The next morning.
Just after sunrise, a crowd had already gathered outside Ivy Shen’s bedroom door. Every single one of them was waiting for the person inside.
With such joyful news last night, of course nobody could stop grinning. At dawn they went all out, ordering the kitchen to make every kind of soup imaginable—old hen soup, pigeon soup, pork rib soup, you name it.
Basically, if it could be considered nourishing, they collected it. Seven guys brought seven different soups, so the lucky lady would have plenty to choose from.
The folks outside were so hyped they didn’t sleep a wink, while the person inside spent half the night worrying. But in the end, she couldn’t resist Mr. Sandman and drifted off too.
After a good night’s sleep, Ivy felt much more refreshed. The faint sounds outside came through to her ears loud and clear.
Sigh! She let out a breath. This headache of a situation had to be dealt with sooner or later.
So she got up, got dressed, tidied herself, and walked to the door. Taking a deep breath, she opened it—and was instantly greeted by seven ridiculously handsome faces.
In their hands: washbasins, towels, mouthwash, clothes... and rouge??
What on earth were they planning to do with all that stuff?
"Ivy, darling, you’re up!" Everyone started grinning and greeting her.
"You guys..." What on earth were they up to?
Before Ivy could say a word, the whole crew barged in. Someone handed her the washbasin so she could wash her face. When she was done, someone else wiped her face for her. Then, in a total frenzy, they started smearing rouge on her lips and twisting up her hair.
Staring into the bronze mirror, Ivy saw a hairstyle that looked like a bird’s nest and lips so red they could’ve been bleeding. She frowned hard. What were these weirdos trying to do?
"Done!" Everyone clapped like they’d just finished sculpting a masterpiece. Finally complete, they all nodded in satisfaction.
"Seriously, what are you guys doing? Trying to build a nest for a bird?" Ivy pointed at her hair, then complained, "And this—are you opening a dye shop or what? Doesn’t this bright red bother you at all?"
The seven men exchanged awkward glances, then started looking everywhere but at her, clearly hoping to dodge her complaints.
Seeing this, Ivy was not amused. "Iceberg, you tell me—what’s going on here?"
The moment Adrian heard 'Iceberg,' he jolted. He knew that nickname meant Ivy was seriously ticked off—and when she was mad, there was no escaping the consequences!
So he glanced left and right at his brothers, but of course, their eyes were still darting everywhere, pretending none of this was their problem.
Adrian Night was annoyed. These guys had no sense of teamwork—the plan was clearly something everyone agreed on!
"Iceberg!" Ivy called out coldly.
"Well... well, it's like this. Now that you're pregnant, we want to take really good care of you... make sure you're happy every day. That way, it'll be good for you and the baby, and the five months will pass easily!"
"What? Five months? You mean I'll give birth in five months?" Ivy asked in shock.
"That's right, it's quick, isn't it? You're already one month in, so only four months to go. The time will fly by," Lucian said, switching to medical mode.
"Four months? I’m giving birth in four months? What am I, a monster? Isn’t pregnancy supposed to last ten months?"
"Ten months? Who’d ever heard of such a monster?" Lucian looked genuinely shocked and turned to Ethan Chu.
Ethan Chu shook his head. "Never heard of any creature that takes that long. Ten months? You could have two kids in that time!"
At this, Ivy was totally floored. Monster? Excuse me, that’s just normal for humans! Who gives birth in five months? Any baby born in five months wouldn’t survive—and yet these serpent folk only need five months?!
"Wait, that’s not right!" Suddenly, Ivy froze.
"What’s wrong? What’s not right?" Everyone crowded around, worried.
"You just said five months? I’m already one month in, so in four months I’m supposed to give birth?"
"Yep, that’s what I said! Ivy, don’t worry—pregnancy only lasts five months here, definitely not like those monsters you mentioned that need ten months. If you really had to wait ten months, your belly would explode from all the eggs! No way you could give birth then!"
"Exactly! Relax, Ivy, five months and the egg won’t even get that big. Super easy!" Lucian and Ethan were totally caught up in their medical explanation, not noticing how pale Ivy was getting.
