"Reporting to Madam, the princess hasn't started giving birth yet; she's still dilating inside." Feng Qing stood at the door, responsible for checking everything that entered the room, including the midwife.
"Mm." The Fujin nodded and sat down on the chair that Li Mama had found for her. Her eyes were fixed on the delivery room, but her thoughts were far from it.
As for Li and Song, since the Fujin (principal wife) didn't let them sit, they had to stand. In May, the weather was alright in the morning, but by noon, they would be sunburned and their skin would peel off. Li was irritable, and her gaze at the delivery room was undisguisedly malicious.
Half an hour passed, and it was still quiet inside. Occasionally, someone would go in or out, and through the crack in the open door, one could see shadowy figures moving about inside.
Just then, a commotion arose at the entrance of Luoxue Pavilion. The Fujin turned her head and saw Yinzhen leading a young imperial physician over. This must be the Imperial Physician Li. She had known about the imperial physician who came to examine Lady Yin every seven days, but had never seen him before. Seeing him today, she was indeed impressed by his youth.
"My lord." The princess consort rose and bowed.
"Your Majesty." Madam Li curtsied, raising her eyebrows slightly as she looked at Yinzhen with a captivating gaze.
Song bowed silently.
"Yes, Physician Li, go and take a look." Yinzhen nodded slightly, not even glancing at the three of them, and urged Yin Hengyi.
Yin Hengyi had observed the appearances of Yinzhen's three women and sneered inwardly, none of them comparable to his Xiaoyi. He bowed slightly to Yinzhen and headed towards the delivery room. As usual, Feng Qing checked Yin Hengyi before letting him in.
Meanwhile, Yin Qingyi in the delivery room was already eating noodles. The midwife had just checked and found that she was already eight centimeters dilated, which was almost enough. If she didn't eat now, she might not have time to eat later.
"Princess Yin, you don't seem to need a doctor's visit right now." Yin Hengyi looked at Yin Qingyi eating noodles, his eyes smiling, but his expression betrayed his true feelings.
"Yes, yes," Yin Qingyi said quickly, swallowing the noodles in her mouth, and then instinctively stretched out her hand.
Yin Hengyi was just saying it casually; how could he not show it to Yin Qingyi?
"Gege is doing very well, even better than expected. If all goes well, she should be giving birth in about 15 minutes. Has Granny Qi prepared any ginseng slices and brown sugar water?" Yin Hengyi withdrew his hand, quite surprised that his sister was doing so well.
"It's prepared." Granny Qi nodded. After getting to know this Physician Li over the past few months, she knew that his medical skills were truly excellent. She even felt that Physician Li's medical skills might even surpass those of the head of the Imperial Hospital. With him here today, she believed that the princess would not have any surprises.
"Okay, then I'll wait outside. Just call me if you need anything." Yin Hengyi stood up, his eyes falling on Yin Qingyi, his gaze filled with reassurance. He would always be there for her.
"Yes, thank you, Physician Li." Knowing that Yin Hengyi couldn't stay in the delivery room, Yin Qingyi lowered her eyes, hiding her thoughts, and answered softly with reluctance in her eyes.
After Yin Hengyi left, Yin Qingyi started having contractions again. She frowned and tried her best to endure it, but she didn't dare to push. She silently counted in her mind, and when she finished counting, the contractions subsided. As soon as the contractions stopped, Yin Qingyi quickly picked up her noodles and continued eating. Gege had said that she would give birth in about half an hour, so she had to eat quickly.
Before she could finish eating, the contractions started again. Yin Qingyi immediately put down her bowl and silently counted. After a while, she started eating again. This was repeated several times until Yin Qingyi finally finished the noodles, and her cervix was dilated to ten fingers.
"Princess, come on, you can push now. Remember not to shout, or you'll lose your strength," the midwife said loudly, supporting Yin Qingyi's legs.
"I know, let's begin." Yin Qingyi picked up the towel roll that had been prepared beforehand, stuffed it into her mouth, and bit down hard.
The midwife's eyes flashed with surprise. Although she said that, she didn't think these princesses would actually do it. After all, this was a great opportunity to win the men's sympathy. But as she said, when wouldn't there be opportunities? Why insist on doing it at this critical moment? Isn't that just asking for trouble? All that shouting will only lead to self-inflicted suffering. She hadn't expected this Princess Yin to be so shrewd. It seemed that Princess Yin's position would definitely rise after giving birth to these triplets.
Yinzhen was anxiously waiting outside, unable to sit still. Since he wouldn't sit, no one else dared to either, and they all stood with him, their jealousy of Yin Qingyi growing even stronger. They all secretly hoped that Yin Qingyi would give birth to the child and then die, so they could reap the benefits.
"Has the birth not started yet? Why is there no sound from inside?" Yinzhen asked anxiously as he walked to the door.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Princess has begun giving birth." Qiu Ju came out from inside, carrying a basin of bloody water. Her face was pale. She hadn't expected childbirth to be so frightening. Her hands were trembling as she held the basin.
"Then why is there no sound?" Yinzhen immediately became anxious. Had something happened? His face darkened as he looked at the basin of bloody water. He knew all too well that the sounds of women giving birth in the inner courtyard grew louder and sharper with each delivery. Now, this little woman was completely silent, leaving him no choice but to suspect something.
"Your Highness, the princess is biting a towel. The midwife said that shouting will weaken her strength, so..." Qiuju finished speaking and quickly went to fetch water.
Yinzhen's heart tightened upon hearing Qiuju's words. He knew better than anyone how afraid this little woman was of pain; she would usually cry out loudly at the slightest injury, yet she was able to endure it now. His eyes inexplicably stung.
The three women behind him watched as Yinzhen stood so intently at the entrance of the delivery room, staring inside, their handkerchiefs almost torn to shreds.
Yinzhen stood there until lunchtime, without moving an inch. He could hear Yin Qingyi's occasional muffled groans from inside, and the pain in those groans. Every time he heard them, Yinzhen's heart clenched. Sometimes he even forgot to breathe until the feeling of suffocation came and he suddenly remembered to gasp for air.
"My lord, why don't you go back and have your meal first? This is Sister Yin's first time giving birth, so it won't be quick." The princess consort felt a pang of sadness and stepped forward to say softly.
“Yes, sir, we should still…” Madam Li stepped forward and spoke in a sweet, cloying voice.
"Get out!" Yinzhen said in a hoarse voice, his voice filled with anger.
"..." All three were startled by Yinzhen's sudden outburst of anger. Even Song, who hadn't come over yet, was taken aback. She looked up at the man with his back to her, the man she thought she could rely on. Now, this man was actually yelling at his wife for another woman. A sense of desolation washed over her. This man ultimately didn't belong to her, nor to anyone else. How could she be sure that her fate wouldn't be the same for Yin? Look at Li, ten years of favor she enjoyed, all gone after Yin entered the household. Who knew if Yin's favor would end with the next woman to enter the household?
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