How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Despite his great anger, at three-quarters past noon, Master Song still stepped into the First Madam's courtyard.

The fallen leaves that once covered the ground are gone, and the room is now completely silent.

"Why did you come to me?"

"I'll only ask you one question: where is the child?"

Master Song looked at the first wife with disgust, as if saying a word would be superfluous, "She's still alive."

"I need to know where he is and how he is doing."

"What's the point of knowing all this? All you need to know is that he's still alive."

"Song Wenqu, do you think I can't do anything to you?" the First Madam said hatefully, her left hand hidden in her Taoist robe, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.

Old Master Song rubbed his temples wearily. "What do you want? If you want a child, go find one yourself. It has nothing to do with me."

"Is that so?" Before the words were even finished, a sharp dagger was already held against Master Song's neck.

"Can you tell me?"

Master Song remained completely calm, merely glancing coldly at his wife. "Why press me? You clearly promised him."

The first wife slightly opened her eyes, as if she had thought of something, "Is he alright?"

"It's all good. Actually, we've been living peacefully all these years. Why do you have to make things so unsettling for everyone?"

“I didn’t want to cause trouble, but you forced me to. My brother said that you killed that child, and he’s nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead. I can’t take it anymore. You can do whatever you want to me, but you can’t hurt him.”

"Hmph," Master Song sneered, "You actually believe what he says? How many times has he lied to you? Why don't you ever learn? He's short of money, and he's using this lie to blackmail me, saying that if I don't give him a million, he'll tell you about it. Looks like your old servant has done a good job again."

As Master Song spoke, he glanced at the servants' quarters in the South Garden, his eyes full of mockery.

The first wife looked somewhat embarrassed. "He is, after all, my brother."

“From the beginning until now, I’ve helped him a lot to rise from a bandit to a local gentry. What more do you want? Your illegitimate child was supposed to be taken away by his biological father from the start. You didn’t believe him, but instead trusted an older brother who has lied to you many times?”

The incredulous look in Master Song's eyes made the First Madam feel utterly ashamed. "You know that my only thought is that child. Please let me see him."

"It's not that I'm not letting you go out, it's your own promise. If you're going to break it, think about the oath you made."

The first wife turned her face away in embarrassment, too ashamed to face Master Song.

Master Song slowly moved the cold glint from his neck, only to find that it was a dagger, exactly the same one that Yan Ru had used to stab the little thing. He immediately had a bad feeling.

What did you do to that maid?

"She was just a maidservant; she couldn't bear the hardship and took her own life."

"I've told you everything. If there's nothing else, don't contact me again."

"Wait, bring that child to see me."

Old Master Song paused, "Impossible. I promised him I would never let you see the child in this lifetime."

"How do I know if the child is still alive?"

"I'll have him send you a letter, okay?"

"Then..." The First Madam's face showed a hint of expectation, along with a touch of shyness, "Tell him to reply as soon as possible."

"Hmm," Master Song didn't want to spend a single moment with her.

Just as he was about to leave the courtyard, his intense curiosity made him stop in his tracks.

Upon opening the door to the side room, despite being prepared, the stench still made him take a step back.

The woman's body, which had been subjected to horrific abuse, lay scattered on the ground, its dark red blood already congealed.

Old Master Song rushed out and almost vomited on the ground.

The first wife sneered, "You're still so timid."

As if he had seen a demon, Master Song hurriedly fled.

"Master," Song Renhe, the steward, hurriedly came forward, looking at Master Song's distraught appearance with great concern.

"No need," Master Song refused their help, took a few deep breaths, sat in his sedan chair, and walked towards Yanru Courtyard.

Song Ren and the butler exchanged a glance, both seeing the deep worry in each other's eyes.

Yanru is currently planting flowers upstairs. Spring is almost here, and she wants to plant her hopes for the year. This is a new hobby she has found recently.

Du Juan came up carrying several flowerpots. "I went to the greenhouse and asked. They said the magnolias have recently formed flower buds, so I cut a few to use for flower arranging."

Yanru glanced at it and saw that several flower buds the size of a child's palm had grown on the bare branches.

"What's that smell?" Yan Ru smelled a fishy odor as soon as the dish was brought in.

"This is a new planting method from the greenhouse. They say adding some minced meat makes the flowers bloom even better."

"Take it away, I can't stand the smell."

Du Juan quickly took the flowers away. She meant well, but she forgot that Yan Ru was probably pregnant and very sensitive to smells.

Just as Dujuan was about to take the flowers into the yard, she saw the steward and Song Ren escorting a sedan chair over.

This must be the master.

Du Juan was startled and quickly ran upstairs to report the news.

Before Yanru could even get ready, Master Song had already come up.

“Yanru…” Master Song hugged Yanru tightly, without saying a word.

