Having been diagnosed with a pregnancy pulse, Lv Lan was extremely delighted.

She never imagined she would have such good fortune!

She was already twenty-four years old this year. Calculating the time she had served the Master, it had already been over eight years.

It was just that the Master rarely had her and Lv Liu serve him. She had already given up hope, thinking that in a few more years she would be like her predecessors—when she reached a certain age, she would be released, either to marry an ordinary commoner or marry into a merchant family.

The reason why she and Lv Liu had maintained such a low presence in the inner courtyard all these years was largely because of this. The Master rarely had them serve him, so even Concubine Mei had hardly troubled them. Who could have thought she would still have this good fortune!

As soon as she was diagnosed, Lv Lan’s treatment improved dramatically, and according to the Lin residence’s rules, she was already a concubine.

Having a child, or rather, as long as one was pregnant, one was promoted to concubine.

It was just that they hadn’t announced it yet.

Lv Liu was consumed with envy. The two of them lived next door to each other, so it was impossible to hide it from her.

So Lv Liu knew she was pregnant. Additional maids had been assigned to Lv Lan’s side to serve her specially, and her food, clothing, and daily necessities were on a completely different level compared to before.

A mother’s status rises with her son.

This was the only phrase Lv Liu could think of.

Her heart felt as if it had been soaked in bitter water. Why was Lv Lan’s luck so good? If it were possible, who wouldn’t want to be the Master’s concubine? After being released, one would be called a legitimate wife, but everything would have to be earned by oneself. Who knew when some natural disaster or man-made calamity might strike and the family would be gone—there was no stability compared to staying in the Lin residence.

When Doctor Zhou took her pulse, had he made a mistake? Perhaps the one who was actually pregnant was her?

Lv Liu wanted to comfort herself this way, but seeing Doctor Zhou come several times, she knew there would be no mistake. In the end, her heart remained unsettled.

As for other matters, the new personnel added to their quarters were there to care for Lv Lan, but also to warn her not to do anything foolish.

Lv Liu smiled bitterly. How would she dare?

It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to live.

She couldn’t even go out and tell others this news.

This matter was kept tightly concealed. Jia Min didn’t know, but Lin Ruhai knew, and he was also delighted. It seemed that in his generation, the Lin family’s sparse offspring would finally become a thing of the past.

Seeing the smile on her son’s face, Old Madam Lin’s face showed little joy.

Because she knew that in the dream world, that child had been truly too weak, even weaker than her eldest granddaughter.

She could only hope that now with her intervention, things would be different.

She would have people care for Lv Lan well, hire good doctors and midwives, and try to avoid the possibility of difficult labor.

Only the two of them knew about this matter. The rest of those in the know were all restricted to their quarters. Yun Shuyao naturally didn’t know about this either. She wasn’t even certain whether Daiyu had a younger brother in that world—she only knew that even if there was one, he hadn’t survived in the end, because if she still had a younger brother, she wouldn’t have gone alone to seek refuge with her maternal grandmother’s family.

The current situation differed from the original story by a vast distance.

Even if Jia Min passed away, with the Old Madam present, there would be no need to travel thousands of miles to the Rong residence to seek refuge with her maternal grandmother—her paternal grandmother was still alive.

From her observations, the Old Madam’s health was still robust. She didn’t know about the long term, but in the short term, there were no signs of physical decline or imminent death.

Right now, Yun Shuyao was rejoicing over matters concerning the Yun family. She had received word that her nephew had been born, and both mother and son were safe.

She needed to supplement some items to have sent over.

It was also at this time that Zhao Xinghua was struck as if by a thunderbolt from a clear sky. She never imagined she would hear such words.

The Madam would give birth next month, and she was still confining her, not letting her see the Master. The longer she waited, the more anxious Xinghua became.

Her youth was limited, and so much time had already passed. Hadn’t the Madam forgiven her yet? Clearly Nanny Qian was fine, yet she continued to be punished.

So with great difficulty, she had cultivated connections and found Nanny Qian, hoping she could help her plead her case.

When she first came to find Nanny Qian and saw she had been drinking, Xinghua was somewhat disappointed—nothing could be accomplished in this state. But she never expected to hear such words from Nanny Qian.

Nanny Qian, with drunken eyes, told her to give up hope. It turned out she could no longer bear children—she had been given medicine before even coming to the Lin residence.

