The news that Pei Meiniang was pregnant spread, and the whole Shen Family was overjoyed.

Because the Grand Preceptor's family was not directly related to hers, people there didn't have very strong feelings about the news. Thus, they just gave their congratulations and sent her gifts out of courtesy.

Shen Zhou, the Count Xiangning, was delighted. He buried the hatchet and rewarded his eldest daughter-in-law with a set of fancy jewelry that had been left by his late wife. This officially displayed that Pei Meiniang would no longer be in her father-in-law's disfavor. Her eldest sister-in-law Shen Cangzhu, who was widowed without a son, was very concerned about the heir-to-be of her old family. On hearing the news, she only wished that she could take extremely good care of Pei Meiniang. She also promised that after Pei Meiniang gave birth, she would return the right to run the household to her, regardless of the gender of the baby.

In addition to Shen Zhou, Shen Cangzhu, and Shen Canghui, who always loved his wife, other brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law also treated her with great respect. For a while, Pei Meiniang became the most important person in Count Xiangning's family.

Of course, though her husband's family was happy, Mrs. Min, her mother, was the happiest. The Pei Family's status was not as high as that of the Shen Family. They had been lucky enough that they could marry their daughter into the Shen Family. However, before the mother could be very pleased, her daughter had created a scandal. Luckily, her daughter had managed to find a scapegoat, Duanmu Wuse, and her son-in-law had insisted on keeping her daughter. Therefore, her daughter hadn't been dismissed to return to her old family. However, as the first daughter-in-law of that branch, her daughter was not in charge of the household. Mrs. Min was often laughed at by people within and without the family! Even her husband had blamed her for failing to educate their daughter. It hadn't been easy for the Pei Family to receive a marriage proposal from gentlefolks directly, but they had offended the in-laws.

Now, she finally saw that her daughter was pregnant. So far, there were only two sons in Count Xiangning's family, one lineal and one from a concubine, and there were no grandchildren. In the entire Mingpei Hall, there were only two grandsons. Thus, if her daughter could give birth to a boy, her position would definitely be stable as long as she didn't cause any serious trouble.

Apart from being excited, Mrs. Min patiently told her daughter to cherish this blessing, and not to cause more trouble. She needed to stay healthy, live with her husband peacefully, and be respectful towards her elders and peers in her husband's family.

Pei Meiniang said obediently in front of her mother that she would not poke her nose into others' affairs, and she would concentrate on staying healthy and be an obedient and filial daughter-in-law. Nevertheless, as soon as Mrs. Min had left, she turned around and called her close maidservant Manman to come over, saying to her, "I remember when my third sister-in-law was pregnant, the sour plum cakes which her kitchen made for her were lovely. You go there and say that I suddenly want to eat them. You go to my third sister-in-law's home to copy the recipe." Then her voice became lower.

Manman arrived at Jintong Courtyard and said those words. She then looked around and Wei Changying understood immediately. She told her servants to leave and asked her alone. Manman answered, "The first young madam of the Su Family seems to be pregnant, too."

"Ah?" Wei Changying was stunned, thinking, "I haven't heard about this. Is that because I only talked about Pei Meiniang's pregnancy that day? Why did Pei Meiniang send someone here to tell me about this?"

Manman continued, "Our young madam said, that day at the banquet, because of a wine-steeped shrimp dish, she kept vomiting after she smelt it. Everyone gathered around to check on her. When she recovered a bit, she saw in the gap between people that the first young madam of the Su Family had raised her sleeve to cover her mouth. She looked very bad and was being supported by her maidservant as if she had also vomited. At first, our young madam thought that the first young madam of the Su Family was sick because of our young madam. However, our young madam looked again and found that the first young madam of the Su Family had her eyes fixed on the plate of wine-steeped shrimp."

Wei Changying mused, "Manman, you carry on."

"The first young madam of the Su Family vomited in her sleeve so no one else noticed it. Later on, she deliberately knocked over her wine cup, saying she wanted to change her clothes so she left. While she was leaving, our young madam noticed that she was holding her tummy. Therefore, our young madam guessed that the first young madam of the Su Family was probably pregnant and knew it." Manman said in a low voice, "Our young madam said she drank a toast to her at the table because the first young master of the Su Family was about to be sent away to serve as a local official and the first young madam would go with her husband. The first young master's jurisdiction is far away in Lingnan! Our young madam said she couldn't understand. At this point, when she was pregnant, why didn't she say that she was pregnant so she could stay in the capital to have the baby? Instead, she is deliberately hiding it?"

