Soon it was time for Xi Lingyuan to give birth. The night in the capital was locked by the heavy palace walls, and the chill seeped into the bones.
Inside the emperor's birthing chamber, the air seemed to solidify into viscous amber. The thick, pungent stench of blood, penetrating the precious benzoin incense, permeated every corner. Warm water in copper basins was carried in one after another, emerging as a shocking dark red.
The water droplets in the water clock dripped, dripping, sending shivers down one's spine. Each drop struck the taut nerves of Kang Kang, who waited outside the palace. Dressed in plain brocade robes, he stood outside the tightly closed vermilion-lacquered, carved palace doors, his posture as upright as a solitary pine tree. Yet, his hands, hidden beneath his wide sleeves, were clenched into fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, his knuckles turning bluish-white from the excessive force. Just moments before, a palace maid had rushed out carrying a blood-stained cloth. He had instinctively caught a glimpse of the glaring color, and his heart sank sharply, as if gripped tightly by an invisible hand and then thrown heavily into an abyss.
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty, push!" Inside the birthing chamber, the midwife's voice was filled with suppressed panic, and her tone trembled uncontrollably at the end.
"The head...the head is out! It's the prince!" another voice exclaimed briefly with elation.
But before this joy could take root, it was shattered by a mature and composed voice that was now completely disoriented: "Oh no! There's another one... a twin! Your Majesty... Your Majesty is exhausted! The placenta is stuck... blood... blood is gushing out like a fountain!"
The words "blood gushing like a spring" were like icy arrows, piercing through the heavy palace doors, nailing straight into Kang Kang's ears, and then fiercely striking his heart. His mind went completely blank, as if all the dams of reason had been instantly breached by a raging torrent of fear. What were the boundaries between ruler and subject, what were the strict rules of the palace, what was the ironclad rule that men were not allowed to enter the delivery room... all of these turned to dust at this moment, completely overwhelmed by the pungent smell of blood and the sudden surge of panic within the delivery room.
"Ah Yuan—!" A roar, filled with heart-wrenching fear, suddenly shattered the oppressive silence outside the hall.
A figure as swift as the wind swept past the outer hall, heading straight for the inner chamber where the curtain separating life and death stood.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, wake up! Ginseng slices! Quickly suck on ginseng slices to help you breathe!" It was the female pharmacist's shrill scream, her voice trembling with tears.
"The bleeding... can't be stopped..." The old woman's voice was reduced to a desperate sob.
He could only watch helplessly as the figure moved inside through the thin, yet incredibly heavy silk, listening to the increasingly faint breaths, his heart aching as if it were being boiled in oil.
Through the gap in the curtain and the flickering candlelight, he saw the familiar imperial couch. Xi Lingyuan lay there, her black hair soaked and disheveled against her pale, paper-like face. Her once bright and sparkling eyes were now tightly closed, her long eyelashes casting heavy shadows, and her lips were devoid of any color.
"Ah Yuan..." Kang Kang's voice caught in his throat, broken and incoherent. He suddenly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and the heavy smell of blood filled his lungs, like being cut by a knife.
"Bring the golden needles!" His voice suddenly rose, piercing through the chaotic cries inside the curtain, carrying an unquestionable, absolute authority befitting a disciple of the divine physician, and a desperate, madness-like resolve. "Needle acupuncture at 'Baihui' and 'Renzhong', prepare 'Guyuan Tang' decoction with three qian of Panax notoginseng powder, and apply moxibustion to 'Qihai' and 'Guanyuan'! Hurry! If you delay even a moment, I will have your entire family executed!"
Each word was like an icicle, striking the palace servants who were running around in a panic behind the curtain, sending a shiver down their spines. The female apothecary seemed to awaken from a dream, and almost scrambled to the curtain, trembling as she handed over the jade tray containing golden needles.
Kang Kang's hand, the hand that had countless times taken pulses with a thread and saved lives on the brink of death, now slipped through the gap in the curtain and steadily, without the slightest error, took the jade plate. The touch of his fingertips to the cold golden needles seemed to freeze all his trembling instantly.
Through the thin veil, he relied entirely on his memory of countless times tracing the acupoints on her body with his fingertips, and the subtle undulations he observed through the curtain to pinpoint the location with pinpoint accuracy. Each needle insertion carried the all-or-nothing gamble of his life's learning, and also the tremor deep within his soul.
"Ugh..." A faint, almost inaudible groan escaped from inside the curtain.
"Ah Yuan! Ah Yuan! Look at me!" Kang Kang's voice could no longer maintain its feigned composure; every word trembled violently, thick with nasal congestion and hoarse on the verge of collapse, like a traveler trudging through an inescapable hell, futilely calling out to a fading glimmer of light, "Brother Kang Kang is here! Brother Kang Kang is here! Please... please look at me..."
"Kang Kang...brother...it hurts so much..."
That whispered call, barely audible, struck Kang Kang's heart like a thunderclap.
"I'm here! A-Yuan, I'm here!" he choked out, his voice broken and fragmented, each word seemingly squeezed out from blood and tears, "It doesn't hurt anymore... it will hurt soon... brother will protect you... brother will protect you..."
He repeated these feeble words of comfort in a hoarse voice as his hands continued to move. Time crawled slowly amidst the mingled smells of blood and medicine, each breath feeling like an eternity. His world consisted only of the faint breathing behind the curtain and the beating of his own heart.
I don't know how much time passed, but it seemed as if all the despair had been drained away.
"Wah—!" A loud, vibrant cry, like the first rays of the rising sun piercing through thick dark clouds, suddenly resounded throughout the maternity ward shrouded in the shadow of death!
Immediately following, another cry, equally loud but with a slightly different rhythm, rang out!
"They're born! They're born! Two princes! Two little princes!" The birthing chamber erupted with deafening cries and congratulatory shouts filled with the joy of surviving a catastrophe, almost lifting the roof off the palace.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty is blessed with boundless fortune! May Heaven protect you!"
"Mother and child are safe! Mother and child are safe!"
All the noise and ecstasy faded into a blurry background the moment Kang Kang rushed through the curtain.
Kang Kang staggered, as if he had traversed countless mountains and rivers, exhausting all his strength, before finally reaching the bedside.
Xi Lingyuan had opened her eyes sometime earlier. Her phoenix eyes, though lacking their former sharpness and filled with extreme weakness, clearly reflected his disheveled, tear-streaked face. With great difficulty, she managed a tiny upward curve to her lips, her voice barely a whisper, her breath weak, yet carrying a uniquely her own, wry smile of relief:
"Silly...silly brother...your tears...are more bitter than...more bitter than bitter medicine..."
Kang Kang was stunned, and then a wave of overwhelming sorrow and pity surged in his heart.
He lowered his head and buried his face in her cool palms. Hot tears soaked her skin, and his shoulders continued to tremble uncontrollably.
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