Chapter 68 Anger and Delusion "He and Ruan Yang are going to start over."...
Ruan Yang was exhausted and just wanted to fall asleep as soon as possible. The ginseng soup she swallowed in large gulps gradually lost its effect on her.
The wind and snow outside gradually subsided, and inside the house, the candlelight flickered, and all was deathly silent.
Seeing this, the village woman said, "I know a doctor in the city who specializes in treating difficult childbirth, but that doctor has a strange temper, and my wife went into labor in the middle of the night. I'm afraid we won't be able to get him to come immediately, and besides..."
The village woman glanced at the weak girl on the bed. A few strands of hair clung to her forehead, her lips were pink and white, and she was barely breathing. The soft pillow under her neck was soaked with tears.
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Wang said before the village woman could finish speaking, "Then I'll trouble you to make a trip and invite that old doctor over! The reward is negotiable."
After speaking, she took out a pair of pearl earrings from her bundle and put them into the village woman's hand.
The village woman shook her head with difficulty: "It's the middle of the night. Not only is it easy to leave empty-handed, but it's also probably too late to make a round trip."
But they were women, and they didn't have the strength to carry Ruan Yang safely to the outskirts of the city.
No, this won't work, that won't work either. Ruan Yang closed her eyes and thought for a long time, her mind filled with the image of Lu Wenjin being tortured by Ning Xian to the point of wishing for death.
She wanted to seek justice and revenge for Lu Wenjin.
Ruan Yang bit her lower lip, swallowing back her tears: "I want to live, save me..."
Wang was taken aback. She had been worried that Ruan Yang was too protective of her child and would insist on saving the child, but after hearing this, she felt relieved.
The young general had privately instructed her before his death that if anything went wrong during childbirth, she must save the mother.
Can......
Wang took a deep breath, turned around and went outside to get her tools, but as soon as she lifted the curtain, she bumped into the man standing outside.
A dark figure stood in the vast white snow, its face unseen, and she was startled.
Ning Xian mistakenly thought that Wang was going to run away in the chaos. In his anxiety, he grabbed her collar and lifted her up: "Where are you going? Aren't you going back to deliver the baby?"
Lady Wang had never seen the emperor's true face, but the man before her had an extraordinary bearing and exuded an air of nobility, so she could roughly guess his identity.
Terrified, she clasped her hands together, her mind in turmoil, and said, "No, no, my wife said to save the child, no, to save the mother, but if these forceps go in, the mother might also suffer a hemorrhage."
Wang was crying uncontrollably and speaking incoherently. Ning Xian happened to only hear Ruan Yang say that he wanted to save the child.
He grabbed the petite Wang Shi and said through gritted teeth, "Take me to the doctor you just mentioned!"
"This...yes, yes!"
Ruan Yang lay alone on the bed. Although the fire in the stove was burning brightly, she felt very cold, and the baby in her belly was getting weaker and weaker.
Although she was reluctant to part with the child she had carried for ten months, she gradually accepted the less-than-ideal outcome.
"Ruan Yang!"
Before she lost consciousness, she heard someone calling her name, so she turned her head and saw Lu Wenjin, whom she felt most sorry for.
Although she couldn't see clearly, it was enough to make Ruan Yang drop the facade of strength she had put on. She stood there for a while, her eyelashes squeezing out the tears from her eyes, she made a soft whimpering sound, and the corners of her mouth turned down.
Her arms, which had been resting on either side, trembled as she raised them, as if asking for a hug.
Ning Xian strode over, quickly grabbed the trembling hands, then took off his warm cloak and wrapped it around Ruan Yang's body, lifting her up along with the quilt.
"Where's the carriage?! Call the driver here immediately!"
Ning Xian wrapped Ruan Yang up so that only her nose was exposed, making sure she wouldn't catch a chill. His subordinates worked quickly and soon brought a carriage.
The situation was urgent, and the coachman cracked his whip even more frequently.