The Old Madam truly had such a vicious heart!

She had said she would obey well, so why still do this?

This was giving her no hope from the very beginning!

Indeed, when a master wants a servant dead, the servant has no choice but to die. They were the masters, able to hold power of life and death over them.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xinghua suddenly laughed aloud.

Laughing and laughing, tears came down. She touched her face—she was already twenty-two years old this year.

She thought she was still young, that she still had time to slowly wait for the Madam to forgive her and employ her. Like now, once the Madam gave birth, there would surely be times when she couldn’t manage everything, and this chamber maid from her dowry should be unsealed.

It turned out that no matter how long she waited, there would never be a result. Her path had been completely blocked from the very beginning!

Thinking about how the Madam was now carrying a child, happily awaiting the young master’s birth, and those hateful accomplices also looking pleased, Zhao Xinghua laughed loudly.

She was laughing at herself, at how all these years she had lived as a joke!

If Nanny Qian hadn’t gotten drunk this time, she probably wouldn’t have uttered a single word to her until death.

She would have been confined so desolately in her room, without relatives or friends, spending her entire life alone like this. Why should it be so?

Her life was already ruined, yet others could live so well?

Just as she was about to go mad, Zhao Xinghua thought of her younger brother still at the Rong residence.

She still had a younger brother.

She couldn’t implicate him.

But as long as no one knew it was she who had acted, he wouldn’t be implicated.

She had been in the main courtyard all these years—it wasn’t as if she had gained nothing…

Thus, when Jia Min went into labor, some mishaps occurred.

Jia Min’s fetal position was correct, and the delivery started smoothly without any problems, but her labor was slow, and the child didn’t come out for a long time.

Her strength began to fail, and unable to deliver on her own, labor-inducing medicine was brought in.

Seeing this scene, Concubine Mei recalled when she herself had given birth. She had also drunk medicine when giving birth to Ying Yu.

Yun Shuyao also remembered—ancient women giving birth truly passed through the gates of death.

After a while, those waiting outside heard fragments of words like “born” along with the faint crying of a baby.

Born?

Concubine Mei had just said “congratulations” to join in the excitement, nervously waiting for the riddle of boy or girl to be revealed, when she heard a shriek: “Something’s wrong, hemorrhaging, stop the bleeding quickly!”

The Old Madam anxiously stamped her cane: “What’s happening? How could this happen out of nowhere?”

Lin Ruhai’s brow furrowed tightly.

Doctor Zhou gathered his spirits, staring at the room.

Soon someone came out with a bitter expression: “Old Madam, the Madam is hemorrhaging, the bleeding won’t stop.”

The Old Madam and Lin Ruhai spoke in unison: “Save her quickly!”

Doctor Zhou wiped the sweat from his temples. In this spring season, he felt as if it were midsummer.

Fortunately, he had prepared early.

After much emergency treatment, the bleeding finally stopped. Jia Min lay on the bed, face pale and completely unconscious.

She had suffered greatly this time.

Doctor Zhou used every method at his disposal and still relied on some luck to rescue her from the King of Hell’s palace.

It was just… the Madam’s body would need one or two years to recover her vitality, and given her physical condition, it would be very difficult for her to conceive again.

Only the Old Madam and Lin Ruhai knew this news.

The Old Madam held her legitimate granddaughter in her arms. Hearing her kitten-like cries, she sighed heavily.

“Keep this matter concealed for now.”

Lin Ruhai agreed.

Unable to bear children meant unable to bear children.

As long as she was safe, that was good.

The Old Madam looked lovingly at her little granddaughter and asked Lin Ruhai: “Have you thought of a name for her?”

Lin Ruhai already had a draft. Looking at his little daughter’s jet-black jade-like eyes, the two characters “Daiyu” came out naturally.

“Let’s call her Daiyu.”

Both Yun Shuyao and Concubine Mei heard this name. Yun Shuyao: As expected!

This was the female protagonist of Dream of the Red Chamber.

Hmm… no matter how outstanding her demeanor would be in the future, right now she was just an ordinary little baby, nothing special to see.

The Old Madam had the wet nurse take Daiyu away and had someone examine her again.

This wasn’t suspecting anyone—just being cautiously careful.

