Chapter 467: 463: Giving Birth_1

Yingbao and Wei Zhan watched the carriage disappear into the distance, only then did they return to the mansion holding Wumei’s hand.

Wumei was swiftly walking into the room and helping her aunt sit on a high chair, tiptoeing to get a piece of fruit from the table, she handed it to her aunt: “Auntie, have a fruit to quench your thirst.”

Yingbao accepted the loquat from Wumei with a heavy heart, “Thank you Wumei, you eat too.”

Wumei nodded and brought another one to Wei Zhan. Only then did she peel off the yellow-orange skin of the loquat, took a bite, and it was incredibly fresh and sweet.

He sat by the Arhat couch, happily swinging his legs with cheerful mood.

The days passed by one by one.

It was quickly coming to the end of October.

There were no signs of labour even a few days past her due date, Yingbao hadn’t shown any signs of giving birth.

Lady Wang was anxious and quickly invited two well-known midwives from the county to see what was going on with her daughter-in-law.

One of the midwives touched Yingbao’s belly, frowning and said, “The baby is in the right position, but it hasn’t descended into the pelvis yet, it seems we may need to induce labour.”

The common labour-inducing pill was made from dried rabbit brain grounded into a spherical shape, about the size of a seed of the Chinese parasol tree, and mixed with tiger bone powder, rabbit blood, seahorse, raw turtle, mercury, and more. Once a woman consumed it, contractions would start within a day.

But inducing labor was risky, Lady Wang immediately refused: “No! No inducing labor.”

If the baby hadn’t descended into the pelvis, it probably was not yet mature.

It’s said that a woman gives birth after ten months of pregnancy, just as a ripe melon falls from the vine, but if the melon is not ripe, it can’t be forcibly plucked.

The midwife saw that Lady Wang insisted, she didn’t insist, “Let’s wait a few more days to see, if it exceeds ten days and the baby is not born, the baby’s head will get hard, and it may be difficult to be born.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhan immediately became nervous and asked anxiously, “What should we do?” He would rather not have a child than let anything happen to Yingbao.

The midwife glanced at Lady Wang and said, “Maybe you got the date wrong?”

Wei Zhan looked at Yingbao perplexed.

Yingbao sat up from the bed: “Perhaps we really did miscalculate, let’s wait for a few more days then.”

So, they waited for quite a few more days, and it was soon midwinter.

Lady Wang and Wei Zhan couldn’t focus on anything else, they stayed by Yingbao’s side all day.

In the Wei Mansion, Cao’s wife, elder brother’s wife, and the second brother’s wife were sitting around the stove chatting and cracking melon seeds.

“Could Yingbao be carrying a stillborn? She’s past due and hasn’t given birth yet, I’m afraid something big is about to happen.”

“That’s for sure, alas, it’s such a sin. If anything happens, Wei Zhan will be the unluckiest, she is after all a commandery princess knighted by the Emperor, the top officials will surely hold someone accountable.”

“Goodness, would that implicate us?”

“Who knows.”

While the several women were gossiping, they suddenly heard someone running outside.

Cao’s wife stood up, pulled up the door curtain and looked out, it was bustling on Lady Wang’s side, with maids and old women huddled at the door, not knowing what they were doing.

She smirked, turned to the others and said, “Oh dear! Something might really have happened to Wei Zhan’s place!”

The wife of Wei’s second son asked anxiously, “What happened?”

“Let’s send someone to check it out.” the wife of Wei’s third son turned and ordered her maid, “You go over to the main courtyard and snoop around, see what happened.”

The maid agreed and ran out of the room.

Not long after, the maid came back, excitedly saying, “They said the Princess has started contractions, Lady Wang has brought in several midwives, even a divine witch has been summoned, I’m afraid things are bad.”

Calling in a divine witch for childbirth, it must mean that the woman giving birth is having a difficult labour, unable to give birth.

The women froze, their faces showing a variety of expressions.

Cao’s wife chuckled as she broke a few pumpkin seeds with her teeth, deftly spat out the shells, her tone was one of schadenfreude, “Alas, people should not be too wild, isn’t this payback?”

The other two did not join in.

It’s best not to encourage such malicious talk. They have their own children; if this were to rebound onto them, it would be a disaster.

At the Commandery Princess’s residence,

Yingbao really did go into labor, and there were indications of difficult birth.

It was not that the fetus was in the wrong position, but that her belly was cramping, yet her cervix wouldn’t dilate.

Lady Wang and Wei Zhan were on the edge, while Yingbao was strolling back and forth in the room, holding her belly with one hand and nibbling a crispy persimmon with the other.

The midwife said, “Walking around will help the fetus engage better, and thus facilitate faster dilation of the cervix.”

The other midwife mentioned, “In our hometown, some would bind the expecting mother on a mule and let it run around. The woman’s wails were so horrifying they could be heard miles away.”

Wei Zhan, feeling goosebumps, quickly stopped her from continuing, “Stop saying that.”

Yingbao, unbothered, excitedly asked, “What about later? Did the woman and her baby survive?”

The midwife sat in her chair, legs crossed, and said, “Of course, those who had smooth births did well, but those who ran into difficulties… there was blood everywhere, her face went as white as paper. Could not survive.”

Seeing the midwife feeding her wife with terrifying stories, Wei Zhan felt a rising anger but decided it was inappropriate to scold her at that moment. So he asked his wife, “You should lie down for a while.”

Weary from walking, Yingbao let Wei Zhan help her back to bed, mentally calling out to Xuanwu, “Am I having a difficult birth?”

Xuanwu: “No, you’re nowhere near having difficulty.”

“Why is it taking so long for me to give birth after so much pain?” Yingbao felt frustrated.

Xuanwu: “Because your child is lazy and doesn’t want to move.”

Yingbao: …

She felt that Xuanwu was deliberately mocking her.

“Should I take some labor inducing pills?” She was getting so tired that she thought of taking a nap before giving birth.

Xuanwu: “Then you should consume a Five Tripod Mushroom. Its effect is much better than the worldly labor inducing medicines.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a palm-sized Five Tripod Mushroom appeared in her hand.

Without hesitation, Yingbao put it in her mouth, chewed it up and swallowed.

At this moment, she was alone in the bedroom except for Magnolia and Xinghua who were standing at the door, ready to answer her call.

Wei Zhan and his mother, Lady Wang, had stepped out to discuss with the midwife about whether to give her labor-inducing pills.

After eating a whole Five Tripod Mushroom, Yingbao felt a warmth throughout her body, her abdomen seemed to be moving as though the baby was stretching and kicking inside.

Soon, everything quieted down and then her belly started to contractions at intervals. About fifteen minutes later, the pain intensified.

Yingbao, holding back a scream, took deep breaths again and again, then told Magnolia, “I’m giving birth! Call someone!”

In a panic, Magnolia shouted outside, “The Princess is giving birth! Quick, someone come!”

A surge of footsteps rushed into the bedroom. Wei Zhan swiftly held his wife, anxiously asking, “What happened? Are you in extreme pain?”

Yingbao was in such pain that sweat broke out and she simply couldn’t answer.

Lady Wang and the midwife tugged Wei Zhan, angrily ordering, “Get out of here, stop making a mess!”

Wei Zhan had no choice but to let go of his wife and retreat to the door, looking worriedly at his wife on the couch.

Yingbao, now feeling woozy, followed the midwife’s instructions to push subconsciously. She felt a warm stream flowed out of her body, making her feel relaxed.

At the sound of a baby’s cry, the midwife gleefully said, “Congratulations Commandery Princess, it’s a girl.”

A weight lifted off Yingbao’s heart and she immediately fell into darkness.