The Marquis's line has ended? The pregnant maid is pregnant again!

"Madam..."

Shen Qinghe opened her eyes and saw several faces. In the center was the old lady, next to Qin Shi, and Lu Jihan.

Upon seeing Shen Qinghe extend her hand, the old lady immediately took it, sat down beside Shen Qinghe's bed, and gently patted the back of Shen Qinghe's hand.

"How are you, Qinghe? Is there anything else that's bothering you?"

"I feel much better, but there's still a slight ache." Shen Qinghe didn't feign any pain.

She was already showing signs of miscarriage, how could the pain possibly stop after a while?

"Good boy, you're a good boy. It's alright, I've already avenged you and punished those two heartless bastards."

The old lady comforted Shen Qinghe, then spoke of her great-grandson, a smile finally appearing on her face: "Qinghe, you've really made us proud! You're actually pregnant! There's hope for my great-grandson! All thanks to you, Qinghe!"

"Pregnant..." Shen Qinghe was momentarily dazed, then immediately grabbed the old lady's hand, her eyes reddening with excitement: "It's true..."

"It's true!" The old lady softened even more when she saw Shen Qinghe like this: "She really is pregnant. The pregnancy has been confirmed. It was all the fault of the Zhuang family physician, who was instructed by Wu Xiaoniang. He dared to conceal the fact that he knew the truth. He simply doesn't respect the rules of my Marquis's mansion! But don't worry, Jihan has already taken care of everything for you."

Shen Qinghe's face was pale. Hearing the old lady's words, she turned to look for Lu Jihan. All she could remember was being framed before she fainted. She wanted to explain, "Lord..."

Before she could even utter those two words, Shen Qinghe's other wrist was firmly supported by a large hand.

Lu Jihan appeared before Shen Qinghe, his gaze gentle: "I'm here."

Shen Qinghe quickly organized her thoughts and explained, "This servant did not... it was not what you saw, sir. My relationship with Lord Chu is completely innocent, there is no affair whatsoever, let alone any secret rendezvous."

As he spoke, Lu Jihan grasped Shen Qinghe's hand in return, his gaze deep: "I believe you."

His voice was very cold, but his tone was even more resolute.

Taking the opportunity, Qin wanted to improve her own image, since things had already developed to this point, and getting angry or regretting it now would be pointless.

Madam Qin smiled and said, "Don't worry, Qinghe. The Marquis has already investigated the matter thoroughly. It was all a scheme by Wu Xiaoniang. It's an undeserved disaster for you, and an even greater undeserved disaster for Lord Chu. Besides, the Marquis naturally trusts you, so you don't need to worry too much."

"Yes, Qinghe, is Jihan really such a muddle-headed fool who can't distinguish right from wrong? You can rest assured, your priority now is to take good care of your pregnancy, you must take good care of your body and the baby in your womb."

The old lady spoke, her face beaming with uncontrollable joy, then looked at Lu Jihan beside her: "Jihan, look how hard this girl has worked. Not only has she been framed and plotted against time and time again in this mansion, but she also has to serve you with all her heart. Now that she's pregnant, she'll probably be even more exhausted. I really feel sorry for this girl. How about... we give her something as a reward?"

Lu Jihan had the same idea. After a moment's thought, he said, "Then I will promote you from a lowly concubine to a noble concubine, and double your daily allowance and food. I will also give you five hundred taels of silver."

"Very well, although there has never been such a rule before, sometimes rules don't have to be followed." The old lady nodded in agreement upon hearing Lu Jihan's words, smiling as she looked at Shen Qinghe and continued:

"Once you have safely given birth, I will promote you to the rank of concubine. That way, people won't gossip about the child's origins."

Upon hearing this, Qin Shi's smile froze. However, in this situation, with not only the old lady but also Lu Jihan present, she could not reveal the slightest flaw. She quickly composed herself and maintained the tolerant demeanor of the matriarch.

With a smile, Madam Qin spoke up, "Yes, Qinghe has had it so tough; she deserves a good reward. How about we grant her Minghua Hall in the Bamboo Garden to live in, as a token of our appreciation? Minghua Hall is much larger than the small courtyard she lives in now. Since she's pregnant, we'll naturally need more caregivers. There are plenty of side rooms there, and it will be much more convenient for her daily life than her current courtyard. Would you be willing, Qinghe?"

As she spoke, Madam Qin sat down affectionately beside Shen Qinghe's bed, her eyes filled with genuine concern as she looked at Shen Qinghe.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qinghe almost instantly understood Qin Shi's intentions. Qin Shi wanted to take the opportunity to make her move away from that small courtyard, thus distancing herself from the Marquis.

Moreover, judging from Qin's words, it seems she intends to place people around her.

According to the rules of the Marquis's mansion, a concubine can have a maximum of six servants.

Previously, when Shen Qinghe could only have four people around her, two of the three people she arranged to come in had ulterior motives, and the third one could not be completely trusted at the moment.