The people caring for Jia Min in this main courtyard were all Jia family people, and her natural distrust of Jia family people made her instinctively add an extra layer of inspection.

Doctor Zhou wiped the sweat from his forehead and examined the cloths, medicinal liquids, pills, instruments, and so on that the nannies and maids brought out. Then he discovered something wrong. Afraid he had made a mistake, he checked several more times. Confirming it was correct, sweat poured down his forehead like rain: “Who prepared this labor-inducing medicine? It’s different from the prescription I wrote.”

These words could be called earth-shattering. The Old Madam and Lin Ruhai’s faces immediately darkened, while the surrounding Jia family servants looked at each other, then fell to their knees with successive thuds.

Nanny Qian was the first to react, crying out her innocence: “Old Madam, you must seek justice for our Madam! Who knows what black-hearted person did such a thing deserving of retribution!”

Hearing Doctor Zhou say this, the first person she suspected was Yun Shi.

She had a son. Having endured for so long, she finally couldn’t resist acting at the critical moment of the Madam’s delivery, wanting to kill both mother and child! So that her son could inherit the Lin family!

They had guarded against everything, but never expected she would still succeed!

The more she thought, the more certain Nanny Qian became.

It wasn’t that Concubine Mei wasn’t a possibility, but Nanny Qian had the measure of this person—even if she had such thoughts, she didn’t have the capability.

Yun Shi was different.

This person—Nanny Qian couldn’t see through her.

So she spoke up to identify her: “This must have been done by Yun Shi. She didn’t want the Madam to give birth to a legitimate son, so she used such vicious methods!”

Yun Shuyao: Sitting at home, the blame falls from the sky!

When Jia Min gave birth, except for the children, they all came here to wait.

Actually, they couldn’t help with anything—they were just here waiting for the result.

Incidentally, Yun Shuyao also wanted to see if Daiyu, this female protagonist, would be any different. Then an accident happened.

Jia Min’s medicine had actually been tampered with.

And someone immediately tried to pin the blame on her.

This blame absolutely could not be accepted.

Yun Shuyao stepped forward: “Nanny Qian, when you speak, you need to have evidence. You can’t just falsely accuse people with empty words. I dare swear to heaven, if this was done by me, let me climb a mountain of knives or descend into a sea of fire. Nanny Qian, do you dare swear to heaven that if it wasn’t done by me, you’ll also climb a mountain of knives and descend into a sea of fire?”

At this time, people still held considerable awe for deities and oaths. Hearing her say this, the surroundings immediately fell silent.

Even Concubine Mei, who had just truly thought this was her doing, wavered.

Of course Nanny Qian didn’t dare swear an oath.

Where would she have evidence? She immediately stammered and couldn’t speak.

Lin Ruhai frowned and looked at Yun Shuyao: “The gentleman does not speak of strange phenomena, physical force, disorder, or spiritual beings. Don’t make rash oaths.”

Then he looked at Nanny Qian: “Don’t speak carelessly without evidence. I will investigate this matter.”

His expression was very cold.

A coldness suppressing rage.

The Old Madam, on the other hand, was filled with regret, deep regret. She shouldn’t have let the Jia family people take charge of Jia Min’s delivery. The Jia family people could not be relied upon!

Lin Ruhai swept his gaze around: “Before this is investigated, no one may move about. Those inside cannot speak carelessly—don’t let the Madam know about this matter.”

Everyone responded in unison.

When Jia Min woke up the second night, she didn’t know what had happened. Squinting her eyes to adjust to the candlelight’s dim glow, she then struggled to turn her head, searching all around.

As soon as she moved, Nanny Qian noticed and came over, saying distressedly: “Madam, don’t speak and don’t move. You’re still very weak. This old servant is here. The young miss is sleeping now. Don’t worry, Madam, you’ll be able to see her soon.”

She waved her hand, and a young maid went to the adjacent room.

Before long, the wet nurse came over carrying a bundle.

Hearing it was a young miss, Jia Min paused—a daughter.

Her eyes showed obvious disappointment, but when that tiny form was brought before her, and she looked at that little person sleeping peacefully, her mind and spirit were completely absorbed by this little person.

This was her daughter.

The flesh and blood she had given birth to with a thousand hardships!

She looked so small.

