Chapter 29 Difficult Childbirth.

Qin Lie came here this time to say goodbye to his grandmother. He always came to talk to his grandmother before leading his troops into battle.

This time, however, he was not attacking the Xiongnu, but the prince of the Great Han.

Without issuing a proclamation or laying any groundwork, he led an army of 50,000 men and set off directly, aiming his sword at Hengzhou.

Even though the states are now in complete disarray, fighting each other for territory, there are still a few states that remain independent and untouched by anyone.

Besides the four border generals stationed in various prefectures and counties, Hengzhou was one of them. As the hometown of Prime Minister Guo, it had been managed for over twenty years, and its troops were undoubtedly well-trained and its generals brave and strong. Now, it had attracted many local generals to come and join it. Hengzhou was not only vast in area, but also had high walls and deep city walls, and abundant food supplies, making it an extremely tough nut to crack.

But they ran into Qin Lie, that mad dog, whose blade went unchecked.

After conquering ten cities and defeating seven generals, they quickly arrived at the gates of Hengzhou Prefecture.

The Seventh Prince stood on the city wall and roared, "General Qin, what benefits did my nephew give you to make you work so hard?! Don't you know he's nothing but a puppet? The dignified Qin Lie of Ji Province is actually willing to be ordered around by Geng Qing?! What about the Qin family's decades of glory?"

Qin Lie, mounted on his horse, asked, "Seventh Prince, do you still remember my sister from Huangzhou?"

Even before Qin Lie attacked, the Seventh Prince had already considered all the grudges between them, and naturally remembered the few times he had interacted with the Qin family. Since Qin Lie was willing to speak, there was room for negotiation. He said, "I suppose General Qin also knows that it was just a misunderstanding. Didn't your sister return to Jizhou safely?"

Qin Lie then asked, "Do you remember my wife from Qingzhou?"

Qingzhou? The Seventh Prince remembered someone who had disguised herself as a young lady from the Qin family. "But... wasn't that just an ordinary girl?"

He was still in a daze when he suddenly realized what had happened. He had just finished talking with Guo Xiang about their past grievances a few days ago, and he was so angry that he almost died on the spot.

The Seventh Prince really messed things up! The person he couldn't win over despite all his scheming had actually driven his wife to her death years ago.

Regardless of how loving Qin Lie and his late wife were, even if they were a mismatched couple, it would still be a great disgrace for a man to be with another woman!

But who was Prime Minister Guo? He had once served alongside the former Grand Secretary in court, and was the kind of person who would swallow his pride. He immediately smiled obsequiously and said, "What does a great man have to worry about not having a wife? If it weren't for that misunderstanding, how could Princess Yongjia have married you? The princess is a beauty of unparalleled grace, and the general surely knows this best. If the general is willing to lend us a hand, once we recover the capital, the princesses in the capital will be beautiful in all shapes and sizes. At that time, we can have Ehuang and Nüying on either side of us. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Qin Lie's response was to aim an arrow straight for Guo Xiang's throat; if Liu Yunfei hadn't pulled him back, Guo Xiang would have surely died on the spot.

"If we can't agree on something, there's no point in saying more," Qin Lie put down his bow and arrow, swung his right arm forward, and gave orders.

"Attack the city."

The original plan was to capture the prefecture in more than half a month, but unexpectedly, the Jizhou iron cavalry broke through the city gates in less than ten days. After entering, they found that the city was deserted, leaving only a group of terrified civilians. The Seventh Prince and his tens of thousands of troops had already moved away through the tunnels.

On the day Qin Hong attacked the city, he learned the truth about his third sister-in-law's suicide. He was furious. Now that his enemy had escaped, he drew his sword and looked around in confusion. He gritted his teeth and said, "Third brother, I'll go after them! I'll bring back their heads strung together so you can kick them around like a football!"

Qin Lie, however, entrusted the matter to Sun Yuebin.

Qin Hong retorted, "This kid may have some quirky talents, but he relies on real skill and horsemanship to catch up with the enemy. He's not even as fast as someone driving a donkey on horseback, so what good is his chasing ability!"

Qin Lie seemed not to hear him, sitting on his horse, gazing absently in the direction of Jizhou.

Qin Hong was about to say something more when he suddenly heard him say, "I have urgent business to attend to. You take care of things here."

After saying that, he ignored Qin Hong's strange shouts behind him, spurred his horse and galloped away. As soon as he moved, hundreds of his personal guards followed him away, leaving only the dust kicked up by the horse's hooves covering Qin Hong's face and mouth.

He galloped back to the palace, tossed his whip to a servant, and hurried on. Halfway there, he suddenly stopped, stood for a moment, and then returned to his study.