Ning Xian kissed Ruan Yang's forehead and said in a trembling voice, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm here, you'll be alright."
Seeing that the person in his arms was no longer moving, he leaned against Ruan Yang in great fear, tears streaming down the girl's face like broken beads: "Don't die, what will I do if you leave me all alone?"
"You can't be so heartless as to abandon me. As long as you're willing to stay by my side, you can love whoever you want. I'll give you as many men as you desire!"
Ruan Yang didn't respond, remaining expressionless as she nestled in his arms. Ning Xian choked back tears, saying, "I'll never force you to have children again."
He held her small hand and pressed it against his left chest, filled with remorse: "I know I was wrong. When you wake up, the first thing you'll do is stab me here, okay? Hmm?"
Didn't you want to avenge Lu Wenjin? Didn't you hate him? Now open your eyes and take a look at him!
"arrive!"
The village woman jumped off the busy horse-drawn carriage and ran towards the door deep in the alley, pounding on the door knocker.
When no one responded, the guards simply kicked the door open roughly.
The lights were off in the courtyard, and everyone was asleep. The old doctor woke up with a start, threw on his clothes, opened the door, and angrily shouted, "Who are you?! A bunch of ill-mannered bastards! I'm telling you, that girl is beyond saving."
He turned and walked inside after speaking.
With a life at stake, the guard reacted swiftly, drawing his knife and holding it to the man's neck: "Should we save him or not?"
A flash of light appeared on the blade. The old doctor recognized it; it was a royal treasure. Then who was this man? He stared intently; the dragon patterns on the man's clothes gleamed brightly in the night…
Inside the room, the doctor used silver needles to stimulate acupoints, fed Ruan Yang medicine, and then ordered her to change positions. After a flurry of activity, progress was finally made.
Finally, at dawn, the baby's cries pierced the clouds.
"Thank God, she's finally given birth! My wife can rest for a while now."
Wang put a headband on Ruan Yang, wrapped him in a quilt, and then went to take care of the crying baby.
Ruan Yang was too tired. She glanced at the child and then snuggled into Ning Xian's arms and fell asleep.
Throughout this time, Ning Xian held Ruan Yang from behind, witnessing the entire process of the child's birth. When he saw the wet, living thing, he shed tears before Ruan Yang.
"Please bandage it up," Wang said, glancing at Ning Xian's blood-soaked arm.
Ning Xian's hand was bitten raw and bloody by Ruan Yang; the more pain she felt, the harder she gritted her teeth.
"No need, you can continue with your work."
"yes....."
In her haste to leave, Wang left the child's clothes at the village woman's house. To avoid the child catching a cold, she simply wrapped the child in a cotton sheet before going next door to boil water.
A mix of emotions—gratification, jealousy, or bitterness—was swirling within Ning Xian, creating a chaotic mess.
Only Ning Xian and a newborn baby remained in the room. Hearing the baby's soft whimpering, Ning Xian frowned and looked into the bamboo basket.
The child was very naughty. No sooner had Wang left than the child's delicate, translucent limbs broke free of the blanket and began to wave in the air.
It was pinkish-white, wrinkled, and hadn't opened its eyes yet.
Driven by curiosity, he went closer to examine it closely, but found it ugly no matter how he looked at it, like a baby mouse, and couldn't tell who it resembled.
In short, he's far inferior to Yang Yang.
He bent down and couldn't help but reach out and pinch the child's fidgeting calf, gesturing with his own fingers to the child's foot.
Her small feet were about the width of two of his fingers, and her arms and legs were also very thin. Seeing the white marks left on the skin he had touched, he quickly put them down, afraid of breaking them.
"Your Majesty, what should we do with this child?"
Wang Chong barged in, and his words shattered the tranquility of the room.
Ning Xian paused, his heart skipped a beat. Had he actually softened towards his enemy's child?
