T/N: As you all can see from the title… Sui’er finally gives birth!!
The third Prince raised his eyes and stared at Xiao Heng, his eyes seemingly wanting to see through the latter.
“Why did you take her as your concubine?” The third Prince gnashed his teeth as he uttered each word.
“Why can’t I?” Xiao Heng’s eyes were as cold as ice, but the tone in which he said those words was very light as if it was as it should be.
The third Prince set his gaze on Xiao Heng, clenched his teeth, and took a deep breath before suddenly speaking up, “Ah Heng, she is my woman!”
She is my woman…
The Old Madam, who was rushing over, happened to hear him just as he said this. She couldn’t dare to believe her ears.
This pavilion with flowerbeds was very close to the main room where the Old Madam lived, so when a quick-witted maid realized that the situation was wrong, she hurried over to report it to her.
When the old lady heard this, she was so shocked that she couldn’t take another step.
“Ah Luo, this… what does this mean? Did I mishear his words?”
Ah Luo was the Madam’s boudoir name1Boudoir name [闺名] – Women had boudoir names, which was neither their first name nor their surname. It was only known to their family members..
The Madam also felt that she might have misheard it but seeing at the third Prince’s behavior and Xiao Heng’s ice-cold expression as he stood protectively in front of Gu Sui’er, she had no choice but to acknowledge it.
“Perhaps there is some misunderstanding.” The Madam could only comfort the old lady like this.
While the two were talking, Xiao Heng was looking at the third Prince coldly. He shot a glance at the third Prince as if he was looking at a madman, and pulled Gu Sui’er’s hand, wanting to shield her as she went forward to leave.
The third Prince, however, barred their way as soon as they took a step: “You can’t go. Ah Heng, you have to make things clear! Whom the child in her womb belongs to must be clarified!”
This sentence shocked a group of people even more.
Gu Sui’er was Xiao Heng’s concubine, so of course, the child in her womb would be Xiao Heng’s. Yet the third Prince said whom the child in her womb belongs to must be clarified.
Everyone was astounded.
Gu Sui’er was also struck dumb.
She went weak at the knees and her mind seemed to have turned into mush. She didn’t understand what was going on with this third Prince. Why was he so set on tarnishing her reputation?
Her hands and lips shook so much from anger that she could barely speak. Now that she heard the third Prince say this, she finally couldn’t stand it anymore and said: “You…you… How can you ruin my reputation?! I don’t know you at all. Why are you saying otherwise?”
The third Prince’s eyes were already red, but now that he heard Gu Sui’er’s words, he gritted his teeth and said hatefully, “How could you not know me? Didn’t you see me in the Xu family’s inn in the town near the foot of XuShan? Y-you—— That night, you and me obviously…”
He didn’t understand what happened. How could she turn into Xiao Heng’s concubine?
When Gu Sui’er heard this, her face turned white from anger.
All of this happened in front of Xiao Heng, the Old Madam and everyone else of Marquis’ family ah!
She was just a concubine. Why was this person ruining her reputation?
Feeling both indignant and aggrieved, she looked at Xiao Heng for help: “No, I have nothing to do with him. I… I had indeed seen him in the inn but it was only once! I have never… never done anything like that with him. He is slandering my innocence!”
She didn’t understand, how could this third Prince be so terrible. How could he speak those ridiculous things about her!
Xiao Heng supported her waist and said in a low voice, “No need to pay attention to him. He’s a fool who’s gone crazy.”
While he was speaking, he guarded her with his strong arms and was about to lead her back.
“I’m neither stupid nor crazy. I’m very clear-headed right now. Xiao Heng, did you forget what I told you about that night? You know I have been looking for her but you actually took her in as your concubine?”
The third Prince glared at Xiao Heng with his red eyes.
Xiao Heng handed Gu Sui’er over to Nanny An and turned around to face the third Prince who was still talking. Suddenly, he raised his hand and punched him.
The third Prince was caught off guard when he was punched right in the face. Beaten, his face turned red and blood gushed out from his nose.
After punching him, Xiao Heng raised his brow and looked at the other man coldly: “This is my woman. She has my child in her womb. So stop talking rubbish and ruin my woman’s reputation.”
The third Prince and Xiao Heng had known each other from a very young age. They had studied and learned martial arts together. The two had also compared notes with each other many times, but it was the first time he was hit so hard by Xiao Heng.
