Inside the birthing room, He Shi was in excruciating pain, yet still worried about Qiao Zhao’s situation.

“Sister-in-law, if I don’t make it through this ordeal, please take care of Zhaozhao for me. Our Zhaozhao is so pitiful—”

Liu Shi rolled her eyes: “Sister-in-law, stop overthinking. Take care of your daughter yourself. I won’t dare say anything else, but I’ll tell you this—our Third Son-in-law will be fine.”

“Why?” He Shi was stunned and forgot to cry out in pain.

Liu Shi chuckled: “Can’t you figure this out?”

He Shi blinked.

I don’t understand—hurry up and tell me so I can give birth peacefully!

Fortunately, Liu Shi thought the same and said with a relaxed smile: “Because the Marquis is our Third Miss’s fiancé!”

Was there a connection? He Shi blinked again.

This sister-in-law’s words were too unreliable. If this continued, she’d have a difficult birth.

Liu Shi glanced at the midwife and whispered in He Shi’s ear: “Sister-in-law, haven’t you noticed that this past year, anyone who provoked our Third Miss has had terrible luck?”

“Uh?” He Shi gripped Liu Shi’s hand tightly.

Liu Shi immediately began listing examples: “The Second Miss from the East Residence always opposed our Third Miss—she lost face at Dafu Temple and can’t even find a good marriage now. The Old Madam from the East Residence didn’t like our Third Miss—now she’s blind. The lady from Count Guchang’s residence had someone splash filth on our door to interfere with Third Miss’s engagement—she hanged herself last December. That Miss Jiang from the Jinlin Guards always troubled our Third Miss—she died in an accident during the first month, and her father died right after arresting Big Brother for revenge. Oh, there was also that Jinlin Guard called Lord Jiang Fifth who had Third Miss taken away—he died too…”

Liu Shi couldn’t stop once she started, finally mentioning the Princess of Xijiang: “That Princess of Xijiang wasn’t a good person either. After losing to our Third Miss, she harbored evil intentions and sent men to sneak into our house in the middle of the night. Now look—both the Xijiang warrior and the Princess of Xijiang are dead!”

He Shi listened in stunned silence.

Liu Shi smiled cheerfully: “So, sister-in-law, just relax. Now that the Marquis has been taken by the Jinlin Guards, whoever arrested our Marquis will have bad luck.”

The bewildered He Shi couldn’t help but nod: “Sister-in-law, what you say seems to make sense.”

Liu Shi giggled: “Of course it makes sense—I’m not talking nonsense. If it weren’t for you giving birth and worrying unnecessarily, I wouldn’t have planned to tell you. Well, just keep this to yourself after hearing it—don’t tell anyone else.”

The midwife: “…” She wasn’t deaf!

“But this time it seems the emperor personally decreed the son-in-law’s arrest,” He Shi said, still drenched in cold sweat from pain.

Liu Shi paused.

The emperor?

Liu Shi quickly glanced at the midwife.

Although she felt the emperor would have bad luck, she couldn’t say such words.

“Ahem. Sister-in-law, just rest assured—Third Son-in-law will be fine.”

Seeing He Shi about to ask more questions, Liu Shi hurriedly said: “Sister-in-law, hurry up and give birth. Let’s take care of the main business first.”

The midwife quickly added, “You need to push hard—the baby is coming out.”

After another half hour, a weak infant’s cry came from the birthing room.

At that moment, Li Guangwen was about to lift his foot when Li Guangshu said weakly: “Don’t kick anymore—sister-in-law has given birth…”

Li Guangwen sighed in relief: “Good thing—I was getting tired of kicking, too.”

Li Guangshu: “…” Was this his biological brother?

“Don’t stand there blocking the way.” Old Madam Deng pushed Li Guangshu aside and waited eagerly.

Soon the birthing room door opened, and the midwife came out holding the baby: “Congratulations, Old Madam. The First Madam has given birth to a young master.”

“How is the child?” Old Madam Deng was happy but couldn’t hide her worry.

This child had only been in the womb for over eight months—he’d probably be difficult to raise.

The midwife showed the baby to Old Madam Deng: “Although the young master is a bit light, he looks quite sturdy.”

Old Madam Deng looked at the wrinkled infant in the swaddling clothes and sighed in relief, instructing head maid Qing Yun to distribute congratulatory money as everyone bustled about.

Liu Shi walked to the courtyard to get some air, looking toward the birthing room with envy in her eyes.

The first branch only had two daughters, but now sister-in-law finally had a son to rely on—she’d have support in the future. But she—

Thinking of how He Shi had indeed given birth to a son, Liu Shi’s heart burned with hope.

The third Miss said her sister-in-law would have a son, and her sister-in-law indeed had a son. So if Third Miss said she could give birth herself—

Liu Shi didn’t dare think further, fearing greater disappointment from higher hopes, but tears quietly gathered in her eyes.

“Someone else is giving birth—what are you crying about?” Li Guangshu asked irritably while supporting his waist.

Liu Shi came back to her senses, wiped her tears, and said lightly: “Nothing, just thinking sister-in-law had it really hard.”

Which woman had it easy in this world? Women without sons to rely on had it even harder. There were plenty of heartless men who divorced their wives for this reason, while the rest put on faces claiming they wouldn’t divorce their wives to gain a reputation for magnanimity, then turned around and happily took concubines to bear sons.

Li Guangshu snorted coldly.

Hard my ass—he was the one having it hard, nearly kicked to death by that madman Li Guangwen!

“Help me back to my room.” Li Guangshu moved his feet with difficulty.

Liu Shi looked at him strangely: “What’s wrong with you, Master?”

“It hurts—” Li Guangshu sucked in cold air. Hearing Li Guangwen’s silly laughter from the house, he couldn’t stand to stay any longer.

Liu Shi waved to a servant: “Help Second Master back to his room.”

Watching Li Guangshu’s limping figure, Liu Shi pondered: Sister-in-law gave birth—what was Li Guangshu hurting from? Could he be ill?

The Li residence’s gloom over Shao Mingyuan’s imprisonment was diluted by He Shi giving birth to a son, but the imperial court was filled with anxiety.

“Minister Xu, Marquis Guanjun absolutely cannot come to harm. If he’s punished for something from over twenty years ago, Northern Qi and Xijiang will celebrate.”

“Yes, Minister Xu, this matter is again Lan Shan’s doing. If you don’t stand up for Marquis Guanjun, there will be few loyal ministers and good generals left in our Great Liang.”

Hearing these words, Assistant Minister Xu shook his head: “His Majesty is currently in a rage—it’s not a good time to remonstrate.”

All these years, he’d endured and hidden, following Lan Shan’s lead to make Lan Shan lower his guard. Now that he finally had some success, if he jumped out now, all his efforts would be wasted.

To deal with the Lan father and son, he couldn’t be careless in the slightest.

Seeing Assistant Minister Xu’s position, everyone sighed repeatedly.

Emperor Mingkang was equally troubled at this moment.

Why did problems always arise whenever he went into seclusion?

Last time, after coming out of seclusion, his milk brother was dead. This time, after coming out of seclusion, his most valued military officer, the Marquis Guanjun, who could serve his son and even grandson, turned out to be the son of a rebellious traitor?

So next time he went into seclusion—