There was a sudden silence in the large room.
Lu Yan felt her heart skip a beat.
Chen Yuan knew! How did he know?! How could he know?!
No! She had just found out herself. And then she had hidden everything so well. Even her maids didn't suspect, let alone Chen Yuan.
What did this mean?
This meant, she thought furiously, her heart racing, that he had people watching her. And they were among her close maids.
If he had been able to plant a maid by her side, he must have been suspicious. Why? When? What had he discovered?
Lu Yan looked at Chen Yuan who was kneeling beside her with his head lowered.
She couldn't see his expression, but her feelings of foreboding and dread grew further.
---
Han heard Chen Yuan's declaration, and his heart stopped.
Suddenly, he recalled the question Ji Jing had asked before, "What is Lu Yan hiding?"
Turns out, this was it. This was the reason she was trying to protect the Chen family.
Suddenly, he felt foolish, and furious.
Inside his sleeves, he clenched his hand so tight that he almost popped his joints. His jaw was aching from how tight he was clenching it.
The hope that had been so precious, so bright that it had warmed him up just by shining on him, withered in an instant.
With this, Ji Jing would never allow the Chen family to fall. Only for Lu Yan's sake.
What a master stroke!
Not only would the Chen family never be charged with trying to assassinate the regent, the regent would continue protecting them.
Han wanted to laugh or scream or kill something.
He glanced at Lu Yan's bloodless face, and was suddenly certain she had never meant for this news to be known to Ji Jing.
He glanced up at Ji Jing.
Unlike Han's obvious distress, Ji Jing didn't show any emotion.
He was holding a go piece.
Throughout the court session, his fingers hadn't paused once in twirling the go piece round and round. He was resting his head on his other hand, looking as bored as he always did during court meetings.
Either he already knew, or he didn't care at all.
---
The Magistrate was visibly startled by Chen Yuan's declaration.
As he remained silent, little whispers began to break out in the cavernous room. There was an eerie quality to the sound, like thousands of wasps buzzing.
Finally, he turned to Lu Yan, "Madam Chen, is this true?"
Lu Yan hesitated briefly, but nodded.
"Would you be willing to submit to an examination by the imperial physician on duty?"
She nodded again.
---
When Lu Yan got home, she was wrung out.
Her mind was spinning. What did Chen Yuan know? Who was the spy among her maids?
Her wound was aching. And there was a general bone-deep exhaustion that had accompanied her ever since that day of the assassination.
Chen Hai was waiting for her in her rooms.
Excitedly, he asked rushed up to her and took her hand, "Brother sent news! Is it true? Why didn't you tell me?"
She ignored him and got into bed.
He followed her.
She waited until she had settled down, and was lying comfortably with her eyes closed, until she replied, "I found out recently. I was planning to tell you once I had my physician confirm it in the capital."
She smiled sardonically, "Who knew your brother is more informed than me? And he announced it to the whole imperial court."
It was so frustrating. How did he know so quickly?
If there was a maid more adept than her in her employ who was a spy, she was in deep trouble.
Chen Hai frowned, but Lu Yan, with her closed eyes, didn't see it.
"He was just trying to help you out."
Lu Yan was furious suddenly.
She sat up quickly, screaming, "Did I ask for his help?!"
Her voice was so loud and sharp that it seemed to ring several times inside the room.
Chen Hai was taken aback by this storm of emotion.
Never had he seen Lu Yan display anger or loss of composure like this.
The maids in the room, and out in the courtyard, heard the scream and froze in surprise.
Lu Yan, on the other hand, resisted the urge to groan in pain.
She had torn her wound open by moving too quickly. She plastered a hand to her side, and could feel warmth and wetness as blood flowed.
She was too angry to pay attention to it.
Instead, she glared fiercely at Chen Hai.
In a slightly calmer voice, but still shaking with suppressed anger, she continued, "Why don't you ask why your elder brother knows why your wife is pregnant before you do? Ha! I have a feeling that he's so omniscient that he knew even before me!"
Seeing Chen Hai's uncomprehending face, Lu Yan wanted to slap sense into him. "Why did he announce it to the whole court when he could have kept his mouth shut? Do you really think he was just helping me? Or do you think, perhaps, maybe, he has an agenda?"
"Wha- Don't speak nonsense!" Chen Hai finally lost his temper, and spoke out, "Elder brother would never hurt us. Everything he does is for the better of the family."
Lu Yan laughed mockingly, "Of course, he would never hurt you. He would only use you. But what about me? Do you think he would hurt me?"
"You're out of control! I'll wait for you to calm down before we speak!"
Without another word, he strode out of the room without a backwards glance.
Lu Yan wanted to throw her cup at the back of his head, but her side hurt too much. She could barely raise her arm.
She sank back into bed and closed her eyes.
Without her permission, tears flowed out of the corners of her eyes and into her hair. It was like a tap had been left open somewhere inside her.
Her side hurt, Chen Yuan was on her trial, there was a child (a child!) involved now, and she didn't know anymore how and when this all was going to end.
She only wished she had run away again when she had still had such a choice.