Wei Changying thought that Pei Meiniang was very careful and cautious, telling her about what had happened to the people of the Su Family. Pei Meiniang didn't know about the reason, but Wei Changying knew that it was probably related to her aunt, Madam Qian.

Wei Changying then recalled that last year Shen Cangning had taken the blame for causing the death of Su Yuwu's favorite parrot. At that time Wei Changying had criticized her for not being able to help Mrs. Deng but having brought the punishment on herself. Shen Cangning had stammered, suggesting that Mrs. Deng might have a backup plan and there would be a result in the following days. Thinking about it now, Wei Changying guessed that the backup plan was to leave with her husband and escape from Madam Qian.

Obviously, Mrs. Deng's plan had gone wrong. Otherwise, it would not have been delayed until now when Su Ruoqian could be sent away. Her mother-in-law Madam Qian had bullied Mrs. Deng so much that her daughter, who hadn't had a name, had died. Now that she was pregnant, even if they had been banished to Lingnan, she wouldn't have let go of this opportunity to leave Madam Qian, let alone of becoming an official there.

Wei Changying pondered for a moment and then spoke to Manman, "Meiniang doesn't know the reason, but I know something about this matter. Mrs. Deng had a lineal daughter but unfortunately, she died. Perhaps because of this incident, she doesn't want to stay in the capital to give birth to her children."

Manman carried a basket of sour plum cakes, that had happened to already have been made in the Jintong courtyard, and a recipe for sour plum cakes, that Mrs. Huang had copied, back to Count Xiangning's mansion. Sheng Cangzhu happened to come to visit her sister-in-law. So seeing the sour plum cakes, she asked.

Pei Meiniang said with a smile, "When Changying was pregnant with Shuguang, I went over to congratulate her and saw the sour plum cakes that Granny Huang had made for her. I had a taste of one and thought it was too sour, so I didn't eat the other half of it. It would be too embarrassing to throw it away in front of Changying. So I secretly put it in my sleeve to take out and throw it in the lotus pond. But now I want them so I asked Manman to get a recipe from Changying." She complained about Manman, "Changying must look after Shuguang and is busy with household stuff. You should have come back right after getting the recipe. Why did you bring a basket full of the cakes?"

Manman explained, "Young madam, when I went over, the third young madam said, 'You have come at the right moment. There is a batch of them that the kitchen has prepared.' Mrs. Huang planned to take some to her granddaughter when she is going to the Ji Family tomorrow. Having heard that you missed them, she told me to bring them all here."

Shen Cangzhu was very happy to hear their conversation, saying, "You shouldn't blame Manman. You are lucky to have whatever you want to eat any time." Shen Cangzhu also told her that apart from the sour plum cakes, she shouldn't be shy about anything she wanted to eat. Once Pei Meiniang spoke, she would do her best to satisfy her.

Pei Meiniang was very different from the time when she had been newly married into the family. She was very sensible and kept saying that she had already troubled Shen Cangzhu a lot. She also said that now there was nothing she particularly desired, except for sour plum cakes, at the moment.

Shen Cangzhu then said a few more words to her. When she went out of the door, seeing there were none of her sister-in-law's people around, she raised the corner of her mouth and spoke with her granny in a low voice, "If a pregnant woman likes sour food, she is going to have a boy. If she likes spicy food, it will be a girl. Changying liked sour food and she did give birth to Shuguang. Now Meiniang is the same..."

The Granny tried to please her, saying, "I agree. The fourth young madam likes the exact same thing as the third young madam back then. It must also be a young master."

"Just now in front of Meiniang, I was afraid that if I didn't say things clearly, she might be worried, thinking that I would not give her back the right to manage the household if she gave birth to a girl." Shen Cangzhu pondered a little, allowing a rare relieved smile onto her face, "Since her choice is the same, it shouldn't be wrong."

The Granny tried to comfort her, "The fourth young madam was deceived by Duanmu Wuse, so she misunderstood you. You see. Isn't she very understanding now? We are family. It was because the fourth young madam had only been newly married into the family at that time and didn't know you, so she believed Duanmu Wuse's nonsense. Now that all the hard feelings are gone, she won't continue to think that you don't like her."

"The First Miss really treats you as her sister!" When Shen Cangzhu and her servants left, Mrs. Qin, the wet nurse whom Mrs. Min had spoken to so that she should give good advice to Pei Meiniang, seized the opportunity to say, "Young madam, look at this basket of cherries sent by the First Miss. They are all big and juicy. They were hand-picked one by one. I guess the cherries at the First Miss's mansion are not as good as the ones here."

