The Deposed Crown Prince had Three Lifelong Regrets - Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The room was filled with red light. The midwife, holding the infant just delivered by Noble Consort Zhu, was feeling anxious and uneasy.

The blood stains on the baby’s face had not yet been washed away. Her entire face was wrinkled, and as if sensing the anxiety, she cried out loudly.

Outside the doors of the Empress’s Palace, Emperor Huijing paced back and forth restlessly.

The midwife, drenched in sweat, grew increasingly panicked and whispered to someone, “What should we do?”

“The baby has been saved, but the adult… there is another one inside, stuck crosswise.”

This birth was fraught with peril. After a long delay, she skillfully reached into the birth canal. The midwife, working almost bare-handed, naturally could not stop her mistress’s agony. Screams of heart-wrenching pain pierced the air.

Lu Fengmian stood in the room in a daze. She was dressed brightly, but no one in the delivery room could see her.

“Your Highness, push! Push again!”

The cries not only unnerved the Emperor outside the hall but also made Lu Fengmian’s scalp tingle.

Both mother and child surviving was highly uncertain. If the smaller one couldn’t come out, the mother couldn’t be saved. Although a baby girl had already been born, which was not a total failure, judging by the Emperor’s attitude, he definitely wanted to save the adult.

But to save the adult, they had to pull the smaller one out first, which would likely cause a hemorrhage.

To disobey the Emperor’s decree and be banished from the palace to eat coarse food was minor; to implicate their families and receive punishment was severe.

Unlike midwives outside the palace, the female physicians in the palace were respected and loved.

However, once they left the nourishing Forbidden City, midwives became a despised profession, shouldering the risk of ensuring the safety of mother and child, yet unable to stay for the celebratory feast.

Physician Yuan pushed away the midwife’s trembling hand and helped the Noble Consort up. “Your Highness, please stand for a moment. In a moment, in a moment everything will be fine.”

Zhu Lingyi was soaked in sweat, practically hanging onto life by a thread. Her eyelids drooped in exhaustion, and she subconsciously gripped the support beam tightly.

The midwife embraced her waist from behind, handing the obstetric forceps to the physician.

If they delayed, neither the adult nor the child would survive. To save the adult now, they could only crush the smaller one’s body and take it out piece by piece.

The assisting maids rushed around, changing basin after basin of hot water. Although she couldn’t be touched, Lu Fengmian nervously backed away continuously.

The fetus in the womb seemed to sense the threat, whimpering and squirming its body wildly.

Every movement brought a tearing pain.

The obstetric forceps were inserted through the birth canal. The Noble Consort had exhausted her strength, not even having the energy to scream left. Shortly after the forceps went in, the bulging belly shifted slightly.

After much hesitation, and considering the change in the fetus’s position, the physician decided to withdraw the forceps first.

The body clutching the support beam convulsed for a moment, gathering her last bit of strength to lift her breath. The fetus, which had been stuck horizontally, miraculously slid down smoothly.

The change was so sudden that when the second baby girl was born, she wasn’t caught and fell directly onto the floor.

The midwife quickly rushed to the table, heated the tip of the scissors, and stepped forward to cut the umbilical cord for the child. However, after seeing the baby’s appearance clearly, she couldn’t help but gasp several times in shock.

The relief she had finally felt instantly turned into renewed anxiety.

“This… this…”

Hearing the commotion, Lu Fengmian, who had been watching for a long time, finally mustered the courage to lean in. She was instantly struck by a chill running through her body.

Though the child was human in shape, her face and neck were covered in greenish-blue scales. And the scales seemed to be breathing, constantly opening and closing.

Physician Yuan’s thoughts tangled into a confused mess. She suppressed her darting mind and instructed the midwife not to speak yet, saying it wouldn’t be too late to make a decision after reporting to the Emperor.

After washing the blood from her hands with hot water, a small crack opened in the delivery room door, and she poked her head out.

“Your Majesty, Your Highness is—”

The shock and fear likely prompted the cry, which was more miserable and sorrowful than ever. The Emperor’s expression changed dramatically. Ignoring everyone’s attempts to stop him, he rushed straight into the delivery room.

The first thing that caught his eye was the normal baby girl. She had been crying earlier, but now she was quiet, not making a sound, as if she had fallen asleep.