Chapter 1808 – Step Aside
“Go to the delivery room? For what?”
Zhang Ping was initially baffled, but soon froze in place, his eyes awkwardly darting down to Jiang Pengji’s belly.
“Lord… Lord, are you… about to give birth?”
Zhang Ping stammered, his whole body paralyzed except for his brain, which was still functioning but forgotten how to use the rest of him.
Jiang Pengji stroked her belly, which felt like it was sinking, and frowned before uncertainly replying, “Should be?”
“What do you mean ‘should be???’”
Zhang Ping was dumbfounded; how was he supposed to respond to that?
Jiang Pengji frowned, then confidently declared, “It’s my first time giving birth too, how would I know if it’s starting? You’ve been a father for a while, yet you lack even this basic knowledge? You hold the bicycle first, let me catch my breath.”
Zhang Ping clumsily took the bicycle.
He indeed had been a father, but that kid didn’t crawl out from his belly. He knew what was happening, but had no personal experience.
Fortunately, Zhang Ping was reliable. A second later, he hastily shoved the bicycle to a nearby maidservant and rushed off to call for help.
“I said to slow down, the kid hasn’t been born yet! If you rush me, he might just drop out halfway!”
Jiang Pengji couldn’t help but crack jokes even in this situation. Her pain tolerance was beyond what ordinary people could imagine, so she was still feeling fine.
Others, however, were freaking out. Zhang Ping wished he could just haul her off to the delivery room and hand her over to the midwife.
But in the end, Zhang Ping didn’t have the strength to fly, couldn’t dare touch Jiang Pengji, and could only glare at her in frustration.
She was carrying twins, and the doctor said twins usually arrived towards the end of the eighth month or the beginning of the ninth month—rarely could they be carried to full term.
In other words, at just over nine months pregnant, Jiang Pengji could go into labor at any moment.
All necessary preparations were at the ready, and Jiang Pengji’s movement was limited to just outside the delivery room for convenience.
Zhang Ping, sweating profusely, watched the supposedly about-to-give-birth lady move steadily and slowly towards the delivery room, feeling like his worldview had been completely shattered.
“This is far enough, let’s wait for news.”
Jiang Pengji took a deep breath to ease the discomfort in her abdomen, waved at Zhang Ping with her back turned, and entered the delivery room with the support of maids.
Zhang Ping: “???”
Others gradually received the news. Apart from a few who couldn’t leave their posts, a whole bunch of ministers showed up, not missing a single one.
Except for Wei Ci.
Of course, everyone’s attention was now on Jiang Pengji; who had time to notice Wei Ci was missing?
“When is she going to give birth?”
Zhang Ping said, “Lord just went in, and it hasn’t even been half a tea’s time yet. Even if it’s quick, it’s going to be a few hours, right?”
The ministers gasped at this. “A few hours? Why so long?”
Zhang Ping: “…”
What kind of tone is that? As if having the lady just step inside and push one out is easy peasy.
For a first birth, spending a few hours is considered fast; some women with narrow birth canals or complications might take a day or two.
Just then, another minister rushed over, the first thing out of his mouth was, “Is the young master a boy or a girl?”
Zhang Ping replied, “She just went in, hasn’t even really started yet. How would I know the gender?”
The minister looked dumbfounded. “It’s only been a tea’s time? Why does it feel like it’s been half a day?”
Zhang Ping: “…”
Feng Zhen happened to arrive, and before he could speak, Zhang Ping chimed in, “The Lord just went in for a tea’s time, hasn’t really started yet, so we don’t know if the young master is a boy or girl. If all goes smoothly, we’ll see the young master in a few hours; if not, maybe we’ll have to wait a day.”
Feng Zhen gave him a bewildered look, as if asking if he was talking nonsense.
Zhang Ping: “…”
He couldn’t get mad; today was the Lord’s big day, and getting angry would ruin the luck.
Slowly, over thirty people gathered outside the delivery room, their expressions all different, but no one dared to speak up.
As they waited and waited, after another tea’s time, someone softly asked, “Why haven’t we heard any noise?”
As standard men of a feudal era, they thought childbirth was just waiting to reap the rewards after the sowing; some good mothers would accompany their wives during pregnancy, while others would just wash their hands of the matter and wait outside while their wives gave birth. Thus, they only knew that women screamed in pain during childbirth, but had no clue about the details—thinking all women had the same procedure.
“Maybe it hasn’t started yet?”
Feng Zhen chimed in, “Maybe she’s conserving energy.”
Qian Su and Lü Zheng sat in the corner, occasionally glancing toward the delivery room, their expressions similar, but their thoughts different.
He held a peace charm tightly, murmuring, “Hope the delivery goes well, let there be no complications.”
His words were sincere; Jiang Pengji treated Yang Tao and his old followers with great generosity, but if the Lord were someone else, it wouldn’t necessarily be so.
The best outcome would be a safe mother and child; slightly worse would be the child’s stillbirth, leading some with ulterior motives to spread rumors that Jiang Pengji wasn’t the chosen one and had slain the star of fortune; an even worse case would be a safe child but an unfortunate mother losing her life during birth, perfect for those with agendas to leverage control over the young lord; the worst scenario of all would be both mother and child perishing—this shouldn’t happen…
Those people may be ruthless, but they wouldn’t want to see the recently stabilized world plunge back into chaos.
Lü Zheng said, “It will definitely go smoothly and safely, all three will be fine.”
Qian Su turned to look at him. Lü Zheng was a former foe, and very discreet, but nobody expected him to show up today.
“There won’t be any accidents.”
Lü Zheng was certain.
Qian Su replied, “I hope so.”
That said, Qian Su felt uneasy in his heart.
Childbirth for women is perilous; even without external malicious intentions, difficult births and severe bleeding can easily happen.
Outside, everyone was anxious, but the atmosphere inside the delivery room was quite harmonious.
The midwives that had been prepared were rendered unnecessary, or perhaps Jiang Pengji had someone she trusted more, making those midwives mere props.
Once inside the delivery room, she switched off the livestream.
It was said that the platform had long been prepared, borrowing auxiliary servers that calculated seconds from a major company, hoping the platform could handle this wave of traffic. Thinking of that scenario, Jiang Pengji couldn’t help but chuckle, telling the supporting maid, “I’ve served so many ladies giving birth, but it’s the first time I’ve seen someone enter the delivery room with a smile. Jiang Jun’s health is great; she will surely give birth to a great child.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
Jiang Pengji’s face was pale, but her smile was still relaxed.
In this era, the tools for childbirth were quite primitive, with women either lying on beds or half-squatting on the ground.
The latter position is easier for exertion, but only peasant women tend to do it.
Giving birth is already incredibly painful; forcing women to deliver in a half-squatting position, without any relief, is truly cruel.
Jiang Pengji had no experience but had received advice from countless idle folks in the livestream who had drafted a design for a birthing bed that could be used for both sitting and lying down. The design was quite convenient for exertion, yet people of this era saw it as shameful and didn’t understand its purpose.
The midwife looked confused as well, and Jiang Pengji said, “You can wait over there.”
Midwife: “???”
