Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks

by Little Merger

Ning Shu had dropped dead. But in a burst of good fortune she became a task-taker in charge of counterattacking for pitiful cannon fodder. Thus, Ning Shu, in one world after another, took all kinds of life roles, encountered all kinds of ‘you’re heartless, you’re ruthless, you’re making trouble for no reason’ people. She encountered all sorts of white lotus flowers, green tea bitch

21. 1185

Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks #Chapter 1185: Dog Trying to Bite Its Tail - Read Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks Chapter 1185: Dog Trying to Bite Its Tail Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Chapter 1185: Dog Trying to Bite Its Tail

Ning Shu admitted that she was a bit worried about the gains and losses. She was a little flustered and kept pacing around in the system space,

"You look like a dog trying to bite its tail," said 2333.

Ning Shu: ...

"Can you give me a hint?" asked Ning Shu. "I'm panicking a little."

"Don't panic, maybe the task will be really simple." 2333 comforted Ning Shu, "There, there, don't be scared."

Ning Shu: Ha. Ha. Ha...

It wasn't like you were doing the task. It doesn't hurt to talk.

Ning Shu thought about it, and then felt that she was just panicking too much. She silently recited the heart-clearing chant. After thinking about it, it really wasn't such a big deal. If it came to it, she'd just start over. She had already completed so many tasks so she should be able to complete this examination task.

Ning Shu went to the fabricated space again to take a stroll. The most important part was to visit the restaurant to have a meal. No matter how much you ate in the restaurant, you wouldn't get bloated. The moment you ate something, it'd disappear. It really satisfied the taste buds. Ning Shu would spend thousands of points every time to get a table full of food. She wanted to try all kinds of food.

"Good thing you're only in your spiritual state. If you ate this much while you were alive, you'd definitely end up super fat," said 2333 scornfully.

She was eating recklessly precisely because she was in her spiritual state though.

After the big meal, she headed back to the system space and grabbed a book from the bookshelf to sit down and read.

Once she finished the book, she then leisurely watered the potted plants, then ran on the treadmill for a while. In any case, she was just wandering around for a while.

"Do you even want to start the task? What are you wasting so much time for?" asked 2333.

Ning Shu sat down cross-legged on the sofa and said, "I'm not ready yet. Let me make mental preparations."

"What preparations?" asked 2333 in confusion.

"Mental preparations."

2333:...

System notification: [2333 doesn't want to talk to you anymore and throws a lump of poop at you.]

Ning Shu stretched lazily. Originally she was going to enter the task world, but then she suddenly thought of something. Although 2333 was useless, there was someone who might know what she needed to pay attention to in the examination task.

She stepped in the passage to the fabricated space. After a moment of dizziness, when she opened her eyes, she was already standing on the street.

Without delay, she headed straight for the consultation room. When she got to the entrance of the consultation room, she took a moment to mourn for the points that she was about to lose.

As she walked into the consultation room, she could smell the agarwood scent. Breathing it in seemed to refresh her soul, it was like all the spiritual contamination was slowly disappearing.

Ning Shu worked her nose hard, trying to inhale as much of this fragrance as she could.

The silver-haired man came out from inside with a leather-bound book in his hand and calmly sat down. His every gesture contained the etiquette of ancient aristocracy.

"Please have a seat." The silver-haired man placed the book on the table and opened it. He didn't even lift his head as he said this to Ning Shu.

Ning Shu sat down opposite him as she continued to secretly work her nose to inhale the fragrance. She asked the silver-haired man, "Is there anything I should pay attention to in the intermediate examination task? Actually, I want to first ask how much it will cost to get consultation for this task?"

"A million points," said the silver-haired man lightly.

Ning Shu: Die. Fr*cking go die...

Ning Shu's face twitched. Last time it was three hundred thousand, this time it was a million.

"Why is it so expensive?" Good thing she had asked about it beforehand, otherwise after she finished asking and was told to pay a million, her soul probably would've been sent flying from the shock.

"You can also choose not to have a consultation. Pay two hundred thousand points and you can go," said the silver-haired man lightly. His distinct joints were like jade as his fingers flipped the pages of the book.

Ning Shu was almost captivated by these hands but at these words, she snapped out of it and asked, "Why do I have to pay two hundred thousand points even if I don't have a consultation?"

What a black shop! He demanded points so offhandedly, asking for a hundred thousand every time he opened his mouth. He should just go directly rob people! She had never seen a person this corrupt before. However, sadly, she had no choice but to come to this person for help.

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Chapter 1186: I Wasn't Breathing!

The silver-haired man glanced at Ning Shu and said, "The charges start the moment you enter this consultation room. This agarwood incense you smell is very rare. Its value cannot even be assessed."

Ning Shu immediately started holding her breath. "I didn't breathe it in."

She'd have to waste two hundred thousand points even if she didn't ask any questions? Then it would be better to just ask her questions. Ning Shu asked, "I want to know what I should be paying attention to in the examination task."

"It's not just the primary examination task, in the intermediate examination task, the advanced examination task, and even for the higher levels beyond that, in the examination task, set aside whether or not you will be able to complete the task. The most important part is to stay alive and not die in the task.

"As long as the auxiliary system tells you that you can leave the task world, the task will count as completed. Even if the completion degree of the task is only 60%, the exam will still count as a pass." The silver-haired man said all of this slowly so Ning Shu was able to follow along very well.

Ning Shu felt like she knew what she was doing more now. At the same time, her heart chilled. She asked, "The examination task might cause life-threatening danger?"

"Of course, the higher up you go, the more dangerous the examination task will be," said the silver-haired man. "Regardless of what kind of examination it is, make sure to stay alive. It'll be fine as long as you don't die during the task. If the premise that it doesn't threaten your life is fulfilled, you can proceed with carrying out the task."

Ning Shu nodded to show that she understood. As expected, it was best to come ask an expert. However, the thought of the consulting fee seriously made her insides hurt. Actually, no, more like it made her insides combust.

Ning Shu's hand trembled as she took out her points card and paid a million points.

As she left the consultation room, she walked very slowly and inhaled as much of the fragrance as she could. Every time she breathed in, a cool sensation would fill her soul and calm her heart.

This was seriously good stuff.

Ning Shu glanced at the signboard of the consultation room. She had been slaughtered again. Her heart was exhausted.

Ning Shu could sense that this silver-haired man was quite strong. At the very least, probably no one in this fabricated space would dare to provoke him.

She had really wanted to refuse to pay, but she hadn't dared to.

She had finally figured it out. Perhaps 2333 knew the rules, or perhaps he didn't know these exam rules, but either way, he couldn't tell her about these things.

Alas, she was seriously weak. She was practically an ant.

When she got back to the system space, she asked 2333, "Am I really weak?"

"You are really weak," said 2333. "But everyone starts out weak and gradually becomes strong. I originally thought that you wouldn't be able to last this long, but you're now already an intermediate task-taker. In the future, you'll become even stronger."

"Don't worry about that one million points. It's worth it to use the points to exchange for advice from your seniors." 2333 took in Ning Shu's expression of heartache. "Don't be so stingy, be more generous."

Ning Shu: Ha. Ha. Ha...

Most of the time, he just played dead. Other times, he just said useless things. It was seriously unbelievable.

However, the current 2333 didn't seem as certain as he used to be that she wouldn't be able to make it very far. He was encouraging her now, even though he used to have such an indifferent attitude like he didn't have much interest in her tasks.

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Chapter 1187: A New Life

Zhu Siyuan went to the hospital to visit Zhu Yanqiu, carrying chicken soup that Big Sister Tong had made. However, when this father of his saw him, he just asked, "Siyuan, have you helped Dad find Fang Feifei? Have her come see me."

Zhu Siyuan: _

Zhu Siyuan was just a child that was barely ten years old. It was already very hard for him to come to the hospital alone to visit Zhu Yanqiu. The world was so big, where in the world was he supposed to go to look for this woman named Fang Feifei? He had only seen that woman twice before and didn't know her at all.

Zhu Siyuan was speechless. His mother had said that he should fulfill his responsibilities towards his father, but he didn't even want to visit a father like this. This person just kept muttering another woman's name.

Even though Mom was his wife. Why was he still longing for a different woman?

Zhu Siyuan set down the chicken soup and turned to leave. Zhu Yanqiu continued to shout towards Zhu Siyuan's back, "Siyuan, you have to help me!"

Zhu Siyuan really wanted to say that he couldn't do it. What kind of father was this?

Zhu Siyuan went back home and told Zhu Suniang about it. Zhu Suniang looked a bit dazed. All sorts of scenes were flashing through her head right now, frame by frame like a movie.

She glanced at her hands, then reached out to take the scalpel from the box. The scalpel felt like her own hand.

"Mom, I don't want to visit Dad anymore," said Zhu Siyuan with a frown. He felt like his father's head wasn't screwed on right.

Zhu Suniang said indifferently, "If you don't want to go, don't go."

Zhu Suniang was currently touching all of the medical equipment over and over again.

"He wants to see Fang Feifei." Every time he went to visit his father, his father only talked about Fang Feifei.

Zhu Suniang thought for a moment, then said, "If he wants to see her, then so be it."

Zhu Suniang contacted Fang Feifei through the press and asked her to visit Zhu Yanqiu. Fang Feifei was a little annoyed and said, "This is your husband, why do you want me to visit your husband? Zhu Yanqiu and I meeting was simply a beautiful mistake. It's time to correct this mistake."

Zhu Suniang looked at Fang Feifei and said, "Since you two love each other so much, why didn't you ever visit him? Zhu Yanqiu and I being together is impossible. In the past, I had been dumb. However, now, I want to live for myself. Since you two love each other so much, I'll help you two. Zhu Yanqiu loves you so much, you wouldn't be so cruel, right?"

Fang Feifei pressed her lips together and looked at Zhu Suniang. This woman was obviously inferior to her in every way, but now, due to one book, "I am a Battlefield Doctor", she was more famous than her.

She was now even acting magnanimous in front of her. She was clearly just an uneducated woman, what was she being so self-confident for!?

"Since you guys are in love, shouldn't you guys have pledged to be faithful and support each other through hard times? Are you going to abandon Zhu Yanqiu just because he's facing a little problem now?" Zhu Suniang looked at Fang Feifei doubtfully.

"Didn't you say before that it was very hard to meet someone that you're so compatible with, that you can talk to about anything? Since it's so hard, don't give up on it so easily." Zhu Suniang threw all the things that Fang Feifei had said before back at her.

Fang Feifei's facial color wasn't very good, but she still took some time to go to the hospital. When she got to the hospital and saw Zhu Yanqiu, she found that he had lost a lot of weight and even his eyes were sunken in.

There was a gloomy aura hovering all around him. Dressed in the hospital garbs, he wasn't very good-looking. He just seemed gloomy with a dead air.

When Zhu Yanqiu saw Fang Feifei, his eyes lit up and he hastily got up from the bed and hugged her.

Fang Feifei immediately smelled the unpleasant smell coming from Zhu Yanqiu's body. It was the rotten smell of a person who had been ill for a very long time.

Fang Feifei pushed Zhu Yanqiu away, then politely asked a few questions about how he was doing. Zhu Yanqiu was very happy that Fang Feifei was here.

However, the current Zhu Yanqiu had fallen too much, Fang Feifei couldn't even bear to look at him directly. The past image of Zhu Yanqiu's graceful and magnificent appearance gradually became blurred in her mind. It was like there was some sort of compulsion, the only thing she could recall was how Zhu Yanqiu currently looked.

Fang Feifei practically fled from the hospital. Zhu Yanqiu could see that Fang Feifei was just halfheartedly responding to him and felt very panicked.

Once he left the hospital, he searched everywhere to find Fang Feifei. He even found the place where Fang Feifei lived and just waited there every day, pestering Fang Feifei.

Zhu Yanqiu already had a record of doing this. It was just like the way he used to corner Ning Shu in the hospital every day, he was used to using these kinds of stupid and rotten tactics

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Chapter 1188: Was Definitely Crazy

Fang Feifei was extremely irritated by Zhu Yanqiu. Before, she had felt a little guilty, but the bit of guilt was completely exhausted by Zhu Yanqiu's pestering.

Now all she wanted was for Zhu Yanqiu to scram.

If Zhu Yanqiu had pestered Fang Feifei this way after he had obtained fame and success, Fang Feifei wouldn't have been so disgusted.

The two scenarios were inherently different after all. One was pursuit and the other was sexual harassment.

Especially since Zhu Yanqiu still had problems with his leg. It wasn't apparent when he walked slowly, but it was easy to spot whenever he ran or even just walked a little faster.

Fang Feifei tried to come up with ways to get rid of Zhu Yanqiu, but the more she was like this, the more Zhu Yanqiu wanted to hold on to her.

The current Zhu Yanqiu had nothing left, so he had to hold on to the woman he deeply loved.

In a moment of anger, Fang Feifei ran to the battlefield with her camera, so Zhu Yanqiu followed her to the battlefield. However, Zhu Yanqiu was unable to pick up a gun because of his body condition, so he picked up his old career as a logistician.

He came up with all sorts of ways to give Fang Feifei special attention, but Fang Feifei wasn't grateful at all. She'd throw the bowl to the ground every time and tell Zhu Yanqiu to stop following her.

Zhu Yanqiu was furious and called Fang Feifei cruel, but the next day he'd still bring food to Fang Feifei. This time though, Fang Feifei didn't rashly throw down the bowl again.

Fang Feifei was starting to get close with a young officer in the army. When Zhu Yanqiu found out, he was extremely angry and even wanted to fight the officer.

However, that officer just pulled out his gun and pressed it against Zhu Yanqiu's forehead. Zhu Yanqiu immediately no longer dared to make a scene.

However, due to this, the officer's attitude towards Fang Feifei also calmed down a lot. Fang Feifei was very beautiful and had a decisive personality, so she was very attractive to men. However, this was a special time. As an upper class figure in the army, he needed to ensure the harmony of the army.

He couldn't take the lead in doing things like this.

Fang Feifei was nearly angered to death. She was seriously sick of Zhu Yanqiu. Her eyes were filled with disgust whenever she looked at him.

However, Zhu Yanqiu was pretty happy and even told Fang Feifei that the officer had just been playing with her and that she shouldn't be fooled. Fang Feifei was so angry that she almost wanted to kill Zhu Yanqiu.

Meanwhile, Zhu Suniang and Xiao Tong had also been sent to the battlefield. They were still with that commander. The commander had indicated that he wanted Zhu Suniang to be his army's doctor.

It was clear that he had quite a lot of trust in Zhu Suniang.

Zhu Suniang was now way more famous than Fang Feifei, this little journalist. Zhu Yanqiu would have very complicated feelings every time he heard people discussing the female battlefield doctor.

One time, he couldn't stop himself from saying that Zhu Suniang was his wife, but the people around just looked at him contemptuously. The entire army knew that Zhu Yanqiu liked that war reporter.

And now he was saying that the battlefield doctor was his wife. He was definitely crazy.

After all, Zhu Yanqiu's obsession with Fang Feifei clearly made him seem like a nutjob to others.

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Chapter 1189: Conquering an Iceberg

"2333, let's start the task," said Ning Shu to 2333.

"Alright."

Ning Shu felt a moment of dizziness. Once her soul settled in, she opened her eyes and immediately felt a sticky sensation all over. There was a summer sleeping mat under her, but it still felt really hot.

It was already quite late in the night. There was an oil lamp on the table and there were four beds in the room. People were sleeping on the beds and they'd occasionally shift in their sleep.

It was the depths of a still night, whose silence was only interrupted by the occasional chirps of a few cicadas.

Ning Shu felt a little thirsty, so she got up from the bed and went over to the table to pour herself a cup of water. The water was cold, but it was really refreshing to drink.

After she had enough water, she hastily climbed onto the bed to receive the storyline.

This time, she was a servant girl named Miao Ling. Her master was Yinzhen's concubine, Lady Song. Due to various reasons, she had ended up dying in the middle of the inner courtyard conflicts.

Ning Shu discovered that this world was very chaotic. This was a Qing Dynasty that transmigrators had pretty much punched full of holes. It was caught up in the grand wave of the nine dragons struggle for the throne and there were princes with all kinds of temperaments. Every single one was a giant among men.

Most of the girls were aiming for the fourth. Yinzhen was the future emperor. He had an unpredictable temperament and was very suspicious of everything. He was even slightly treacherous and cruel, so every single girl wanted to conquer this historically famous cold-faced king.

Conquering such an iceberg was a great challenge. Melting the iceberg and seeing this indifferent person fall into a fiery passionate love while remaining cold to others, only treating them differently, seriously gave an awesome sense of achievement.

Obtaining the emperor's favor and dating an emperor was seriously awesome. You could even enter the palace and become a consort or even the empress.

In the fourth prince's backyard, there were transmigrators, reincarnators, and possibly even counterattackers. There were two women from the Niohuru family alone. It was like they thought that as long as they had the surname Niohuru, they would be just like that Divine Mother Empress Dowager who had been been instated for three consecutive dynasties, moving up from being a concubine to being a noble consort, to being empress, then finally becoming the Empress Dowager who the Qianlong Emperor had shown great filial respect to for the duration of his lifetime.

It was a crazy jumbled mess. Every single one of them had their eyes on the fact that Yinzhen was the ultimate winner of the battle for the throne. Otherwise, they were simply using their knowledge of history to help Yinzhen seize the throne.

Ning Shu felt that Yinzhen also had it pretty hard. So many people were secretly eying him.

Even though at this time, Yinzhen was still supporting the crown prince. He was wholeheartedly assisting the crown prince, yet so many women ended up flooding into his courtyard.

Examination task: Protect Lady Song's unborn child and make sure the child doesn't die prematurely.

When Ning Shu saw this task, she was taken aback for a moment. What kind of task was this?

Ning Shu carefully combed through the information. Lady Song's status wasn't very high. She was simply the experienced maid that Master Kang had bestowed the fourth prince. Basically, she guided Yinzhen through the process of making children. All in all, she counted as Yinzhen's first woman.

Yinzhen's chastity had even been offered up to her. After Yinzhen married Di Jinwu of the Ula Nara clan, Lady Song also became a lady of his courtyard.

However, Yinzhen hadn't liked Lady Song much and Lady Song herself was a little confused in the head. She always felt like she was Yinzhen's first woman and the first woman to give birth to Yinzhen's children.

The problem was, Lady Song's two daughters, the eldest imperial daughter and the third imperial daughter, had both died in childhood.

For the waters of a man's courtyard to be this deep, the only one that could ever achieve this was probably the fourth prince.

After sorting out the information, Ning Shu had a pretty good idea of the direction she should go for this task. Basically, she should make sure to protect her own life and not let herself be implicated by the repercussions of these women's domestic battles and end up cannon fodder.

As of now, it was already time to get up. The other three maids had already gotten up, so Ning Shu hastily got up as well and grabbed the nearby clothes to start putting them on.

Manchurian clothing was mainly based on the cheongsam, a vertical robe with a round neck opening. Then a vest-like sleeveless jacket went over it.

Ning Shu fumbled for a good while and finally got the clothes on. Then she casually grabbed beaded flowers from the little box above the headboard to insert into her hair bun and headed off to attend to Lady Song who was about to get up.

Ning Shu went to the kitchen and got warm water to bring to Lady Song's courtyard. When she entered the room, Lady Song had just gotten up and was getting dressed.

Ning Shu's job was to clean Lady Song's face.

Ning Shu wrung out the handkerchief, then gently wiped Lady Song's face. As she took Lady Song in at this distance, she found that Lady Song had well-rounded looks. She had a round face and a full forehead, characteristics of good fortune. If it weren't for this, Master Kang wouldn't have gifted her to Yinzhen.

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Chapter 1190: I Don't Like the Color

After cleaning Lady Song's face, she helped wipe her hands, then prepared to leave with the basin.

Lady Song suddenly called out to Ning Shu. Ning Shu turned back towards Lady Song and asked, "Lady, do you need something?"

"The beaded flower on your head is very beautiful," said Lady Song.

Ning Shu was taken aback for a moment. Did she overstep the bounds by wearing this beaded flower?

Probably not. There shouldn't be anything that exceeded her status in Miao Ling's box.

"Many thanks for the praise, Lady." Ning Shu had no choice but to reply with this.

Lady Song then said, "Don't wear it anymore, I don't like the color." As she spoke, she caressed her sideburns with her fingers in the orchids pose.

Ning Shu immediately took off the beaded flower. Lady Song glanced at Ning Shu without saying anything.

Ning Shu turned around and left the room. This short interaction was enough for her to roughly understand Lady Song's personality. She didn't like for her servants to leave her control. She said that she didn't like the color of the beaded flower, but in reality, what she didn't like was when her servants dressed prettily.

It was probably because she was worried that her maids might steal Yinzhen away.

Lady Song brought her personal maid to pay her respects to the primary consort, so Ning Shu went to have breakfast, then returned to her room. She put the beaded flower back in the small box next to her bed and simply inserted a silver hairpin into her hair.

She was being very careful with this task. Lady Song was only a lady, but she was very arrogant towards her servants.

Therefore, as a maid who didn't have control over her own life, it was very easy to become a sacrificial victim during the fighting of the bigger figures.

Furthermore, Lady Song had been part of the reason that Miao Ling died.

As the silver-haired man had said, the most important thing was to make sure to stay alive.

She just didn't know if Lady Song was pregnant yet.

The other three maids also gradually returned. However, they didn't have the same master as Ning Shu. Since they lived in a room of four though, their status also wasn't very high.

The three maids saw Ning Shu but didn't talk to her. Since they had different masters, it was best for them not to get too close to each other.

Ning Shu observed the three. They all wore very simple and low-key clothes. As expected, the beaded flower she wore just now had been out of place.

"Miao Ling, you're still here? The lady has fainted, hurry and fetch water!" A servant girl rushed into the room and said this anxiously to Ning Shu, then rushed out again.

Ning Shu hastily went to the kitchen to prepare hot water. After getting hot water, she headed to Lady Song's yard.

There were quite a few people already in the room. There were several women in gorgeous clothing sitting in the hall. Ning Shu held the water basin as she curtsied to these women, then carried the water basin into the bedroom.

Lady Song was lying on the bed, her face pale. There was a doctor by the bed checking her pulse. Ning Shu set down the basin and started helping wipe the sweat on Lady Song's face.

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?Chapter 1191: One Month Pregnant

Ning Shu had a feeling that Lady Song was probably pregnant. This child would be Yinzhen's first child; the first child he's had since moving out of the palace to live in this vassal state residence.

"How is Lady Song doing?" asked the primary consort, Lady Ula Nara towards the doctor who was checking the pulse. When the primary consort asked this, all the other women looked towards the doctor as well.

Some of them obviously seemed to have realized what was going on, but a couple still looked confused.

"Lady Song is one month pregnant. She simply fainted since her constitution was weak," said the doctor.

The primary consort nodded gracefully. "If you need anything, just let this consort know."

Several of the other women looked jealous. They stroked their own belly, then glanced towards Lady Song who was lying on the bed with unfriendly expressions.

"Make sure to take good care of your lady since she's now pregnant. This is the prince's first child. No mistakes will be tolerated." Lady Ula Nara started exhorting Ning Shu and the other servants.

"Understood."

Lady Ula Nara left with the fourth prince's flock of women and the room instantly became empty.

Ning Shu helped wipe Lady Song's face, then glanced towards her stomach. The child would be born safely, but would die young.

Lady Song's eyelashes fluttered slightly. It seemed she was about to wake up.

"What happened?" Lady Song rubbed her forehead with a haggard expression.

Ning Shu said with a happy expression, "Lady, the doctor said that you're pregnant! You've been pregnant for a month!"

"Really?" Lady Song looked startled and extremely happy. She hastily touched her stomach. "I'm pregnant! I'm pregnant with the fourth prince's child!"

Lady Song was very happy, so she rewarded her servant girls with some money. Even Ning Shu got a little.

"The prince has probably returned from court by now, go and invite him over," said Lady Song to Hong Mei, her personal maid. Her tone was filled with joy and happiness.

Hong Mei smiled at Lady Song as she curtsied, then she left to go invite the prince.

The prince soon arrived. Ning Shu stood at the side and looked at the famous cold-faced king of history. The most striking part was definitely the forehead, it was seriously dazzling. Next were the pigtails behind it. She seriously couldn't see the beauty of this style.

She didn't understand why young girls loved the Qing Dynasty so much. This hairstyle completely ruined people. Even a ten point appearance would end up having four points destroyed by this forehead.

Yinzhen's expression was very indifferent, but the slight joy contained in his brows showed that he was actually very happy. He sat down by the bed and took Lady Song's hand, then told her to look after herself and the child properly.

Lady Song's expression was filled with shyness and happiness as she asked Yinzhen to stay for lunch. However, Yinzhen directly said that he was having lunch with his primary consort.

Lady Song's expression immediately seemed to collapse. She only smiled again once Yinzhen promised to come over for dinner.

However, Ning Shu saw that as Yinzhen was leaving, he no longer seemed as happy as before.

She glanced towards Lady Song who was sitting on the bed and stroking her belly with a happy expression.

She finally understood why Lady Song wasn't favored. The moment she got pregnant, she took advantage of this opportunity to seek favor. How could feelings ever last this way? That was why even after Yinzhen ascended to the throne, she simply remained a concubine until her death.

And she also didn't protect her two daughters.

Lady Song possessed so many of Yinzhen's firsts, but she didn't grasp hold of the advantages at all.

She didn't seem to have a good grasp of when to advance and when to retreat.

All kinds of thoughts flashed through Ning Shu's head. The battle between the women in the inner courtyard was simply a battle without gunpowder.

"Pour me a cup of water," said Lady Song to Ning Shu who was standing there like a pillar.

Ning Shu poured a cup of water for Lady Song obediently, then returned to standing at the side silently again.

Upon encountering happy events, people's moods lift. The current Lady Song seemed just a step away from soaring into the sky. There was no need to explain how smug she felt. This was the prince's first child. The eldest son was going to come out from her stomach!

It was the eldest son!

"Son, Mother is counting on you!" murmured Lady Song as she stroked her stomach.

Ning Shu _

This child was probably still just an embryo the size of a fingernail, but it was already given such great expectations.

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Chapter 1192: How to Annoy Someone Frugal

Ning Shu just stood at the side. She didn't say anything and also didn't bother doing any boot-licking.

The pregnant Lady Song was very finicky. During lunch, she kept saying that this dish had no flavor and that dish didn't agree with her. In summary, she didn't like a single dish on the tables.

She made all sorts of picky remarks and told the kitchen to prepare a new table of dishes. However, she didn't specifically say what she wanted to eat, so she was unsatisfied with the new table of dishes as well.

Ning Shu's lips twitched as she looked on from the side. This woman was seriously too high-maintenance. Even if she was pregnant, doing this again and again would cause people to loathe her.

It wasn't easy to give birth safely in the inner courtyard. This was the time to keep a low profile. If Lady Song was like this, every courtyard would know about her situation.

Even if she wanted to be fussy, she couldn't do it like this.

Lady Song reluctantly ate a bit, then had the table cleared. She bestowed the rest of the food to the servants, even Ning Shu got a share.

However, Ning Shu didn't eat it and instead, ate what a servant girl should be eating.

When it came time for dinner and Yinzhen came, she had another table of dishes prepared. When Yinzhen saw the food, he frowned, obviously a little unhappy with the table full of sumptuous dishes.

In all honesty, Yinzhen was a prince of the fourth rank that had just recently left the palace. His official's salary wasn't very high and he had such a large big family that he needed to support in this residence.

There was no way two people could finish this table of food. Yinzhen was a rather frugal person and even after he ascended to the throne, he was a frugal emperor.

However, Lady Song didn't notice this at all and eagerly got food for Yinzhen. They couldn't finish this table of food so she gave the rest to the servants again.

So Ning Shu got another plate of bestowed food. She felt really helpless as she took in the other maids' expressions of gratitude.

Although the other maids felt honored to get this food, Ning Shu didn't feel honored at all.

She kept working busily until Lady Song went to bed, then she headed back to her room to sleep. As she sat on the edge of the bed, she hammered her stiff legs. Her calves were completely stiff after standing for an entire day.

After spending the day sounding out the situation, she had figured out how to be a maid. In fact, she realized that she was a maid with pretty much no status. She only did rough work like cleaning the table and carrying around water.

She had no right to say a word to Lady Song.

As Ning Shu was massaging her legs, the other three maids came back. When they saw Ning Shu, they said, "Your master can sure kick up a storm. The entire residence knows that she's pregnant now. She's pregnant, but she's still having the prince stay in her courtyard?"

