Upon hearing Old Lady Lu's call, Lu Youyi and Lu Youli's wives, Wang and Yin, all rushed out of the house in a panic.
Both women froze when they saw Widow Wang in front of them. Widow Wang was covered in sweat, her face was pale, her eyebrows were furrowed, and there was already bright red blood between her thighs.
"What are you all standing there for! Hurry up and go find Granny Cao! Third son's wife, you're strong, come with me and carry her inside!" Granny Lu glared at her with her beady green eyes and gave orders impatiently.
"Ah! Mother, I...I'm going right now!" Wang Shi seemed to wake from a dream, and ran towards the door.
Old Mrs. Lu, cursing and swearing, carried Widow Wang onto the bed with Madam Yin. Seeing Widow Wang's furrowed brows and pained expression, Madam Wang cautiously asked, "Mother, will she... will she die?"
"Whether she lives or dies is not important, but don't let her bring an end to our Lu family line! What a jinx! She's still a month away from giving birth, how could she fall down like this! It's a real misfortune for our Lu family!" Old Mrs. Lu glared fiercely at Widow Wang lying on the bed and cursed loudly.
While widow Wang was in excruciating pain in bed, she secretly remembered these words. She thought that if she was lucky enough to survive this time, she would definitely teach this old woman a lesson and let her know that she was not some kind of Madam An who could be led by the nose!
Wang walked quickly and soon arrived at Jiang Ling's door. Perhaps because she was in too much of a hurry, she didn't notice the threshold of Jiang Ling's house, tripped, and fell heavily to the ground.
All eyes fell on Wang, who had fallen. She looked rather disheveled, but she ignored the pain and staggered to her feet. She grabbed Old Woman Cao beside her and said, "Mother-in-law! Quick! Hurry, my sister-in-law is about to give birth and is already bleeding!"
"What?"
Everyone gasped in surprise upon hearing this, and Lu Youyi grabbed his wife, saying, "What happened? Sister-in-law, why are you suddenly going into labor!"
"I...I..." Wang gasped for breath and said to Lu Youyi, "I don't know either, my sister-in-law just suddenly..."
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go!" Old Mrs. Cao frowned and urged, watching Wang Shi and Lu Youyi chatter on and on.
At this moment, everyone seemed to wake up from a dream, and they all followed Granny Cao out of Jiang Ling's house and walked quickly toward Granny Lu.
"Aren't you going to go and see what's going on?" Zhao Erleng's wife leaned close to Jiang Ling and asked in a low voice.
"What's the point of having children if we have to pool our resources? Besides, I don't want to have anything to do with their family!" Jiang Ling said irritably.
"You don't understand, do you? Think about Widow Wang's belly. She's only eight months along at most. How could she suddenly give birth?" Zhao Erleng's wife said with an extremely gossipy look in her eyes.
"Hmm? Sister-in-law, so you mean...?" Jiang Ling didn't say the rest of the sentence, she just mouthed it.
Zhao Erleng's wife nodded at first, then shook her head, and took Jiang Ling's hand as they walked, saying, "If you ask me, you're just too kind-hearted!"
"This whole thing is either because Widow Wang lied about the month, or it was all caused by your ex-mother-in-law!" Zhao Erleng's wife said, her face showing strong contempt.
Jiang Ling was a little confused. Other things would be understandable, but how could a belly lie about the month of pregnancy? She had absolutely no experience in this area. After hesitating, she finally opened her mouth and asked, "Sister-in-law, how could a belly lie about the month of pregnancy? Even if it did, you could tell from the belly!"
"Oh dear, you don't understand. Let me tell you about something called a 'baby binding belt.' In the past, wives and concubines in wealthy families would go to great lengths to compete for favor. Pregnant women would be extra careful. After the fetus stabilized at three months, they would secretly bind their bellies to conceal their pregnancy. As the pregnancy progressed, they would secretly loosen the binding belt. This way, even if they were discovered, the baby would be fully formed and unlikely to be harmed!" Zhao Erleng's wife explained it very clearly, even gesturing with her hands.
Jiang Ling roughly understood. This thing was similar to the corsets worn by modern people, except that modern people wear them to make their waists appear flatter, while ancient people wore them to protect their children.
The two chatted all the way and soon arrived at the Lu family's old house. Looking at the somewhat desolate Lu family's old house, Jiang Ling felt as if she had been transported to another world. She quickly shook her head to dispel this absurd thought.
Granny Cao should already be inside directing things, Jiang Ling vaguely heard words like "use force" and "pull harder." The Lu family was also hurriedly changing basin after basin of bloody water that looked terrifying.
Lu Youren was also having a hard time. He kept pacing around in the yard. Several times he tried to go in to check on things, but his wife kept him away with excuses like "inauspicious" or "unlucky".
Widow Wang's screams were incessant, making Jiang Ling's heart pound with horror. Even now, there is a chance of complications during childbirth, let alone in ancient times when medical care and hygiene were not advanced. Childbirth was like walking through the gates of hell for women.
"Something terrible has happened!" Granny Cao's panicked voice interrupted Jiang Ling's thoughts.
At this moment, Granny Cao's hands were covered in blood, looking extremely frightening. She said to Granny Lu with a somewhat panicked expression, "Sister Lu, your daughter-in-law's baby is breech, and there is a risk of a difficult labor!"
"What? Malposition of the fetus? Difficult labor? Why does this little rascal cause so much trouble! Even giving birth has caused so much trouble!" Old Mrs. Lu still hadn't changed her usual sharp and sarcastic tone, angrily cursing several times into the room.
Jiang Ling watched all this from the crowd with a cold expression; at this moment, she only wanted to be an observer.
"Difficult labor? That must be the work of the Red Umbrella Granny! Quick! Anyone have a red umbrella? Bring one over!" In the chaos, someone blurted out.
"I have some at home, I'll go get it right now!" A woman from the same village left the crowd and ran towards her home.
"Red Umbrella Granny?" Jiang Ling found it utterly absurd. In ancient times, it was said that a monster with ram's horns and an old woman's face would squat on the roof beam of every pregnant woman's house. They would stick out their long tongues to lick the pregnant woman, preventing her from giving birth and ultimately causing the death of both mother and child.
This method of dealing with the Red Umbrella Granny is easy; all you need to do is place a red umbrella over the pregnant woman's belly. However, the success rate of this method is not 100%. Some Red Umbrella Grannies with high magical power can still penetrate the umbrella. If the woman gives birth smoothly, it means that the Red Umbrella Granny's magic is not very powerful. On the contrary, if both mother and child die, it can only be blamed on the Red Umbrella Granny's powerful magic and the pregnant woman's bad luck!
"Hong Miao!" Only two words came to Jiang Ling's mind when she thought of this. Just then, the woman from before handed the red umbrella to Granny Cao.
Granny Cao took the red umbrella and hurriedly went back inside.
The red umbrella seemed to have no effect. About ten minutes had passed, and Widow Wang was still screaming incessantly, while Granny Cao ran out with a worried expression.
"The baby is still breech!" Granny Cao shook her head and sighed heavily.
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