Chapter Thirty-One
After entering the palace, Li Heng told the emperor in detail what had happened that day.
Finally, he said to the Emperor, "...Le Yao and Chong'er are kind, and I hope Your Majesty will not blame them."
The Emperor couldn't help but laugh when he saw that his brother was defending the two troublemakers. His brother was usually such an upright and calm person, but now he was actually defending others.
He reassured her, "Alright, alright, how could I blame them? It wasn't their fault at all. But this matter cannot be known to your sister-in-law. She is pregnant now and is not feeling well. If she finds out, she will probably worry."
Speaking of the Empress, the Emperor continued to grumble with worry, "The Empress's belly is very big this time, and she is having a particularly difficult pregnancy. It's nothing like when she was pregnant with Chong'er, when it was much easier."
"Your Majesty is the Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty, a model of virtue for the nation. Good fortune will always be with you, so Your Majesty need not worry too much."
Li Heng naturally reassured the emperor, and after some deliberation, he realized that his family had stockpiled many precious herbs because of his long illness, some of which had remarkable effects on preventing miscarriage. He could send them over after he returned to his palace.
*
The Duke of Anguo's Mansion.
Gu Leyao and the little prince ate, drank, and played in the room for several hours. After playing enough, they took a nap before getting up.
Outside, the old lady of the British Duke's mansion had been kneeling until her legs were swollen. The brat was originally unable to kneel, but because the old lady forced him to kneel down, the brat even threw a tantrum at the old lady.
He was finally slapped by the old lady, and only when he realized that his grandmother was really angry did he calm down and stop being so domineering.
The group of ladies couldn't help but whisper among themselves, "Isn't this child supposed to be well-behaved? Luckily, they've run into a brick wall this time, otherwise who knows how many other children would suffer in the future."
Winter days are short and it gets dark early. When Gu Leyao and the young prince were on their way home, they passed by an old woman from the Duke of Ying's mansion kneeling on the ground.
Gu Leyao saw that the old lady of the British Palace had changed her previous arrogant demeanor and was now kneeling obediently on the ground, and the brat had stopped making noise.
She genuinely felt that power was a wonderful thing.
Gu Leyao held the little prince in her arms, glanced at the old woman from the Duke of Ying's mansion, and then looked around at the noblewomen who were watching the drama unfold. Her eyes were cold and stern. "Those who insult others will always be insulted in return. Before you hurt others, you must be prepared to be hurt yourself!"
She tossed her cloak aside, and the noblewoman instinctively made way for her.
The young prince was pretending to be injured, but he couldn't help but whisper in Gu Leyao's ear, "My royal aunt is so amazing!"
Gu Leyao's cold smile instantly crumbled. Taking advantage of everyone's inattention, she lowered her head slightly and said, "When dealing with bad people, you have to be even worse than them!"
The little prince chuckled.
Gu Leyao carried the little prince and quickly left the Duke of Anguo's mansion. She first put the little prince into the carriage, and just as she was about to get into the sedan chair, she was suddenly stopped by a little girl.
A little girl, about six or seven years old, holding a small white dog in her arms, bowed slightly to them and said, "Your Highness, Your Highness, thank you both for saving me and Little White this time."
The young prince poked his head out from behind the curtains and said to Gu Leyao, "Aunt, this little girl looks like the one who was protecting the dog during the day and got beaten up by that bad kid."
Gu Leyao tapped the little prince's head, "You're only five years old yourself, and you're calling her a little girl?"
The little prince tilted his head and rubbed against Gu Leyao's hand, "Auntie."
Gu Leyao shivered as she stood outside for a while. She said to the little girl, "Don't worry about it. The Crown Prince and I also hate that bad child. We are just doing what is right."
The little prince nodded and raised his little fist. "Yes, we are acting on behalf of Heaven."
A slight smile appeared on the little girl's fair face. "No matter what, thank you both very much."
The young girl noticed that Gu Leyao was cold, thanked her repeatedly, and then left. Gu Leyao and the young prince quickly got into the carriage.
The young prince had a good impression of the little girl from earlier, and he asked Gu Leyao, "Aunt, whose daughter was that little girl?"
Gu Leyao took a sip of hot tea. "Her? She's the second young lady of the Ningguo Duke's Mansion."
The young prince was puzzled. "Since she is a young lady from the Duke's mansion, how could she be bullied?"
Gu Leyao remembered what the Duchess of Anguo had told her: "This second young lady's mother came from a very humble background and was married into the Ningguo Duke's mansion as a second wife."
The eldest daughter of the Duke of Ningguo's mansion is Xu Peiyi. Xu Peiyi's birth mother is the late emperor's sister and the daughter of the Grand Princess of Linchuan. Her family background is very strong. After she married the Duke of Ningguo, the two were very loving and their relationship was a beautiful story back then.
Unfortunately, fate intervened. Xu Peiyi's birth mother fell seriously ill. Fearing that her only daughter would be mistreated after her second wife entered the family, she specifically asked the Duke of Ningguo to marry a timid girl from a humble background before she died.
