The accompanying servant woman wiped her sweat while answering urgently, “Everyone’s arrived, everyone’s arrived. She went into labor last night. Second Madam originally didn’t want to disturb Old Madam and you, planning to report the good news to Old Madam and you after the child was born. But the child still hasn’t been born yet, and Second Madam is a bit worried, so she sent word to Old Madam and you in advance.”

Zhou Shaojin’s heart rose high in her chest.

But by the time she arrived at Cheng Rang’s home, Xie Shi had already given birth.

It was a big boy weighing seven pounds.

Xie Shi’s mother held the child with a smile that wouldn’t leave her face.

Cheng Sheng, who had rushed over, also breathed a sigh of relief.

Qiu Shi smiled until her eyes became mere slits. She quickly instructed the maids and servants to dye red eggs and report the good news to Old Madam and all the families.

Zhou Shaojin gently pressed down the quilt corner that was about to block the child’s face and smiled at Xie Shi’s two older sisters, “Look at this child—his hair is growing so well, and this nose is just like his mother’s.”

“Exactly!” Xie Shi’s two sisters had been watching over her all night and now showed exhaustion mixed with excitement. “But his eyebrows and eyes look like the young master. So handsome!”

Everyone chatted and laughed as they went in to see Xie Shi.

Cheng Rang, who had been standing at the bedside holding Xie Shi’s hand and speaking to her in low tones, immediately jumped aside, his face bright red, at a loss and not daring to raise his head.

Xie Shi’s face also flushed red like morning clouds.

The women of the Xie family all covered their mouths and laughed silently. Xie Shi’s mother’s eyes brightened even more as she considerately came to Cheng Rang’s rescue: “When I gave birth to my first child, the child’s father nearly rushed into the delivery room… Young Master hasn’t slept all night either. Go rest quickly! We’re here to help take care of things—nothing will go wrong.”

Cheng Rang bowed to everyone and mumbled, “You’ve all worked hard all night too… I’m not tired yet!”

Qiu Shi smiled and said, “Your mother-in-law has already spoken—just do as she says. There’s still a pile of things for you to do later. How can you manage if you don’t rest up? Go rest now! It won’t be too late to come see mother and child again later.”

Since both his mother-in-law and mother said so, Cheng Rang had no choice but to leave.

He reluctantly glanced at Xie Shi and the child before leaving the inner chamber.

Xie Shi’s face turned even redder.

Xie Shi’s mother looked and laughed heartily. She placed the child beside Xie Shi and smiled, “Your husband respects you, your mother-in-law cherishes you, and your little aunt even rushed over. Even your family’s grand aunt, hearing the child hadn’t been born yet, brought a century-old ginseng when she came. You’ve fallen into a nest of blessings. From now on, you must properly honor your mother-in-law, take good care of your husband, and respect the elders and grand aunt in the family.”

Xie Shi softly replied “Yes,” her expression extremely sweet.

Zhou Shaojin watched with some emotion.

This was why she liked daughters but wanted to give birth to a son.

When daughters grew up, they had to marry. Once married, they became part of another family and could only let that family dictate to them. Like Xie Shi who had given birth to a son—Mother Xie still had to consider Qiu Shi’s feelings everywhere, not to mention those who gave birth to daughters…

Zhou Shaojin thought of her own father.

Father never seemed to care much about such things.

Were there other good people like Father in the world?

Zhou Shaojin’s lips curved slightly. She had those who had watched all night go rest first and helped care for Xie Shi together with Cheng Sheng.

Yuan Shi only appeared on the day of the third-day bathing ceremony.

She tossed two four-cent silver ingots into the basin and brought two sets of clothes and socks for the newborn who had been named Yi Ge’er.

The silver ingots tossed into the basin were taken by the midwife—that was fine. The child would have his full-month celebration soon, and it wouldn’t be too late to send congratulations then. But Qiu Shi had sent someone to notify Yuan Shi early on, yet she only came now… As the eldest aunt of the same branch, this was somewhat displeasing.

Even someone as magnanimous as Qiu Shi had some complaints: “Mother heard the news and came running to see Yi Ge’er, but she takes her sweet time. Those who don’t know would think she and I don’t get along!”

Yi Ge’er was Old Madam Guo’s first great-grandson, so Old Madam Guo was naturally delighted.

Upon hearing the good news, she disregarded her advanced age and came in a sedan chair. She even rewarded Xie Shi with a set of ruby hair ornaments, the centerpiece of which was as large as a pigeon’s egg. The women of the Xie family all rejoiced for Xie Shi, and Qiu Shi also gained much face.

Zhou Shaojin could only comfort her: “Perhaps she’s feeling unwell. When you sent someone to notify her, didn’t she send her wet nurse to inquire?”

Today was Yi Ge’er’s third-day bathing ceremony—they couldn’t let Yuan Shi ruin the atmosphere, could they?

Qiu Shi’s expression softened slightly.

Cheng Sheng whispered quietly to Qiu Shi and Zhou Shaojin, “Mother, don’t blame Grand Aunt. Look at Cousin Zheng—doesn’t her complexion look bad too? According to what my father-in-law told Jinjiang, it seems Grand Uncle has encountered some trouble.”

Zhou Shaojin and Qiu Shi both changed color and asked Cheng Sheng worriedly, “What exactly happened?”

