The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 838 - 819: Struggle for the Heir (Part 1)

Anning stepped into the main courtyard and immediately heard the excruciating cries of pain coming from inside the house.

Her legs went weak, and a young girl quickly supported her from behind, "Master."

Anning waved her hand and hurried towards the birthing room.

As she reached the door, two men in their thirties, heavily made-up, blocked her way, "Master, the birthing room is filthy, please refrain from entering."

Anning glared at the two men but didn’t force her way in.

Instead, she leaned against the window and shouted, "Husband, how are you doing, are you okay? Just hang on, I’ll go find the Imperial Physician right away..."

A hoarse voice came from inside, "Stay away."

Hearing this voice, Anning’s heart settled for a moment, and then she became worried again.

By now, the painful cries had faded from the birthing room, replaced by occasional muffled groans.

Anning heard the sounds, and her heart ached to the point where she almost cried.

"Husband, can you still endure this, why hasn’t the birth happened yet, after all this pain, what should we do?"

She cried as she paced anxiously around the courtyard.

Some thin, frail-looking men approached, "Master, men giving birth is always like this, please don’t panic, sit down and rest for a while."

One of the men asked, "Master, have you eaten? Shall I ask the kitchen to prepare some food for you?"

Anning waved her hand, "I’m in no mood to eat."

At this moment, a tall and strong girl brought over a chair.

Anning sat down to wait.

As she waited, she began to receive the original owner’s memories.

Earlier on the road, she hadn’t fully received the original owner’s memories, only a bit, enough to know who she was, where her home was, and why she was in such a rush. The rest wasn’t very clear.

She leaned back in the chair, half-closed her eyes, and quickly assimilated all the memories of the original owner.

This world was somewhat different from any world Anning had experienced before.

It was a matriarchal society.

In this world, women were respected, women were emperors, acted as officials, while men stayed home to manage household affairs.

Anning’s body’s identity was considered prestigious.

Her biological mother was the Emperor of the Qi Dynasty, and she was a legitimate Princess.

However, her biological father was born lowly, a servant in the palace, who gave birth to the original person by chance, and then gradually gained higher rank, now one of the Four Lords, Xian Jun.

The original person was Xian Jun’s first daughter, and Xian Jun later had two sons and a daughter, namely the Eighth Prince, the Ninth Imperial Prince, and the Eleventh Imperial Princess, considered the master with the most children in the palace.

The original person was already nineteen years old this year, married at fifteen, married to a main husband a year younger than herself, later set up her own household and took several Secondary Prince Consorts and secondary masters, now she had two daughters and a son.

The original person and her main husband, Xiao Family, did not have a good relationship.

Xiao Family was dull and inarticulate, purely pursuing propriety and kindness, devoid of any interest, the original person disliked him a lot.

She liked Wang Secondary Prince Consort and Song Shijun. Wang Secondary Prince Consort gave her a son and a daughter, Song Shijun also birthed a daughter.

Because the original person did not like Xiao Family, sometimes she didn’t stay in the main courtyard for months, naturally in marriage for several years, no legitimate daughter or legitimate son was born, which was not a good sign.

After the eldest daughter was born, the original person was scolded by Xian Jun when summoned to the palace, leading her to treat Xiao Family a little better.

This time, Xiao Family got pregnant, and when the original person was tasked with a mission and was returning, upon learning Xiao Family was giving birth, she hurried back.

No one knew what went wrong on the way, but Anning came along.

The original person didn’t leave any wishes; Anning took over this body, need not complete any tasks, just live according to her own will.

Having finished receiving the original owner’s memories, Anning opened her eyes, hearing a few more muffled groans from the birthing room, and her heart twisted.

Earlier, leaning against the window and shouting, she had confirmed the person inside was Xiao Yuan.

Now, her feelings were very strange.

After living through so many worlds, she and Xiao Yuan had been married for many lifetimes, but she was always the one giving birth. This time, it was Xiao Yuan giving birth, which was hard for Anning to accept.

Besides finding it hard to accept, Anning felt sorry for Xiao Yuan.

After all, she was used to childbirth and didn’t mind the suffering.

But this was Xiao Yuan’s first time, and she didn’t know how he was doing inside, whether he was in great discomfort, and if he couldn’t hold on, what would they do?