The Duke of Ningguo agreed, and after the marriage, he went to the northwest to guard the area. His second wife and husband were often separated, and she only had one daughter, Xu Moran, the second daughter of the Duke of Ningguo.
Relying on her status as the legitimate daughter of the first wife and the power of her maternal family, Xu Peiyi often bullied her younger sister at home.
Even if this second young lady was bullied, it was often to no avail if she went home and told her mother.
Gu Leyao felt that the old lady of the Duke of Ying's mansion probably saw that Xu Moran, as the second young lady of the Duke of Ning's mansion, had no support behind her, so she allowed her grandson to bully her and her dog.
Gu Leyao told the young prince the inside story of the matter.
The young prince understood and said to Gu Leyao, "Aunt, this second young lady is so pitiful. The Duke of Ningguo is not a good father either. Since he had a child, he should treat her well, otherwise he shouldn't have had her at all."
Gu Leyao sighed. Most men in the world are like this. Whether it's the Duke of Ningguo or her father in both her past and present lives, perhaps because men are not responsible for procreation, their feelings and dedication to their children are not as great as those of mothers. Therefore, they can easily give up their children sometimes.
Chun Tao opened the sedan curtain a crack and peeked out at the scenery outside.
Halfway through the journey, she suddenly grabbed Gu Leyao's hand with a look of horror and said, "Miss, Miss, there's a woman outside whose stomach has ruptured and she's bleeding a lot of red blood. It looks like she's having a difficult childbirth."
Gu Leyao quickly told the coachman to stop the carriage and let the guards go down to check first.
After examining the woman, the guard returned and reported to Gu Leyao, "The woman is having a difficult childbirth. The baby is displaced, and ordinary midwives cannot treat her. Her husband wants to send her to Ren'an Hall, but the doctors there are all men and are not skilled in gynecological diseases. The woman is about to die along with her unborn child. They plan to cut open her abdomen with scissors to save the baby."
Gu Leyao couldn't help but shudder at the mere thought of the scene. She told Chuntao and the coachman to keep an eye on the little prince, while she got off the carriage.
She remembered that when the original owner was in the northern border region, she had helped many people deliver babies, and several of the mothers had babies that were misplaced.
Gu Leyao felt that she had studied medicine for a long time these past few days and could do her best to help that woman.
If she were to leave, that woman would surely die.
If she can be saved, that would be the best outcome. If she can't be saved, she has done her best, and her family can't blame her.
She told the new mother's husband about it. The husband had nowhere to turn for medical help, so Gu Leyao was naturally more than happy to help and quickly agreed.
Gu Leyao had the people from Ren'an Hall open a room and ordered them to bring out white cloth, scissors, candles, and strong liquor.
The woman in labor had fainted from the pain, so Gu Leyao had the doctor from Ren'an Hall give her a bowl of ginseng soup.
After drinking the herbal soup, the woman's pale complexion regained some color, and she regained some strength.
Gu Leyao whispered in her ear, "You must have the strength to give birth. You can't keep yelling, or you and the baby will die."
The new mother knew she was there to help her, and nodded through gritted teeth.
Gu Leyao discovered that the baby in the mother's womb was reversed. Based on the original owner's memories and experience from her previous life, she helped the fetus turn back into the correct position little by little. After an unknown amount of time, Gu Leyao's forehead was covered in cold sweat. Finally, the baby's head emerged from the bottom first, followed slowly by the hands and feet... and then the entire body.
The woman's husband held the child and laughed heartily, saying, "I have an heir now."
The woman lay on the couch, covered in sweat and almost collapsing. Gu Leyao had someone bring her some food, and she held the woman's hand, saying, "You have to eat."
The woman had no appetite at all, but she obeyed and drank another bowl of ginseng soup before finally falling asleep in a daze.
After the husband was overjoyed to have the child, he went to check on his wife and found her asleep. He then said to Gu Leyao, "I didn't invite you here. Your clothes are all stained with blood, and I can't compensate you for them."
He pulled out several dozen copper coins from his pocket. "This is your consultation fee."
Gu Leyao shook her head. "Human life is the most precious thing, worth more than a thousand pieces of gold." [1]
"With these few dozen yuan, we should buy more things for this new mother; her body is too weak."
When the man saw that she didn't want it, he quickly put the coin back into his pocket.
Gu Leyao knew that he was secretly cursing her for being a sucker.
Gu Leyao calmed down in the snow for a while and heard the child crying and the man laughing loudly.
Can those few dozen coins be used for the new mother's medical expenses?
The young prince tried to peek outside, but Chun Tao pulled him into her arms. "Your Highness, the Princess Consort won't let you look. She said she's afraid you'll have nightmares when you get back. You have to be good."
The young prince had heard the woman's pitiful screams earlier, and after Gu Leyao came up, he asked her, "Aunt, is childbirth always this painful for women? Was my mother this painful when she gave birth to me?"
Gu Leyao thought for a moment and answered cautiously, "It hurts a lot."
She remembered someone describing the pain of childbirth in her past life as being like being run over by a large truck.
The young prince seemed lost in thought for a long, long time before finally saying with his head down, "Aunt, I miss Mother a little."
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