"Ivy, are you okay?" Eli Crane finally noticed something was off and leaned in to ask.
"Lay an egg?" Ivy stared at Eli in pure horror.
"Don’t be scared, it’s just a process," Eli Crane quickly reassured her.
"Uh, um, uh..." Ivy jumped up and started pacing, totally restless. "I think we need to have a serious talk." Lay an egg? She was supposed to lay an egg?!
No way. Absolutely not!
"We’re all ears!" The seven men chimed in, perfectly in sync.
Watching them, Ivy couldn’t help feeling a bit helpless. When did these seven idiots get so close? They even speak in perfect unison! Whatever—time to make her position clear. She coughed lightly and said, "You guys know who I am, right?"
They all nodded.
"You know the stuff I have to do is super dangerous, right?"
More nodding.
"And you know my enemies are really powerful, right?"
Another round of nodding.
"My revenge plan isn’t exactly perfect yet, and what we have to do is still super tricky. Cao Wan’er’s power isn’t nearly as simple as it looks!"
Yet another round of synchronized nodding.
"So, with all this going on, let me sum it up: I do NOT have time to have a baby!"
Everyone was stunned into silence.
"Huh?" Ivy raised her eyebrows, expecting them to nod again. But after a few seconds of shock, the seven men all shook their heads in perfect unison.
Adrian Night: "We’ve known your identity for ages, and we’ve never been afraid!"
Lucian Vane: "The stuff you’re doing? No ordinary person could pull that off—we know that!"
Caleb Miles: "Your enemies are tough, sure, but it’s not like this is the first time we’ve faced trouble!"
Liam Willow: "That’s right, we all know!"
Butterfly Rogue: "Doesn’t matter who you are, what you have to do, or how scary the enemy is—we’ve never been scared, never backed down. Because you’ve got us!"
Ethan Chu: "Chu Kingdom and Soaring Phoenix Realm are yours to use! Don’t worry!"
Eli Crane smiled. "To sum up: you’ve got time, you’ve got space, you’ve got everything you need—to have a baby!"
...For the first time, Ivy realized there was no way she could win an argument against all seven of them at once.
Suddenly, a crisp laugh rang out from outside the door. Yvonne Li appeared, unable to hold back her amusement.
At the door, along with Yvonne Li, stood Pinkie, Lanny, Colin Kerr, and Nina Xu—all of them struggling not to laugh.
"Sis!" At the sound, Ivy looked up to see Yvonne Li doubled over with laughter. Instantly, Ivy’s face flushed bright red.
"Big Sis!" the seven husbands called out obediently in unison.
"Oh my, what’s gotten into you all today? So sweet-tongued!" Yvonne Li looked them over, and it was clear their little plot was written all over their faces. "You want me to talk Ivy into it, don’t you?"
"Big Sis, you’re so smart!" Butterfly Rogue chimed in with a laugh, and the others joined in too.
"Oh, come on! Don’t you get it? With everything going on, there’s just no way I can have a baby now! Sure, I know you all want to be dads, but there will be plenty of chances in the future, right?" With that, Ivy hurried to Yvonne Li’s side and started to act cute. "Right, Sis?"
"Right!"
Ivy looked smugly satisfied.
Everyone else frowned.
"Right about what?" Yvonne Li tapped Ivy’s forehead, grumbling. "I know you have a lot on your plate, but you’re not alone anymore—you have me, you have them, and you have..." Yvonne paused, but Ivy knew exactly what she meant.
She was referring to Lacey Shen.
Yvonne pointed at Ivy's belly, her voice gentle yet firm: "You're not interested in the throne because you want to save people from suffering. Since you have the heart to save others, how can you cruelly deny life to your own child?"
"Sis..." Ivy's voice trembled, her eyes stinging.
Yvonne's eyes softened as she continued: "Ivy, we have a lot to do, but since this little one is growing inside you, it proves he's not ordinary. He must be even braver than you. You absolutely must not think of harming him. Remember, the others all care for him deeply."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Big Sis really is a former City Mistress—her words are always so impressive!