Chapter Thirty-Five

The young prince was wrapped in Qingxi's arms. Qingxi quickly climbed onto the carriage, and the imperial guard who was acting as the coachman cracked his whip. Four swift horses galloped together, bursting through the palace gates and speeding towards the Dingbei Prince's Mansion.

The snow fell heavier and heavier, leaving only a single hoofprint winding its way away.

*

Dingbei Palace.

Gu Leyao knew nothing about what was happening in the palace. In the past few days, she had entrusted her family to inquire about midwives in the capital and selected several skilled artisans who were not well-known.

Midwives are also valued based on their background. Ideally, they should be women from respectable, commoner families with many descendants. Such midwives are the most sought after.

Women from lowly families or with few children, even if they were skilled, were not sought after as midwives and thus did not have a good reputation in the capital.

Gu Leyao was wondering how she should send the midwife into the palace.

The Empress's pregnancy looks bad. If she sends a midwife with an unlucky fate into the palace, will it displease the Emperor and Empress?

In the original owner's memory, the Empress's childbirth was extremely difficult, and she even died in childbirth. Gu Leyao had spent some time with the young prince and had developed an emotional bond with him. She couldn't bear to see the young prince lose his mother at the age of five or six.

Outside, snow was falling heavily. Gu Leyao sat at her desk, unconsciously biting the tip of her calligraphy brush, her brows furrowed, preoccupied with how to send the newly found midwife to the palace.

"Royal Aunt, Royal Aunt!"

Gu Leyao thought she heard the little prince's voice, but she thought she was too tired and had misheard.

She turned her head and glanced at the shattered lamp flame, thinking that she might be hallucinating because she missed the child so much.

Gu Leyao shook her head, prepared to blow out the candles, and got up to go to sleep. These past few days she had been studying and doing accounts, which had been exhausting. She should rest early; early to bed and early to rise is the best way to stay healthy.

As she was thinking this, she suddenly heard the door slam open.

The little prince darted in like a golden cannonball, rushing into Gu Leyao's room and leaping into her arms.

"Aunt! Aunt! Come with me quickly to save Mother."

Li Heng followed him in. He had received the news as soon as the young prince barged into the Prince of Dingbei's residence.

Upon learning of the Empress's difficult childbirth, Li Heng had his clothes packed and got up, quickly getting into a wheelchair.

Li Heng followed the young prince into Gu Leyao's room.

Gu Leyao was yawning when the biting cold wind outside suddenly blew into the room with the arrival of the young prince.

Gu Leyao shivered, her mind clearing. "You asked me to save your mother? What happened to the Empress?"

Could it be that the birth has already ended in complications?

The little prince's usually smiling eyes were now filled with tears. "The imperial physician said that Mother's delivery is difficult this time, and both mother and child may not survive. Imperial Aunt, please go and save them! Didn't we save a woman in difficult labor by the roadside last time? Please come with me to the palace to save my mother, I beg you, Imperial Aunt!"

Gu Leyao was able to save that woman in difficult childbirth last time because the woman was indeed on the verge of death, and the woman had no family background, so her husband didn't dare to rely on Gu Leyao.

But this time, the person the young prince asked Gu Leyao to save was not an ordinary person, but the Empress.

Gu Leyao felt a sense of fear. She subconsciously looked at Li Heng and said, "Aheng, I really have no confidence that I can save Her Majesty the Empress. Last time I was able to save that woman in difficult childbirth, it was purely by chance. I really have no confidence this time."

Li Heng grasped Gu Leyao's hand. "Let's go take a look. The imperial physicians in the palace are all top-notch doctors, and even they can't save her. You're not a professional, but you're willing to try your best. No one will blame you."

Gu Leyao clenched her fists to encourage herself, and then instructed the housekeeper to bring along all the midwives they had found in the past few days.

Three cobblers with their wits combined can outwit Zhuge Liang; perhaps these people can save the Empress?

...

*

On a snowy night, the snow was howling.

Gu Leyao held the little prince in her arms and led Li Heng and his entourage, riding four fine horses, and rushed into the imperial city. They made their way in unimpeded until they arrived at the inner palace of Fengyi Palace.

Inside the inner palace of Fengyi Palace, the Empress's voice was weak and almost inaudible.

The Emperor had already dismissed those who tried to stop him and entered the inner chamber to accompany the Empress.

With the Empress's life hanging by a thread, why would he care about such mundane formalities?

The young prince rushed to the emperor's side, "Father, I've brought my imperial aunt. She can definitely save Mother. Please let her save Mother."

Li Heng grasped Gu Leyao's hand, "Brother, Leyao has only been studying medical books for less than a year, and her medical skills are still shallow. She is not entirely confident."

Gu Leyao also grasped Li Heng's hand in return; the Emperor's condition was terrifying.

The Empress is indeed on the verge of death, and Gu Leyao is not entirely confident that she can save her.

The emperor raised his eyes, which were usually clear but were now bloodshot.

He bowed solemnly to Gu Leyao and said to her, "I have already heard from Chong'er about what happened to you last time. Sister-in-law, no matter what the outcome, I will only be grateful to you. Please do your best."

The Emperor let out a sigh of relief. “Do your best to save her. The imperial physicians and midwives have said there is nothing more they can do. Sister-in-law, please do your best to treat her. No matter what the outcome, I will never blame anyone.”

Gu Leyao returned the greeting solemnly, then raised her hand to allow the midwife from the Prince's mansion to stay in the inner hall with her.

The Emperor and Crown Prince Li Heng were both expelled from the inner palace. With too many people around, bacteria would multiply, and Gu Leyao dared not allow the already fragile Empress to be disturbed in any further way.

