The Grand Madam’s joy was naturally extraordinary. Not only hers—even the Grand Master had been wearing smiles these past days. The eight words “a son at one birth, mother and child safe and sound” might not seem remarkable in modern times, but in ancient times, they represented a blessing that countless noble ladies prayed for but could not obtain.

According to the capital’s customs, everything a maternal grandson needed was provided by the mother’s natal family. The Grand Madam had naturally prepared two sets early on—one for a boy and one for a girl. But who could have expected twins to be born? The swaddling clothes proved insufficient, so she hurriedly asked the two branch shops under Second Lady’s Xianxiu Workshop to work overtime at double pay, rushing out countless exquisite swaddling clothes. Since the birth was in winter, they even made small cloaks embroidered with gold thread… Though not extravagantly wasteful, everything was made as luxurious as possible.

“If these two babies can thrive, our Fifth Sister will finally hold her head high in the Xu family!” Elder Madam Min, who had come to pay her respects to the Grand Madam, hit upon the truth in one sentence. “She was already the legitimate Heir Apparent’s wife. By rights, when the Duke’s wife fell ill, the Heir Apparent’s wife should have taken charge of household affairs. Just because she was a new bride, they forcibly suppressed her for a whole year. But now she has both sons and status—won’t her natal family stand firm behind her? Seventh Sister, mark my words—from now on, the Xu household will be our Fifth Sister’s domain!”

In her first year of marriage, Fifth Lady could truly be said to have suffered every hardship her husband’s family could inflict. Her mother-in-law was weak and unable to protect her, the great-grandmother-in-law suppressed her with all her might, her various sisters-in-law either looked on coldly or kicked her when she was down. Her natal family was thousands of miles away and itself in turmoil. That was why, when Seventh Miss saw her last time, she spoke so miserably about how “being someone’s daughter-in-law is not easy.”

But now things were different. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—the Grand Master had risen to Grand Secretary, she herself had given birth to twin sons to continue the family line, and the Grand Madam had clearly displayed her support for Fifth Lady. Every time she sent things to Duke Pingguo’s manor, she practically wanted to beat drums and gongs to make people come see how precious her daughter was… Even if Old Madam Ni had a thousand reasons to be displeased, she probably couldn’t suppress Fifth Lady anymore. Not to mention her various sisters-in-law—now the greatest barrier remaining was only the status of being her elder sister-in-law.

“Three years of silence, then a startling cry.” Seventh Miss smiled as she added a cup of tea for Elder Madam Min. “Eldest Sister-in-law has been kept waiting. Mother hasn’t gone out visiting in a long time, so naturally she takes extra care with her appearance…”

The Grand Madam was still in mourning, so she dared not enter the new mother’s room to visit, lest she bring ill fortune to the children. Seventh Miss was unmarried and couldn’t visit alone, so it was Elder Madam Min who represented the natal family at the twins’ third-day bathing ceremony. Going back and forth, the two had quickly become familiar—Elder Madam Min had a forthright temperament that the Grand Madam didn’t particularly like.

“This counts as nothing.” Elder Madam Min waved her hand dismissively. “My maternal family has a cousin who’s truly troublesome. Every time she goes out, if she doesn’t spend two hours getting ready, she absolutely refuses to leave. I lose patience and say to her, ‘Looking the way you do, you still have the leisure to primp? No amount of primping will change this pile of hay. Look at the young lady of the Da family—even without rouge or powder she’s like a fairy descended to earth. As for you, spending two hours on your appearance is still playing the ugly maid aping the beauty.'”

Before she’d even finished speaking, the Grand Madam emerged from the inner hall.

Her expression was somewhat displeased. “If we don’t leave now, we’ll miss the proper hour.”

She took the lead, lifting the door curtain and exiting the hall.

Seventh Miss and Elder Madam Min exchanged a glance, both unable to suppress their smiles.

Elder Madam Min truly embodied the essence of being rough and bold.

However, it was also because her proper mother-in-law wasn’t in the capital, her own natal family was powerful, relations with her husband’s family were good, and she was the pampered and most beloved youngest daughter…

The thought flashed through her mind.

She followed Elder Madam Min in pursuing the Grand Madam out the door, boarding the heated sedan chair and then changing to a carriage bound for Duke Pingguo’s manor.

The Grand Madam would complete eight months of mourning after the New Year. In those days, when people observed mourning, even the three-year period of deepest mourning was only twenty-five months before leaving mourning, and the year-long period without a mourning staff was generally observed for eight months before one could remove mourning clothes. She had originally intended to properly complete a full year to avoid being scolded by Uncle Qin, but now that Fifth Lady had given birth, she could no longer restrain herself. Today, barely ten days past the end of the confinement month, she was already taking her daughter and niece-in-law to visit Fifth Lady.

