"Yes, it must be." Xu Maozhi said firmly.
Come on, Xiao Jinghan was notorious. Just seeing how fierce he was to Ranran and himself showed that he was no good person. Would a person like that allow his woman to be pregnant with someone else's child?
"How do you know?" Ranran asked suspiciously.
Xu Maozhi said, "Well... isn't your sister - in - law in a relationship with Xiao Tian? I've never seen her with anyone else!"
"What I mean is," Ranran lowered her head, "I'm not doubting sister - in - law. I just feel so bad for her. Wasn't she just kidnapped?"
"Silly Ranran. If she got pregnant during the period when she was kidnapped, no one could have found out by now!" Xu Maozhi had a lot of knowledge about such things from his detective work. "Even if your sister - in - law is a divine doctor, she couldn't have found out."
"Really?" Ranran's eyes lit up immediately.
Although she didn't like Xiao Tian, since Yi Qing did, she really hoped that the child was Xiao Tian's.
"Of course." Xu Maozhi said firmly.
"That's good." Ranran let out a sigh of relief. She thought to herself that she should probably prepare a gift too.
Should she make two sets of clothes, shoes and socks? But she'd never made things for such a small child before. She didn't know what size to make. She'd have to figure it out when she got home.
She couldn't tell her mother about this for the time being.
No matter how open - minded her mother was, hearing this news would make her think of her eldest brother, and she would surely be sad...
Her thoughts had drifted far away when she heard Xu Maozhi ask, "Ranran, how did you know your sister - in - law was pregnant?"
"Baozi told me."
"Oh."
Xu Maozhi thought, right, how could he have forgotten that brat Xiao Duo?
"One more thing," Ranran said, blushing. "Let's not be so touchy - feely in the future."
"Why?" Xu Maozhi felt so aggrieved.
He just liked being close to her. In private, it shouldn't count as overstepping the mark, right?
If he didn't even have this little privilege, how miserable he would be!
"It's not a big deal otherwise. My promise to you still stands. As long as you can convince my parents." Ranran lowered her head, her face burning. "But if I get pregnant, my mother will be so angry that she'll die."
Baozi had told Ranran that he saw Yi Qing and Xiao Tian kissing, and then she must have gotten pregnant.
He just didn't say when. Ranran subconsciously thought it was something that happened before.
Ranran, who knew almost nothing about men and women's affairs, had believed Baozi, the prodigy.
It made sense. If the child wasn't put into the belly through the mouth, how could it get there?
Xu Maozhi was completely confused. "How can being touchy - feely lead to pregnancy?"
He hadn't even taken off her clothes. Could it happen through clothes...
"I mean," Ranran's face turned even redder. "What if our lips touch? And what if we accidentally open our mouths?"
Xu Maozhi was completely at a loss.
When he finally understood what Ranran meant, he burst out laughing like a fool.
Ranran flew into a rage: "Don't laugh!"
Xu Maozhi immediately held back, but his face kept twitching. It was obvious that he was struggling to hold back his laughter.
"Ranran, it's not what you think." He patiently explained. "You can't get pregnant like that."
This aunt - nephew pair were both so cute and naive.
"Wait a minute." Xu Maozhi got up and rummaged through his huge bookcase.
After a while, he took out a scroll and brought it to Ranran. "Take a look. I didn't buy this. It was a gift from the emperor back then."
"What is it?" Hearing that it was a gift from the emperor, Ranran became a bit curious.
However, when she casually flipped open a page and saw the vivid and detailed pictures, her face flushed completely. She threw the book on the ground. "Xu Maozhi, you... you actually showed me such filthy things! You... you!"
"It was really a gift from the emperor." Xu Maozhi rushed to explain. "Ranran, listen to me. Back then, the emperor said it was a pity for a man like me to be a bachelor, so he gave this to me. I only took a few glances at it when I got back, and then I put it on the shelf."
"You even took a few glances!"
This emperor, how could he be so improper! Giving such things as a reward to his ministers!
"I just wanted to see if there was anything else inside. I always thought the emperor shouldn't be so superficial. There should be some deeper meaning... But I was disappointed in the end. If it weren't a gift from the emperor, I would have burned it long ago. Do we need to be taught such things?"
He had been a detective for so many years. He'd seen everything. He'd even personally investigated the case of a minister who died in a brothel bed. What didn't he know?
Ranran was speechless. She stamped her foot and said, "Put it away quickly."
She cursed the emperor in her heart again.
Xu Maozhi put the book away again and said, "This is called the Fire - Avoiding Picture. When we get married in the future, Aunt Fan will also prepare such a dowry for you."
"Stop talking. It's so embarrassing. I don't want it!" Ranran covered her face. "And you'd better not do such things to me."
Xu Maozhi said, "Okay, okay. I won't."
He'd get his wife home first. Ranran was so obedient. When Mrs. Fan urged them to have a child, she'd agree.
Yi Qing had no idea that her son had secretly spread the rumor that she was pregnant. She was busy dealing with Deng Xiao, who had come to visit again.
"The emperor has asked Xu Maozhi to investigate the Ruyi Ointment." Deng Xiao said seriously after Yi Qing dismissed the people around them.
"Really?" Yi Qing asked suspiciously. She wondered why Xiao Tian hadn't told her this news.
That dog emperor didn't trust her?
"Since I'm telling you, it must be true." Deng Xiao said. "Think about if there's anything that could be unfavorable to you. I can help you make plans in advance."
He didn't think Yi Qing was lying to him, but he was worried that some of her statements were too subjective and might be picked on by the emperor.
"No." Yi Qing said firmly.
"That's good." Deng Xiao nodded. "Then I can rest assured."
He planned to help Xu Maozhi to catch the culprit as soon as possible and bring them to justice, so that the emperor wouldn't end up suspecting Yi Qing when he couldn't find the person.
Yi Qing didn't know what he was thinking. She thought to herself that the dog emperor was so calculating.
"Don't tell anyone about this, including Xiao Tian." Deng Xiao leaned back in the chair, squinting his eyes and staring at Yi Qing.
Yi Qing thought for a while and then suddenly exclaimed, "You're investigating the emperor?"
"Not really. I'm just being more careful." Deng Xiao said.
He had done something he shouldn't have and had lost the emperor's trust, so he always had to guard against villains.
Yi Qing didn't ask any more questions. She didn't think too much about the relationship between him and the emperor either. She just said, "Thank you for telling me."
Deng Xiao hesitated for a moment. After a while, he stood up and waved his hand. "I'm leaving."
However, before he could walk out of the door, he almost bumped into Xiao Tian, who was coming back.
Xiao Tian had just returned from outside. His face was already gloomy, and it got even worse when he saw Deng Xiao. He frowned and said, "What are you doing here again?"
Deng Xiao raised his eyebrows and said proudly, "Of course, I'm here to get closer to Yi Qing."