“Please wait until Ye Luo returns to the capital before departing. He has been to the south and is quite familiar with the situation there,” Shao Mingyuan explained.

Qiao Zhao nodded: “I understand. General Shao has thought this through very thoroughly.”

A flash of sorrow crossed her eyes. Shao Mingyuan knew that because he had mentioned Ye Luo, the girl before him was thinking of Physician Li again.

He felt somewhat guilty but didn’t know how to comfort her properly, so he pushed the plate of grapes over: “Miss Li, have some grapes.”

Qiao Zhao ate one and looked at him.

The man across from her had a somewhat stiff expression.

Only then did Qiao Zhao understand: he was just asking her to eat grapes. She had thought it was leading up to something else he wanted to say.

Qiao Zhao found it rather amusing and stood up: “General Shao, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head back.”

The man across from her was relieved: “Very well. Please take care, Miss Li.”

Even after returning to the Li Residence, Qiao Zhao was still pondering: they saw each other every day, so what exactly was Shao Mingyuan being awkward about?

The Empress Dowager’s decree came down three days later. Since Qiao Zhao had proposed to first prepare the other medicines, the specific departure date was left for her to decide.

The summer heat began to recede, and autumn soon arrived. The sky was purely blue, often without even a wisp of white cloud.

Seeing that Qiao Zhao’s departure was approaching, He Shi began to panic so much that she couldn’t eat.

On this day, after paying respects to Old Madam Deng, Old Madam Deng kept He Shi behind and asked: “He Shi, I hear you haven’t been eating much these past few days?”

He Shi’s originally plump cheeks had thinned somewhat. She spoke frankly: “Yes, whenever I think of Zhaozhao going so far away and having to travel by sea, I worry so much I can’t eat.”

“I know you’re worried about Third girl, but now that Third girl must leave, it’s an unchangeable fact. If you don’t eat properly like this and fall ill, won’t the Third girl be unable to set out with peace of mind?”

“But I just can’t eat. Whenever I try to eat, I feel nauseous.”

“Nauseous?” Old Madam Deng’s heart stirred.

He Shi smiled bitterly: “Yes, probably from not sleeping well and feeling upset inside—”

She was halfway through speaking when her complexion suddenly changed slightly, covering her mouth as she dry-heaved.

Seeing this, the head maid Qing Yun quickly brought over a spittoon.

He Shi leaned over it, spitting up some sour water before straightening up, her face pale as paper.

“Qing Yun, go fetch a physician.”

He Shi wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, accepted water from a maid to rinse her mouth, and tried to stop her: “Old Madam, there’s no need. I’m fine—it’s just from not eating much and not sleeping well.”

“I’ll only feel at ease after a physician has examined you.” Old Madam Deng’s mood was quite complex at this moment. She had a bold guess that she knew was unlikely, yet she couldn’t control herself from thinking in that direction.

“Old Madam?” Seeing Old Madam Deng’s somewhat strange expression, He Shi called out in confusion.

Old Madam Deng remained composed: “It’s nothing. Only after a physician examines you can we be assured.”

“Old Madam, I’m fine.”

Soon, a physician was summoned. Old Madam Deng spoke with some urgency: “Doctor, my daughter-in-law isn’t feeling well. Please examine her.”

He Shi was somewhat moved: she hadn’t expected her mother-in-law to care about her so much. It felt strange to adapt to.

“Please extend your hand, Madam.”

He Shi extended her wrist. The physician placed his fingers on it, closed his eyes to take her pulse for quite a while before opening them.

“Doctor, how is my daughter-in-law?”

The physician bowed to Old Madam Deng and smiled: “Congratulations, Old Madam. Your residence’s madam is with child.”

“With what?” He Shi was confused, completely dazed.

“Madam is with child. Congratulations.”

He Shi pinched herself hard and murmured, “It doesn’t hurt. Old Madam, am I dreaming? This dream is too vivid—”

Old Madam Deng’s expression was strange. When the physician wasn’t looking, she quietly pulled He Shi’s hand away.

This silly woman—of course it didn’t hurt. She had pinched her thigh!

Having already suspected this, though Old Madam Deng was excited, she maintained her composure outwardly: “Doctor, is my daughter-in-law really with child? How far along is she? How is her condition?”

The physician smiled: “She’s already over a month along. Your residence’s madam has a good constitution, and everything looks fine currently.”

“But she says she can’t eat.”

“That’s normal, too. I’ll prescribe an appetite-stimulating medicine for your residence’s madam. Taking one dose every three days should provide some improvement.”

Old Madam Deng quickly had Qing Yun prepare a thick congratulatory envelope for the physician.

He Shi sat motionless, listening to Old Madam Deng’s conversation with the physician and the joyful congratulations from the maids throughout the room, but she seemed to have lost her soul, looking completely dazed.

“Quickly go call the master back!”

Hearing this, He Shi suddenly came to her senses, grasping Old Madam Deng’s hand and asking: “Old Madam, am I, am I pregnant?”

“Yes, yes.” Old Madam Deng nodded repeatedly. Seeing He Shi’s expression was off, she quickly warned: “Don’t get too excited—think of the child in your belly!”

He Shi quickly protected her abdomen: “I won’t get excited, I won’t get excited—” Then her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

The physician, who hadn’t yet left the residence, was summoned back again.

Second Madam Liu, hearing the commotion, hurried over: “Old Madam, what happened to eldest sister-in-law?”

Old Madam Deng smiled so broadly she couldn’t close her mouth. The head maid Qing Yun said crisply: “Second Madam, First Madam is with child!”

“With child? What kind of joy is that?” Liu blinked.

Old Madam Deng was even more delighted: “Usually such a clever person—how are you being silly now? Your sister-in-law is pregnant.”

Liu felt as if she’d been struck on the head with a club, completely stunned.

Sister-in-law was pregnant? There had been no sign of it for over ten years.

For a moment, Liu’s feelings were extremely complex.

The West Residence’s third generation had only the Third Young Master as the sole male heir. She had borne two daughters in succession, and He Shi had only one daughter—they could be considered sisters in misfortune. But He Shi was pregnant!

In that instant, Liu felt a touch of jealousy and worry.

If He Shi gave birth to a boy, her future position in the residence would become awkward.

Old Madam Deng found Liu’s dazed appearance amusing and sighed: “The Third girl is truly perceptive. She even mentioned a few days ago that there would be joyful news in the family.”

Liu suddenly snapped back to reality and adjusted her mood.

So what if she was jealous? This was a person’s fate. Her husband wasn’t even around—even if she wanted to conceive, she was powerless to do so.

If He Shi gave birth to a boy, it would be good for the entire West Residence. After all, having only the Third Young Master was too precarious. When their generation grew old, the West Residence could easily be bullied. With more brothers from her daughters’ maternal family, they would have more standing in their in-laws’ homes later.

Liu quickly thought it through and showed genuine joy: “Third Miss is certainly perceptive. Wait, Old Madam, you said Third Miss mentioned beforehand that our residence would have joyful news?”

Hearing Liu ask this, Old Madam Deng also found it strange.