“If it were before, she definitely wouldn’t visit. If it had been a daughter, she wouldn’t visit either.” Elder Madam Min had another set of observations. “But having given birth to a son—and a pair of qilin sons at that—well, that’s very much worth a visit!”

Speaking with Elder Madam Min, there was particularly much laughter.

Seventh Miss laughed continuously. “If Mother hears this, she’ll scold Eldest Sister-in-law even more for speaking too frankly!”

Elder Madam Min roguishly winked at her.

Today’s visit had been announced beforehand, so Duke Pingguo’s manor naturally dared not be negligent. As was customary, Fourth Young Madam personally waited at the second gate. The party first entered Leshan Residence to pay respects to Old Madam Ni, then proceeded to Qingping Courtyard to see Madam Xu. This time, Madam Xu was all smiles, personally coming out to greet them and welcoming the Grand Madam into the hall.

“Years of worry! I’ve finally set it all down!” Though her form was haggard, her face bore a healthy flush. “Now that Fengjia has an heir, I can’t tell you how comforted I feel!”

She immediately found common ground with the Grand Madam. The two held hands, getting along so well—as if closer than biological sisters born of the same mother by three degrees.

Old Madam Ni’s expression was somewhat dispirited. Though she also wore a joyful expression, compared to Madam Xu’s wild delight, her happiness seemed more like going through the motions, following protocol.

Not to mention along the way, the expressions on Fourth Young Madam’s and Fifth Young Madam’s faces…

Seventh Miss had grown up amid struggles, and having been an orphan in her previous life, was most skilled at reading expressions. On these two visits, all the subtle changes in everyone’s attitudes couldn’t escape her eyes. Even though she had long since integrated into this era, she couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: giving birth to a son was actually this important to the women of this age.

Upon reflection, it made sense. Considering the Grand Madam’s life experiences, the one thing she uniquely lacked—wasn’t it also a biological son?

Neither Fourth Young Madam nor Fifth Young Madam had boys under their care. The Xu family men were away on official business or at war year-round, breeding a household of resentful wives. Currently, all three grandchildren in the manor were born to First Young Madam, yet only First Young Madam—the most detached from worldly concerns and with the least need to worry about adding heirs—had today claimed illness and not come out to receive guests.

Seventh Miss found this quite interesting.

Once Madam Xu and the Grand Madam met, they had endless things to discuss. Both had countless trivial matters to break apart and explain thoroughly. Seventh Miss and Elder Madam Min were somewhat in the way. Elder Madam Min’s eyes rolled, and she simply stood to take her leave. “I’ll take Seventh Sister to Mingde Hall to see Fifth Sister first.”

Madam Xu raised her eyes to glance at Elder Madam Min, and this glance inevitably included Seventh Miss.

Both withdrew their gazes as soon as they touched. Madam Xu smiled. “Good, you go ahead. In a while I’ll accompany Fourth Sister over to see little Fifth as well.”

Not waiting for the Grand Madam to say much more, she pulled her into the inner chamber.

The mistresses of the two families rarely met, so naturally they had much to discuss—especially since the Grand Madam hadn’t been in the capital when their late father passed away, Madam Xu surely had many matters she wanted to relay. Neither Elder Madam Min nor Seventh Miss minded. The two proceeded to Mingde Hall—at this time, the east wing of Mingde Hall had its door tightly shut, serving as Fifth Lady’s quiet chamber for recuperation.

Upon entering, they heard Fifth Lady’s laughter.

“Does she think this is still half a year ago? Bullying a new daughter-in-law who doesn’t know the rules? Just relay my words—say the Young Madam simply doesn’t like this pattern. Didn’t Her Majesty bestow a set of baby-motif famille rose plates last year? I see the little dolls on them resemble our Silang and Wulang very much—perfect to bring for me to play with.”

Compared to last time, when she forced herself to appear cheerful, Fifth Lady’s voice this time was much stronger.

Seventh Miss couldn’t help but exchange a smile with Elder Madam Min.

They both entered the western suite of the east wing together.

After ten days of confinement, theoretically a new mother could already get out of bed and walk around, but Fifth Lady still half-reclined against the canopy bed, her expression languid as she joked with Guyu beside her. “I refuse to believe it—she’s just a servant! Can I not deal with her?!”

Guyu was beaming with joy, smiling with pursed lips. “Where do you get such talk? Which servant in this manor would dare give you grief? They’d have to be tired of living!”

She rose to pay respects to Elder Madam Min and Seventh Miss, then left the room directly—apparently off to give that unlucky storeroom matron a piece of her mind.

Seeing her natal family, Fifth Lady was naturally delighted. “You’ve finally come!”

