Chapter 310: Adventure (2)

What secrets were in the sedan chair? She was looking forward to it.

The neat footsteps behind her went far away, but Qingfeng's heart still couldn't hold itself, beating violently. The muffled hum from Zhen Zhen just now scared her out of her wits. Qingfeng didn't dare to look at the figure lying deep in the soft sedan chair. The palace maid's clothes she was wearing had long been soaked with sweat, and the blood leaking from between her legs had stained the dark red skirt into a terrifying black-red. Her slender fingers were clutching the soft cushion under her tightly, her joints turning white, her unfocused eyes staring roundly at the top of the sedan chair, her face pale and green. Fuling was afraid she would scream on the way, so she let her bite a piece of white cloth in her mouth. The tightly clenched teeth made the blue veins on her neck bulge. Several times Qingfeng felt she was about to be unable to breathe.

The smell of blood almost made Qingfeng retch. She clutched her collar, forcibly suppressing that suffocating panic. Fortunately, they soon reached Qingfeng Hall. She heard Fuling trot into the hall and say to the sedan chair bearers, "Carry it up to the steps."

Just as the sedan chair landed, Fuling immediately said: "You all withdraw."

The eight people looked at each other, all looking puzzled, but they didn't stay long and went out of the palace.

Such a large soft sedan chair was carried directly to the door of the room. The palace servants who had been guarding the small courtyard all ran out. Lan'er looked curiously at the soft sedan chair and asked: "Sister Fuling, what's wrong with the Lady?"

"Today is the celebration, and it's too noisy outside. The master is a bit uncomfortable. The master said that you have all worked hard these days. It's rare that it's lively today, so you all go watch the fun." Fuling greeted her and didn't let her walk up the steps.

The master is uncomfortable, and they, as servants, go watch the fun? Lan'er found it funny: "This... isn't good, right?"

"There's nothing not good about it. The master needs quiet, so you all go out." Zhen Zhen was having a difficult birth, and it had been almost half an hour. She didn't know how she was doing. These people still refused to leave. Fuling was anxious and shouted coldly: "Go!"

Fuling, who had always been gentle, suddenly changed her face. The timid palace maids shrank their necks in fear. Lan'er had never been scolded like this, and she was annoyed in her heart, snorting coldly and running out. Feeling Fuling's cold gaze looking at her, Xia Yin also immediately went out of the palace. The other palace maids and eunuchs looked at each other, but didn't dare not to leave. Not to mention that the Lady was still in the soft sedan chair, even if the Lady wasn't there, they didn't dare to violate the words of a fifth-rank female official.

After the palace servants had all left, Fuling said urgently to Ruyi, who was still stunned on the side: "Go lock the front and sides."

"Oh." Coming back to her senses, Ruyi hurriedly ran to close the door.

There had been no movement in the soft sedan chair. Fuling gently lifted the curtain and called out in a low voice: "Master?"

When the sedan chair landed, Qingfeng turned back to check Zhen Zhen's situation. The person who had been breathing with difficulty just now suddenly stopped moving, lying quietly, her eyes still open, but without any spirit. Qingfeng was so scared that she hurriedly took the white cloth from her mouth, but she still opened her mouth slightly, but no longer breathed violently. Qingfeng's heart felt as if it were stuck in her throat, and she was so nervous she forgot to breathe. Her trembling hand slowly reached under Zhen Zhen's nose, and feeling the weak breath flowing, Qingfeng let out a heavy sigh of relief.

At this time, Fuling's voice sounded outside the sedan chair. Qingfeng said loudly: "Come over and help me move her to the bed."

Fuling climbed into the soft sedan chair and was also shocked by Zhen Zhen's miserable state. Confirming she was still alive, the two used their hands and feet to move Zhen Zhen out. Qingfeng was pregnant, and Fuling was just a thin girl. The two dragged and pulled for a long time before they managed to move her to the position of the curtain, but they were already out of breath.

"Ruyi!"

