Fourth Master frowned, but did not respond to Cui Ling's words. Instead, he walked up to Madam Nian, looked at her, and seeing that she was sleeping soundly, he remained silent.

"Su Peisheng, reward him!" After handing the child to Aunt Gu, Fourth Master turned and walked out of the house.

When Cuiling and the others saw that Fourth Master had left without spending much time with Nian Shi, they all felt that it was because of Gu Gu's words earlier, and they were all dissatisfied with Gu Gu for speaking up for Lan Qin.

When Lanqin saw that Nian had given birth and learned that it was a boy, she finally felt relieved. She glanced at the child a few times and then went back. She had no mood or energy to stay and say those insincere words, so she left immediately.

When Cui Ling and the others saw that Lan Qin left without saying a few words to Nian Shi, they all assumed that Lan Qin was jealous, jealous that Nian Shi had given birth to a prince. However, our Comrade Lan Qin was too lazy to pay attention to the strange looks from those maids. When she had just provoked Nian Shi to give birth, she hadn't thought that much about it; she simply wanted to give birth to the child as soon as possible so that these people outside wouldn't have to wait it out.

Fourth Master headed towards the South Courtyard. When he arrived, the courtyard was almost completely dark. He patted the door a few times before a servant came to open it, light a lamp, and lead the way.

Lanqin was already in bed when she suddenly felt as if a corner of the blanket had been lifted, and a cold draft rushed in.

"Why didn't you wait for Master to come back?" Fourth Master sneaked in and immediately put his arm around her.

"I was so exhausted from giving birth that I didn't have the strength to wait until you returned, Master. How is Madam Nian? Did you go to see her?" Lanqin asked, barely opening her eyes.

"Both mother and child are safe. I heard that you deliberately provoked Nian Shi when she was giving birth?" Fourth Master asked.

"Yes, if I didn't provoke her, she wouldn't be able to give birth. I was so anxious at the time that I had no choice but to provoke her!" Lanqin said with her eyes closed. She didn't know that Cuiling had said those words to the Fourth Master, so she just told the truth.

"Yes, I knew Qin'er wasn't that kind of person. The maidservant by Nian's side really deserves a beating!" Fourth Master said, holding Lanqin in the darkness.

"Princess Nian just gave birth, shouldn't you go and see her, sir?" Lanqin really didn't have the energy to talk to the Fourth Master at the moment, she just wanted to get a good night's sleep.

“I’ve already checked. She’s exhausted and fast asleep. The new wet nurse is holding the baby so she’s sleeping. There’s no point in you staying there, Master,” said Fourth Master.

Lanqin fell silent, twisted her body, turned over, and snuggled into Fourth Master's arms to fall asleep.

The following day, the Fourth Prince had his own storehouse opened and brought out some fine items to reward Lady Nian.

When the Fourth Prince arrived at Madam Nian's courtyard with the gifts, Madam Nian was still lying in bed, but she was holding a child in her arms and asked if the Fourth Prince had come back to see her yesterday.

“Princess, you were asleep at the time. As soon as the master came back, he held our little prince and looked at him. He even gave special rewards to the midwife and Aunt Gu!” Cui Ling said.

Because of excessive bleeding during childbirth yesterday, Madam Nian's face was still pale. She felt tired after holding the baby for a while, so she put the baby boy next to her.

A greeting rang out from outside. A hint of joy flashed across Madam Nian's face, but unfortunately, she was too weak to get up. She then instructed several maids to go and pay their respects to the Fourth Master.

When the Fourth Master walked in, several maids immediately went to the door and lined up to greet him.

The Fourth Prince glanced at Cui Ling and walked past them, followed by the eunuchs carrying the rewards.

"This concubine greets Your Highness!" Lady Nian said, bowing from the bed.

"No need for formalities. I was busy in the palace yesterday, you must have had a hard day!" the Fourth Prince said. "I took some ginseng, snow swallow and snow frog from the storeroom, you can eat these first, and if you need more, just let me know. Take good care of yourself first. If you want anything to eat, just tell the kitchen."

Lady Nian felt a warmth in her heart and said shyly, "I understand. My lord, come here quickly and take a look at our little prince. He looks just like you."

The Fourth Prince walked to Lady Nian's bedside, sat down, and personally picked up the little prince who was placed beside the bed. Actually, the child looked more like Lady Nian.

"My lord, could you please not take this child away? Could you keep him with me and raise him?" Lady Nian asked, seizing the opportunity. She had given birth to a son, which would allow her to be promoted, and the child wouldn't need to be given to a concubine. So she boldly spoke to the Fourth Prince.

Upon hearing this, Fourth Master frowned and said, "I haven't even mentioned holding the child yet, why are you thinking about these things?"

Thinking that the Fourth Prince's words meant he had agreed to her request, Lady Nian immediately said shyly, "I just feel that the concubine's side has too many children, and I'm afraid it will tire her out. I'm sure I can raise my own son well."

The Fourth Prince glanced at Lady Nian, put the child down, and said, "Whether a concubine can raise the child or not is completely unrelated to whether you personally raise the Fifth Prince. The Fifth Prince is still young, so he can stay with you for now. I have to go to court, so you should rest."

Having said that, he got up and left without waiting for Madam Nian's reaction. Several servants who were carrying the rewards put the things down and followed the Fourth Master out.

"Princess, does Master mean he will or will he agree?" Cui Ling asked.

Lady Nian felt a pang of resentment. Everything had been fine until the Fourth Master's demeanor just now clearly showed that he was angry with her.

"What are you all standing there for? Quickly pack up the master's reward. I need to get better soon, so go and stew some bird's nest for me!" said Madam Nian.

Meanwhile, when Lanqin got up, the Fourth Master had already left. After being helped up by her maid, she listened to Cui Niang report on the day's events. News had been sent over about the gifts the Fourth Master had bestowed upon Madam Nian.

"Alright, don't tell me this kind of news again," Lanqin interrupted Cui Niang.

Cui Niang was about to tell Lan Qin that Nian Shi had only received these rewards from the master, and was about to say a few words of advice when Lan Qin stopped her.

“My lord, please don’t be upset. You are still young, and you will have plenty of opportunities to give birth to more children for him,” said Cui Niang.

"Cui Niang, I'm not jealous that Nian Shi gave birth to a son. Don't worry, I'm fine!" Lan Qin saw that the maids in the room were silent again.

"Alright, get everything ready for the Fifth Prince, Cui Niang!" Lanqin knew that Lady Nian was someone she couldn't bypass; she had to confront her directly.

"Yes, then I will give the order. If you really don't want to deal with it, I can take care of it for you. Just say that you are not feeling well, and they won't dare to say anything," said Cui Niang.

"No, I should still go to the occasions where I'm supposed to be there. Otherwise, people will gossip," Lanqin said. She knew that even though Fourth Master had given birth to a son, what did it matter? His heart was still with the South Courtyard.