Xiao Yunzhu, her face clouded with doubt yet her voice still soft and sweet, said, “Third Cousin, why do you speak so? Your bond with Miss Chen is as steadfast as gold, as deep as the sea—I was moved by it and yielded the position of Third Young Madam so that you two might remain together for life. Is this not exactly what you wished for? Why, then, are you still unhappy?”
He Baoyan: “…I never meant to break the engagement!”
To him, taking Chunsi as a concubine and marrying Yunzhu as a wife were not contradictory, not mutually exclusive. Angry and anxious, he said, “Yunzhu, can’t you be reasonable? Even if Chunsi enters first, I will never favor a concubine over a wife. I will give you the dignity due a principal wife! Why must you fuss over such a small matter?”
Xiao Yunzhu truly could not fathom his thinking. “You take a concubine before marrying, and claim you won’t favor her over me? That’s like a criminal saying he’s a good man. Who would believe it?”
He Baoyan, realizing she minded Chunsi entering first, explained, “Yunzhu, we didn’t mean to shame you—we had no choice! Chunsi is three months pregnant. She will give birth before our wedding. I cannot let my child be born fatherless.”
Chen Chunsi, craving sour foods and carrying a pointed belly, had secretly consulted an experienced midwife, who declared it must be a boy. He Baoyan could not bear to see her miscarry.
A concubine was beneath a wife, but at least it was a recognized status, better than being a mistress.
Xiao Yunzhu’s face showed shock. “…Pregnant?!”
She had read many storybooks, knew of moonlit trysts between men and women, but in those tales, they spoke of poetry and ideals, not pregnancy. Children came only after marriage. This was beyond her comprehension.
He Baoyan, embarrassed, pressed on. “Yes! A child of the He family cannot be left outside!”
Chen Chunsi bit her lip, covering her face with a handkerchief, speaking shyly: “Sister Yunzhu looks down on me—I accept that. But women are weak, mothers are strong! The Third Young Master wants me to enter first for the child’s sake. All fault is mine, but the child is innocent. I beg your mercy!”
Xiao Yunzhu’s eyes involuntarily fell to her waist. Her wide gown made her look merely plump; no sign of pregnancy was visible.
Chen Chunsi laid a hand on her belly, pitifully saying, “Sister Yunzhu, when the child is born, he will be given to you to raise, as if I bore him for you. He will call you Mother and honor you all his life! As for me, I will retreat to a country estate, never return to the household, never see the Young Master or the child again.”
He Baoyan sighed. “No need for that. Yunzhu will be his true mother, you his birth mother—you both are his mothers.”
Xiao Yunzhu looked from Chen Chunsi to he Baoyan, her resolve to break the engagement firming. Too foolish, too vile. She could not endure it.
How brazen—wanting not only to enter first, but to have the child registered under her name, claiming the status of legitimate heir.
He Baoyan said solemnly, “Yunzhu, you have always been a kind girl…”
Xiao Yunzhu sprang to her feet, beaming. “Third Cousin, Miss Chen—this is wonderful news! A great joy! Come, let’s tell Aunt at once!”
Without waiting, she pulled Chen Chunsi along.
He Baoyan: “Wait…”
Xiao Yunzhu turned back with a smile. “Wait for what? Aunt has only one son; she’s longed for a grandson. Let’s give her a surprise!”
Whether Aunt could bear such a surprise was another matter.
He Baoyan instinctively grew flustered. “Sister Yunzhu, don’t be hasty…”
Xiao Yunzhu said nothing, only quickening her pace toward Madam Jiang’s Ruixiang Courtyard.
Chen Chunsi played along—appearing to struggle, but with little force—walking no slower than Xiao Yunzhu herself.
Madam Jiang was in the hall managing affairs. When a maid reported that her niece had arrived, she said coldly, “Tell her I’m busy…”
Before the words were finished, Xiao Yunzhu pulled Chen Chunsi inside, radiant with joy. “Congratulations, Aunt! Felicitations, Aunt!”
Madam Jiang frowned. “What joy is this?”
She knew her son had gone to Xiao Yunzhu yesterday, proposing that Chen Chunsi enter first. But Xiao Yunzhu should have been angry, hurt, running to complain to the old madam, perhaps even demanding the betrothal be broken. How could she be smiling?
Xiao Yunzhu pointed to He Baoyan behind her. “Ask Cousin yourself!”
He Baoyan glanced at his mother, unable to speak. He knew well—though she longed for a grandson, she would not welcome Chen Chunsi bearing his child.
Madam Jiang sensed trouble, waved the stewards away, dismissed all attendants but Qiao Xiu, then frowned at her son. “Baoyan, what disaster have you made now?”
He Baoyan: “…Nothing much.”
Xiao Yunzhu laughed. “Cousin is too modest!”
Turning to Madam Jiang, she teased, “Don’t think Cousin only makes trouble. This time, he’s achieved a great merit!”
Madam Jiang lifted her teacup. “What merit?”
Xiao Yunzhu gently pushed Chen Chunsi forward. “He’s given Miss Chen a child. You’re about to have a grandson!”
She had not revealed it before the stewards—not for the sake of mother and son, but for her grandmother. Of the uncle’s four sons, the three born of concubines were mediocre scholars; only He Baoyan had passed the licentiate exam, and Grandmother pinned her hopes on him.
*Pfft!* Madam Jiang spat tea everywhere.
Xiao Yunzhu, anticipating, had already stepped behind Chen Chunsi, avoiding the spray.
Qiao Xiu hurried to dab her mistress’s collar, but Madam Jiang ignored it, demanding, “What did you say?!”
Xiao Yunzhu beamed. “Miss Chen is three months pregnant. You’re about to be a grandmother!”
Madam Jiang slammed the table, shouting, “Impossible!”
Yet even as she spoke, her eyes fell on Chen Chunsi’s waist. Not obvious, but a little thickened. Without the word “pregnant,” one might think she had simply grown plump. With it, the figure did resemble that of an expectant woman. She had never bothered to look closely at Chen Chunsi before, and had missed the change.
Xiao Yunzhu smiled. “Aunt, a belly cannot be faked. Cousin himself has said he is the father.”
Madam Jiang glared at Chen Chunsi, grinding her teeth. “Shameless little slut!”
Last year, Chen Chunsi had barely entered the household before seducing He Baoyan in secret. Madam Jiang had thought to stop it, then reconsidered—better to use Chen Chunsi to force Xiao Yunzhu to withdraw. If the scandal broke, even if the old madam grew angry, she could not blame Madam Jiang. Chen Chunsi was the old madam’s kin, not hers.
If Xiao Yunzhu endured it and did not break the betrothal, she and Baoyan would still be estranged, husband and wife not of one heart. Then Baoyan would not forget his mother after marriage. Either way, it benefited her.
So she had deliberately indulged them, even encouraged Chen Chunsi, creating opportunities. Yet she had warned Baoyan again and again: sons of great houses might indulge, but must never father a child before marriage. She had ordered the matrons in his quarters to watch carefully—whoever lay with him must be dosed with abortifacient soup.
And yet Chen Chunsi was pregnant!
Where had it gone wrong? Had the matrons been bribed? Or had Chunsi tricked them?
Three months, hidden flawlessly! Had all the maids and matrons serving Baoyan died?!