Ruyi had closed the door when she heard Qingfeng's call and ran over in a hurry. Seeing the scene in front of the soft sedan chair, Ruyi froze there. She guessed that there must be something strange in the soft sedan chair, but she didn't expect that there was a person inside, a pregnant woman, and this person was Consort Hui, who had already been sent to the Cold Palace!

How could Consort Hui be pregnant? Was it the Emperor's child? Then why did she appear here, and what relationship did she have with Qingfeng that made Qingfeng take such a big risk? Her mind was in a mess. Looking at the brown-red blood stains on the skirt, Ruyi gasped.

"Help quickly."

Qingfeng's cry woke Ruyi, who was still in a panic. Not daring to think too much, she hurriedly stepped forward to support the swaying Zhen Zhen. Perhaps because of the dragging along the way, or because the child in her belly was tossing inside, Zhen Zhen, who seemed to have fainted, woke up again, starting to groan in pain, waving her hands around, and breathing in short, rapid gasps.

Zhen Zhen finally had some spirit again. Qingfeng said urgently: "Where is the midwife?!"

"I let her and Wu'er wait at the side door." Fuling replied while running toward the outside of the courtyard.

Grabbing Zhen Zhen's hand to prevent her from hurting herself, and calming down a bit, Qingfeng said to Ruyi, who was also scared silly: "Ruyi, close all the doors and windows, and go prepare hot water."

"Oh, yes." Ruyi scrambled to close the windows and doors, but the person on the bed suddenly screamed: "Ah!"

The painful crying and the uncontrollable twisting made Qingfeng not know what to do, so she could only say urgently: "Zhen Zhen, you must hold on! Didn't you say you wanted a bloodline between you and him? If you don't hold on, you and the child will be finished!"

Zhen Zhen suddenly grabbed her wrist with amazing strength, "I want this child, save me... save me..."

The intermittent voice was like a knife, poking people from time to time. Knowing she could hear what she was saying, Qingfeng immediately replied: "I know, I know, the imperial physician will be here soon, you and the child will be fine, you must hold on!" Her wrist hurt terribly, but Qingfeng's heart wasn't as panicked as it was in the soft sedan chair, at least Zhen Zhen still had the strength to grab her.

"Master, the midwife is here, and Imperial Physician Lin is here too." The door was pushed open, and Fuling rushed in with a few people. The first to run to the bedside was Wu'er.

"Master? How are you, don't scare Wu'er!" Not only was Wu'er scared until her legs went soft, but Zhen Zhen's miserable state now would shock anyone who saw it.

"What are you two standing there for? Do whatever needs to be done quickly! She... is almost dying." Zhen Zhen's hands were unnaturally cold. Qingfeng didn't understand medicine, but she could also feel her life slipping away bit by bit.

Lin Feng hurriedly opened the red mahogany medicine box and took out a piece of hundred-year-old ginseng, handing it to Qingfeng, saying: "Put it under her tongue."

Qingfeng held the ginseng slice, looking at Zhen Zhen, whose spirit was beginning to blur again. If she was careless, what if the slice got stuck in her throat? Glaring at Lin Feng, Qingfeng said urgently: "She is in so much pain that she is opening her mouth to breathe, how can she hold it?!"

Lin Feng found a red bottle in the medicine box and stuffed it into Fuling's hand: "Then sprinkle it under her tongue." After saying this, he looked for something else in the medicine box.

Fuling opened the medicine stopper, smelled it, and said to Qingfeng: "It's ginseng powder."

Now she couldn't care about so much. Qingfeng pinched Zhen Zhen's chin, and Fuling carefully sprinkled a little powder under her tongue.

"Hot water, hot water is here!" Ruyi rushed in with a large basin of hot water. The midwife took the hot water and instructed: "Need some clean soft cloth."

"Oh, oh." Ruyi ran out again.

Lin Feng finally found a long cloth belt and opened it, revealing long, short, thick, and thin silver needles. Coming to Zhen Zhen's side, Lin Feng said to the midwife behind him: "I will perform acupuncture to induce labor, you deliver the baby."