He gritted his teeth and touched the fishy-smelling dampness under his nose. When he lowered his head and looked at it, he saw that his fingers were stained with bright red blood.
He narrowed his eyes.
It could be said that he was impulsive just now.
He was merely too shocked. Why did the girl in the inn at the foot of XuShan, who disappeared after that night, become Xiao Heng’s concubine?
He still remembered the time when Xiao Heng specially brought his concubine to the GuiYuan and declared her existence openly to the whole world.
After that, everyone in YanJing City knew that Xiao Heng had a concubine whom he doted on very much. He even rushed after the other man excitedly, trying to make fun of him.
But he would have never thought that Xiao Heng’s concubine was precisely the girl he was looking for!
“You deliberately did this, didn’t you? You knew she was my woman, yet why did you purposely make her your concubine?”
However, when he said this, Xiao Heng punched him again.
“You are sick.”
Accompanying Xiao Heng’s punch were three chilling words squeezed from between the gap of his teeth.
“Xiao Heng, you are going too far!”
The third Prince was furious. He clenched his fists and dashed over to Xiao Heng’s side.
The two men began a round of punching and kicking abruptly.
The eldest Young Master couldn’t react at first. He didn’t understand why they had to fight over a concubine and the child in her womb. As a matter of fact, wasn’t everything clear?
By the time he figured out what he should do, the two had already started fighting.
What else could he do? He could only step forward and try to calm them down quickly.
Standing some distance away, the Old Madam and the Madam were also bewildered. Surprisingly, the old lady was the first one who snapped out of a daze.
“What a sin ah! What kind of insanity is this! Go and pull them apart! You all, go!”
The servants of the Marquis residence and the guards of the third Prince all rushed over together. However, the two men fought so fiercely that even the guards were knocked down and a great commotion ensued.
And Gu Sui’er stood there, confused. She didn’t understand what was going on anymore. Why did this man suddenly appear and say that they had something to do with each other? How could he think the child in his belly was his… She only saw him once ah…
That night, it was clearly Xiao Heng! It couldn’t possibly be anyone else.
Under the moonlight, she saw the eyes of the man above her clearly.
How could a woman forget the appearance of a man who wants her!
Why did this third Prince casually slander her innocence in front of so many people?
If a woman lost her innocence, not to mention in a noble family like the Marquis family, even if it was in an ordinary family of the countryside, it would be difficult for her to have a footing.
No one knew better than Gu Sui’er how important it was to have a good reputation and how terrible rumors were.
Her train of thoughts swirled around the word ‘innocence’.
She stared at Xiao Heng and the strange man blankly as they fought…
The world around her seemed to be spinning. She couldn’t understand why she had to encounter these things…
At this moment, there was a burst of sharp pain in the lower abdomen. This kind of pain made her unable to stand on her feet any further.
“Young Mistress… Young Mistress, what’s wrong with you?!”
“Not good— Young Mistress is about to give birth!”
Nanny An and the maids cried out so loudly that the Old Madam standing at some distance also discovered that Gu Sui’er’s skirt was already soaking wet. Even the place where she was standing was wet and there were even some drops of blood. She was really going to give birth.
At this time, the two Young Madams and Xiao Jin also rushed over, shouting for the doctor and trying to mediate the worked-up people.
It was in this commotion that Gu Sui’er fell down and lost consciousness.
Xiao Heng usually has a cold temperament, but at this time, his face was gloomy, just like the sky before the onset of a storm.
He and the third Prince fought for a while before he finally found a breakthrough and harshly kicked the third Prince away.
“Xiao ZhiJin, get lost!”
After roaring this sentence in a low voice, he picked up Gu Sui’er, who was about to fall to the ground and rushed towards TingZhu Courtyard.
********************
No matter when it was, giving birth to a child could always be considered comparable to taking a trip down to the gates of hell.
Let alone for Gu Sui’er, a person whose belly was incredibly big and whose frame was especially slender when compared to the other women.
She still hadn’t given birth until noon the next day.
Xiao Heng stood in the yard expressionlessly, his ice-cold face was as cold as the snow collected on the window frame. His thin lips were pursed like a sword.
Once in a while, the sounds of weak groans and hums came from the room; as if its owner wanted to cry out but didn’t have enough strength to do it and hence, it was intermittent.
Every time he heard a groan, his brows furrowed a little more.
