The guard turned around.

"Wait a minute." Qiao Zhen called him back. "Twenty strokes of the cane seem a bit too little for them. Stop when they can no longer make a sound. Tell this to the mother and daughter as well."

Not long after the guards left, Qiao Zhen stopped hearing the cries of Aunt Qiao and Qiao Ayun.

With a conflicted expression, Qiao's mother said, "Won't the villagers think we're being too ruthless?"

"Where is the harshness?" Qiao Zhen retorted. "What my daughter just said wasn't just a simple piece of advice for her father; it was all true. Our whole family's lives are in my hands. If one day my daughter loses her footing—" she placed her hand across her neck, "then there will be a snap."

Mrs. Qiao was so frightened that her face turned pale. She immediately went into the house and told Mr. Qiao what Qiao Zhen had said.

Qiao Zhen raised an eyebrow and pulled her brother aside to talk, "Brother, how are Father and Mother's health?"

Brother Qiao smiled helplessly, "If you don't scare them, their health will be better."

Qiao Zhen casually broke off a branch beside her and played with it in her hand. "If I don't scare them, given Father's soft nature, the second branch will definitely cause trouble." She unconsciously adopted the mannerisms she used in the palace.

Brother Qiao raised his hand and rubbed Qiao Zhen's head. "No matter what, you are still my sister. My sister has grown up and has her own considerations. She is also burdened by the family. I can't help her at all."

Looking at her guilty brother, Qiao Zhen awkwardly comforted him, "What's wrong, brother? Your guilt makes me uncomfortable. Your clear-headedness is the biggest help to me. If you had pleaded for Aunt and A-Yun like Father did, I would have been in a dilemma. It's not just a dilemma, the Empress's dignity would have been trampled underfoot."

She seemed to have thought of something, so she looked around and asked, "Hey? Where's Liang?"

Brother Qiao laughed and scolded, "Ever since that rascal had his sister, he's been taking her to school every day. The teacher and his wife also have a son who's about the same age as Ah Liang, so they help us take care of him."

"Does my little niece have a name yet?" Qiao Zhen asked with great interest.

Brother Qiao shook his head and warned her, "This matter still needs to be discussed with our parents."

Qiao Zhen gave a haughty snort and then turned to talk to her sister-in-law, who was drying cabbages.

At noon, Qiao's mother and sister-in-law prepared a sumptuous lunch. Qiao Zhen enthusiastically picked up her chopsticks and reached for the braised pork, but the smell of the meat aggravated her stomach discomfort. At first, she just frowned, but in the end, she couldn't bear it any longer and ran out to hug the door frame and dry heave.

Qiao's mother looked at him with reddened eyes and said, "Quickly go to the village entrance and fetch a doctor, hurry!"

Brother Qiao immediately opened the door and went out. He exchanged a few words with the neighbors and then hurriedly ran out. In the end, the doctor also followed him, panting, to the Qiao family's courtyard.

Qiao Zhen sat in the room with a pale face, and the dishes on the table had already been cleared away. "I'm fine, maybe I ate too much cold food this morning."

Mrs. Qiao was still worried and insisted that the doctor take her pulse, saying, "Let the doctor take a look first."

Qiao Zhen could only expose her arm. The doctor placed a smooth handkerchief on Qiao Zhen's wrist and then took her pulse. He checked her pulse twice more. "Congratulations, Madam! Congratulations! You are pregnant. It has been almost a month. Your pulse is very stable. There is no need to worry."

Overjoyed, Mrs. Qiao wept. "Good! Good! Thank you, doctor." She took two handfuls of copper coins from a box in the yard, put them in a brocade pouch, and handed it to the doctor. "Thank you, doctor."

The doctor accepted the brocade pouch without any hesitation, saying, "It's my duty, congratulations."

Qiao Zhen was completely bewildered. She stared blankly at her flat stomach. She had recently been engaged in a fierce battle with Ye Shangzhou. How could the fetus be so stable?

Xiao Ling: [Because of the setting, your child with Ye Shangzhou is very resilient. Don't worry about miscarriage or anything like that; those are nonexistent. Feel free to do whatever you want!]

Qiao Zhen: [What's the meaning of this setup? Is it destined that I'll have his baby or something?]

Xiao Ling: [Strictly speaking, your interpretation is completely devoid of any connection to the cat.]

Qiao Zhen: [I want to cry. You don't know, in this era, medical technology was backward. Giving birth was like losing half your life, or having both feet on the verge of death.]

Xiao Ling: [Wouldn't that be perfect for ending this mission early? Everything's in the perfect spot!]

Qiao Zhen: She shouldn't have discussed such a profound topic with Xiao Ling.

Xiao Ling waited a long time for Qiao Zhen's reply, followed by a red exclamation mark after the question mark.

It's dead, its system is dead. I really want to slap cold, hard code all over Qiao Zhen's face.

I was so angry that the data became unstable.

In the afternoon, Qiao Zhen left four guards at the Qiao family courtyard, then walked to the village entrance, took a carriage, and returned home. She had arrived joyfully, but left with mixed feelings. "Don't tell His Majesty about today's events. I wanted to give him a surprise. If you ruin it, not only will I be furious, but His Majesty will be extremely angry too."

"Yes," the guard leader replied.

After Qiao Zhen returned to the palace, she did not tell Ye Shangzhou about what had happened. It was unclear what conflicting feelings she had, but perhaps she was sulking with the setting.

Qiao Zhen had a poor appetite for many days, so Ye Shangzhou coaxed her to eat bite by bite, but took the food away just before Qiao Zhen got angry.

The turning point came during a few rains in late autumn. Those days, thick clouds covered the sun, casting large shadows. After a downpour, there were several more drizzles.

But Ye Shangzhou's legs would ache terribly on rainy days, especially on this rainy day. The pain was so intense that the veins on his forehead bulged, and he would occasionally let out an uncontrollable groan, with beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!