“It wasn’t explained clearly at the time.” Cheng Sheng said in a low voice, “It seems someone Grand Uncle recommended has improper character and was impeached by a censor. As a result, Grand Uncle was implicated, with talk of him accepting bribes or something…”

Before Cheng Sheng finished speaking, Zhou Shaojin and Qiu Shi had already said in unison “Impossible”: “Your Grand Uncle may be somewhat indecisive, but he would never accept bribes! The annual income from the sacrificial fields alone is enough to support his family’s expenses, not to mention the considerable silver saved in earlier years…”

“That’s what I said too.” Cheng Sheng said quietly, “But people outside are saying that when the Cheng family divided branches, the Jiuru Lane side took most of the property, and over these years, the capital side has been struggling to hold on…”

Both Zhou Shaojin and Qiu Shi couldn’t help frowning. Zhou Shaojin felt even more uneasy.

In her previous life, Cheng Jing had only entered the Grand Secretariat after the new emperor’s ascension, and this matter had never occurred. In this life, Cheng Jing had entered the Grand Secretariat earlier but faced continuous disputes.

Could it be because of her?

But this matter couldn’t have happened suddenly, could it?

Yet Cheng Chi hadn’t said a single word about it.

Zhou Shaojin twisted her handkerchief.

Qiu Shi discussed with Zhou Shaojin, “Should we keep Miss Xiao to talk for a while?”

Zhou Shaojin nodded.

Cheng Sheng pulled Cheng Xiao aside to talk.

As Cheng Xiao listened, she kept glancing over at Zhou Shaojin and Qiu Shi, her eyes suddenly seeming to shimmer with moisture.

Zhou Shaojin sighed inwardly.

If this were true, how heartbroken the children would be!

When the third-day bathing ceremony ended and the four of them were talking in Qiu Shi’s inner chamber, her tone inevitably became somewhat cautious.

As Cheng Xiao listened, tears began rolling down before she even spoke: “…His name is Han Zongmei. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Xuantong. Within days of taking office, he began extorting and demanding. What kind of place is Xuantong? It’s full of veteran soldiers—when comfortable, everything’s fine, but when uncomfortable, they’d dare draw swords and guns even against the Heavenly King himself. There are also descendants of those with military merits serving there. He didn’t know how to win these people over, so someone incited a censor to impeach him.

“Father’s luck was also bad. A few days ago, His Majesty was unhappy about the Fourth Imperial Prince’s matter. Han Zongmei ran right into that. How could His Majesty not send someone to investigate thoroughly? The military supervisor sent happened to be the godson of Liu Li, the senior eunuch of the Qianqing Palace. Usually you’d never see this creature being upright and incorruptible, but somehow this time he handled everything by the book. Father was thus implicated.

“Such things are hard to avoid. Moreover, Father is already a Grand Secretariat Scholar. In the past, such matters would just be dismissed with a few rebukes, but this time Father’s luck was too bad. His Majesty said on one breath that not one person should be let off, and on the next breath it was discovered that the person who recommended him was Father.”

As she spoke, she covered her mouth with her handkerchief and began crying bitterly, sobbing heartbrokenly and unable to control herself.

If things had truly reached an irretrievable state, Cheng Chi couldn’t possibly be sitting so steadily.

These past few days he hadn’t mentioned a single thing about Cheng Jing!

Zhou Shaojin looked at Qiu Shi in confusion and quickly stepped forward to embrace Cheng Xiao’s shoulders, saying gently, “Stop crying. Your father just didn’t notice for a moment. Besides, your Fourth Uncle hasn’t said a single extra word at home. Your Second Aunt hasn’t heard any news either. This shows the matter isn’t very serious. Be careful not to cry your eyes swollen—it won’t look good when you go back.”

Her words would have been fine unsaid, but upon hearing them, Cheng Xiao fiercely wiped her eyes and said, “Do you think the Yuan family is anything good? Never mind Fourth Uncle—even if Second Great-Uncle knew about this matter, he could only pretend not to know. When Han Zongmei saw things going badly for himself, he bit around like a mad dog, saying how much he had given Father initially. Others may not know, but don’t the Yuan family people know? Did my father accept even a cent of those things? Mother sent them all to the Yuan family.

“Now when Father is in trouble and Mother goes to the Yuan family asking them to help say a word, they agreed readily enough, but when it came down to it, they didn’t say a single word. If not for Second Great-Uncle’s sake, His Majesty only fining Father one year’s salary to settle the matter, otherwise when the news spread, what face would our family have left? Even so, His Majesty still transferred some of the matters Father handled to Huang Li…

“Mother has been running herself ragged over this matter these past few days.” Cheng Xiao took Qiu Shi’s hand and said awkwardly, “Otherwise she wouldn’t have failed to come see Yi Ge’er…”

Such a major matter—who would have the mood to congratulate another family?

Qiu Shi thought of her complaints about Yuan Shi earlier and felt guilty. She quickly said, “Don’t say that! We aunts are busy with domestic matters every day. We didn’t even know such a big thing happened at Xinglin Alley, much less could we help. It’s good enough that you don’t blame us. If you keep talking like this, it will make your aunt’s heart uncomfortable.” She asked urgently, “So is everything all right now?”

Cheng Xiao nodded. Tears fell again as she said, “Mother always says how well the Yuan family treats Father, how illustrious the Yuan family is, but when Father faced trouble, they stood by with folded arms. What relationship do we have with the Yuan family then? Aren’t those who glare at us openly with drawn swords better? At least we know they’re enemies… What is this supposed to be? If they didn’t want to help, why not say so directly? Even if they couldn’t help, they should have told us so we could find other connections… Does this mean that aside from the Yuan family, our Cheng family has no one else who can help…”

Even someone as gentle as her spoke with righteous indignation about this matter, let alone Yuan Shi who had always taken pride in the Yuan family!

“You can say such things to me and Second Aunt, and that’s fine.” Zhou Shaojin sighed. “But you are a daughter-in-law of the Yuan family—you mustn’t reveal such thoughts in front of Young Master Yuan.”