If they really move to that place and plant four more people there, it will be impossible to guard against them.

Shen Qinghe would never put herself in danger, especially since she was pregnant and needed to be extremely cautious.

Shen Qinghe was unwilling and politely declined, saying, "Sister, your kindness is appreciated, and I should gladly accept it, but... to be honest, this place is indeed beautiful and spacious, but I am unwilling to part with it. I can't bear to..."

As she spoke, she glanced at Lu Jihan beside her with some reluctance. Only when her eyes met his did she continue, "Although the courtyard is a bit small, there is a small kitchen in it. The Marquis just had people build that small kitchen, and I can't bear to part with it."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jihan's heart softened, and he immediately made a firm decision: "If you can't bear to part with the small kitchen, then we won't move it; it's all the same."

Qin's smile froze for a moment, but she quickly recovered and said, "Since you insist, I won't force you. If you ever need my help in the future, just ask."

No sooner had Madam Qin finished speaking than Shen Qinghe spoke up, pleading, "Madam, since you've said so, then I'll be so bold as to ask you this once. This is my first pregnancy, and I really have no experience. The old lady is already very tired from managing the household affairs, and I'm too embarrassed to bother you any further."

"Madam is known throughout the Marquis's mansion for her thoroughness and meticulousness in all her actions. Therefore, I would like to ask Madam to help take care of my child until I give birth. I wonder if Madam could grant me this small request?"

Qin never expected that her casual polite remark would be taken advantage of by Shen Qinghe. To make matters worse, the old lady and Lu Jihan were watching from the side, and she had no way to refuse since she had already spoken.

The old lady took in Qin's every move and saw that Qin was not jealous because of Shen Qinghe's jealousy. Instead, she was more satisfied with Qin.

A proper wife should have such a tolerant mindset.

Shen Qinghe was dizzy and shouldn't move around too much, so she chose to rest in this small room next to the kitchen.

Now that Shen Qinghe has woken up, it's natural that she should move back to her own courtyard to rest.

The old lady talked with Shen Qinghe for a while longer before letting her rest.

Stepping out of the room, Lu Jihan was sitting in the courtyard. The old lady went up to him and gave him a special instruction, saying with a serious expression, "Jihan, now that Qinghe is pregnant, you absolutely must not drag her around recklessly anymore. You young people are so careless, you can't hurt her again."

"Grandson remembers." Lu Jihan nodded, feeling somewhat relieved that he had considered Shen Qinghe's health and hadn't actually taken her.

otherwise……

"Remember, you must control yourself." The old lady repeatedly instructed, "I heard last time that they called for water even in broad daylight, and they couldn't get enough of being intimate. You can't do that now."

Upon hearing the old lady's words, a memory uncontrollably surfaced in Lu Jihan's mind.

Lu Jihan's ears turned visibly red, and his voice became even colder and harder: "Grandmother is right. Last time it was because I was unrestrained. I will certainly not do it again."

Seeing that Lu Jihan had realized the importance of the matter, the old lady turned and left.

Qin Shi came out of the room, a smile appearing in her eyes: "My lord, regarding Lord Chu... should we send someone to escort him out of the manor?"

Mentioning Chu Xingge's name was like hitting Lu Jihan's sore spot. Lu Jihan's face immediately turned icy, and his tone became cold and ruthless: "Why send him anything? Let him walk back by himself."

"Yes." Seeing Lu Jihan's rapidly changing tone and expression, Qin's smile deepened.

Soon, Madam Qin led Hongxing out of the small courtyard.

Not far outside, Hongxing noticed the smile on her mistress's face and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Madam, what are you laughing at?! Your plans have all failed, Wu Xiaoniang has been kicked out, and Shen Qinghe has even been promoted to a concubine—originally, Shen Qinghe was supposed to give birth to a child before being promoted. The situation is so dire, why are you still laughing?"

"Heh...didn't you see the Marquis's face when Chu Xingge was mentioned just now?" Madam Qin chuckled, slowly saying, "Although Wu Xiaoniang's scheme failed and didn't make the Marquis suspect that Shen Qinghe and Chu Xingge were having an affair, it's still undeniable that Chu Xingge and Shen Qinghe did have a past."

"So what? We still can't find evidence of their adultery." Hongxing pouted, worried about her young mistress.

"It's normal that you don't understand since you haven't experienced matters between men and women. The more a man cares about a woman, the stronger his possessiveness becomes, and naturally, his jealousy grows. So, he naturally becomes more and more concerned about these kinds of things."

Qin Shi said calmly, "As you said, the Marquis does care about Shen Qinghe very much and trusts her a lot. Shen Qinghe is also the most favored and the only one in this bamboo garden. That's all true."

But... the more the Marquis cares about Shen Qinghe, the more he cares about Shen Qinghe's past with other men, even if it might just be a childhood betrothal.

In romantic relationships, believing her and being jealous of other men are not contradictory at all. Just wait and see, this isn't over yet!

Hongxing was a little confused, but in any case, what her young lady said was right.