Chapter 499 The amniotic sac broke

Around 2:45 AM, the time when roosters crow.

At this time, some servants in the mansion had already gotten up to work. Usually, Gu Jingxi would have gotten up by this time, but he hadn't gotten up today because he was on leave. He woke up for a while and saw that the person next to him was sleeping soundly, so he continued to sleep.

Meng Jinyao was sleeping soundly, but she had a dream in which a baby called her "mother." Just as she was about to respond, she suddenly woke up and subconsciously touched her stomach.

A moment later, Meng Jinyao heard a "plop" sound. The sound wasn't loud, but she could hear it. Immediately afterwards, she felt something flowing out of her body. She instantly realized what was happening and quickly reached out to push the man next to her.

Gu Jingxi woke up quickly, and in his dazed state, he heard Meng Jinyao say in a tense voice, "Husband, I think I'm going into labor."

Upon hearing this, he instantly lost all sleepiness and, disregarding everything else, quickly rolled over and got out of bed—and he really did roll over and get out of bed.

He rolled over too quickly and landed directly on the ground.

Meng Jinyao: "?"

She asked blankly, "Husband, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing."

After saying that, Gu Jingxi immediately got up, put on his casual shoes, and left the bedroom as quickly as possible.

Meng Jinyao was a little confused. How could her husband have run away when she was about to give birth?

After leaving the room, Gu Jingxi summoned a maid and asked her to notify the midwife to come over. She also sent someone to invite Physician Baili over, just in case. Finally, she sent someone to inform her elderly mother and her two sisters-in-law, as they were experienced and with them around, Ayao wouldn't be so afraid.

Back in the room, Gu Jingxi sat on the edge of the bed and held Meng Jinyao's hand to comfort her, "Ayao, don't be afraid. I'm with you. I've already sent someone to fetch the midwife and the imperial physician. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

His voice trembled, and it was unclear whether he was trying to comfort Meng Jinyao or himself.

Seeing Gu Jingxi sweating profusely with nervousness, Meng Jinyao, despite being nervous herself, still managed a smile: "Husband, I'm fine. I feel okay now. After waiting for so long, the baby is finally coming. Now I'm not so anxious anymore."

Gu Jingxi sensed that she was pretending to be relaxed and asked with concern, "Ayao, does it hurt a lot?"

Meng Jinyao gently shook her head: "I haven't felt any obvious pain yet."

Gu Jingxi asked with a hint of doubt, "Really, it doesn't hurt?"

Meng Jinyao replied, "I haven't felt it yet."

Seeing that she was in a good mood, Gu Jingxi temporarily believed her and kept her company.

The midwife arrived before Madam Gu and the others. After observing Meng Jinyao's condition, she said, "Madam, you are still a long way from giving birth. This is your first pregnancy, so it will take longer. After the contractions begin, it will take several more hours before you can give birth. I estimate it will be evening." After saying that, she told Gu Jingxi that she needed to have hot water and everything else that was needed prepared.

How long will the pain last?

Gu Jingxi frowned as he listened.

Meng Jinyao was calmer than him. After all, she knew her own body well and felt fine at the moment, so she wasn't too flustered. She said, "Husband, I want to eat something, otherwise I probably won't have the strength when I give birth."

Upon hearing this, Gu Jingxi quickly replied, "I'll have someone prepare it right away."

Not long after, Old Madam Gu, Madam Zhang, and Madam Chen all rushed over to visit Meng Jinyao.

At this moment, Meng Jinyao was being fed breakfast by Gu Jingxi, and she was in good spirits.

When Madam Gu learned that her daughter-in-law was about to give birth, she was initially overjoyed, but then became worried. Even though she saw that her daughter-in-law was doing well, she was still concerned and asked with concern, "Ayao, how are you feeling now?"

Meng Jinyao replied truthfully, "Mother, there's no need to worry. I'm doing fine now."

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly felt her lower abdomen tighten and harden, accompanied by a lower abdominal pain. The pain made her frown. This sudden pain caused her tension to reach its peak, and she felt fear in her heart. She subconsciously grabbed Gu Jingxi's hand.

Gu Jingxi was also startled. He quickly put down his bowl and asked anxiously, "Ayao, what's wrong?"

Meng Jinyao touched her stomach and replied, "It hurts, my stomach hurts."

Madam Gu and Madam Zhang were both experienced women, and upon seeing this, they knew that the uterus had begun to contract, and that labor pains would begin. As the contractions became more frequent and the pain intensified, delivery would begin when the uterus was dilated to ten centimeters.

Chen comforted her, "Third sister-in-law, don't be afraid. Take a deep breath and relax. It'll be alright."

Thinking back to her own childbirth, when the midwife said that hot water could relieve the pain of uterine contractions, Madam Gu turned to Chunliu and asked, "Have you prepared hot water?"

Chunliu replied, "Madam, we've already had someone boil water, and it should be ready by now."

Madam Gu instructed, "Bring in hot water later. As for the rest, follow the midwife's instructions."

After they came in, the midwife stood aside like a ghost. She rarely saw women from wealthy families giving birth, and the mother-in-law was so nervous that she even went into the delivery room to visit them. Usually, she would wait outside or go to the Buddhist hall to pray for the safety of the mother and child. The reason why the old lady of the Gu family was so nervous was probably because this was the first child of the Marquis of Changxing, a child she had been looking forward to for so many years.

The midwife felt pressured in front of these people, and her words and actions became restrained, which affected her performance. So she carefully said, "Lord Marquis, Madam, First Madam, Second Madam, the delivery room is a dirty place. Why don't you all go out first?"

Old Madam Gu noticed her concerns, comforted her daughter-in-law for a while, and then took the other two daughters-in-law out to wait.

Meng Jinyao's abdominal pain had subsided. Seeing that Gu Jingxi was still there, she said softly, "Husband, you should go out too. I don't feel any pain now."

Gu Jingxi said, "I'm not going anywhere, I'll stay here with you."

Meng Jinyao felt a warmth in her heart, but still insisted, "I'm really fine. The delivery room is filthy, you should leave. I've heard that men shouldn't be in the delivery room."

Gu Jingxi said gently, "Don't listen to the midwife's nonsense. How is giving birth unclean? Our child is very clean."

Midwife: "...?"

She wasn't saying the child was unclean; she meant that women bleed during childbirth, and that blood is considered unclean, and the scene is bloody. The delivery room is an unlucky place of bloodshed, and men will lose luck in such an unclean place. This isn't her saying; it's been said this since ancient times.

However, the midwife was quite sensible and said, "Madam, you are still far from giving birth. It's fine to let the Marquis stay here with you. He can leave when you are about to give birth."

Gu Jingxi gave the midwife an approving look.

Midwife: "..."

Fortunately, she was good at reading people's expressions, otherwise she would have been disliked today. Lady Hou was lucky to have such a good husband. Other husbands would have their wives taken care of by maids and servants when they were in labor, and they would not set foot in such a filthy place for fear of getting bad luck.