Quick Transmigration and Childbirth: The Target is Not Human

The eldest daughter-in-law of the Lu family returned to the mansion with great fanfare.

Like a thunderbolt suddenly striking from a clear sky, the signs were already apparent from the moment one entered.

Before the vermilion gate was fully open, a large group of soldiers in military uniforms rushed in. The servants sweeping and cleaning were so frightened that their legs went weak, and before they could even announce their arrival, they had already fallen to the ground.

This doesn't seem like peace at all; it's more like Beiping suddenly fell, and the enemy leader came to ransack the city with a gun.

The servant rubbed his eyes and, upon seeing Lu Shaohuai's wife, Xia Yangyang, seemed unable to believe what he was seeing.

She walked in the center, wearing a long, black cloak-like gown with gold patterns, which made her look dignified and noble. The collar and cuffs were trimmed with thick black fox fur, the fur smooth and glossy.

Several gilded buttons were slapped open in a row, the clasps fitting together perfectly. A jeweled necklace hung around her neck, and a hollowed-out gold pendant dangled from her waist, swaying gently as she walked.

The lower garment was a brown silk skirt with a dark gold brocade pattern, the hem of which was covered with dark cloud patterns. Only a corner of the skirt was visible when walking, which was understated yet showed the refinement of a noble family.

Behind her stood Lu Xize, who was a head taller than her.

The man, a veritable devil, was impeccably dressed in military uniform. His face was expressionless, and he would occasionally glance around, his murderous gaze causing the servants to shrink back in fear.

Xia Yangyang saw the servant lying in front of her, and smiled sweetly down at him: "The ground is so cold, why are you lying there?"

"Madam...Madam, you...you're back!"

"Could you please go and inform them?" she said, while counting on her fingers. "Please invite my third uncle, fifth uncle, second aunt, sixth aunt, eighth aunt, and all the others, both those I can and don't know, to come and sit in Shao Huai's hall."

The servant looked at Xia Yangyang's smiling face as if he had seen a ghost. The sweeter her tone was, the more it sent chills down his spine.

And why would he need to go and report?! The guards have already gone into the house to arrest them!

"Yes...yes, yes!"

The servants scrambled down the stairs, and Xia Yangyang walked straight into the main hall of the house, where she leisurely sat down in the main seat.

This is a seat reserved for past leaders; someone of her generation has no right to sit here.

But Lu Xize was standing right next to her chair, with a gleaming holster on his waist. Who would dare to say a word against him?

Before long, the various branches of the Lu family gathered around, some in panic and others in anger.

Third Uncle leaned on his cane, his beard trembling with anger; Fifth Uncle's eyes darted around; several aunts gathered together, whispering among themselves, their faces filled with unease and dissatisfaction.

Xia Yangyang picked up the teacup that the maidservant had tremblingly offered, gently skimming off the foam with the lid as she spoke with a smile and gentle grace:

"Thank you all for coming so early. I see everyone's here, so I'll be frank... I heard that while I was away, you all arranged for Brother Shao Huai to take another concubine?"

"..."

"Honestly, you didn't even tell me!"

The third uncle, the most respected of them all, slammed his cane down heavily and launched into a tirade of moralistic principles: "Xia! What kind of attitude is this? Taking a concubine to continue the family line is a major family matter. Shao Huai is ill, so what's wrong with us elders making the decision? You're just a woman; do you intend to prevent the Lu family from having more offspring?"

"That's right!" Fifth Uncle chimed in, but dared not look Lu Xize in the eye. "Madam Chen is gentle and virtuous, and has already given birth to children for the Lu family, contributing greatly to the clan! How dare you come here to interrogate her?"

Auntie Er chimed in softly, "Yangyang, with you gone, someone has to take care of things at home. Your sister Chen has been doing her best to look after Shaohuai; we've seen it all these past few days..."

With such a large family, if each person said something to her, the sheer volume of their spittle could drown her.

Xia Yangyang's smile remained unchanged as she gently placed the teacup on the table with a "tap".

Lu Xize, who was beside her, moved.

He didn't even speak, his gaze calmly sweeping over his third and fifth uncles.

Then, he slowly drew his sidearm from his waist.

The movement was unhurried, and the "click" of the safety lock being pulled was clearly audible in the deathly silent hall.

"I'm afraid you all haven't figured out who's in charge of the Lu family right now. Rules need to be followed, but bullets don't care about seniority."

The two uncles' faces turned pale instantly.

Only then did they truly realize that the man before them was not a true member of the Lu family, but a ruthless god who held military power and had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Xia Yangyang smiled contentedly, then sighed softly, her voice tinged with a hint of distress: "Uncle, look at your temper, it's a bit too fierce. It's only right for elders to make decisions."

