Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Raised Under Your Name

Meng Yang snapped her head up. Qi Shu Xian’s jaw tightened as well: “Zhi Wan, why did you go that far?”

Sheng Zhi Wan turned her eyes sideways and said, “Why, was it not allowed? It’s just a title. You won’t see her again in the future, and this adds one more layer of protection. What is wrong with that?”

Meng Yang instinctively looked at Qi Shu Xian. Her pale fingertips soaked in the drizzling rainwater, and she clenched them without realizing it.

Sheng Zhi Wan caught that and the corner of her lips lifted.

In her previous life, Sheng Zhi Wan had not known Meng Yang was pregnant. After Huan Zhu persuaded her, Sheng Zhi Wan agreed to let Qi Shu Xian take Meng Yang into the manor.

Qi Shu Xian had also made the same nonsense promise just now, swearing he would never see Meng Yang again.

But what happened?

Five months later, Meng Yang, already close to giving birth, delivered a stillborn baby. Qi Shu Xian barged into Sheng Zhi Wan’s courtyard with eyes bloodshot.

Sheng Zhi Wan had been napping, and her husband pointed at her nose and cursed her as a vicious woman. Only then did Sheng Zhi Wan learn that Huan Zhu had shoved Meng Yang into the water, frightening her into an early labor.

Huan Zhu was Sheng Zhi Wan’s person, and Huan Zhu kept saying she did it for Sheng Zhi Wan, so in the end, Sheng Zhi Wan, who knew nothing at all, carried the blame for jealousy and cruelty.

Thinking of it now, Sheng Zhi Wan found it almost funny.

When Sheng Zhi Wan saw Qi Shu Xian’s ugly expression and his silence, Sheng Zhi Wan asked again, “Heir Apparent, do you think it’s not allowed? Or…” Sheng Zhi Wan smiled, her tone lazy and light, “Miss Meng is already pregnant, and you hid it from me. You were just waiting until the belly grew too big, so I would have no choice but to accept it.”

Qi Shu Xian looked startled. Qi Shu Xian had not expected Sheng Zhi Wan to already know.

But since Sheng Zhi Wan had pierced it herself, Qi Shu Xian did not bother hiding it for her feelings anymore. Qi Shu Xian nodded and admitted frankly, “Yes. Meng Yang has been pregnant for three months. So no matter what, even if I have to use my military merit to offset it, I will take responsibility for her!”

Sheng Zhi Wan looked at Qi Shu Xian and said, “So you stood here today not to beg my forgiveness, but to force me to agree. You even wanted to hide it from me and make me accept a child you had with someone else.”

Qi Shu Xian frowned and said, “I did it so you wouldn’t be hurt.”

Qi Shu Xian knew exactly how much Sheng Zhi Wan loved him and cared about him.

“Blind fools, why aren’t you holding an umbrella for the Heir Apparent and Miss Meng!” A voice suddenly rang out from outside.

A woman with gentle features, thin and delicate, hurried over with several nannies and maidservants following behind her.

Qi Shu Xian saw her and said, “Mother…”

Madam Cui looked at Qi Shu Xian with aching pity and immediately signaled a nanny to drape a cloak over him. Then Madam Cui looked at the pale-faced Meng Yang and said with the same tender sympathy, “Poor things. One is injured and one is pregnant, and yet you’re still being made to suffer here! And you too, you’re about to be a father, so how can you still not tell what comes first?”

Qi Shu Xian pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Only then did Madam Cui look at Sheng Zhi Wan on the palanquin, a trace of displeasure flashing in Madam Cui’s eyes.

Madam Cui said, “Zhi Wan, it’s not that Mother refuses to take your side. This matter is Shu Xian’s fault, but in the end it wasn’t truly his intention. Besides, you’ve been married to him for two years and still have no child. Miss Meng being pregnant is also helping the Duke Manor extend the family line. How can you be so jealous that you make her kneel in the rain?”

As Madam Cui spoke, a nanny hurried to help Meng Yang up and hold an umbrella over her.

Sheng Zhi Wan watched the scene calmly.

Sheng Zhi Wan said, “Mother, have you forgotten? On our wedding day the Heir Apparent drank himself senseless, and the next day he rushed to the battlefield. I never even consummated the marriage with him. How could I be pregnant?”

Madam Cui froze. Madam Cui had not expected Sheng Zhi Wan to speak so shamelessly and say bedroom matters out loud.

Madam Cui’s expression stiffened for a moment before Madam Cui said, “Then isn’t this even better news for Duke Qi Manor!”

Sheng Zhi Wan looked at Madam Cui and asked, “So what Mother means is that I must not only agree to let Miss Meng enter the door, but also allow Miss Meng to give birth to the child?”

Madam Cui did not expect Sheng Zhi Wan to ask something so obvious. Madam Cui’s voice turned cold as she said, “It’s a living life. If you get rid of it, that will also damage your reputation.”

Sheng Zhi Wan lowered her eyes and said, “It’s just a pity that Duke Qi Manor’s first great-grandchild will crawl out of a concubine’s belly. If word gets out, I’m afraid people will wag their tongues.”

Madam Cui cared most about face. Even though Madam Cui only came from a collateral branch of Qing He, Madam Cui loved to clutch the identity of a great clan.

When Sheng Zhi Wan first married in, Madam Cui made Sheng Zhi Wan keep to strict rules for three months. The way Sheng Zhi Wan stood, walked, sat, and lay down had all been picked at, and even how wide Sheng Zhi Wan opened her mouth while eating had been criticized.

On ordinary days, Madam Cui never stopped talking about the difference between wife and concubine, legitimate and illegitimate, and Madam Cui kept lecturing Sheng Zhi Wan about the proper bearing of a clan matron, as if reminding an imperial clan daughter-in-law at every turn.

Yet now, Madam Cui did not seem to mind at all.

Madam Cui nodded and said, “It seems you did listen to the lessons I’ve taught you these past two years. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve already thought it through. After this child is born, the child will be raised under your name. You won’t have to suffer pregnancy or childbirth, and you’ll gain a child for nothing. Where else in the world is there such a good deal?”

Sheng Zhi Wan gave a small smile. Sheng Zhi Wan said, “Mother is truly doing this for my sake.”

Madam Cui felt satisfied and said, “As long as you understand my intentions.”

Sheng Zhi Wan nodded without much feeling and said, “Mother is right. Since it’s already decided, the Heir Apparent is injured and Miss Meng is pregnant, so you should hurry and rest. If you keep standing here, anyone who doesn’t know better will think I’m narrow-minded, jealous, and unforgiving. I’m a bit tired. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back first.”

After speaking, Sheng Zhi Wan signaled the maidservants carrying the palanquin.

Madam Cui watched Sheng Zhi Wan’s back as she left, never once stepping down from the palanquin. Madam Cui’s expression darkened.

So Sheng Zhi Wan still could not shake those Imperial House Princess airs. Fine. Madam Cui would not argue about it today. Madam Cui would teach Sheng Zhi Wan the rules of being a proper daughter-in-law another day.