Chapter 188: Xu Xu Pingmei Exhausted!! [Thank You All for Your Support! Bowing Again!]

Xiao Xiao Gongye Qi's Mansion

Qi Qi Yiqiu's family of three was having dinner.

The personal female attendant of Princess Princess Pingning arrived at the gate.

"My Lord Xiao Xiao Gongye, Miss, the gatekeeper just reported that the Xu family's carriage procession passed our gate and stopped at the entrance of Hou Fu."

The couple exchanged a glance.

Princess Princess Pingning said, "Counting the days, it should be that girl Xu Xu Pingmei about to give birth. Take the Xiao Xiao Gongye's invitation to the Gu family; say that if there is anything to help with, they can come directly."

Xiao Xiao Gongye Qi also nodded beside her.

At the entrance of Hou Fu,

Sun Shi, holding Xu Xu Anmei's hand, entered the Gu residence under the guidance of the Gu family steward.

Before reaching the second gate, she saw Bai Shi and Nanny Chang walking over.

The two ladies of Hou Fu supported each other, and the female servants behind them hurriedly bowed to one another.

Sun Shi frowned and said, "I already know what happened."

"Sister, rest assured, everything in the manor is prepared."

Bai Shi said with concern.

"Mm, I know! Xu Xu Anmei, go to Sister Yi'er's place."

"Mother!"

"Go quickly!"

"Yes."

After speaking, Bai Shi and Sun Shi walked toward Fuyao Courtyard.

Entering the courtyard, they arrived at a room with a heated wall.

Inside the room, Gu Gu Tingyu wore a set of light-colored clothes, which still had some black ink stains on them. Seeing the arrivals, he hurried over, bowed deeply, and called out with a trembling voice, "Mother-in-law!"

Sun Shi nodded, then exchanged pleasantries with the ladies of the fourth and fifth branches of the Gu family; however, the lady of the fifth branch dared not meet Sun Shi's gaze, her expression evasive.

But Sun Shi shot her a sideways glance and paid it little mind.

Xu Xu Zaijing glanced at the lady of the fifth branch; as if sensing Xu Xu Zaijing's gaze, this lady kept her head lowered.

Xu Xu Zaijing and Zai Zhang called out "Brother Yu" from behind; Gu Gu Tingyu nodded, looking at the fifth branch as he clenched his fist.

Afterwards, Bai Shi helped Sun Shi sit in a chair.

Gu Gu Tingye was also wearing his school clothes, obviously having come directly after school; he kept glancing at his elder brother.

In his heart, Gu Gu Tingyu was never less than a father to him, and this was the first time he had seen his elder brother so out of sorts.

A female servant came to report on Xiao Xiao Gongye Qi's matter, and Bai Shi nodded.

Half an hour later, Gu Yan Kai and Xu Minghua arrived at the courtyard one after the other, followed by Xu Xu Zaiduan.

"Father-in-law!"

"Elder Brother-in-law!"

"Elder Uncle-in-law!"

After the two Dukes entered the room, they nodded, replied with a few words, and sat in chairs as well. Gu Yan Kai looked at his fifth younger brother, Gu Lun Kai, with confusion in his eyes, because Gu Lun Kai's eyes were full of a plea for help.

Although he had experienced childbirth several times, Xu Xu Zaijing was nervous for the first time, especially upon noticing the oddity of the Gu family's fifth branch; perhaps the heated wall in the room was too hot, he wiped the sweat from his palms, and glanced at Gu Gu Tingyu again.

Afterwards, Xu Xu Zaijing walked out of the room, approached a sister-in-law from the Zhu family standing at the door, asked a few questions, and then narrowed his eyes.

In the bedroom, every time Xu Xu Pingmei cried out in pain, Sun Shi's brow would furrow, and her grip on Bai Shi's hand would tighten.

Xu Xu Zaiduan stood beside Gu Gu Tingyu, patted his shoulder, and whispered a few words of comfort; after all, he had just experienced this matter himself. Gu Gu Tingyu nodded and closed his eyes.

As time passed longer and longer,

the Hour of Hai had already passed (after 11 PM)

the sound of Xu Xu Pingmei in the room grew lower and lower.

Xu Xu Zaijing had already figured out the full story beforehand and forced himself not to think of those bad things, but Qingxia walking out of the room made his heart skip a beat.

"Nothing bad will happen, will it?" the lady of the fourth branch said in a low voice.

This remark drew angry stares from everyone else in the room.

"I didn't say anything else..."

"Slap!"

Bai Shi slapped the table.

The fourth branch fell silent.

Gu Jun Kai, the fourth brother of Gu Yan Kai who had been feigning sleep while leaning in a chair, was also startled into a shiver, woke up, and looked around, somewhat confused about what was happening.

"Qingxia, what's wrong?"

Sun Shi said, trying to stay calm.

Qingxia frowned and said, "Da Da Niangzi, Miss... she... she is running out of strength! Nurse Ren says we must use the final method!"

"What? How? How could this happen!"

After Xu Minghua asked, he frowned and looked at Sun Shi helplessly.

"Our Miss..."

"No, I didn't mean to; it was the cat! I didn't know my niece-in-law would go strolling in the garden!"

Hearing the words of the lady of the fifth branch, aside from Sun Shi and Xu Xu Zaijing, the other three members of the Xu family looked puzzled.

Sun Shi took a breath, waved her hand toward Qingxia, and said, "Go in quickly and see what's wrong with Ping'er!"

"Then, Auntie, did my mother tell you to tie it up?"

Gu Gu Tingyu's deep voice came through.

"Uh, yes, but!"

"Shut up! My sister is not yet in danger!" Xu Xu Zaijing said in a low voice.

