Chapter 1

Birds fly low, heaven □□ rain.

Thirty li outside Jinling Cheng, a mountain wild broken temple unusually sees people coming and going.

"Sister-in-law, this, this won't be a problem, will it?" A woman's face showed hesitation.

The woman who was asked furrowed her brows, raising her sleeves higher: "What could happen? Even if something happens, it wouldn't be blamed on us! If blame is to be assigned, then blame......"

When she said the last few words, her lips moved a few times, but she didn't make a sound.

The woman who spoke at the beginning, although she didn't hear her say the last few words, still understood the meaning clearly, sighed, and went back into the broken temple: "All we can hope is that the young lady can be stronger!"

Most of the group were women, with a few men, but the men were all guarding outside by the carriage, not approaching the broken temple. As for the women inside the broken temple, they were very busy, nothing like a wealthy family's relatives resting midway.

"Boil more water, the young lady will need it!" someone shouted.

The woman who had rolled up her sleeves spoke harshly, but she was actually still concerned about the situation inside the broken temple. A little maid came running out in a panic and immediately blocked her: "How is the young lady?"

The inexperienced little maid, with a blank face, said: "Aunt Hu said everything is fine, and also said the young lady is going smoothly, unlike the first time——"

Halfway through, the little maid realized that saying this about an unmarried young lady from a respectable family was clearly not appropriate, and she hurriedly stopped speaking. Normally she would never be so unrestrained, but today she was genuinely frightened. For a maid serving a young lady of the inner chambers, her own young lady giving birth is not something within her experience.

Just as the woman was about to ask for more details, a person appeared at the end of the small path in front of the broken temple. Although this area is near Jinling Cheng, it is rare to have no village ahead and no shop behind; suddenly someone came, which was unexpected for this group.

In the wilderness, the young lady suddenly went into labor, which indeed left everyone flustered. But this also allowed these people to breathe a sigh of relief, at least reducing the number of people who know about this.

For an unmarried young lady to give birth, it is never a respectable matter.

"I have a little furry~~ I never ride~~"

The humming was casual, the tune weird, until the person approached, then everyone saw clearly and also relaxed—it was just a little girl.

Gan Tian hummed a tune with her mouth, rode a gray little donkey beneath her, and held a bamboo pole in her hand. A string was tied to the pole, and a carrot was tied to the string. To eat that carrot, the little donkey could only keep walking forward. Honestly, if the little donkey weren't good-tempered, it might have quit long ago.

Little donkey: "I might not be human, but you are really a donkey!"

Gan Tian donkey-ed... no, how could I say she's a donkey! She has always been a very good little girl, positive and of high quality, so whenever the little donkey's temper reaches its limit, she adjusts the bamboo pole a bit so the little donkey can eat the carrot.

Gan Tian: "After all, I'm not some devil either!"

Originally, the group had relaxed because she was just a little girl, but now they instinctively tensed up... In this wild mountain and ridge, a little girl appearing alone—especially such a strange one.

Those present might not be able to pinpoint exactly what's strange, but they just feel it's too weird!

For example, isn't it too clean? Not just the young lady, the little donkey is the same. Overly clean, it hardly looks like they've been on the road.

Perhaps those who see it don't immediately realize what's off, but part of their instinct will first notice the strange aspects.

Seeing the broken temple, Gan Tian's eyes lit up: "Good thing there's a broken temple!"

Even if there are people here, she isn't worried at all, after all it's an ownerless broken temple! They couldn't possibly have taken it all, leaving her no place to rest, could they?

The sky looks like it's about to rain, and Gan Tian really doesn't want to get wet!

After walking a bit closer, Gan Tian noticed the atmosphere was a bit off. She blinked: "I came here to avoid the rain!"

So... is there any problem?

The woman from earlier reacted first, looked around, still very solemn: "Young lady, please wait a moment... inside, inside my family's little, my family's lady is giving birth, also really unfortunate, it happened suddenly..."

Originally they intended to drive the person away, but when the person actually arrived, the woman couldn't say those words.

The suddenly arriving little girl looks not yet of the age of peach blossoms, appears like a child, but is a rare beauty embryo.

She silently glanced at her attire a few times: no head ornaments, but she wore a pomegranate-red silk skirt, a Hangzhou silk moon-white upper garment, and a goose-yellow half-sleeve with overlapping fronts made of Songjiang cotton—these aren't special; in this splendid region, ordinary families' daughters could dress like this. Yet only upon closer approach could one see that the fabric either had embroidered flowers or was woven with exquisite craftsmanship.

Using such fine craftsmanship on ordinary cloth is either not impossible, or something just feels off.

Zhang Hong'er, that woman, her eyelids twitched. She saw the little girl's small pouch, also made of Songjiang cotton, embroidered with a lively cat— but that's not the point; the point is that the pouch has a drawstring, and normally the ends would be tied with two knots to prevent the string from slipping inside.