Jia Min opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but no sound came out. Nanny Qian understood: “Madam, rest assured, Doctor Zhou has already examined our young miss. With some care, she’ll be just like other children.”

“Really, I’m not lying to you. The child is a bit thin, but she’ll quickly become plump and healthy with more food.”

“Madam, you don’t trust me? Then the Old Madam will come soon. The Old Madam wouldn’t lie to you, would she?”

“Madam, you must be hungry. Come, let me moisten your lips first…”

Nanny Qian personally attended to Jia Min.

The reason the Old Madam wasn’t here now was because she was currently searching for whoever had tampered with things. She personally led people to comb through this courtyard from inside to outside and hadn’t found any other suspicious places, naturally also hadn’t found who had committed the poisonous act.

They did discover several other messy, dirty matters, including someone who had stolen from the Madam’s dowry. Thinking of this, Nanny Qian’s face burned with shame.

It wasn’t as if they couldn’t make ends meet—how dare they steal the Madam’s dowry?

It was only because the Madam rarely touched those boxes, mostly keeping them as mementos, that they dared to be so bold!

That medicine had also been investigated. The medicinal dregs remained, and something else had been added that conflicted with the original medicine’s effects. Combined with the Madam’s already difficult labor, it caused the unstoppable bleeding.

Now the person who dispensed the medicine, the person who prepared it, and the person who delivered it had all been detained and were being investigated meticulously.

That medicine wasn’t something available in the inner courtyard—who had brought it in, and who had tampered with the medicine package?

She, on the other hand, was the first to have suspicion cleared from her because she had never directly handled it, and also because she had left the residence.

While Nanny Qian worked hard to maintain appearances of peace, Yun Shuyao was telling her two children about what had happened.

This matter seemed unrelated to them, but that was only on the surface.

Although they weren’t adults yet by age, they weren’t complete children either.

When a chamber pot had nearly been dumped on her head, they needed to know so they could better understand their situation and maintain necessary vigilance.

This vigilance could save lives at critical moments.

If it had been an unreasonable master, or if Nanny Qian’s false accusation had succeeded, with Jia Min rescued, she would either be confined for life or sent to become a nun. Even though becoming a nun wouldn’t be so bad for her, who would like being wrongly accused?

Moreover, if she bore this crime, the two children would also be implicated and unable to hold their heads up.

Children weren’t allowed to join in the excitement of childbirth, and their study location was some distance away. Later, the news was deliberately controlled, so they truly didn’t know such a major incident had befallen their legitimate mother.

Hearing this, Luo Yu tightly grasped Yun Shuyao’s sleeve, looking up eagerly: “Concubine Mother, you’ll be all right, won’t you?”

Chen Yu’s brow furrowed tightly. Although he didn’t grasp Yun Shuyao’s sleeve, he unconsciously shifted his feet closer: “Concubine Mother, Grandmother and Father believe you, don’t they?”

Yun Shuyao smiled: “Yes, I’ll be fine, and they believe me too. Now it’s about letting the evidence speak.”

To avoid suspicion, she and her people hadn’t approached Jia Min for how long? Even when they met, both her side and her own side were full of people.

Among them were quite a few who belonged to the Old Madam and Lin Ruhai.

Not to mention contact with food or drink. Even when sending congratulatory gifts, she only sent inanimate objects like gold, silver, and jewels—she would absolutely never send anything edible or personal items that could be easily tampered with.

If even with all this, they could still find evidence saying she had instigated it, then they were forcing her to leave the Lin residence—the masters above could no longer tolerate her.

Thinking of this, Yun Shuyao glanced at the two of them.

If that day really came, she just wouldn’t stay in the Lin residence anymore. Outside might not have conditions as good or convenient as here, but living well would be no problem at all.

After all, she had saved quite a bit of private money and had skills to rely on.

It was just that outside, she could basically be certain she wouldn’t have the leisure she had here to peacefully cultivate.

Going to deep mountains and old forests would avoid corresponding troubles, but transportation and purchasing daily necessities would become difficult problems. She wasn’t an ascetic monk—she didn’t want to cultivate through self-abuse at all.

As for these two children, unless both the Old Madam and Lin Ruhai had problems, they would both live very well.

The two children didn’t know their concubine mother was already thinking about where to flee if necessary. Hearing her words, the worry on their faces lessened somewhat.

“Grandmother will soon clear Concubine Mother’s name.”

