Just as Auntie Xu was about to return to the delivery room, she saw the emperor walk out. “How’s Yao Yao? She’s been in pain for most of the night. Why isn’t she giving birth?”
Auntie Xu quickly lowered her head and replied, “The amniotic fluid broke too early. Her vagina is only two fingers wide. I think it’ll take some time. I’ll discuss it with Imperial Physician Hu and a few other imperial physicians who are good at women’s medicine to see what to do. From the looks of it, the Empress’s health is not bad. She’s still very optimistic.”
Yin Huaixi was still worried. “But she’s in so much pain. Is there a way to stop the pain?”
When Auntie Xu heard this, she only found it funny. However, she wanted to laugh, but she couldn’t. “When a woman gives birth, pain is a necessary process. There’s no way to relieve the pain. She can only endure it.”
Yin Huaixi was a little disappointed and instructed solemnly, “If anything happens during the birth process later, you have to protect the child.”
Auntie Xu had mixed feelings and nodded in agreement.
Time passed in waves of intense pain, looking very tortuous. Yu Youyao cried from the pain, and Yin Huaixi’s heart ached.
This period of pain passed.
From 3am to 5am, Yu Youyao’s vagina was three fingers wide, but there were still no signs of labor. Auntie Xu looked calm, but a thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead. She quickly discussed countermeasures with the female doctors. The four female doctors unanimously agreed to get an imperial physician who was good at women’s medicine to come over and perform acupuncture on the Empress to accelerate labor.
The imperial physician came in to perform acupuncture and accelerate delivery. Yu Youyao’s pain became even more intense, but after more than an hour, there was still no sign of birth.
The atmosphere in the delivery room became very heavy.
Even Yu Youyao, who was in pain, felt something. All the strength in her body seemed to have been drained. She collapsed on the bed, as if she was about to faint.
Auntie Xu was shocked and quickly cut a few slices of ginseng for her to eat.
Yin Huaixi held her hand. “Yu Youyao, hold on a little longer. If you really can’t give birth, then don’t. I have to protect you.”
Yu Youyao looked at the coldness in his eyes and immediately shuddered. “I— I just don’t have the strength. I’ll be fine after resting for a while.”
As soon as she finished speaking, there was an extreme swelling in her abdomen, and Yu Youyao screamed.
Auntie Xu was immediately overjoyed. “She’s giving birth. The Empress is giving birth. Quick, bring four more eggs over.”
The female doctors hurriedly went forward to check on the Empress’s body. Xia Tao quickly brought in some eggs and fed them to Yu Youyao. Yu Youyao was in too much pain to eat. Yin Huaixi took the bowl and coaxed her to eat two eggs. Only when she felt nauseous and couldn’t eat anymore did he cut a piece of ginseng and let her eat it.
The room was in chaos. Yin Huaixi also retreated from the bed and sat at the table. Seeing the palace servants pouring out basins of blood, his heart burned.
Yu Youyao was in too much pain. At first, she was screaming softly in pain, but towards the end, she was already screaming in high-pitched pain. One after another, her screams crushed Yin Huaixi’s heart.
He began to feel anxious, and he felt an unbearable pain in his abdomen. His face turned pale, and in a moment, he was drenched in sweat.
There was another long and torturous period of pain. Yu Youyao’s cries almost never stopped. The doctor’s daughter brewed another bowl of medicinal soup and fed it to Yu Youyao. It wasn’t until the sky shone brightly and the sun jumped out of the horizon bit by bit that a loud cry finally came from the delivery room.
Auntie Xu was overjoyed. “She gave birth. The Empress gave birth to a little prince.”
In the sky-green sky, the glow of the sun was faintly discernible in the billowing smoke.
Suddenly, a gap appeared in the thick clouds, and a beautiful light shone down. A brilliant halo spread out, enveloping the entire Imperial City in golden light.
The court officials waiting in the hall were all mesmerized by this auspicious scene.
At this moment, the palace congratulated the Empress for giving birth to a son.
The Imperial Astronomer calculated the time and was immediately overjoyed. “The light is an auspicious sign from the sky. The heavens are blessing our Great Zhao. Our Great Zhao will definitely last for generations.”
The court officials were also overjoyed.
At this moment, in the delivery room, Yin Huaixi couldn’t be bothered to look at the child. He quickly went to the bed and saw that Yu Youyao’s face was pale and haggard. She seemed to have lost all her energy. Even his heart was about to break. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
Yu Youyao forced a smile, but her smile was even uglier than her crying face. She was exhausted and tried her best to open her eyes to look at the child, but she was a little sleepy.
The female doctors were excited. “Her Majesty, you have to persevere. There’s another one who’s about to come out…”
Upon hearing that there was another one, Yu Youyao tightened her grip on the bedsheets under her, as if she had strength again. Yin Huaixi thought about the fact that she still had to experience it again, and his heart immediately felt like it was being cut by a knife.
In the end, Yu Youyao did not even have the strength to shout. She could only hear the female doctors, who kept shouting for her to inhale, exhale, and exert strength. She was like a puppet on a string. She kept inhaling and exerting strength while breathing hard. Her mind was wandering as she wondered why other pains would be so painful that she would be numb and she would not know how to feel pain. However, this was not the case when giving birth. There was pain from head to toe, and it lasted from the start to the end. It was so painful that she did not even have the strength, but she was still in pain.
After this ordeal, another 45 minutes passed, and the second child was born.
Auntie Xu’s heart skipped a beat as she hugged the child. The empress either did not give birth, or she had two children and they were both boys. “This is also a little prince.”
It was a great thing for commoners to give birth to two boys, but it was a taboo in the palace.
Wasn’t this blessing a little too much?!
Yin Huaixi did not think too much about it and was a little disappointed. He hoped to have a soft daughter, but the two children were all young brats. He was also a man, so what was there to cherish?
Thinking about how these two young brats had caused Yu Youyao to suffer greatly, he more or less did not like them.
Everyone in the room knelt down and congratulated, “Congratulations to Her Majesty for giving birth to a son.”
When the news reached the previous dynasty, the court officials saw that the auspicious sign in the sky had yet to fade. Layers of light leaped out from the sun and shone brightly. They really could not say anything ominous.
The Imperial Astronomer’s expression was solemn as he calculated the time again. “The Eldest Prince was born at four o’clock in the morning, and light descended upon us. The Second Prince was born at almost five in the morning, when sunlight illuminated all things. The two sons have complementary fates. It’s auspicious.”
In fact, before the Empress gave birth, the emperor had already looked for the Imperial Astronomer. Whether it was two sons or two daughters, it was a good omen. There was no other way.
Now, according to the calculations of the Imperial Astronomer, it was indeed auspicious. He couldn’t help but feel relieved.
Yu Youyao did not know that the undercurrents of the previous dynasty were turbulent. After she tried her best to give birth to her second son, she had already fainted. When Auntie Xu saw that she was showing signs of bleeding, she was shocked. She quickly ordered someone to light some incense and asked the imperial physician to come over and perform acupuncture. Fortunately, Yu Youyao had always been in good health. Although she had suffered after giving birth to two children, her foundation was good. After the imperial physician performed acupuncture, the bleeding stopped.