Ning Shu could only inwardly sigh.

It was seriously tiring to stay in the inner courtyard. This place was only oh so big, but there were many people here. Furthermore, they were all fighting over the same man, the only resource.

This task was such a troll. She had to save a child who was supposed to die young? How was it possible to do that?

Lady Song had actually managed to give birth to a baby with weak health, so after a while, the child had died.

She seriously didn't understand the meaning of this task at all!

However, since it was the intermediate examination, it probably wasn't that simple. After all, there were also transmigrators and reincarnators in this inner courtyard. Furthermore, she didn't even know who the transmigrators and reincarnators were.

They were all staying in the inner courtyard with their own motives, waiting for the opportunity to make their move.

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Chapter 1193: Knock, Knock, Knock...

Ning Shu washed up and prepared to head to bed. She started practicing the Unsurpassable Martial Arts. No matter what, she needed a healthy body in order to complete this task well.

Ning Shu was rather gratified that the Unsurpassable Martial Arts belonged to her and wasn't something she got from the system, otherwise there'd be no way for her to use it now.

As expected, it was important to depend on yourself and learn things. Things from the system could spaz out and be revoked without any warning. The system didn't care about people's lives at all.

The other three maids in the room had also gone to sleep. Ning Shu silently recited the Unsurpassable Martial Arts's chant.

Knock, knock, knock...

At this time, there came the sound of knocking. The knocks were very rhythmic, like they were knocking on a person's heart.

"Hey, someone go open the door. Someone's master probably needs something," said a maid in a nasally tone.

"The pregnant Lady Song probably wants something. Whoever's master is, go open the door," said another maid.

Although that's what they said, all three maids got up from their beds.

Ning Shu was getting a little jittery from the sound of the knocks. She suddenly felt a little alarmed and apprehensive.

"I'll go open it." When they saw that Ning Shu wasn't moving, one of the maids rolled her eyes at Ning Shu, then put on her shoes. She first adjusted the lamp wick to make the oil lamp burn brighter, then went to open the door.

The door opened with a creak and Ning Shu immediately looked towards the door to find that the maid who had opened the door had collapsed to the ground. She hadn't struggled or cried out in pain and was simply lying on the ground, seeming to no longer be breathing.

Ning Shu's heart jumped and she hastily got off the bed and ran to the door without even bothering to put on her shoes. When she got to the door, she immediately started retreating back into the room.

Because she saw a pitch-black barrel point straight at her.

A gun!!!?

Right after, a man in a black windbreaker walked in. The hems of his windbreaker fluttered slightly and his entire body emitted a very indifferent aura. At this moment, he was currently pointing a gun to Ning Shu's head.

Ning Shu :Σ()︴

It's... it's the uncle !

The uncle was wearing a black windbreaker as usual. Right now, it was pitch-black outside, so it made him seem like a demon, extremely cold and detached.

Ning Shu's hair rose on end as she faced the pitch-black muzzle of the gun, even her soul seemed to be shaking as if she was facing something extremely terrifying.

Ning Shu's facial muscles trembled and cold sweat was seeping out on her forehead. With a gun pointed to her head like this, she was finding it difficult to even speak.

It was like she was a frog that was being stared at by a poisonous snake. It was like facing a predator.

Ning Shu raised her hands to surrender. This was the Qing Dynasty, it was against the rules for you to have a gun! How come you got to be so willful!?

Ning Shu dared to guarantee that the moment she moved, she'd immediately be killed.

The school doctor uncle adjusted his glasses slightly, then looked towards Ning Shu and lifted his brows. "An intermediate task-taker?"

Although it was a question, his tone was very flat, even indifferent.

The school doctor uncle moved the gun away from Ning Shu's head and pointed it at the other two maids in the room.

"Please let me off! I'll leave this plane right away! I was wrong!" A maid fell to a kneel on the ground and kowtowed towards the school doctor uncle like she was filled with regrets. Her face was covered with tears and snot.

Ning Shu: Dumbfounded...

The school doctor uncle lifted his brows and said, "Alright."

"Thank you!" The maid smiled in relief through her tears, but in the next second her expression froze and her body collapsed to the ground. There was no injury on her body, but she was no longer breathing.

Ning Shu didn't even hear the sound of a gun fire. She turned her stiff neck to look towards the maid who had collapsed to the ground, then found that the school doctor uncle was currently looking at her. She was immediately so frightened that she felt about to wet herself.

"Your turn," said the uncle. He aimed at the other maid who was shaking in fear and pulled the trigger. The maid died without even having the chance to resist.

Ning Shu's forehead was covered with sweat and all the muscles on her body were shaking. When the uncle looked towards her, her facial muscles started convulsing even harder.

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Chapter 1194: Encountered a Psychopath

Even now, Ning Shu's expression was still that of a dumbfounded dog. As she glanced out the corner of her eye at the uncle's fluttering windbreaker, she inwardly shouted towards 2333, "What is this situation!? I fricking encountered a psychopath!"

Ning Shu shouted towards 2333, "What do I do now?"

"Run?" 2333 only choked out this one word.

The current uncle was even more terrifying compared to before, he seemed even more twisted. Ning Shu slowly edged towards the door. She couldn't allow herself to be killed. What would happen to her task if she died? If she died, she'd have to start over again. At that time, if she wanted to be promoted to being an intermediate task-taker, she'd need double the points.

It wasn't easy to become an intermediate task-taker, she had to complete this task no matter what.

So who exactly was this uncle?

The school doctor uncle turned to look towards Ning Shu and said in an indifferent tone, "They've all been wiped out and you're the only one left standing. It's a strangely uncomfortable sight."

Ning Shu :Σ()︴

This uncle's OCD was beyond saving. Since he killed three, leaving only one left standing, it was better to just wipe them all out!!?

The frick? This situation was seriously like she was just sitting at home and disaster crashed through the roof.

"I don't know anything, please let me off?" said Ning Shu.

The uncle glanced at Ning Shu, adjusted his glasses, then scanned the room. He then asked Ning Shu, "Which bed is yours?"

"What!?" Ning Shu stared at the school doctor uncle with her eyes wide. "What did you say?"

"He must want you to offer up your body, that's why he's asking you which bed is yours." 2333's voice appeared in Ning Shu's head.

The school doctor uncle's lips hooked slightly and his glasses flashed cold light. It seriously made him look super twisted, especially as he stood in this room. His pair of long legs made the entire room seem a whole lot smaller.

For some reason, Ning Shu felt like the uncle had heard what 2333 said. The hook of his lips was seriously horrifying. Ning Shu hastily pointed to a bed. "I sleep here."

"Dust the bed clean," said the uncle lightly.

Ning Shu :Σ()︴

What did he want to do?

Under the uncle's watch, Ning Shu bent over to dust the bed. The school doctor uncle took several steps back and watched Ning Shu fix the bed with an indifferent expression.

"It-it's done," said Ning Shu to the uncle who was currently playing with his gun.

The uncle just sat down and crossed his legs, making his leg seem very very long.

Ning Shu wanted to sit down and tried to get close to the uncle, but he just glanced at her and said, "Keep your distance."

Ning Shu :...

Her butt was already about to touch the bed though. She had no choice but to stand back up awkwardly and ask, "Do you want tea? I'll go boil some water and make tea."

The school doctor uncle glanced at Ning Shu lightly without saying anything. Ning Shu took a few tentative steps towards the door. When she saw that the school doctor uncle wasn't pointing his gun at her, she immediately ran out of the room like there were flames licking at her heels.

Help aaah!!!

Ning Shu ran like crazy all the way to the kitchen, bolted the door, then leaned against the door and gasped for breath. The fart as if she'd boil anything? She didn't even dare to go back there. If she went back, she might be killed.

She didn't even know why the uncle killed those task-takers?

#comment: Aaaah, the uncle's finally made another appearance~~~ And such a suggestive one too :3

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Chapter 1195: Why Do You Call Him Uncle?

Ning Shu hammered her weak legs as she asked 2333, "What exactly is going on?"

"It's just what you saw, the other three were also task-takers, but they've already been killed," said 2333.

What was the probability of having four task-takers in the same room?

Furthermore, she hadn't noticed at all that they were task-takers. She probably hadn't noticed because she hadn't really interacted with them much.

"Why were they wiped out? Why did the uncle wipe them out?" Ning Shu was very confused.

2333 asked, "Why do you call him uncle?"

"That's not the point. The point is what's going on now? Am I going to be wiped out as well?" Ning Shu wiped at the cold sweat covering her forehead.

"Those task-takers are probably advanced task-takers. This was an examination task for intermediate task-takers. They shouldn't have come to an intermediate examination task to cause trouble," said 2333. "I can't think of any other reason."

Ning Shu smacked her lips. "Advanced task-takers can be killed just like this?" It wasn't easy to become an advanced task-taker. She was still just an intermediate task-taker and it already felt very hard.

They say that they lacked task-takers, but they didn't hesitate at all to eliminate them.

"They're just some advanced task-takers. They've violated the rules that the higher ups have set and they don't possess the ability to get free from the system. If you mess around like this, you're just asking to die. Advanced task-takers are also just ants. They're simply ants that are slightly bigger and stronger." 2333's voice was cold.

Ning Shu's heart chilled. "Why did advanced task-takers come to an intermediate examination task?"

"There was definitely a benefit. You'll find out about the benefit in the future. This benefit had been big enough to make these advanced task-takers enter this examination task despite the risk of being eliminated."

"So if he didn't wipe them out, who would he wipe out?" said 2333, sounding unconcerned.

Ning Shu became even more speechless. She felt like she had completely gotten implicated even though she had nothing to do with it.

However, she had witnessed as three advanced task-takers died right in front of her. Her heart was trembling, it was like her heart was being soaked in ice water.

Why was the world so dangerous? Doing tasks was very dangerous, and there were even powerful people who might smite her with a single attack.

The men of today were sadly degenerated, the ways of the world were sure hard.

Ning Shu stayed in the kitchen the entire time. She didn't dare to go back. After all, she didn't know if the school doctor uncle would end up killing her after all due to his OCD and she didn't dare to take the risk.

She was an honest to god intermediate task-taker. She couldn't allow herself to be killed by mistake by the uncle.

Every time she advanced a step, she would find that there were even more powerful people above. Her heart felt exhausted.

The school doctor uncle was able to kill task-takers. This showed that he had very high status, so how come she encountered him in a low-level plane in the past?

Ning Shu: I'm too scared to go back.

Ning Shu felt a little hungry so she found some cakes that had gone cold in the kitchen. After eating two pieces, she was choked to the point that she was hiccuping so she stopped eating.

She didn't know how long she had been in the kitchen. She planned to go back soon and check if the uncle was gone. There was no way she could hang out with him.

Ning Shu carefully peeked into the room from the window. The school doctor uncle who was supposed to be sitting on the bed was now gone. The people who had been killed earlier were now alive again as well and currently walking around in the room.

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Chapter 1196: The World was Seriously Filled with Danger

"The souls of the original hosts are back?" asked Ning Shu.

2333 nodded.

Ning Shu was relieved. She walked into the room and when the three saw Ning Shu, they asked, "Where did you go this late in the night?"

"You couldn't have gone to secretly meet someone, right?" asked another maid scornfully.

Ning Shu didn't say anything and just lay down on the bed. The bed seemed to carry a cold air after the school doctor uncle sat on it. Her hair was standing on end as she lay on it.

All that filled her mind was the image of the black windbreaker and those glasses lens that flashed with cold white light. It was so cold and indifferent, the twistedness level was serious maxed out...

This little baby was scared!

That night, Ning Shu didn't sleep well, so when she woke up the next morning, she had a slight headache. When she saw the three maids moving around in front of her, she recalled that the task-takers who had been in their bodies were now gone forever.

She couldn't help but shiver.

It felt like the world was seriously filled with danger.

Ning Shu was a little depressed. She had been seriously scared last night. She said to 2333, "It suddenly feels kind of meaningless."

"What meaning do you want to have?" asked 2333 in reply.

"To obtain something, you must give up something. Everyone wants to live forever, not everyone can. Some people cultivate desperately for the sake of becoming immortal, for the sake of becoming strong enough to control their own destiny. There exists no free lunch in the world. You get scared, you feel fear, because you're not strong enough," said 2333. "If you want to give up, I can undo the binding between us."

"What happens to me if you do that?" asked Ning Shu.

2333 said solemnly, "You'll be eliminated. Your soul origin will cease to exist and the person called Ning Shu will vanish. You will no longer exist in any plane and the heavenly law will contain no information about you."

Ning Shu forced a laugh. "I was just joking. I was just trying to brighten up the atmosphere."

"The path of the task-taker is a road of no return. If you try to back out halfway, you'll only face the fate of being eliminated. You have no choice but to continue climbing up. As long as you're not eliminated and you don't die in the task, you'll possess eternal life." 2333 asked again, "Do you want to give up?"

2333's voice was very cold.

Ning Shu took a deep breath. "When did I ever say that I was going to give up? I was just lamenting a little, and you immediately started harping on nonstop."

2333 had even deliberately intimidated her.

Ning Shu washed up, then went to attend to Lady Song. When she arrived at the courtyard, she found that Lady Song hadn't even gotten up yet. However, it was almost about time for the ladies in the inner courtyard to pay the primary consort respects.

Wasn't Lady Song going to pay respects to the primary consort? Can it be that she wanted to rely on the fact that she was pregnant to stop going to wish the primary consort good health?

Ning Shu stood at the door with the basin of water and waited for a good while. It was already quite late. It seemed that Lady Song really wasn't going to go pay her respects to the primary consort.

This was only the first month of pregnancy, so it wasn't like she had any difficulty moving. Furthermore, Lady Song was only a concubine. If she kept relying on her pregnancy as an excuse to act unreasonable, it was easy for problems to occur.

It was sure rough to encounter masters like this who were a little confused in the head.

Creak

The door opened and Lady Song's personal maid, Hong Mei, came out. She glanced at Ning Shu, then took the washbasin from Ning Shu's hands. She looked towards Ning Shu and said with her lifted chin haughtily, "Go to the primary consort's courtyard and say that the lady isn't feeling well. She felt very dizzy when she woke up this morning. Go let the primary consort know and apologize for the fact that the lady won't be going to pay her respects today. "

Ning Shu :(ノ*T_T *) ノ

There was no way she could go do such a cannon fodder thing!

"Big Sis Hong Mei, the servant has to help the lady wash up. How could it possibly be this servant's place to show her face in front of the ladies?" said Ning Shu carefully.

Hong Mei lifted her chin more. "At least you seem to know your place. Now go. Head to the primary consort's courtyard to give this report."

"Hurry and go, otherwise the primary consort will blame the lady," said Hong Mei as she walked into the room with the basin.

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Chapter 1197: Yinzhen's Inner Courtyard

Ning Shu felt dead. It was seriously rough to have been assigned a task like this, and the worst part was that she had to go.

She started heading towards the primary consort's courtyard. She entered the main hall under the guidance of a maid. As soon as she stepped into the hall, she saw that several beautiful women were sitting in the room.

Lady Ula Nara was sitting at the seat of honor, looking very graceful and poised. Ning Shu walked into the room quickly and curtsied respectfully to Lady Ula Nara, "This servant pays her respects to the primary consort."

Before the primary consort even said anything, a woman sitting at the side took the initiative to ask, "Why hasn't your lady come to pay her respects to the madame yet?"

Ning Shu looked towards the concubine who was speaking. It was Lady Geng. She curtsied and said, "Lady Geng, my lady felt weak as she was getting up this morning and was very uneasy, so she had this servant come to apologize to the madame."

As Ning Shu spoke, she nearly half squatted in her curtsy. Her attitude was very humble and respectful.

Lady Ula Nara said with a faint smile, "It's fine. Since Lady Song isn't feeling well, have you gone to find a doctor?"

Ning Shu hastily said, "The lady said that she can just endure it and that there was no need to make such a big deal out of it. She said that she couldn't do things that overstepped her status."

Lady Ula Nara had a smile on her face this entire time, so Ning Shu couldn't really tell whether she was angry or not. Lady Ula Nara exhorted Ning Shu, "Take good care of your lady and let this consort know if you need anything."

"Thank you, Madame," said Ning Shu respectfully.

Lady Ula Nara had Ning Shu withdraw.

After leaving the courtyard, Ning Shu exhaled hard. Heavens, that was seriously scary. She had been really worried that she would have been punished as an example.

It felt like she had just made a trip to the border of life or death.

She had taken a moment to scrutinize the women in the room earlier. Yinzhen's primary consort, Lady Ula Nara, was noble and majestic. The secondary consort, Nian Shilan, Lady Nian, was beautiful and delicate, with a gentle temperament that was characteristic of Han women.

Lady Nian had given birth to three sons and one daughter, but they had all died in childhood.

Then there was Lady Niohuru, who was still just a lady right now, and a Young Lady Niohuru.

Speaking of which, Yinzhen really didn't have many children that managed to live to adulthood. Compared with his father, Master Kang, he seriously had few children.

Ning Shu returned to Lady Song's courtyard and found that Lady Song was already sitting at the table having breakfast. The table was full of food. She had ordered such an abundant feast so early in the morning.

Ning Shu felt pretty helpless. She walked in and curtsied. Lady Song took a sip of the rice congee, wiped the corners of her lips with a handkerchief, then asked Ning Shu, "What did the madame say?"

Ning Shu said, "The madame didn't say anything. She said that you should make sure to look after your health."

A smile appeared on Lady Song's face and she looked very satisfied. She said to Hong Mei, "Bestow her my hairpin."

Hong Mei looked unwilling, but she still went into the bedroom to get the hairpin for Ning Shu,

This hairpin was made of jade. It had some black spots and blemishes, so it wasn't worth much. But as a reward for her, this maid with no status, it was a very valuable gift.

Ning Shu hastily waved her hands and said, "This is too valuable for this servant to accept."

"Take it," said Lady Song. She was very satisfied when she saw Ning Shu's flustered appearance.

Hong Mei shoved the hairpin into Ning Shu's hand. Her back was facing Lady Song, so she said between gritted teeth, "The lady is bestowing this to you, so just take it."

Ning Shu finally accepted the hairpin. When she saw that Hong Mei's eyes remained fixed on the hairpin in her hand, she inwardly sighed.

Afterwards, she gave the hairpin to Hong Mei. It really wasn't worth it to have someone hold a grudge against her due to this kind of hairpin that wasn't worth much in the first place.

At first, Hong Mei had politely pushed it off, but later she had accepted the hairpin with her chin lifted.

As expected, like master, like servant. Hong Mei, like Lady Song, always became very smug and conceited whenever she got her way.

Ning Shu felt that it was still better to be a low-key servant.

Lady Song's pregnancy wasn't very carefree. She always had an ailment here or felt uncomfortable there.

In any case, she caused endless issues.

It was uncomfortable for a woman to be pregnant, but it wasn't to the level that Lady Song made it out to be.

"Miao Ling, go ask the prince to come here. The lady isn't feeling well," said Hong Mei to Ning Shu.

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Chapter 1198: The Prince Has Medical Skills?

Ning Shu glanced at Lady Song who was sitting on the bed. Lady Song was currently rubbing her forehead like she was very uncomfortable.

Ning Shu, with her superficial medical skills, felt that Lady Song hadn't reached the stage when she would be feeling uncomfortable. It was still a while until the gestation stage when she would start having morning sickness.

Lady Song should be making sure to take good care of her health and take advantage of the time before she started having morning sickness to eat more nourishing foods. Once she started having morning sickness, it would be very painful.

"Hurry and go, go get the prince. The lady's not feeling well," urged Hong Mei again when she saw that Ning Shu wasn't moving.

Ning Shu :...

Why did they always make her do these kinds of things?

Besides, Yinzhen wasn't a doctor. What use was calling him over? Relying on the fact that she was pregnant to ask for favor like this would use up Yinzhen's patience and pity.

"Hurry and go, what are you still standing there for? Don't you see that the lady isn't feeling well?" Hong Mei's expression was very strict.

Ning Shu indicated her understanding, then turned to go find Yinzhen. No, actually, to go find a doctor.

Ning Shu didn't go look for Yinzhen at all and just went to first notify the primary consort that Lady Song wasn't feeling well.

For this kind of inner courtyard business, people should go to the main wife. If she directly skipped over the primary consort and had gone to find Yinzhen, it was a direct challenge to Lady Ula Nara's authority.

When Lady Ula Nara heard that Lady Song wasn't feeling well, she told Ning Shu to go get the residence's doctor.

Ning Shu invited the doctor over and returned to say to Lady Song, "Lady, the prince can't come since he has matters to deal with. However, when he heard that Lady wasn't feeling well, he was very worried and immediately had this servant go call the doctor."

At first, when Lady Song saw that Ning Shu hadn't invited the prince over, her facial color had instantly turned ugly. She only reluctantly accepted things after hearing what Ning Shu said and allowed the doctor to check her pulse.

"Lady, there's nothing wrong with your health. Pregnancy tends to be a little uncomfortable, just make sure to maintain a good mood." The doctor left after checking the pulse and didn't even give a prescription.

So it showed that Lady Song was completely fine.

Ning Shu felt pretty exhausted.

During dinner, Yinzhen came to visit Lady Song and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Prince. I'm much better," said Lady Song, seeming a little overwhelmed by this favor from her superior. She could clearly sense that the prince's attitude towards her today was a lot better. He seemed more gentle than usual.

Lady Song just attributed this to the fact that she was pregnant. She believed the prince was treating her better because of the child.

Yinzhen said to Lady Song, "You're a sensible person."

Yinzhen was praising Lady Song for not going to look for him directly today and instead, going to find the primary consort.

Lady Song was a little confused, but she was elated to feel this slight gentleness from Yinzhen. She was too elated to think about the meaning of Yinzhen's words.

After dinner, Yinzhen was about to leave, but Lady Song asked him to stay. Yinzhen frowned and told her to take good care of her health, then left.

Lady Song was a little confused. The prince had been fine just a moment ago, so how come he suddenly seemed so cold again?

As Ning Shu took this in from the side, she seriously didn't know what to say.

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Chapter 1199: Playing Telephone

Lady Song stayed in a confused daze even after Yinzhen left. It was clear that she had no idea what made the prince unhappy.

Ning Shu could see it clearly though. Yinzhen had just praised Lady Song for being sensible, but in the next moment, Lady Song had asked for him to stay. A pregnant concubine was still asking her man to stay for the night?

When the main wife was pregnant and had no way of attending to her husband, she even had to help her husband find women. However, a concubine, during her pregnancy, was actually for her man to stay. She seriously didn't know any etiquette.

Furthermore, Lady Song wasn't favored at all in the first place.

Lady Song was a little angry and swept all the food off the table.

The plates fell to the ground, emitting crisp sounds as they shattered. Oil and water mixed with the shattered porcelain, making the ground a complete mess.

Lady Song was upset due to Yinzhen's sharply fluctuating attitude. This in addition to her pregnancy mood swings caused her to behave in a very extreme way.

After venting for a good while, Lady Song saw the mess on the ground and annoyance flashed across her face. She said to Hong Mei, "Clean up everything on the ground, don't let anyone notice."

"Miao Ling, hurry and clean up the floor," said Hong Mei to Ning Shu.

Ning Shu: ...

So speechless.

Ning Shu had no choice but to start cleaning up the things on the ground. It was completely covered with grease. She had to wipe the ground several times to finally get it clean.

"Ow!" cried Lady Song suddenly. Her expression was flustered. "My stomach hurts! My stomach hurts!"

"Lady, Lady..." Hong Mei's expression was panicked."Lady, are you ok? "

Ning Shu threw aside the handkerchief she was holding and walked over to check Lady Song's pulse. There wasn't really an issue. As she took in Lady Song's expression of great pain, she was pretty speechless.

Wasn't this a little too exaggerated?

During the beginning of pregnancy, it was normal to have some pain in the lower abdomen because the body hadn't yet adapted to pregnancy. It'd get better after a little while.

"Lady, it's alright," said Ning Shu to Lady Song.

Lady Song's face was pale. "But my stomach hurts."

"Miao Ling, it's not like you're a doctor. Do you think you would be able to know just because you checked her pulse like a doctor? Go get a doctor," said Hong Mei in an annoyed tone.

"I'm a little scared. Go call the prince," said Lady Song weakly to Ning Shu.

Ning Shu: ...

It was so late now, and they had already called the doctor once during the day. It had only been a little while, but they were calling the doctor again.

Ning Shu was pretty annoyed.

It was clearly nothing. Why did Lady Song insist on garnering attention like this?

Ning Shu curtsied and said, "This servant has learned medicine from a barefoot doctor, so this servant knows a little about medicine."

"The lady is an honored noble. You think you're some miracle doctor just because you learned a little from a barefoot doctor? Can you afford to take responsibility for delaying her treatment? The prince's eldest son is in her stomach! No mistakes can be allowed." Hong Mei jabbed her finger at Ning Shu. "The lady told you to ask the prince to come here, so what are you still wasting time for?"

Ning Shu: Helpless...

"Hurry up, don't you see that the lady isn't feeling well?" Hong Mei pushed Ning Shu, "Hurry and go invite the prince."

Ning Shu sighed, then turned to head towards Lady Ula Nara's courtyard.

At this time, Lady Ula Nara was getting ready to go to bed. When she heard that Ning Shu had come, she granted Ning Shu a meeting. However, her tone was slightly displeased. "What's wrong with your master now?"

Ning Shu could hear the helplessness in Lady Ula Nara's voice. She curtsied and said, "Madame, the lady said that her stomach hurts and wants to see a doctor."

Lady Ula Nara rubbed her forehead. "You go find the doctor, this consort will go invite the prince."

Ning Shu nodded and left to find the residence's doctor. The doctor looked quite helpless as well when he saw Ning Shu, but he grabbed his medicine box and headed to Lady Song's courtyard with Ning Shu.

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Chapter 1200: The Prince's First Child

"I told you to invite the prince, the prince!" shouted Lady Song when she saw Ning Shu come in with the doctor. She didn't see Yinzhen so her facial color instantly worsened.

"What's wrong?" Yinzhen walked in, followed by Lady Ula Nara.

"Prince," cried Lady Song happily. She then immediately said in a flustered tone, "Prince, my stomach really hurts."

Yinzhen sat down by the bed and said mildly, "You'll be fine."

"But Prince, I'm really scared," said Lady Song, holding onto Yinzhen tightly.

"How's Lady Song?" Yinzhen's voice was becoming more and more cold as he asked the doctor this.

Lady Ula Nara calmly watched from the side without saying anything.

"The lady is fine. This is normal for pregnant women. The lady should simply focus on resting well and staying in a good mood," said the doctor, shaking his head.

Yinzhen glanced at Lady Song. "See? You're fine. Rest up properly."

Yinzhen was frowning as he turned around with his hands clasped behind his back and left. Lady Ula Nara said to Lady Song, "Don't be nervous, Lady Song. You're just too tense."

"Prince, Prince..." When Lady Song saw that Yinzhen was leaving, she hastily shouted out to him. However, Yinzhen left without looking back. Lady Song felt so wronged. When she heard what Lady Ula Nara said, she said, "Madame, it's not like you've been pregnant before. The child in my belly is the first child of this residence, and I have no experience, that's why I'm so worried."

A stern expression flashed through Lady Ula Nara's eyes, but soon vanished. She said elegantly, "Since this is the prince's first child, Lady Song, you must make sure to take good care of your health and give birth to a healthy child for the prince."

Lady Ula Nara then turned and left.

Lady Song felt a little unhappy. She stroked her stomach. Of course, she'd be giving birth to a healthy child for the prince. Furthermore, it would be the prince's eldest son.

As Ning Shu watched from the side, her jaw almost hit the ground. Lady Song's EQ nearly made her fall to a kneel. She thought that all the women living in the inner courtyard were intelligent people, but it seemed that there were also one or two people who didn't have their heads screwed on right.

And Lady Song was such a person. She just couldn't keep her cool.

Only those who did not react in the face of favor and insult alike would be able to get far.

With this kind of personality, Lady Song was simply fated to be cannon fodder in this inner courtyard struggle.

She made use of the child in her belly to argue against the main wife. This confidence was enough to make Ning Shu's jaw drop.

The main problem was, she still had to serve such a master.

There was no need to explain how exhausted she felt.

"Hong Mei, do you think this child is a boy or a girl?" asked Lady Song.

Hong Mei immediately said, "Of course Lady has a little boy in her belly. He's the prince's eldest son."

