born
"Madam, it's bad, the Marquis has... passed away." A little girl ran in anxiously from the outer door, crying and shouting.
"Shut your mouth! What are you thinking? You knew that Madam's due date was approaching, and you still said such things in these few days. Do you want Madam to die?" Lanxiang ran over quickly, grabbed her arm and pulled her away. She used some force to prevent the little girl from breaking free, and scolded her in a low voice.
Lanxiang is the lady's personal maid. She was brought from her parents' home when she got married. She is the most loyal of all.
The little girl looked at Lanxiang in panic, then fixed her eyes on the lady's room, and finally knelt down skillfully to admit her mistake.
She was also confused and actually ran to the lady's room and shouted loudly. Suddenly, she felt like her head was exploding like fireworks, buzzing non-stop. She knelt on the ground trembling, feeling that life was bleak. After this incident, she would be sold at best or beaten to death at worst.
"Who did you hear this news from?" Lanxiang saw her kneeling on the ground but did not pull her up. After all, it was her own fault, and Lanxiang was not a saintly person.
"It's... it's Sister Zisu who lives next to Madam Chen from the second house." The little girl finally finished the sentence tremblingly. She choked several times during the sentence and was terrified at the thought of her future fate.
"Sister Zisu? You call her so affectionately. I guess you have received a lot of benefits from her. Otherwise, how could you have the courage to make trouble in front of the lady's room." Lanxiang scolded her harshly, her eyes wide open.
"Sister Lanxiang, I was wrong. I won't dare to do it again next time." The little girl sobbed and cried. She knelt on the ground and grabbed Lanxiang's clothes.
Lanxiang wanted to say a few more words, but she heard the lady calling her name in the house, so she took two steps back cruelly. The little girl held the hem of her clothes tightly, so Lanxiang had to grab the hem as well, and with a force, she pulled the hem out of the little girl's hand. The little girl fell to the ground because she lost her support.
She didn't dare cry out loud, nor did she dare to stand up, so she just knelt there until Lanxiang entered the room.
inside the house
"Lanxiang, what happened to the Marquis?" Madam Qin got up from the couch, supporting her belly which was about to give birth. She grabbed Lanxiang's wrist and asked, her eyes full of anxiety and fear.
"Madam... please sit down first." Lanxiang moved her lips. She couldn't bear to tell her this heartbreaking news.
"Don't hide it from me, I heard it all. Did the Marquis really die in the battle?" When Mrs. Qin said the word "death", her eyes suddenly turned red and her nose felt sore. She didn't even notice it herself, and there was a tremor in her voice.
She has always been a calm person and would never lose her composure like this.
"Madam, don't be excited. You must stay calm. The little prince is about to be born." Lanxiang was also a little flustered when she saw this. It was all her fault. If she had known that this would happen, she would have gone to the yard to guard it herself.
She didn't expect that at this critical juncture, the Marquis would die on the battlefield.
This is not a good time...
Although Mrs. Qin was extremely sad, she quickly calmed down thanks to her years of experience in cultivating her energy.
Yes, her baby is about to be born, and nothing must happen to her.
Nothing can happen to her children either.
This must be a trick played by the second branch, who want to seize the title of the Marquis after he dies in battle.
They deserve it!
That title was earned by the marquis through fighting on the battlefield, and was conferred upon him by the emperor himself in recognition of his bravery.
The title of general must not fall into the hands of the second or third wife!
Thinking of this, her eyes darkened and the hand on her belly gradually tightened.
This time she has to have a son!
Only in this way can one inherit the title naturally.
After thinking it over, Mrs. Qin pulled Lanxiang in front of her and motioned for her to come closer and listen.
......
Although Mrs. Qin managed to keep her composure, the news was still a big blow to her. She hugged her aching stomach and showed a look of pain on her face.
She had given birth to a child before, but the child died of a fever at the age of three.
Now the feeling was very familiar and she thought she must be giving birth.
Outside the delivery room, people from the second and third rooms were pacing anxiously.
Even Mrs. Chen from the second house couldn't sit still and stood up to look back and forth at the door.
She felt a little excited in her heart, and her eyes were shining brightly.
If the people in the house could not hold on, the glory of the marquis's mansion would fall on their second wife.
Thinking of this, she turned around and glanced at her husband, only to see that he was still sitting at the place farthest from the delivery room, sipping tea slowly, and the ambition in his eyes was invisible under the cover of the cup.
It is not convenient for outsiders to approach a place like the delivery room, but Madam Qin's husband, their eldest brother, the Marquis, has died, so as brothers, they should always take care of him.
Mrs. Chen glanced at the people from the third room again, but didn't take them seriously. Instead, she fixed her gaze on the door of the delivery room.
She clenched her hands hidden in her sleeves, praying in her heart that she would not be able to give birth to this child, or that she would give birth to a daughter. At least the title must be given to their second wife.
At this time, the door of the delivery room opened and basin after basin of blood was brought out. Although Mrs. Chen was a little scared, she was still too excited, as if wealth and glory were about to be within her reach.
Although the people of the third branch did not do anything harmful, they were unwilling to let the second branch inherit the title. After all, their relationship with the eldest brother was better. If Madam Qin gave birth to a daughter safely, they would go and cry and accuse the second branch of its evil ambitions, and they might have a chance to inherit the title.
