The Fall of Southern Lyn and the Birth of the Little Heir

As Serena Feng's due date drew closer, all of Feng Manor grew increasingly tense, and the atmosphere in the Capital felt strange—nothing like the usual New Year celebrations. None of the city's high officials or nobles had any mind for festivities; every one of them was fixated on Serena's belly, just waiting for the child to be born...

That child would be the future emperor—their new master. They had to make sure to curry favor early!

William Wang Jinling and General Warren Yu sent people to Feng Manor every day, terrified they might miss Serena's delivery. Empress Dowager Xie (Helena Shaw) hadn’t been too anxious at first—after all, Serena herself was a physician, and the imperial doctors and midwives had been prepared for ages. Though this pregnancy had been dangerous, the last two months had stabilized and the imperial doctors all said a normal birth should be no problem. But with William and Warren pestering her daily, even the Empress Dowager grew nervous—let alone when Sean Xuan rushed in right before Serena was about to give birth, braving wind and snow to get there.

The moment Sean Xuan arrived at Feng Manor, his first question was, "Has Serena given birth yet?"

When the steward told him she hadn’t, Sean immediately let out a sigh of relief, shook the snow off his cloak, and said, “Good, I made it in time.”

With all this fuss, even Empress Dowager Xie couldn’t help but mutter, “Why are these people more anxious than the one actually giving birth?”

You couldn’t blame the Empress Dowager—over the past few days, every household had sent people to ask, afraid Serena’s child would be born and they’d miss the news.

This New Year, every family in the Capital had their eyes on Serena’s belly. Not just Victor Yun, Caleb Wang, the Prince of Jiangnan, and Prince Colin from Jiangnan—even Victor Phoenixfield, Simon Sun, Dorian Owen, Colin Si, and Dominic Zhai, all the way out on the border, wrote letters asking when Serena would give birth. If they missed the actual birth, they absolutely didn’t want to miss the full‑month or hundred‑day celebrations.

Even the Valley Master, who claimed he was too ashamed to see Serena and hid away in his valley, wrote a letter on behalf of Zilo and Elder Zhai. Strangely, there wasn’t a peep from the palace—Ninth Royal Uncle Nolan seemed to have forgotten all about it, and Serena herself didn’t seem to care much either.

Empress Dowager Xie found herself less and less able to understand these two. In any case, she had no say in the matter, so she simply stopped paying attention and focused all her energy on waiting for Serena’s delivery day to arrive.

Everyone thought Serena's delivery would be the biggest event before the New Year, but unexpectedly, news arrived from the front: Southern Lyn had surrendered, and Prince Nathan of Southlyn had died for his country.

As soon as word spread, the whole Capital exploded with excitement—and it happened to be New Year's Eve. The imperial city was filled with joy; even ordinary citizens were elated, proud to live in a strong country and to have a wise ruler.

Even the staff at Feng Manor were distracted. All day, everyone talked about Southern Lyn’s surrender, swapping wild tales of frontline heroics—stories so exaggerated you’d think they’d witnessed it themselves, swearing up and down that it was all true.

The whole city was swept up in joy, celebrating Eastlyn’s victory—even Serena wasn’t immune. On New Year’s Eve, everyone stayed up late as usual, and since she was feeling well, Serena sat with them a bit longer. But when she got up to head back to her room, a sudden pain stabbed her belly—and she realized her legs were wet...

Her water had broken!

Serena steadied herself, not daring to move. Clutching her belly, she stood rooted to the spot, gripping Jada Tang’s hand and gritting her teeth: "I... am... going... to give birth!"

Wave after wave of pain hit her, amniotic fluid streaming down her legs. Serena felt the world spinning—she was in so much pain she could barely think.

"Give birth? She’s really about to give birth?" Jada Tang heard the words and froze. Her mind was clear, but her feet wouldn’t move—she just stood there, completely lost.

The young lady was about to give birth—she needed to be helped into the birthing room, water had to be boiled, the midwives and imperial doctors had to be called. Jada knew all this, but her legs were locked in place, unable to move.

Serena was in agony and pinched Jada hard: "Why are you still standing there? I—I’m about to give birth! Hurry, get someone to help me to the birthing room, call the midwives, boil water..."

"Ah—!" Jada yelped from the pain, snapped back to reality, and shouted to the people not far behind her, "Quick, come here! The young lady is about to give birth!"

What?!

At once, everyone in Feng Manor—including the shadow guards and the recuperating Zed—was startled. People jumped up in a panic, running in circles, desperate to help but not knowing what to do, frantically asking each other, "What now? What do we do?"

"Hurry, help your young lady to the birthing room—you, go call the midwife and get hot water ready!" Empress Dowager Xie stepped forward, supporting Serena and issuing crisp orders.

Having been Empress Dowager, this sort of commotion couldn’t faze her.

"Yes, yes, right away!" Spring and Summer dashed off, while Autumn and Winter quickly scooped up Feng Jin and Little Eight, patting the children’s backs to comfort them: "Don’t be scared, young lord, little heir—you’re about to have a baby brother."

"A baby brother! We want a baby brother!" Feng Jin and Little Eight’s eyes lit up, staring eagerly in Serena’s direction, their faces full of curiosity and anticipation for a younger sibling.

The Snow Wolf circled around Little Eight and Feng Jin, occasionally letting out a howl to show its concern and presence.

Zed lounged on a low couch, watching the whole room in chaos, then glanced at Feng Jin and Little Eight, who were blowing bubbles and clapping their hands. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes: What a bunch of idiots—what’s the point of panicking? And a little brother? What kind of seniority is that, anyway? So clueless...

"Serena’s about to give birth—why are you all still standing around? Go find the midwife!" Sean Xuan was in the outer courtyard and heard the news a moment late, but he jumped up faster than anyone. Just as the shadow guards snapped back to their senses, Sean Xuan rushed toward the birthing room—only to be blocked at the entrance by the guards: "Sorry, Palace Lord Sean, you can’t go in."

"You think you can stop me?" Sean’s face stiffened, stepping back and striking a battle pose. The guards groaned—they didn’t want to fight Sean, so they clasped their hands and explained, "Please don’t misunderstand, Palace Lord Sean. We’re just following orders—the master will be here soon."

"Your master? Hmph..." Sean sneered. "If he really cared about Serena, he wouldn’t have abandoned her in the first place. What’s the point of showing up now? Serena won’t see him."

There are no secrets in this world. At Destiny Cliff, besides Ninth Royal Uncle’s people, there were also agents from Moonshadow Palace and Skyvault Fortress. Ninth Royal Uncle’s people would never betray him, but the others might.

Sean Xuan knew exactly what had happened at Destiny Cliff!

The guards didn’t understand, so they tried to defend Ninth Royal Uncle: "The master, he..."