That clear and high-pitched cry of a newborn baby was like an invisible divine force, instantly freezing all the chaos and noise inside and outside Kunning Palace.
Xiao Che, who was about to kick down the door, froze in mid-air with his raised dragon boot.
The old prime minister, who was preparing to step forward and remonstrate with his life, stopped his outstretched hands an inch away from the emperor's dragon robe.
All the panicked palace servants, anxious ministers, and guards who were on high alert held their breath at this moment, their faces showing the same bewilderment after being stunned by the loud noise.
The world seemed to have been muted.
Only those cries, one after another, brimming with the vitality of life, echoed in the silent air, announcing the arrival of a new life.
Xiao Che slowly and stiffly lowered his foot.
He stood there, like a stone statue whose soul had been taken away, his mind blank.
She gave birth...
He heard it.
But then what?
The huge weight that had been hanging over his heart since Lin Wanwan's abdominal pain began hadn't fallen; instead, it had been lifted to an even higher and more dangerous position. He didn't know whether to be overjoyed by the cry or even more terrified by the return of silence to the delivery room.
The color that hadn't faded during his earlier rage had now vanished completely because of this extreme, unknown suspense. He could even feel his limbs growing colder and colder, his heart pounding wildly in his chest, as if gripped tightly by an invisible hand, almost stopping its beating.
In the suffocating silence, with a creak, the delivery room door, which had been tightly closed for what seemed like an eternity, finally opened from the inside.
All eyes were drawn to it like iron filings attracted by a magnet.
The lead midwife, her face now beaming with barely suppressed joy, emerged hurriedly, carrying a baby wrapped tightly in bright yellow brocade.
Behind her followed several palace maids, all with rosy cheeks, their eyes sparkling with relief and joy at surviving a calamity.
The midwife hurried to Xiao Che, nearly stumbling and falling in her excitement. She steadied herself, knelt down with a thud, and held the swaddled baby high above her head. Her voice trembled with emotion, yet it was filled with an unprecedented loudness and penetrating power:
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations! It's a baby prince! Mother and child are safe and sound!"
"Young Prince!"
"Mother and child are safe!"
These eight words, like a timely rain from heaven, instantly ignited the entire Kunning Palace!
"May Heaven bless the Great Liang! The Great Liang has an heir!"
No one knows who shouted first, but then a thunderous cheer erupted like a flood bursting its banks!
The ministers kneeling on the ground, no longer caring about court etiquette, were all in tears, patting each other and speaking incoherently with emotion. The old prime minister even pounded his chest and laughed loudly, "Heaven has eyes! Our ancestors have blessed us!"
The palace maids and eunuchs were overjoyed and wept, kneeling down and shouting, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!" The entire Kunning Palace was instantly transformed into a sea of joy.
This is the eldest son of the emperor! The crown prince of the empire! The hope and cornerstone of this nation's future after countless trials and tribulations!
His birth was enough to soothe everyone's hearts and to allow this empire, which had just emerged from the flames of war, to be completely stabilized!
Everyone was immersed in this immense, nationally significant euphoria.
Except for one person.
Xiao Che.
He stood in the middle of that ocean of cheers, yet he seemed like a lonely island isolated from the world.
The deafening cry of "Little Prince!" and the words that symbolized a happy ending, "Mother and child are safe," seemed not to reach his ears.
His gaze passed through the midwife kneeling before him, holding aloft the future emperor, and went straight, empty, to the open delivery room door behind her, still reeking of blood.
What about his Wanwan?
What about his empress?
How is she?
The midwife held the swaddled baby high, waiting for the emperor to accept this tremendous gift, to receive the unparalleled glory that would bring honor to the family. She had even already planned what auspicious words she should say to please the emperor when he held the little prince.
However, what she received was not the emperor's hand that would take over the empire.
It was an irresistible, brutal force!
Xiao Che didn't even glance at the swaddling clothes wrapped in bright yellow brocade like a treasure.
He shoved the midwife who was blocking his way!
The force was so great that the midwife gasped and staggered several steps to the side, almost dropping the little prince in her arms. Fortunately, a nearby palace maid caught her in time.
Xiao Che, however, was like a wild beast that had gone completely mad. He used all his strength and rushed into the door like a madman!
He shoved aside the palace maids blocking his way, overturned the shelf holding the bronze basin, and rushed into the inner room of the delivery room amidst screams and the chaotic sound of objects falling to the ground.
The cheers of the court officials came to an abrupt halt.
Everyone stared in disbelief at the scene, their initial elation turning into utter shock.
Your Majesty... Your Majesty... he pushed the prince away?
He actually... rushed in without even glancing at the eldest prince?!
Why...why is this happening?
Xiao Che, who rushed into the delivery room, could neither hear nor see anything. In his world, there was only the thick smell of blood and the huge, empty bed where a fierce battle had just ended.
Lin Wanwan lay quietly on the bed.
Her hair, soaked with sweat, clung messily to her pale, bloodless face. Her eyes were tightly closed, long eyelashes still glistening with undried tears. She looked as if she had been pulled from the water, so weak that she seemed about to vanish at any moment.
"Wanwan..."
Xiao Che's voice trembled violently.
He rushed to the bedside, reached out his hand, but dared not touch her, for fear that she would shatter like a phantom.
"Wanwan! Where is my Empress?! How is my Empress?!"
He turned around abruptly and roared at the imperial physician and midwife who had just chased in, his voice filled with a terrifying, world-destroying fear.
On the bed, Lin Wanwan was startled by his hoarse roar and slowly opened her exhausted eyes.
She saw him.
I saw his face, which was even paler than my own; I saw his bloodshot eyes, filled with terror; I saw the dragon robe he wore, wrinkled and worn from pacing back and forth.
She moved her chapped lips and, in an extremely faint, almost inaudible voice, softly called his name:
“...Xiao Che”.
That sound was like heavenly music.
Xiao Che turned around abruptly, staring intently at her. When he saw her eyes, which were tired yet still clear, the string of reason that had been stretched to its limit since the beginning finally snapped.
He couldn't say a word.
Completely exhausted, he collapsed to his knees on the carpet beside the bed with a thud.
The hard knee struck the thick carpeted floor with a dull thud.
He grasped her hand, which was still slightly cold outside the blanket, and held it tightly, as if he wanted to meld her into his very bones. Then, he pressed her hand against his own cheek, which was covered in cold sweat and tear stains.
Warm liquid, drop by drop, rolled down from his eyes and landed on the back of her hand, burning her terribly.
This tyrant who was just roaring outside the delivery room, threatening to exterminate nine generations of his family;
This iron-blooded emperor who never shed a single tear even amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood;
At this moment, however, he was like a lost child who had finally found his way home, kneeling by his queen's bedside, burying his face in her hands, his shoulders heaving violently, sobbing uncontrollably.
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