Yes, the third branch knew everything the second branch did. Although they did not add fuel to the fire, they did not stop it either. After all, fame, wealth and power are very attractive, and they, the third branch, also want to compete for the title of Marquis!
In the delivery room
Mrs. Qin gritted her teeth and persevered, she knew that this pregnancy would not be smooth.
There was a group of people with bad intentions waiting outside the door to kill her.
She didn't scream. She had to save some strength because she wanted to give birth to the baby safely.
This is her and the Marquis's flesh and blood, and also her hope.
Mrs. Qin endured for a long time, and finally with a push, the baby's cry echoed loudly in the house.
She signaled the midwife not to speak and tremblingly stood up from the bed.
"Is it a son or a daughter?" She was still panting, her voice a little weak, and it was obvious that she was very tired.
Lan Xiang quickly half-knelt in front of the bed and brought the child to Madam Qin. "It's the fourth lady."
It's a daughter...
Mrs. Qin was not too disappointed because she had made sufficient preparations beforehand. She signaled Lanxiang that they could take action.
The door of the tightly closed delivery room opened again, and Lanxiang walked in front of everyone holding the child.
The originally scattered crowd now gathered around, first offering hypocritical congratulations, and then glancing at the baby, as if trying to see through the quilt to determine the baby's gender.
"Our wife gave birth safely, the masters and ladies can rest assured." The meaning of her word "rest assured" was particularly intriguing. The people from the second and third rooms looked at each other, and they all saw malicious looks on each other's faces.
"Giving birth to a child? Is it a son?" Madam Chen squeezed to the front and stretched out her hand to lift the small quilt. She had clearly asked the doctor who took Madam Qin's pulse before, and he was told that this baby was most likely a daughter. How come it was a son? She still stretched her head to take a look without giving up.
Lanxiang didn't stop her, but just scolded her for being too rude.
Mrs. Chen lifted the quilt and saw that it was indeed a boy. Everyone was a little disappointed, but their faces froze for a moment and then quickly returned to their normal expressions.
Lanxiang quickly tucked the quilt in to protect the child from the cold and said, "Mrs. Chen is so anxious. What's her intention? Is she really thinking about our wife?"
She called the maid beside her and asked her to carry the child into the delivery room.
"What do you mean? How dare you, a slut, humiliate me?" Madam Chen heard the sarcasm in her words and threatened to slap her in the face, but the hand raised in the air was stopped by the master of the second house.
"Your kindness is beyond our Madam's comprehension."
"Zi Su, who is by your side, sent someone to deliver a message to our courtyard. Knowing that our wife was about to give birth, she still brought in the news that the general had died in battle, for fear that our wife would give birth to a child and block your path to the title?" Lanxiang addressed her as "you" with a certain degree of irony.
"Could it be that Madam Chen is acting this way under the instruction of the Second Master?" Lan Xiang was now as bold as a bear and a leopard, killing everyone at the door. Everyone present was more or less ridiculed by her clever mouth.
Lanxiang argued with the scholars to get rid of the group of people. She looked deeply at the place where they left, then walked into the delivery room without looking back.
"Are they all gone?" Mrs. Qin was trying hard not to fall asleep. She needed to know what the ending was.
"Everyone has left, ma'am." Lanxiang's tone was unusually soft now, and she didn't seem to have the harsh words she had before.
"Thanks to you, my child and I were able to survive this disaster." She patted Lanxiang's hand soothingly, with a smile in her eyes.
"I have been following Madam since I was young, so naturally I will always consider Madam's best interests."
"Remember, if you want to send the boy back safely, don't let anyone find out."
Lanxiang nodded lightly and agreed.
"Madam, please give the fourth girl a name." Lanxiang brought the Marquis's real flesh and blood to Madam Qin, lifted the corner of the quilt a little, revealing the cute and innocent little face.
"Our fourth young lady is so pretty. She has inherited the best qualities of the Madam and the Marquis. She will definitely be a beauty in the future." Lanxiang smiled and moved the fourth young lady closer to Madam Qin so that she could see her more easily.
"You only know how to say nice things to make me happy. She is still so young and wrinkled, how can she look beautiful?" Mrs. Qin said this while still looking at her newborn baby with eager eyes.
"The Marquis had already chosen a name for the child before he left for the war. If it's a boy, he'll be named Yan Huaiqi, and if it's a girl, he'll be named Yan Chan."
Madam Qin recalled the scene of that day when the Marquis wrote two names in the study and handed them to her.
The Marquis said that he liked the weather in July, so he named his son Huai Qi.
Mrs. Qin was looking at the two big locust trees outside the house. The locust trees had lived for a hundred years. She hoped that her children could live a long life, so she picked up a brush and wrote the word "locust" next to the word "huai".
The Marquis also thought the word was wonderful and changed Huai Qi to Huai Qi.
As for her daughter's name, she chose it herself.
The word "cicada" does not have any deep meaning. It was just that the day she first met the Marquis was a hot summer day. She was still in her boudoir and walked by with an umbrella while going out for a walk. It happened that the cicadas were chirping non-stop, so she stopped and looked up at the tree. She accidentally saw a man in white sitting on the tree, with his hand on his half-bent leg and the other leg hanging naturally, smiling at her.
At that time, the Marquis was not yet a Marquis, but just an ordinary man who had just joined the army.
But he was handsome, and Mrs. Qin could not forget him at first sight and kept him in her heart ever since.
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