"Hmph, so being innocent means seducing a man into your bed, is that it? You think anyone will believe you saying that?" Madam Zhao glared directly into Dong Yu's eyes.

Dong Yu knew perfectly well that Madam Zhao was trying to scare her, hoping she would simply pretend this never happened. But Dong Yu had already done so much, and things had progressed to this point with Qingshan; she couldn't possibly go back to how things were. She had to fight for it. "Old Madam," she said, "the fact that I carry Young Master Qingshan's child is true, and Young Master Qingshan promised to marry me. If you refuse to acknowledge this child, I will smash my head right here until I die."

"Smash away, then. If you die, it’s perfect. I’ll just clean up and bury you; it saves trouble. Dong Yu, I truly hadn't realized you had a trick like this up your sleeve." Another slap from Madam Zhao whipped across Dong Yu’s face.

"Old Madam, please stop hitting me. Hitting me is a small matter, but hitting the child in my belly is a huge one. This is the root of your Lin family." Dong Yu’s tone was gradually hardening, a complete contrast to her initial pitiful demeanor.

"Tell us then, what exactly do you want?" It was Old Man Lin who finally asked a sensible question.

"I am merely a serving girl; I don't harbor grand ambitions. Things are already as they are. All I want is to be with Young Master Qingshan. Young Master Qingshan himself said that if I can bear him a son, he will divorce his current wife," Dong Yu stated.

"And if we refuse to let you be with Qingshan?" Old Man Lin pressed.

"What power does a widowed woman like me have? I will go to the Clan Elder and ask him to judge the matter. The Elder will handle it fairly," Dong Yu replied coolly.

Madam Zhao and Old Man Lin exchanged a look. Old Man Lin finally flung his sleeve, saying, "I'm leaving. You handle this however you see fit; I'm not getting involved." With that, he walked out, clearly done with the matter.

Madam Zhao was suddenly at a loss for what to do. What Dong Yu was implying, subtly yet clearly, was that while her reputation as a widow might not be stellar, the reputation of the entire Lin family was crucial. If the Lin family wouldn't allow Qingshan to marry her, she would take her grievances to the Clan Elder. If the matter truly reached the Elder, it would effectively become known to the entire village. Having such a scandal known among the villagers wouldn't just bring shame upon Qingshan, but the entire Old Lin family would become the subject of village gossip.

Madam Zhao promptly shoved Dong Yu into a room and locked the door, intending to think deeply about how to proceed. Madam Zhao and Old Man Lin debated all night but could find no solution. Before dawn broke, they arrived at Er Niu's house.

Er Niu and Huang Shi listened to Madam Zhao’s account and felt utterly disappointed in Qingshan. How long were they supposed to keep cleaning up his messes? He had caused this trouble and then simply abandoned it, walking away as if nothing mattered. Did he really think sleeping with a serving girl was a minor incident that no one would hold him accountable for?

Er Niu asked, "Mother, did you tell Big Brother and Sister-in-law about this? What did they say?"

"Not yet. I haven't told them. Qingshan himself probably doesn't even know Dong Yu is pregnant," Madam Zhao explained. "You know that pair—one can barely get a word out in half a day, and the other is noisy and frantic all the time. If I let them handle it, they’ll end up broadcasting the whole thing to everyone."

"But Mother, Qingshan is Big Brother and Sister-in-law's son. They must know about this to decide what to do. Perhaps I should go with you to Big Brother and Sister-in-law’s house right now and explain things to them," Er Niu suggested.

Madam Zhao considered it; Er Niu was right. Da Jiang’s couple absolutely had to be informed. She nodded and went with Er Niu to Da Jiang’s home.

After creating a commotion at Er Niu's place, the sky was already light. Er Niu and Madam Zhao hurried toward Da Jiang’s house. When they arrived, Da Jiang had already gone to the mountain plot near Er Niu's land to work. Only He Shi was home. Seeing Madam Zhao and Er Niu arrive, He Shi commented coldly, "Mother, why is Second Uncle here so early? Is something the matter?"

Madam Zhao looked at He Shi’s sour expression and thought that if the situation weren't extremely urgent, she would really rather not deal with her. "He Shi, go get Da Jiang back. I have something very important to tell you and your husband. Go find him now."

"What is it, Mother? Are Second Uncle and you going to give the main house over to your family again? Did you come to notify us?" He Shi said deliberately, dripping with sarcasm.

"Er Niu, you go. I’ll wait here." Madam Zhao ignored He Shi.

Er Niu immediately hurried toward the door upon hearing this. He Shi felt a flicker of surprise. Could her mother-in-law actually have something serious on her mind today? Her mother-in-law didn't even acknowledge her rude tone—that was unusual. However, given her poor attitude toward her mother-in-law just now, she felt awkward about asking for details. The two women sat in the courtyard, each on a stool, like complete strangers.

After a while, Er Niu and Da Jiang walked in. Da Jiang immediately asked, "Mother, what’s the matter? Why call me back in such a rush? Er Niu won't say a word—it’s killing me."

Madam Zhao called Da Jiang and He Shi into the room and explained the situation between Qingshan and Dong Yu. Da Jiang was momentarily stunned. Since the family division, Qingshan and his wife hadn't visited them once. Da Jiang had been harboring resentment towards Qingshan over the fish-farming incident and hadn't been there, so he knew nothing about their affairs.

However, He Shi, hearing the news, became rather anxious. After all, he was her son. Such a development made her tense. She asked, "Mother, what should we do about Dong Yu being pregnant? Song Yue Mei is not someone to trifle with. If she finds out, she might call over all those brothers of hers and have Qingshan beaten to death."

"That’s right, the Song family members are not easy to cross. They are all big and rough. If they find out, Qingshan likely won't have an easy time of it either," Madam Zhao concurred.

"So what do we do?" He Shi asked from the side.

"If Dong Yu hadn't been pregnant, I intended to keep this matter quiet. After all, a young master fooling around with a serving girl isn't the greatest offense; I would just watch them closely later and forbid them from interacting. But now that Dong Yu is pregnant, it seems difficult to handle," Madam Zhao paused before continuing.

"Why don't we just chase Dong Yu away? She's just a serving girl anyway. We can say she made a mistake and kick her out; she won't dare say anything," He Shi offered a solution.

"Sister-in-law, Dong Yu isn't a dead person. She will tell Mother that she's pregnant with Qingshan's child. Will she not tell anyone else? If you drive her away, who knows what kind of story she might spin," Er Niu said with a sense of resignation.