The wait stretched on for over two more hours.
The Crown Grandson’s hearing was sharp, and he could hear everything happening inside the birthing chamber with perfect clarity.
Jiang Rongyue’s cries of pain grew weaker and weaker. The midwives encouraged her while feeding her ginseng broth, and the Crown Princess kept offering words of comfort at her side.
But the child still had not been born, and Jiang Rongyue’s voice gradually became inaudible.
Even the most obtuse person would have known by now that things were not going well.
Gritting his teeth, the Crown Grandson entered the birthing chamber.
The first thing he saw was Jiang Rongyue, her face deathly pale, nearly unconscious. Her face and forehead were covered in cold sweat, and she lay motionless on the bed, the area beneath her in complete disarray.
Several midwives surrounded the bed, their faces unable to conceal their panic.
“A’Yao! What should we do?” The Crown Princess had no time to scold the Crown Grandson for entering the birthing chamber without permission, and said in a tense, frantic voice, “The child’s head is too big—it simply won’t come out. The water broke long ago. If this goes on, I’m afraid we won’t be able to save either the mother or the child. The midwives just discussed it, and they say we can only try to save one. What should we do now?”
Save the mother, or save the child?
For the imperial family, the importance of an heir was self-evident, naturally outweighing the mother.
In the Crown Princess’s heart, at this moment, saving the child was naturally what mattered most.
The Crown Grandson’s mind went completely blank, his gaze falling on Jiang Rongyue’s face.
Jiang Rongyue seemed to sense something, and with great effort opened her eyes to meet the Crown Grandson’s gaze.
Those eyes, once lively and quick to smile, were now weak and powerless, yet seemed to be holding onto something—an expression so complicated it was hard to put into words.
“Save Rongyue!” the Crown Grandson said, each word deliberate and clear. “Save the mother first.”
As for the child, there would always be others in the future.
The Crown Princess was rather unwilling in her heart, but said nothing more. Jiang Rongyue was the legitimate daughter of the Duke Ying’s household, of no small noble standing. If, at this moment, they insisted on saving the child at the cost of Jiang Rongyue’s life, the entire Duke Ying household would surely harbor resentment, creating a rift with the Crown Prince’s household.
So be it! Save the mother first, then!
These words from the Crown Grandson reached Jiang Rongyue’s ears.
Jiang Rongyue’s mind, already clouded by the intense pain, strangely cleared in that moment.
Tears welled up rapidly in her eyes, and with a hoarse voice she cried out with all her remaining strength, “No, save the child!”
She thought her voice must have been loud, but in truth it was hoarse and faint, almost inaudible. She persisted and repeated it once more: “Save the child!”
She looked at the Crown Grandson pleadingly, looked at the man she loved deeply, and said through her tears, “If the child doesn’t survive, I won’t go on living alone either. I beg you, save the child first…”
This was her child and his, the child she had carried for ten months, the child she had longed for for so long.
She had to bring this child into the world!
That glimmer of tears pierced deep into the Crown Grandson’s eyes.
The Crown Grandson’s heart twisted in pain, his mind going utterly blank.
Steeling herself, the midwife said to the Crown Princess, “Please make a decision soon, Your Highness. Otherwise, both mother and child will be in danger.”
The Crown Princess gritted her teeth and hardened her resolve. “Save the child first!”
Any further hesitation, and it would be two lives lost instead of one.
The Crown Grandson wanted to say something, but it was already too late. The Crown Princess pushed him out of the birthing chamber. His body, numb and stiff, had no strength left in it, and he sank weakly into a chair, never moving again.
…
The experienced midwives had their own methods for inducing labor. First they pressed firmly on the mother’s belly, then applied needles to key points on her abdomen to hasten the birth.
However, while this method could bring the child out, the damage it inflicted on the woman’s body was unavoidable.
The child finally came into the world with a cry, its small face flushed purple from the strain, though it had not yet begun to wail. By then, Jiang Rongyue, on the birthing bed, was already hemorrhaging heavily and had fallen completely unconscious.
The birthing chamber fell into complete chaos.
Eventually, setting aside all concern for propriety between men and women, they even had Imperial Physician Zhang—who had long since been summoned to the Crown Prince’s residence—brought into the birthing chamber.
Even so, they were unable to save Jiang Rongyue’s life.
Imperial Physician Zhang, his face full of shame, knelt down to beg forgiveness for his failure.
Postpartum hemorrhage—not even the immortals could have saved her.
The Crown Princess held the newborn baby boy in her arms, her face showing not a trace of joy. The Duchess of Ying wept until she nearly fainted, and once she entered the birthing chamber, refused to leave again.
The Duke of Ying stood off to the side with a grief-stricken expression, his eyes glistening with tears.
The Crown Grandson also stood beside the birthing bed, his handsome face deathly pale, his heart utterly frozen.
A single day as husband and wife brings a hundred days of devotion!
He and Jiang Rongyue had known each other since childhood, having grown up together, and there had always been some measure of affection between them. This affection could not compare to the burning passion of romantic love, and he had never been able to truly fall in love with her. But he respected and cared for her all the same.
She had been a fitting, good wife. From the moment he married her, he had been prepared to spend his entire life with her.
He had never expected that she would leave this world and depart from him so soon.
The smell of blood was so thick it seemed it would never clear. In the final moments of her life, Jiang Rongyue suddenly grew lucid, her complexion strangely flushed with color, and she looked at the Crown Grandson with eyes full of longing and reluctance to part.
It was the last flare before death!
The Crown Grandson’s heart ached anew, and he instinctively walked to the bedside and sat down, gripping Jiang Rongyue’s hand tightly and softly calling her name.
A faint, desolate smile touched the corner of Jiang Rongyue’s lips—the last beauty before withering away. “Your Highness, I can’t stay with you any longer.”
The Crown Grandson’s nose stung with emotion, and the hand holding Jiang Rongyue’s began to tremble violently.
“Being able to marry you was the greatest happiness of my life.” In this moment before death, her mind was unusually clear. Everything from the past appeared vividly before her, as if it were all happening right now.
Jiang Rongyue’s voice remained faint, but held little sorrow. Her gaze upon the Crown Grandson was filled with love and longing. “What a pity, that I won’t be able to stay with you until we grow old together. At least I’ve given you a child. Promise me you’ll raise our child well. Never forget me!”
Please don’t forget me, your first wife!
Don’t forget the woman in this world who loved you most, who died giving birth to your child!
Even if there is someone else you love in your heart, please don’t forget me.
The Crown Grandson’s eyes grew hot, and tears finally slid from the corners of his eyes. “Rongyue, I promise you. I promise you everything. I will take good care of our child. I will never forget you…”
His tears fell upon her cold hand, strangely burning hot against it.
In the end, he had shed tears for her.
Her life, then, had been worth it after all.
Jiang Rongyue closed her eyes, and with all the strength left in her body, spoke her final words. “I know the woman you truly love is Ling Jingshu. She is a beautiful, intelligent, and strong young woman. After I die, wait a year, then marry her. She is kind-hearted and will treat my child well. With her by your side, you will surely find happiness. Even from the underworld, I will bless the two of you.”
Having said this, Jiang Rongyue finally, truly closed her eyes.
The smile at the corner of her lips remained forever frozen in that moment.