"Okay! I'll try again!" The main thing was that she reached in to check how many fingers dilated her cervix was, but there was too much flesh, and she couldn't put her hand in at all.
"Ah!" The midwife ruthlessly stuck her whole hand inside.
"Please bear with me, it will be over soon!" The midwife was heartbroken! She had taken on this job, not even knowing if the baby was in the right position or if it would even be born.
"Hurry, hurry, it hurts so much, Granny, it hurts so much!" Consort Guo never expected to suffer so much during her second pregnancy. She thought it would have been better not to have it at all. What use is a prince if she's already gone?
"Alright, Your Excellency is only two centimeters dilated. You may have a difficult labor. Go and call the imperial physician to prescribe labor-inducing drugs. We need to hurry!"
The midwife noticed that she had been in labor for several hours but was only dilated to two centimeters, which was clearly not right, so she quickly gave instructions.
Outside, the imperial concubine was still being fawned over. It wasn't until the palace maids hurriedly went to find the imperial physician that the concubines remembered their purpose. They looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to themselves that it was good that Emperor Kangxi hadn't arrived yet.
But Wanyi hadn't forgotten. She was just happy to see the Imperial Noble Consort's smugness. The more smug she was now, the more heartbroken she would be when something happened.
"This is Consort Guo's second pregnancy, so it should be an easy delivery. How come she had a difficult birth?" The Imperial Noble Consort called out to the palace maid who was walking back, puzzled.
"Even when Consort Guo was pregnant, she couldn't stop gaining weight, which led to a difficult labor!"
The young palace maid was frightened and dared not say that the midwife might not be able to deliver the baby, simply because Consort Guo was as fat as a pig.
"Go back and tell Consort Guo not to worry. I will give her the best and let her give birth in peace."
The Imperial Noble Consort was indeed magnanimous, and everyone present was lost in thought, especially Consort Yi, who subconsciously touched her belly.
"Yes!" the maid replied and hurriedly ran inside.
Time passed slowly, and the Imperial Noble Consort grew impatient, but she didn't show it. She simply granted everyone permission to sit down and wait, and the tea was refilled and changed repeatedly. Meanwhile, the delivery room was wide open, and a midwife with blood on her hands and a panicked expression ran out.
"Ah! What's going on?" Consort Yi and the Imperial Noble Consort were startled, while the others were only slightly surprised, especially Consort Yi.
"Your Highness, something terrible has happened! The Noble Consort's baby is in an abnormal position; the feet are coming out first. Please, Your Highness, make a decision!"
In the imperial harem, when the dragon's fetus is born feet first, the question is usually which one to save, the older or the younger. However, the midwife dares not say, because even if the younger one is saved, the little prince may not survive.
"This..." Faced with this situation, the rules dictate that the child should be saved, but these words shouldn't have come out of her mouth, so she was at a loss for what to do.
"Your Highness, please save the mother! I beg you!" Suddenly, Consort Yi knelt down and kowtowed to the Imperial Noble Consort. It was her last shred of conscience that made her realize that she still had a chance to conceive. As for the child, she would just consider it payment for her mother's mistakes.
"Consort Yi, please get up. You are pregnant! Don't get too emotional, lest you harm the baby," the Imperial Noble Consort quickly advised.
"You know the rules are that the younger child should be protected first, but I want you to protect both of them. Whether it's the older or the younger, you must protect them, or you will be held responsible!"
After Consort Yi got up, the Imperial Noble Consort said to the obviously flustered midwife, "It's obvious at a glance that neither the child nor the mother is in good condition. So the Imperial Noble Consort showed great mercy and saved both of them. If word gets out, everyone will say that she is virtuous!"
"Yes, I understand!" The midwife was inwardly distressed. Although two other midwives had come earlier, they were clearly up to no good. However, even without them, she knew that Consort Guo was destined not to be born healthy.
"The Emperor has arrived—" The eunuch announced as soon as the midwife went inside.
"Greetings, Your Majesty! May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings and peace!" Wanyi obediently followed the others in bowing to Emperor Kangxi.
"Get up!" Kangxi first helped the Imperial Noble Consort up, and the way he treated her was like that of Emperor Chongran and Empress, which stung Wanyi's eyes.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Everyone returned to their seats. Kangxi took the seat of the Imperial Noble Consort, and the eunuch, being very perceptive, slowly added a chair next to Kangxi.
"How is the situation inside?" Kangxi asked Consort Guo after he had sat down.
"Your Majesty, they just said the baby is breech, feet first. I have already instructed that both babies must be saved, after all, Consort Guo still has Princess Kejing! We can't let Kejing lose her mother!"
The Imperial Noble Consort carefully observed Kangxi's expression before revealing her decision.
"Yes, it's best to make sure you have two!"
Kangxi agreed, saying that if he were alive, he would have considered it the same way. After all, some members of the Guoluo clan were fighting against the Three Feudatories. It would be disheartening if they were fighting to the death while their own clansmen had to protect their children when they were born in the palace.
Meanwhile, the midwife who went in was very alert and successfully delivered the baby prince. Consort Guo had already fainted from the pain. The midwife's trembling hand reached into the purple nose of the baby prince.
"This...it's lifeless." The midwife sighed sadly; she had truly had a terrible day.
"Oh! There's bleeding, lots of blood..." The other midwife exclaimed in surprise, as if she had never seen anything like it before. The two midwives were just scapegoats pushed over here; they were complete novices.
"Go and call the imperial physician!" the midwife said, placing the already deceased little prince into the hands of another midwife.
"Keep it tidy as usual. The Emperor and his noble masters will have to take a look, so be careful!"
After saying this, he ignored the midwife's fear and went to help Consort Guo deliver the placenta, so that it wouldn't be difficult to come out.
"Yes, yes..." It took the midwife a while to come to her senses and tremblingly hold the baby prince.
"He's out!" Someone noticed that the midwife was carrying the baby boy out. Normally, someone would announce the death, but the midwife, who was all dressed up, just carried him out.
"Is it a princess or a prince?" Consort Yi asked, assuming that Consort Guo had given birth safely.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, it's a little prince, but, but..." She stammered for a long time, unable to finish the sentence. Upon receiving the news, Consort Yi was stunned, appearing to outsiders to be overjoyed.
"What is it? Stop stammering and tell me now!" the Imperial Noble Consort scolded sternly.
"But the little prince died as soon as he was born!" the midwife said through gritted teeth.
"Sigh..." The midwife held a stillborn child in her hands. The concubines who had originally wanted to come over to see the little prince subconsciously took a step back, after all, a stillborn baby was bad luck.
"What? How is that possible?" Consort Yi came to her senses and was very surprised. She felt relieved, but suddenly her stomach hurt. After all, her emotions had been fluctuating all day, which meant that she was bound to have a miscarriage.
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