He took a bath, changed his clothes, and drank a cup of tea, but his restlessness only intensified. To make matters worse, Qin Xiaochuan kept talking about irrelevant things in his ear, such as the imperial court, Jiangnan, Japanese pirates, and prefectures.

All of it is useless.

His brows furrowed even more deeply, a sight that made Qin Xiaochuan's heart tighten. A thought lingered on his tongue for a moment, but he swallowed it back.

Learning from past mistakes, he didn't forget why Qin Xiaoshan was punished.

She also didn't forget Chunying's fate—because the general's clothes were not from the royal palace, she guessed that they were made by the princess's palace. She then had someone stake out the place and, through the things the princess's palace people bought, found out that the princess was pregnant and secretly told her mistress.

Qin Xiaochuan never imagined that a maid in a secluded mansion could have such a meticulous mind, and that no one had ever noticed it.

When Chunying was taken away, she answered his question with a bleak expression: "Where you put your heart, there are no secrets."

She kept begging him, "Please take me to see her, so I can die knowing what kind of person that princess is."

What kind of person is the princess?

Qin Xiaochuan didn't know, nor did he want to know. All he knew was that Qin Xiaoshan and Chunying, the general's close associates, had both fallen because of the princess.

Whether you try to please the princess or harm her, the outcome is never satisfactory.

Since that's the case, he should neither befriend nor antagonize the princess, but simply treat her as if she were invisible.

So he swallowed that news back down his throat and buried it deep inside.

The next morning, Qin Lie went to pay his respects to the old lady, but when he arrived, he was told that she was not there. His heart suddenly pounded, and he turned and walked eastward.

Those houses were extremely secluded. He walked through the small garden and saw the scene there. The old lady was standing outside, and several maids and women were going in and out. When he got closer, he saw that what she was bringing out was blood.

Cries of pain and groans came from inside the room. Qin Lie thought that she must be in great pain, otherwise, given her prideful nature, she would never be so unconcerned about others hearing her cries.

When the old lady saw him coming, she paused for a moment, then composed herself. "Lie'er."

Qin Lie lowered his eyes and walked to her side. The old lady said, "You've come at the right time. You've been in labor for a day and a night. This is how it is for women during childbirth; they inevitably suffer. This is a filthy place, not a place for men to set foot in. Go back to your own courtyard and wait. We will inform you when the baby is born."

Before Qin Lie could speak, a midwife came out of the room and ran to the two of them: "Madam, the baby is breech, this is a sign of a difficult labor. We really have no other choice. If this continues, excessive bleeding will not only kill the baby in the womb, but you will also lose your life..."

Qin Lie frowned deeply: "What exactly are you trying to say?"

The midwife hesitated and said, "Right now, only one of the mother and child can be saved..."

"Save the baby!" the old lady declared resolutely, and the midwife immediately ran back upon receiving the order.

Qin Lie took a step, but was stopped by the old lady, who stared at him intently and said, "I kept her here for your child, and you are the same."

She placed her hand on Qin Lie's shoulder. "If she dies, the child can stay and grow up upright in the Prince's Mansion. This is the best choice for you, your mother, your sister-in-law, your second brother, and even the entire Qin family. Lie'er, this is fate, and we cannot force it."

Lingyi lay there, already in a daze. The midwife put ginseng slices in her mouth, and she vaguely heard many sounds.

"To save the baby... cut open the abdomen and take out the child..."

"To save the mother... they literally pushed and pulled the child out..."

"...Will you do it, or should I?"

"...If something happens, how will I survive?"

"...I'll pay with my life!"

"There's no point in thinking too much, just do it..."

The excruciating pain of having both her body and soul torn apart made her want to give up several times.

But in the end, she endured it all. She didn't want to live alone, and she didn't want to die alone either.

The midwife was pushing on her lower abdomen. She weakly grabbed her hand and said hoarsely, "No, let me... let me try again, please."

The midwife stopped, gritted her teeth, and said, "Alright! Madam, you are a noble person, but our lives are not worthless either. Let's try again. Do as I say. Come on, hold on! You can't let your guard down... Push! Push harder! The child's life! Your life! So many lives are in your hands! You can't let your guard down!"

Lingyi's body tensed. She grabbed the midwife's arm and lifted herself up. Waves of pain washed over her, but she gritted her teeth and endured it, not even wanting to waste a groan. She focused solely on that one point. Just when she felt she really couldn't go on, a sharp pain struck, and everything suddenly calmed down. Relief and emptiness washed over her at the same time. Lingyi lost her strength, and her back fell heavily back down, fading into unconsciousness.