Lady Song stroked her stomach. "Just wait until I give birth to the prince's child."

"Child, Mother is counting on you!"

Ning Shu could only inwardly sigh. The child in Lady Song's belly was a girl. What made them think it was a boy?

Lady Song had given birth to two children during her life. They were both girls and had both died in childhood.

After this busy day, Ning Shu returned to her room.

When the other three maids saw Ning Shu, they immediately started mocking her. Basically, they kept saying that her master, Lady Song, was relying on her pregnancy to throw her weight around and cause a ruckus.

"Isn't it just a pregnancy?"

"What is she so smug about?"

There was no lack of servant girls who wanted to fly onto a branch to become a phoenix, so every single one of them were contemptful towards the pregnant Lady Song.

Ning Shu lay on the bed and put the pillow on her head. She couldn't be bothered to listen to these words of jealousy. She had to attend to Lady Song during the day, and at night she still had to listen to these things. It was seriously tiring.

#comment: At the time that I'm translating this, advertisements for those 'Try your hand at entering the imperial palace as a concubine and climbing your way up' phone games have been going strong for a while. I had like zero interest in trying those games out previous, but somehow, while editing this arc, I'm now kind of curious whether or not I'd be able to make the right choices in those games and become the empress dowager...

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?Chapter 1201: Which 365 Occupations?

After being pregnant for almost a month and a half, Lady Song started having morning sickness. Her body was relatively weak from the start, so when she started vomiting, her health became even worse.

She cried as she retched. Ning Shu was holding the spittoon as she watched Lady Song vomit. The room was filled with a sour smell.

After Lady Song finished vomiting, Hong Mei immediately brought her water. Lady Song rinsed her mouth, then lay on the couch weakly, her face pale.

"Hurry and get these things out of here," said Hong Mei to Ning Shu.

"Understood." Ning Shu left the room with the spittoon of vomit.

Ning Shu like she'd really end up trying all 365 occupations at this rate. In all seriousness, being a servant girl with a lowly status who didn't have control over her own fate, really made it hard to complete the task.

Ning Shu's conjecture was that this task was meant to test the temperament of the task-taker. No matter what position you were in, you had to keep your calm.

She had to be capable of being an empress, a beggar, a celebrity, and even a man.

After she cleaned the spittoon, before she had even entered the room, Hong Mei had walked out and said, "Master doesn't really have an appetite, so invite the prince over for lunch."

Ning Shu silently chanted the heart-clearing chant and told herself not to get angry, but she seriously felt helpless.

This excuse was used every single time and on top of that, she was always the one that was sent to do the inviting. As of now, she was already a familiar face to Lady Ula Nara.

Ning Shu felt that if things went on like this, she'd definitely end up with a tragic fate. Ever since Lady Song got pregnant, she had stopped going to pay her respects to the primary consort.

Although Ning Shu always made her attitude very very humble when reporting to Lady Ula Nara, she could still sense that Lady Ula Nara was annoyed.

Now that Lady Song had serious morning sickness, she had even more reason not to go pay her respects to Lady Ula Nara.

Ning Shu felt that they couldn't continue to go on like this.

"Lady, will you be going to pay your respects to Madame now?" asked Ning Shu. Lady Song had vomited right after she woke up, so she should be able to go pay her respects to Lady Ula Nara.

Lady Song rubbed her forehead weakly. It was probably because she wasn't feeling well, because she actually didn't get angry with Ning Shu for saying something like this.

"I'm really not feeling well. I can't take any risks until the child is born. I must give birth to the eldest son for the prince." In reality, Lady Song did know that her behavior was a little out of line.

Perhaps it was because she was the first woman in the residence to become pregnant so she couldn't help but feel proud. That was why she was trying to get attention this way.

Ning Shu felt seriously helpless as she said, "Lady, you're the first in this inner courtyard who became pregnant. If you do this, it'll make the other ladies feel discontent."

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Chapter 1202: Visiting the Primary Consort

Ning Shu put it very plainly. "It's not a normal time, so Lady, you should be more careful. You should be more cautious with your words and actions."

"Are you lecturing me?" Lady Song glanced at Ning Shu, then placed her hand on Hong Mei's and slowly got up.

Ning Shu hastily curtsied and said, "This servant wouldn't dare to lecture you, Lady."

Lady Song smoothed down her sideburn and said lightly, "But you're right. I should be more cautious in my actions."

Ning Shu was a little surprised, then she took out a perfume sachet and said to Lady Song, "Lady, this is a perfume sachet I made. It contains orange peel and mint. When you feel dizzy or uncomfortable, you can take it out and inhale the scent. It'll help soothe your discomfort."

Lady Song nodded, then shot a look at Hong Mei. Hong Mei immediately went to accept the sachet.

"Come with me to visit the primary consort," said Lady Song to Ning Shu.

Ning Shu immediately curtsied.

So then, Lady Song took Hong Mei and Ning Shu with her along with several other maids to head to Lady Ula Nara's courtyard.

Ning Shu saw Lady Song supporting her waist in a very exaggerated manner. The pregnancy wasn't even visible yet, so what was she supporting her waist like that for?

Ning Shu had a bad feeling about this. Lady Song didn't look like she was going there to pay her respects, she looked like she was going there to show off.

"Miao Ling, stop trying to fawn upon Master! Are you trying to become her personal servant?" Ning Shu was in the middle of thinking about something when Hong Mei walked over and fiercely whispered this in her ear. The words were forced out between gritted teeth.

Hong Mei was clearly angry with Ning Shu for trying to gain favor with Lady Song. She felt that this behavior was an act of challenging her position.

Ning Shu didn't speak and just put on a scared expression. Hong Mei curled her lips in disdain, satisfied with Ning Shu's attitude. She then hastily went up to take Lady Song's hand and said, "Lady, rest your hand on this servant's arm."

When they arrived at Lady Ula Nara's courtyard, all the other ladies had already arrived. Lady Song smiled happily as she walked in while supporting her waist.

Lady Song hadn't come to pay respects ever since she got pregnant, so her sudden arrival surprised everyone.

"This concubine pays her respects to Madame." Lady Song said that she was going to pay her respects, but she didn't curtsy. Lady Ula Nara said, "There's no need to be so polite, go have a seat."

Lady Ula Nara had her maid go cushion Lady Song's chair and Lady Song sat down happily.

Lady Ula Nara asked Lady Song about her health. During the entire conversation, Lady Song kept stroking her stomach in a pained and also happy manner.

It caused the facial colors of the other women to worsen.

Ning Shu had her head lowered while she observed the surroundings out of the corners of her eyes. When she saw Lady Song's smug expression, she felt seriously speechless. She then continued to observe the surrounding women.

Lady Ula Nara had been smiling this entire time so it wasn't very obvious whether or not she was angry. Speaking of which, Lady Ula Nara wasn't very old. At most, she looked only seventeen years old, but she was mature, had a steady temperament, and was generous.

It was obvious with a glance that she was a great choice for the position of main wife.

Ula Nara was a big surname of Manchuria, and Lady Ula Nara's family had very prominent status. The fact that Master Kang had engaged such a woman to Yinzhen showed that he cared about Yinzhen quite a lot.

Lady Ula Nara had been able to stay so calm in the face of a concubine's provocation, so it really showed that she was skilled at enduring.

Ning Shu was starting to regret asking Lady Song to come pay her respects. With this kind of attitude, it was better for her to not come here at all.

In reality, Ning Shu could understand Lady Song's current way of thinking. She usually wasn't favored at all. Although she was Yinzhen's first woman, she barely had a sense of existence among all these ladies.

Now that she was pregnant with Yinzhen's first child, she couldn't help but feel smug and enjoy this attention.

Haa. Ning Shu sighed. No matter what, her top priority was guaranteeing her own life.

She had no speaking rights in front of Lady Song.

"Lady Song, you have pretty good maids. It's reassuring that they're there to take care of you," said Lady Ula Nara to Lady Song.

Suspicion flashed across Lady Song's face as she asked, "Madame, which maid are you talking about?"

Lady Ula Nara looked towards Ning Shu with a smile on her face. "Just the girl who comes here everyday to pay respects on your behalf. It's obvious with a glance that she's an earnest one."

Ning Shu had a bad premonition. Why did she suddenly get brought up? This usually resulted in nothing good.

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Chapter 1203: Passing on the Hot Potato

How did the subject end up shifting to her? Ning Shu hastily curtsied and said in a fearful tone, "Many thanks, Madame, for your praise. This servant doesn't deserve it."

Lady Song glared at Ning Shu, then said to Lady Ula Nara, "She's just a careless little servant. How could she accept such praise from you, Madame?"

Lady Ula Nara stroked the sheep-fat white jade bracelet on her wrist, then said with a smile, "I think this girl is quite good. She always comes to pay respects on time every day."

Ning Shu hastily said, "It was the lady that ordered this servant to do these things. This servant was simply carrying out the lady's instructions."

Fudge, it can't be that she was about to become a chicken, that they were planning to slaughter the chicken as a warning to the monkey?

"See? I really like people who know how to advance and retreat," said Lady Ula Nara with a smile.

Lady Song's facial color had gotten a little bad. Her gaze wasn't very friendly as she looked at Ning Shu and there was suspicion in her eyes.

Ning Shu:...

What was with this situation now? Did she do anything that overstepped her bounds and made Lady Ula Nara notice her? Or was she just trying to warn Lady Song?

Lady Song forced a smile and said, "Since Madame likes this girl so much, I'll give this girl to you? Just take it as this concubine's show of good will. Allow this girl to stay at your side and serve you."

Ning Shu was stunned and looked towards Lady Song. She was trying to throw her to Lady Ula Nara?

"Lady..." cried Ning Shu towards Lady Song.

Lady Song frowned as she glanced at Ning Shu, then she said to Lady Ula Nara, "Allow this girl to serve you, Madame."

Lady Ula Nara said with a smile, "Although I like this girl, I can't very well steal her from your side. Furthermore, it's reassuring to have such an earnest girl stay by your side to take care of you."

When Lady Song heard what Lady Ula Nara said, she glanced at Ning Shu again. Now she really didn't want to keep Ning Shu by her side. She took the perfume sachet off her waist and passed it to Hong Mei who was standing behind her.

Ning Shu had given this sachet to her earlier. The fact that she was taking the sachet off now showed that she no longer trusted Ning Shu.

"Please, Madame, just accept this maid." Lady Song said with a smile, "Just take it as this concubine's thanks for all your care."

Ning Shu: ...

She really didn't know what to say?

The people in the room looked unconcerned with this matter. No one stepped out to say a word for Ning Shu. Everyone could see that Ning Shu had been abandoned by Lady Song, her master.

And Lady Ula Nara was using Ning Shu to attack Lady Song.

After all that work, she was still a domestic conflict cannon fodder. She had become cannon fodder in this conflict between the bigger figures.

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Chapter 1204: Switched Masters

Ning Shu finally understood the true difficulty of this task. As a servant who couldn't control her own fate, just surviving was already a huge challenge.

The struggles between women were even more scary. There truly existed killing without even leaving traces of blood.

Ning Shu just stood still. In any case, things have already become like this. If there really was a threat to her life, based on her martial arts, she'd definitely be able to escape.

Lady Ula Nara and Lady Song smiled at each other. Lady Ula Nara was smiling gracefully, but the smile on Lady Song's face was a little stiff.

"Madame, this concubine feels that this girl is very likable. Why don't you give her to me? I've been needing an extra girl to run errands." Another woman suddenly spoke.

Ning Shu looked towards this woman. It was Lady Niohuru. Lady Niohuru only spoke now to break the deadlock. Lady Ula Nara, this main wife, definitely didn't want a concubine's maid, but Lady Song couldn't keep Ning Shu. One didn't want the servant and the other was trying to forcefully gift the servant.

"That'll depend on what Lady Song thinks. The girl belongs to Lady Song after all," said Lady Ula Nara lightly.

Ning Shu could sense a chill in Lady Ula Nara's voice as she spoke to Lady Niohuru.

"Big Sister, are you simply being kind, or do you actually like this girl?" The delicate woman sitting next to Lady Niohuru looked towards Ning Shu with her chin propped up. "What's your name?"

"This servant's called Miao Ling. This servant pays her respects." Ning Shu curtsied towards the Young Lady Niohuru. It was said that this woman was Lady Niohuru's younger sister. She was a sister born of a concubine. Not long after her elder sister, Lady Niohuru, had entered the residence, Young Lady Niohuru had come to join her.

Which meant that there were currently two Lady Niohurus in the residence.

"That's enough. It's just the issue of a servant. Lady Song, just allow your servant to continue serving you. She belongs to you after all. Pushing her to other people like this probably makes the girl feel horrible as well," said Lady Ula Nara with a smile.

Lady Song's facial color worsened. She looked towards Lady Niohuru and said, "Little Sister, since you like this girl, Big Sister will just give her to you."

Lady Song relied on the fact that she was Yinzhen's first woman to address all the ladies that had joined the residence after her as little sister.

Surprise flashed across Lady Niohuru's face. She obviously hadn't expected that Lady Song was serious in giving this girl away. Lady Song had even given her away with such a firm attitude.

Ning Shu felt pretty helpless. She glanced at Lady Song. It was clear that she couldn't return to Lady Song's side anymore.

A couple of casual words from Lady Ula Nara had been enough to make Lady Song suspect her of being a spy and refuse to let her come back.

"Then thank you, Big Sister." Lady Niohuru had no choice but to accept Ning Shu. Her expression contained traces of helplessness.

"Thank you, Lady." Ning Shu curtsied towards Lady Niohuru.

Lady Niohuru nodded towards Ning Shu.

Ning Shu went to stand next to Lady Niohuru with her head lowered silently.

"Congratulations, Big Sister, for finally obtaining the servant that you were so fond of." Young Lady Niohuru who was sitting next to Lady Niohuru said this in a sweet voice.

Lady Niohuru just smiled without saying anything.

Ning Shu felt that she was so pitiful. Just one trip to the main courtyard and she ended up changing masters.

She had already given up on this task. It was enough as long as she survived.

Lady Song had given her away without saying a word, but she was a pretty cold and uncaring person in the first place.

Ning Shu had tried to make Lady Song trust her, but Lady Song had paid no attention to her.

Things were a little difficult now. Even if she moved to Lady Niohuru's courtyard, she still wouldn't be trusted. Forget it. It was enough as long as she could stay alive in this in the courtyard.

She didn't want to deal with Lady Song's matters anymore. Even if this task ended up as a failure, as long as she stayed alive, the task completion would be 60%.

There was no reason for her to thicken her skin and keep worrying about Lady Song after she treated her like this. In any case, even if she did worry, Lady Song wouldn't necessarily accept her goodwill.

Ning Shu glanced at Lady Song who looked as if a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. She pressed her lips together in annoyance, then stopped looking at her.

Lady Ula Nara smiled and said, "All right, everyone should head back now."

The ladies curtsied towards Lady Ula Nara, then left the courtyard.

Ning Shu followed Lady Niohuru at the back of the procession with her head lowered. Lady Niohuru who was walking in front of her suddenly stopped and turned around to look towards her. "Come here."

Ning Shu walked over to her with her head lowered and curtsied. "Lady."

"Regardless of who you used to belong to, you now follow me, so naturally, you're under my roof. As long as you are loyal, I'll treat you well," said Lady Niohuru to Ning Shu. As of now, her face no longer had that helpless expression from before when she had been forced to accept this servant.

Ning Shu said, "This servant understands. This servant will definitely carry out her duties properly."

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Chapter 1205: An Inspirational Woman

"I don't like people who are half-hearted. From now on, you belong to me, so naturally, I'll take good care of you," said Lady Niohuru lightly.

Ning Shu knew that Lady Niohuru was warning her, so she curtsied and said, "This servant understands."

Lady Niohuru smiled, then took the jade bracelet off her wrist and pressed the bracelet in Ning Shu's palm. She said, "This is my hello gift to you."

Ning Shu looked towards the bracelet. It was a delicate imperial consort bracelet. It was obvious with a glance that it was something very valuable. Ning Shu hastily said, "This servant can't accept it."

"Take it," said Lady Niohuru nonchalantly.

A bracelet this valuable wasn't something a person of her status could wear.

"This servant's status is humble so she really cannot accept such a valuable reward." Ning Shu didn't want to take the bracelet.

Lady Niohuru looked displeased. "I'm your master now. Since I've given it to you, just accept it with ease of mind."

"This servant thanks Lady for this gift." Ning Shu accepted the bracelet.

Lady Niohuru finally smiled, then turned and left.

As Ning Shu looked at the bracelet in her hand, she couldn't help but sigh in admiration. As expected of a woman who had been able to live prominently for three consecutive dynasties. She had been promoted from the status of a lady in a vassal state residence to being an imperial consort, then being the empress, and finally the empress dowager. She had lived to the ripe age of 86 before she finally passed away. She had lived until the main wife passed away and became the empress. She had lived until Lady Nian, who Yinzhen doted on greatly, passed away and became one of the most important women to Yinzhen. Finally, she lived until Yinzhen passed away and became the empress dowager. An inspirational woman's play could be written based on her life.

This kind of combination of grace and prestige was much more skilled than the means that Lady Song resorted to. Although Lady Niohuru's ways of handling things were still a little immature right now, she was still only 15.

The deep intentions she harbored could be seen.

Ning Shu found this task really troublesome. Lady Song was completely different from that yandere master from before. Xuan Hongyu had regarded Eleven as a tool. He wouldn't throw away the tool unless the tool was broken and couldn't be used anymore. He'd use everything to the fullest.

However, as of now, she had been thrown away by Lady Song. She had been abandoned by the target of her task. The little ego figure inside Ning Shu's heart was pounding the ground in fury. What the fr*ck!?

So just now, Lady Niohuru had been warning her not to try anything.

The inner courtyard was only oh so big, so everyone got news of every little thing that occurred. She could no longer interact with Lady Song or the people in her courtyard.

Otherwise, when the time came, there was no way Lady Niohuru would keep her.

Her current task had now been reduced to just surviving in this inner courtyard. Even if she wanted to look after Lady Song, she wouldn't be able to.

Ning Shu moved out of the house she used to live in and Lady Niohuru's servant arranged her a slightly better room.

Ning Shu asked Lady Niohuru's maid, "Big Sister, what do I need to do?"

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Chapter 1206: A New Career

"It depends on what you're assigned," said the maid lightly.

Ning Shu felt like everyone in Lady Niohuru's courtyard were slightly cold towards her. They were probably on guard against her, this outsider.

Since there was nothing specific that she needed to do, she was very idle. She had no choice but to find something to do herself like carrying over the water basin or tidying up the room.

This was the difference between being one of them versus not being one of them.

She used to be Lady Song's servant, so if Lady Niohuru trusted her, then that would seriously show that Lady Niohuru's brain had gotten fried.

Ning Shu was also pretty at ease staying in Lady Niohuru's courtyard. As for this task, she could only take it one step at a time.

"Miao Ling, the lady is looking for you," said a maid to Ning Shu.

Ning Shu tidied her clothes a little, then went to see Lady Niohuru.

At this time, Lady Niohuru was in the middle of washing up. She'd soon be going to pay her respects to the primary consort. When she saw Ning Shu, she said, "Miao Ling, come with me to visit the primary consort today."

Ning Shu was a little surprised, then she curtsied and indicated her understanding.

She went with Lady Niohuru to the main courtyard. When Lady Ula Nara saw Ning Shu, she asked with a smile, "How are you doing at Lady Niohuru's place?"

Ning Shu's facial muscles spasmed, then she hastily curtsied and said, "Many thanks, Madame, for your concern."

Young Lady Niohuru's spirited eyes kept darting between Lady Niohuru and Ning Shu. She asked Lady Niohuru, "Big Sister really likes this girl?"

Lady Niohuru replied with a faint smile, "This girl really is quite likable, just as Madame said."

Lady Ula Nara smiled without saying anything. Young Lady Niohuru kept scrutinizing Ning Shu with a sly and mischievous look.

Ning Shu just couldn't make sense of it. She was just a maid. What were these people paying attention to her for?

Ning Shu snuck a glance at Lady Niohuru. Lady Niohuru was simply smiling without a word.

She suddenly had another bad premonition.

As these ladies chatted, Ning Shu did her best to reduce her sense of existence.

After that, Ning Shu followed Lady Niohuru back to the courtyard. Tong Yu, Lady Niohuru's personal maid, said to Ning Shu, "From now on, clean the courtyard and the buildings. However, you're not allowed to go inside the house."

She couldn't go inside the house? Ning Shu hastily curtsied, "This servant understands. Thank you, Big Sis Tong Yu."

So Ning Shu started the career of sweeping the floor. She was told to only clean the courtyard and the corridors. She wasn't allowed inside, which showed that she wasn't trusted.

However, Lady Niohuru always acted like she trusted her a lot in front of Lady Ula Nara and the other ladies.

It was seriously confusing.

Ning Shu kept an eye on Lady Song's situation. Her morning sickness was becoming more and more severe. She vomited so much that she couldn't stomach anything and so her health was extremely poor.

Morning sickness was a normal phenomenon of pregnancy, taking medicine wouldn't help. The kitchen had already tried their best to make appetizing foods, but Lady Song just couldn't stomach them.

Whenever Lady Song didn't feel well, she'd send someone to get Yinzhen. Unlike Ning Shu, these people didn't report everything to Lady Ula Nara first and just directly went to go invite Yinzhen.

How many times could he be invited a day? Definitely at least three times for the morning, noon, and evening meals. Yinzhen was also seriously irritated, but Lady Song used the child as an excuse every single time.

It made it so that Yinzhen had no choice but to go to visit Lady Song. If he didn't go, he would be called heartless. Besides, this was his first child. Yinzhen couldn't help but look forward to it.

Yinzhen truly had few children. All the other princes already had children, but he only got this one child now, so he really wanted this child to be born safely.

Lady Song used this reason to invite Yinzhen over once, then kept this reason again and again. It was alright to use this reason a few times, but after several times, it seriously made people very fed up with it.

Yinzhen was an intelligent person, so how was it possible for him not to know that Lady Song was trying to use her child as a way to gain favor? He was very sick of it. So when Lady Song sent someone to find Yinzhen again, Yinzhen directly told her maid to find a doctor. It wasn't like he was a doctor, even if he went it'd be useless.

Lady Song was very angry when she failed to get Yinzhen to come over. This coupled with the hardships of pregnancy made her feel very wronged. She cried as she vomited.

In any case, Lady Song had caused quite a sensation ever since she became pregnant. The whole residence knew about it and some people mocked her in private, saying that they look forward to seeing what golden egg she'd end up giving birth to.

However, Lady Song was very certain that the child inside her belly was male, that her child would be Yinzhen's eldest son.

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Chapter 1207: Finally About to Give Birth

Ning Shu had a very weak sense of presence in Lady Niohuru's courtyard. However, she could still sense that someone was watching her.

No, to be exact, it was more like they were observing her. They were probably observing to see if she was behaving honestly.

Ning Shu didn't bother to pay attention to this and just focused on doing what she should be doing.

She wasn't planning on doing anything right now anyways.

Lady Song kept causing a ruckus for a very long time. Finally, she was about to give birth, and it had even happened in the middle of the night. Her shrill cries were so loud they could be heard throughout the entire residence.

Lady Niohuru got up and went to Lady Song's courtyard. All the ladies in the inner courtyard were at Lady Song's courtyard, even Yinzhen and Lady Ula Nara were there.

Yinzhen looked a little worried, causing his normally cold expression to be even colder. Lady Ula Nara comforted Yinzhen, saying, "Prince, Lady Song will definitely be alright. She'll definitely be able to give birth to your child without problems."

Yinzhen took Lady Ula Nara's hand and said with a trace of warmth, "Madame, you should go back to sleep. It's enough to have me waiting here."

"I'll wait with you." Lady Ula Nara smiled modestly, then said to Lady Song's maid, "Tell the midwife that if the child gives the first cry successfully and both the mother and child are safe, the reward will be doubled."

Yinzhen patted Lady Ula Nara's hand. "It's truly my fortune to have a main wife like you."

Lady Ula Nara simply smiled.

The atmosphere between Yinzhen and Lady Ula Nara was mild. However, though there were no strong feelings, it was very peaceful and respectful. It was clear with a glance that they were a harmonious couple.

Lady Song was in labor for a very long time, but the child still didn't come out. The sound of her cries was getting weaker and weaker. Back when Ning Shu was still standing outside the courtyard, she had still been able to hear Lady Song's screams, but now, she could barely hear it.

It was now a question whether this child could be born safely at all. Ning Shu hadn't forgotten her task to make sure that Lady Song's child was born safely and did not die young.

As of now, the horizon was starting to lighten. Taking such a long time to push the child out could cause the child harm.

Ning Shu considered things, then decided to head in. First though, she spoke to Lady Niohuru, her current master. "Lady, this servant knows a little medicine. May this servant go inside to take a look at Lady Song?"

Lady Niohuru glanced at Ning Shu, then whispered, "Are you certain?"

If the child managed to be born, things would be okay, but if the child failed to be born, this might even implicate her.

"This servant will try her best," said Ning Shu with a bow. "Lady Song still hasn't successfully given birth yet. If things continue dragging on, it's very likely that there will be birth trauma."

Lady Niohuru was a little hesitant. What if this maid didn't succeed?

"Lady, please let allow this servant to try." Ning Shu looked towards the room. The cries were getting weaker and weaker, and the maids were carrying out basin after basin of bloody water.

Lady Niohuru took a deep breath, then glanced at Ning Shu before speaking to Lady Ula Nara and Yinzhen. "Prince, Madame, this concubine's maid knows a little medicine. Why not let her go in and take a look?"

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Chapter 1208: Helped with the Birth

Yinzhen was very on edge now, so when he heard what Lady Niohuru said, he frowned. "She's just a maid who knows a little medicine. She shouldn't go in to cause more trouble."

A trace of unnaturalness flashed across Lady Niohuru's face. "This concubine had spoken out of turn."

Ning Shu felt pretty helpless. It seemed that there was no way for her to get inside.

The midwife lifted the curtain and hurriedly walked out to kneel in front of Yinzhen. She said fearfully, "Prince, the lady is having a difficult birth. The child's foot has come out."

Yinzhen was taken aback for a moment, then he wiped at his face and said coldly, "Do all you can to save the child."

"Lady, allow this servant to have a try." Ning Shu was really panicking now.

Lady Niohuru whispered in an annoyed tone, "You heard what she said. It's a difficult birth!"

Ning Shu could hear Lady Song's soft groans come from inside the room. She seemed extremely very weak.

Lady Niohuru rubbed her forehead in irritation, but she then said to Yinzhen, "Prince, please just allow this concubine's maid to give it a try."

Yinzhen waved his hand without even lifting his head to allow Ning Shu to go in. It was clear that he was just desperate enough to try anything by now.

The moment Ning Shu lifted the curtain, she was hit with the stench of blood. Lady Song was lying on the bed, her face pale as she moaned weakly in pain.

Ning Shu glanced down and found that the baby's foot had come out first. If she didn't fix the position of the child, there was no way for the child to be born. The ancient era didn't have caesarean section technology. If she cut a hole open in someone's stomach without anesthetic, the patient would just die from the pain.

Ning Shu took the ginseng in the box and cut a piece to place in Lady Song's mouth.

Following that, she got an embroidery needle to prick the child's foot. Before she could though, the midwife next to her grabbed her hand and demanded, "What are you doing?"

Ning Shu shook off the midwife's hand and pricked the child's foot with the needle. A bead of blood immediately appeared on the child's foot and then the foot retracted.

When the child retracted, Lady Song groaned with pain. Her facial color became even more pale and large beads of sweat covered her forehead. Lady Song's personal maid, Hong Mei, was currently helping wipe her sweat.

Ning Shu was relieved that the foot was now back in Lady Song's stomach. She then placed her hands on the stomach to adjust the position of the child.

This was Ning Shu's first time helping a woman give birth so she was also quite nervous. The other midwives were now also helping her.

"Ah..." Lady Song cried out in pain.

Ning Shu was so busy that she was covered with sweat. The candles in the room had already burned down to nothing and the sky had already brightened.

However, fortunately, Lady Song's baby was born safely. It was a very skinny girl. After she came out, she only cried a few times before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Ning Shu wiped the bloodstains on the child, then wrapped the child up. A midwife took the child from Ning Shu and lifted the curtain to go outside and report this happy news.

Ning Shu took a silver needle from the doctor's medicine box and gave Lady Song a bit of acupuncture before lifting the curtain and walking to Lady Niohuru's side.