Gu Yankai understood the whole situation from these few words; he looked at Bai Shi: "Xu Pingmei, she isn't...?"

Bai Shi nodded beside him.

"Eldest Brother, she didn't mean it," Gu Linkai said from the side.

Xu Minghua, Xu Xu Zaiduan, and Xu Xu Zaizhang all looked at Xu Xu Zaijing, who said: "I asked Sister-in-Law Zhu; it was the cat from the Fifth Branch of the Gu family. It suddenly leaped out while Sister was taking a walk and frightened her."

Hearing Xu Xu Zaijing's words, the Xu father and son frowned at Gu Linkai, their fists slowly clenching and their breathing growing heavier.

Gu Gu Tingye looked at the two families somewhat at a loss.

Qingxia ran out of the room again, saying: "Miss has drunk the ginseng soup; Physician Ren is about to apply acupuncture."

Having said this, she went back inside.

Upon hearing this, both the Xu and Gu families took a few steps toward the bedroom door.

"Ah!"

A cry of pain came.

Fuyao Courtyard.

In the courtyard, the Fourth and Fifth Branches of the Gu family were no longer present.

Inside the bedchamber, everything had been cleaned thoroughly.

The fire wall burned very hot.

Bai Shi and Sun Shi sat before the bed, looking at Xu Pingmei, who lay with her eyes closed and her face pale.

Xu Anmei and Gu Tingyi stood aside, wiping away tears.

Looking utterly exhausted, Physician Ren placed Xu Pingmei's wrist back under the quilt, then nodded to the two Da Da Niangzi.

Only then did the two Da Da Niangzi, their faces full of concern, breathe a sigh of relief.

"Today, we truly owe everything to Physician Ren; my Xu family is deeply grateful from the bottom of our hearts; great kindness needs no words of thanks!"

After speaking, Sun Shi tightly grasped Physician Ren's hand.

Bai Shi beside her also nodded, while Xu Anmei and Gu Tingyi likewise looked at her with eyes full of gratitude.

Physician Ren rose and performed a bow, then smiled with a sense of relief, saying: "To be honest with you two Da Da Niangzi, if this had happened to me last year, I too would have been helpless!"

Sun Shi and Bai Shi looked at Physician Ren in surprise: "Ah? How could that be?"

Just as Physician Ren was about to speak, Xu Pingmei on the bed let out a soft moan and woke; with a somewhat dazed and confused look in her eyes, she gazed at Sun Shi: "Mother, why are you here? I... why has my belly become so small!"

Hearing Xu Pingmei's words, Bai Shi and Sun Shi smiled; the wet nurse beside them also approached, carrying a swaddling cloth in which lay an infant sound asleep.

"A boy or a girl?"

"A boy."

With a look of astonishment on her pale face, Xu Pingmei said: "My husband always thought it was a girl!"

Asking the wet nurse to place the swaddling cloth by her pillow, Xu Pingmei gazed at it for a while before saying: "Mother, Mother-in-law, what were you two talking about just now?"

Bai Shi smoothed Xu Pingmei's hair, glanced at Sun Shi, and then said: "Physician Ren said that if she had encountered your situation last year, she too would have been helpless."

Xu Pingmei looked at Physician Ren in surprise, nodded, and said: "Please, go on."

Physician Ren said: "When I previously went to Yang Zhou with Da Da Niangzi, there was a period when Brother Jing kept dragging me to the Sheng family; it was during that time that Brother Jing invited an old physician surnamed Chen!"

Xu Anmei and Gu Tingyi listened with faces full of curiosity.

Glancing at Xu Pingmei, Physician Ren continued: "Old Physician Chen, invited by Brother Jing, met us at a restaurant outside the Sheng family gate; we exchanged and tested our medical skills. I shared my Ren family's secret formula for preserving pregnancy, and this Old Physician Chen taught me this unparalleled skill of acupuncture. At that time, after I finished taking the pulse of that Wei Xiaoniang from the Sheng family and returned to Wuyi Lane—"

Xu Pingmei on the bed, with her eyes closed, said: "I even told Physician Ren, 'With my constitution, surely this new skill you just learned won't need to be used on me?' Who would have thought my words would come true."

Xu Anmei and Gu Tingyi exchanged a surprised glance; indeed, one really must not speak carelessly!

Hearing this, Sun Shi angrily tapped Xu Pingmei, but the blow landed without any force.

"You and your mouth!"

Bai Shi also shook her head somewhat angrily.

By dawn, both families were utterly exhausted; fortunately, Xu Pingmei was safe, otherwise the two families might truly have torn apart their faces.

As everyone walked out beyond the Lady Ningyuan Hou Fu, Xu Xu Zaijing listened to Xu Anmei's recounting beside her, breathed out deeply, and thought silently: "This counts as..."

Fuyao Courtyard.

Gu Gu Tingyu crouched before Xu Pingmei's bed; one of his fingers was being gripped by the infant in the swaddling cloth, the grip very strong, unlike his own naturally somewhat frail constitution.

Xu Pingmei beside him also smiled wearily: "You still said there was a little sister in my belly; you miscalculated, didn't you?"

Gu Gu Tingyu smiled and said: "The boy is too mischievous; a girl would have been better! Rest first; you were worn out last night."

"Mm! Are you alright?"

Gu Gu Tingyu smiled and said: "I'm fine."

Once Xu Pingmei had fallen asleep, Gu Gu Tingyu stood up, looked at his wife and child on the bed, and said softly: "It is time to divide the household!"

Finally, the child is born; wipe off some sweat.

Thanks everyone for your support!

( ˘ ³˘)♥ Sending love.





(End of Chapter)