Chapter 88: The newborn girl cries loudly, and her father is heartbroken when he hears that Zheliu is broken...
Consciousness is like a lone boat floating on the vast ocean, floating up and down with the turbulent waves.
Wen Zheliu was breathing heavily, his ears were still buzzing, and he could see the people next to him opening and closing their mouths, but he couldn't hear what they were saying, as if there was a layer of gauze between them.
He only knew that his limbs were cold, as if he had fallen into an icy cave.
But there was no one around to warm my hands.
To be more precise, he didn't allow anyone to touch him.
His body was left to He Jiuyue, how could it be defiled by another woman?
...Children do not count as guests here.
His abdomen felt heaving and swollen, like a soldier charging into battle. Wen Zheliu held the armrests of the dragon throne with both hands and lowered his head to see what the birth canal looked like.
However, because of the big belly blocking his view, he couldn't see the bottom at all. He could only see the belly squirming wildly.
Sometimes it was convex, sometimes it was concave, as if there was a naughty big insect that knew nothing about the world, drilling around in his belly that was bulging like a sand dune.
Hmm, is there any worm in a newborn baby?
It should be there, after all, it makes the birth canal hurt.
After thinking aimlessly for a long time, Wen Zheliu imagined the appearance of the child and became more energetic.
"how's it going?"
He was so busy talking to Helan Yuan that he forgot to use force for a moment.
Originally, only a little of the baby's head was exposed, but with the contractions and the father's efforts, it slowly moved down. Now that the father didn't need to exert any effort, she stopped moving.
There are even signs of retreat.
It's like sailing against the current, if you don't move forward, you will move backward.
"Uh, ah..."
The birth canal was stimulated and spasmed. Wen Zheliu rolled up her eyes unconsciously, and even her cries of pain became much softer. It seemed that she was about to lose all her strength and pass out.
Helan Yuan placed a piece of silk cloth on Wen Zheliu's labor-inducing acupuncture points, and dozens of fine lines appeared between his brows. "Guard Bai, we can't go on like this. I'm afraid His Majesty will be in trouble, and neither will the prince!"
Xiaobai was also anxious. The young master was blessed with a long life and had not yet reunited with Sima He. How could he fall down here?
Xiaobai vaguely saw the thin red rope used to hang the amulet on Wen Zheliu's neck. He knelt down beside him with a "thump". His slightly rough hands grasped Wen Zheliu's fingertips, only to feel a coldness.
He burst into tears, "Your Majesty, please think about the princess! Please think about the princess! You told me before that the princess took you to pray for blessings, hoping that you would be safe. The amulet she prayed for you is still hanging around your neck. You must make it through this!"
Amulet of Peace, He Jiuyue...
Wen Zheliu's black pupils turned slowly.
It took him about half a minute to regain some of his spirits.
He coughed and reached into his arms, then pressed his trembling palms against his heart.
The amulet carved from white jade had been on his body for so long that it gave off a hint of warmth even when it rested on the fabric of his clothes. It carried that person's blessing and lay quietly on his heart.
It was like He Jiuyue who cared for him without saying a word but only through practical actions.
Another contraction came, and my calm belly began to wriggle wildly again.
"Your Majesty, hurry up, take advantage of this opportunity and try your best!" Helan Yuan had been observing the situation. When he saw Wen Zheliu fainted, he thought he was useless. He was thinking about how to tactfully tell Dugu Qiu outside to prepare for the funeral. When he saw hope, his eyes lit up again.
"Uh, uh!"
Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his face, and his pupils lost focus when he heard the willow being broken.
Xiaobai and Helan Yuan, who were looking worried, transformed into the person he was longing for, He Jiuyue.
He couldn't help but close his eyes.
It would be great if He Jiuyue was by his side.
She would definitely be a strict mother, first threatening the child who refused to move for a long time, then criticizing him for eating and drinking more and moving less during pregnancy, and finally holding him in her arms and whispering in his ear.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
With tears in his eyes, Wen Zheliu turned his head away.
But the fact is, He Jiuyue will not come. Even if she is not there, he can protect himself and not cause her any worries.
"The prince is coming out!"
As the midwife and the palace maids screamed in surprise, Wenzheliu's abdomen felt empty.
The birth of a child is supposed to be a happy event, but he felt inexplicably sad.
The fetus that had been in the belly for eight or nine months slipped out of the birth canal, leaving only a thin strip, just like him and He Jiuyue, who were first childhood sweethearts and then became generational enemies thousands of miles apart.
The fate of two people changed from a thick hemp rope that was tightly connected to each other to a small, broken belt.
With a "click", the belt broke.
