2
Jian’an Earl Manor, Xuehan Residence.
The maid Yaohong reported in a low voice, “Miss, Shanhu from Nanyang Marquisate sent word that Fourth Miss Tang suddenly changed her mind and decided to keep the child. She didn’t take the abortifacient.”
Keep the child?
Liu Jintong’s gaze flickered, a trace of mockery flashing in her eyes. That arrogant fool Tang Cheng would actually keep Wen Huai’an’s child? Not a chance. She had always wanted to become Fourth Prince’s woman.
Why would she settle for marrying the heir of the Wen family.
In her previous life, that fool Tang Cheng had lucked out. After successfully drugging him, she got her wish and entered the Fourth Prince’s residence. Protected by Nanyang Marquis’s trusted aides, she bore several children for the Fourth Prince.
The ridiculous part was that this fool ended up getting herself killed.
Thinking about how even after marriage, Tang Cheng was protected by Nanyang Marquis, and after her death, her children continued to receive Nanyang Marquis’s protection, Liu Jintong resented the heavens for their injustice.
Why should a dimwit like Tang Cheng be so blessed? She, the legitimate eldest daughter of the Jian’an Earl Manor, talented and beautiful, suffered endless torments in the Fourth Prince’s residence. On top of that, she had to endure that fool Tang Cheng lording over her, insulting, humiliating, and mocking her with her words.
In this life, she had sabotaged Tang Cheng’s drugging plan at that banquet.
But Tang Cheng’s luck was simply too good. She should have lost her innocence to some lecherous wastrel, but instead, she ended up with Wen Huai’an of the Duke of Zhen.
Wen Huai’an, the only legitimate son of Duke of Zhen.
Years ago, the Duke had saved the emperor at the cost of his own health, leaving him unable to have more children. He had only this one son, Wen Huai’an, and two daughters from concubines. The young heir Wen was as handsome as jade, gentle and refined with impeccable conduct, he was the ideal husband in the eyes of the countless noble ladies. The only drawback was that when the Duchess was pregnant, she had been sabotaged, causing the young heir to be born with a congenital toxin. After recovering, several senior imperial physicians declared that he would likely have difficulty producing offspring in the future.
Thinking about the humiliation she had suffered in her previous life, Liu Jintong certainly wasn’t going to stand by and watch that fool Tang Cheng bear Wen Huai’an’s children.
Even more so, she couldn’t let that unusually fertile fool Tang Cheng marry into the Duke of Zhen.
In her previous life, she had never heard of Wen Huai’an having any children before she died. Liu Jintong didn’t want her own actions to end up securing a good husband for Tang Cheng.
That little maid Shanhu couldn’t even handle a simple task. What a waste of that specially prepared abortifacient. Tang Cheng was just too fortunate—she had escaped disaster once again.
Liu Jintong was absolutely furious with the incompetent Shanhu.
“Yaohong, send word to Shanhu. Tell her that if she can persuade Tang Cheng to abort or make her drink sterilizing tea, I have a way to remove her from the servant registry and make her an official’s wife.” Liu Jintong’s expression was cold, a faint glimmer of darkness surfacing in her black eyes.
With this promise dangling before her, that ambitious Shanhu would surely spare no effort to get it done.
If it weren’t for the fact that Tang Cheng was Nanyang Marquis’s most beloved daughter, with guards around her, Liu Jintong would have destroyed her the moment she was reborn. Why bother bribing a little maid like Shanhu to do the job?
Fortunately, that fool Tang Cheng trusted her maid Shanhu implicitly.
Yaohong’s gaze flickered. “Yes,” she replied softly, then withdrew respectfully.
Liu Jintong gazed at the blooming flowers outside the window, her brow etched with indifference. Tang Cheng was merely a trivial target of revenge. Even if she didn’t lift a finger, that fool would eventually destroy herself.
But she couldn’t let it go. Liu Jintong had not forgotten how Tang Cheng had arrogantly bullied, mocked, and humiliated her in her previous life.
…
News traveled fastest from the Peony Garden. Fourth Miss Tang Cheng’s decision to keep the child immediately spread throughout the entire Nanyang Marquisate. Astonishment, curiosity, delight, regret… the reactions were varied.
The Fourth Miss was the Marquis’s most beloved daughter. Every move she made was watched closely by everyone in the household.