She struggled a bit to sit up and offer seats. “Eldest Sister-in-law, sit. Seventh Sister, sit!”

Seeing that her movements were still somewhat stiff, Seventh Miss couldn’t help but frown. “Why can’t you get out of bed yet?”

“They were twins, both large and fat—I had an episiotomy.”

Theoretically, as an unmarried woman, Seventh Miss shouldn’t hear about such things, but Fifth Lady didn’t care about any of that. Without embarrassment, she spoke frankly, even smiling as she tried to frighten Seventh Miss. “It hurt enough to kill someone! Even now I can’t easily get out of bed and move around.”

Elder Madam Min shrieked in alarm and stood up. “Cut—cut that place?”

Both Fifth Lady and Seventh Miss were very surprised, turning their heads together to look at Elder Madam Min. They saw her face had gone pale green, as if quite frightened. “That, that must have hurt terribly!”

Fifth Lady laughed heartily. “When has childbirth ever not been painful—Eldest Sister-in-law, looking at you like this, are you scared?”

Elder Madam Min made a few perfunctory responses and sat back down, though anyone could see her mind was elsewhere. Before long, she made an excuse about going back to meet the Grand Madam and fled Mingde Hall like a wisp of smoke.

Fifth Lady didn’t mind. After a few token attempts to keep her, seeing Elder Madam Min’s determination to leave, she said no more. “Perfect—we two sisters can have a proper talk.”

Compared to last time, though Fifth Lady’s complexion was pale and her form weary, her face bore an indescribable radiance—as if that imperious, proud young girl had returned to inhabit her body once more. In word and deed, she seemed very decisive.

“I’ve finally made it through!” Once Elder Madam Min left, she confided to Seventh Miss. “With this pair of treasures in hand, hmph, Fourth Sister-in-law and Fifth Sister-in-law probably can’t even sleep well… The other day when Great-grandmother-in-law came to see me, I said that several elder brothers are seven or eight years older than the Heir Apparent, yet still have no heirs—it’s truly worrying. I happen to have two excellent maids by my side, originally prepared for the Heir Apparent. Now that we have heirs, we’re not in a hurry anymore—why not share them with the two elder brothers instead? You didn’t see Old Madam’s face! Truly, a whole year’s worth of grievances, all vented thoroughly and satisfyingly!”

With this pair of golden grandsons, Fifth Lady now had a golden signboard to swagger about. Legitimate sons and grandsons were, after all, the foundation of inheritance. With these children as her backing, though only a month or two had passed between visits, Fifth Lady’s position in the manor had already soared, gaining the honor a Heir Apparent’s wife should have.

Seventh Miss was genuinely happy for her. “You should also take it easy.”

But her words were still cautionary. “Don’t show all your triumph on your face. Sometimes, you need to maintain a certain posture…”

Fifth Lady impatiently waved her hand.

“Alright, alright, you’re just like Mother—always nagging me! Where is Mother?”

“Talking with Third Aunt.” Seventh Miss answered while looking around. “And where are my two little nephews?”

“They sleep practically ten hours a day, and when they cry they’re terribly noisy. I had the wet nurses carry them to the east inner chamber to rest.” Fifth Lady was a bit embarrassed. “Wait until Mother comes, then we’ll bring them out to look at together. Otherwise you’ll play with them for a while, just when they’ve fallen asleep, and then they’ll have to be disturbed again by Mother.”

Still the same old way—sharp-tongued but soft-hearted. She complained with her mouth, yet worried her sons wouldn’t sleep soundly if bothered twice.

Seventh Miss just smiled at Fifth Lady. “Good, good! Could Fifth Sister have imagined back then there would be today?”

Fifth Lady’s face flushed slightly, and she turned her head away. “I’m not paying attention to you anymore!”

Seventh Miss only smiled, not answering.

The room fell quiet for a moment.

It seemed both young ladies were lost in their own thoughts.

After a long while, Fifth Lady spoke softly. “Looking back now at the path traveled, it really is like a dream!”

“Just as if I was born to walk this road. Having walked it and looking back, I don’t even know if I would choose this path again… Actually, how could there be no lingering attachments?”

She turned her gaze toward Seventh Miss and smiled gently. “To be honest, last night I had a dream. I dreamed of… dreamed of him.”

“In the dream, I knew I was married, that I shouldn’t think of him anymore, but I kept chasing after him, unwilling to leave, wanting to ask him, ask him, ask him whether…”

She didn’t finish, swallowing the rest of her words. She only smiled lightly—in this smile was a trace of melancholy, a trace of regret, and even more, wisps and threads of fog-like bewilderment.

Seventh Miss also smiled at her.

“It will pass.” She gently comforted. “Give it a little more time, and it will pass.”