The child is no longer his alone, nor is it He Jiuyue's.
She is free.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
The sound in his ears gradually faded away, and Wen Zheliu's eyes went dark. For a moment he thought he had fainted.
But the loud crying sounded, shaking the entire court.
“Wow, wow—”
His scattered consciousness was instantly shaken back. Wen Zheliu forced himself to open his eyelids and looked towards the source of the crying. He saw several palace maids holding the child and wiping her body.
"Is it a girl, or..." He was barely breathing.
The palace maids all knelt down and answered amid the child's loud crying.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, on the birth of the princess!"
Is it... a girl?
The corners of his mouth unconsciously rose, and he smiled with relief when he heard Zheliu.
That’s good, he got what he wanted.
Although he knew that having a girl or a boy was determined by fate and that the boy or girl was determined the moment she became pregnant, he still had selfish thoughts and preferred girls.
As long as it’s a girl.
He was about to close his eyes and lie down when he was startled again.
"How is the child's health? Is there any deficiency?"
The leading palace attendant said in a voice that jumped lightly, "Your Majesty, don't worry. The princess is in good health despite having such a loud voice!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the crying sound that had almost subsided started again.
Wen Zheliu's heart ached.
The child is crying so loudly, he must be in great pain.
No wonder there is a saying that a child can tie his father down.
He didn't believe it before, but now he has to believe it.
Isn’t that exactly the case?
His heart was broken when the little girl cried.
"Hold... uh, come here."
Wen Zheliu couldn't wait to coax the child before he had even caught his breath. He supported himself on the cushion with his thin wrists and asked Xiaobai to help him sit steadily, and put a soft pillow behind his waist.
The palace maid hurriedly handed the princess over with her swaddling clothes.
Wen Zheliu was weak and his vision kept going dark. He had to get closer before he could see the child's face clearly.
Perhaps because she was still young, her facial features were wrinkled and it was hard to tell what was going on. But the way she was crying loudly and full of energy looked very much like her mother He Jiuyue.
Unfortunately, the child is still young and doesn’t recognize his mother and father.
Even when she was in Wen Zheliu's arms, she still struggled violently, waving her limbs and crying.
But she still had plenty of breath. She could howl for dozens of breaths in one breath. Wen Zheliu was about to speak when she took a breath, but the sound made by her wide-open mouth made his ears hurt.
"Why is the princess crying? But she's not feeling well?"
Wen Zheliu turned to Helan Yuan with a worried look on his face.
The birth was too strenuous, and he was short of breath when speaking, and was almost drowned out by his daughter's voice.
Xiaobai hurriedly brought him a cup of warm water to soothe his throat.
Helan Yuan bowed his head respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, the princess may be hungry. I have asked the wet nurse to wait outside and he is ready to feed her at any time."
Wet father?
Wen Zheliu knew this kind of person.
After all, he was born in a wealthy family and he had his own wet father.
But even though he knew it, he found it hard to accept when it happened to him. As the biological father, why should he let others feed his child?
"I, myself, hello."
As he spoke, he held the child in one hand and undressed with the other. Unfortunately, the labor was very tiring, and he had just moved his fingertips to the buttonhole when his waist, which had supported him from sitting for so long, began to lose strength. His legs then cramped slightly, tapping on the carpet.
What's wrong with this leg? Is it a cold? Or is it just a coincidence?
"Ugh!" The pain came, and Wen Zheliu subconsciously curled up into a ball. He frowned and left a small space for his daughter on his chest.
Poor him, even though he was so meticulous, the child still kept crying.
"Your Majesty, no!"
Helan Yuan kowtowed repeatedly: "You have just given birth and your body is still weak. What you need to do now is to rest in bed. You can rest for a while and let the servants feed the princess."
Wen Zheliu was so upset that he couldn't speak for a while.
He maintained this awkward posture for a long time. Although he was reluctant, he still let Xiaobai take the child away.
He was already in poor health, and the delivery he had just done had exhausted all the strength he had accumulated in recent days. Although his chest was swollen now, he instinctively produced food for the newborn child.
But he was weak, and the milk he produced probably wasn't very sweet.
Although the child is healthy, he cannot be misled like this.
Only the leg cramps gradually subsided, and the chest tightness and tightness came back.
When I heard the willow being broken, I gasped from time to time.
Is his body so dilapidated?
"Your Majesty, it is not convenient to rest on the dragon throne. Let the palace servants send you back to the Yangxin Palace so that you can have a good rest." Helan Yuan suggested at the bottom of the jade steps.
