A boy, a boy, it must be a boy!

Although Li Jiǎo had strongly sensed since becoming pregnant that it would be a little master, when the moment truly arrived, she was still extremely nervous, feeling even more depleted than during labor itself.

The delivery room fell quiet.

“Is it a boy or a girl after all?” Li Jiǎo’s heart suddenly sank.

“Congratulations, Concubine. It’s a little princess.”

“Impossible, absolutely impossible—” Li Jiǎo suddenly sat up, startling everyone.

“Concubine, you just gave birth. You mustn’t move about carelessly.”

Li Jiǎo stared with wide eyes, gazing fixedly at the speaker as if she wanted to swallow them whole: “Bring the child for me to see, bring the child for me to see!”

“Concubine, the little princess has already been taken to show His Highness.”

“You must be lying to me. Bring me the child!” Li Jiǎo screamed hoarsely. Because of her post-birth weakness, her voice didn’t sound loud to everyone’s ears, but her terrifying appearance made their scalps tingle.

Everyone exchanged glances.

Could this concubine have gone mad? Why was she so unreasonable?

Though the prince’s residence had had little princesses before, they hadn’t survived. Truly speaking, the princess born now was the eldest daughter of the prince’s residence. Even if she couldn’t compare to a little prince, she was far more respectable than any princess born later.

With the prince’s eldest daughter to rely on, this concubine would have support for her entire life. How could she be so ungrateful?

“The child, I want to see the child—” Li Jiǎo became hysterical, forcefully pushing the servants beside her.

A stream of hot liquid gushed out, and a sharp-eyed servant cried out in alarm: “This is bad! The concubine is hemorrhaging—”

Prince Rui was looking at his newborn daughter with joy. Though he had been somewhat disappointed upon first hearing it was a girl, that disappointment was quickly replaced by delight.

What was wrong with a girl? There were still three other concubines who would give birth. They couldn’t all be girls.

He currently had neither son nor daughter, so he would treasure a girl like a precious jewel. This was his first child; he had waited years for it.

“Congratulations, Your Highness. The little princess is truly beautiful.”

Prince Rui nodded cheerfully: “Yes, look at this little nose and mouth, and her eyes are so big and bright…” A string of praise for his daughter poured out like he wasn’t spending money.

Seeing that His Highness wasn’t unhappy about having a little princess, everyone gathered around to ask for reward money.

At this moment, commotion came from the delivery room. Prince Rui couldn’t help but frown: “What’s all the noise? Be careful not to startle the little princess.”

A servant woman came out with a panicked expression: “Your Highness, the concubine is hemorrhaging!”

“Hemorrhaging?” Prince Rui glanced at the delivery room, then looked down at his newborn daughter. Having some affection for the one who had borne him a child, he ordered: “Do everything possible to save her. If the concubine is safe and sound, this prince will reward you handsomely!”

While some in Prince Rui’s residence were happy and others worried, Marquis Guanjun’s residence was filled with joy. From the stone lions at the front gate to an osmanthus tree beside the moon gate, everything was tied with red silk.

The bride’s dowry had been moved and displayed in the main hall for viewing. The red-decorated items added even more festive color to this vast marquis residence.

Shao Mingyuan looked at boxes of gold and silver ingots and rubbed his chin.

No wonder that when he had given silver to Zhaozhao before, she had shown complete indifference. It turned out his wife wasn’t short of money.

Thinking of the word “wife,” Shao Mingyuan’s heart seemed soaked in honey, sweet from inside out, and he curved his lips in a silly smile.

“My Lord, the Old Marquis has arrived.”

Shao Mingyuan went out to greet him.

Having experienced imprisonment, Marquis Jing’an had aged considerably. His temple hair was almost entirely white, but his spirit was quite good.

“Father, you’ve come. Please come inside and sit.”

Shao Mingyuan felt genuine gratitude and respect for Marquis Jing’an from the bottom of his heart. He hurried forward to support his adoptive father as they walked inside.

Marquis Jing’an patted his arm: “Why support me? I can still walk.”

The father and son entered the room and removed their shoes to sit on the heated kang.

The warm heated bed immediately swept away all the cold air.

“Father, please have tea.”

Marquis Jing’an took the teacup and drank a sip, exhaled a long breath, and smiled: “Finally, I’ve waited for you to start a family.”

Over twenty years of worry and fear had finally seen the clouds part to reveal the moon.

“That your son can have today is all due to Father’s merit.”

Marquis Jing’an felt somewhat ashamed: “This father didn’t do much. You’ve suffered grievances all these years.”

Looking at his adoptive father’s aged face, Shao Mingyuan’s heart ached, and he said sincerely, “Don’t think that way. You’ve already done too much for me.”

Not everyone could gamble their entire clan’s safety to preserve the bloodline of loyal ministers and good generals, even causing marital discord and father-son estrangement because of his existence. Before his identity was exposed, his adoptive father had sent away eldest sister-in-law, eldest grandson, and third brother, leaving only eldest brother to go to prison together. Now eldest brother clearly harbored resentment toward father.

Marquis Jing’an’s eyes grew warm. He quickly lowered his head to drink tea to calm down, then smiled: “With you married and taking a wife, I can finally be completely at ease.”

After thinking, the old marquis added, “You still need to have several children quickly, so your birth parents can also be happy in the afterlife.”

“Your son will do his best.” Shao Mingyuan smiled.

Marquis Jing’an hesitated.

Though his son was in his twenties and had been married once before, he had gone to war without a wedding night. Based on his understanding of his son, he would not have been promiscuous while leading troops.

This meant—

Marquis Jing’an looked deeply at Shao Mingyuan.

Did he know how or not?

Logically, such matters should be taught before marriage, but when marrying the Qiao family daughter, Mingyuan had hurriedly returned to the capital by imperial decree to marry. There was neither time to arrange teaching nor anyone to arrange it for him. Now, Marquis Jing’an’s residence was managed by his eldest daughter-in-law – he couldn’t very well have his son’s sister-in-law worry about such things, could he?

This meant he still had to do it himself.

Marquis Jing’an got a headache just thinking about this.

How would a rough old man like him know how to tactfully and thoroughly explain such matters to his son? This was making things difficult for him.

The aged Marquis Jing’an scratched his head.

If the eldest and second sons had a good relationship, it would be most appropriate for the elder brother to discuss this.

Thinking that he still had such an arduous task ahead, Marquis Jing’an lost all interest in drinking tea. He got up and down from the kang: “This father just remembered there are matters to attend to. I’ll come back later.”

“Go attend to your business.” Shao Mingyuan personally escorted Marquis Jing’an to the main gate and helped him into his carriage.

Half an hour later, a personal guard came to report: “My Lord, the Old Marquis has come again.”

Shao Mingyuan glanced at the guard and warned, “Watch your wording.”

His father had run over twice in such a short time – could it just be to chat with him?

Once again welcoming the old marquis inside, going through the routine of removing shoes, sitting on the kang, and serving tea, Shao Mingyuan remained patient and didn’t actively ask questions.

But Marquis Jing’an couldn’t remain patient. His adoptive son was about to have his wedding night – if he truly didn’t know how, wouldn’t that cause embarrassment?

“Ahem, Mingyuan—” After downing two cups of tea, Marquis Jing’an finally spoke up.

“What instructions does Father have?”