"Yes." A difficult birth was originally a matter of nine deaths and one life, but now with an imperial physician present, the midwife's heart settled down, and she immediately started preparing to deliver the baby.

While pulling out the silver needles, Lin Feng instructed: "Need someone to hold her shoulders, don't let her move around."

"Good." Qingfeng didn't think much and reached out to press Zhen Zhen's shoulders.

Wu'er stepped forward and said: "Your Ladyship, let this servant do it." Her master had grabbed Qingfeng's wrist and left several deep bruises, and Qingfeng's forehead was full of thin sweat. Sitting on the edge of the bed, the protruding belly was particularly obvious. Wu'er was grateful to Qingfeng in her heart, but didn't understand why she wanted to do this.

Thinking that she was also pregnant, Qingfeng nodded and stood up, letting Wu'er sit at the head of the bed.

Lin Feng performed acupuncture, not knowing which acupoints he pierced, but Zhen Zhen, who had been lying weakly on the bed, suddenly screamed, and her strength was so great that Wu'er almost couldn't hold her down.

The midwife was even more anxious, encouraging and shouting: "Exert force, exert a little more force! It will be out soon!"

The originally spacious inner chamber felt crowded and stuffy because the doors and windows were tightly closed. With the midwife's induction of labor and Zhen Zhen's screams, one more miserable than the other, Qingfeng felt her stomach twitching in pain. Fuling carefully discovered Qingfeng's abnormality and said: "Master, you go outside and wait first, there are too many people here."

Qingfeng didn't dare to stay any longer, let Fuling support her, sat on the soft couch in the outer room, smoothed her breath, and then asked: "Was the journey here smooth?"

"Master, rest assured, we didn't encounter any imperial guards on the way. This servant let the sedan bearers carry the soft sedan chair to the intersection outside the Cold Palace, didn't go in, and sent the sedan bearers away before helping Consort Hui into the sedan chair. An eight-person sedan chair, plus the weight of one person, should not feel like anything. Even if they felt strange halfway, they wouldn't know what happened."

While replying to Qingfeng's words, Fuling took her pulse. The pulse was a bit chaotic, but fortunately, there was nothing major.

The drum sound rang out from afar again, each one powerful and forceful. The celebration ceremony wouldn't end so quickly, and there was a banquet in the evening. A bunch of things could drag Yan Hongtian and Xin Yuening away. In comparison, it was much safer here than in the Cold Palace. As long as the child was born safely, everything that followed would be easy to handle.

"Ah—"

Another painful scream came from the inner chamber. Qingfeng listened with trepidation, "You, you go in and help quickly." Fuling was a medical maid and knew some medicine, so she should be more helpful than Wu'er and Ruyi.

"But..."

Qingfeng smiled slightly, although a bit reluctantly, "Don't worry, I'm fine, just... a bit scared. I hope both can survive, you go quickly."

"Mm." Fuling nodded lightly and walked around the screen into the inner chamber.

"Exert force again, it's coming out soon!"

"Master, you must hold on..."

"Exert force..."

Qingfeng lay half-reclined on the soft couch, watching the chaos behind the screen. So, giving birth was such a terrifying thing. She touched her faintly aching lower abdomen again, and her limbs instantly turned cold.

Qingfeng did not know how long this ordeal had lasted. She only saw Ruyi come and go with hot water several times, until finally, a low cry of relief came from the inner chamber: "It's born! It's born!"

Born? Qingfeng stood up abruptly and hurried into the inner chamber. She saw the midwife holding a tiny infant. The child was still covered in blood, its skin a dark, bruised purple. Its facial features seemed all scrunched together, its eyes were tightly shut, and its body was slightly curled. It looked so ugly, not at all like Yan Hongtian or Zhen Zhen. This child was completely different from the fair, tender baby Qingfeng had imagined!

He was motionless and made no sound. Qingfeng asked with a trembling voice, "He... why isn't he crying?" Could it be... that he was dead?

(End of Chapter)