He glanced down at the contents of the bamboo basket. The more he looked at the child's features, the more he resembled Lu Wenjin. After a while, those dark, bright eyes half-opened.
After its bright, new pupils circled around, they suddenly fixed on Ning Xian's face. Although he knew that a newborn baby's vision was blurry and unable to focus, he still felt a strange sense of fear.
Wang Chong knew of Ning Xian's feelings for Ruan Yang, but for the sake of the bigger picture, he boldly advised, "If Your Majesty cannot bear it, then let me do it."
After speaking, he drew the knife from his waist and was about to stab it into the bamboo basket.
Ning Xian snapped out of his daze, shoved Wang Zhong aside, and saw the child start crying her heart out again. He frowned and said angrily, "It's none of your business! I will personally send this little thing down to see her father!"
After saying that, he hastily picked up the baby, who was as tender as tofu, and walked outside.
Ning Xian's posture in holding the child was completely wrong. Her already thin clothes had fallen onto the snow, and the hard, cold jade ring on her finger was uncomfortable. The child kept crying loudly.
The poor little face was red, whether from crying or from the cold.
Upon hearing the commotion, Wang rushed over and, seeing the situation, knew in her heart that it was all over.
The lady was still unconscious. Even if this old woman risked her life, she couldn't change the emperor's mind.
She knelt before Ning Xian, trying to block his path: "Where are you taking the young lady?"
The north wind howled, and Ning Xian, buffeted by the wind, became even more rational. He glanced at the child in his arms and sneered, "Little Miss? What kind of Miss? I think she's the daughter of a disgraced official who will never be able to hold her head up high. What right does the daughter of a disgraced official have to live?"
Wiping away her tears, Madam Wang said, "But...but this is the child our lady gave birth to after so much trouble. You saw it yourself, she spent the whole night trying to finish it..."
Ning Xian snorted, "If we don't deal with her now, do you want her to grow up to be like those women in the Lu family, sent to brothels to become prostitutes?"
Wang shook her head: "It's better to let her fend for herself. She's just a girl, and she's from a lowly family that she can't hold her head up. She'll never amount to anything!"
"Get out of the way!" Ning Xian shouted angrily and left everyone's sight.
This was a matter of life and death, and Wang Shi had no way to deal with it in the short term. Although the child was not related to her by blood, she had at least watched the child grow little by little in Ruan Yang's belly.
Moreover, the young general had shown her immense kindness, which she would never forget.
Wang mustered her courage and lunged at Ning Xian's back, baring her sharp teeth at the back of his hand.
As expected, she was kicked away mercilessly, and even her teeth were knocked out. She could only cry and scream until her voice was hoarse, and then immediately knocked over the pots and pans on the wooden shelf, trying to wake the sleeping Ruan Yang.
"The lady won't be able to bear it when she wakes up and finds out the baby is gone. You can't..."
Wang Chong frowned. If the woman in the room woke up, things would get complicated. So, with a "swish," the blade slit her throat, and Wang died with blood splattering everywhere.
Ning Xian glanced coldly at Wang Shi, then blew the dust off her sleeves and sighed, "Bury her properly, and send her family some more money."
He carried the child and walked for a while toward the bottomless cliff, then slowed his pace and said to his attendants, "No need to follow, we'll be done here soon."
"You must bring Lady Nguyen back to the palace, and remember to prepare the Soul-Separating Soup."
"yes."
With snow and mist filling his eyes, he raised his arms, suspending the small, fragile child on the edge of the cliff. Now, all he had to do was let go, and this little life that had just come into the world would vanish without a trace, not even a corpse.
Ning Xian laughed maniacally. Once the Soul-Separating Soup was given, how could Ruan Yang remember what he had done? When she woke up tomorrow, she would still call him Brother A-Xian as gently as before.
She will forget Lu Wenjin, and forget the daughter she once carried for ten months.
And I've forgotten that wretched version of myself from the past.
They're about to start over.
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