Gu Leyao had someone feed the Empress some ginseng water. The Empress slowly breathed a sigh of relief, forced her eyes open slightly, and vaguely saw Gu Leyao.

Gu Leyao said to the Empress, "Your Majesty, please listen to my instructions and do not shout loudly anymore. No matter how much it hurts, please bear with it. Shouting will only deplete your strength."

Gu Leyao and an elderly midwife exchanged glances. The midwife quickly lit candles, prepared a pot of strong liquor, and a pair of gleaming iron scissors. She poured the liquor over them to sterilize them, and then heated them over a fire to disinfect them.

The empress had a thick, soft towel between her teeth, cold sweat pouring down her face. She felt as if her whole body was being torn apart, and she let out moans, but she dared not shout or scream.

As night broke into dawn, a rooster crowed loudly in the distance, and the cry of a newborn baby shattered the silence of the Phoenix Palace that had lasted all night.

Two midwives carried the two babies out of the inner palace. The Emperor and the young Crown Prince ignored the swaddling clothes and craned their necks to look into the inner palace, wanting to see how the Empress was doing.

The midwife said, "Congratulations to Her Majesty the Empress on the birth of twins, a boy and a girl. Both mother and children are safe and sound. However..."

"But what is it? Tell me quickly!" The little prince frowned as he looked at the midwife.

"But... but this time, Her Majesty the Empress may never be able to have children again," the midwife said tremblingly.

The Emperor and the Crown Prince laughed like two fools. One of them said, "Is the Empress well? As long as the Empress is well, that's all that matters."

Another said, "As long as my mother is safe and sound, I don't want any more younger brothers and sisters."

Gu Leyao, supporting her back, walked out of the inner palace. "Her Majesty the Empress has already gone to sleep."

She was drenched in cold sweat and couldn't help but sneeze.

Li Heng draped the rabbit fur cloak he was holding over Gu Leyao's shoulders.

Gu Leyao squeezed Li Heng's fingers; both of their hands were ice-cold.

Gu Leyao squeezed Li Heng's hand to comfort him, then turned to the Emperor and the Crown Prince and said, "I have been staying in the palace these past few days to accompany the Empress. Although the Empress's life has been saved, her health will deteriorate significantly in the future. I hope you are prepared for this."

The emperor suddenly burst into tears, "It's all my fault. I insisted on continuing the imperial line, which almost cost the empress her life."

Tears of emperors, fleeting in an instant.

The young prince punched the emperor twice, saying, "I don't want my younger brother and sister anymore, I only want my mother."

The emperor held the young crown prince in his arms and did not let go for a long time.

Li Heng held Gu Leyao's hand, his head bowed, seemingly lost in thought.

...

*

The Empress woke up three days later, and Gu Leyao stayed by her side all day.

Gu Leyao was sleeping soundly when she suddenly felt the Empress's fingers trembling.

She woke up groggily and saw the Empress with her eyes half-open, saying she wanted to drink water.

Gu Leyao quickly woke up all of the Empress's maids. One helped the Empress get up, while the other fed her some warm brown sugar water.

When Gu Leyao saw that the Empress looked noticeably more energetic after drinking the brown sugar water, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Could it be said that she changed the Empress's fate in her previous life? The young Crown Prince would not become the cold and taciturn young emperor he would become in the future.

Upon hearing that the Empress had awakened, Emperor Li Heng arrived. It was just after the New Year, and the country was in a time of great need for reconstruction. Spring plowing and sacrificial rites had begun, and the Emperor and Li Heng were discussing matters in the Hall of Diligent Governance.

When the young prince heard that his mother had woken up, he stopped attending classes and had Qingxi carry him. The two of them, panting, ran to the Phoenix Palace.

The Empress beckoned the young prince over, touched his little face, and said, "You've lost weight. I think I've worried you these past few days."

The little prince rubbed his face against the Empress's slightly cool fingers, saying, "Mother, you must take good care of yourself."

The Empress patted the young prince on the shoulder, telling him not to be afraid.

Although the Empress is still weak, her life is no longer in danger.

As soon as she regained some energy, she asked the wet nurse to bring over the two children and gently kissed their foreheads.

The Empress asked the Emperor, "Has the child been named yet?"

The Emperor shook his head. These past few days he had been worried about the Empress's health and state affairs, so he had no time to name the two children.

The Empress pondered for a moment, "The two children are twins, a boy and a girl. It is said that they are blessed with good fortune, so let's name them Li Jin and Li Yu. Li Jin is a girl and Li Yu is a boy, which is very appropriate."

The Empress fell asleep again shortly after waking up, and the group of people, fearing to disturb her rest, all withdrew from the palace.

The Emperor looked at Gu Leyao with gratitude. He knew that the Empress would not have survived this ordeal without Gu Leyao's help. "The Empress's safety this time is entirely due to your help. Is there anything you want? Just tell me."

Gu Leyao dared to take this risk because of Chong'er and Li Heng; she herself didn't want anything.

The Prince's mansion has everything. She is now a first-rank princess, and her status cannot be more noble. It seems there is nothing she wants.

but……

Gu Leyao thought of the woman who had a difficult childbirth last time, Li Heng's injured leg, and the dangerous process of the Empress's childbirth.

Gu Leyao suddenly had a bold idea. "Your Majesty, I would like to request your permission to establish a medical academy. In this academy, regardless of one's birth status, one will be selected based solely on their talent in medicine. Anyone with high medical skills can enter the academy to study. Outstanding individuals can become the court's recognized chief physicians, receiving salaries and official positions."

The Emperor gave Gu Leyao a deep look and finally agreed.