"But I am Shao Huai's lawfully wedded wife, and I am also the current mistress of the Lu family. Such a big matter has kept me completely in the dark..." She shook her head. "Those who know might say you are anxious for an heir, but those who don't might think that our Lu family has lost its rules, or... that someone is trying to usurp my position as mistress?"

These words, though spoken softly, are sharp as needles.

Several aunties who had originally wanted to speak up fell silent, their eyes darting away.

But they only went south once. Weren't these two always at odds? How come they're suddenly on such good terms? Could it be that they've conspired against each other, or...? The sisters-in-law's eyes widened suddenly as they stared at the two of them, not daring to think any further.

"Alright," Xia Yangyang waved her hand, seemingly magnanimously moving on from the matter. "Now that she's here and the child is five, we should at least meet her. Sigh, we've been chatting for quite a while, why hasn't my 'sister' arrived yet? Is she that hard to invite?"

No one answered.

Lu Xize turned his head and whispered something to a guard standing at the door. The guard obeyed and quickly left.

A moment later, a sharp and aggrieved cry came from afar, crisp and bright.

"Let go! I can walk by myself! You uncouth people, don't you know any manners? You've ruined my clothes, can you afford to pay for them?!"

Chen was half-dragged and half-pulled in by two guards. Her newly made peach-red satin jacket with floral patterns was wrinkled and her hair was loose, but she was not exactly disheveled.

She shook off the hand that the guard was offering support, and swayed her hips as she walked into the main hall, holding the five-year-old boy's hand tightly in one hand.

As soon as she entered, her upturned phoenix eyes quickly scanned the scene in the hall.

When he saw Xia Yangyang sitting at the head of the table, exuding an air of nobility, his pupils contracted almost imperceptibly. Then, his gaze swept over the Third Uncle and the others, whose faces were ashen but dared not speak. Finally, when it landed on Lu Xize, who was standing next to Xia Yangyang and looked as cold as a demon, his back stiffened almost imperceptibly.

She quickly adjusted her expression, neither throwing a tantrum nor crying and begging. Instead, she straightened her back, took her son's hand, and respectfully gave a somewhat imperfect bow in Xia Yangyang's direction.

"So it's you, elder sister, who's back." Her voice was neither loud nor soft, but tinged with a hint of resentment. "When elder sister returns to the manor, younger sister should have greeted her early, but I was in such a hurry by these soldiers that I didn't have time to get ready and was impolite. I hope elder sister won't be offended."

The first thing she did was admit her mistake, but then shift the blame for her rudeness onto her, implying that she was the one who was disturbed and the weaker party.

Xia Yangyang didn't respond to the "sister" call. Instead, she tilted her head slightly and scanned Chen Shi from head to toe with the look of someone appraising a rare object, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Sister?" She trailed off with a slight lilt, a hint of playful surprise in her voice. "The way you call me 'sister'... it sounds so life-shortening!"

The forced smile on Chen's face froze.

Xia Yangyang leaned back in her chair, her fingertips tapping idly on the armrest, her tone languid: "Age-wise, I wasn't even of marriageable age when you had that child. As for who came in first… which door did you enter through? The front? The side? Or…" She paused, her eyes sweeping over her lightly, "...the back door, sneaking in in the dark?"

These words were extremely harsh, directly pointing to the Chen family's most shameful background.

Chen's face flushed instantly, and even her neck turned red.

"You!" Her chest heaved, her voice sharpening, "I call you 'sister' out of respect! It's a matter of etiquette!"

"Rules?" Xia Yangyang chuckled briefly, as if she had heard something incredibly funny. Then her smile vanished, and her eyes turned icy. "The first rule of the Lu family is the order of seniority. I am the superior, and you are the inferior."

She slightly raised her chin and tapped the polished ground: "If you really want to follow the rules, then kneel down to talk."

"Xia Yangyang!" Madam Chen finally lost her composure, her voice rising sharply, cracking with shrillness, "You come from a prestigious family, how can you speak so rudely? You have no sense of decorum whatsoever!"

Xia Yangyang asked, puzzled, "With you, what do I need to care about appearances? From head to toe, inside and out, what part of you... is worthy of discussing 'appearances' with me?"

Her tone was casual, yet it was more hurtful than any harsh words.

Chen's face turned pale and bluish.

Xia Yangyang turned to the maid standing beside her and casually instructed, "Go, get Chen a cushion. Kneeling for too long will hurt her knees."

The maid quickly brought over a worn-out blue cloth cushion, its dusty appearance clashing with the opulent atmosphere of the room.

"I won't kneel! Why should I kneel?! Xia Yangyang! Don't push your luck! I, Chen Jinlian, entered the Lu family and bore their child! You want me to kneel? On what grounds?! Just because you're the legal wife? Let me tell you, I won't accept that! Even if you talk until the heavens break and put a knife to my throat, I will never kneel! If you have the guts, then beat me to death in front of all these elders! Let's see if the Lu family's ancestors will tolerate a vicious woman like you!"