Luo Yu had great confidence in her grandmother.

“Father’s people have also intervened. It shouldn’t be long.”

Chen Yu also had great confidence in his father.

“When that time comes, Nanny Qian must be punished. How can she just open her mouth and falsely accuse Concubine Mother?”

“Right, she must be punished.”

Yun Shuyao nodded: “She will be.” If she wasn’t punished, wouldn’t everyone be able to make false accusations in the future?

After a moment of quiet, Luo Yu asked: “Is Mother’s health all right?”

“There’s no more danger. Spending one or two years recuperating and her body will be completely fine.”

The siblings breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, they didn’t have as deep feelings for this legitimate mother as for their birth mother, but they weren’t without feelings either.

Moreover, comparing with other families’ legitimate mothers, their legitimate mother had already treated them very well—no beatings, no scoldings, no imposing rules, no deliberately finding fault, and certainly nothing like framing or planting evidence. Each time they paid respects, she was also amiable.

And they had to consider a practical issue—if something happened to her, given their father’s status and age, remarrying wouldn’t be unusual.

What kind of character that person would be was hard to say.

So whether from emotion or self-interest, they hoped their legitimate mother would be safe and sound.

The siblings had great confidence in the Old Madam and Lin Ruhai, believing results would come soon, but things were just that perversely difficult.

They couldn’t find anything.

There were people being slippery and evasive, people swindling and deceiving, and people passing off inferior goods as quality, but they just couldn’t find who had brought the medicine in or who had tampered with it.

Fearing someone might remain stubborn, they even resorted to torture.

But all were eliminated one by one.

Could it be that ghosts did it?

This matter undoubtedly greatly slapped the Old Madam’s face.

The loss of face was secondary. More importantly, this time the other party had acted to harm Jia Min. If they didn’t root out the person, who would be harmed next time?

Logically it shouldn’t be so. She had kept close watch on all these people in the rear courtyard.

So she hadn’t suspected Yun Shi at all. Unless she could fly or turn invisible, it couldn’t possibly be her.

The only place where her personnel were insufficient was the main courtyard.

But these people were closely tied to Jia Min’s interests. No matter how foolish they were, they wouldn’t act against Jia Min, would they?

Could it be someone from outside?

Her son now wasn’t the Salt Commissioner—he hadn’t offended as many people as in the dream world, but he wasn’t without enemies.

After investigating back and forth several times, they hadn’t found any suspicious clues.

Lin Ruhai heard the speculation and nodded—it truly wasn’t impossible that it was a political enemy’s doing.

For instance, when he came here to take office, he had blocked someone’s path, and afterward he had also affected the interests of certain groups.

While the Old Madam and Lin Ruhai treated this with utmost seriousness, in the needlework room, Zhao Xinghua, who was still dutifully doing needlework, buried her head under the quilt and revealed an exaggerated smile.

What a pity, such a pity.

It was only heavy bleeding—it didn’t send both mother and daughter away together. But this also vented some of her resentment.

Who could imagine this was her doing?

They suspected so many people, but would never suspect her, this invisible person, and moreover, an invisible person under surveillance.

Even if they suspected her, they would think it unreasonable. That medicine’s source was a major problem.

Thinking about how that medicine came to be, the smile on Zhao Xinghua’s face grew even more brilliant. This was retribution!

What goes around comes around!

Originally, she had prepared it for another concubine, prepared it for Jia Min, for the Jia family.

Now using it on Jia Min—this was truly karmic justice!

Zhao Xinghua secretly rejoiced for over a month.

Watching as one after another of the many servants in the main courtyard became anxious, as more and more people were dismissed in disgrace, many of them people who had looked down on her and bullied her.

These were all retribution.

But she never expected that after Jia Min finished her confinement month, she would hear such news.

Another chamber maid, Lv Lan, had announced happy news.

To confirm whether this matter was true or false, she took a distant look when the other party came to pay respects.

She saw the other party’s unconscious gesture of protecting her lower abdomen, saw the radiance overflowing from her face. All of this told her it was true.

Zhao Xinghua felt it was absurd.

Why?

Why, when they were all maids of the same origin, was she trapped in this cage with no end in sight, while the other party could be lucky enough to conceive?

They were all equally lowly lives—why were the results so different?

This was unfair!