"Well," Wen Zheliu was exhausted, his toes trembling as they touched the ground. He was really unable to walk. He no longer cared about the contact with others and let Xiaobai carry him to the sedan chair. He then ordered the palace servants who were taking care of his daughter, "Send the princess back as well."
Wen Zheliu lay quietly on the dragon bed.
The image of He Jiuyue wearing light armor vaguely appeared in his mind, and he subconsciously reached out to grab it.
The crying was heard again.
It was like a sharp blade that pierced through the flowers in the mirror and the moon in the water in his mind, leaving only a vast expanse of snow, without even a living person in sight.
"What's wrong?"
He struggled to open his eyelids.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me!" The two officials who were holding the child and racking their brains to coax him knelt down directly.
"The wet father tried to feed the princess, but she refused to eat. I was worried she was hungry, so I asked him to put some liquid in a bowl and feed it to her little by little. But she would vomit as soon as she ate. This happened several times, and I don't know what's going on."
Wen Zheliu pinched the swollen and painful Taiyangxue.
"If she doesn't like this milkfather's juice, then change to another one."
"We've tried several, but the princess still refuses to eat." The palace maid didn't dare to look up and offend the emperor. She just knelt quietly holding the crying princess, her eyes red with anxiety.
"Go," Wen Zheliu waved to Xiaobai, who was standing beside him, with the back of his slender white hand facing outward, "call Dugu Qiu."
"If it's not Your Majesty who is looking for me, then what is the matter?"
Wen Zheliu had just given birth and changed into a new set of clothes soaked with sweat, but they were a little messy because of the discomfort. His clothes were disheveled, and she didn't want to look at him, so she knelt down as soon as she got up.
"I gave you the task of preparing and welcoming the princess. How did you do it?"
Wen Zheliu was so emotional that he couldn't breathe for a while. A dull pain started from his back and radiated outward from his heart. His lips turned slightly purple and he covered his heart and started coughing.
“Huh…huh…”
Dugu Qiu's mouth was full of chatter.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me! Your Majesty, you announced your pregnancy in court, and then you had severe abdominal pains, so you didn't attend to government affairs for a day and a half. Many of your ministers took advantage of this and racked their brains to get their own 'wet father' to come in.
"The people they shoved in here aren't decent people. They even drove away the proper wet nurse I had prepared. I had no choice but to find one at short notice, which is why it's been delayed!"
"Have you tried all those legitimate wet-fathers you've found, Princess?"
There were sharp pains in his heart, but the pain came and went quickly. Wen Zheliu frowned and endured it for a few breaths, and finally managed to get through it.
He shook his head slightly and pushed the heart-protecting pill handed to Xiaobai with the palm of his hand, indicating to Xiaobai that he was fine.
"There are still ten to try. I will do it right away!"
"...Wait." Dugu Qiu was in a hurry and wanted to atone for her sins with practical actions, but Wen Zheliu stopped her.
It would be too hard for my daughter to try them one by one.
In case she didn't like every one of the milk father's juice.
Wouldn’t that mean I would vomit ten times?
Although she was in good health, she couldn't be tortured like this just after she was born.
What if I hurt her?
Once the body is damaged, it is difficult to restore it, just like a piece of white jade that has fallen to the ground and broken into dozens of pieces. No matter how skillful the person who puts it together is, the jade that is put together again will still show traces of the breakage.
My daughter vomits milk. Could there be other reasons?
"Helan Yuan," Wen Zheliu tilted his head and coughed twice, "What do you think is going on?"
Helan Yuan folded his hands and bowed.
"I think the princess is unable to drink human milk. I have seen this happen before. Usually, they can try to switch to other milks, for example, feeding the princess goat's milk."
"Well, let the princess try it." The palace maid's legs were numb and she couldn't get up for a while.
Emperor Wen Zheliu wasn't anxious at all, but Xiaobai, his personal guard, was. He opened his mouth and started to scold, "Why don't you feed the princess quickly? If the princess is starving, who will be held responsible?"
The palace maid in charge of taking care of the princess was frightened by him. She held up her half-lame leg and tremblingly carried the crying princess down to feed her.
"noob."
Wen Zheliu's voice was very soft. It was not known whether he was tired or he was deliberately speaking softly to talk to Xiaobai.
He lowered his brows and said, "You were too hasty. They didn't take good care of the princess. It's indeed their fault. But the princess is just a newborn, so it's inevitable that she's difficult to take care of. Beating and scolding them won't work. It's better to consider that this is their first offense and forgive them this time. That way, they will be more willing to take care of the princess."
Xiao Bai pursed his lips and said, "I understand my mistakes, but I am worried about the princess's health. It's just that... I am too worried."
"I know you have good intentions, and I don't blame you."