Yan Ru felt as if she was being ingrained into Master Song's very being, and she couldn't push him away.

Since confessing her feelings to Yan Ru, Du Juan has always put her first. Now, seeing Master Song holding her tightly against Yan Ru's wishes, she is very worried. What if Master Song finds out that she is pregnant?

The housekeeper, unaware of the intricacies of the situation, saw that Dujuan was still standing there so obliviously, so he quickly pulled her away and gave the room to Master Song and Yanru.

Yan Ru remained frozen, letting Master Song hold her tightly.

After a long while... Master Song finally released the person.

Looking at Yan Ru's delicate and frail appearance, he felt an overwhelming surge of affection and tenderness.

"Women should be like you, delicate and graceful, unparalleled in the world. Such cruelty and coldness only makes people tremble."

Yan Ru had no idea who had provoked Master Song this time, so she could only reply perfunctorily, "Different kinds of rice feed different kinds of people, and different women will be appreciated by different men."

Master Song offered no praise or criticism, only saying, "I'll stay and keep you company tonight."

Yan Ru naturally declined, saying, "I'm not feeling well..."

Before he could finish speaking, a sound came from downstairs.

A woman's voice shouted, "Master, Master, something terrible has happened! Seventh Concubine is bleeding!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Ru looked at Master Song in surprise.

Master Song said impatiently, "Let her come up and explain in detail."

Du Ruo, who was serving the Seventh Concubine, rushed upstairs in three steps, her face full of anxiety. "Master, the Seventh Concubine insisted on trying on the clothes, but she missed a step and fell. She started bleeding immediately."

"Didn't you go see a doctor?"

"I...I saw the butler coming this way, and I thought maybe asking you to rescue Seventh Concubine would be faster?"

Suppressing his anger, Master Song waved his hand and said, "Punish this ill-mannered person according to family rules. Let's go see how Seventh Concubine is doing."

He pulled Yanru along, and Yanru had no choice but to passively let him lead her around.

The Seventh Concubine's small building was less than ten meters away from Yanru's, so she arrived very quickly.

The courtyard wasn't large, but the servants inside were quite disorganized. Right now, even though the Seventh Concubine was crying out in pain inside, the servants were just peering out the door and none of them dared to go in.

"What are you doing?"

Upon seeing Master Song arrive, everyone knelt down in awe and respect to pay their respects.

Master Song quickly entered the room and saw his seventh concubine, Wan Niang, lying on the ground with dark red bloodstains seeping from her cheongsam between her legs.

Wan Niang was covered in a cold sweat. Seeing Master Song arrive was like seeing her pillar of support. She hurriedly reached out to him, pleading, "Master, save our child, save our child..."

"Okay, okay, the child will be fine, don't worry."

During this period, Wan Niang spent most of her time with Master Song. Her tenderness and affection were not without moving Master Song, so he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her when he spoke.

Yan Ru immediately understood what was going on when she saw Wan Niang's appearance. She looked exactly like her. It seemed that Wan Niang had been accompanying Master Song during his business trip to Shanghai.

Wan Niang was placed on the bed, but even the softest bed couldn't alleviate the pain in her abdomen. She was already pale, and if she weren't so hard to move, she would have been taken to the hospital right now.

The doctor came over, took the pulse and examined the patient, and finally let out a long sigh.

Seeing the doctor's appearance, Wan Niang thought the child was gone and burst into tears.

"Don't cry, Madam," the doctor quickly stopped her. "The child is still alive. Please stay calm and don't worry too much. But this fall was quite serious. If Madam hadn't been so healthy, the child might not have survived."

The butler followed the doctor to the side to get the medicine ready and prepare it.

Master Song comforted Wan Niang, and Yan Ru took her leave when she saw that there was nothing else for her to do.

On one side was the indifferent Yanru, and on the other was Wanniang, pale as paper and pregnant with her own child. Master Song did not struggle much and stayed to keep Wanniang company for a while.

"What happened? You don't seem like the type to be so careless."

Wan Niang shook her head. "It's nothing. Du Ruo just said that I always wear bright red and green and it doesn't look good. She told me to learn how women in celebrity magazines dress. She meant well, but when I was changing, I stepped on the fabric and fell to the ground."

In reality, Du Ruo was mocking her for being dressed like a country bumpkin, implying that even if she were to gain Master Song's favor by chance, it wouldn't last long. Furthermore, Du Ruo insisted that Wan Niang change her clothes. She even made her reach for the clothes on the high shelf of the cabinet, and in the end, the stool tilted, causing Wan Niang to fall.

However, Wan Niang had no evidence, and Du Ruo was someone given to her by the second concubine. If she were to complain now, she wouldn't be entirely confident that she could succeed in one strike. It would be better to keep it a secret and wait until after the child was born before taking further action.