Lady Niohuru looked towards Ning Shu in slight surprise and whispered, "Is Lady Song alright?"

"She's fine."

Yinzhen was a little disappointed to find that the child was a girl. When he saw the extremely thin and weak child, his brows furrowed even more.

This child was very skinny and weak. On top of that, while Lady Song was pregnant, she didn't take good care of her own health and kept raising ruckuses, so the child was born malnourished.

When the doctor said that the child needed to be looked after carefully, Yinzhen rubbed his forehead in irritation. He hadn't slept for an entire night, and now he was also disappointed, so he just turned and left.

Lady Ula Nara told the people in the courtyard to take good care of Lady Song.

Lady Ula Nara left, so the other concubines left as well. Lady Niohuru glanced at Ning Shu, then left Lady Song's courtyard.

"Miao Ling, you actually do know medicine. How did you do it?" asked Lady Niohuru.

Ning Shu just said that she had pricked the child's foot with a needle.

Lady Niohuru looked at Ning Shu for a good while. "If you have this ability, why would Lady Song want to get rid of you?"

Ning Shu felt rather helpless again when this was brought up and she said, "Lady Song didn't like this servant."

Lady Niohuru smiled without saying anything. After returning to her courtyard, she didn't go straight to bed and instead, cleaned up a little, then went to pay her respects to Lady Ula Nara.

Lady Ula Nara had everyone who came to pay aspects head back. After all, everyone had stayed up all night.

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Chapter 1209: How Could It Be a Girl?

The moment Lady Song woke up, she wanted to see her child. When she found out that the child was a girl, she was stupefied. She grabbed Hong Mei's hand and asked, "How could it be a girl? Wasn't it a boy?"

Lady Song had always believed that it was a boy inside her belly, that he would be the prince's eldest son. However, the child turned out to be a girl! How could this be? It wasn't possible!

The wet nurse carried the little lady over. Lady Song glanced at the thin baby in the swaddling clothes and found that the child was even very ugly. She was a little flustered as she undid the swaddling clothes. When she saw the distinctive characteristics of a girl, her figure seemed to crumble.

"Lady, everything must blossom first before it bears fruit. Lady, you'll definitely be able to give birth to a little prince." When Hong Mei saw Lady Song's look of despair, she hastily said, "Lady, what you need to do now is to recover properly, then give birth to a son for the prince."

"Take the child away," said Lady Song to the wet nurse, then she lay back down and turned away.

Lady Song was extremely disappointed. It had been so painful. She had suffered so much that it felt like she had lost half her life, but she ended up giving birth to a girl.

As Lady Song lay on the bed, she could hear the whispers of the maids outside. They all said that she had demanded to be so respected and pampered, but all she ended up giving birth to was a girl.

During the puerperium period, Lady Song didn't go to see her own child even once and just left her to the wet nurse. She was angry with this child, and she also bore a grudge against her own stomach for not giving birth to a son.

Perhaps Lady Song had kicked things off, because other women in the inner courtyard began to become pregnant. This time, it was the primary consort Lady Ula Nara, who had been diagnosed as pregnant.

When Yinzhen found out about this, he sent all the nourishing tonics in his storehouse to Lady Ula Nara's courtyard and had the doctor check her pulse once every three days.

Lady Ula Nara was pregnant with children of direct lineage so Yinzhen naturally cared a lot.

When Lady Song found out about this, she was practically angered to death. She hadn't seen the prince being this concerned when she was pregnant. It was all because the child in her belly wasn't a son.

Lady Ula Nara attached great importance to the child in her belly and handed over all the housekeeping authority to the secondary consort, Lady Nian. She told all the ladies in the inner courtyard that they didn't have to pay respects anymore because she wanted to focus on the pregnancy. She stopped caring about anything else.

She was quite level headed, to have directly handed over the housekeeping authority. It was quite the courageous move.

However, Ning Shu now had a new task, which was to go to the kitchen to boil goat's milk in the middle of the night while everyone was asleep.

Afterwards, she'd sneak to the little lady's room with the goat's milk. The wet nurse was lying on the bed, snoring loudly while the little lady was moving around in the cradle.

Ning Shu quietly set the goat's milk on the table to wait for it to cool down. She got water to wipe the child clean. It was now summer, so the child's body was covered with sweat rashes.

Lady Song didn't care about her own child, and even the wet nurse didn't care about this child. The current Lady Song just spent her time sulking and glaring at the pregnant Lady Ula Nara.

She grumbled at herself for not giving birth to a boy.

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Chapter 1210: Check My Pulse

After wiping the child down, Ning Shu rubbed some powder on the child. Sweat rashes were very itchy so the child would be very uncomfortable if she didn't do this. Afterwards, she picked up the small spoon to feed the goat milk to the child. Goat milk was very nutritious and should be able to replenish the energy that the child's body needed.

It had been a long time since the child was born, but she was still so thin and weak. Ning Shu could only sigh. She had really become a wet nurse.

After she finished feeding the child goat milk, she picked up the child and patted her on the back to prevent her from throwing up the milk.

Once the child fell asleep, Ning Shu set the child back down in the cradle.

It took awhile for her to finish all of this, but the wet nurse didn't wake up a single time to check on the baby.

It was no wonder that the child had ended up dying. From the start, while Lady Song was pregnant, she had serious morning sickness. She didn't eat much, so the child wasn't very nourished. Furthermore, it was a difficult childbirth, so the child's constitution was very weak.

The wet nurse didn't bother to take good care of the child.

Ning Shu only headed back after completing all of these tasks. The maid that was in the same room as her was still sleeping, so she went quietly to the bed to lay down.

Early the next morning, she had to get up again to work. Ning Shu felt like her days were seriously rich and full, very full.

She got a broom to start sweeping the leaves in the courtyard, but Tong Yu came out and said to her, "Miao Ling, the lady wishes to talk to you. Come on."

Ning Shu put down the broom and tidied up her clothes before walking into the room. Lady Niohuru was sitting on a chair. Ning Shu hastily curtsied towards her and said, "This servant pays her respects, Lady. Was there something you needed from this servant?"

Lady Niohuru said softly, "Nothing much. I just wanted to ask who you learned medicine from?"

"This servant learned a little from a barefoot doctor back when this servant was in the countryside. However, it's just some basics, just some superficial knowledge," said Ning Shu.

Lady Niohuru paused for a moment, then said, "Check my pulse for me."

Ning Shu asked, "Lady, are you not feeling well somewhere? This servant only knows a bit of superficial knowledge."

"I feel fine but do check my pulse." Lady Niohuru's lips curved slightly.

Ning Shu had no choice but to check Lady Niohuru's pulse. Afterwards, she retrieved her hand and said, "Lady, you're in very good health."

Lady Niohuru nodded. "You can return to your work."

Ning Shu found this entire event rather baffling, but she could only curtsy and withdraw. She then continued sweeping and wiping the floor.

She could sense someone was watching her. When she turned around, she saw that it was Lady Niohuru's personal maid, Tong Yu. Ning Shu set her rag down and walked over with a curtsy to ask, "Big Sis Tong Yu,?"

Tong Yu looked at Ning Shu as she asked, "You check the lady's pulse just now. How is her health?"

"The lady is in good health," said Ning Shu

Lady Niohuru really was in pretty good health. Furthermore, she made sure to take good care of herself. If not for that, she wouldn't have lived to be more than 80 years old, surviving through three dynasties.

"Then why hasn't the lady become pregnant?" Tong Yu drew closer to Ning Shu's ear to ask this in a small voice.

So this was what she was worried about. Ning Shu felt that Lady Niohuru didn't have to worry at all. If no accidents occurred, the future Emperor Qianlong, Hongli, would be born from Lady Niohuru's stomach.

"The lady doesn't have to worry. She's in very good health, so she'll be able to get pregnant soon," said Ning Shu with a smile. "The lady will definitely be able to become pregnant. Her body is perfectly fine."

Tong Yu nodded, then said, "Make sure to do your work well."

Ning Shu's daily job was to clean. She just had to clean the whole courtyard once a day, then she could do whatever she wanted the rest of the time.

After finishing the work, Ning Shu would make some mosquito repellent sachets and some moisture absorbing powder. Applying the powder to the little lady's body reduced the sweat rashes.

On hot days like this, children should be given more baths, but the wet nurse found it too troublesome.

Even Lady Song, the mother, didn't care about her daughter, so how could others possibly care about her child?

Lady Song only took a look at the little lady occasionally. When she saw that the child was still thin and weak, she felt both distressed and helpless. All in all, it was all because the child wasn't a boy.

Lady Song's attitude of negligence made the wet nurse also disregard the child.

Even Ning Shu was taking care of the child only because of the task. There was no affection at all. After all, from the start, the child had nothing to do with her.

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?Chapter 1211: Promoted to Being a Father

Lady Song wanted Yinzhen to have another baby with her before she even got out of the puerperium period. She invited Yinzhen over, saying that the child missed her father.

For Yinzhen, this was his first child after all. He had been promoted to the status of being a father because of this, so it was only right of him to occasionally visit Lady Song's courtyard.

Lady Song would always have the wet nurse to bring the child over beforehand. When Yinzhen came, he saw that the child was still very thin and weak. She was completely motionless inside the wet nurse's arms as she slept with her eyes closed.

If it weren't for the slight movement of her nose, he would have thought that the child was already dead. Yinzhen was very sad. The doctor had said that this child may die young.

After this, Yinzhen rarely visited Lady Song's courtyard anymore. He really didn't want to develop any feelings for the child. It'd only make him more sad once the child passed away.

So when Lady Song used this reason to call him over again, he didn't respond to her invitation.

Lady Song was very angry. She pointed at the baby that was still in swaddling clothes and screamed that she was useless for being a girl. However, after she finished yelling, she hugged the child again and apologized while crying, "Mother is sorry. Mother has let you down."

When Ning Shu found out about this, she felt that Lady Song was probably suffering from postpartum depression. She had harbored such great expectations for her baby. She had suffered so much pain during pregnancy and childbirth, but the result was a baby girl. She felt like she hadn't gotten an appropriate return for her efforts. There was too great a disparity between reality and what she had hoped for.

Lady Song had always thought that she would be giving birth to Yinzhen's eldest son, but it turned out to be a very thin and frail baby girl. It was easy to imagine how much disappointment Lady Song must be feeling. The most important part was that Yinzhen didn't seem to care for this child.

Lady Song felt very dejected, so she vented all her anger on the child.

She didn't even sew a single garment for her child.

Women of the inner courtyard relied on their children to improve their standards of living, but Lady Song's child hadn't improved her situation. She hadn't been able to gain any additional benefits due to this child.

Lady Song didn't care about this child, so Ning Shu had no choice but to pay extra attention to this child. Otherwise, history would really repeat and the child would die before she even turned one month old. She wouldn't even get a name.

Lady Song's second child had faced the same fate. She had also died before she had turned one month old. Children were very fragile. If even the mother didn't care for her own child, how could the child possibly grow up without problems?

Ning Shu would boil goat milk every night to feed the child, then wipe down the child. This child was very quiet and always asleep. If she had peed, she'd just mutter a bit. When the wet nurse didn't pay attention, the child would have to wear the wet diaper for a long time, so her skin would become completely red from the dampness.

Ning Shu sighed. She couldn't take care of this child at all times. She had no choice but to wait until night to get her something to eat and wiped her down a little.

In any case, Ning Shu didn't know what Lady Song was trying to do. She had been so ambitious in wanting to give birth to a son, but she wasn't fated to have a son. She had only given birth to daughters and they had both died before they even became one month old.

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Chapter 1212: Nicknames of 'Pig' and 'Dog'

Lady Song wasn't a qualified mother.

Ning Shu looked at the thin child. She didn't know if the child would even be able to survive a month.

"Do your best." Ning Shu sighed as she said this to the child in the cradle. Being able to live was a very happy thing.

After a month passed, Lady Song wanted to have another child. She used the fact that the child was now one month old and should be named as an excuse to invite Yinzhen over.

Yinzhen didn't name the child. He said to wait until she turned one year old. Yinzhen was worried that the child wouldn't survive, so naming her would just reduce good fortune.

Ning Shu: Jesus. With a name, even if she did die, at least she wouldn't be a nameless little ghost.

In some ways, Yinzhen really was quite cruel and ruthless. He had killed his brothers and given his brothers the nicknames of 'pig' and 'dog', all because he resented the fact that his mother was partial to his biological younger brother.

Ning Shu really couldn't understand how such a cold-faced emperor attracted women so much. Was it because the iceberg, though cold, was extremely charming once melted? That was why so many transmigrated lil sis' kept throwing themselves at him?

After Lady Ula Nara became pregnant, Lady Li, the future Consort Qi, also found out that she was one month pregnant.

Lady Song had already been very upset when she found out that Lady Ula Nara was pregnant, but now someone else was also pregnant. She became even more impatient and was determined to have a son.

Yinzhen was pretty happy, the more sons, the more happiness, after all. However, he was worried that they would be weak like the first child so he sent all the nourishing items in his storehouse to the two pregnant women.

Lady Song was so angry that she was practically about to pass out. When she first became pregnant, she only got some nourishing items from the primary consort, the prince hadn't given her anything.

She was the prince's first woman and had given birth to his first child!

Lady Song had completely lost self-control ever since she became pregnant.

Ning Shu paid no attention to how Lady Song was doing. At the very least, the little lady now a month old. She had managed to survive one month. As of now, she would occasionally open her eyes. The rest of the time though, she still kept her eyes closed and barely even bothered to move.

Ning Shu would sometimes gently massage her little arms and legs.

This inner courtyard truly was a place where women were buried. For the sake of pursuing benefits and glory, even the relationship between a mother and her child could be distorted. Mothers loved their children, but Lady Song's love was conditional, and that condition was that the child was a boy.

After going through all that suffering to give birth to this child, she didn't even care for this child.

The reason men married so many women was to have more children, but the more women there were in the inner courtyard, the fewer children he'd end up having. More children ended up dying young. Children ended up being consumable goods in the battle between the women.

Ning Shu's job in Lady Niohuru's courtyard was still just to sweep the floor and Lady Niohuru's attitude towards her was very indifferent. However, whenever she went to visit the other ladies or left the courtyard, she'd always bring her along.

She acted like she trusted her a lot. It made Ning Shu feel really uneasy. She couldn't really figure out what Lady Niohuru was trying to do.

Lady Niohuru acted like she was training her to be a personal maid and trusted aid. However, Ning Shu could sense that Lady Niohuru didn't actually trust her.

Ning Shu wasn't really bothered by it though. All she needed to do was stay alive in this inner courtyard.

There was no use worrying about unrelated things.

"Miao Ling, I want to ask you about something." Tong Yu walked into the room and spoke to Ning Shu. Ning Shu quickly put away the powder on the table as she asked Tong Yu, "Big Sis Tong Yu, do you need something?"

Tong Yu was the person closest to Lady Niohuru. It was rumored that the two had grown up together. Tong Yu had come to the residence with Lady Niohuru, so the fact that Tong Yu came to look for her basically meant that Lady Niohuru wanted something from her.

Tong Yu hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Do you know any folk remedies for conceiving?"

Ning Shu was stunned for a moment. "The lady wants one?"

Tong Yu said, "Several of the other ladies have already become pregnant and the prince has visited the lady's courtyard as well, so why hasn't the lady gotten any news yet?"

"That's why I wanted to ask if you had any folk remedies." Tong Yu looked towards Ning Shu.

Ning Shu shook her head and said, "I don't have any folk remedies for conceiving. The lady's health is very good, she really doesn't need to take any medicine. Taking medicine would only damage her health. The lady will definitely be able to become pregnant, so don't worry."

"You can ask the residence's doctor to to help her adjust her body a little." Ning Shu didn't have any secret recipes for helping fertility.

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Chapter 1213: Lady From Seeping Heart Garden

Lady Niohuru was probably a little impatient now since all the other women had become pregnant one after another. Ning Shu felt that Lady Niohuru really didn't have to worry though. This was destined, so there was no need to worry.

Ning Shu said, "The lady's health truly is very good, there is no need for her to take any folk remedies. All medicines are three parts poison, it would only damage her health."

Tong Yu nodded. "You look like you were working on something earlier, what was it?"

"I made some mosquito repellent sachets. Do you want one? I can give you one." Ning Shu took out the sachet, "There are so many mosquitoes here in the summer. Wearing this can help prevent mosquito bites."

"Alright." Tong Yu accepted the sachet, then left.

Ning Shu was a little confused. There was a doctor in this residence who was always on call so why did Lady Niohuru ask her for advice?

Was she just testing her?

Tong Yu walked into the room and curtsied towards Lady Niohuru.

Lady Niohuru was currently slowly rubbing pearl cream on her hand. It made her hand glisten softly like jade. When she saw that Tong Yu was back, she asked, "What did that girl say?"

"Lady, Miao Ling said that she didn't have any folk remedies. She also said that medicines were three parts poison and said that you shouldn't try folk remedies." Tong Yu reported to Lady Niohuru everything that Ning Shu had said.

Lady Niohuru smiled briefly, then said, "She's an honest person. If she had tried to take advantage of this to curry favor with me, I really wouldn't be able to trust her. She had been able to help Lady Song give birth despite the difficult labor, so she has some skills. It's an asset to have someone like this who knows medicine around. How has she been lately?"

Tong Yu said, "She's quite honest and does her job properly every day. She also rarely interacts with the other maids."

Lady Niohuru frowned. "Does she truly have no desires, or is she just hiding her intentions very deep?"

"Let's talk about this later." Lady Niohuru touched her stomach with a worried expression. Tong Yu comforted her, saying, "Lady, don't worry, you'll definitely be able to conceive

Lady Niohuru simply sighed. Although she had Tong Yu go ask that girl for a folk remedy, she hadn't necessarily planned to use it. However, it was true that she wanted to get pregnant.

"Lady, the lady from Seeping Heart Garden has come." A maid came in and said this to Lady Niohuru.

Lady Niohuru's lips curved. Meanwhile, Tong Yu who next to her curled her lips in disdain and said in an annoyed tone, "What did she come here for?"

"Go call that girl over. Go call Miao Ling," said Lady Niohuru to Tong Yu. "Have her come serve the tea."

Tong Yu was confused. "Lady, why are you calling her?"

"Just call her over," said Lady Niohuru, rubbing her forehead in slight fatigue.

So Tong Yu went to call Ning Shu. Tong Yu looked completely confused, and Ning Shu also looked completely lost. When she walked into the main hall, she saw that Lady Niohuru and Young Lady Niohuru were currently talking to each other.

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Chapter 1214: Creating Something is Fun

Tong Yu shoved the tray into Ning Shu's hands and whispered, "Go inside and pour tea for the ladies."

Ning Shu was completely at a loss as she walked in with the tray to pour tea for Lady Niohuru and Young Lady Niohuru.

Young Lady Niohuru watched as Ning Shu poured the tea, then she took a sip and said with a nod, "This tea is pretty good."

After pouring the tea, Ning Shu retreated to the side to start acting as a pillar. Lady Niohuru asked Young Lady Niohuru, "Did you need something from me?"

"It's nothing much, I just wanted to chat with you a little. It's so boring to have nothing to do all day." Young Lady Niohuru tapped her chin, then dipped a finger in the teacup to draw on the table with the droplet of water.

Ning Shu glanced at what Young Lady Niohuru had written on the table. It was the words 'the fourth prince.'

"Didn't you invent cross-stitching? If you have nothing to do, you can do some embroidery." Lady Niohuru lifted the cup and took a sip of tea before saying this softly.

Young Lady Niohuru wiped her fingers with a handkerchief as she said, "Creating something is fun, but I don't have much patience."

When Ning Shu heard the word cross-stitch, she glanced at Young Lady Niohuru. She was probably a transmigrator. The fact that she had squeezed herself into Yinzhen's inner courtyard made her intentions obvious.

Since the transmigrator was Young Lady Niohuru, then someone else was the reincarnator in this inner courtyard. Who was the reincarnator? Lady Ula Nara? Lady Nian? Or someone else?

"Looks like there's nothing fun here in your courtyard either, Big Sister. Then I'll be leaving." Young Lady Niohuru stood up and curtsied towards Lady Niohuru, then turned and left.

Lady Niohuru watched as Young Lady Niohuru left, then she turned to Ning Shu and said, "Put all the teacups away."

"Understood." Ning Shu collected the teacups on the table, put them on the tray, then left.

She couldn't really understand things. Lady Niohuru had pulled her out just to show her off a bit, then after displaying her a bit, she was closing her inside the fence again.

What the heck was with this!?

Ning Shu just tried to ignore these questions and when night came, she went to care of the little lady. The little lady was now two months old and finally had a bit of meat on her frame. She'd also occasionally move her arms and legs a little.

This child had developed a rather strange habit, which was that she'd sleep during the day and lay awake with her eyes open at night to wait for Ning Shu's arrival.

When she smelled the goat milk, she'd hum softly.

Ning Shu looked at the child as she slowly fed her the goat milk. There were a couple scratches on the child's face. The child would occasionally scratch her own face. The wet nurse clearly could've made a small glove for the child, but she hadn't done so.

Ning Shu found Lady Song's behavior unbelievable. Ever since she got out of the puerperium period, she started trying all sorts of ways to drag Yinzhen to her courtyard in order to have another child, a son.

Why couldn't she just take good care of the girl that she had given birth to? Compared to working hard and chasing after that illusory son, it would be better to calmly raise a sweet little angel.

After feeding the child the milk, Ning Shu rubbed some anti-itch powder on the child before placing her back in the cradle. Ning Shu glanced at the wet nurse who was sleeping on the bed and shook her head. She had rubbed medicinal powder on the child and the child even carried the scent of goat milk, but the wet nurse hadn't noticed anything. Or perhaps she had noticed, but she just didn't care.

Ning Shu didn't even know how long she'd be able to take care of this child. She'd have to leave this world as soon as the task was finished.

But to be honest, the princesses of the Qing Dynasty all tended to have rather short lives. They'd often die in their twenties and most of them were sent away in treaty marriages.

However, it was better than dying before even getting a chance to know anything.

These past two months, Ning Shu had come to take care of the child in the middle of the night every night. During the day, she didn't interact with the child at all.

Ning Shu didn't know when this task would end. 2333 didn't inform her that she could leave this world either.

So it seemed that she'd still have to stay.

As more and more children filled this inner courtyard, the struggle would become more and more intense.

There was a suffocating sensation, like a storm was approaching.

Ning Shu just wanted to survive in this inner courtyard.

Once the child fell asleep, Ning Shu sneaked back to her room. She had just gotten to the door when she heard a voice. "Where did you sneak off to this late at night?"

Ning Shu was startled. When she turned around, she saw someone walk out of the shadows. It was Tong Yu.

"Big Sis Tong Yu, what are you doing here?" asked Ning Shu, a little surprised.

Tong Yu frowned. "I'm the one who wants to ask where you went in the middle of the night. I've been waiting for you for ages."

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Chapter 1215: Stomach Discomfort Going Around

Ning Shu never thought that Tong Yu would be here waiting for her. It felt like she had gotten caught.

"I just went to the latrine. I have a bit of diarrhea," said Ning Shu while covering her stomach.

Tong Yu didn't really care where Ning Shu had gone and just said, "The lady isn't feeling well, go take a look at her."

"Alright." Ning Shu followed Tong Yu to Lady Niohuru's room. Lady Niohuru was lying on the bed, her face a little pale.

Ning Shu walked over to check Lady Niohuru's pulse, then said, "Lady, you're doing fine. Your stomach is simply a little uncomfortable."

A trace of disappointment flashed across Lady Niohuru's face. Tong Yu who was next to her saw her expression so she asked Ning Shu, "It's just stomach discomfort?"

Ning Shu took in Lady Niohuru and Tong Yu's expressions and kind of understood. They probably thought that it had been a sign of pregnancy. Ning Shu said, "Then allow this servant to try again."

It was already very late, so Lady Niohuru couldn't really ask the residence's doctor to come over. That was why she had Ning Shu come over instead. Ning Shu felt the pulse for a good while, but it wasn't a slippery pulse at all.

"Lady, it's simply stomach discomfort. There's no need to worry," said Ning Shu.

Lady Niohuru nodded. "You can withdraw."

Ning Shu curtsied, then turned and left the room. Tong Yu followed her out of the room and gave her a silver hairpin, "The lady wishes to give you this."

"This servant kowtows in thanks, Lady." Ning Shu accepted the silver hairpin.

Tong Yu asked Ning Shu, "The lady really doesn't..."

Ning Shu nodded. "The lady's pulse really doesn't show that sign right now. It takes a month for the slippery pulse to show."

"The lady is in very good health. There's no didn't need to worry."

"You can head back to rest," said Tong Yu to Ning Shu. Ning Shu curtsied, then turned and left.

Back in the room, Ning Shu was sitting cross-legged on the bed. She had a bad premonition. It felt like Lady Niohuru was now focused on her and no longer disregarded her like before.

With this, it would be a lot more difficult for her to visit the little lady at night. This time when she had been caught, she had said that she had gone to poop, but what about next time? And the next time after that?

It hadn't been easy for her to nurse the little lady into slightly better health. At the very least, she had lived past the first month.

Ning Shu couldn't understand what Lady Niohuru's intentions were. Could it be that she wanted to make her a trusted aide, but couldn't trust her, so she kept waiting to observe her?

Ning Shu expressed that she just wanted to be a quiet little maid with no sense of existence. It was probably because she had shown some skill last time when Lady Song was going through a difficult birth, so Lady Niohuru felt that she was a rather useful person.

Haa.

Chapter 1216: Ahem, Ahem... Did Some Googling...

Ning Shu inwardly sighed. It would be difficult to visit the little lady from now on. If one often took night roads, it was inevitable to encounter a ghost. She'd eventually be caught if she kept sneaking over like this.

It was so depressing. It wasn't even her baby, yet she still had to worry so much.

Why couldn't Lady Song just be a little more concerned about her own daughter?

Ning Shu couldn't fall asleep, so she decided to just practice the Unsurpassable Martial Arts. She practiced for a long time. Almost a year had passed since she first came to this world. Lady Song had gotten pregnant, given birth, and the little lady was now almost two months old.

She had only been able to form a tiny strand of energy from the Unsurpassable Martial Arts. However, at least she had been able to form the energy.

If only this energy could be transferred to another person's body to strengthen their body.

The energy formed from practicing the Unsurpassable Martial Arts could heal the body's hidden wounds and strengthen the body. The biggest feature was that it would make you strong as an ox.

Once you cultivated far enough, the energy would turn into a golden dragon that would soar around in your dantian.

If she could transfer this energy to the little lady, she'd be able to strengthen the little lady's constitution. These strands of energy were vital energy for the body.

Ning Shu revolved the energy in her dantian to see if she could force it out of her body. Could she transfer this energy to someone else like how people transferred their inner strength?

Ning Shu tried again and again to guide the energy out of her dantian. If she succeeded with this, she wouldn't have to take care of that child every night anymore.

If she got caught, she wouldn't even be able to explain herself.

Ning Shu kept trying until dawn, but she wasn't able to guide the energy out. She just ended up getting herself covered with sweat. She wiped herself down, then started cleaning the entire courtyard. She started wiping the floor and railings with a rag.

While cleaning, Ning Shu asked 2333, "How do I guide the energy out of my body?"

"I don't know," replied 2333 directly.

Ning Shu rolled her eyes. "Then what use are you? Trash."

"How am I trash?" refuted 2333 angrily.

Ning Shu scoffed. "You're complete trash from head to toe. Every time I ask you something, you're always like you don't know. So what do you know? You don't even know the answer to such a simple question!"

"Oh, since it's such a simple question, why are you asking me?" 2333's tone was filled with disdain. "This is the examination task. No consultations are allowed."

This completely useless crappy system should just get reformatted.

After Ning Shu finished her work, she returned to her room and continued pondering how to guide the energy out of her body.

"Ahem, ahem..." 2333's voice appeared in Ning Shu's mind.

Ning Shu rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Use your mental strength. Focus and use your thoughts to guide the energy out of your body. Not only can this energy strengthen the body, it can also be used as a weapon for attack," said 2333.

"Mental strength?" Ning Shu asked in surprise, "Is mental strength very important?"

"All the values that the system lists are useful. If one has strong mental strength, they'd be able to move mountains with a thought and even control other people's minds."

"Hypnotism can count as the very lowest version of mind control," said 2333. "I tell you every time not to just focus on one or two attributes when you're adding points, but whenever you want one thing, you'd just add all your points to it so single-mindedly it's like you have a grudge against it."