Just a few days earlier, this Fourth Miss had started vomiting after drinking fish soup. A worried Nanyang Marquis had called for a physician, only to have it revealed that Fourth Miss was with child.
At that time, Fourth Miss had been frantic, throwing tantrums and threatening to abort the child, causing such a huge scene that now the entire capital knew that Miss Tang was pregnant out of wedlock.
Unfortunately, Nanyang Marquis, who had always granted the Fourth Miss whatever she asked for, firmly refused to agree.
The Fourth Miss was furious and threw a massive tantrum. Being delicate and afraid of pain, she didn’t dare stage a fall to induce a miscarriage. Instead, following the advice of her trusted maid Shanhu, she secretly had Shanhu purchase abortifacient herbs. Everyone in the household knew exactly what was going on, but they simply watched indifferently as the Fourth Miss courted her own destruction.
Some were even quietly fanning the flames behind the scenes.
Tang Cheng asked Zhenzhu about the situation in the household and, combined with the original owner’s memories, understood her circumstances perfectly. She touched her belly and murmured softly to herself, “Poor baby, so many people are already plotting against you before you’re even born.”
Shanhu was just the one in plain sight. Tang Cheng wondered where she found the audacity. There was likely a hidden hand behind her. If she hadn’t arrived in time, the original owner would probably have already drunk that bowl of dark, murky abortifacient potion by now.
“Miss, this is a nourishing chicken soup made by the mansion’s head chef. Please drink it while it’s hot.”
Zhenzhu, delighted that her mistress hadn’t changed her mind, cheerfully prepared various broths and tonics for her.
As soon as Tang Cheng heard it was chicken soup, a glimmer of anticipation appeared in her eyes. She took the soup and began drinking. The soup was rich and delicious—truly the work of a master chef. It was even better than the cooking of the top chefs in the interstellar era. It was genuinely good, and Tang Cheng felt a little reluctant to finish it.
“Miss, the Duchess of Zhen has sent two experienced nursemaids to attend to you. Would you like to keep them?” Zhenzhu, seeing that her mistress had finished the soup and was in a good mood, cautiously brought up the matter.
A few days ago, when the mistress first announced her pregnancy, the Duchess had sent nursemaids over, but the mistress had angrily driven them away. Now that the Duchess had sent nursemaids again, Zhenzhu wasn’t sure if her mistress would accept them.
Tang Cheng thought to herself how lucky she was, whatever she needed seemed to arrive just in time.
“Keep them. I happen to be in need of nursemaids right now. Their arrival is perfect. Zhenzhu, go bring them in.”
She absolutely couldn’t let anything happen to the baby in her belly. Medical standards here were extremely backward, and she’d heard that conflicts in the inner quarters were fierce. One careless slip, and the baby would be gone.
Having experienced nursemaids around would make things safer. In the back courtyards of this ancient era, killing without drawing blood was common; miscarriages and deaths were everyday occurrences.
She had to protect the baby in her belly well.
Regarding the arrangements of servants in the Peony Garden, with Nanyang Marquis having given his orders, Madam Zhang, the Marchioness of Nanyang, had no say in the matter. Everything was left to Tang Cheng herself. Unfortunately, the original owner had loved being flattered by her servants.
These servants were all weather vanes, turning with the wind. Who knew how many of them were spies for others in the household?
The original owner, completely charmed by the scheming Shanhu, took her everywhere. Apart from Zhenzhu, Shanhu was the only personal attendant. Under Shanhu’s manipulation, the other maids and servants had no opportunity to get close to the original owner, let alone any nursemaids.
Fortunately, the Marquis—her father had forcefully placed Zhenzhu by her side and regularly sent people to monitor the Peony Garden. Otherwise, Shanhu would have already seized control of the Peony Garden by now.
The infuriating thing was that Shanhu was an ungrateful wretch. Not only had she extracted a fortune in gold, silver, and jewelry from the original owner, but she had also constantly incited the original owner to abort the child.
Tang Cheng loathed this Shanhu with every fiber of her being.
The original owner had a willful, delicate temperament and an extremely high pride. But before Tang Cheng’s arrival, the original owner had never harmed anyone, nor did she have blood on her hands. Aside from wanting to abort the child in her belly, her worst offense was relying on her father the Marquis’s doting affection to act out in every conceivable way, making people grind their teeth in frustration.