Qin Xiaohu came to the study to report, "A baby boy has been born, and both mother and child are safe. The midwife said that although it looked dangerous, the baby is actually quite small, and the princess was not injured. However, perhaps because he was poisoned before, the young master is much thinner and smaller than other newborns. The old lady has found a doctor to stay with him, and the wet nurses are also waiting."

When she left, Qin Xiaoshan came to see her off. Compared to before, he was more composed. He had a scar on his face, but fortunately it wasn't deep and would disappear in a few years.

"Brother Xiaoshan, congratulations on your return," Qin Xiaohu said in a low voice.

Although they were all orphans of soldiers from the Jizhou Army who died on the battlefield and could be said to have grown up together, people have different degrees of closeness and distance. Qin Xiaohu and Qin Xiaoshan were obviously closer.

The general always rewards and punishes people directly, regardless of right or wrong. No one has ever been punished and then returned. Qin Xiaoshan is the only exception, and she is genuinely happy for him.

Qin Xiaoshan nodded and smiled in response.

.

A few days later, when Qin Lie went to pay his respects to the old lady again, he was surprised to find the wet nurse holding the child there.

The old lady said, "This child is born with a deficiency and still refuses to open his eyes. His crying is also quieter than that of other children."

Qin Lie leaned closer to look and saw that the child was wrinkled and looked like a hairless kitten, crying with its mouth open, its voice as weak as a mosquito's buzz.

He already had two sons, and he remembered that both children had loud voices when they were born. This child, however, was not even as loud as his daughter at that time. He frowned slightly, looking displeased.

The old lady glared at him and said, "What are you complaining about? This child was poisoned in the womb, and his mother was preoccupied when she was pregnant with him. It's already a miracle that he was born safely."

At her age, she always hoped to have children around her, but she was not the kind of domineering elder who would separate her children from their birth mother for the sake of her own family happiness. Therefore, since the Prince of Dingbei and his children grew up, she had never personally raised her children, and it has been decades now.

This child was, after all, of the Qin family bloodline, and was born frail. After being cared for in the courtyard for a few days, seeing that Qin Lie was not pleased, the old lady couldn't help but feel a protective instinct towards him.

Qin Lie said, "I don't mind."

The old lady snorted.

Qin Lie added, "I have already found a suitable family for him, and he can be sent away at any time."

The old lady pondered for a moment and said, "This child was born weak. No matter how good the family you find is, they are still farmers. It's cold outside now, and sending the child there would probably be a waste of his life. It would be better to raise him here with me first, and send him over when he is stronger and the weather is warmer."

Qin Lie stopped mentioning it and sat for a while longer. When he was about to leave, the old lady said, "The child's mother has been crying and wanting to see you ever since she woke up."

Qin Lie said calmly, "There's nothing to see. Since she's causing you trouble, I'll just send her back to the princess's residence."

The old lady said, "She's been crying every day since she was born. How many eyes wouldn't go blind from crying? She's a pitiful person. Go and try to persuade her. Even if you can't persuade her, at least put an end to her thoughts. As for the future... wait until she's out of confinement before you leave. It's freezing cold here, and we don't want her to go through all that trouble."

Qin Lie had no choice but to agree.

It snowed again yesterday, but it wasn't a heavy snowfall in Jizhou; the snow wasn't even ankle-deep.

The old lady was quite old, and many places in the courtyard had already been cleaned, but the area leading to the princess's residence was still covered in white, with only two lines of footprints. It was clear that no one had visited the place except for Granny Shen.

These three rooms used to be a place for the old lady to rest when she got tired in the courtyard. Unlike the princess's mansion, where three doors were needed to enter the bedroom for protection from the wind and cold, here there were only thick cotton curtains hanging outside.

Before even entering, one could hear suppressed sobbing and faint whimpering from inside.

He lifted the curtain and entered. It was very hot inside, with the underfloor heating burning brightly. The two maids turned around and knelt down to greet him.

Lingyi, dressed in her undergarments and covered with a quilt, leaned against a pillow. Her eyes were slightly swollen, and her face was still pale, with only streaks of tears.

He sat imposingly on the chair brought by the maid and asked her, "You want to see me?"

She immediately leaned forward, grabbed his sleeve, raised her tearful eyes, and gazed at him: "General, please let me see our child!"

It was that same expression again, her beautiful eyes filled with gentle tenderness, complete trust and reliance, as if not agreeing to her would be a sin.

Qin Lie looked into her eyes and suddenly smiled, relaxed and carefree. "Don't worry, he is my flesh and blood after all. How could I mistreat him? I found him a good match months ago."