Ning Yan immediately snapped out of her daze, "Huh? No, no, no, let's just buy some to eat. Chickens are too noisy and smell too strong. Your wife wants to sleep in every day and doesn't want to be overwhelmed by the stench."
She and the old Taoist priest got a total of more than 30,000 taels of silver from the Ji family. They split it in half, and she got more than 10,000 taels. She would never have to do anything in her life, and the silver would be enough for her.
Er Ya pouted, "Buying it is too expensive!" But since Madam disagreed, she didn't dare to say anything more.
"Silly girl, if you have nothing to do, go to the street and buy something nice for your wife."
Er Ya stopped talking. The food at home was already very good, and the lady didn't seem to have much money. They should save that little bit of money.
Time flies, and good news came from the Marquis of Wuyang's mansion: the second young mistress, who was also the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Rites, was more than a month pregnant.
Then, someone finally brought up the story of the vanished Taoist priest and his poor disciple (after all, he died without ever having a name).
At the same time, Ji Wuyou presented the formula for conceiving a child and the formula for conditioning the body at the Empress's birthday banquet.
The emperor was eager for a legitimate son, so he immediately appointed Ji Wuyou as an assistant minister in the Ministry of Revenue, promoting him two ranks. Ji Wuyou was now riding high on success.
The Emperor only has two sons and one daughter. There are so many concubines in the palace who don't have children. Knowing that the Ji family has such a good thing, who wouldn't want it?
The Ji family mansion suddenly became lively. The gatekeepers were so busy receiving invitations that their hands were sore. The second madam's child was three months along and the pregnancy was stable. She was either hosting banquets at home or going out to attend banquets. A small birth certificate became her ladder to the upper class.
When Ning Yan heard the news at home, her smile was masked by a mocking gaze.
Some people, you only need to tempt them a little, and they'll ruin themselves.
Two more months passed, and on New Year's Eve, good news spread throughout the palace: seven concubines were pregnant, but the empress was nowhere to be found.
The emperor having an empress should have been a joyous occasion, but because of these seven pregnant women, chaos erupted in the palace.
After the palace banquet, the Emperor went to the Empress's palace. He had been spending most of his time with the Empress lately, only occasionally visiting the other concubines, yet all the others who did visit her became pregnant, while the Empress, who had been working so hard, did not.
When it was revealed that the seven concubines were pregnant, one can imagine how the Empress felt. The Emperor immediately sent people to investigate.
In less than two hours, the Emperor's men discovered that all seven concubines had been given fertility pills by Consort Ji, but the pills he made using the fertility formula had no effect on the Empress.
The emperor was not satisfied and planned to spend the rest of his days working hard in the empress's palace until she conceived a legitimate son.
Ji Wuyou, who was not qualified to attend the palace banquet, was completely unaware of this at the time.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the families of several imperial concubines sent him gifts of gratitude, which made him extremely happy.
He consequently grew to value Cui Shi even more, but he could no longer recall the three women, including the First Madam and her son.
March arrived in the blink of an eye.
News spread from the Ji family that the First Madam had passed away.
The once high and mighty First Madam died a gruesome death. Her abdomen swelled up like a small basin, and she was as thin as a bamboo pole, as if a layer of human skin had been wrapped around her skeleton, making her unrecognizable as a human.
The First Madam's funeral was extremely simple; her body lay in state for only three days before being carried out and buried.
Originally, Ji Wuyou was afraid that his in-laws would cause him trouble, but now he was riding high and didn't take his father-in-law, the vice minister, seriously at all.
Because of the death of the first wife, her two children were finally released. However, the younger girl was barely alive, and the older one became silent and stopped speaking altogether.
As for the maids and servants who served the First Madam, they disappeared without a trace after the First Madam's death.
Ning Yan finally took action; having nothing else to do, she went to assist a midwife.
None of the three family members understood what she was up to, but since she was the master and they were the servants, they could only watch helplessly.
Before they knew it, it was the day the second wife was to give birth.
The people of the Ji family hurriedly summoned a midwife, but the midwife they had arranged in advance, Zhang, had gone out of town to help with childbirth and had not appeared.
She put on makeup and dressed up as an old woman in her fifties, claiming that her surname was Hou and that she had delivered countless children, all of whom had given birth safely. The servant was so desperate that he took Ning Yan to the Ji residence.
At this moment, the Ji family was in a state of chaos, with Madam Ji, Master Ji, and Ji Wuyou all waiting outside the delivery room.
Ning Yan followed Granny Wu into the delivery room, washed and cleaned her hands, and then examined Cui Shi. Her voice was also old-fashioned, "Don't rush, it's just the beginning of labor, there's still a long way to go before delivery. This is the second madam's first pregnancy, so it will definitely be slow."
Moreover, the second wife's belly is quite large this time, so it would be best if she got up and walked around the house and courtyard. She could rest when the pain subsided, and continue walking once the contractions were over; at least that would make the delivery faster.
Another midwife chimed in, "The belly is indeed quite big."
Granny Wu's brows furrowed with worry.
She also felt that the lady's pregnancy was a bit large, and was afraid that it would be difficult to give birth, so she quickly helped the second lady out of bed to walk.
The second wife's face contorted in pain, but she was determined to leave.
Strangely enough, she was very careful about her diet during her pregnancy, eating small meals frequently and only eating until she was 80% full. However, she didn't gain weight, but her belly grew bigger day by day, like someone else was pregnant with twins. But after Dr. Yi took her pulse, he found that it wasn't true at all; there was only one baby in her belly.
Hearing the midwife say that her belly was big, she became even more worried.
The master and servant walked into the courtyard. The old lady asked in confusion, "Why did you come out? Is this alright?"
Ning Yan deliberately said, "Second Madam's pregnancy is quite large this time, so it might be difficult to give birth. Walking around might make it easier."
The old lady, being shrewd and experienced, gave her second son a wink. The two of them left the courtyard and walked to the willow tree outside. After confirming that no one else was around, she spoke softly, "Those babies in the village that are too big usually have difficult births. You'er, don't be confused later."
"Mother, what do you mean?"
"In case of a difficult delivery, remember to save the baby."
Our family has few children; you tried for five years and only managed to have three children…
Ji Wuyou's gaze was deep and unfathomable. Moreover, he knew he would never be able to have any more children.
Therefore, the fetus in Cui's womb must be born.
"Mother, I know what to do."
His longing for a son was even greater than his mother's; he was truly beyond saving.
The child in Cui's womb was the last child of his life.
We absolutely cannot allow anything to go wrong!
Ning Yan stood in a corner of the courtyard wall, her expression calm, neither happy nor sad.
She had exceptional hearing; even though the two people outside the wall were speaking very softly, she could hear them clearly. This was an outcome she had anticipated long ago; after all, everyone looks out for themselves.
For men like Ji Wuyou, women are symbols of power and status, helpers in managing the household, decorations, status symbols, and objects that can be discarded at any time.
Talking about love with him is ridiculous; in his heart, power is the most important thing. (End of Chapter)
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