Chongfei Manual [II]

Chapter 167.1

Black smoke surged out from Bao He Hall to the sky above. A group of people was kneeling outside of the hall with Eunuch Chu at the head of the group. They repeatedly shouted, "Your Majesty!"

A short while later, Eunuch Chu finally returned to his senses. He looked towards the stunned palace servants and guards and said, "Why are all of you doing nothing? Hurry and put out the fire! If anything happens to His Majesty and Her Majesty, none of your lives can bear the responsibility."

The guards and palace servants hurriedly returned to putting out the fire and carried wooden buckets back and forth.

Eunuch Chu continued to kneel in front of Bao He Hall with his palms put together in prayer as he mumbled his prayer to a bodhisattva, "Compassionate Bodhisattva, Guanyin, please protect His Majesty and Her Majesty. This servant is willing to give up ten years of my life..."

On the other side, Zhao Jie hurriedly carried Wei Luo the nearest residence hall, which was Zhao Yang Hall. Zhao Jie's hands were sweaty and the muscles on his forehead were violently twitching. As soon as he arrived at Zhao Yang Hall, he sternly said, "Summon the imperial doctor!"

The palace servants in Zhao Yang Hall didn't know what was happening, but seeing how nervous Prince Jing was, they left the hall in a flurry without asking questions.

Qiu Mama was the only one with a clear head. Seeing that Wei Luo's expression looked wrong, she guessed that Wei Luo was going to be giving birth soon. This being the case, what was the use in summoning an imperial doctor? Prince Jing was probably so worried that he had lost the ability to think logically. Qiu Mama hurriedly went outside, stopped the palace servants that were leaving to get an imperial doctor, and told them to bring back a midwife instead.

The palace servants looked towards the hall, and one of them hesitantly said, "But His Highness said..."

Qiu Mama said, "His Highness is just confused because he's too worried. Why are you following along with his foolishness? Just do as I say. Hurry!"

The palace servants finally understood. They anxiously and hastily went to the place where the midwives stayed.

There wasn't enough time for the midwives in Prince Jing's residence to enter the palace. Fortunately, the palace had its own midwives for when the imperial consorts gave birth. These dependable midwives worked in the palace and had experience with assisting in the birth of imperial descendants. There definitely wouldn't be a problem with them helping Wei Luo deliver her baby.

Wei Luo was lying on Empress Chen's red sandalwood babu bed. Because she was too nervous, her fingers were tightly clutching Zhao Jie's dark green sleeve embroidered with hornless dragons. Although it wasn't hurting as much as before, her eyes were red and she couldn't help feeling terrified. If Zhao Jie stayed here to keep her company, perhaps, she would feel a bit better.

(T/N: Below is a picture of a babu bed.)

However, Qiu Mama said to Zhao Jie, "Your Highness, the birthing room isn't auspicious. Please leave the room and wait outside for the princess consort's news."

Wei Luo pursed her lips. Her fingertips trembled and she held Zhao Jie's sleeve a little bit tighter. She didn't want Zhao Jie to leave.

Zhao Jie became aware of Wei Luo's trepidation. He held her hand and didn't allow Qiu Mama to have a say in the matter, "It's fine. This prince will wait here."

"This..." Qiu Mama helplessly furrowed her eyebrows. She wanted to continue persuading, but then she saw Zhao Jie's quiet and solemn appearance. He was utterly serious, so she closed her mouth in embarrassment.

Not long after, two midwives that were wearing dark reddish purple clothing came into the room. They were startled when they saw Zhao Jie sitting by the bedside. They haltingly saluted, "Your Highness..."

Zhao Jie wasn't in the mood to deal with others. He waved his hand and told them to rise. "Come here and help the princess consort with delivering the baby."

The two midwives had never encountered a situation like this. It was a huge taboo and very inauspicious for a man to see a woman give birth. Any man with status would generally avoid doing something like this. Against expectations, Prince Jing, who had such a highly noble status, didn't care about avoiding this and only cared about Princess Consort Jing's condition. The midwives didn't dare to ask any other questions. Fortunately, Zhao Jie was sitting by the side and wouldn't be interfering with the birthing process. They hurriedly put away their stray thoughts and walked to the bed to check Wei Luo's situation.

At this moment, Wei Luo was extremely nervous. Her child wasn't even coming out yet, but she had already driven herself to an unbearable fearful state. She stared at Zhao Jie with her limpid eyes and worriedly said, "Don't go."

Zhao Jie stroked her face, tucked her loose hair to the side, and said, "I won't go. I'll stay here with you."

Wei Luo finally stopped worrying.

The two midwives were awfully frightened. They had heard that Prince Jing was extremely ruthless. Why did he seem different from the rumors? Why was he using such a gentle tone to speak? It seemed that Prince Jing's heart was definitely set on Princess Consort Jing. They definitely had to muster up 120% of their energy. If anything happened to Princess Consort Jing, they would definitely die.

As the two midwives carefully moved Wei Luo's body to the proper position, they internally hoped that Wei Luo would be able to smoothly give birth.