"Oh, then I'll add more attribute points to mental strength in the future." Ning Shu expressed that she didn't have enough attribute points. In the past, she had only added to martial arts. When she discovered that intelligence was very important, she started adding to intelligence and martial arts. Later, she discovered that her luck was seriously pitiful. She was completely an out of luck baby, so she started adding points to luck. Now, she discovered that mental strength was also very important, which meant that she had to start adding points to mental strength as well.

If she could choose, she wanted to just add all her attribute points to martial arts. With strong enough martial arts, she could destroy the world. A single punch would be able to solve any problem.

Fine, it wasn't realistic.

"So how do I use mental strength?" Ning Shu asked 2333, a little lost.

"With your mind, with thoughts. Are you a pig? I've already said it several times."

Ning Shu: _

You're the pig! Damned pig!

Ning Shu emptied her mind, then used her thoughts to control the energy in her body, trying to guide the energy to her fingers.

However, it was very difficult. Perhaps it was because Ning Shu wasn't very used to using mental strength or because the energy was too small. The tiny strand of energy was very hard to control. Before she could even guide it to her arm, the energy would dissipate.

Ning Shu wasn't discouraged. Now that she knew the way, she'd be able to achieve it when she had more practice.

#comment: My question is... What was Ning Shu using to guide the energy before if she wasn't using her thoughts??

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Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks #Chapter 1217: She Couldn't Have Died, Right? - Read Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks Chapter 1217: She Couldn't Have Died, Right? Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Chapter 1217: She Couldn't Have Died, Right?

Ning Shu kept using mental strength to guide the Unsurpassable Martial Arts out of her body. It was best if she'd be able to insert it into another person's body.

She didn't know if it was because her mental strength wasn't strong enough, but even after several tries, she still failed to guide the energy out.

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Ning Shu had no choice but to try over and over again. Since her own safety was currently guaranteed, she did really want to complete this task.

She continued to experiment nonstop, only pausing to do her job and eat. She even spent her sleeping time on this. Finally, after half a month, she was able to guide the energy to her fingertips. It finally worked!

Ning Shu was extremely happy. She could guide the energy out of her body now, which meant she could use it to attack! However, this was only useful when the energy was suitably strong.

This current strand of energy that was only about as thick as a strand of hair had no attack power at all.

Late at night, Ning Shu went to the kitchen to cook some goat milk, then snuck into the wet nurse's room to look at the child in the cradle. She placed her hand on the little lady's back and slowly guided her energy into the little lady's body.

When the energy entered the little lady's body, the little lady suddenly started crying. Ning Shu was startled and hastily covered the child's mouth. She looked over and saw that the wet nurse was turning around restlessly on the bed. She didn't bother to get up and check, probably since the child wasn't crying anymore.

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Ning Shu was a little puzzled. This energy was very gentle, so why did the child start crying?

When she looked back down, the child had closed her eyes. Ning Shu's heart dropped in fear. She couldn't have died, right? She hastily felt the child's chest. Her heart was still beating.

The child seemed extremely sleepy. She didn't even drink the goat milk. Ning Shu put the child back in the cradle and covered her with a thin blanket.

Then she left with the goat milk. She looked at the pure white goat milk for a moment, then chugged it down.

She was rather relieved. At the very least, the energy of the Unsurpassable Martial Arts would be able to slowly strengthen the little lady's body. That way, her risk of dying young was a lot lower.

Ning Shu no longer visited the little lady every night anymore, because now Lady Niohuru would occasionally have her stay on night watch. How could the duty of night watch fall to a cleaning maid?

Could it be that Lady Niohuru was about to promote her?

Ning Shu didn't say much and just did as she was told. In any case, she couldn't sleep if she was on night watch, so she just took advantage of this chance to practice the Unsurpassable Martial Arts. If she could form more energy, she could transfer a little to the little lady, and while at it, also enhance her own physical strength.

That night, it was Ning Shu's turn to be on night watch again. Ning Shu helped Lady Niohuru prepare for bed. Lady Niohuru then extended her hand and said, "Check my pulse."

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Chapter 1218: A Child's Cries

Ning Shu placed her hand on Lady Niohuru's wrist and felt the pulse for a good while. Finally, she met Lady Niohuru's gaze and said, "Lady, you're in good health."

Lady Niohuru frowned and retrieved her hand with a sigh.

As of now, the primary consort Lady Ula Nara was already almost five months pregnant and Lady Li was also pregnant. Yinzhen visited her quite frequently, so why hasn't she gotten pregnant yet?

"Lady, there is no need to worry. It'll naturally happen once it's time." It just wasn't time for the future Qianlong Emperor to be born yet, there was really no need to be so anxious.

"You may withdraw," said Lady Niohuru, pressing her lips together tightly.

Ning Shu curtsied, then turned and left the room. She sat on the reclining chair in the outer room and started practicing the Unsurpassable Martial Arts.

"Wah, wah..." Late in the night, as the entire residence sank into silence, a loud cry suddenly filled the air. The wails continued nonstop and kept getting louder and louder.

Gradually, all the rooms became illuminated again with light.

"Miao Ling, what's that sound? Is a child crying?" Lady Niohuru's slightly sleepy voice came from the inner room.

Ning Shu pushed open the door and went in, saying, "It's probably the little lady crying."

Ning Shu's brows furrowed with worry. Why was the little lady crying?

"Lady, should we go take a look?" asked Ning Shu.

Lady Niohuru sat up and Ning Shu draped her clothes on her. Lady Niohuru thought about things for a moment, then said, "Go check the situation in the main courtyard. If the main courtyard isn't going, then we shouldn't either."

Ning Shu curtsied, then headed to the main courtyard. On the way there, she encountered Lady Ula Nara whose pregnancy was already very visible. She was with Yinzhen and he was currently supporting her as they walked. They were followed by a lot of people.

Based on their direction, they were heading towards Lady Song's courtyard.

Ning Shu immediately turned back and said to Lady Niohuru, "Lady, both the prince and the madame have headed over."

"Then we should go as well." Lady Niohuru cleaned herself up a little, then headed over.

Ning Shu followed behind Lady Niohuru to Lady Song's courtyard. Before they had even entered the hall, she could hear the sound of the little lady's crying mixed with the sound of Lady Song speaking.

Lady Niohuru paused for a moment, then walked in. Ning Shu followed her in, a little anxious, to find that Lady Song was currently hugging the little lady while yelling at the wet nurse who was kneeling on the ground. "You black-hearted woman, how could you treat my child like this?"

Yinzhen's expression was dark, "What kind of wet nurse is this? When I went to check on the child, I found that she was hitting the child. This is my child! A servant has no right to treat her this way!"

The wet nurse's face was pale as she sat on the ground weakly. She had been caught in the act, so it was futile to refute.

The child in Lady Song's arms was still crying nonstop. No matter how Lady Song coaxed her, it was no use and she kept kicking with all her limbs while crying. Lady Song was in quite a lot of pain from being hit by the little lady.

"What's the matter with the child?" asked Lady Ula Nara wearily. Such an event had occurred in the middle of the night while she was pregnant. Yinzhen's brows furrowed even more when he saw how tired she looked and his gaze became very stern as he looked towards Lady Song. His face tended to be expressionless from the start, so this cold expression made him even more scary.

"What exactly is going on?" asked Yinzhen in a low, displeased tone.

Lady Song was also on the verge of crying. How was she supposed to know what was going on with the child? When Yinzhen questioned her like this, she was angry and also very anxious. She was scared of offending Yinzhen, so she kept trying to coax the child.

Ning Shu drew close to Lady Niohuru's ear and whispered, "Lady, the little lady's probably hungry."

She usually snuck some goat milk over for the child at around this time. Since she had transferred some of her energy to the child, the child's body was gradually improving and so the amount of food she could intake had also increased. She could now drink an entire bowl of goat milk and her strength was also gradually increasing.

The energy was nourishing the little lady's body and improving her constitution.

She had been on night watch today, so she hadn't gotten food for the child. The child had gotten hungry and could only resort to crying as a means to attract the attention of the adults.

However, Ning Shu never imagined that a wet nurse would actually dare to hit the child. In any case, all of them should give up hope on getting off easily. No matter how much Yinzhen didn't care about this child, it still didn't mean that other people could bully his children.

In the end, it was all Lady Song's fault. Despite being the mother, she didn't care about her daughter. She'd only occasionally have the wet nurse bring her daughter over, but after taking a look at the child, she'd have the wet nurse take her away again. This made the wet nurse even more indifferent towards the child.

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Chapter 1219: She Sure Likes Eating

"Prince, perhaps the little lady hungry?" suggested Lady Niohuru to Yinzhen.

"Please allow this humble woman to feed the little lady!" said the wet nurse hastily while kneeling on the ground. She was hoping to make up for her past mistakes by showing good behavior.

Yinzhen laughed coldly. "There is no way I'd want my daughter to be close to a malicious woman like you." Yinzhen had his personal eunuch, Su Peisheng, go find a new wet nurse.

As of now, the little lady was able to eat some complementary foods, so they made some stewed gravy and vegetable porridge. The little lady had been crying for so long that she was starting to hiccup. However, when the food came, she immediately stopped crying and started eating.

"Punish this wet nurse with ten planks, then throw her out of the residence," said Yinzhen coldly. Afterwards, he glanced again at the little lady who was eating and found that she ate very well. It had only been a little while, but she had already finished half the bowl of porridge.

"She sure likes eating." The slight depression in Yinzhen's heart faded. He originally thought that this child wouldn't be able to survive past her first month but now she was looking healthier and healthier. He was relieved.

"How could you, as the mother, fail to notice what the wet nurse was like? If the child didn't cry tonight, I wouldn't have even known that the wet nurse actually dared to treat my child this way!" said Yinzhen coldly as he looked towards Lady Song.

Lady Song wiped her tears with a handkerchief and said bitterly, "Prince, this concubine really never imagined that she was such a malicious person! She looked so honest, who would've thought her heart was actually so malicious?"

"Could it be that you, the mother, wasn't even aware of the child's situation? If you don't want to raise this child, there are plenty of other people who want to raise her." Yinzhen's expression was cold.

Lady Song immediately fell to a kneel in front of Yinzhen and cried, "Prince, this child is my life!"

Yinzhen scoffed coldly, then turned to Lady Ula Nara and said, "Madame, you should head back first and rest."

Lady Ula Nara couldn't really hold up for much longer so she didn't insist on staying and left.

"All of you can head back," said Yinzhen to the other ladies.

When Lady Song saw that Yinzhen seemed to be planning to stay, her heart burst with joy.

Ning Shu walked back, following Lady Niohuru. She was relieved. Since this incident had attracted Yinzhen's attention, the little lady's situation would probably be better from now on.

"In the future, there's no way we can employ this kind of wet nurse for my child. She's too cruel." Lady Niohuru who was walking ahead said this to Tong Yu.

Tong Yu also found this unbelievable. "She's nothing but a wet nurse. How could she dare to hit the prince's child?"

The next day, Lady Song was placed under house arrest by Yinzhen. The little lady had been handed over to Lady Nian who was temporarily in charge of the inner courtyard. Yinzhen asked her to raise the child for the time being.

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Chapter 1220: Blessed With Long Lives

Lady Song begged Yinzhen not to take her child away but Yinzhen directly said, "You don't care about your own child, but I do. Let's talk once the child gets a bit older."

Ning Shu felt that Yinzhen was aware that Lady Song didn't care much for this child, that was why he gave the child to the secondary consort, Lady Nian. As for whether this child would later be returned to Lady Song or continue to be raised by Lady Nian in the future, that was an open question.

It would now be even more difficult for her to visit the child. She wouldn't be able to get involved even if she wanted to. However, the child's situation should probably be better now.

Even if the secondary consort Lady Nian was simply putting on a show for Yinzhen to see, she probably still wouldn't treat the child too badly. It would at least be better than when the child was with Lady Song.

Lady Song was none of her responsibility, so she paid no more attention to her.

Ning Shu was now able to be a cleaning maid with ease of mind in Lady Niohuru's courtyard. If Lady Niohuru didn't call her, she wouldn't approach her.

She never considered trying to climb up the ladder since as soon as she completed this task, she'd be leaving this world.

Lady Niohuru would occasionally ask Ning Shu about nutrition and what foods would help with getting pregnant. Basically, she really wanted to get pregnant.

When Lady Ula Nara eventually reached the time to give birth, she successfully gave birth to a son. He was both the first son and the eldest son.

Yinzhen was very happy and named him as soon as he was born, giving him the name of Honghui.

After the one-month old banquet for Honghui, Lady Li also gave birth to a child. It was a girl, but Yinzhen was still very happy.

Meanwhile, Lady Song who was still under house arrest practically died from anger at this news.

Yinzhen hadn't liked her child and wouldn't even allow her child to stay by her side. It was enough that Lady Ula Nara, the primary consort, gave birth to a boy, but even though Lady Li was a concubine like her and had given birth to a girl, Yinzhen had still given her gifts.

The prince was so unfair!

Lady Niohuru went to visit the two white and chubby children. Her eyes were filled with envy as she touched her own stomach. She didn't know when she would be able to get pregnant.

Ning Shu knew that Lady Niohuru would definitely have a child. She would only have one child, Aisin Gioro Hongli, but this child was worth way more than all the children the other women had.

Hongli was naturally smart. He started education at the age of five and was able to memorize anything after reading it once. He was also very well-liked by his grandfather Kangxi so he often helped improve his father's sense of presence in front of Kangxi.

Hongli and Lady Niohuru were both blessed with long lives. One lived to 89, the other to 86.

Ning Shu didn't know when this task was going to end. Lady Song's child was doing very well. The secondary consort Lady Nian took good care of the child. Ning Shu heard that the child could now crawl.

Could it be that this task still wasn't over yet?

Soon, Lady Geng found out that she had gotten pregnant, and Lady Li, who had just given birth, had become pregnant again.

Lady Li was probably the most high-yielding woman in Yinzhen's inner courtyard. She had given birth to Hongfen, Hongyun, and Hongshi.

All the women in the inner courtyard were getting pregnant, so Lady Niohuru became even more uncertain about her ability to become pregnant. How come everyone else was able to get pregnant, but she wasn't able to?

Lady Niohuru said to Ning Shu, "Check my pulse and see if I have any unmentionable illnesses? I've already joined the residence for such a long time, why haven't I gotten pregnant yet?"

Ning Shu felt pretty helpless, but she put on a serious expression and helped Lady Niohuru check her pulse. "Lady, your health really is perfectly fine. Good fruit don't worry about late ripening. Lady, you don't need to worry."

"How can I not worry?" said Lady Niohuru anxiously.

"Lady, even if you're worried, it's no use," said Ning Shu calmly, "Right now, you should work on relaxing."

Children were the support and capital of the women in the inner courtyard. Lady Niohuru couldn't help but become a little anxious now.

"Lady, you'll definitely get pregnant." Ning Shu comforted Lady Niohuru, but Lady Niohuru just nodded without saying anything.

Lady Niohuru was getting plenty of favor, which was why she was in a rush to get pregnant.

However, fortunately, Lady Niohuru's anxiety soon disappeared. Three months after Lady Geng and Lady Li had gotten pregnant, when Ning Shu checked Lady Niohuru's pulse, she noticed a slippery pulse.

Lady Niohuru repeatedly asked Ning Shu if she was pregnant. Ning Shu checked several times, then said cautiously, "Lady, you've gotten pregnant. The pulse is a little weak, so perhaps you should have the doctor come take a look."

Lady Niohuru sighed in relief. Pregnancy meant that she had the ability to give birth. She happily rewarded Ning Shu with several taels of silver.

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?Chapter 1221: Pregnant at the Same Time

Before news of Lady Niohuru's pregnancy even got revealed, they found out that Young Lady Niohuru had become pregnant. Interestingly enough, she was also one month pregnant.

What a rare coincidence. As expected of sisters, they ended up getting pregnant at the same time.

When Lady Niohuru told Lady Ula Nara that she was also pregnant, a trace of coldness flashed across Lady Ula Nara's face. However, immediately afterwards, she told Lady Niohuru and Young Lady Niohuru to make sure to take good care of their health.

Ning Shu could sense that Lady Ula Nara didn't like Lady Niohuru very much. She wasn't this cold even when she faced Lady Nian who was Yinzhen's favorite.

Lady Niohuru handled things very appropriately. She understood her own status well and was very respectful towards Lady Ula Nara, but Lady Ula Nara was still very cold towards her.

Lady Niohuru and Young Lady Niohuru left Lady Ula Nara's courtyard together. Young Lady Niohuru said with a smile, "Big Sister, I never imagined that we'd get pregnant at the same time. I just wonder which one of these two mischievous little children would be born first?"

"They'll naturally be born when it's time," said Lady Niohuru with a faint smile

Lady Niohuru didn't talk much with Young Lady Niohuru. After exchanging some conventional greetings, she turned and left.

As Ning Shu followed Lady Niohuru, she glanced back at Young Lady Niohuru. Young Lady Niohuru was still standing there and stroking her belly with a faint smile.

Ning Shu retrieved her gaze. She had a feeling that there would be another fight breaking out soon.

Yinzhen had some nourishing foods delivered to Lady Niohuru's courtyard. Lady Niohuru accepted the gifts and placed them in the storehouse. It was clear that she didn't intend to eat them.

Lady Niohuru said to Ning Shu, "You're the only one who knows medicine in this courtyard, so I hope that you'll pay more attention to things. Once this child is born, I'll definitely reward you generously."

Ning Shu curtsied. "I'll do my best."

Lady Niohuru nodded. She didn't force Ning Shu to say that she'll definitely do it since the world was always unpredictable. No one could know what would happen in the next instant.

Lady Niohuru stroked her stomach. She had to protect her child no matter what.

Although Lady Niohuru had asked Ning Shu to help protect the baby in her belly, she didn't allow Ning Shu to touch anything she ate. It was clear that she didn't fully trust Ning Shu.

Ning Shu didn't really care though. She continued to spend her days sweeping the courtyard. It really wasn't her place to worry about the baby in Lady Niohuru's stomach. The future emperor was blessed with great fortune and would definitely be born safely.

However, recently, she always felt like there was someone keeping an eye on her. Every time she walked into the kitchen for dinner, a maid would deliberately bump into her, then apologize and ask what her name was.

Ning Shu frowned. After observing for a few days, she confirmed that this maid who was bumping into her had something to say to her, so she found a rather isolated place to sit down to eat.

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Chapter 1222: To Go or Not to Go?

As she had expected, that maid came over and sat down opposite her, then slipped her a note under the table. Ning Shu accepted the note and put it away.

After dinner, Ning Shu went back to her room and opened the note. It said, 'Meet me at midnight in the rock garden'.

Ning Shu burned the note. Should she go?

Forget it, it was better not to go. If she got involved in this residence's secret battles, she'd end up dying the moment she was careless.

Ning Shu only wanted to survive in this inner courtyard until the task ended.

The next day, when that maid saw Ning Shu, her eyes were filled with anger and confusion. She was obviously angry because Ning Shu didn't go to the place last night.

The maid carried her food over to bump into Ning Shu, obviously planning to throw the food on Ning Shu. However, Ning Shu was able to dodge easily, causing the maid to trip over the doorstep and drop the food on herself.

The maid screamed, then glared at Ning Shu. However, she then immediately adjusted her expression and said to Ning Shu, "Can you help me out? I want to head back to my room and get changed, but my hand got cut by a shard. I heard that you know some medicine. Can you help me treat this wound?"

When the people around saw that the maid was in such a wretched state and that her hand was bleeding from being cut by a porcelain shard, they said to Ning Shu, "You should help her."

After Ning Shu helped the maid back to her room, the maid completely disregarded the wound on her hand and just asked Ning Shu, "Why didn't you show up last night? My master was the one that wanted to talk to you."

"I'm just a little maid. I don't have anything worthy of your master's attention." Ning Shu looked at her hand. "Do you want me to treat your wound or not? If you don't want help, I'll be leaving now."

Ning Shu turned and left. She didn't want to get involved with these people, especially since she didn't even know who it was that was targeting her.

"Hey, wait! How can you leave just like this? " The maid stomped her foot in frustration as she shouted at Ning Shu.

Ning Shu just ignored her. Whoever was looking for her at this sort of time definitely didn't have any good intentions, and she still wanted to survive in this inner courtyard.

Lady Niohuru would occasionally have Ning Shu check her pulse. In reality, there was a doctor to check Lady Niohuru's pulse so having her check the pulse again was completely unnecessary.

However, Ning Shu still earnestly checked Lady Niohuru's pulse, then told her about all the foods that she should avoid.

Lady Niohuru carefully noted them down, then gave Ning Shu some more money as a reward.

Ning Shu had already accumulated quite a lot of reward money from the time she first came to Lady Niohuru's courtyard. It was so much that Ning Shu felt a little awkward. She also couldn't quite understand what Lady Niohuru meant by this.

In regards to trust, Lady Niohuru really didn't trust her at all. However, she'd often give her reward money. Ning Shu got much better treatment here compared to when she had been in Lady Song's courtyard.

Was she trying to gain her loyalty?

Ning Shu felt that her conscience was clear. She harbored no malice towards Lady Niohuru and she harbored no intentions towards anyone here, so she wouldn't betray Lady Niohuru.

"Lady, the lady from Seeping Heart Garden is here," said Tong Yu as she walked in.

Lady Niohuru frowned, then said to Ning Shu, "Come with me to take a look."

When Young Lady Niohuru saw Lady Niohuru, she said, "Big Sister, I'm so bored! That's why I came to chat with you."

"You're already pregnant, so be more careful," said Lady Niohuru mildly.

Young Lady Niohuru didn't really seem concerned. "It's just a pregnancy, it's not like I'm disabled."

"Nonsense." Lady Niohuru hushed her.

Young Lady Niohuru's gaze then landed on Ning Shu and she said with envy, "This maid knows medicine, right? Last time, when Lady Song was having difficult labor, it was this maid that helped her. That means you don't need to worry about anything when it comes time for you to give birth, Big Sister."

Ning Shu: _

Nothing good usually happened when other people brought her up.

Lady Niohuru nodded and said, "It's true, and she's a woman too, so it's a lot more convenient."

"I really envy you, Big Sister." Young Lady Niohuru looked towards Ning Shu. "When it comes time for me to give birth, can you lend this girl to me?"

Young Lady Niohuru's way of speaking was very straightforward. However, what woman in the inner courtyard would use another person's servant? Especially when giving birth was like taking a trip to the gates of hell?

If someone did a little something at that time, she would directly pass through gates of hell. It was even possible for both the mother and the child to die at the same time.

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Chapter 1223: Can I Borrow This Girl?

Ning Shu was pretty sure Young Lady Niohuru didn't actually want her to help deliver her baby. She was only saying this offhandedly.

"Big Sister, can I borrow this girl for a while? You know that I like to plant flowers so my courtyard is filled with flowers. I'm pregnant now so I'm worried that some of those flowers might be bad for my child." Young Lady Niohuru directly asked for Ning Shu.

Ning Shu: _

For some reason, she had a bad feeling. Why wasn't Young Lady Niohuru looking for a doctor instead?

Lady Niohuru glanced at Ning Shu. She didn't immediately answer Young Lady Niohuru.

"Big Sister, just let me borrow her for a little while. I'll have her sent back later," said Young Lady Niohuru sweetly in a spoiled tone.

Lady Niohuru had no choice but to nod.

Young Lady Niohuru immediately smiled happily. "I'll send her back soon."

Ning Shu followed Young Lady Niohuru to her courtyard. The moment she entered the courtyard, she was hit by the fragrance of flowers. There were all kinds of flowers in the courtyard, and butterflies and bees fluttered around the flowers.

"Take a look at these flowers. Are there any that would harm the child in my belly?" Young Lady Niohuru waved towards the maids behind her and the maids all retreated a distance away so that only Ning Shu and Young Lady Niohuru were standing in the garden.

"Lady, since you're currently pregnant, it's best not to plant flowers," said Ning Shu.

Young Lady Niohuru crinkled her nose delicately, then nodded and said, "You're right, I shouldn't plant any more. It might even make the child allergic to pollen."

Ning Shu acted like she didn't hear the modern term Young Lady Niohuru used.

"I know that my sister doesn't favor you. You used to be Lady Song's maid, so my sister can't trust you." Young Lady Niohuru suddenly said, "I had someone go find you previously, but you didn't come."

Ning Shu immediately realized that the maid from before was one of Young Lady Niohuru's people.

Ning Shu curtsied and said, "The lady treats this servant very well."

"Whether she treats you well or not doesn't depend on words, it depends on actions and feelings. My sister doesn't actually trust you. The only reason she brings you around is for the madame to see. Based on what I've heard, you don't have much status in my sister's courtyard and all you do is the cleaning work of third-class servant girls," said Young Lady Niohuru with a slight smile.

"You're a capable person. I really hope that you'd be by my side while I give birth. My sister isn't willing to trust you, but I am."

After Ning Shu heard what Young Lady Niohuru said, she finally understood the picture. This person was trying to recruit her. Actually, to be precise, this person wanted her to do something.

Ning Shu curtsied and said, "Thank you for your praise, Lady. This servant doesn't dare to accept it."

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Chapter 1224: You Have No Choice

Young Lady Niohuru stooped slightly to pick a flower, then lifted it to her nose to sniff it. She then said, "I'll put things plainly. I want the child in your lady's stomach to disappear without a trace."

"Lady, this servant can't do that," said Ning Shu with a frightened expression.

Young Lady Niohuru stroked the flower lightly. "Yes you can. You're a doctor, so you definitely have your ways. I have a bit of medicine here. You only need to rub this medicine on your body and make her smell it. Then the child will die. I guarantee that you won't be implicated."

Ning Shu was stunned for a moment, and then she understood. This medicine wouldn't directly cause a miscarriage. Instead, it'd slowly kill the child while they were still in their mother's stomach. That way, they would become stillborn.

How could Young Lady Niohuru bring herself to do this? She and Lady Niohuru were even related by blood!

"This servant dares not," said Ning Shu fearfully with her head lowered.

Young Lady Niohuru plucked a petal as she said, "I'm sure that you can do it. At that time, I'll give you a fortune."

Ning Shu just took this as empty words. Everyone liked loyal people.

If she really did this, forget the question of whether or not she'd get a fortune, it'd be a question whether or not she could even continue to live. Who would like someone who had betrayed their master? If she could betray someone else today, she could betray you tomorrow.

Young Lady Niohuru was trying to kill the future Emperor Qianlong.

"This is my gift to you." Young Lady Niohuru waved towards the maid at the side and the maid walked over to hand Ning Shu a red silk sachet.

As the maid took out the sachet, Young Lady Niohuru took several steps back and covered her nose.

Ning Shu took the bag and opened it. There were several ingots of silver and also a small bottle. The small bottle had several pitch-black pills that had a light and elegant scent.

"Dissolve the pill in water, then just rub it on your hands or neck," said Young Lady Niohuru.

Ning Shu: ...

"Lady, this servant truly cannot do this." Ning Shu gave a direct refusal.

Young Lady Niohuru said lightly, "Do you think that Big Sister would still trust you after you head back? From the moment you stepped into this courtyard, you no longer had any other choices left. "

Ning Shu: _

The fr*ck? Did she really think that just because she was a transmigrator, it meant that she was the main character?

"I won't treat you unfairly," said Young Lady Niohuru lightly. "The silver you're holding right now is only a small portion. Once you succeed, I'll give you more silver banknotes."

Ning Shu smiled and put away the sachet. Young Lady Niohuru smiled in triumph and said, "From now on, we're on the same side."

Ning Shu: Ha. Ha. Ha...

Ning Shu left Young Lady Niohuru's courtyard, then took out the pills and sniffed them again to analyze their composition. Where did Young Lady Niohuru get these kinds of pills?

The effect was as Young Lady Niohuru had described. The effects weren't as strong as abortion medicine, but it caused persisting damage to the fetus. The most important part was that the smell was actually quite pleasant. It was extremely elegant and light, so it wasn't unbearable to smell.

Ning Shu used a handkerchief to wrap the bottle up until it was enclosed in several layers. Afterwards, she washed her hands before heading over to see Lady Niohuru.

Lady Niohuru was embroidering a dudou for her baby. When she saw Ning Shu, she asked lightly, "What did she do with all the flowers in her courtyard?"

"The lady said that she would remove all the flowers in her courtyard." Ning Shu took out the reward money and medicine that Young Lady Niohuru had given her and told Lady Niohuru about everything Young Lady Niohuru said.

