The past few months at the estate have actually been relatively peaceful. Apart from the careless Crown Princess causing trouble by hiding needles, no one else has tried to harm her.

But the number of people spying on Zhuangzi never decreased; on the contrary, it increased.

As for the reason, it was certainly not because those people were kind-hearted and sent people to protect Song Xibai, but because they were waiting for an opportunity.

This is naturally the opportunity she will have during childbirth.

The Zhao and Guo families, among others, definitely wanted to keep the child and abandon the mother, hoping to secure their future. She didn't know what the ministers were thinking; they were probably just watching coldly. But the imperial family members would certainly care more about the child and not about her, the birth mother.

As for the Emperor and the Shu family, they probably hope she and her unborn child die together, both adults and children. It's just that too many people are watching, so they can't act yet.

Even among the Crown Prince's advisors, Song Xibai dared to say that, apart from Mr. Jin, none of them would care about his life.

Children are what they are fighting over.

But Song Xibai would never let them succeed.

We need to find a way to make them fight each other so that we can reap the benefits.

Thinking of this, Song Xibai looked at her stomach, and an idea gradually took shape.

Starting the next day, the scouts outside the manor suddenly noticed something was wrong.

The number of people patrolling and guarding outside the mansion has increased.

The people in the backyard stopped coming out.

The eunuch in charge of the kitchen was very picky about the goods delivered in the morning.

The purchase volume of medicinal herbs and fabrics increased.

There was even an extra goat with a calf!

The first to react was Zhao's spies, who immediately sent a message back home.

Soon, the head of the Zhao family learned that the woman on the estate was about to give birth!

Before long, the Zhao family began to take action.

The same applies to other parties.

All eyes in the capital were on this imperial estate.

That evening, a scream came from the backyard, startling everyone.

Commander Yue mobilized all the people he could to the outside of the delivery room, forming a dense crowd.

The screams from inside the delivery room grew louder and louder, a heart-wrenching sound.

As the sun gradually set in the west, the sky grew increasingly dark.

The gloomy horizon seemed to be lurking with ferocious beasts, greedily watching this place.

Just as night fell completely, a group of men in black suddenly burst in from outside and rushed to the outside of the mansion in no time.

Commander Yue seemed to have anticipated this, and calmly directed the troops to resist.

Swords, spears, and bows and arrows, under the cover of night, reaped lives one by one.

Soon, the first wave of enemies was wiped out outside the wall.

Before everyone could rest and bandage their wounds, they heard a series of whooshing sounds.

call out!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Countless arrows carrying fireballs shot into the front yard.

Commander Yue's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly ordered people to put out the fire.

Fortunately, there was running water in the backyard and a water tank in the front yard, so the fire was extinguished before it could grow too big.

But just as everyone was busy putting out the fire, two groups of people went around to both sides of the house, climbed over the wall, and broke into the backyard!

The two groups met outside the main courtyard almost immediately.

Their eyes met, and realizing they weren't on their side, they immediately drew their swords and charged.

The fighting was silent, and soon the ground was littered with corpses.

The survivors wiped the blood off their swords with their sleeves and kicked open the main gate of the courtyard.

Bang!

The expected panicked female relatives did not appear.

Instead, a group of fierce men wielding knives appeared.

"The Empress said, ten taels of silver for each head! Brothers, charge!"

Someone shouted, and the group rushed forward with a whoosh. With each swift movement of their blades, the assassins' heads rolled to the ground.

This stunned the third wave of assassins who subsequently scaled the wall.

"Oh no, we've fallen for their trap!"

The assassin leader realized what was happening, cursed, and turned to run.

But the soldiers in the courtyard had already rushed out, blocking their retreat.

War raged.

Meanwhile, in the secret room of the rear building, Song Xibai lay on a soft chair, drinking honey water while listening to the situation outside.

"We have already repelled the sixth wave of assassins."

"Our master is right, they have indeed all come out."

Wei Hong and Fu Liu were amazed.

Song Xibai looked up at the guard who came to report: "What is the situation regarding casualties?"

"There are more than a dozen wounded brothers, four of whom are seriously injured. Miss Dingxiang and Physician Sun are treating them. No one has died yet."

"Those assassins were so weak!" Fu Liu muttered. She thought there would be heavy casualties, so she packed her things early and followed Song Xibai into the secret room.

The room itself wasn't large, but the passageway was long enough to hide quite a few people.

The group of people hiding in the main courtyard were brought by Mr. Jin through a secret passage; they were all His Highness's personal guards.

Song Xibai put down the bowl without saying a word.

She had people set up many traps outside beforehand, and even stuck two rows of poisoned porcelain shards on the wall. She also had Dingxiang prepare a lot of poison and sleeping potions.

I just hope that there won't be too many casualties on my side.

She has done all she could.

But in the end, I became ruthless and cruel. Does that mean my hands are stained with blood?

Song Xibai gave a self-deprecating laugh, quickly composed herself, and turned to Granny Fangqi.

"Granny, is everything arranged?"

Granny Fangqi nodded.

"Everything has been arranged over there, Master. Don't worry, no one will suspect anything."

"That's good. Then we'll have to trouble Granny."

“What are you saying, Master? Serving you is my duty. It’s just that the place is small, and I’m afraid you’ll have to make do for a while.”

A faint smile appeared on Song Xibai's face. He then got up from the chair, stretched his waist and limbs, and glanced outside.

"Notify Commander Yue to retreat."

The messenger, a secret guard, accepted the order and left.

Before long, Commander Yue and his men, who were guarding the front yard, began to shrink their fighting circle and retreat little by little. With the help of several layers of walls, they quickly retreated back into the secret passage.

The guards followed closely behind, returning to the secret passage.

After the last person entered the secret passage, Commander Yue summoned archers, who lined up in a row and fired their arrows in unison from all directions around the manor.

Each arrow was soaked in oil, and with a whoosh, it turned into a ball of flame, landing on the roads, rooftops, and walls that had been prepared with oil.

In just a few moments, the village was engulfed in flames.

Meanwhile, Song Xibai had already led everyone away calmly through the secret passage.

The fire burned all night, and it wasn't until dawn that the county officials and soldiers from the nearby area received the news and rushed over.

But when they arrived, all they saw was a pile of ruins.

The fire was concentrated around the perimeter of the house and did not spread outwards.

After checking around, some people discovered that the bamboo ditch that was originally built in the backyard had been diverted outside the yard at some point, forming a thin stream that blocked the spread of the fire.

In the ruins, there was not a single living person, only charred corpses scattered all over the ground, their faces unrecognizable, men and women indistinguishable, and no one able to tell who was who.