When Yan Ning arrived at Furong Garden, the midwife was already instructing the maids to get busy. Led by the maids, she hurriedly went to the inner room.
Seeing the midwife, dressed in the same coarse cloth and around fifty years old, she couldn't help but think of Liu the midwife, that greedy and ruthless viper.
"ah······"
Xiang'er's painful screams came from the inner room, and Yan Ning, who had stopped in her tracks, was about to take another step.
Xi Ying and Fu Kang'an arrived one after the other. Xi Ying knelt down and begged Fu Kang'an to stay outside, saying that men should not be tainted by the bad luck of bloodshed.
Fukang'an stopped. It was indeed inappropriate for him to be present when this woman was giving birth. He nodded and then sat down on the chair that the servants had brought.
After giving a curtsy, Xi Ying and Yan Ning entered the inner room.
Yan Ning glanced back at Fukang'an, who was waiting outside. His deep crimson robe was dim and colorless under the lantern light. He looked somewhat anxious, and his eyes, which met Yan Ning's, were deep and unfathomable.
From Fukang'an's expression, Yan Ning understood why Xiang'er had been so insistent on giving birth in the Fucha mansion. If the child had been born outside the Fucha mansion, Fukang'an would likely have had difficulty acknowledging the child in the future.
The interior was noisy and chaotic, with everyone walking quickly as if there were a gust of wind on their feet.
On the carved wooden bed, four maids stretched out a red cloth to cover Xiang'er's body. The two midwives, who were squatting down, had layers of sweat on their foreheads.
The thin curtains had been rolled up, revealing the mess on the bed.
As soon as she entered, Xi Ying directed the maids coming and going. The tassels on the shelves swayed wildly, echoing the chaotic atmosphere in the room.
Xiang'er's cries and the midwife's guiding voices rose and fell. Yan Ning didn't know what to do, so she could only run to the bedside and hold Xiang'er's hand.
Xiang'er's entire body looked as if she had been soaked in water; her face was as pale as bleached cloth, eerily white. Her white nightgown clung tightly to her skin, and beads of sweat poured out one after another.
Yan Ning took the handkerchief Zhu Xiang handed her and wiped the sweat from Xiang'er's face. Xiang'er was a martial artist, and in her haste, her strength was astonishing. Yan Ning's hand, which had initially been in unbearable pain, was now numb from Xiang'er's grip, but the baby still hadn't come out.
Suddenly, Xiang'er let out a piercing scream, accompanied by the midwives' panic. "Madam, Aunt Lian is showing signs of postpartum hemorrhage! She must take Wulingzhi!" a midwife with blood on her hands ran up to Yan Ning and said.
"Menorrhagia?" She glanced at Xi Ying, who was standing there. She had only heard of this term, but didn't know what it meant. A hint of smugness flashed in Xi Ying's eyes, and she quickly hid it, saying to the maid beside her, "Quickly give Aunt Lian some Five Spirits Decoction!"
Yan Ning stood up and stopped the maid, then looked at Xi Ying, "How do you know about this treatment for metrorrhagia?"
The children who died from jealousy during the power struggles within those mansions made Yan Ning unable to believe Xi Ying. She ran outside to find Fukang'an; she couldn't risk Xiang'er and the child in her womb.
Before Fukang'an came to Furong Garden, he had already ordered Zhao Xing to invite the imperial physician from outside the palace, claiming that he was unwell.
Upon hearing Yan Ning's question about Wulingzhi, the imperial physician, dressed in a casual gray satin robe, bowed respectfully and said, "Madam, Wulingzhi should be washed clean with water, stir-fried into powder, diluted with good rice vinegar, simmered over low heat to form a paste, then mixed with genuine cattail pollen and made into pills the size of longan fruits. Take one pill each time, simmered until reduced to seven-tenths, and taken warm. It can treat postpartum hemorrhage in women!"
At this moment, the maid Xi Ying had ordered earlier had already brought back the Five Spirits Gum to brew the medicine. Fu Kang'an glanced at Yan Ning with slight anger.
Yan Ning also felt somewhat apologetic; she shouldn't have delayed Xiang'er's treatment at such a critical moment. Women in labor often hang by a thread, and Xi Ying was, after all, someone who had given birth before. How could she dare to secretly harm her in front of Fukang'an!
When she went in with Xi Ying again, Yan Ning had already let go of her resentment towards her and was only focused on taking care of Xiang'er.
The maids brought in a basin of clear hot water, and then took out a basin of bloody water. Those basins of bloody water, filled with Xiang'er's screams, swallowed up Yan Ning's composure.
After the Five Spirit Powder was prepared, the imperial physicians smelled its aroma before delivering it to Xi Ying in the inner room. She glanced at Qiu'er beside her, whose tightly clutched embroidered handkerchief brushed against the medicine bowl. Xi Ying shook the medicine bowl and handed it to Yan Ning, who was guarding Xiang'er's bedside, so that she could feed it to Xiang'er.
Half an incense stick later, the midwives' screams led Yan Ning to the other end of the bed. The maids who were holding the red cloth closed their eyes, not daring to look.
On the white bedding, a sea of blood stretched out, a horrifying sight.
"Yan Ning..."
A call as soft as a falling snowflake made Yan Ning's heart clench.
Yan Ning hurriedly returned to Xiang'er's side, but Xiang'er no longer had the strength to call out. Her face was covered in water stains, making it impossible to tell whether they were sweat or tears.
"Yan Ning, if I die, you must raise my child under your care and not let her fall into Xi Ying's hands."
Having lived in the Fucha Manor for so many years and fought with Xi Ying for so long, how could she not understand Xi Ying's character? Xi Ying was most adept at concealing her true intentions, and once she had an opportunity, she would never leave her opponent any way out.
Xiang'er had already foreseen what would happen today; from the moment she fell in the courtyard, she knew this day had finally come.
Each word fell like snowflakes, Xiang'er's tone as light as a dying person's. Yan Ning grasped her hand and shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
She remembered when they first met, Xiang'er was arrogant and rude, making things difficult for her in every way; when did she realize that such a straightforward person could be trusted? And when did Xiang'er begin to become as silent as autumn and as withered as winter?
She hadn't considered how much grievance and heartache this woman, who kept changing her personality, was hiding in her heart.
After speaking, Xiang'er closed her eyes, her brows furrowed tightly. The room fell silent; the earlier shouts and bustling sounds seemed like a dream.
The midwife pulled a stillborn baby from the pool of blood. The infant was lifeless and its body was soaked in blood. The midwife's face was splattered with blood from when Xiang'er's curled-up legs fell heavily.
Yan Ning took the baby from the midwife, glanced at it, and collapsed to the ground. The midwife quickly took the child back. Yan Ning, supporting herself on Zhu Xiang's arm, forced herself to stand and walked to the outside of the main room, pulling the imperial physician inside. She roared, "You are the imperial physician of the palace! You can definitely save Xiang'er!"
Her pale yellow Shu brocade cheongsam was stained with Xiang'er's blood, resembling blooming red plum blossoms, cold and beautiful.
Fukang'an followed him in and caught Yan Ning, who was about to collapse. His expression was pained, and from the mess and the smell of blood in the inner room, he guessed what had happened.
The imperial physician was slightly frightened by Yan Ning's wide-eyed appearance. Since men and women should not touch each other, how could he dare to go forward and examine the general's concubine who was giving birth?
He glanced at Fukang'an, who was holding Yan Ning.
In this life-or-death moment, Fukang'an disregarded all formalities and etiquette. He nodded and said, "Please, imperial physicians, do your utmost to save him!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
