Isn't that too unscrupulous? 'Isn't this man afraid of revenge? People could use the same methods against him as well.'
A maid interrupted their little dalliance asking for Long Aotian to go to Li Zhenzhen's courtyard. She said that her mistress was feeling uncomfortable and wanted some company.
Long Aotian hurriedly rushed away and Bai Lianhua lifted her robes to conceal a smile. 'If it was any other ancient lady, they would feel offended that their husband was called away just like this. But l am very relieved. Who knows what would have happened if that scum was here for more time?'
Bai Lianhua opened the system panel and immediately started her martial arts practice. The ten thousand swords art had five levels in total. The first level was on the first page of the manual and it showed different herbs and medicines that could be used to open up the body and increase its potential. There was also an alternative of forcibly opening the meridians using needles. Both were painful methods but the needle method required more skill. Being a modern girl through and through, Bai Lianhua couldn't imagine sticking a thin needle into her body. "No way! It's gonna hurt!"
The system replied, disdaining her lack of willpower: "Don't they say no pain no gain? Some herbs are too expensive. Just get an imperial doctor to come and do it. You could also learn something as well."
Bai Lianhua shrugged carelessly: "I'm not short of money - remember my dowry! I can use some of it for sure." She got a brush and some paper from a cabinet and sat at a desk to copy the list of medical materials that she needed. Then she handed the list to a maid outside and asked her to buy the herbs. "By the way, has my dowry maid come back?"
The maid shook her head and Bai Lianhua let her go to do her job.
"Does it really take that long to go to the market to buy musk?" Bai Lianhua didn't really understand but she let it go. She went back to read the manual and found it very interesting. After stimulating the body with herbs, she was supposed to meditate and get her mind into stillness. Only in this state could she start to accumulate inner strength.. Bai Luanhua wanted to practice meditating because her thoughts never stopped - there were so many things in her mind.
She sat cross-legged on her bed and tried to think about nothing. But the more she emptied her mind, the louder her thoughts became. And those thoughts were very strange. They ranged from things like 'What will l have for dinner' to 'the world is always changing but the stars are always in the sky'.
Once again, her thoughts turned to the previous task world and the people she left behind in her original world. 'It feels like a millennium since l saw my mother. I can't quite remember what she looks like.'
"Niang! Niang! Not good! The mistress miscarried!!" A maid came rushing in and she immediately broke Bai Lianhua's thoughts. To be honest, she was very surprised that Feng Minyan moved so quickly. She jumped up from the bed, quickly changed clothes and walked quickly to Li Zhenzhen's courtyard.
'Fck! Where is my dowry maid? Where is the other maid? I'm not ready yet guys!' Bai Lianhua's heart raced so fast, she could almost hear it. She even wondered whether others could hear it too! When she got to the courtyard, maids were rushing up and down carrying bloodied sheets. Their faces were all pale and silence permeated the whole area. Bai Lianhua didn't even dare to breathe too loudly. As she walked into the room, an intense bloody smell hit her nose and her stomach started churning.
There was some faint crying from the bed and Long Aotian was also there comforting Li Zhenzhen. In a small basin, there was a pool of blood and something that faintly looked like a child. Bai Lianhua was so saddened that she shed some tears for the lost life. 'These people are so vicious!'
Feng Minyan hid a smirk behind her long sleeves and both Wen Lili and Wang Xiuying were happy to see Li Zhenzhen sad. This miscarriage may have damaged her womb and she may not be able to have another child. In that case, she wasn't a threat.
Long Aotian also calculated that this would happen so even though he was acting sad, he wasn't actually sad. This was an opportunity for him to get rid of the women with the least use-value. He scanned his four concubines and knew some of them had already moved their hands to kill his child. He glanced at Bai Lianhua and made a quick decision in his heart.
Bai Lianhua noticed this glance that was filled with malice and her heart sank.
Long Aotian grabbed the porcelain cup from the table and threw it at Bai Lianhua's feet. Everyone was shocked and they turned to look at Bai Lianhua, prepared to enjoy a good show.
"Fang Lianhua! You have only been here for less than a week and you already cannot tolerate my wife? So vicious!"
Bai Lianhua knelt down on the glass fragments and immediately pleaded innocent. "Master! I'm innocent! Someone wants to frame me! Why would l do something so rash like this having only been here for three days! This concubine begs master to investigate thoroughly!" Then she hit her head on the floor and kowtowed.
The imperial doctor who'd diagnosed Li Zhenzhen came in and gave evidence as an expert. "This minister has already given Madam a pulse and she has symptoms of musk poisoning. This type of musk is odourless and very deadly. Only members of the royal family or those who work in the imperial palace can have access to it."
All the people in the room glanced at Bai Lianhua and then at Feng Minyan wondering who the culprit was.
Bai Lianhua quickly continued defending herself: "Master, l don't have any odourless musk in my dowry. You can send someone to check - l only have the normal musk which is used in my courtyard as incense. I used normal musk there because l knew that the Madam would never have cause to come to my courtyard during this time."
Long Aotian quickly dispatched his trusted servants to check everything that she'd said and they came back with her dowry list and the box of common musk.
Bai Lianhua was so relieved that she almost shed tears. It was so scary to be targeted like this and she was trembling like a leaf. Fortunately, her maids didn't disappoint! Long Aotian scanned the dowry list and noticed that there was no record of odourless musk. But the common musk wasn't there either.
Feng Minyan immediately cast doubts on Bai Lianhua: "But what if you just bought the common musk to act as a shield to hide the odourless musk which you put in Li Zhenzhen's food?"
Bai Lianhua noticed Feng Minyan's mistake and smirked: "How do you know that l put odourless musk in Madam's food?" Long Aotian frowned and Feng Minyan hastily said that she was just guessing. When his trusted servants checked Li Zhenzhen's room, they found odourless musk under the bed.
"Go! Check the madam's food right now!"