After more groans, Anning couldn’t sit still anymore.

She took a few steps to the window, "Husband, let’s not have any more, okay? We already have sons and daughters, why suffer through this?"

The Secondary Prince Consorts and secondary masters in the courtyard lowered their heads in silence upon hearing these words.

What non-sense is she saying?

Who in the family doesn’t want to have children after marrying?

Without one’s own daughter, there would be no support; if the main husband doesn’t give birth, then the princess mansion would have to be inherited by the secondary husbands’ daughters in the future, and the main husband would have to live by the secondary husbands’ grace, wouldn’t that be aggrieving?

A voice came from inside, "Get out."

"Alright, alright."

Anning wiped some sweat and hurriedly stepped away.

She knew Xiao Yuan must be in a foul mood now; who in their right mind would feel good upon giving birth immediately, especially since Xiao Yuan had never experienced such a scenario of a man giving birth.

Anning understood him, felt sorry for him, and did not hold grudges.

On the contrary, the Secondary Prince Consorts and secondary masters were shocked.

They wondered what happened to the wife? She did not get angry despite being scolded, and even walked away in good temper. Could it be that the wife has seen the good side of the main husband? Are they going to reconcile?

Wang Secondary Prince Consort felt apprehensive, praying in his heart that this shouldn’t happen, if the wife reconciled with the main husband, what would happen to them?

Anning was anxiously waiting, waiting to the point of exhaustion, before hearing a baby’s cry, afterward, the door of the birthing room opened, and a middle-aged man ran out, "Congratulations Princess, congratulations, the main husband gave birth to a daughter."

"Good, good."

With a smile on her face, Anning said, "Reward them, everyone has their reward."

After speaking, she hurried into the birthing room.

This time no one stopped her.

Entering, she smelled the scent of blood.

A screen was set up in the birthing room, Anning couldn’t see inside but upon circling the screen, she found Xiao Yuan lying drenched in sweat on the bed.

Anning waved her hand, "Bring the girl over, all of you leave."

Soon, Anning held a small baby in her arms, she placed the baby beside Xiao Yuan, then held Xiao Yuan’s wrist to check the pulse.

"Luckily, he wasn’t harmed."

Anning breathed a long sigh of relief.

Xiao Yuan opened his eyes at this time, he felt a little embarrassed seeing Anning, blushing for a moment.

Then, Xiao Yuan said, "Thank you for your trouble."

Anning smiled and whispered, "I should be the one saying that, you’ve really been through a lot."

Xiao Yuan shook his head, "I don’t mean that, I mean before, you really had a hard time, now I know how much childbearing hurts, you’ve gone through so many without ever telling me... Only experiencing it firsthand now makes me realize the pain you endured."

Anning held Xiao Yuan’s hand, "I’ve never felt it’s a hardship, if someone has to go through this, let it be me; you don’t know how anxious I was outside, fearing something might happen to you, if anything happened..."

Remembering the feeling from before, she almost cried again, "Was this how you felt when I was giving birth before?"

Xiao Yuan smiled, gently brushing Anning’s hair, "No matter how hard it was for us both, consider it our way of swapping experiences this time."

Anning held back her tears, "Mm."

Xiao Yuan waved Anning away, "You’ve seen me, now quickly go out, I’m dirty, come back in after cleaning up."

Anning said, "Let me help you clean up."

Xiao Yuan was unwilling and insisted Anning leave, so Anning had no choice but to take the newborn Third Miss out of the birthing room.

As she exited, a servant came to hold the Third Miss, Anning watched them take the Third Miss to the side room before calling for someone to prepare food.

By now, she was truly starving and finished two large bowls of food when it was brought to her.

As Anning finished her meal, a delicately featured yet slender boy approached with a charming smile, "Would you like to rest for a while, wife? Miss has been crying to see you for days, and I couldn’t calm her."

Anning squinted slightly, "You all go on ahead, I’ll stay in this side room tonight, if Miss wants to see me, let the servants bring her over."

The boy hesitated, but seeing Anning’s displeased face, he didn’t dare say much and quickly retreated.

After he left, Anning’s expression turned cold.

That boy was Wang Secondary Prince Consort, trying to vie for affection.