When Lady Niohuru heard about this, she was so startled that she pricked her finger. She looked at the medicine bottle in Ning Shu's hand in alarm and asked, "Did she really say that?"

Ning Shu nodded. Lady Niohuru's figure seemed to crumble and she stroked her stomach in alarm. "I only thought that she liked snatching things from me, but she was actually going to kill my child? I can't let her off."

"Lady, it's best if you focus on taking good care of your health. These things can be discussed after you give birth. There will be plenty of time for these matters later," advised Ning Shu.

"Lady, this silver?" asked Ning Shu.

"Since she gave it to you, just keep it," said Lady Niohuru while rubbing her forehead. Ning Shu then curtsied and left the room.

Soon, Tong Yu came out and handed Ning Shu a few ingots of silver. There were two more than the amount Young Lady Niohuru had given. Tong Yu smiled as she said, "Miao Ling, this is a reward from the master, so just accept it."

And like this, she got two consecutive sums of money.

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Chapter 1225: Which Would Be the Fourth?

Ning Shu had directly told Lady Niohuru about what Young Lady Niohuru had asked her to do. She had no desire to hide it. Lady Niohuru could go worry about this herself.

How had Young Lady Niohuru been so sure that she wouldn't tell Lady Niohuru about this? Openly talking about this was also able to solve the problem.

In any case, it had nothing to do with her anymore.

It was probably due to this incident, but Lady Niohuru didn't trust Ning Shu as much anymore. She rarely allowed Ning Shu to get close to her anymore. If she felt uncomfortable, she'd invite the residence's doctor. Ning Shu didn't really care either way and just focused on doing what she should be doing.

She had never wanted to win Lady Niohuru's trust anyways.

Ning Shu had a faint idea of what Young Lady Niohuru was trying to do. She wanted to kill the baby Lady Niohuru's belly so that the future Hongli would be born from her belly.

Hongli was the fourth. Lady Ula Nara had given birth to the first son. Lady Li was pregnant with a boy this time, and Lady Geng's was unknown. As of now, Lady Niohuru and Young Lady Niohuru had gotten pregnant at the same time. Who knew which one of them would give birth first?

It wasn't her place to get involved in these affairs though and even if she wanted to get involved, she couldn't. So right now, she just wanted to know when she'd be able to leave this world.

Lady Nian was taking very good care of Lady Song's child. As of now, the child could walk slowly with support so she probably wasn't at high risk of dying young anymore.

"Miao Ling." Ning Shu was currently sweeping when Tong Yu walked over to her and asked, "What should I do with the medicine that the lady of Seeping Heart Garden gave you?"

"You still have that medicine?" asked Ning Shu. "Why haven't you gotten rid of it yet?"

"You can't keep that kind of thing around. Just the smell of it is bad for pregnant women." Ning Shu was a little taken aback. It's already been several days. Why haven't they gotten rid of it yet?

Tong Yu said, "That's why I came to ask you how to deal with it. The lady was very flustered and didn't know what to do."

Ning Shu said mildly, "You can deal with it however you like. For example, just dissolve it in water and just bury it. It's actually not that scary."

"It's just a mixture of various herbs. Once it's diluted, it doesn't really have much of an effect," said Ning Shu offhandedly.

Tong Yu looked towards Ning Shu. "Can I trust you?"

"Why can't you trust me? I'm the lady's servant. What benefits will I get if anything happened to the lady? I used to be Lady Song's servant, but now I'm with the lady. If she doesn't trust me, could it be that I'd be in a better situation serving someone else?"

Everyone only trusted their own people.

Tong Yu glanced at Ning Shu, then finally said, "You can go back to sweeping."

Ning Shu nodded, then continued sweeping. Tong Yu glanced at Ning Shu again. "You're pretty strange. What exactly do you desire?"

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Chapter 1226: This is the Meaning of Skills

Tong Yu felt that this person didn't care about anything.

"I'm afraid of dying. I just want to live," said Ning Shu with a grin.

Tong Yu scoffed, "As long as you don't do anything to hurt the lady, she'll naturally protect you."

"I'm of course on the lady's side," said Ning Shu.

Tong Yu's expression didn't change. It wasn't very apparent whether she believed Ning Shu's words or not.

As the pregnancy progressed, Lady Niohuru started having morning sickness. She'd feel very dizzy, nauseous, and drowsy. These were normal phenomenons of pregnancy.

Tong Yu went to find Ning Shu and asked if she had any remedies. If the lady continued to be unable to keep any food down, her body wouldn't be able to hold up.

Ning Shu gave Tong Yu a sachet that contained mint leaves and orange peel and said, "She can sniff this when she feels uncomfortable. You can also add a bit more vinegar when cooking. It'll help increase appetite."

Tong Yu took the sachet and had the doctor take a look. The doctor said that there were no issues with it and it was indeed possible to suppress discomfort using this method.

Lady Niohuru was finally put at ease and she started keeping the sachet that Ning Shu made with her. However, no medicine could cure morning sickness, all they could do was try to suppress it.

Lady Niohuru was very worn out from vomiting and so dizzy that she couldn't even get out of bed. However, no matter how sick she felt, she wouldn't call for Yinzhen.

Lady Niohuru would only talk about how sick she felt when Yinzhen came to visit her. In this way, instead of making Yinzhen feel annoyed, it caused Yinzhen to feel heartache for her.

Most of the time, Lady Niohuru didn't bother Yinzhen. She'd only act spoiled and complain a little when Yinzhen came to visit. It was totally different from the way Lady Song had behaved when she was pregnant.

Lady Song was the type to invite people over immediately whenever any little problem occurred. She would make such a ruckus, and in the end, it would turn out that there wasn't an issue at all.

The two simply weren't on the same level.

Besides, there were several other pregnant women in this inner courtyard. If this woman called and that woman also called, Yinzhen would probably be worked to exhaustion.

Ning Shu was still working as a third-class cleaning maid. Every day, she swept the courtyard and wiped the floors. Her hands had already become rough from all the cleaning.

When would she be able to fr*cking leave this place? Lady Niohuru was already almost five months pregnant! Why was she fr*cking still stuck in this world?

It had already been over two years. Why hasn't the system told her to leave this world?

Young Lady Niohuru would occasionally come to visit Lady Niohuru's courtyard. Every time she saw Ning Shu, she would wink at Ning Shu. However, Ning Shu would just pretend not to notice and continue doing her own thing.

Lady Niohuru was clearly aware that the person in front of her wanted to hurt her child, but she didn't show it at all. Young Lady Niohuru would call her 'Big Sister,' and Lady Niohuru would call her 'Little Sister.' When they were together, they always seemed like close sisters with an excellent relationship.

When Young Lady Niohuru saw Lady Niohuru's slightly raised belly, slight confusion flashed through her eyes. Why hasn't she had a miscarriage yet?

She saw that Lady Niohuru's facial color was pretty good. When she heard Lady Niohuru say that she could feel the baby moving, she concluded that her plan had failed.

Once the doctor came to do the routine pulse check, Young Lady Niohuru asked the doctor, "How is my sister's health? I heard that she wasn't feeling well before. Is she better now?"

The doctor said, "The lady is fine and the baby is also very healthy."

"Is she really fine? I'm pretty worried about my sister." Young Lady Niohuru asked the doctor again, "Is my sister really alright?"

"She's fine, she's very healthy," said the doctor.

Young Lady Niohuru was disappointed and angry. That damned girl didn't do anything after taking the money. She hadn't carried out the plan!

Or was this because that girl couldn't get close to Lady Niohuru?

Young Lady Niohuru rubbed her forehead, then waved the doctor off. A moment later though, she called the doctor back. "Wait a minute. You can tell whether it's a boy or a girl now, right?"

The doctor cupped his fist and said, "The child in the lady's belly is a boy."

Young Lady Niohuru smiled and had her personal maid give the doctor some reward money.

The doctor accepted the money and left. As Young Lady Niohuru watched the doctor leave, her eyes flickered. Since using the maid wouldn't work, then she should just use the doctor.

Young Lady Niohuru stroked her stomach. "Child, everything Mother did is for you. In this inner courtyard, only the victor can stand at the summit."

She, a person of the modern era, was now thickening her skin to serve as someone's concubine. If it weren't for the fact that Yinzhen was the future emperor of the Qing Dynasty, there was no way she would share a husband with other women. Furthermore, this man was even her brother-in-law.

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Chapter 1227: Surname was Niohuru

After Young Lady Niohuru transmigrated, she learned that her surname was Niohuru. She thought she would be the famous Lady Niohuru, but then she found out that she was just a concubine daughter of Niohuru Lingzhu.

She had, above her, an older sister born of the main wife and her older sister had already entered Yinzhen's inner courtyard.

Young Lady Niohuru was pretty certain that her older sister was the Empress Dowager, Lady Niohuru. Now that she was pregnant, the future Emperor Qianlong was definitely in her belly.

Every time she saw Lady Niohuru's stomach, she'd feel very anxious. If this child disappeared, Hongli might come out of her stomach.

After experiencing a transmigration, if she didn't make a great achievement, it'd be letting down this good fortune.

"Miao Ling, the lady wants to see you. Hurry up." Tong Yu walked into the room and this said to Ning Shu who was currently making perfume sachets.

Ning Shu saw that Miao Ling looked very worried, so she dusted the mint leaves off her hands and got up while asking, "What's wrong?"

"Just come with me," said Tong Yu.

Ning Shu followed Tong Yu to Lady Niohuru's room. Lady Niohuru was currently sitting on the chair.

"Lady, what can I do for you?" asked Ning Shu as she curtsied.

Lady Niohuru didn't speak, but Tong Yu who was next to her said, "Just now, the residence's doctor came to check her pulse and said that the lady's fetus was a little unstable. He even prescribed medicine."

Ning Shu got an idea of the situation and asked, "Lady, how do you feel?"

Lady Niohuru frowned. "I feel fine. This child also loves to move. It doesn't feel like anything is wrong."

"I called you over to have you check my pulse." Lady Niohuru extended her wrist and placed it on the table.

Ning Shu reached out to check Lady Niohuru's pulse. After checking for a good while and repeatedly double-checking the results, she was finally certain. Lady Niohuru and Tong Yu were both watching Ning Shu solemnly.

"How is it? Is anything wrong with the child?" asked Lady Niohuru.

Ning Shu said, "This servant is certain that your health is perfectly fine. The fetus is also very healthy. May this servant take a look at the prescription?"

Tong Yu immediately brought over two packages of medicine. Ning Shu opened the paper bag and checked the medicinal ingredients. Finally, she said, "Saffron, which is used to improve blood circulation and get rid of internal blood clots, is one of the ingredients. It can also induce an abortion."

Lady Niohuru pressed her lips together tightly and her entire aura turned cold and fierce. She waved dismissively towards Ning Shu, so Ning Shu curtsied and left the room.

"Accept this reward money." Tong Yu gave Ning Shu a bit of silver. "Thank you for your help this time."

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Chapter 1228: Man Proposes but God Disposes

"Big Sis Tong Yu, you're being too polite. This is simply this servant's duty." Ning Shu curtsied. Tong Yu pressed the silver into Ning Shu's hand. "Take it. The lady wishes to give it to you."

Ning Shu accepted the pieces of silver. She had gotten money again.

Every time she helped Lady Niohuru do something, Lady Niohuru would give her some reward money. As of now, she had already accumulated quite a lot of money.

For a maid, this was probably a huge sum of money.

Lady Niohuru knew that it was Young Lady Niohuru who had tried to do this to her. Young Lady Niohuru kept coming to talk to her, but she said that she wasn't feeling well and refused to meet with Young Lady Niohuru.

As of now, Lady Niohuru was just enduring things as best as she could. Nothing was more important than the child.

She'd settle this account slowly in the future.

During Lady Niohuru and Young Lady Niohuru's seventh month of pregnancy, Lady Li and Lady Geng both gave birth, and they were both boys.

This meant that two more boys had been born after Lady Ula Nara's son. So of Lady Niohuru and Young Lady Niohuru's children, whichever was born first would be the fourth and obtain the name of Hongli.

Lady Niohuru didn't know about this history, but Young Lady Niohuru knew.

While Ning Shu was checking Lady Niohuru's pulse, a maid walked in and said to Lady Niohuru, "Lady, the lady of Seeping Heart Garden is giving birth."

Lady Niohuru was stunned for a moment. "It's only been seven months. Why is she giving birth already?"

"I heard that she fell," said the maid.

Lady Niohuru's facial color was a little pale as she supported her stomach with a trace of lingering fear. "Will the baby in her stomach be alright?"

Ning Shu comforted Lady Niohuru. "Don't worry, Lady. After all, isn't that said that early birth in the seventh month will survive, but it won't in the eighth month?"

"Go to her courtyard and take a look for me. Tell me if anything happens." Lady Niohuru didn't plan to go to her courtyard and had Ning Shu go instead.

Ning Shu curtsied, then headed to Young Lady Niohuru's courtyard. Yinzhen and Lady Ula Nara were already waiting there. The moment Ning Shu entered the courtyard, she heard Young Lady Niohuru's pained screams.

She simply waited outside. Lady Niohuru gave birth very smoothly and soon gave birth to a boy. Since he had been born prematurely though, he was a little weak.

After the baby was born, Ning Shu went back and reported this to Lady Niohuru. When Lady Niohuru heard this news, she just pressed her lips together without saying anything.

However, Ning Shu felt that Young Lady Niohuru had deliberately given birth to her child ahead of time in order to make her child the fourth son.

Yinzhen didn't immediately name the child. Lady Li and Lady Geng's children hadn't been named yet either. The children wouldn't be named until they were one month old.

Young Lady Niohuru kept pestering Yinzhen to name her child while she was still in the puerperium period, but Yinzhen refused to. He said that he'd name the child and add him to the genealogy once he was one month old.

Young Lady Niohuru asked several times, but Yinzhen still didn't agree, so she didn't dare to mention anymore.

Young Lady Niohuru was pretty depressed. How come when other people transmigrated, it was always with impressive flair and they would even obtain the love of the emperor?

She had already tried her best to make Yinzhen fall in love with her, but this man was seriously cold to the core. She had already been his woman for a long time, but he still hadn't fallen in love with her.

Instead, she had fallen in love with him.

It was easier for women to develop feelings when it came to pleasures on the bed.

People always eventually assimilated into their environment, and Young Lady Niohuru had gradually become a woman of the ancient era. She viewed her husband as the sky and based her own worth on her children.

If that wasn't the case, she wouldn't have taken such a risk to give birth ahead of time.

However, Yinzhen's attitude hurt Young Lady Niohuru. He refused to even give her child a name. Young Lady Niohuru wanted her son to be called Hongli, Aisin Gioro Hongli.

However, something soon happened that caused Young Lady Niohuru to completely panic, which was that Lady Geng's child had died before he even became a month old.

Children that died young were not even given names, much less added to the genealogy. This meant that Young Lady Niohuru's prematurely born child was now the third, not the fourth son.

When Ning Shu learned about this, she just smacked her lips. Fate truly couldn't be predicted. Young Lady Niohuru had made such careful plans, but this turned out to be the result.

Could it be that all Young Lady Niohuru knew was that Hongli was the fourth son? She hadn't been aware that Lady Geng had only one son recorded in the genealogy? Her only recorded son was the sixth, Hong Zhou, who liked to earn money by providing funeral services instead of working in the government.

What was this called? Man proposes but God disposes? Some things just wouldn't go as the person wanted them to.

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Chapter 1229: Being a Midwife Again

Lady Niohuru's stomach continued to grow bigger by the day, while Young Lady Niohuru's heart grew colder by the day. She was too worried to even nurse herself properly during the puerperium period.

Young Lady Niohuru repeatedly asked Yinzhen to name her son. She couldn't understand why it was so hard for Yinzhen to just name her son Hongli.

As the end of the pregnancy drew close, Lady Niohuru started getting increasingly nervous. She called Ning Shu over.

Ning Shu comforted Lady Niohuru, "Lady, don't worry. Your baby is in the right position and its head is positioned to enter the pelvis. It should be born in the next few days."

"Lady, have you finished arranging for midwives?" asked Ning Shu.

Lady Niohuru nodded. "I asked my mother to find the midwives. She's investigated these midwives very carefully, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Lady Niohuru suddenly grabbed Ning Shu's hand. She did it with quite some force, so her fingernails were almost digging into Ning Shu's flesh. She looked at Ning Shu solemnly as she asked, "Miao Ling, can I trust you?"

"Lady, please believe in this servant. There are no benefits for this servant if anything happens to you," replied Ning Shu.

Lady Niohuru didn't release Ning Shu's hand." I hope for you to be next to me as I give birth. I'll leave my life and the life of my child in your hands."

"Lady, this servant will do her best," said Ning Shu solemnly. "This servant will do her best, her utmost."

Ning Shu touched Lady Niohuru's stomach. It was drooping severely. The birth would probably occur soon, so Ning Shu stayed by Lady Niohuru's side without taking a step away.

Lady Niohuru could also feel that she was about to give birth. She was feeling slight contractions and her waist was extremely sore.

One morning, while Lady Niohuru was having breakfast, her water broke and created a puddle on the ground. The moment Ning Shu saw, she hastily helped Lady Niohuru to the bed.

"Big Sis Tong Yu, the lady is about to give birth! Hurry and call the midwives over, then go boil hot water," said Ning Shu to Tong Yu who was looking on nervously.

"Yes! Alright..." Tong Yu hastily went to carry these things out.

Lady Niohuru was lying on the bed, her forehead covered with sweat from the pain. "Lady, do your best to endure. Don't scream, save your strength for pushing the child out."

"Miao Ling, I trust you. You have to make sure my child is born safely," said Lady Niohuru, enduring the pain. The blue veins on her forehead were visible.

Ning Shu nodded. "Lady, trust me. You'll be fine." As Ning Shu spoke, she cut a piece of ginseng and placed it in Lady Niohuru's mouth.

Lady Niohuru felt like a knife was scraping away at her stomach. It was so painful that her entire body felt weak.

Tong Yu brought over four midwives. Ning Shu was busy helping Lady Niohuru adjust her child's birth position when she smelled a strong scent of medicine coming from one of the midwives. That midwife was even deliberately trying to approach Lady Niohuru.

Ning Shu grabbed that midwife's arm and twisted it to contain her as she said to Tong Yu, "Tie her up and lock her up in another room."

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Chapter 1230: Successful Childbirth

Tong Yu was taken aback for a moment and couldn't find any rope. Lady Niohuru, who was moaning in pain, finally whispered, "Cut the mosquito net."

Tong Yu immediately picked up the scissors to cut the mosquito net, then tied the midwife's hands with the cloth strip before dragging her to the neighboring room.

"Don't worry, Lady. You'll be fine," said Ning Shu to Lady Niohuru.

Lady Niohuru nodded even as cold sweat covered her forehead.

"The cervix is open, Lady. Push!" said the midwife to Lady Niohuru.

Lady Niohuru took a deep breath, then gritted her teeth as she pushed hard.

"Take a deep breath, then push again," said Ning Shu to Lady Niohuru. "Inhale, exhale."

Lady Niohuru was almost in a trance due to the pain. She couldn't think at all and could only do as Ning Shu said.

It had nearly been two hours, but Lady Niohuru still hadn't given birth to the child yet. Ning Shu found it strange. Lady Niohuru's fetal position was correct so it shouldn't take such a long time for her to give birth.

"Scram!" Ning Shu saw that one of the midwives was shoving the baby's head back into the womb. As soon as the baby's head emerged, she'd shove it right back, causing Lady Niohuru to almost die from the pain.

"Tie her up," said Ning Shu to Tong Yu. "Lady, we can already see the child's head. With just a bit more of a push, the child will be out."

Lady Niohuru screamed, then the child's head came out. Ning Shu carefully pulled the child's body until the child finally left Lady Niohuru's body.

Ning Shu patted the child's buttocks and the child started wailing. When Lady Niohuru heard the child's cry, she finally fainted in exhaustion.

Ning Shu wiped the child clean of blood, then wrapped him in swaddling clothes before handing the child to Tong Yu. "Go and report this happy news."

Tong Yu took the baby carefully as she trembled with tears of relief and joy. She carried the baby out to report to Yinzhen and Lady Ula Nara who were waiting outside.

Ning Shu stayed inside to deal with the rest of the matters.

Ning Shu stayed by Lady Niohuru's side. When Lady Niohuru woke up and saw Ning Shu, she smiled knowingly, then asked, "Where's my child?"

"Lady, this servant is still carrying him." Tong Yu had been holding the baby since he was born. Due to what happened earlier with the midwives, she became worried about the wet nurse as well.

She only allowed the wet nurse to feed the child milk. The rest of the time, she held the child herself.

Tong Yu brought the child to Lady Niohuru so that she could have a look. Lady Niohuru smiled as she gazed at her child.

"Thank you so much," said Lady Niohuru to Ning Shu. "If it weren't for you, my child and I probably would have both died."

Ning Shu nodded, then asked for leave. She needed to head back and take a bath.

Ning Shu headed back and took a bath, then lay down on the bed to rest for a while. She hadn't really rested at all during this past period of time as Lady Niohuru was preparing to give birth.

As for the question of who had sent the midwives that had tried to harm Lady Niohuru and the child, that was for Lady Niohuru to worry about.

She had caught one midwife with bad intentions, so she hadn't expected for there to be another one.

Perhaps there was more than just one party that wanted to kill Lady Niohuru's child.

After something like this happened, Lady Niohuru dismissed the idea of hiring a wet nurse. If the wet nurse harbored bad intentions, it'd just be sending her child into a wolf's mouth.

Children that had just been born were very fragile. Any slight trauma could cause them to die.

What if they encountered a wet nurse like the one the little lady had before? One that was abusive to children? Just the thought of it was terrifying.

Lady Niohuru asked for Ning Shu's opinion. Ning Shu felt that it was pretty good for a child to drink their mother's milk. However, right now Lady Niohuru was on her puerperium period, so it wasn't good for her to work too hard.

Ning Shu suggested that Lady Niohuru hire a reliable wet nurse to handle things like bathing the child and changing her diapers. Lady Niohuru couldn't do those things while she was in her puerperium period.

Lady Niohuru frowned slightly. "Where am I supposed to find a reliable wet nurse now? These four midwives were even people that my mother found, but things like this still happened."

Lady Niohuru felt that a lot of people were eyeing her child. No one else had experienced things like this while they were giving birth.

"Those midwives may have been bribed. We still have them detained, so let's wait to discuss it once you're out of your puerperium period. Lady, you should set your mind at ease and just focus on recovering." Ning Shu comforted Lady Niohuru.

Lady Niohuru looked towards Ning Shu and said, "I... I want you to take care of my child."

Ning Shu: ...

#comment: Tbh, this TLer feels that giving birth is so scary. It's one of this TLer's worst fears. This chapter kinda made it worse. This TLer is always amazed by how all those women can go through this grueling process like its nothing.

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Chapter 1231: Please Look After My Child

Lady Niohuru felt that a lot of people were eyeing her child. She couldn't trust other people at all, so she wanted Ning Shu to take care of her child.

As she was giving birth, this girl was the one who had saved her and her child, so Lady Niohuru now trusted Ning Shu a little. Moreover, this girl had medical skills so if her child showed any signs of abnormality, this girl would be the first to notice.

Lady Niohuru took Ning Shu's hand and said, "Miao Ling, I hope you'll help me look after my child. I can't trust anyone else in my current condition."

Ning Shu really wanted to shake off Lady Niohuru's hand, but she endured it and just respectfully said, "This servant doesn't have any experience taking care of children. I'm afraid I'll fail to live up to your expectations."

"I don't need you to take care of my child. I just hope that you'll stay by the child's side and while at it…" Lady Niohuru said in a low voice, "Help me keep an eye on the wet nurse. I'm not sure I can trust her."

The repeated incidents had caused Lady Niohuru to become like an easily startled bird. It also made her trust this maid, who had come to her aid several times, a lot more.

Ning Shu: No, I don't want to…

"Once my puerperium period is over, I'll take care of the child myself," said Lady Niohuru. She then shot Tong Yu a look. On this cue, Tong Yu took out a small box from the dresser.

"The lady wishes to give you this," said Tong Yu as she opened the small box. It contained all sorts of jewelry including necklaces, hairpins, bracelets. A box of jewelry like this had considerable value. For ordinary people, it could feed them for a lifetime.

Ning Shu hastily curtised and said, "Lady, this is too much. This servant can't accept it."

Having a lot of money wasn't always a good thing, especially since she was only a servant girl right now. If she really only agreed to take care of the child after accepting this box, once Lady Niohuru was out of her current predicament, Lady Niohuru would probably look for her to settle the accounts. Putting herself in Lady Niohuru's shoes, if she was the master, it'd be weird if she didn't feel irritated about having to reward her servants to get them to do things for her.

At that time, Lady Niohuru only had to come up with a casual reason to get rid of her. She was just a servant who had no control over her own fate. There was no way for her to negotiate with Lady Niohuru on equal grounds.

Besides, once the task was completed, she'd leave this body and the original host would return. If Lady Niohuru found fault with the original host and anything happened to the original host, it would be on her.

She was using the original host's body, so she had never considered leaving problems for the original host to resolve.

After thinking things through, Ning Shu waved her hand dismissively and said, "This servant will definitely take good care of the little master, but this servant can't accept these things. This servant is only a lowly servant. This box is way more valuable than this servant herself, so it'll only attract trouble. Besides, Lady, you've already given this servant quite a lot of rewards already. This servant already feels uneasy about accepting those things, so this servant truly cannot accept this as well."

Ning Shu curtised and added, "This servant will definitely do her best to take care of the little master."

Lady Niohuru's lips hooked. "Since that's the case, I'll be counting on you."

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Chapter 1232: Worry Like a Mother

"This servant dares not to accept such honor." When Ning Shu saw Lady Niohuru's relieved expression, she instantly realized that she had fallen into the trap.

After Lady Niohuru took out a box containing such things, regardless of whether she accepted them or not, she'd still have to go take care of the little master. Furthermore, Lady Niohuru had never planned to really give her a box of such valuable jewelry.

If she really wanted to reward a servant, any single item she casually picked out of the box would be extremely valuable to a maid.

Every single one of them was truly skilled at scheming.

It was even possible that this was a test.

Ning Shu: _

When would this task end!?

Lady Niohuru had just given birth, so she was very tired. Right at this time, Yinzhen came to see Lady Niohuru and her child.

Ning Shu left the room. She was extremely speechless. Her task was to take care of Lady Song's child, but right now, Lady Nian was raising the child and even raising her very well.

So now she was going to have to look after Lady Niohuru's child. What exactly was with this task? It wasn't even her own baby, but she had to worry like a mother. No, actually, she had to worry more than a mother.

Tong Yu helped Ning Shu move into a different room. This room was right next to Lady Niohuru's room and was quite large. Ning Shu and the wet nurse would take care of the child in this room.

What she had to do was protect the child and make sure that nothing dangerous got close to the child. At the same time, she also kept an eye on the wet nurse. She would taste all the food before the wet nurse could eat them and she would also carefully check for any issues with the child's clothing.

She didn't sleep at night and just sat on the bed to practice the Unsurpassable Martial Arts. The cradle was right next to her bed because she had to check on the child from time to time. If the child got hungry in the middle of the night, she'd have to carry the child over to the wet nurse so that the child could drink milk.

The child had been born in a timely manner, so he was very healthy and ate very well. He was fair and tender, completely different from how the little lady had been at the beginning.

Lady Niohuru was a good mother.

Ning Shu's food wasn't the same as that of the wet nurse's. The wet nurse's food was specially prepared to aid production of milk.

Ning Shu would always taste the wet nurse's food. However, today's dishes were a little salty. Even she found them salty.

She could barely swallow the pork shoulder soup. She looked towards the midwife and asked, "Why is the food so salty today?"

If the wet nurse ate salty dishes, the milk she produced would also be salty. It would be a burden on the child's digestive system. It wasn't that she couldn't eat any salt, but she couldn't eat dishes that were this salty.

The wet nurse said, "I've been eating such bland food ever since I came here, so I asked the kitchen's cook to add a little salt. "

"You should understand. I'm from the countryside, we always have some salted vegetables with meals. I'm used to eating salty dishes, so the food now tastes so bland."

Ning Shu frowned. "You have to feed the baby milk now. If you eat things that are too salty, it's not good for the child and it'll also be harder for you to produce milk. Could it be that you don't know these things despite being a wet nurse?"

