Jiang Bai pondered all night long, and only began to feel sleepy as dawn broke.
When she woke up, Zhao Ping'an and Zhao Xile had already been sent to school by Xu's wet nurse. When the maid saw that she had gotten up, she brought in hot water and a towel for her to wash her face.
Jiang Bai applied a hot towel to his swollen and sore eyes and asked, "What time is it now?"
"Madam, it's time for lunch," the maid whispered.
Jiang Bai nodded, handed the hot towel back, and picked up his homemade toothbrush to brush his teeth.
The maidservant asked from the side, "The head chef asked me to ask you if you're eating at home today?"
Jiang Bai felt that the few hours he had slept were almost equivalent to not sleeping at all, and his whole body was sore and aching.
For the first time, she had the thought of taking a break. She nodded to her maid and said, "I'm not leaving today. I'll stay home."
“Yes, Madam,” the maid handed Jiang Bai a towel that had been prepared, so that he could wipe the water stains left from brushing his teeth from his mouth. “I’ll go and tell the chef right away.”
After preparing to rest for a day, Jiang Bai found himself with nothing to do.
She leaned against the bed and flipped through the storybook, but finding no interesting stories, she closed it again.
—I still have to work. If I'm busy for too long, I can't stay idle at all.
She went to the study and found a thick envelope on the desk.
The envelope was signed with Zhao Yi's name.
She opened it and found that the envelope was heavy because Zhao Yi had put dozens of the largest denomination banknotes inside.
Jiang Bai summoned the guards and asked, "When did Zhao Yi put this here?"
The girl in the guard replied, "Before Chief Zhao left, he specially set aside some silver for you, in case you need it."
Jiang Bai nodded.
Just as she was about to say something, a servant came over to announce, "Madam, the prefect's servant has come over; it seems he has something to say to you."
Jiang Bai was taken aback for a moment before realizing that the prefect was General Lin Yong, who had been demoted, and his wife, Wang Linlin, was now six months pregnant. Jiang Bai quickly invited her in.
The servants knelt down as soon as they saw Jiang Bai, which startled everyone.
Before the other party could finish bowing, Jiang Bai immediately asked, "Has something happened to your wife?"
"Madam is about to give birth these days, and the master wants Master Jiang to stay at the government office for a while to help with the delivery, just in case."
Jiang Bai was taken aback by the servant's words. She waved her hand and said, "It may not be very convenient to stay here, but I can go and visit you every day. I will also personally prepare the medicinal meals to help you get better."
She went to the government office with the servants.
Wang Linlin is nine months pregnant, and her belly is frighteningly large. It seems that the baby has drained the mother's nutrients, causing Wang Linlin to be extremely thin in other parts of her body, and she seems to weigh less than when she was not pregnant.
She is now unable to move and lies in bed all day long, afraid that something might happen to her or her child.
Jiang Bai was startled when he saw her like this and asked, "How did it get so serious?"
Wang Linlin smiled at her, her lips were deathly pale, and she looked like she had no life in her body.
Xiao Lian was serving her from the side, and her innocent little face was gone. She must have been frowning a lot these days, as there was a mark on her brow.
As she fed Wang Linlin some water, she explained, "The doctor said that the lady is probably carrying twins."
Twins—such rare and exciting news! It would make any healthy couple ecstatic, but the two children just happened to be conceived in Wang Linlin's womb.
It was only then that Jiang Bai realized why Lin Yong had so abruptly asked her to stay at the government office.
Wang Linlin's condition is indeed not very good.
With her physical condition, risking her life to get pregnant, childbirth is inherently dangerous, and she's going to have twins. I'm afraid her strength simply won't be enough to get her out of the delivery room.
Jiang Bai grasped her hand and said, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
“It’s no use saying anything,” Wang Linlin smiled at her, her voice a little weak. “I should thank you. If I hadn’t been taking your medicinal meals, you probably wouldn’t be able to see me now.”
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Jiang Bai patted her hand reproachfully. "With me here, you'll be safe and sound."
Since opening two restaurants, Jiang Bai has stopped cooking herself. She promoted the original kitchen helper to the position of head chef, and invited several experienced chefs to oversee the business. She wrote down several recipe lists for these chefs and then left the kitchen with peace of mind.
All she did was sprinkle countless drops of spiritual liquid into the well in the courtyard so that the cooks could draw water for cooking. The cooks also drank from this well, so it was obvious to the naked eye that they looked a degree better than when they first arrived.
However, for Wang Linlin, this amount of spiritual liquid was not enough.
Jiang Bai turned to Xiao Lian and said, "Bring me paper and pen. I'll write out a prescription. Go and get the medicine, and then brew it for Madam to drink later."
"Okay." Xiaolian nodded.
She also thoughtfully brought over the prescription for the medicine Wang Linlin had taken before, and let Jiang Bai take a look at it, so as not to cause any adverse effects from the medicine.
Jiang Bai quickly wrote down a prescription for a pregnancy-preserving medicine from memory.
She chatted with Wang Linlin for a while, and then Wang Linlin looked tired. Her eyelids slowly drooped, and she fell asleep soon after.
Just then, the medicine was brought back. Jiang Bai picked up the medicine packet, looked at it, and said, "I'll go brew it."
Xiaolian didn't stand on ceremony with her and quickly led her to the kitchen.
This medicine was made entirely from spiritual liquid, without adding even a drop of water. After it was brewed, Wang Linlin was coaxed to drink it, and in less than fifteen minutes, her face visibly became rosy.
When Lin Yong returned, he was greeted by his wife looking radiant, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
He secretly called Jiang Bai out and asked, "Master Jiang, in your opinion, how is Linlin's condition?"
Jiang Bai sighed: "This is very bad."
This is no longer something that can be saved by simply drinking some spiritual elixir for a few days; having twins is inherently very dangerous.
Lin Yong nodded: "We were all mentally prepared for this."
“However, Mr. Jiang, I want to make something clear in advance,” Lin Yong said to Jiang Bai with a serious expression, “Linlin may tell you that you should do your best to protect the child, but you don’t need to do what she says.”
“To me, how could the children’s lives be more important than hers? If any danger were to occur, preserving the mother’s health would be the top priority. I would rather not have these two children than let my wife live a healthy life.”
Giving up the twins must have been an extremely difficult decision, but Lin Yong said it resolutely.
Jiang Bai glanced back at the room where Wang Linlin was and said, "General Lin, I will do everything I can to ensure the safety of both mother and child."
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