A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

In early March, Xie Daoning returned from Jingzhou.

The day after she returned to Beijing, she went directly to Shang Wanqing's courtyard.

At that time, Shang Wanqing was nine months pregnant and sitting at the large octagonal table by the window, holding a charcoal pencil and marking something on a huge drawing.

That drawing wasn't a ship's plan, but a nautical chart, densely covered with contour lines, ocean currents, and newly discovered islands.

This is what Hua Jieyu painstakingly extracted from Ke Zhenchuan's mind. After being verified by the secret agents of the Embroidered Uniform Pavilion, it was finally compiled into the first draft of "Essentials of Ocean Voyage".

Xie Daoning didn't have anyone announce his arrival; he simply pushed open the door and went inside.

She immediately noticed the mountain of blueprints on the table and Shang Wanqing's pale but focused face.

She stepped forward, said nothing, and simply reached out her hand, gesturing for Shang Wanqing to hand over her wrist.

Shang Wanqing frowned, seemingly displeased with the interruption, but still put down the charcoal pencil and placed her wrist on the pulse pillow that had been prepared on the table.

Xie Daoning placed his slender fingers on her pulse, closed his eyes, and listened quietly.

The only sound in the room was the faint rustling of charcoal pencils rolling onto the drawing paper.

After a long while, Xie Daoning finally withdrew his hand.

"The baby is in the correct position, and the pulse is stable."

She opened her eyes, her voice still calm, but with a more assertive force than before she went to Jingzhou: "You've taken good care of yourself."

Upon hearing this, Shang Wanqing's face remained expressionless; she simply nodded and reached out to retrieve the charcoal pencil that had just fallen.

"Can I go to Quanzhou now?" she asked.

The second voyage of the Breaking Waves has ended, bringing back a wealth of hydrological data about the South China Sea.

The shipwrights are making minor adjustments to the design of the third-generation ocean-going fast ship based on this information, and many parts require her, the chief designer, to make the final decision.

She has waited too long.

Xie Daoning looked at her and shook his head.

"cannot."

Shang Wanqing's hand froze in mid-air, her brows furrowing even more deeply.

"Why? Didn't you say everything was fine?"

"That's good, it's so you can give birth to the baby safely. It's not so you can go through all that trouble."

Xie Daoning's tone was calm, yet it was like a wall, blocking all of Shang Wanqing's thoughts: "Wait another month. You are not allowed to go anywhere before the baby is born."

Shang Wanqing stared at her for several seconds, seemingly trying to find some room for negotiation in her serene face.

But she failed.

Xie Daoning seemed different after returning from Jingzhou.

Shang Wanqing eventually withdrew her hand and did not pick up the charcoal pencil again.

She leaned back in her chair, let out a long sigh, and her gaze returned to the "Essentials of Ocean Voyages".

"Okay," she replied listlessly.

In mid-March, the weather in Beijing was still chilly despite the change in temperatures.

Shang Wanqing started experiencing abdominal pain one afternoon.

At first, it was just a slight ache, which she didn't take seriously. She even sat at the table and read through the two progress reports that had just been sent by the Quanzhou Shipyard.

It wasn't until the pain became more regular and intense that she realized she might be going into labor.

Xie Daoning arrived almost at the last minute.

Two midwives, who had been prepared in advance, followed her and immediately began to direct the palace servants to boil water and prepare clean cloths as soon as they entered the room.

"Help her into the delivery room." After examining Shang Wanqing's condition and confirming that she was in labor, Xie Daoning immediately gave the order.

The entire process was orderly and without any panic.

When Wei Zhao arrived after receiving the news, Shang Wanqing had already been helped into the delivery room, and the heavy palace doors separated the inside from the outside.

He stood in the courtyard, looking at the tightly closed door, a rare hint of anxiety appearing on his usually calm face.

There was nothing he could do but wait.

This feeling made him feel powerless.

He could mobilize thousands of troops and decide the rise and fall of a state, but he could not share the pain his wife was enduring at this moment.

Time passed by, second by second.

The delivery room was quiet, with no heart-wrenching cries, only the occasional hushed conversations of the midwives and the soft clattering of instruments.

This silence only made Wei Zhao's heart clench even tighter.

He recalled that when Liu Jingshuang gave birth to Wei Heng, it was the same.

These women, who could face mountains of knives and seas of fire on the battlefield without batting an eye, also swallowed all their pain in this situation.

Less than two hours later, the door opened.

Xie Daoning came out carrying a baby wrapped tightly in a bright yellow swaddling cloth. Her forehead was covered with a thin layer of sweat, but her expression was calm.

Wei Zhao immediately went to greet him.

"daughter."

Xie Daoning handed the swaddled baby to him, her voice tinged with weariness but filled with relief: "Mother and daughter are safe."

Wei Zhao reached out and took the small, soft swaddle, then looked down at it.

The little one in the swaddling clothes had his eyes closed, his face wrinkled, like a little old man, and his hair was wet and stuck to his scalp.

He glanced at it only once before immediately raising his head, looking past the child and at Xie Daoning, his voice hoarse with nervousness.

"How is Wanqing?"

Xie Daoning looked at his eyes, which were full of concern, and a smile appeared on his face.

"I'm fine. Much calmer than you, the father."

She paused, then added, "She said she wanted to see the baby."

The news that Shang Wanqing had given birth to a daughter spread throughout the palace the very next day.

Wei Zhao named his child Wei Yao. Yao means beautiful jade.

Tuoba Yue was the first to bring her child to see the place.

Wei Xuan is almost four years old, the age when even cats and dogs dislike him.

He clung to the edge of the cradle, craning his little head to peer inside. After looking for a long time, he turned back to Tuoba Yue with a puzzled expression and asked.

"Why is she so small? And so ugly?"

Tuoba Yue was both amused and exasperated, and gently patted him on the head.

"You were just as small when you were born, and you were even uglier than her."

"I don't believe it!" Wei Xuan immediately retorted, puffing out her small chest.

Unable to resist his persistent pestering, Tuoba Yue turned to Liu Jingshuang, who was watching the child nearby, for help:

"Second sister-in-law, why don't you bring him the smallest swaddling clothes he was in when he was born? Let him know how tiny he was back then."

Liu Jingshuang was playing with Wei Yao in the cradle when she heard this, she just smiled and didn't move.

Wei Heng was only a few months older than Wei Yao and was being held by his wet nurse, curiously watching the new little sister.

When Xiao Guanyin arrived, the room was bustling with activity.

She walked to the cradle and carefully took Wei Yao from the wet nurse's hands.

The little one was very well-behaved in her arms, neither crying nor fussing. He opened his big, black grape-like eyes, looked at her curiously for a while, then yawned and closed them again.

Xiao Guanyin looked down at the tiny life in her arms, her expression becoming exceptionally gentle.

"We received a letter from Xianyuan saying they want to send a second batch of students."

Holding the child, she whispered, as if talking to herself, "When this girl grows up, maybe she can go to Xianyuan and teach those children about the knowledge of the Central Plains."

"We'll have to wait until she learns to nurse first."

Tuoba Yue chuckled and added a comment, instantly lightening the atmosphere in the room.

The flowers, which seem to speak, arrive at dusk.

She didn't go into the inner room, but stood in the courtyard and handed a briefing sealed with sealing wax to Wei Zhao, who had just come out of the house.

"From the Southeast Asia, just arrived." Her voice was low and carried a unique charm.

Wei Zhao took the briefing, opened it, glanced at it, and frowned slightly.

Hua Jieyu didn't linger. She bowed and then quietly slipped away, as if she had never been there.