"Miss Miao Ling, I'm only eating them this once, so it'll be fine. Most of the time, the food doesn't have any salt at all, so I can't even swallow them. How am I supposed to produce milk for my little master if I don't eat?" The wet nurse looked a little annoyed.

Ning Shu scrutinized the wet nurse. She was porty and her facial color was very ruddy. At the start, she had taken care of the child quite well, but what was she trying to do now?

The wet nurse looked away uneasily when she saw that Ning Shu was staring at her, then she said, "Fine, I won't eat this anymore."

The kitchen remade the wet nurse's meal. After the wet nurse ate and fed the baby, Ning Shu carried the baby to Lady Niohuru.

Lady Niohuru cared a lot about her child and would request to see him several times a day. She kept him by her side most of the time.

"Did anything unusual happen recently?" Lady Niohuru took the baby gently.

Ning Shu paused for a moment, then said, "No. There are no issues right now."

Lady Niohuru's eyes didn't shift from the child's face. "Make sure to pay more attention during this period of time."

"This servant understands." Ning Shu wanted to talk about what the wet nurse did, but the fact that the wet nurse wanted to eat salty food wasn't a huge issue.

However, it seemed that in the future, she had to keep an eye on the wet nurse while taking care of the child.

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Chapter 1233: Suspicious Wet Nurse

Ning Shu felt that there was something off about this wet nurse, so she quietly kept an eye on her. However, after she told the wet nurse last time not to eat anything too salty, the wet nurse started behaving and ate the food the kitchen made without complaint.

It made it seem like the incident last time was simply because she was craving salt. Ning Shu didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and the wet nurse took good care of the baby.

Ning Shu was starting to second guess herself. Perhaps she had been too suspicious. Lady Niohuru's family had carefully selected this wet nurse and the choice of wet nurse related to the survival of the child, so they probably wouldn't be so careless...

However, after that past incident with a wet nurse, she didn't dare to just drop all her suspicions.

However, this wet nurse was normal in every aspect. She was with Ning Shu almost all the time.

Ning Shu purposefully kept the wet nurse away from the baby except when the baby needed milk. She tried to minimize the baby's contact with the wet nurse.

"Waah, wah..."

Ning Shu was in the middle of training when she was interrupted by the child's cry. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw that the child was kicking his legs in the cradle with an expression of discomfort.

Ning Shu hastily got out of bed and picked the child up. The child immediately arched toward her chest. It was clear that he was hungry. His lips were even a little pale.

Ning Shu put her finger in the child's mouth and found that his mouth was very dry. He was obviously thirsty.

She didn't wake up the wet nurse and just poured some water to slowly feed it to the child.

The child was clearly very thirsty since he drank an entire cup of water. He belched, then water flowed out from the corner of his mouth. Ning Shu wiped his mouth a little with her sleeve.

She picked up the child and patted his back gently. Soon, the child fell asleep in Ning Shu's arms.

However, Ning Shu soon found that something was wrong with the child, because the next day, the child had difficulty pooping. His face was bright red as he pooped. He seemed constipated.

Furthermore, his poop stinked a lot. The child was less than a month old, so he only drank milk. It normally wasn't possible for something like this to occur.

Ning Shu's brows furrowed. After cleaning up, she fed the child water and once again, the child drank an entire cup of water.

Why was he so thirsty?

The wet nurse's food was very lightly flavored.

"Miss Miao Ling, should I feed the little master now?" The wet nurse had just cleaned up. As she spoke, she prepared to feed the baby.

Ning Shu narrowed her eyes as she handed the baby to the wet nurse.

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Chapter 1234: Never Wanted to Harm the Little Master

Ning Shu considered things, and couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something wrong. She felt that the issue definitely originated from the wet nurse. However, she couldn't think of anything that could be off aside from the issue of food.

"The child isn't hungry, so don't feed him yet." Ning Shu picked the baby back up. The wet nurse looked surprised. She had already gotten ready for it, so why was this girl suddenly deciding against it?

Something suddenly occurred to Ning Shu and she squeezed a bit of the milk to taste it. It was very salty.

"You..." Ning Shu turned and left with the child. The wet nurse didn't even have time to button up her shirt and she hastily moved to stop Ning Shu.

"Miss Miao Ling, I'm begging you, please don't tell the lady!" The wet nurse's face was deathly pale. "Miss Miao Ling, I won't ever dare to do this again. Please, I'm begging you!"

Ning Shu didn't speak and simply continued walking. The wet nurse hugged Ning Shu's leg. "Miss Miao Ling, please!"

Ning Shu flung her leg to shake off the wet nurse. The wet nurse was thrown to the side and fell to the ground.

Ning Shu brought the child to Lady Niohuru and said with a curtsy, "This servant has let Lady down. This servant is truly sorry."

Lady Niohuru looked at Ning Shu in surprise and asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen to the child?"

Before Ning Shu even said anything, the wet nurse had rushed in. Her clothes were disheveled and she looked towards Ning Shu with a pleading expression in her eyes.

Lady Niohuru frowned. "Hand me the child."

Ning Shu handed the child to Lady Niohuru. Lady Niohuru took the child, then looked towards Ning Shu and the wet nurse. "What's going on?"

"Lady, this wet nurse had applied salt water to her body, so the child's digestive system wasn't doing well these last two days. You should investigate this wet nurse," said Ning Shu. "This servant had also been negligent. Please forgive this servant."

Lady Niohuru looked at her child with an expression of lingering fear. As she looked towards the wet nurse again, her voice was filled with rage. "What exactly is going on?"

"Why did you do this?" Lady Niohuru was inwardly grateful that the wet nurse had only applied salt water and not poison. If she had applied poison, Lady Niohuru didn't know if she'd even be able to see her child anymore.

"Talk! Did the Niohuru family not give you enough money, for you to treat my child like this!?" Blue tendons were pulsing on Lady Niohuru's forehead. She seemed almost hysterical.

The wet nurse knelt and kowtowed while shouting, "Lady, this humble woman never wanted to hurt the child."

"Then why did you do this?" Lady Niohuru's gaze contained murderous intent as she looked towards the wet nurse. After these kinds of things happened again and again, she felt like she had been forced into a corner.

Why did so many people want to hurt her child? Two midwives had tried to kill her while she was giving birth. She had sent them back to the Niohuru residence and had asked her mother to investigate them carefully.

One of the midwives served a concubine of the Niohuru residence and this concubine was Young Lady Niohuru's mother. The other one had been bribed after she entered the residence.

The news that the Niohuru residence sent was that the midwife had accepted two ingots of silver to do this. They couldn't find out who was behind it.

"Lady, please calm down," said Ning Shu calmly.

Lady Niohuru took a deep breath, then looked at the wet nurse coldly. "Who do you serve?"

The wet nurse was sobbing as she said, "Lady, this humble woman really never wanted to harm the little master!"

"What you were doing was harming my child, yet you still dare to say that you didn't want to harm my child!?" Lady Niohuru's glare was a little scary. She was like an injured mother beast.

The wet nurse suddenly glared at Ning Shu and pointed at her as she said, "It's all because of Miao Ling! It's all because of her!"

Ning Shu's expression didn't change as she faced the wet nurse's accusation. She simply stood at the side without speaking.

Lady Niohuru looked at the wet nurse coldly, then glanced at Ning Shu who wasn't saying anything. She lowered her head and kissed the child's forehead, then said lightly, "Oh, what did she do?"

The wet nurse said angrily, "Lady, this humble woman is the child's wet nurse, the one who's responsible for taking care of the child! However, Miao Ling doesn't let this humble woman near the little master at all. This humble woman was just thinking that if something happened to the child, you wouldn't allow Miao Ling to take care of the child anymore."

Ning Shu: _

Hahaha, so now this was her fault?

Lady Niohuru laughed coldly. "This is my child. It's my choice who I assign to take care of him. You actually hurt my child for this kind of reason, yet you feel like you're in the right? And you have the nerve to feel wronged?"

"This humble woman just wanted to take good care of the little master, but Miao Ling wouldn't allow this humble woman to approach the child at all." The wet nurse's expression was a little indignant.

Ning Shu frowned. This wet nurse kept calling herself 'this humble woman,' but her ambition wasn't humble at all.

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Chapter 1235: It was the Lady from...

"Did someone say something to you?" Ning Shu asked the wet nurse.

The wet nurse seemed to hate Ning Shu a lot. "No one said anything to me. I just couldn't stand the sight of you keeping the little master to yourself. You only want him to be close to you."

Ning Shu was a little speechless. She had harmed the child due to this kind of reason?

No, there was no way an incident in the inner courtyard could be that simple. There was a motive behind every move.

"Lady..." Ning Shu drew close to Lady Niohuru's ear and said in a low voice, "Lady, this servant feels that someone had probably instigated this wet nurse."

There were a lot of benefits for a wet nurse that served a rich family. Furthermore, this child was the grandson of the current Emperor, so there were a lot of intangible benefits. If the child was attached to her, there were even more benefits.

Ning Shu hadn't allowed the wet nurse to get close to the child, that was why the wet nurse resented her so much.

If someone had instigated this whole thing, everything made perfect sense.

Lady Niohuru looked at the wet nurse who was kneeling on the ground. She took a moment to suppress the anger rising in her heart, then said to Tong Yu, "Go call the prince. We must let the prince know about this."

The wet nurse's face instantly turned white and she started kowtowing desperately. "Lady, please let this humble woman off this once! Please spare me, Lady!"

"Keep it down. You'll disturb my child," said Lady Niohuru lightly.

The wet nurse was frightened by the look on Lady Niohuru's face so she immediately shut up. Her face was filled with fear.

Tong Yu went to call Yinzhen. It was probably because this incident was very severe, because Yinzhen arrived very quickly. He walked into the room and immediately asked, "What happened?"

Lady Niohuru wept as she told him about everything.

After Yinzhen heard about the entire incident, he rubbed his forehead with a cold expression. "What is going on? Why do we always encounter these malicious wet nurses?"

"We can't let her off. There are several more children in this residence. If every wet nurse is like this, will my children even be able to grow up?" Yinzhen's expression was cold.

The wet nurse's face was pale as paper and her entire body was trembling. She could barely speak clearly as she cried in fear, "Prince, please spare my life! This humble woman is wrongly accused!"

Yinzhen had the wet nurse dragged out. The wet nurse hastily shouted, "Prince, someone had asked this humble woman to do this!"

Yinzhen's expression was cold. "Oh? Who incited you to do such a thing?"

"It was the lady from Seeping Heart Garden! That lady said that if I could get close to the little master, I'll definitely gain fortune and status in the future!" The wet nurse spoke hurriedly, worried that she'd be beaten to death if she was too slow.

Yinzhen said coldly, "Not only did you mistreat my child, you're also slandering one of the masters in this inner courtyard? What would we keep such a disloyal servant for?"

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Chapter 1236: One Month Old Celebration

"Prince, please spare me!" The wet nurse's shrill screams were gradually fading.

Ning Shu wondered how Yinzhen would deal with this wet nurse? Would it be like before? She'd be beaten with the plank, then kicked out of the residence?

Yinzhen turned to look towards Lady Niohuru who was holding the child while crying. He sighed and said, "Don't cry anymore. You're in your puerperium period, it's not good for your eyes."

Lady Niohuru wiped her tears, then said to Yinzhen, "Prince, can you find another wet nurse for the child? This concubine doesn't even know what to do anymore."

Yinzhen nodded. "Leave this matter to me. I'll make sure to handle it well."

Lady Niohuru smiled weakly and nodded. Yinzhen told the servants in the room to take good care of her, then left.

As Lady Niohuru watched Yinzhen walk away, she looked slightly disappointed. It was clear that someone wanted to hurt her child, but Yinzhen seemed indifferent and showed no plans to deal with it.

"Lady, are you alright?" Ning Shu saw that Lady Niohuru's expression was a little dazed, so she spoke to ask this.

Lady Niohuru's tears instantly overflowed. She hugged the child and cried silently.

"Lady, you should be glad. You were able to discover that there were people harboring bad intentions around and was able to protect the child from greater harm." Ning Shu comforted Lady Niohuru.

"This incident was also due to this servant's negligence. This servant is to blame for this outcome." Ning Shu curtsied.

Lady Niohuru wiped her tears and said, "It has nothing to do with you. This wet nurse had impure motives from the beginning. I really have to thank you for your help this time."

"This servant dares not accept such honor," said Ning Shu. "Nothing is more important than your health, Lady. You should focus on taking good care of yourself. Everything else can wait until you're out of your puerperium period."

Lady Niohuru nodded. For the time being, she was keeping the child with her to take care of him herself, and she only allowed a few trusted people to get close.

Yinzhen soon found a wet nurse.

However, Lady Niohuru didn't let the wet nurse get close to the child. She would have Ning Shu check things multiple times before she allowed the wet nurse to feed the child.

Lady Niohuru didn't trust anyone else, so the job of taking care of the child fell on Ning Shu. Ning Shu was seriously worn out.

These days continued until Lady Niohuru was out of her puerperium period.

Probably to make things up to Lady Niohuru and the child, Yinzhen had prepared a one month old celebration banquet for the child and named the child Aisin Gioro Hongli.

Young Lady Niohuru was sitting at the banquet while holding her child. When she heard the name Hongli, she completely froze and tightened her grip on her child. The child in her arms felt uncomfortable and started wailing.

The crying of the child attracted the attention of the people around. Yinzhen looked at Young Lady Niohuru mildly and Young Lady Niohuru hastily started coaxing the child.

However, her heart was in great pain. Why? Her child was already three months old, but Yinzhen hadn't even given her child a name! And now, Lady Niohuru's child had the name of Hongli and a one month old celebration banquet.

In contrast, her child seemed so pitiful.

Lady Niohuru looked towards Young Lady Niohuru with an unreadable smile. "Little Sister, why are you personally carrying the child? Why don't you let the wet nurse hold him? The child is crying so much, perhaps he's hungry? Why don't you have the wet nurse feed him?"

"Oh? The child's wet nurse didn't come?" asked Lady Niohuru lightly.

Young Lady Niohuru said, "The child doesn't like the wet nurse so I didn't bring her here."

"Is that so?" Lady Niohuru's eyes were cold.

Young Lady Niohuru nodded. There was no way she would let her child get close to a wet nurse. Her child should obviously be attached to her, rather than be attached to a servant.

Ning Shu stood next to Lady Niohuru while holding the child. When she heard their exchange, she knew that Lady Niohuru now hated Young Lady Niohuru.

Young Lady Niohuru had repeatedly tried to kill her child. Even if it was only for the sake of her child, Lady Niohuru had to confront Young Lady Niohuru.

Ning Shu felt that this was quite unbelievable. Despite being an authentic woman of the ancient era, Lady Niohuru hadn't taken the initiative to harm people. On the contrary, it was Young Lady Niohuru who had come from the peaceful modern era that had tried to kill a child who didn't know anything.

No sins of the parents fell upon the child.

However, just because this child was Hongli, the future emperor, she had wanted to kill this child.

Truly, it was the human heart that was the most terrible. It had nothing to do with where they came from.

How were Young Lady Niohuru's actions different from those of the ancient era women in the inner courtyard? There was no difference. She actually seemed to have even less of a bottom line and personal principles.

There was a difference between actively harming others and passively fighting back.

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Chapter 1237: What Meaning Was There?

After Hongli's one month old celebration banquet, Aisin Gioro Hongli's name was recorded in the genealogy, with his mother being Lady Niohuru.

Once something was added to the genealogy, it was set in stone. There was no way to change it. Due to this, Young Lady Niohuru lost her temper and broke a lot of things.

She was angry and felt wronged. Ever since she had transmigrated, she had been living very cautiously and had even become a concubine. All she had wanted was a life different from the one she had in the modern era.

She was now a little lost. She didn't know what meaning there was to living like this, staying in an inner courtyard with so many other women to wait for a man to cherish them.

She couldn't even come and go as she pleased.

None of her plans had succeeded. She had tried to plan a bright future for her child, but all her efforts were in vain.

Why?

Young Lady Niohuru rubbed her forehead wearily. She was so tired.

But no matter what, she had to continue moving forward. She had to move forward resolutely.

However, soon, Young Lady Niohuru was placed under house arrest for three months. The child she had worked so hard to give birth to almost got taken away by Yinzhen to be raised by someone else.

Young Lady Niohuru kept crying and apologizing, and finally managed to get Yinzhen's forgiveness.

In reality, Young Lady Niohuru didn't even know what she had done wrong. However, she had no choice but to apologize to save herself.

Yinzhen was also pretty lenient, to have only put her under house arrest for two months.

When Ning Shu learned that Young Lady Niohuru had been placed under house arrest, she looked towards Lady Niohuru. She didn't know for sure if it had anything to do with Lady Niohuru.

However, these things had nothing to do with her. She just needed to act as a good wet nurse.

Lady Niohuru was clearly in a better mood now that Young Lady Niohuru couldn't come visit her under the pretext of being sisters.

Lady Niohuru no longer cared about anything else now and just focused on taking good care of her son. She didn't try to compete for favor. Yinzhen could come if he wanted, but she wouldn't ask him to stay.

Ning Shu had transferred some of her energy to Hongli twice, which made Hongli's body a bit stronger so that wasn't as easy for him to get sick. This way, it was also easier for her to take care of him.

"Miao Ling." Lady Niohuru called Ning Shu who was currently checking Hongli's clothing. Ning Shu walked over and curtsied as she asked, "Lady, what's wrong?"

Lady Niohuru reached out and took Ning Shu's hand. She said with a sigh, "Thank you for staying by my side during this time. If it weren't for you, I'd definitely be in a complete fluster."

Ning Shu curtsied. "This is this servant's duty."

"Regardless, I still have to thank you," said Lady Niohuru with a smile. "From now on, you're my personal maid."

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Chapter 1238: Checking the Clothing

"Thank you, Lady." Ning Shu curtsied.

She had now become Lady Niohuru's personal maid. That meant that Lady Niohuru probably trusted her now.

Ning Shu went back to organizing the clothing again. The seasons were changing and these clothing were all handmade by the embroiderer. Her job was to check these garments for any abnormalities.

She had to be especially careful with the inner garments.

Ning Shu was pretty speechless. When would she be able to leave this world? When would this exam end?

Ning Shu picked up a piece of clothing and flipped it over to examine it. After repeatedly examining it, she found some white stuff and water stains on the collar.

She lifted the garment to her nose to sniff it, then frowned. She said to Lady Niohuru, "Lady, please come here for a second."

Lady Niohuru was currently rocking the cradle but when she heard what Ning Shu said, she walked over. Ning Shu set the garment in front of her. Lady Niohuru reached out to pick up the clothing but Ning Shu hastily said, "Don't touch it. There may be smallpox pus on it."

Lady Niohuru immediately retracted her hand and backed away. She stammered in shock, "How could there be such a thing on the clothes?"

"Lady, this servant will go dispose of the clothing." Ning Shu took the garment and left the room.

She first put the garment in a pot of boiling vinegar, then used vinegar to repeatedly wash her hands. Afterwards, she boiled some medicine to drink.

She had touched the garment, so she probably wouldn't be able to take care of the child for a good while.

After fishing the garment out of the pot, she threw it away. If she hadn't boiled the garment first, other people may end up getting smallpox from touching it. There were a lot of children in the residence, so they would've been at high risk to get smallpox.

She just wondered who was behind it? Their intention was too obvious, they had put it on the child's inner garments after all. This method is way more skilled than having the wet nurse apply saltwater to their nipples.

They had directly made use of such ruthless means. If such a small child caught smallpox, their chances of survival were extremely slim.

Who exactly had done this?

Tong Yu came to see Ning Shu and asked, "Miao Ling, the lady asked if you had finished disposing of the garment?"

"It has been disposed of properly." Ning Shu nodded. "I won't be taking care of the child for a while. I had touched the garment, so we'll have to wait a while to see."

"Spray vinegar to disinfect every part of the courtyard and make sure to wash your hands every time before picking up the child," instructed Ning Shu.

Tong Yu nodded to indicate that she understood.

Ning Shu thought that she would be fine after taking the medicine, but unexpectedly, after a few days, she started having a fever. She felt completely strengthless.

Ning Shu was pretty depressed. This body had never encountered smallpox before and had no antibodies, so it had no resistance against the virus.

She thought that she would be alright since she had practiced the Unsurpassable Martial Arts, but unexpectedly, she had still gotten infected.

Ning Shu simmered medicine and kept practicing the Unsurpassable Martial Arts, but itchy blisters still started appearing all over her face and body. It was so itchy.

She felt really speechless.

Ning Shu told Lady Niohuru that she needed to leave the residence. Lady Niohuru stood very far away. As she took in the sight of the blisters on Ning Shu's face, she recalled her child, so she agreed to Ning Shu's request to leave.

Lady Niohuru had Ning Shu go to the manor that was part of her dowry and even sent a maid to take care of Ning Shu. However, Ning Shu refused to keep the maid. She didn't want to implicate others.

Lady Niohuru also gave Ning Shu a sum of money and told her to take good care of her health, saying that she would wait for Ning Shu to come back so she could continue to take care of her child.

Lady Niohuru didn't give up on Ning Shu. Everyone was aware that as long as someone survived smallpox once, they wouldn't catch it again in this lifetime. Lady Niohuru hoped that Ning Shu could survive it.

Ning Shu accepted the money, put on the cloak, and headed to Lady Niohuru's manor. Lady Niohuru's manor wasn't very big, but there were a few tenant farmers.

Ning Shu moved into a small house. She'd occasionally enter the mountain to find herbs, and she cooked her own medicine and meals.

Due to her illness, no one approached the house that she lived in. If she wanted to eat something, she'd have to head to the vegetable garden to pick the food herself.

Ning Shu originally wanted to use the system's medicine, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to since this was the examination task.

Fudge, it was so itchy.

She still hadn't recovered from this illness, so she didn't know if she'd be able to survive.

Right now, she was just seriously glad that she had learned medicine and was able to keep this illness under control. Otherwise, she would've had no choice but to just wait for death.

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Chapter 1239: A Proper Return

This was probably the biggest test in this task. She had saved someone else's life, and now she had to save her own.

Ning Shu didn't want to fail this task when she was within sight of success, so she drank an ocean-like amount of medicine every day and also applied it externally. She exhausted every single method that she could come up with.

As she struggled against death all alone, she felt lonely like never before. There wasn't a single person here for her.

Even back then, during chemotherapy, there were still doctors and nurses that stayed with her, but here, all the people in the manor avoided her. It caused a trace of despair to start spreading within her heart. There was an indescribable vast emptiness.

Was the purpose of this to put her through the suffering of being tormented by illness once again?

Ning Shu could barely stop herself from scratching at her face. It was so itchy! However, as soon as this kind of blister was broken, it'd cause more blisters wherever the fluid spread. She couldn't allow her wretched claws to do as they wished.

Fortunately, after two months of treatment, the blisters on Ning Shu's face and body slowly began to form scabs. This meant that Ning Shu had survived.

Once the scabs gradually disappeared, Ning Shu applied some herbs to her face to prevent scars. She was going to be Lady Niohuru's personal maid and would even have to enter the palace in the future.

Without a proper appearance, even if Lady Niohuru trusted her, she wouldn't be able to keep her around.

After several months of suffering, Ning Shu was fully recovered from the smallpox. She returned to the prince's residence and Lady Niohuru was very happy to see her.

When Lady Niohuru saw the pockmarks on the back of Ning Shu's hand, she knew that Ning Shu's disease was completely cured.

During this time, Lady Niohuru had been constantly on guard to prevent other people from harming her child, so she had been in a constantly tense state. Upon seeing Ning Shu now, she was subconsciously relieved.

It was really important to have a maid with medicinal skills around. She'll be able to notice if something was wrong immediately.

Ning Shu curtsied and thanked Lady Niohuru. Later, she saw that Hongli could now turn over and could even sit up and slowly crawl.

He was growing pretty fast.

After returning to the residence, she asked around about the little lady. The little lady was now over two years old and could walk slowly by herself.

Ning Shu went to take a look, staying some distance away. The little lady was very healthy, and there were several maids taking care of her. All the servants were doing their best to take care of the little lady.

The little lady was doing better staying at Lady Nian's side compared to staying with Lady Song. Furthermore, Lady Nian was the secondary consort so her status was higher than that of Lady Song.

As of now, Lady Song no longer wanted to get her daughter back. She just wanted to get pregnant again and give birth to a son. So many women in this inner courtyard had already given birth to a son, so she wanted to give birth to a son even more.

None of this had anything to do with Ning Shu…

But…

The fr*ck!? When will this task be over? It had already been such a long time. Was 2333 dead? She wanted to go back!

"Calling 2333, are you there?" Ning Shu wanted to see if 2333 was malfunctioning. Why hadn't she been notified to leave yet?

"What is it?" 2333's voice appeared in Ning Shu's mind.

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Chapter 1240: When Can I Leave!? x999

"When will I be able to leave this world?" Ning Shu felt that her task was complete. The little lady had gotten free from her fate. At the very least, she had managed to turn two years old.

"You'll be informed once the task time is up." 2333 didn't speak again.

Ning Shu: …

What kind of task was this?

She didn't know what the criteria of completion for this task was at all.

Ning Shu stopped worrying about when she would be able to leave this place and asked Lady Niohuru, "Lady, have you found out who was trying to harm the little master?"

When this matter was brought up, a trace of melancholy appeared on Lady Niohuru's face. She shook her head. "I haven't been able to find out. Just when I found out which embroiderer had made the garments, she left the residence. Rumors say she caught a foul illness, so she returned home."

"Lady, do you have suspects?" asked Ning Shu. These events had clearly targeted Hongli.

Yinzhen was targeted because he had good prospects, while Hongli was targeted because he was an obstacle.

For some people, Hongli simply got in the way.

"Suspects?" Lady Niohuru pressed her lips together and shook her head. "I don't know."

Based on how Lady Niohuru looked, Ning Shu had the feeling that Lady Niohuru already had her suspicions, she just wasn't certain. Ning Shu changed the topic. "Does the prince know about this?"

"I didn't tell the prince. Even if I did…" Even if she did tell him, he wouldn't protect her child. Lady Niohuru's facial color worsened.

Ning Shu shook her head. "Regardless of the prince's stance, it's still good to let him know about it."

Things in the inner courtyard didn't always have to be covert. Sometimes bringing things out into the open was more effective.

After all, Yinzhen was the master of this residence. Regardless of how he decided to deal with this matter, it'd only be beneficial for Lady Niohuru.

Ning Shu suspected that Lady Ula Nara was behind this. She was in charge of the entire inner courtyard and managed all the servants. If she wanted an embroiderer to leave, the embroiderer would have to leave.

Simply due to the fact that she was the most powerful woman in this inner courtyard.

However, these were simply Ning Shu's guesses. The primary consort had given birth to a legitimate son, and the other children were simply children of concubines. They posed no threat to her child.

So why would she want to get rid of Lady Niohuru's child?

But… Honghui had died at the age of eight.

Could it be that she was targeting Lady Niohuru's child because she knew how history went?

This inner courtyard had a transmigrator and a reincarnator, so this primary consort may have been reborn.

What the heck was with the people in Yinzhen's inner courtyard?

They transmigrated and got reborn just to grab hold of this man, for the sake of reaching the peak of power by using Yinzhen.

To confirm that the primary consort was a transmigrator, Ning Shu started secretly asking around about the incidents in Lady Ula Nara's courtyard.

Lady Ula Nara had asked a female doctor from the palace to come help take care of her child. She also had three wet nurses just to make sure that there was enough milk at all times.

It was obvious from Lady Ula Nara's attitude just how much she cared about her child.

Perhaps Lady Ula Nara had gone through a rebirth, but this didn't have much to do with her, a humble servant. However, if Lady Ula Nara insisted on fighting Lady Niohuru, then she'd naturally choose to stand on Lady Niohuru's side.

At the beginning when Lady Song threw her away, it was Lady Niohuru who took her in.

If Lady Niohuru hadn't taken her at that time, she didn't know what her situation would be like now.

At that time, Lady Ula Nara had made a deliberate show of strength as a warning, and she had been that pitiful cannon fodder used.

In any case, her fate was tied to Lady Niohuru's fate.

Who would win in the end? Would it be Lady Niohuru as destined, Lady Ula Nara who had gone through a rebirth, or Young Lady Niohuru who had transmigrated here?

Oh, and there was also Yinzhen who was surrounded by all these women.

Yinzhen had actually obtained the admiration of so many unique women. His life truly had not been in vain.