Zhenzhu happily acknowledged the order and returned with the two nursemaids in about a quarter of an hour. Trailing behind them was Shanhu, who was visibly agitated. The young miss had suddenly changed her plans, and Shanhu felt a sense of crisis rising within her. She thought of the promise made by that mysterious person, and her heart burned with desire.
Who wouldn’t want to be a mistress and enjoy wealth and luxury?
Now that such a golden opportunity had presented itself, of course she had to do her utmost to get it done. As soon as she learned that the Duchess of Zhen had sent nursemaids again, she had planned to act in the young miss’s name and get rid of them preemptively. But then Zhenzhu found out and stopped her, insisting on reporting the matter to the young miss instead.
Shanhu seethed with secret resentment, praying that the young miss would send the two nursemaids away just like she had the day before yesterday.
“Greetings to Fourth Miss!”
The two nursemaids had clean, pleasant appearances and gentle dispositions. Their introductions were delivered at a calm, unhurried pace, giving people a comforting feeling. They showed not the slightest trace of contempt or disdain toward Tang Cheng for being pregnant out of wedlock and having a damaged reputation—clearly, the Duchess had carefully selected them according to Tang Cheng’s temperament.
Tang Cheng was very satisfied with what she saw.
The Duchess truly valued the baby in her belly.
Zhenzhu watched her mistress’s expression nervously.
“Miss… the Fourth Prince…” Shanhu looked at her mistress with pleading eyes, bringing up the Fourth Prince—the man the young miss adored and obsessed over, hoping she would not keep the two nursemaids. With these two nursemaids around, it would not be easy for Shanhu to persuade the young miss to abort the child again.
Shanhu wasn’t foolish enough to personally induce a miscarriage.
Too many people were watching her.
If the young miss flew into a rage and the Marquis launched an investigation, she would be finished. Shanhu valued her own life highly.
The two nursemaids’ brows furrowed almost imperceptibly at Shanhu’s words. Before arriving, they had already learned that the Fourth Miss of Nanyang Marquisate trusted this maid named Shanhu implicitly.
“Shut up!” Tang Cheng snorted coldly.
Shanhu’s face flushed red. She opened her mouth in disbelief, a faint sense of panic stirring in her heart. The young miss had always been moody and unpredictable, but she had always trusted Shanhu completely. But now…
“Miss…” Shanhu wanted to struggle, to plead her case. She was the young miss’s most trusted maid. The young miss wouldn’t treat her like this.
Zhenzhu’s eyes widened in shock from the side.
“What are you still standing there for? Withdraw at once!” Tang Cheng was utterly disgusted with Shanhu, who had been urging her to abort the child. She wanted nothing more than to sell Shanhu off immediately.
But thinking about the situation in her courtyard—where aside from Zhenzhu, there was not a single trustworthy person—Tang Cheng decided to wait. She had few reliable people around her. If she sold off a servant, who knew if they might secretly defy her behind her back or if someone with ulterior motives might exploit the vacancy, leaving behind hidden dangers?
Leaving it to Zhenzhu would be no better than letting her father the Marquis handle it.
She could take the opportunity to reorganize the entire courtyard then.
“Yes!” Shanhu withdrew, struggling to hide her shame and humiliation in front of Zhenzhu and the two nursemaids.
The young miss’s actions made Zhenzhu feel immensely vindicated.
Of the two nursemaids, one was surnamed Gao and the other Cao. Both were highly skilled in caring for pregnant women. Tang Cheng didn’t ask many questions and kept them on the spot.
“I’ll be troubling you both to look after me from now on.”
Nanny Gao and Nanny Cao repeatedly insisted it was no trouble at all, inwardly surprised by the Fourth Miss’s attitude. Their task upon arriving was to properly serve this willful and capricious Fourth Miss. As long as she didn’t try to abort the heir’s child, they would be grateful to the heavens. They never expected the Fourth Miss to be so cooperative.
Both nursemaids breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Shanhu, eavesdropping outside the door, immediately darkened with dismay. With these two nursemaids from the Duke of Zhen around, persuading the young miss to abort the child in her belly would be as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Thinking of how her dream of becoming a mistress had just been shattered, Shanhu seethed with hatred toward the Fourth Miss, who had suddenly changed her mind.
**