Yun Qi watched the agility with which Mrs. Huang got up and asked softly, "Mother, doesn't your stomach hurt anymore?"

Mrs. Huang paused, then quickly recovered, saying, "Yes, I don't know why, but it seems much better. The doctor must be very skilled; I felt a lot better as soon as he arrived. Come here, let the doctor take your pulse." Mrs. Huang then actually pushed Yun Qi over.

Yun Qi was a bit perplexed. No matter how skilled the doctor was, he couldn't possibly cure an illness just by taking a look, especially before she had even taken the medicine he prescribed. Her mother was truly strange. However, not dwelling too much on it, Yun Qi sat down by the table, having been ushered there by Mrs. Huang.

The doctor reached out to take Yun Qi's pulse. This time, he spent much longer than he had with Er Niu and the others, suggesting the others were merely going through the motions. Lin He watched the doctor’s expression shift slightly as he checked the pulse, and her heart skipped a beat—could her sister-in-law genuinely have an issue?

After checking Yun Qi's pulse, the doctor glanced at Lin He, who stood nearby, and gently shook his head at her. Lin He knew the doctor had something private to say. She quickly signaled Zi Qing with her eyes. Zi Qing, having been with Lin He for a long time and seeing the doctor shake his head, immediately called out to Yun Qi, "Young Mistress, this is the medicine the doctor prescribed for the Mistress. I don't know how to decoct it; would you mind taking a look?"

Although Yun Qi hadn't seen the doctor shake his head at Lin He, she knew that after taking a pulse, the next step was discussing the diagnosis. The doctor had declared Er Niu robust after checking him, but why the silence now? Yun Qi immediately asked, "Doctor, is there something wrong with my body? Why haven't you said anything?"

Hearing Yun Qi, Mrs. Huang grew anxious and pressed, "Yes, Doctor, is there something wrong with my daughter-in-law? Can she bear children?"

Yun Qi looked at her mother-in-law and finally understood. Her mother-in-law had deliberately invited the doctor to check her pulse today. She must have suspected something was wrong with Yun Qi, given that she hadn't conceived for so long. But perhaps the family didn't want to upset her, opting for this roundabout method. It was certainly difficult for them—Guang Ling Xing Zhuan [a term perhaps referencing a specific context or literary tradition].

In truth, Yun Qi herself harbored doubts. It had been quite some time since she and Da Bao married. While their intimacy wasn't constant, it certainly occurred. The fact that she remained barren had begun to make her wonder.

However, when she was young, she remembered her father, a physician, treating patients who had been married for years without conceiving, only to finally succeed later. Didn't the elders say that having a child was a matter of fate, that they would arrive when they were meant to? Because of this, Yun Qi hadn't made too much of it.

But now, seeing the doctor’s demeanor, Yun Qi felt a genuine pang of worry. Lin He observed both Mrs. Huang and Yun Qi. She figured that even if there was an issue with her sister-in-law’s health, Yun Qi needed to know the truth herself. Such things couldn't be hidden forever. Lin He nodded at the doctor, signaling him to speak plainly.

The doctor surveyed the family standing by, and then spoke slowly, "This madam’s body does not have any major ailments. However, having little ones might prove somewhat difficult." He then launched into a lengthy explanation using professional terminology. The gist was that Yun Qi had a condition making conception difficult, though he stressed it wasn't an absolute guarantee of infertility and suggested a period of medicinal conditioning.

As soon as he finished, the doctor took his leave. Lin He instructed Zi Qing to fetch the consultation fee and escort him out. Mrs. Huang, after absorbing the doctor's words, was stunned for a moment before bursting into tears. "What are we going to do? If Yun Qi cannot conceive, then my Da Bao will have no heir! We won't have grandchildren! How are we supposed to live?"

Lin He frowned and glanced at Yun Qi, who remained seated by the table, utterly stunned by the news. Startled by her mother-in-law's wailing, she was now quietly sobbing. Even Er Niu sighed beside them, filling the room with an atmosphere thick with sorrow.

After crying out a few times, Mrs. Huang suddenly pointed sharply at Yun Qi and accused her, "Yun Qi, are you doing this on purpose? Did you know all along you couldn't have children and deliberately kept it from us? Your father is a physician; you must have known if there was something wrong with your body!"

"Mother, I..." Yun Qi stopped speaking as she looked at Mrs. Huang. She genuinely hadn't known. Although her father was a doctor, she had been perfectly healthy when she lived at home, and as an unmarried daughter, such topics wouldn't have come up.

"What do you mean, 'I'? You did it on purpose! No wonder when you married, your mother demanded so many things first. When we didn't agree, your mother rushed over, practically begging to marry you off without even wanting the gifts. Someone like your mother—how could she suddenly be so agreeable? Was it because she knew you couldn't conceive then, and that's why she was so eager to marry you off? Tell me, was it?" Mrs. Huang stared fiercely at Yun Qi as she demanded an answer.

Yun Qi felt dizzy from the accusations. Why bring up the wedding now? What was her mother-in-law implying? When her mother asked for those items and they refused, and now her mother-in-law used that very thing against her—what was the correct response?

Seeing that her mother had become irrational in her anger and was saying such things, Lin He quickly intervened. "Mother, stop talking! Didn't the doctor say she can be conditioned gradually? He didn't say it was incurable, and he prescribed medicine, didn't he?" Lin He then exchanged a look with Er Niu, subtly signaling him to try and calm Mrs. Huang down.

Er Niu nodded, walked over to Mrs. Huang, and gently tugged her arm. Meanwhile, Lin He moved to Yun Qi's side and said, "Sister-in-law, let's step out. Zi Qing should be back with the herbs soon; we can go check on that."

Yun Qi nodded, and they left together, sitting down in the pavilion in the courtyard. Lin He softly reassured her, "Sister-in-law, Mother was just speaking out of extreme anger. Don't hold it against her; elderly people are often like that. Don't take it to heart. As for your health, we will manage the conditioning properly. You must not lose heart; you are still young; you can definitely be cured."

Yun Qi looked at Lin He, tears welling in her eyes. The news was too sudden. For the past while, her mind had been blank, unsure of what she was thinking. Being berated by her mother-in-law on top of it left her even more muddled, not knowing what to do. Finally pulled out into the fresh air by Lin He, her thoughts began to clear slightly.

Yun Qi looked at Lin He and said, "He'er, do you believe me? I truly did not know there was anything wrong with my body. I haven't been deliberately hiding anything from you."