Fifth Lady lowered her eyes, releasing a soft “mm” from her throat.

Chunfen smiled as she carried in a small wooden tray with red lacquer and gold from outside. “Miss, time to take your medicine.”

“Aiya, every day I take more medicine than I eat meals!” Fifth Lady immediately frowned. “I won’t take it!”

Since she didn’t personally nurse the children, she didn’t need to worry about medication affecting breast milk. The confinement month was the most appropriate time for tonics, so it was no wonder she drank medicine from morning till night.

Both Seventh Miss and Chunfen laughed. Chunfen put on a stern face. “If you won’t take it, this servant has no choice but to call Madam!”

The two daughters had just started in alarm when the Grand Madam entered with a smile, lifting the curtain. “Who won’t take their medicine?”

Normally so stern at home, she rarely joked with everyone like this.

Fifth Lady first froze, rubbed her eyes, then cried out joyfully, “Mother!”

In that moment, the joy and longing radiating from her face was truly indescribable.

The Grand Madam walked quickly forward and grasped Fifth Lady’s hand. Just as she was about to speak, tears fell. “You’ve grown thin!”

She hastily stopped Fifth Lady. “Don’t cry—shedding tears during confinement ruins the eyes!”

Fifth Lady sniffled while forcing a smile. “Who, who’s crying…”

But she still wiped her eyes before gripping the Grand Madam’s hand to examine her closely. “Mother has grown thin too.”

Mother and daughter hadn’t seen each other for years, so naturally they had much to say, yet for the moment neither knew where to begin. The Grand Madam settled herself beside Fifth Lady, looked around, then picked up the medicine bowl and blew on it. Smiling, she scooped up a spoonful to feed Fifth Lady. “I haven’t yet fed medicine to our little Fifth.”

Fifth Lady’s eyes glistened with tears. She swallowed the medicine, then smiled after a long moment. “So Mother still remembers—as a child I often got angry with you over this.”

She frowned and complained, “So bitter.”

“How could I not remember?” The Grand Madam’s eyes were all tenderness. “From childhood you were jealous of Ninth Brother. Ninth Brother was often ill and wouldn’t take medicine. After feeding him a few spoonfuls, you’d start complaining that I favored him…”

As she spoke, she exchanged smiles with Fifth Lady, feeding her spoonful after spoonful until half the bowl was gone. Seeing Fifth Lady frown and refuse more, she picked up a preserved fruit to feed her. “Where are the grandsons?”

Naturally, wet nurses brought out the two young masters wrapped in brocade swaddling. The Grand Madam gently touched their little cheeks with movements light as a feather, managing not to wake the two grandsons. Fifth Lady and Seventh Miss exchanged a smile—the scene was warm and harmonious for a time.

Though the Grand Madam couldn’t bear to put down her two little grandsons, she only looked at them briefly before having the two wet nurses carry them back to the east inner chamber to rest properly. She also chided Fifth Lady. “Normally it’s better to keep the children sleeping beside you. Before they’re a full month old, don’t keep them too far from their mother.”

“During the day people come and go—I’m afraid of disturbing them. At night I still sleep with them.” Fifth Lady hastily explained, then smiled triumphantly. “Did you see the expressions on my several sisters-in-law? Hmph, this time I’ve finally held my head high and made those little bitches taste what it’s like not to bear sons!”

The Grand Madam’s face was all smiles. “How could I not see? Though they all put on good faces, your Fifth Sister-in-law’s two big dark circles can’t fool anyone!”

Mother and daughter immediately laughed together, their disdain overflowing.

Fifth Young Madam’s household management authority would definitely be returned to Mingde Hall after Fifth Lady finished her confinement month.

With Fifth Lady’s methods and temperament, how could she possibly not thoroughly manipulate Fifth Young Madam? That she hadn’t developed four big dark circles was already fortunate.

“And Fourth Sister-in-law—Fifth Sister-in-law at least bore a daughter. She’s been married three or four years without even a peep to show for it. Just wait and see—even if Old Madam doesn’t speak up, Third Aunt will add people to Fourth Brother’s room… And she’s the most jealous!” Fifth Lady grew more excited as she spoke. “A moment’s triumph counts for nothing—a lifetime of triumph is what—”

Her words suddenly cut off, alarm showing on her face as she looked at the brocade coverlet over her.

The Grand Madam was listening happily and clapped her hands in agreement. “Exactly, a lifetime of triumph is what counts as real triumph—”

But Seventh Miss had already noticed something wrong. She stepped forward and lifted the coverlet for Fifth Lady.

Right at Fifth Lady’s waist and hips, the pink lustrous lotus-colored bed curtain had already bloomed with a patch of dark red.