Wen Zheliu's eyes slowly closed. "I'm so tired. I need to sleep for a while. Before I wake up, the child's safety is in your hands... Have them feed the princess and then carry her back to my bedside."
After uttering the last word, Wen Zheliu closed his eyes completely.
He is really, too tired.
Xiaobai was moved by Wen Zheliu's gentle words, but when he saw his pale face and gray lips, his heart immediately tightened: "Doctor Helan, His Majesty..."
Helan Yuan, who was waiting outside, rushed in in three or two steps, hurriedly took Wen Zheliu's pulse, his brows furrowed.
"Is His Majesty okay?" Xiaobai walked back and forth beside the dragon bed and asked five times in half a minute.
"Your Majesty is fine for now, he just fell asleep. He was already short of energy and blood, and the labor was so difficult. He also took the labor-inducing drugs that ordinary pregnant men shouldn't touch. I'm afraid he's going to develop a chronic illness."
Helan Yuan rubbed his chin with his fingers.
"But I can't tell what the aftereffects are. It wouldn't be surprising if there were any symptoms, and there might even be more than one. Your Majesty, please rest for a while. You can take good care of yourself later."
"Thank you, Doctor Helan, for your concern."
Xiaobai was unwilling to leave Wen Zheliu even a step away, so he just sent Helanyuan out of the palace and hurried to find the palace maid who fed the princess.
"How is the princess?" he asked softly.
"The princess has just finished drinking goat's milk and is burping." The palace maid's eyes dodged slightly.
Xiaobai coughed lightly and said, "You have worked hard to take care of the princess. Take a break. I will look after the princess."
After filling her stomach and letting out the gas, the little girl finally calmed down, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep. Xiaobai obediently carried her to Wen Zheliu's bedside.
I was unconscious for most of the day after hearing about the willow-breaking incident.
When he opened his eyes, he was faced with the glaring sun.
The cicadas outside were chirping intermittently, and the scene seemed a little duller than when summer had just begun.
He turned his head and saw Xiaobai bringing the princess, who had been fed three times, back to the dragon bed. The little girl had her eyes closed, quiet and well-behaved.
"Give it to me." Wen Zheliu mouthed to Xiaobai.
Once again feeling the unique smell of milk from a baby, his eyebrows curved and a smile appeared involuntarily at the corners of his mouth.
The little guy feels a little heavier than yesterday.
The goat milk should be digested.
Wen Zheliu lowered his head slightly, and rubbed the little girl's cheek, which was whiter and softer than tender egg custard, with the tip of his nose. Just for a moment, then slowly withdrew. There was the tenderness of father and daughter, and the restraint of physical contact between men and women.
My daughter, grow up quickly. When you can read and write, you will be able to call me "mother". Your father will take you to see the Queen Mother, okay?
Your mother is a truly great...
"hiss!"
Before Wen Zheliu could finish his thoughts and send them to his daughter with a smile through the telepathy between father and daughter, his calf suddenly twitched.
In a moment, his whole leg began to cramp.
Like a fish struggling madly on a chopping board.
No matter how the cook and the helpers tried to press it with knives or cover it with lids, they couldn't stop it and it kept banging against the bed.
What's going on with this leg?
The symptom of calf cramps should only occur during pregnancy. Hasn't she already given birth? Why is it still happening?
It hurts, it hurts so much!
“Ah… well…”
Wen Zheliu broke out in a cold sweat. He endured it for a while, but was finally overwhelmed by the pain that went straight to his nerves and fell to the ground. He let out a few suppressed cries of pain through his clenched teeth.
His voice seemed to have pulled the little girl's spring.
She was sleeping soundly when she was startled by Wen Zheliu. She opened her mouth and cried out "wow".
Hearing the little girl crying, Wen Zheliu's heart was broken.
It’s all his fault. He disturbed my daughter’s sleep.
A feeling of guilt arose spontaneously. Wen Zheliu's legs began to cramp and his hands became weak. He hurriedly called Xiaobai, who was waiting on the side, to take the little girl over.
Perhaps because she was not familiar with Xiaobai's scent, the princess cried even harder. Xiaobai was helpless and could only return the child to Wen Zheliu's arms.
"I'll go and ask for Doctor Helan." He left as if escaping.
The daughter cried loudly, and her father's heart trembled when he heard the willow branches were broken.
He suppressed the cramps in his legs, and with trembling hands, he picked up the wave drum prepared for the prince at the bedside and began to shake it intermittently in front of his daughter.
"Be good, don't cry, don't cry anymore..."
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The author has something to say: Today is big and long, 5k+, tomorrow... maybe it will return to the original 3k, or even 4k [shy]
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