Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

"This..." Xia Yu hesitated whether to speak or not. Just then, a palace gate guard strode towards them.

The guard first greeted Xia Yu, then addressed Shen Jingheng.

"My lord, someone from your household has come and says that something has happened at the manor and that you should return home as soon as possible."

Upon hearing his words, Shen Jingheng's expression suddenly turned somewhat unpleasant. Before he could speak, Xia Yu immediately interjected.

"Lord Shen, please leave the palace and return to your residence. We can discuss what I just said later."

"Thank you, Princess. This humble subject takes his leave." With that, he strode towards the palace gate. Xia Yu watched his departing figure and thought of his wife. Madam Jiang's due date seemed to be approaching. Could something have happened to her?

Shen Jingheng strode out of the palace gate and saw Qingshan and Qingmu pacing anxiously back and forth in front of the gate.

“Qingshan…” Shen Jingheng called out.

When the two men saw him coming out of the palace gate, they hurried to greet him.

"Let's talk as we walk. What happened at the manor?" Shen Jingheng said, without pausing for a moment.

"Young Master, the young mistress has gone into labor. The situation is not good." Qingshan said this simply at first.

"Hmm," Shen Jingheng replied with a stern face, without asking any further questions, but quickened his pace.

Once the two were back in the carriage, Shen Jingheng rubbed his slightly swollen eyes.

"Tell me, what else is there?"

"Young Master, not long after you left this morning, Madam Jiang suddenly arrived with her entourage, bringing many gifts, saying they were for the Young Mistress. A little while later, news came from the main courtyard that the Young Mistress had gone into labor and the situation was not good. Later, Huazhi, who was sweeping in the Young Mistress's courtyard, quietly ran out and told me that the Young Mistress hadn't given birth yet, but she seemed to hear a baby crying in the courtyard, though she couldn't quite make it out. I felt something was amiss, so I quickly came to find you, Young Master."

"..." Hearing Qingshan's words, Shen Jingheng remained silent, but his heart grew even colder. Were the Jiang family treating him like a fool? Months ago, his men discovered that the Jiang family was searching for women nearing the due date of Jiang Xue. What were they trying to do? Just so that Jiang Xue's first child would be a son? He thought Jiang Xue wouldn't agree to her family's actions. But what was happening in the manor now clearly indicated that Jiang Xue had consented. This was truly outrageous.

As Aoki drove the carriage, he kept shouting things like "Make way! Make way! Watch out for the carriage!" to warn pedestrians to get out of the way. After a long drive, he finally brought the carriage to a smooth stop in front of the Shen residence a quarter of an hour later.

Before Aoki could even set up the footstool, Shen Jingheng jumped down from the half-person-high carriage.

"Young master, be careful." Qingmu only had time to say this before he saw the other man stride up the steps in front of the mansion.

Aoki tossed the riding whip to the servant at the door and quickly followed Shen Jingheng into the mansion.

Shen Jingheng walked towards the courtyard where Jiang Xue lived, and on the way he ran into the butler, Uncle Shen, who was hurriedly walking out while lifting the hem of his clothes.

"Young master, you're finally back!" Uncle Shen rushed up to greet his master upon seeing him return.

"How's the situation?"

“Everyone in our household has been driven out. Only Madam Jiang and her servants are inside serving us. This old servant doesn’t know what’s going on inside. At first, I could still hear the young mistress’s voice, but when I came out, I couldn’t hear her voice anymore… Young master, what should we do?” Uncle Shen followed Shen Jingheng and explained everything he knew in detail.

Shen Jingheng continued walking and asked Uncle Shen, "Have you invited a doctor?"

"Before we could invite her, the young mistress's attack didn't alarm anyone else in the mansion. Instead, she had her maidservant go to the Jiang residence to invite Madam Jiang. We servants only found out that the young mistress had an attack before her time when Madam Jiang came to our door. At that time, I was about to send someone to the Imperial Hospital to invite her, but Madam Jiang said that the doctor beside her was none other than Physician Yang, the renowned gynecologist of the Imperial Hospital, so we didn't send anyone to invite her then."

"Quickly take my invitation and go to the Imperial Hospital to invite Physician Ding over."

"Yes"

Having received his master's instructions, Uncle Shen hurriedly turned back and walked towards the outer courtyard to arrange for someone to run errands.

Shen Jingheng looked at the courtyard with its gate tightly closed, and two strong old women standing at the entrance. Just by looking at their clothes, Shen Jingheng knew they weren't servants from the manor.

When the two old women saw Shen Jingheng standing in front of the courtyard gate with a stern face, they quickly came over with smiles to greet him.

"Young master is back? Our matriarch is in there personally accompanying the baby during delivery. The delivery room is dirty, so young master, you should go to the study to wait for good news. Once the baby is born, we will naturally go to inform you of the good news."

Shen Jingheng didn't even glance at the two of them, and ordered Qingshan and Qingmu beside him.

"Open the door, but keep it down, don't startle the young mistress."

"Yes"

The two men understood their master's meaning. They leaped over the courtyard wall, dealt with the guards behind the gate, and the gate opened silently from the inside. The sound was indeed very quiet; with only a door panel separating them, the people outside didn't hear a sound at all. The gate was opened just like that.

Shen Jingheng told the others to wait at the gate, and led only Qingmu and Qingshan into the courtyard. Passing the screen wall with its phoenix-shaped roof, Shen Jingheng saw about a dozen people standing under the eaves serving them. Although there were many people, the dozen or so maids all bowed their heads and held their breath, not making a sound.

The courtyard was eerily quiet, and not a sound could be heard from inside the house. Shen Jingheng's heart sank. Although he was furious at the Jiang family's actions, he had never truly intended for Jiang Xue to die like this.

The sound of their footsteps caught the attention of the maids, and when they saw her face, obvious panic flashed across their faces.

"Madam, the young master has returned to the manor." A maid suddenly shouted into the room, then bowed to Shen Jingheng.

Shen Jingheng ignored their ulterior motives and tried to walk past them into the house, but was unexpectedly blocked by three or four maids.

"Young Master, the delivery room is filled with blood and is considered unlucky. Please wait in the courtyard. It will be ready soon." As she spoke, two maids carried a grand chair and placed it under the flowering tree in the courtyard. Two more maids brought tea and snacks, inviting Shen Jingheng to sit down, drink tea, and wait patiently.

Seeing how well-prepared they were, Shen Jingheng smiled. But the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"No need. My wife is working hard inside. How can I, as her husband, be at ease drinking tea outside?" Before he could finish speaking, Aoyama Aoki stepped forward and pulled away the maids who were blocking Shen Jingheng's way. In fact, from the moment they blocked him to the moment Aoyama Aoki pulled them away, it only took a few breaths.

Just as Shen Jingheng finally placed his hand on the door, it was suddenly pulled open from the inside, and a midwife emerged with a joyful expression, carrying a swaddled baby, to congratulate Shen Jingheng.

"Congratulations, Grand Tutor! Your wife has given birth to a son. The young master is well-born, weighing over six pounds!"

Shen Jingheng glanced at the baby in the swaddling clothes. The baby was fair and tender, with a clean face. At this moment, the baby was sleeping soundly with its eyes closed.

Shen Jingheng did not take the swaddling clothes from the midwife, but instead asked her...

"I wonder how my wife is doing now? Why is it so quiet inside?"

"Oh, Madam has just given birth and is exhausted. She's fallen asleep. Sir, please wait until she wakes up before going in to visit her," the midwife replied.

Although that's what she said, the subtle changes in her facial expression did not escape Shen Jingheng's eyes.