Ning Shu didn't tell Lady Niohuru about her conjectures. There were some things she could say, but some things weren't her place to say as a servant.

Her current job was still to take care of the child.

She really didn't ever want to be a night nanny again. She had to take care of one child after another, raising them from the time they're babies to school age. She really hoped that she wouldn't have an adult son next time.

#comment: Lol… Well of course…

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Chapter 1241: What Kind of Quack Doctor Doesn't Have Secret Remedies?

Lady Song's personal maid, Hong Mei, came to ask Ning Shu if she had any secret folk remedies for conceiving. Ning Shu was pretty speechless. Why were people always asking her about this?

It was like if you knew some medicine, you'd definitely have secret remedies.

The fact that Lady Song had come to look for her showed that she was very impatient now and really wanted to have a baby. Furthermore, she wanted it to be a boy.

"I don't have any folk remedies for conceiving," said Ning Shu. Hong Mei had her chin tilted up so arrogantly, Ning Shu had a full view of her nostrils.

Hong Mei frowned. "What do you mean by you don't have any? Right after you went to Lady Niohuru's courtyard, she became pregnant and it was even with a boy!"

"The lady said that as long as you help her, she'll definitely reward you handsomely." Hong Mei took out a sachet. "This is the lady's reward for you."

Ning Shu opened the sachet and saw that it contained a few pieces of silver. She handed the sachet back to Hong Mei and said, "I really don't have any folk remedies for conceiving."

Hong Mei's facial color immediately turned ugly. "Miao Ling, what do you mean by this? No matter who you serve now, you had once served the lady. Now that you've gotten a leg in with other people, you're completely forgetting about the lady!? You have no sense of loyalty!"

Ning Shu turned and looked at Hong Mei. "I'm just a servant, a servant of the prince's residence, so my master is the prince. I'll be loyal to whomever I serve."

With this kind of EQ, Lady Song was simply cannon fodder in this inner courtyard. She offended people way too easily.

Ning Shu turned and left, ignoring Hong Mei.

Hong Mei stomped her feet in frustration, then headed back to report to Lady Song.

"Ding, you have carried out the examination task for three years and six months, so the task is complete. Leaving the task world now." 2333's voice appeared in Ning Shu's head.

Ning Shu never thought that she'd find the sound of 2333's voice so beautiful.

Ning Shu felt a moment of dizziness, then when she opened her eyes again, she found that she had returned to the system space.

She looked at the furniture in the space one by one: the sofa, the bookshelf, the tea table…

She couldn't help but cheer. She jumped on the sofa and started hopping around. She was finally back! Her examination task was over! It was completed!

After a good while, she finally calmed down and asked 2333, "You said that there would be rewards if the examination task was completed. What are the rewards?"

They had been valuable enough to make the advanced task-takers enter the task at the risk of being exterminated.

"Of course there are rewards. What are you being so impatient for?" said 2333 scornfully. "What are you being so excited for? Only those who do not waver in the face of praise and insult alike will be able to become great. All you did was complete an examination task, what are you being so happy for? You're seriously hopeless."

Ning Shu: _

The stats panel appeared in front of Ning Shu.

Number: 2333

Name: Ning Shu (Intermediate Task-Taker)

Age: 27

Experience: 1650000 (1500000)

Soul: 300

Life: 71

Intelligence: 200

Charm: 4

Luck: 54

Mental Strength: 120

Martial Arts: 122

Faith: 44

Aptitude: 49

Merit: 26

Abilities: Five Rings Shooting Skill, Trashy Combat Skill, Trashy Beginner of Unsurpassable Martial Arts, Basic Poison Concoction, Rudimentary Business Administration Knowledge, Entry-Level Programmer, Entry-Level Lawyer

Acquired Titles: Goddess of War, Altruistic Ancestor

Halos: Benevolent Mother of the World (Empress's blessing), Model Worker Sis (Chen Xi's blessing), Chief Halo (Cao's blessing), Lifelong Friend (Miao Miaomiao's blessing), Healing Hand (Zhu Suniang's Blessing)

Examination Task Complete.

Gained 50 attribute points.

Gained 4 merit points.

Gained 5 protective talismans.

Gained 1 ordinance sea stone

#comment: Oops, this TLer completely missed updating the abilities. Turns out Ning Shu now has three more abilities, Entry-Level Programmer, Entry-Level Lawyer, and Basic Poison Concoction! They were added on around 5 arcs back. I was too focused on the titles, sorry. Will pay more attention from now on!

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Chapter 1242: Ordinance Sea Stone

Ning Shu looked at the awards, then said, "That's it?"

"Uh-huh. Isn't the reward generous?" said 2333. "There are five protective talismans, which means that you'll have five more lives. Five more lives!"

"Then that does seem pretty good." Ning Shu then asked, "So what did the advanced task-takers want to get so badly that they even risked their lives?"

"The ordinance sea stone. People higher up want this, so it can be used to exchange for a lot of rare things," explained 2333.

"What can you do with an ordinance sea stone?" asked Ning Shu.

"Nothing. For people at your level, it's completely useless. It's used for helping powerful people break through their current limits to get to an even higher level. However, this level is way too far away for you. It'd take light years to calculate the distance."

Ning Shu: _

Would he die if he didn't mock her!?

"Ordinance sea... ordinance sea stone?" Ning Shu's brows furrowed. "This ordinance sea stone couldn't be a stone from the ordinance sea that we went to that time, right?"

"It is something of the ordinance sea. Every person who becomes an intermediate task-taker will get an ordinance sea stone after passing the examination task. As for why, I don't know either," said 2333 offhandedly.

"Are you going to keep this ordinance sea stone, or do you want to go to fabricated space to exchange it for some good stuff?" asked 2333.

Ning Shu felt that the system wouldn't give the task-takers a stone for no reason, and the fact that the powerful needed these things showed that these things were very precious. Therefore, she decided to keep it.

Ning Shu picked up the ordinance sea stone. It was pitch black and at first glance, it looked like the primal chaos stone that she had gotten before. It felt extremely cold in her hand.

She seemed to hear the faint sound of waves.

"In reality, the ordinance sea stone is a space that breeds the ordinance laws. However, no one has ever been able to open it. There's a rumor among the higher ups that if one merged with the ordinance sea stone, they'd be able to become an everlasting existence."

Merge? Ning Shu stared at the stone. How was someone supposed to merge with the stone? By becoming a stone?

Ning Shu put the ordinance sea stone back down. It really was too far away. She was just an intermediate task-taker. She was truly too far away from the level that 2333 had described.

She was already really happy to have gotten five protective talismans. Normally, she could only get these protective talismans with merit points and a single protective talisman required 30 merit points.

It was very reassuring to have them while doing tasks. Six protective talismans made it so she could focus on the tasks without worries.

Ning Shu allocated the 50 attribute points to intelligence, luck, martial arts, mental strength, and aptitude.

Number: 2333

Name: Ning Shu (Intermediate Task-Taker)

Age: 27

Experience: 1650000 (1500000)

Soul: 300

Life: 71

Intelligence: 200 (10)

Charm: 4

Luck: 54 (10)

Mental Strength: 120 (10)

Martial Arts: 122 (10)

Faith: 44

Aptitude: 49 (10)

Merit: 30

Abilities: Five Rings Shooting Skill, Trashy Combat Skill, Trashy Beginner of Unsurpassable Martial Arts, Basic Poison Concoction, Rudimentary Business Administration Knowledge, Entry-Level Programmer, Entry-Level Lawyer

Acquired Titles: Goddess of War, Altruistic Ancestor

Halos: Benevolent Mother of the World (Empress's blessing), Model Worker Sis (Chen Xi's blessing), Chief Halo (Cao's blessing), Lifelong Friend (Miao Miaomiao's blessing), Healing Hand (Zhu Suniang's Blessing)

After adding the attribute points, she found that she seriously didn't have enough attribute points. Every single time, she had no choice but to only add them to the attributes that would increase her chances of survival.

#comment: "By becoming a stone?" Lol, another flag. I'm pretty sure Ning Shu becomes a stone at one point, if I'm not thinking of a different novel.

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Chapter 1243: Advanced Task-Taker?

"Since it was an examination task, there should be an evaluation, right? What's my task evaluation this time?" asked Ning Shu.

2333 said, "You did pretty well this time, it's excellent. You got an evaluation of excellent."

"What's the evaluation based on?" asked Ning Shu, surprised.

She never thought that she would get an evaluation of excellent.

2333 said, "Everything you do in the task is included in the scope of the inspection. Your will, ability to adapt, and your bottom lines as a person. Any action you take causes points to be added or deducted during the assessment."

"Oh, so it's like that." Ning Shu then asked, "So what's the use of these evaluations?"

"Maybe it's useful, maybe it's useless. Either way, the final result is just a string of data, survival is the most important thing. It's just like with your initial examination. All your scores were pretty bad, but you still managed to survive," said 2333. "As of now, our journey is the sea of stars."

Ning Shu listened to 2333's impassioned words expressionlessly. Her emotions didn't get stirred at all.

"How boring," scoffed 2333.

"Why did the task end so suddenly? Was it because the task was finished?" asked Ning Shu.

2333 explained, "It's because that was the amount of time specified for this task. Even if you had finished the task, you couldn't leave the task world until the time was up. Even if you hadn't finished the task, you'd still have to leave the task world at that time."

So that was what the silver-haired man meant by the most important thing was to stay alive.

Ning Shu felt a little tired. She collapsed onto the bed to sleep. No matter what, she had to sleep for a while first. The examination task was finally over.

The process had been a bit tortuous, but at least it was finished.

Ning Shu got up after sleeping a while, then stretched. She felt a lot more relaxed.

Then, she prepared to go to have a big meal in the fabricated space. In any case, no matter how much she ate, she wouldn't get fat, and no matter how much she ate, she wouldn't feel stuffed. It was awesome.

Ning Shu sat in the restaurant eating while listening to other people converse and gossip.

However, she didn't hear about anything important.

After leaving the restaurant, she wandered around for a while and checked out the available tools. Of course, she was just window-shopping and didn't buy anything. These things were not cheap.

Some things were seriously too expensive. Furthermore, she found that points weren't very valuable. A lot of the tools could only be exchanged for with faith and merit points.

And it just so happens that merit and faith points were the most difficult to obtain, unlike experience points which every task-taker was rewarded with.

When Ning Shu got back to the system space, she asked 2333, "How many points do I need to be promoted to being an advanced task-taker?"

"Twenty million."

Chapter 1244: Why Do You Want to Know About Him?

Ning Shu: ...

She almost felt like slapping herself. What did she ask that for? Just the sound of twenty million points made her heart stop.

"Why does it take so many points?" This time it had only taken three million to become an intermediate task-taker. How come it required so many points to become an advanced task-taker? From three million to twenty million, how many multiples was that? It was six times as much!

It would have been better not to know.

"How long will it take to earn that many points?" Ning Shu felt a little like there was nothing left to live for.

"Who knows."

Ning Shu was speechless. What was with this?

Forget it, she'd just have to go step by step. If it was 20 million, then she'd do 20 million.

Ning Shu sat down cross-legged on the sofa and silently chanted the Unsurpassable Martial Arts. Once she finished training, she picked a book from the bookshelf and slowly started flipping through it.

Something suddenly occurred to her and she stopped reading to ask 2333, "You know that person I encountered earlier in that task? Do you know what his name is? Who is he? And how come he can wipe out task-takers?"

"What are you asking this for? I don't know who he is either. I don't know any of the higher ups," said 2333 mildly. "Why are you trying to find out his identity?"

"He was able to wipe out task-takers so easily. If I find out who he is, the next time I see him I can make sure to hide far, far away." Even now, just recalling that experience of having that pitch black gun barrel pointed at her made her hair rise on end, even though she was currently in her spiritual state. It was seriously terrifying.

"Oh, then why don't you just make sure to hide far away," replied 2333, unconcerned.

This was a matter of great importance that pertained to her survival. Couldn't he be a little more serious?

"As long as you don't do anything that exceeds your bounds, who would bother to come kill you? You're overthinking things," said 2333 contemptuously. "For those who are truly strong, you're just an ant. Who would pay attention to the ants that are next to their foot?"

Ning Shu: () single-handed flip

It was always so irritating to talk to 2333.

So she shut up and went back to reading. There was no way to hold a pleasant conversation with 2333 anyway.

In the system space, there was only the sound of Ning Shu turning the pages of the book. After a good while, she finally finished reading the book and leisurely put the book back on the shelf.

She watered the bonsai, then ran for a while. Afterwards, she exchanged for fasting pills, water, medicine, fake death medicine and some other necessities from the system marketplace.

"Alright, let's start the task," said Ning Shu to 2333. Afterwards, she closed her eyes and waited for 2333 to transfer her.

However, even after waiting for a good while, there was no change. She didn't feel the usual dizziness.

What's going on?

When Ning Shu opened her eyes, she saw that a woman was standing in front of her and staring at her quizzically.

She looked around. This was her system space. How did this person get in here?

"Are you the one who's going to be counterattacking for me?" The woman finally spoke. She was wearing hospital garments, which made her look extremely thin.

Her face was very pale and her lips were tinged blue. She had a very small face. It was like the legendary face shape that was only as big as your palm. Her facial features were also quite exquisite. In all earnestness though, the sight of this tiny face being pale due to illness only made people feel bad. It didn't feel beautiful at all.

"What are you doing? The entrustor's asking you a question! Once you become an intermediate task-taker, you can meet the entrustor beforehand. Did you forget?" When 2333 saw Ning Shu's stupefied expression, he couldn't stop himself from nudging her.

Ning Shu finally snapped out of it and hastily said, "I am. What's your wish?"

"My name is Ni Jing. I want that damned cheating couple to suffer." Ni Qian looked at Ning Shu and said softly, "That's all I want."

Ning Shu thought for a moment, then asked, "You're married?"

"Yes. I'm no longer an intact woman." Ni Jing's eyes filled with tears. "In the end, he told me that he had fallen in love with someone else. That there was no right or wrong in love, only whether there was love or not."

Ning Shu: ...

Things that involved emotions were seriously so troublesome.

"Do you have any other wishes besides this?" asked Ning Shu.

Ni Jing shook her head. "This is all I want. I want them to suffer."

"Entrustors must pay a price. What are you prepared to pay?" asked Ning Shu.

Ni Jing pressed her lips together. "I'm willing to offer up all of my soul power, keeping only my soul source to reincarnate and start anew."

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Chapter 1245: Oooh, So That's Soul Power

When Ning Shu heard that Ni Jing planned to start over, she was surprised and asked, "You don't plan to go back?"

The task-taker couldn't stay in the task world for too long, so Ni Jing could go back and continue with her life.

Ni Jing shook her head. "My body has already gone through so much suffering. I want to start over, but I'm just so angry. They built their happiness by trampling on my bones! What right do they have to be happy?"

Ning Shu nodded. "Ok, I'll accept this task."

When she saw Ni Jing, she recalled the days that she had once spent in the hospital. She had also suffered from illness, but she hadn't gone through something like this.

A faint smile appeared on Ni Jing's face. It was very gentle, completely different from her angry look earlier. "Thank you."

Then Ni Jing's soul gradually disappeared.

Ning Shu was a little puzzled. She asked 2333, "The entrustor always offers up part of her soul, but I've never received any soul power. Why is that?"

"One third of the soul power offered by the entrustor is given to you. The system takes the other two thirds," said 2333.

What a scam! But she hadn't even seen the one third before.

"Every time you cultivate in the system space, the substance you absorb is pure soul power. What did you think you were absorbing?"

Ning Shu lifted her brows. She hadn't known what the substance in the system space was. All she knew was that it could strengthen the soul. She never thought that it was actually soul power.

"Then I'll exchange for a gun. This is a modern plane after all." Ning Shu then clicked on the system marketplace and went to the guns section. However, she found that she couldn't exchange for any of the guns. All the exchange buttons were grayed out.

"Why? Why can't I exchange for one?" Ning Shu was very depressed.

"The task is in a peaceful era. Are you planning to exchange for a gun and shoot down whoever you find annoying? You're a task-taker. You need to help the entrustor counterattack with your own abilities. Moreover, I told you earlier that the system marketplace had corresponding regulations. If you can't exchange for it, it means that it's not allowed to appear in that world," said 2333 lightly.

"You must help the entrustor truly counterattack and obtain a successful life." 2333 encouraged Ning Shu, "Good luck! You've always done a good job so far. It's best not to use the things from the system so much. Those who are truly strong don't rely on these external things."

Ning Shu: Ha. Ha. Ha.

Anyone was capable of saying pleasant-sounding words. She was the one carrying out the tasks, not 2333, so scram...

Ning Shu took a deep breath, then said, "Let's start the task."

She felt the familiar sense of dizziness, then the sensation of her soul squeezing into a body. Once the soul and the body adjusted to each other, she immediately felt strong discomfort.

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Chapter 1246: A Surrogate Pregnancy

Her heartbeat was irregular and she felt shortness of breath. The sound of her irregular heartbeats filled her ears. Her heart was beating so fast, it seemed about to explode.

Heart disease!

Ni Jing had heart disease.

Ning Shu immediately started reciting the heart-clearing chant. She felt someone pry open her mouth, put a pill in her mouth, then feed her water.

She swallowed the pill.

It was a good while before she finally recovered a little. The feeling that her heart was about to explode was gone, but she was very tired. She opened her eyes slowly and saw a handsome face in front of her.

"Jingjing, are you ok?" The handsome man had a worried expression that also contained traces of indignance.

Ning Shu realized that she was lying on the floor so she tried to get up, but was struggling. The man helped her to her feet and asked anxiously, "Jingjing, are you really ok?"

Ning Shu shook her head. "I'm fine. I want to go rest."

"Alright." The man lifted her in a princess carry. Ning Shu saw that there was a woman standing in the living room. She had a graceful figure and was currently biting her lips hard with an obstinate expression as she stared at the man that was carrying Ning Shu.

The man carried Ning Shu to the bedroom, then gently set her down on the bed and tucked her in. He sat down next to the bed and placed his warm hands on top of Ning Shu's hand as he said, "Go to sleep."

Ning Shu nodded, then closed her eyes.

The man left and closed the door behind him.

Ning Shu then started receiving the storyline.

That man just now was Jing Shaoze, Ni Jing's husband. They had been married for almost 5 years and really did have feelings for each other.

Jing Shaoze was the only son of the Jing family so he had endured a lot of pressure to marry Ni Jing, who had congenital heart disease. However, he had been determined to marry her.

Ni Jing, due to her heart disease, couldn't do any vigorous exercise. This meant that Jing Shaoze didn't dare to be too passionate on the bed and always had to be extremely gentle.

Ni Jing also couldn't have a child. Her body couldn't handle the heavy burden of pregnancy. It was highly possible for her body to give out before the child was even born.

But if there was no child, who was the Jing family supposed to pass their large family business onto?

So Ni Jing's mother-in-law came up with the idea of a surrogate pregnancy. Ni Jing was a little hurt, but she felt guilty about not being able to give birth to a child for Jing Shaoze. In addition, her mother-in-law was very dissatisfied with her, so she felt pressured and agreed to it.

The woman in the living room just now was the surrogate mother that Jing Shaoze's mom had found.

Ye Xi had done this because her father's company was about to collapse. Jing Shaoze's mother offered to lend money to the Ye family on the condition that Ye Xi would serve as a surrogate mother.

Ye Xi, for the sake of her father and her family, had resolutely signed the surrogate contract.

When Jing Shaoze learned about this, he was very angry and even loathed Ye Xi who had come here to be a surrogate mother.

At that time, Jing Shaoze still had feelings for Ni Jing.

Jing Shaoze's mom had brought Ye Xi to the house, saying that Ye Xi had to nurse her body in preparation. So the husband, wife, and surrogate mother were now all living under the same roof. It was a very weird situation.

As they gradually interacted with each other over time, Jing Shaoze started developing feelings for Ye Xi, this girl who was obstinate to the point that people's hearts ached for her. However, he also loved his wife, so he was very conflicted.

Meanwhile, when Ni Jing found out that her husband had developed feelings for someone else, she started coming up with all sorts of ways to make things hard for Ye Xi and make misunderstandings occur between Jing Shaoze and Ye Xi. Ye Xi had a very stubborn personality so she also didn't explain things.

Hence, Ye Xi and Jing Shaoze constantly had impassioned lovers' spats.

At last, Ye Xi gave birth to the child, then disappeared. At this point, Jing Shaoze abruptly realized his own feelings. He had fallen in love with Ye Xi.

As Jing Shaoze held his newborn child, his heart was filled with pain. He drank himself drunk every single day.

He had totally forgotten that he was another woman's husband and became very cold toward Ni Jing. When he found out what Ni Jing had done to Ye Xi before, he loathed Ni Jing even more.

"You're no longer the Ni Jing I once knew. I never imagined that you were actually so malicious." This was a true quote of what Jing Shaoze had said to Ni Jing.

After that, Jing Shaoze rarely returned home. He refused to answer Ni Jing's calls even when she called him after having a heart attack. She had needed to talk to him because of her heart replacement operation. Her parents had taken a lot of effort to find this heart for her.

However, Jing Shaoze refused to sign the paperwork. By the time he finally signed it reluctantly, Ni Jing's health was already so poor that she couldn't take the risk of surgery. She ended up dying on the operating table.

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Chapter 1247: Had Predestined Fate

Meanwhile, Ye Xi came back five years later. During these five years, Jing Shaoze hadn't had any other women. When he saw Ye Xi again, he vowed to get Ye Xi back and forever keep this woman who always provoked him by his side.

This hateful woman had stolen his heart, then disappeared without a trace.

Furthermore, this woman was his child's mother. So he took his child along to chase after Ye Xi.

At this time, Jing Shaoze was a widowed, highly eligible bachelor. All the women with ambitions wanted to climb onto Jing Shaoze's bed, but Ye Xi avoided Jing Shaoze like the plague. The hurt she experienced five years ago made her hate and fear this man more than she loved him.

After some setbacks, the two finally got together. One time when they were talking about their childhoods, Ye Xi said that she had encountered a boy when she was little.

The boy had been kidnapped. Since Ye Xi saw the perpetrator's face, she had gotten kidnapped as well. The two had supported each other and through some clever tricks, escaped. They had held hands as they ran for a very long time.

When this matter was brought up, Jing Shaoze pulled Ye Xi into his arms and said with a sigh, 'Good thing he hadn't let go of her.'

They had predestined fate.

After receiving the storyline, Ning Shu almost vomited blood. First of all, setting aside the question of how a kidnapper couldn't even keep two kids locked up, this later bit about their childhood was completely a forceful attempt to improve their reputations.

Their love was predetermined, so Ye Xi wasn't a mistress.

Ning Shu could completely understand Ni Jing's anger now.

Ning Shu sat cross-legged on the bed to practice the Unsurpassable Martial Arts. If she was always collapsing to the ground without warning, clutching at her heart, it would seriously be hard to complete the task.

However, there was very little spiritual energy in the modern era, and this body's meridians had issues in the first place, so cultivating didn't have much of an effect.

Ning Shu had no choice but to continue to cultivate slowly.

Knock Knock

Ning Shu who was in the middle of practicing was interrupted by a knock on the door. She quickly lay down and pulled the blanket over herself.

After the knocks, the door opened quietly.

"Jingjing, wake up." Jing Shaoze walked to the bed and reached out to touch Ning Shu's forehead. Ning Shu opened her eyes and avoided Jing Shaoze's hand as she sat up and asked, "What is it?"

Jing Shaoze smiled. He was currently wearing a suit, which made him seem even taller. The spotlessly white shirt cuffs made him look elegant and refined.

Jing Shaoze gazed at Ning Shu, his eyes filled with warmth, as he said, "It's time to get up and eat, little lazybones."

Ning Shu tugged her lips into a smile and pulled aside the blankets to get up.

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Chapter 1248: Flirting in the Kitchen

Jing Shaoze helped Ning Shu up.

When Ning Shu got downstairs, she saw that Ye Xi was already sitting at the dining table along with Ni Jing's father-in-law and mother-in-law.

"Are you feeling better?" asked Jing Shaoze's mother.

Jing Shaoze got the chair for Ning Shu. After sitting down, Ning Shu replied, "I'm feeling much better."

"You have to pay more attention to your health. It's not good to be like this all the time, and most importantly, you're the one who suffers," said Jing Shaoze's mother.

The heck was with that? She was talking as if Ni Jing wanted to have this illness. It wasn't like she had a choice with this kind of thing, but Jing Shaoze's mother seemed to blame her for troubling everyone with this disease. She implied that Ni Jing was just pretending to have a heart attack.

Ning Shu didn't speak and just sized Ye Xi up. Ye Xi was sitting opposite her and quietly eating the special evening meal designed by the nutritionist.

Ye Xi was a very beautiful and healthy woman with a ruddy complexion and flawless skin. She was totally different from Ni Jing who was thin, weak, and sickly.

Ye Xi notice Ning Shu's gaze and glanced up, but then quickly lowered her head again.

After practicing the Unsurpassable Martial Arts for the entire afternoon, Ning Shu was also starving, so she started eating in silence.

Jing Shaoze was very happy to see that Ning Shu was eating quite a lot today and hastily got more food for her.

Ye Xi glanced at Jing Shaoze and Ning Shu, then continued eating with her head lowered.

After dinner, Ye Xi helped clear the table and then silently started doing the dishes in the kitchen. She tried to reduce her presence in this house as much as possible.

Although Jing Shaoze was talking to Ning Shu, he kept glancing towards the kitchen the entire time. Finally, he said, "You ate quite a lot tonight. I'll go get some digestive medicine for you, otherwise you'll probably feel uncomfortable later."

Ning Shu didn't speak and just watched as Jing Shaoze headed into the kitchen.

Jing Shaoze walked into the kitchen and saw that Ye Xi was washing dishes, so he walked over with a cold expression to grab her wrist. Ye Xi was in the middle of picking up a plate so when Jing Shaoze abruptly grabbed her wrist, she was startled and the plate fell to the ground.

Ye Xi looked towards Jing Shaoze in shock and wanted to get free from his grip, but he pushed her against the wall.

Ye Xi was alarmed and wanted to push him away, but he said coldly, "Stop with your fanciful thinking, there's no way I'll touch you. The one I love is Jingjing. You're just a woman who's willing to become a surrogate mother for money."

Ye Xi pressed her lips together tightly and didn't try to explain herself. She simply faced Jing Shaoze silently.

This man clearly had a gentle side, so why was he always so cold and ruthless towards her? It wasn't like she wanted to be a surrogate mother.

"Why aren't you saying anything? What did you say to Jingjing earlier today for her to end up having a heart attack?" demanded Jing Shaoze as he pressed one hand on the wall behind Ye Xi. "Don't test my patience,"

Jing Shaoze's tall body was almost covering the entire length of Ye Xi's body. His strong masculine scent made it hard for her to breathe and even her heartbeat was starting to go out of control.

"I know you hate me, but I really didn't say anything," said Ye Xi.

Jing Shaoze scoffed, his expression demonic. His manner was completely different from how he was in front of Ni Jing.

Jing Shaoze was gentle and carefully protective of Ni Jing, but he was like a man conquering a woman in front of Ye Xi.

Although Jing Shaoze said that he found Ye Xi disgusting, he was always trying to have bodily contact with her. He was always pulling her arm, cornering her in a wall bam, and mocking her with hurtful words.

Ning Shu stood quietly at the door and observed the two. Jing Shaoze didn't act like himself at all in front of Ye Xi.

Jing Shaoze was an elegant person who was skilled in societal manners and courteous yet politely distanced. However, right now he looked as if he had been possessed by a tyrannical chairman with demonic charm.

Regardless of whether he was mocking Ye Xi or doing mean things to her, he was still subconsciously trying to attract her attention.

However, Jing Shaoze still brainwashed himself by saying: The one I love is Ni Jing. I love my wife, there is no way I like this woman who became a surrogate mother for money. Absolutely no way. This woman was destroying his relationship with Ni Jing.

Jing Shaoze was simply an indecisive person. Even as he repeated that he loved his wife, he still flirted with Ye Xi.

"Jing Shaoze, you said that I became a surrogate mother for money. I'll admit to that." Ye Xi looked up at Jing Shaoze. "I'm willing to pay this price in order to save my father's company. I don't care whether you look down on me or not."

"It's none of your business why I became a surrogate mother. This is my own choice," said Ye Xi stubbornly.

"Your mouth is quite sharp. But I don't want my child to come out of the stomach of a woman like you," said Jing Shaoze with a ridiculing smile.

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