"There are only two male and two female children in Count Xiangning's family, but not a single grandchild yet!" Pei Meiniang picked a cleaned cherry from the basket delivered by Shen Cangzhu, ate it, and complemented its sweetness. She then said with a casual air, "No matter whether my baby is going to be a boy or a girl, it will be the only grandchild. Shen Cangzhu is its eldest aunt, so it is natural that she cares a lot about my baby."

On hearing this, Mrs. Qin was worried that Pei Meiniang still held a grudge against Shen Cangzhu, so she politely said, "Young madam, when Madam was pregnant with you, your aunts were not as considerate as the First Miss!"

Mrs. Qin thought, "Shen Cangzhu is such a great sister-in-law, so young madam, couldn't you stop causing trouble?" She was an honest person. While she had been watching her young madam make a scene, she had been too worried to say. It had only been a few happy days since the good news. Why did her young madam always want to make a fuss when there was good news? Last time her young madam had almost been dismissed to return to her old family. She had just managed to stay but she had been treated coldly for many months, and then things gradually eased up. This was all because she had been submissive!

"Now that you are pregnant, your husband's family is paying full attention to you, so why can't you just settle down properly? But you keep causing trouble." Thought Mrs. Qin. She really didn't know what to say about her!

"I know Shen Cangzhu is nice." Pei Meiniang pursed her lips, saying, "Granny Qin, you don't need to tell me how kind my husband's family is towards me all the time. You're not tired of saying it but I'm so bored of hearing it!"

Mrs. Qin said awkwardly, "I want you to be happy, young madam."

"I'm not unhappy. You don't have to find ways to please me." Pei Meiniang took a handkerchief to wipe her fingers. When she looked down, people could see her very long eyelashes. "I had offended them, but wasn't I submissive to them during that time? I can finally have a break as I'm pregnant now. However, you have to keep saying this person is good to me and that one is good to me as well. Should I make memorial tablets wishing longevity for each one of them and pay respects to the tablets every day and night? I am now carrying my child. Regardless of its gender, it will be surnamed Shen! Granny, don't think that the Shen Family is treating me well. They treat me well because I bear their descendant!"

She muttered under her breath, "Besides, it is not certain whether it is a boy or a girl. Who knows how my father-in-law and the others will look on me if my child is just their fifth granddaughter? You are annoying me now!"

Mrs. Qin said yes with embarrassment, apologized, and cautiously said, "As you said, young madam, whether it is a boy or a girl, your child will be the first grandchild of Count Xiangning's family, and it will be a lineal child. I believe both the Old Master and young master will be happy. Young madam, you shouldn't think too much now. Relaxing more will be better."

"I know! I know!" Pei Meiniang was a little impatient, "You say you don't want me to think too much, but you keep doing things that will make me think a lot. Can't you say something I like to hear?"

Seeing that Mrs. Qin was too embarrassed to answer, Manman said, "Granny Qin, the kitchen is stewing chicken soup for our young madam. Can you check if it is almost ready now?"

Mrs. Qin then got up, saying, "I'll go and see." She took this opportunity to get out of this difficult situation.

When she went out, Manman tiptoed to the door and looked around. Seeing that no one was eavesdropping, she went back and whispered what Wei Changying had said to her. After that, she asked confusedly, "Young madam, how does the first young madam of the Su Family have anything to do with our family? Why do you need especially to tell the third young madam about this? I saw that the third young madam wasn’t very interested in it."

"You silly!" Pei Meiniang gently pointed between her eyebrows, saying softly, "Did you forget that my third sister-in-law's aunt is the third madam of the Su Family? Mrs. Deng is the daughter-in-law of the first branch of the Su Family. Isn’t there infighting between the first branch and the third branch of the Su Family? Though I don’t know what exactly is going on there, no matter what, my third sister-in-law is the niece of the third madam of the Su Family, so she certainly hopes that her aunt’s branch will win. Mrs. Deng, the daughter-in-law of the Su Family’s first branch, is pregnant but she doesn't say a word about it. She is even going to leave the capital with her husband. There must be an inside story! Maybe it can be of use to the third madam of the Su Family. Even if she doesn’t need it, I told you to make the trip and you brought a basket of sour plum cakes back, which you can share. You had nothing to lose!"

Manman explained, smiling, "I didn’t say I lost anything. I just couldn't understand, so I asked you, young madam. I was worried that I was so stupid that I would ruin your plan."

“You do what I say. Stop thinking about nonsense." Pei Meiniang spat and said, "You say that my third sister-in-law was not interested in it, but how do you know she will not send someone over to tell her aunt later? Does she have to look very shocked in front of you so she can be said to be ‘being interested’? You are so dumb!"