Embroidered Phoenix Chronicle

In the afternoon, Liulian was sunbathing in the courtyard with Fengxian, while Yulan sat not far away, poking at the lotus seeds. Suddenly, they heard a commotion at the gate, mixed with a woman's cries. Liulian looked at Fengxian in surprise. Fengxian listened for a moment, then stood up, clutching her belly, and called to Yulan, "Go sit in Cuicui's room and pretend you didn't hear anything, that you know nothing! If anyone comes, just say I'm asleep. The old lady is lucky to be pregnant and doesn't care about anything!" After saying that, she pulled Liulian into the house.

"What's going on? Why are you so worried?"

"Hmph! It's most likely Hongxing'er! The old lady and the madam aren't here, and she's about to give birth, so it's hard to say what will happen! How can Liang'er let her give birth peacefully? The people at the gate are Liang'er's people! We can't get involved in this!"

"Oh!" Liu Lian nodded, realizing that this was indeed something she shouldn't get involved in! She then accompanied Feng Xian to lie down on the kang (heated brick bed).

"Xiao Qi, you think Hong Xing'er is so fat, her baby must be big, will she have a difficult birth?"

"Elder sister, before Godfather died, he repeatedly told me to memorize the menu. Why? Was it just to let you go hungry?" Actually, the menu wasn't prepared by Doctor Huo. Doctor Huo only had Liulian memorize the flavors of a few herbs because he suspected someone had tampered with the pregnancy-stabilizing medicine! As it turned out, he was right! As a cook and someone trying to conceive, Liulian had some knowledge of pregnant women's diets. She attributed it to the deceased Doctor Huo to gain Fengxian's trust, since in ancient times, restricting diet during pregnancy was considered heresy! As it turned out, Fengxian was healthier so far than in any previous pregnancy. The old lady didn't actually believe Liulian's explanation. Since Fengxian seemed healthy, she rationally restrained her urge to send her supplements. Later, the old lady noticed that Fengxian was just not overweight and had a good complexion, so she let Liulian do as she pleased, comforting herself that Doctor Huo wouldn't harm his daughter. How many poor families could afford supplements? Did that mean they shouldn't have children? Perhaps it was just a case of being poor and not blessed with good fortune!

The commotion subsided after a while, then someone knocked on the door. A girl, her voice trembling with tears, called for help. Yulan ran over and opened the door. Outside stood Hongxing'er's little maid, Chunyan'er. Chunyan'er, her face streaked with tears, grabbed Yulan's hand. "Sister Yulan, please, please let me see the young mistress! Our Xing'er is about to give birth! Please, young mistress, send someone to find a midwife!"

Yulan said with difficulty, "Chunyan, the old lady told my young mistress to focus on her pregnancy and not to get involved in anything now! Besides, my young mistress has never given birth before, so she doesn't know anything about these things! You should find someone else!"

“Sister Yulan, the old lady, master, and mistress are not home, and the second young mistress went somewhere this afternoon. Where am I supposed to find her? The eldest young mistress is the master; just go out and tell someone to call the midwife!” As she spoke, Chunyan’er grabbed her hand and shook it gently. “Sister, although my young lady is not a proper mistress, the child in her belly is the legitimate eldest grandson of the Liu family!”

Yulan pondered for a moment, then led Chunyan into the main room. Chunyan answered honestly. Fengxian's eyes flickered. "Chunyan, I'm not in charge right now, and I don't have a set of tokens to command the people in the outer courtyard. I have an idea for you: go find Miss and ask her to talk to Aunt Rong. Aunt Rong has a set of tokens that she can use when going out! Go quickly!" Chunyan hesitated for a moment, then hurriedly took her leave. Yulan saw her off.

"Kneel down!" Yulan was stunned and a little dumbfounded. She quickly knelt down. She had felt something was wrong earlier, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Now she was even more confused.

Fengxian glared at her resentfully.

"Elder sister, she's still young, what does she know? You should at least teach her so she knows where she went wrong." Saying this, she turned to Yulan and instructed her.

"Come here, come closer!"

"I'm asking you, aren't you feeling wronged?"

"No grievance."

Fengxian softened his tone, "Tell me, why am I avoiding this? Speak up, say what's on your mind!"

"Young mistress is afraid that if something happens, she will be implicated, so she's trying to avoid trouble! But, young mistress, Hongxing is carrying the second young master's child, and the old lady is protecting her. Why should we distance ourselves from her so much?"

"Tch! I knew that's what you were thinking," Fengxian said, lying down and nodding at Liulian. "You tell her, I'm going to rest for a bit."

Having no other choice, Liu Lian finally spoke up, "Yulan, why does the old lady keep Hongxing in her own courtyard?"

"Seventh Miss, I'm late, and I don't know anything about what happened before!"

"Guess!"

"Seventh Miss, please don't make things difficult for me. How could I possibly guess?"

"Try to guess, it's okay if you guess wrong!"

"Could it be... that the second young mistress seems rather amiable to me!"

"She's nice to you? Not necessarily to Hongxinger! Otherwise, the old lady wouldn't bother making trouble for herself. The second young mistress sees Hongxinger as a thorn in her side, otherwise why would the gatekeeper stop Chunyaner! The second young mistress was just about to deal with Hongxinger when the eldest young mistress interfered. Guess if the second young mistress hates the eldest young mistress to death!"

Yulan's eyes widened, and she was speechless. Liulian looked at this kind and innocent girl, feeling a little reluctant, but she had to be blunt. Fengxian's head maid couldn't be a naive and innocent girl. "Do you think your young mistress has miscarried again and again? Why doesn't she dare to eat the food from the main kitchen? It's because my cooking is worse!" Liulian's cooking was considered unpalatable because it lacked oil and salt, disliked using soy sauce, and refused to use scallions to flavor the oil. Liulian didn't argue.

"But, Second Young Mistress... she always says that Young Mistress will definitely give birth to a boy, how could this be..."

"What if your young mistress gives birth to a girl? Wouldn't people cover their mouths and laugh at her for being presumptuous? Wouldn't the old lady and master be very disappointed? Why does your young mistress tell everyone that she thinks she's having a girl? People laugh at your young mistress behind her back, saying she's silly. Is she silly?"

The young mistress isn't stupid, but Yulan is. The poor girl's mind is buzzing. She sat down on a small stool, holding her head in her hands. She needs to sort things out before she can understand!

Fengxian didn't give her time. "Alright, go and fetch a few of the cleaning maids. Have some tea in your room first, and tell them I need something. Xiaoqi, go and get that half-sized tea cake from the dressing room, a box of jujube paste and yam cake, and a box of crispy crackers for Yulan." As she spoke, she turned to Yulan, "Go to the kitchen and get a plate of glutinous rice cakes and a plate of tea eggs to treat the maids. You'll all come when I call you; I need them." She sighed, "It seems I can't avoid this today!"