Chapter 3 Perceptual Ability

  "This is clearly extortion!"

  When Shen Huan and Zhao Xi were taken out of the delivery room by Zuo Xing, they heard a loud voice from Li's direction. Shen Huan slightly lowered her head and peeked through the half-open curtain, vaguely seeing Li kneeling on the ground, trying to struggle to get up, with two hands on her shoulders, one on each side, pressing down forcefully.

  She was just about to push open the door and enter when Chun Xing pulled her back: "Zhao's wife, it might not be good for you to go in... Mother said before that you..."

  "What's going on? Are you not letting my sister-in-law in, so I should go in instead?"

  Zuo Xing was cut off by Zhao Xiuxiu before he could finish speaking, and hearing his mother's angry roar from inside, no matter how calm he was, he couldn't remain calm anymore. Moreover, at this moment, except for Shen Huan being suitable to enter the delivery room, would they really want him, a man, to go in?

  "Woodcutter, is that you? How did you come here?"

  Li heard her son's voice inside the house and became somewhat tense, fearing that the other party had brought Zhao Xiuzhu as a hostage. However, she did not know that there was more than one hostage, including her own son.

  Then Shen Huan didn't say anything else, and after exchanging a glance with Zhao Xiuzhu, she lifted the curtain and walked in. Only then did she truly see the situation inside the house. On either side of Li were two maidservants, pressing down on her to prevent her from getting up, while standing in front of her was Liu.

  As soon as Shen Huan entered the house, everyone's eyes turned to her, and Li seemed to have a special liking for that sentence, opening his mouth again: "How did you come?"

  "Mother, Liu aunt sent someone to report that something has happened here, so I and little uncle came to see if there's anything we can help with."

  "What's the use of helping? Hurry up and go home with Qiao Er!"

  In the end, Li still protected Shen Huan, and didn't want to implicate his son and daughter-in-law in this matter. However, he also didn't want to take the blame for this life-and-death situation. His face darkened as he raised his head and shouted at Liu: "Your daughter-in-law was clearly having a difficult labor, yet you deliberately came to find me to deliver the baby! When I arrived, she barely had any strength left, and within a moment, she stopped breathing! You people obviously knew that neither the mother nor child could be saved, and wanted to make me the scapegoat!"

  After hearing Li's words, Shen Han also fell silent, but in her heart, she was thinking about what to do if it was true. She used the corner of her eye to glance at the bed where the woman in labor was lying, and what entered her eyes was a basin of dark red blood water and the messy floor. Even though there was some distance, she could still feel that tension.

  "Who told you to rush in with your clumsy hands and feet and break her brand new 'duo zi duo fu' bed? Are you trying to welch on the deal?"

  "Your daughter-in-law's body has always been poor, this is a fact that everyone in the village knows. She was already very risky to get pregnant with this child, and now she's having a difficult labor without any strength, if the child can't be born, it will be my fault, I won't be able to afford to lose both their lives!"

  Grandma Li spoke again, and Shen Huan had no choice but to withdraw her gaze. The fragments on the ground mixed with blood were actually Duozi Fo. Seeing Liu's face getting uglier, she immediately took two steps forward, squatted down, and wanted to help her up, but unexpectedly, the two little maids did not get their master's consent, and they didn't relax their grip on Li's strength at all.

  Shen Huan was also displeased with this, the feudal system of ancient times would often make people kneel down, it's fine to kneel down for government officials, but what makes you, Liu family, qualified to make people kneel down?

  However, her displeasure was not written on her face. She still maintained the posture of supporting Li Shi, raised her eyes and smiled at Liu Shi: "Aunt Liu, no one wants trouble to happen, but before we find a solution, shouldn't we avoid making such a scene? After all, in the future, when we meet, it's not like we won't see each other again."

  Shen smiled sincerely, even with a hint of flattery, but her eyes didn't look at Liu's family, instead gazing in the direction outside the door curtain, clearly implying something.

  At the door stood Zuo Xing, her pale green dress visible through the occasionally fluttering curtains. Shen Huan withdrew his gaze, but this time he directly met Liu Shi's eyes, slowly standing up: "Although our family is not as prestigious as Aunt's, it's not a soft persimmon that can be taken advantage of."

  Shen Han quietly finished speaking, and again bowed down to help Mrs. Li, but her gaze remained fixed on Liu's body. Previously it was a hint, this time she was openly threatening. As the saying goes, "this life does not enter the official gate", Zhao Xiuzhuo, although still just a scholar, is also the only one in this town for nearly decades, and can be quite dignified, who knows what kind of official he will become in the future?

  With a sidelong glance at Liu's changing expression, Shen Huan continued: "Whether it was because of Yuan Shu's poor health that the child was stillborn or because my mother-in-law did not deliver properly, these are not issues to be investigated now. You said so, didn't you?"

  As soon as this was said, Madame Liu gave a signal to the two maidservants, and both Shen Huan and Li Shi felt the pressure on them suddenly disappear. They quickly added strength to their arms and helped Li Shi up.

  "Mother, have you checked carefully? Is Yuan Shu really dead or just temporarily unable to bear it and fainted?"

  "Can this be fake? Am I going to joke with you about the lives of these two mother and son?"

