Hearing this, Zhao Luochun was naturally extremely anxious.
But seeing Zhao Luoning looking troubled, he knew she didn't want her whereabouts to be exposed.
It was really a troublesome matter.
Mrs. Zhao, who was listening on one side, gradually sensed something was amiss.
She only knew that her daughter had been feeling unwell recently, but Zhao Luoning had been putting on a brave front in front of her for fear of worrying her, so she didn't know exactly what was wrong with her.
Now that Zixin had mentioned it, Mrs. Zhao suddenly understood.
She was just about to open her mouth to ask Zhao Luoning when her last menstrual period was.
Just then, the cook who was in charge of cooking for the girls in the nunnery came in with a big ladle in her hand.
"May I ask if the young lady is married?"
Zhao Luoning didn't understand why she suddenly brought up this matter.
She originally wanted to shake her head and say she wasn't married, but then she thought of Ji Shisu and all the things they had shared in the past, and felt it would be unfair to him.
After much thought, she nodded and admitted that she was already married.
The woman heaved a big sigh of relief upon hearing this.
There was gradually a look of joy on her face.
"Congratulations, madam! Congratulations!"
Congratulations? She was ill, so why was she being congratulated?
Everyone was puzzled as to what the cook was up to.
Zhao Luochun was also very confused. He opened his mouth and asked, "What's there to congratulate about?"
Everyone else echoed him. The cook had already bent down to offer her congratulations.
"Madam is most likely pregnant. I'd like to offer my congratulations to you here."
Pregnant?
She was pregnant?
At this time.
And it was Ji Shisu's child. How could it be possible?!
Zhao Luoning obviously couldn't believe it.
The cook, however, was patting her chest to assure everyone.
"When I was pregnant with my little rascals, I had the same reaction as madam. I'm already the mother of five children. I can tell at a glance whether a woman is pregnant or not."
Zhao Luoning looked at her mother for help.
Mrs. Zhao nodded at her.
"I think so too."
It was Zixin who remained a bit more rational at this moment. She said, "Whether she's pregnant or not, we should still invite a doctor to take a look. Isn't Dr. Xu from the pharmacy highly skilled in medicine? How about inviting him over?"
Zhao Luoning raised her hand to stop Zixin's idea.
It didn't take much thought to know that Ji Shisu must have sent people to closely monitor the pharmacy and the silk store.
As soon as her people showed up, she wouldn't be able to hide anymore.
The cook, who had just announced that Zhao Luoning was pregnant, took the opportunity to say,
"If madam doesn't mind, my husband's younger brother is a barefoot doctor. He can tell right away about matters like pregnancy. You just need to let him feel your pulse."
A barefoot doctor had no connections with the Zhao or Ji families.
Thinking of this, Zhao Luoning nodded. Just as the cook was about to leave, Zhao Luoning called her back and instructed,
"Don't tell anyone about this."
At the same time, she gave the same instruction to everyone else.
"You all must remember this."
Everyone nodded one after another.
Zhao Luoning was like the sky to them. They would follow her words as if they were imperial edicts.
At this moment, Zhao Luoning had gradually calmed down from her initial shock.
She thought that during the last month in Shiguan, she and Ji Shisu had been inseparable.
Ji Shisu had almost stuck to her every night.
If she wasn't pregnant under such circumstances, there must be something wrong with her body.
A child.
Before Zhao Luoning had even considered this issue, God had already placed a little life in her womb?
And it was at this time, just when she had decided to leave Ji Shisu and the Ji Mansion?
With this bond, how could she possibly let go?
Before long, the cook came in with a young doctor with a small moustache. Zhao Luochun had been impatient for a long time. Seeing them come in, he quickly greeted them,
"Come quickly and take a look at her."
The doctor was originally a gentle and polite man. He was going to bow and salute before feeling the pulse, but under the repeated urging of the impatient Zhao Luochun, he had to speed up the process.
He usually only treated rural women. He had never served a proper noble lady before.
Naturally, he was a bit nervous.
The doctor said, "I'm sorry for the intrusion."
He placed a piece of gauze on Zhao Luoning's hand and then reached out to feel her pulse.
After a while, he withdrew his hand.
Zhao Luoning also withdrew her jade hand and pulled down her sleeve to cover her wrist.
Everyone's hearts were now in their throats. They were just waiting for the doctor's verdict.
"Congratulations, miss. It is indeed a happy pulse. The child is over a month old. Miss should take good care of your body. It's best to buy some medicine for preserving the fetus. You may feel a bit uncomfortable during this period, but it will get better after a while."
She was really pregnant with Ji Shisu's child?
Zhao Luochun was naturally happy too. It wasn't that he didn't like Zhao Luoning staying here. He had never interfered with any of her decisions.
But this time, she was pregnant. Although he didn't know what had happened between his sister and brother-in-law, now that there was a child, it wasn't the time to be capricious.
Mrs. Zhao also realized this. She pulled Zhao Luochun aside and whispered,
"We should probably inform the young master about this. After all, having a child is a major event."
Mrs. Zhao happened to be thinking the same thing as him.
Zhao Luochun sighed. He sent all the idle people out of the room and then moved a small stool over and sat down facing Zhao Luoning.
"Ning'er, aren't you going to tell him about this?"
This was a very important matter. Zhao Luoning was also in a complete mess because of this unexpected child.
She was very conflicted.
On the one hand, as the father of the child, it would be too unfair to Ji Shisu if she didn't tell him about such a big thing as her pregnancy.
Wasn't this the same as when Ji Shisu had hidden the matter of the Tianxiang Tower from her?
But on the other hand.
During the one or two years in Shiguan, Zhao Luoning had clearly witnessed Ji Shisu's capabilities.
If she told Ji Shisu about the child.
No, as long as she contacted Ji Shisu, her escape plan would be doomed to failure.
"Brother, I don't know. Please let me think about it."
Zhao Luochun knew that she had been a stubborn girl since childhood. How could he not understand his own sister?
He could see that she was afraid of the Ji Mansion.
He knew that she resented Ji Shisu.
He also understood that if it hadn't been for all the things in the Ji Mansion that had exhausted her physically and mentally, Zhao Luoning, who had never backed down before, wouldn't have chosen this most passive method.
To be honest, since Zhao Luochun had left the Zhao Mansion, he had deeply understood that the higher the courtyard wall, the more shadows there were.
A deep mansion was a place that devoured people without spitting out the bones.
The people in the Ji Mansion were so unreasonable. He didn't want her to go back.
But on the other hand, Zhao Luochun was also very conflicted.