But this one has a pearl the size of a fingertip attached to each end, round and cute, with a pleasing luster. Zhang Hong'er has seen the world; she knows such a pearl on the market is worth at least a thousand taels of silver! If it's a pair, unique, it could be even more valuable!

And they just use it for this?

Gan Tian twitched her nose, smelled a faint hint of blood, and nodded. Then the atmosphere fell silent, mainly because Gan Tian has little experience in the martial world and simply doesn't know what to say in this situation.

She looked blankly at the sky, then lowered her gaze to stare at her toes for a moment. Suddenly, a baby's cry came from inside the broken temple, and just then, large raindrops fell from the sky, pattering quickly into a heavy rain.

Those originally standing outside the broken temple also brought their livestock over, but they didn't approach the main hall side; instead they went to the more severely damaged rear courtyard. After settling the livestock, they hid under the eaves, but still didn't go inside.

Zhang Hong'er also went in to attend to matters at this time. After a while, she cleaned the main hall used for childbirth. Then a little maid came out and said: "Elder Sister Zhang says please come in and sit, young lady!"

Gan Tian felt doubtful in her heart— it sounded as if the speaker were the master of this place! But despite her doubts, she still went inside.

Now it's almost deep autumn; on a clear day it's fine, but once encountering this weather there's a chill. After a while, goosebumps rose on her arms... The main hall likely has a fire lit, so she definitely should go in! Who would go against herself?

The whole broken temple is better preserved on the main hall side— this is not common; as Gan Tian knows, in this world, any temple that can be built never lacks offerings. This temple being so ruined, it could only be that the original temple was relocated.

In the center of the main hall burns a fire, beside it is a newly set up small bed, surrounded by cloth curtains, obscuring the interior. But one can guess, this is that lady who is giving birth.

Hearing the baby's cries from inside, it's estimated that the newborn is also in there.

Running around are this family's maidservants, about seven or eight, all obeying the woman who spoke earlier.

This broken temple had been deserted for a long time, but now it's been cleaned up nicely. The little maid who led her in brought her a stool... the red lacquer on the stool is very fine, definitely not something from the broken temple.

"Thank you!" Sitting on a clean little stool, which is certainly better than a haystack or a broken door panel, Gan Tian sincerely gave her thanks.

After finishing her thanks, she then glanced a bit curiously toward the curtain— normally she wouldn't be curious about such things; although it's strange for a noble lady from the countryside to give birth here, everyone has their own difficulties, and there's no need to pry upon a chance encounter.

She doesn't live by the sea, so it's none of her business!

But... but today's situation is still a bit different.

Did she really give birth to a child?

Although she had smelled a faint trace of blood earlier, now thinking about it, she feels the blood smell seems off somewhere— she hasn't seen much blood, so she can't say what's wrong, but there definitely is a problem!

Just as she was secretly pondering, more people came from outside the broken temple!

The group that arrived wasn't large; leading them was a man with graying temples, behind him followed two young servants and two elderly women. Also there was a young man who lowered his head as soon as he entered, with a bruise on his face, not knowing who hit him.

Upon seeing the leading man, everyone called out 'Master'.

So this is the husband of that lady? Gan Tian silently nodded in her heart.

By now it was already dark; the man apparently didn't notice the small girl with her head down, warming herself by the fire, who wasn't his household maid. He directly asked: "How is it?"

"Master, she has already given birth, it's a young master!" Zhang Hong'er glanced at the man's complexion and said carefully.

This is a bit strange, Gan Tian pricked up her ears... By rights, having a child late in life should be something to be happy about, right? Why does the servant show no joy when talking about this? Mother and child are safe—this ought to be a time for rewards, shouldn't it?

The man frowned tightly, then relaxed: "The birth came quickly!"

The two midwives he had specially brought were indeed midwives; as soon as the people here rushed home to deliver the news, he led them over. According to the usual speed of women's childbirth, it was indeed too fast.

Having said that, the man dragged out the young man at the back and shoved him to the ground: "San Niang, your stubbornness won't help—Father has already investigated! The only man you've been secretly seeing is this Licentiate Sun; even now, won't you tell the truth?"

Gan Tian belatedly realized... she had probably been swept up into a melodramatic family drama, which not only included the scandal of premarital pregnancy but also the cliché of a talented scholar and a beautiful lady.

Just as she was wondering whether to keep eating melon seeds by the roadside, there was a loud clang!

It was from behind the curtain! The girl who had just given birth clearly had great strength; she pushed aside the curtain, cradled the swaddled baby, and with a thud knelt before the man.

Father! It's not Sun elder brother! Really not Sun elder brother! The daughter said she didn't know where this child came from... the daughter has never done anything disgraceful to the family's reputation!

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

A new story begins!