  After Li stood firm, Shen Huan asked the biggest question in her heart, but the answer was not Li, but Liu in front of her. She clearly saw the anger in Liu's eyes and understood the severity of the matter even more.

  "Alright, alright! You quickly follow Qiaoer back home and don't get involved here. It's not my business at all. Even if I have to go to the government office, I'm not afraid!"

  "It was you who killed him with your own hands, how dare you be so arrogant!? Do you want to keep your son and this widow safe? Fine! I've lost my grandson, don't think they can escape unscathed. I won't believe that the Yuan family can't even protect these orphaned children and widows! I've already sent someone to report to the authorities and ask for a coroner to come and examine the body. Do you think you can still get away with it?"

  Liu was so anxious that she didn't care about anything else, and the maid waiting at the door made a signal with her eyes. Li saw that she seemed to be unfavorable to the young son outside the door, and she also became anxious, rushing up to try to reason with her. Who knew that Liu was not a simple master, and she pushed Li, bumping into Shen Han's body.

  Shen Han took a few steps back, stumbling slightly to the side. She had already seen Liu's suppressed excitement, her trembling fingers pointing at Li, with sparks flying out from the bottom of her eyes, as if she wanted to burn her opponent into ashes immediately.

  "I'm saying the same thing, true gold is not afraid of fire refining. Everyone in this town knows that your wife's body is not good, you want to have a grandchild so badly that you let her get pregnant, now something has happened and you think I'll be the scapegoat? No way!"

  Shen Han looked helplessly at the two elderly women who were arguing, but her mind was on the woman in labor on the bed. Taking advantage of no one's attention, she slowly moved towards the bedside, looking at the blood-stained and somewhat eerie scene. Shen Han suppressed the anxiety in her heart, stretched out her fingers to the nose tip of the pale-faced woman, and after probing, confirmed that she had indeed stopped breathing.

  She still felt a bit resentful, and the temporary suffocation was not impossible, in the blink of an eye she turned her head to see her mother-in-law and Liu's wife still arguing non-stop, even with signs of a big fight about to break out. Shen Huan simply stretched out her hand and pinched the acupoint on Yuan's daughter-in-law's neck, but instead of surprise, she was met with shock...

  "What are you doing?"

  A brief four-word outburst made Shen Huan immediately withdraw her hand, also realizing that her current actions were undoubtedly provoking her. She stood up and took a few steps back: "I was thinking..."

  "A person is dead and you still won't let go, you..."

  Shen Han had just lifted his head when a sharp pain shot through his shoulder, and he stumbled forward, landing on the body of the woman in labor.

  She raised her eyes to see the pale-faced woman in labor with her eyes tightly closed, and after a slight tremble in her heart, she immediately wanted to stand up, but unexpectedly, her feet suddenly went soft, not only did she fail to stand up, but when she fell again, her hands ended up on the other's bulging belly...

  "Ah!"

  The feeling that came from her hands made Shen Huan cry out, but it was just a low hum of fright. Li and Liu were arguing again, and no one noticed her movement. Kneeling by the bed, Shen Huan took several deep breaths, even grasping the hands that had accidentally touched the high bulge tightly. Until her frightened heart calmed down slightly, she dared to turn her gaze towards the woman's high and swollen belly.

  Her tightly clenched fists slowly relaxed, and Shen Huan finally confirmed that there was no movement on her stomach. She began to worry if it was just her own illusion earlier. She turned around to look at Liu Shi, seeing that her attention was still focused on Li Shi. With a nervous heart, she reached out her hand. The fact that the old man had stopped breathing was beyond doubt, but the shock that had struck her heart earlier, even she herself couldn't convince that it was just an illusion...

  When Shen Huan's hand was placed gently on Yuan Jia's wife's belly again, although she had already prepared herself for the impact that hit her heart before, but this time she carefully felt it and found that the feeling was very subtle, with a slight bulge and jump, just like... a heartbeat!

  But it was even stronger than her heartbeat, she suppressed the fear in her heart and began to close her eyes to feel. The miraculous discovery that when she calmed down and stroked the pregnant woman's belly with her heart, the noise around her ears seemed to automatically mute, and her hands seemed to have magic, had penetration power, not only could she feel the strong life force inside the belly, but even the little guy's hands, feet and head were all clearly felt. As soon as this consciousness appeared in Shen Han's mind, she was still startled and withdrew her hand.

  The moment she opened her eyes, Shen Huan saw the hand she had placed on her belly, and it wasn't as terrifying as she had imagined. It hadn't actually penetrated into her abdomen, but that sense of life force connected to her own heart was now taking shape in her mind. She couldn't help but put her hand back again to try once more.

  This time, she not only felt the small life still living in her belly but also deeply felt the little guy's desire to break free from constraints and gain freedom. She shuddered all over and immediately stood up, looking down at her rough hands that had been working hard, astonished by this strange perceptual ability.

  The sound of Li and Liu's incessant quarreling gradually reached her ears, and Shen Huan felt a sudden sense of annoyance, but she also caught the key point in Liu's words. The death of her daughter-in-law seemed not to have caused her particular sorrow; what she was concerned about was that her daughter-in-law had been pregnant with a nine-month-old grandson who was born prematurely. Shen Huan looked at the woman who no longer had any perception and felt a pang of melancholy, but also thought of something, and suddenly couldn't help but shout loudly: "Stop quarreling!"