Looking at her fierce yet cowardly and reckless demeanor, Xia Yangyang was not angry at all. Instead, she seemed to have seen something extremely interesting.

She even let out a soft "ah," with a rising tone at the end: "Alright then, bring them up."

Before the words had even finished, and before Chen could even have a chance to yell again, a shrill, terrified scream, like a pig being slaughtered, came from the side door of the hall:

"Sister—! Sister, save me! Save me—!!"

The voice was so familiar that Chen's blood instantly froze.

She turned her head sharply and saw two guards dragging in a young man who was limp as a rag doll, his silk shirt wrinkled and stained, like a dead dog.

The man had a sallow complexion and dark circles under his eyes; he was none other than her good-for-nothing, gambling-addicted younger brother, Chen Xiao!

"Xiao'er!" Chen screamed, trying to rush forward, but the old woman behind her held her shoulders tightly. "What did they do to you?! What happened to your hand? Who cut off your finger? Xiao'er!"

Lu Xize slowly drew the black sidearm from his waist.

He didn't speak or threaten, but simply lowered the muzzle of his gun, cocked a bullet, and aimed it at Chen Xiao, who was lying paralyzed on the ground.

Chen shook her head in despair: "No! Lu Xize, if you dare to use torture, I'll report you! You devil, you cruel official! You dare—!"

Lu Xize didn't even lift his eyelids.

"Bang--!"

The crisp, clean gunshots were deafening.

The smell of gunpowder instantly filled the air.

The bullet pierced Chen Xiao's left shoulder, splattering blood onto the floor tiles. A gaping, bloody hole appeared in Chen Xiao's shoulder. He screamed in agony, his already tormented mind collapsing, and he passed out.

The women screamed and then covered their mouths tightly, while the men's faces drained of color.

The room was deathly silent.

"There are three ways to kneel," Xia Yangyang said, taking a sip of tea, her tone casual. "First, you sincerely admit your mistake and kneel with complete remorse; second, you kneel unwillingly due to circumstances; and third..."

She paused, raised her eyes, and looked at the stiffly standing Chen with a half-smile: "It's all an act for people, kneeling with feigned sincerity, full of scheming."

She put down the teacup and gently tapped the smooth surface of the cup with her fingertips.

"Ms. Chen, which type are you?"

"I kneel...I kneel..." Her broken voice was indistinct, repeating over and over, accompanied by the thud of her kowtowing, "Spare my brother...Spare Xiao'er...I kneel...I admit it...I admit it all..."

Chen knelt on the cushion, her forehead bleeding from the kowtow, making her appear even more pitiful and sorrowful, tears welling in her eyes: "Third Uncle, Fifth Uncle, Aunts, you are all here... You can all be my witnesses."

"I know my status is lowly, and I dare not compare myself to my elder sister. Since entering the Lu family, I have served Shao Huai and raised Ping'er without ever slacking off or overstepping my bounds. Now that you have returned, elder sister, even if you have a thousand grievances, just take them out on me. Why... why put on such a show and frighten the child?"

As she spoke, she pulled the boy who had been running over and hitting Lu Xize's thigh back, and pulled him into her arms. The boy was quick-witted and immediately burst into tears, pretending to be scared and hiding behind his mother.

Before Xia Yangyang could even shed a tear, she smiled first.

It wasn't a cold laugh, but the kind of muffled laugh that rolls out of your throat when you hear something particularly funny.

"You know you're of lowly status, huh? I thought you'd forgotten... Well then, guess what? Someone so lowly that they have to cry and drag their child down to stay in this house... how much sympathy do your tears deserve?"

"You vile woman... what are you trying to do, turning the Lu household into such chaos? Ping'er is Shao Huai's child, and I am Ping'er's birth mother. Aren't you afraid that Shao Huai will divorce you when he wakes up, after humiliating me like this?!"

"Those deep mansions are ruthless and heartless... Didn't you know that before you came?" Xia Yangyang's tone was extremely innocent, with one leg crossed over the other, seemingly not expecting her rival to be so easily defeated. "Third Uncle and Fifth Uncle are old and kind-hearted, and they can't bear to see tears."

In an instant, even the slightest bit of insincere interest in commenting vanished, leaving only utter coldness and weariness in her eyes.

She raised her chin: "Guards, take her away. Without my permission, she is not allowed to leave the courtyard, and even more so, she is not allowed to approach the young master."

"This is my child! Xia Yangyang! What right do you have? You can't—"

Chen finally realized that the other party did not play by the rules at all. They did not engage, did not argue, and simply used their absolute status and power to crush her.

Her tactics of feigning retreat to gain sympathy completely failed.

"I can't?" Xia Yangyang rested her elbows on the armrests of the chair, her fair fingertips touching her chin. Her posture was relaxed, but her eyes sent chills down one's spine.

"In this Lu residence, nowadays, if I say it's possible, then you can."