"Did you have the medicine I gave you earlier tested?"
Yu He slowly spread out her acupuncture kit on the table and asked.
Qin Xinhong had suffered greatly from Qi Yuanyuan before, taking a drug that almost caused her to miscarry. With this lesson learned, Yu He believed Qin Xinhong would have had the medicine she provided identified immediately and only taken it after confirming it was safe.
Qin Xinhong looked at Yu He, her pale lips pressed together, saying nothing.
"You know the current situation yourself. It's not about whether I can save your child, but whether the person who switched the medicine wants you to give birth to this child," Yu He said.
Upon hearing this, Qin Xinhong slumped against the head of the bed, her face pale, her eyes filled with one part vacancy and seven parts panic.
Yu He looked at her desolate state and thought of the poison Qin Beiting had suffered from, finding it both ridiculous and tragic.
This was the Qin family.
On the surface, they appeared harmonious and loving, like siblings of one mind, showing deep paternal affection; but in reality, they were like burning beans in a pot, consuming each other.
If her grandmother hadn't forcibly taken her away from the Qin family back then, she might not have grown up safely.
Qin Xinhong recalled everyone she had interacted with recently, all of whom were her closest kin. Her hairs stood on end.
"What should I do now?" she asked, her eyes red.
Apart from Yu He, who could save her child, she didn't know whom else to trust.
"The damage caused by the medicine you previously took is irreversible. If you want to have a completely healthy child, I suggest you give him up, recuperate your body, and then try again..."
"No! I don't want to!"
Before Yu He could finish, Qin Xinhong immediately interrupted her. After ten years of longing for a child, the child she finally had, she was afraid. Afraid that if she gave him up, she would never have another child!
"Aren't you a miracle doctor? No matter what, you have to save him for me!"
Qin Xinhong knelt on the bed, grabbing the hem of Yu He's clothes, her eyes teary as she pleaded, "As long as you can save him, I'll do anything you ask!"
Yu He had been waiting for this very statement. She cut straight to the chase, asking, "Who sent the person who silenced Qin Meimei?"
Qin Xinhong looked up in surprise, "I don't know!"
Yu He's peach blossom eyes narrowed as she stared at her, "Then what do you know?"
Qin Xinhong's lips quivered, "I..."
"Think carefully before you speak," Yu He said, picking up a silver needle and rubbing it between her fingertips. "This is about how much the residual poison in your body can affect the child. You don't want your child to be born disabled, do you?"
It was a naked threat.
Qin Xinhong swallowed. She, the eldest daughter of the Qin family, a precious jewel, had been pampered since childhood, everything going her way. Those who dared to threaten her were already buried under two meters of grass.
Yet, before her, she was helpless.
For the sake of the child in her womb, she finally had to compromise.
Qin Xinhong shifted her position, lying flat on the bed, and slowly said,
"It was me who asked Qin Meimei to hide Luo Xiaoyao and her mother."
Yu He expressionlessly wiped her silver needle with an alcohol swab and placed it on an acupuncture point on Qin Xinhong's arm. "Why did you hide them?"
Qin Xinhong carefully glanced at her, seeing no expression on her face, and continued,
"At the time, Qin Meimei told me that Luo Xiaoyao had approached her, saying someone was asking about the hit-and-run case involving Luo Bin back then. I wanted them to go abroad, but I didn't expect..."
Yu He's hand paused as she removed the needle, looking at her, "So, you ordered Luo Bin to kill my adoptive mother!"
"No! I didn't!" Qin Xinhong immediately denied.
"Back then, I did consider having Luo Bin scare Sixth Aunt. Because she kept harassing Second Aunt in the name of seeking justice for Sixth Uncle. Second Aunt had already lost her twin brother, and Sixth Aunt kept reopening her wounds. I couldn't stand it and wanted to stand up for Second Aunt.
"But when Qin Meimei introduced Luo Bin to me and we discussed how to scare Sixth Aunt, I changed my mind. I thought it wasn't easy for Sixth Aunt raising you, and if something happened to her, no one would take care of you. So, I decided against it.
"I truly never had him hit anyone. I don't know why he still did it!"
Saying this, Qin Xinhong took a deep breath, her eyes filled with sadness, confusion, and regret.
"After Sixth Aunt died, I regretted it for a long time. If I hadn't had that thought, maybe Sixth Aunt would have been fine. But the dead cannot be brought back to life. I could only bury this secret in my heart. But when Qin Meimei told me someone was reinvestigating the case, I felt guilty, so I had her hide Luo Xiaoyao and her mother."
Yu He looked at her coldly, "Where is the evidence?"
"There are call records," Qin Xinhong said, taking her phone and bringing up the call recording with Qin Meimei, handing it to Yu He.
"Qin Meimei handled the matter of Luo Xiaoyao and her mother entirely. I asked her to send Luo Xiaoyao and her mother abroad for treatment and to settle down, but I didn't know why she handled it that way."
Yu He took the phone, transferred the record to her own phone, sent it to Chen Hao, and started playing it.
While listening, she continued to give Qin Xinhong acupuncture.
By the time she finished the acupuncture, the recording was also finished.
The content of their phone call indeed confirmed what Qin Xinhong had said.
Qin Xinhong had asked Qin Meimei to send Luo Xiaoyao and her mother abroad, and Qin Meimei had complied. This explained why Luo Xiaoyao and her mother had gone abroad first before being taken to the mountains, and even hospital records had been prepared.
However, Qin Xinhong clearly had no knowledge of being tied back to the mountains later. She had questioned Qin Meimei on the phone, but Qin Meimei's explanation was that Luo Xiaoyao and her mother had escaped and were then tied to the mountain. What happened afterward was similar to Qin Meimei's initial account: the mother and daughter escaped again and died in an accident.
The entire conversation did not mention the memory card that Luo Xiaoyao had hidden in the banyan grove.
Yu He quickly verified the call times and recording times in the phone's call history with Qin Meimei. They all matched.
But this didn't mean they hadn't communicated privately.
"Did Qin Meimei not tell you that Luo Xiaoyao handed over a video recorded by Luo Bin during her captivity?" Yu He intentionally asked a false clue.
Qin Xinhong's eyes showed confusion and curiosity. She sat up, "What video?"
Yu He remained silent.
Seeing Yu He quietly packing her acupuncture kit without speaking, Qin Xinhong pressed, "What video exactly?"
Yu He was sure that she truly didn't know about the recording and had been used without realizing it.
"Why did you ask me to investigate Fourth Uncle Qin Yongyi earlier?" she asked, not answering the question.
Qin Xinhong, not getting the answer she wanted, was a bit displeased. But seeing Yu He pick up the medicine that Elder Mrs. Yu had brewed earlier, she answered truthfully:
"As far as I know, they had a lot of private dealings."
Yu He nodded, handed her the medicine, "Drink this. Afterward, come to Dr. Yu Xianyi's clinic for your daily pregnancy-preserving medicinal meals after lunch."
Qin Xinhong took it, still unwilling to give up, and asked, "What video did Luo Bin record?"
"First, find the killer who switched your medicine, and then I'll tell you," Yu He said, grabbing her bag and turning to leave.