She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

Shen Mingzhu bent over in pain, reflexively clutching her stomach.

"Oh dear, third niece-in-law, what's wrong?" The fourth madam, who usually remained silent and never participated in any conversations, spoke up for the first time this time: "I heard that if someone is pregnant, they should wait until they are three months along and the pregnancy is stable before announcing the good news to the outside world, right?"

She couldn't stand the second wife's smug and arrogant attitude. She knew perfectly well what the first wife's situation was, but she insisted on picking on other people's sore spots just because she had a child in her belly.

The fourth madam raised an eyebrow and looked Shen Mingzhu up and down: "Could it be that you disturbed the fetal spirit?"

Shen Mingzhu's expression changed slightly. This child was her talisman, and she couldn't afford to have any mishaps.

She suspected that the pain she just experienced was caused by the First Madam upsetting her and triggering a miscarriage.

"Fourth Aunt, I'm pregnant, and I feel nauseous." Shen Mingzhu moved her hand from her stomach to her abdomen. "You'll know what's going on once you're pregnant."

The second wife disliked the fourth wife very much, and those few words were clearly a curse on Shen Mingzhu, wishing that she would not be able to have children.

Her arrogance as a concubine is nothing more than relying on her family's background.

However, the second wife really didn't dare to do anything to the fourth wife, after all, her father was the Minister of Personnel, in charge of the promotion and evaluation of officials.

The second wife was unhappy and deliberately tried to annoy the fourth wife, so she pretended to advise her: "Fourth brother's wife, you and your fourth brother have been married for four or five years, right? Your fourth brother is about to turn thirty, and other women his age already have children running around. You should have a child, so your room will be more lively."

“My child doesn’t need to inherit the family business, so whether I have one or not is up to me.” The fourth wife paused, as if she had thought of something, and giggled, “I almost forgot, I still have a generous dowry, so I need to have a child to inherit it.”

Shen Mingzhu felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart again. Her children not only had no inheritance of the family business, but also no dowry to inherit.

"Anyway, I don't need to have several big, fat sons like my third niece-in-law, so having one later won't hurt." The fourth wife said bluntly, "Although it's said that many children bring many blessings, who knows if the little one born later will always be eyeing what's in the eldest's bowl? If it causes a fratricidal conflict, I'll have to put aside my own family for the greater good, so it's better to only have one child."

These words were a direct slap in the face to the Second Master and Second Madam, showing absolutely no mercy.

The second wife was so angry that her face turned pale, but she also knew that the fourth wife was not someone to be trifled with.

The fourth wife was the youngest in the family. Spoiled and domineering, she acted without restraint, only caring about her own pleasure.

Could it be that her sudden attack on the second wife today was because Shen Mingzhu's pregnancy touched a nerve?

After all, Zhao Qiyuan had a stubborn and unpleasant temper and had always looked down on delicate people.

The fourth wife was spoiled and pretentious, and came from a very high social class. How could she possibly look down on a son born out of wedlock?

Besides, he was a rough, unrefined man.

The two disliked each other and had been married for five years, but they never gave each other a kind look in public.

Given the Fourth Madam's proud nature, she probably wouldn't deign to bear children for Zhao Qiyuan, right?

Thinking of this, the second wife's eyes became subtle, and she even suspected that the couple had not consummated their marriage.

She smiled and said, "Then Second Sister-in-law will be waiting for you to bring good news."

The fourth wife rolled her eyes, thinking absentmindedly, "Could it be that she really wants to have a child with Zhao Qiyuan?"

But the thought that she might give birth to a miniature version of Zhao Qiyuan and have to face two cold faces, one big and one small, every day made her feel a bit like she was having a heart attack.

She, who had always been a strong-willed woman, was extremely conflicted.

Seeing the Fourth Madam's reaction, Old Madam Zhao knew that she had been provoked by the Second Madam and was starting to consider having children.

The Duke of Zhao had advised Zhao Qiyuan several times, but the couple had no intention of having children.

Madam Zhao felt that the second wife had finally done something good.

"Tan'er shouldn't rush to have children. She needs to help this old man manage the household. Let's think about having children when she can manage the household affairs on her own."

Madam Zhao then looked at Zhao Wan in the corner and said gently, "Wan'er, you've reached the age for marriage. Starting tomorrow, you'll learn to manage the household together with your second sister-in-law."

Zhao Wan suddenly looked up at the old lady and asked incredulously, "Grand...Grandmother, can I learn too?"

Madam Zhao said, "Whether you will take charge of the household in the future is another matter, but it is better to learn this skill than to cram at the last minute."

Zhao Wan replied, "Wan'er understands."

Shen Mingzhu really wanted to go and learn together. Many aristocratic families had two branches of the family jointly managing the household affairs. If she went to learn together, she would definitely be able to take charge of some of the household affairs.

In this way, she gave birth to another son, which solidified her position in the Duke's mansion.

She suppressed the discomfort in her lower abdomen and looked at the second wife beside her, hoping that the second wife would say a few words on her behalf.

The second madam did indeed want Shen Mingzhu to learn how to manage the household. If she could get a share of the household management duties, she could even make some extra money from it.

She quickly said, "Mother, if you're going to take one along, why not take Zhu'er with you too?"

Madam Zhao was very dissatisfied with the second branch of the family's actions of acting first and informing her later. After Shen Mingzhu was diagnosed with pregnancy, the second branch of the family first summoned the servants to collect their reward money before coming to her to announce the good news.

The servants in the entire household knew, so she could only ask each branch of the family to come and announce the happy news.

Madam Zhao glanced at Shen Mingzhu's pale face and frowned slightly, saying, "Mingzhu is pregnant, let's focus on stabilizing the pregnancy first."

The second madam's expression froze, and her face turned ugly. The joy she felt at Shen Mingzhu giving birth to the Duke's eldest great-grandson vanished instantly.

Shen Mingzhu felt a pang of sadness. It was obvious that Old Madam Zhao was protecting Shen Qingtan by teaching her how to manage the household at this time.

Why?

She's the one who's pregnant, so why does Shen Qingtan get all the good things?

But she, the great contributor who was about to add a son to the Duke's mansion, didn't get any benefits at all!

Shen Mingzhu felt very unwilling and her lower abdominal pain became even more severe.

Suppressing her grievances, she stood up and said, "Grandmother, I'm not feeling well. I'll go back to the courtyard to rest."

Madam Zhao was quite understanding: "Take good care of yourself. The public fund will increase your monthly allowance. Just tell the kitchen what you want to eat."

Then she instructed Wei Mama: "Go to my storeroom and get a ginseng and a box of bird's nest for Mingzhu."

Shen Mingzhu finally felt a little better. She glanced in Shen Qingtan's direction and saw that her expression was normal, as if she was not affected by Shen Qingtan's pregnancy.

Tch, what are you pretending for?

Shen Mingzhu didn't believe that Shen Qingtan was really so indifferent; she probably thought she was jealous of her.

She immediately regained her sense of superiority and left with her head held high.

After returning to Qingyun Garden, Shen Mingzhu felt uneasy, worried that the extravagance of the day might have disturbed the fetal spirit and affected the child. So she sent a maid to fetch the family physician.

After the physician took her pulse and confirmed that there was nothing seriously wrong, she was relieved and realized that her lower abdominal pain was caused by the anger of the First Madam and the Fourth Madam.

Shen Mingzhu summoned Zhongxia: "Go and boil another dose of the medicine that my mother brought for me to drink."

She must have a son this time.