And beside him was the third Prince, Xiao ZhiJin.
There was blood under the third Prince’s nose. The lapel of his robe also had some dried bloodstains. Furthermore, his hair was somewhat disheveled.
He cut an extremely sorry figure now, but he didn’t seem to care about it at all.
He frowned as he heard the woman’s weak voice from inside.
The Old Madam was resting in the next room. She sighed wearily amidst Gu Sui’er’s intermittent cries of pain.
“How are things going over there?”
The maid next to her, RuYi, replied respectfully, “The midwife surmised that it will be over soon.”
The Old Madam heard her words. She closed her eyes without any further words and dozed off.
However, after a while, her voice sounded again, “Are the two of them outside?”
This RuYi had always been competent. As soon as she heard this, she knew that the Old Madam was asking about the third Prince and third Young Master.
It was a laughable situation. Between the two people were waiting outside the delivery room, no one was willing to leave, not even to drink some water or to eat.
Both of them sincerely believed that the child in Gu Sui’er’s womb belonged to them.
RuYi pursed her lips tightly, suppressing the chuckle bubbling up in her heart. She replied in a low but compliant voice: “The third Prince and the third Master have no intention of leaving. They are waiting outside the delivery room.”
The Old Madam sighed: “This is a sin ah! What is going on here? Whose child is in Sui’er’s belly?! Both of them won’t say anything whenever they’re asked of this matter! What should we do then? The two of them are about the same age and always had a good relationship. They studied and learned martial arts together since they were children. We shouldn’t let this incident cause a rift between them…”
Just at this time, the Madam came in and heard this. She asked RuYi to withdraw and then said, “Mother, no matter whether this child belongs to the third Prince or to Ah Heng, it’s the same for us. Now, I hope that Sui’er can give birth safely. We can’t afford it if something happens to her.”
When the old lady heard it, she felt helpless at the ridiculousness of the situation: “Yes, it’s all the same. It makes no difference to us!”
However, after thinking about it, she said again: “But this still has to be clarified. This can’t be left vague ah!”
The Madam said: “Mother, in my opinion, Ah Heng has always been a scrupulous person; he doesn’t like to play around with women. If he said that Sui’er’s child is his, it is naturally his. Besides, since Sui’er entered the residence a few months, I, as a mere bystander, have noticed that Ah Heng is indeed very fond of her. As for the third Prince, he is a bit wanton in that aspect. Who knows which woman he has had a relationship with this time. Perhaps he doesn’t even remember it himself.”
In fact, the Old Madam had thought about this many times: “Your words are reasonable. Ah Heng was raised by us, so I naturally believe in Ah Heng. He is not that muddled. It’s just that the third Prince created a big turmoil this time. If this matter spreads, it’d become a big joke and His Majesty will be bound to deal with it personally.”
The Madam: “Mother is right. His Majesty already knows about it and will presumably, send an imperial decree asking the third Prince to enter the Palace shortly. As for our side, all the people in the residence are strictly disciplined. I have relayed instructions that they are forbidden from speaking a word about this. It won’t get out.”
The Old Madam was relieved when she heard that her daughter-in-law had handled it well: “I’ll leave this matter to you. It won’t do if a maid or a guard leaks a word regarding this issue. But just in case, if anyone dares to babble nonsense, find a way to deal with them without leaving a trace.”
The Madam nodded: “Don’t worry, mother. I will certainly handle this carefully. This matter is not only related to our Marquis RuiDing residence’s reputation but also the third Prince’s and even the entire Imperial family’s reputation. There will never be any oversights. Everyone in our residence understands the severity of the situation. They will naturally abide by the rules.”
Actually, the Madam was not really worried about this aspect. In all these years, she had managed the residence competently. The subordinates would never dare to go out and speak arbitrary words.
Old Madam: “En, that’s good. They must not go out and spread this incident by any means, or it will become a massive issue. You go out first and ask about Sui’er’s situation.”
While the two women were talking in this room, they heard the sound of the announcement of the good news coming from the side of the delivery room.
“Congratulations, third Master. Congratulations, Old Madam, Madam. The Young Mistress gave birth to a white and chubby Little Young Master!”
Thanks for reading ٩(๑ᴗ๑)۶! If you found any typos or want to suggest some corrections, feel free to do so in the comment section or on our discord server. And if you like my translations, please consider rating it on NU and supporting me on: