This firstborn child, arriving almost half a month earlier than expected, was impatient to enter the world.
With Pei You’an’s characteristic caution, since he couldn’t be by her side, he had naturally considered this possibility. The day after he left for Suye City, an experienced midwife who had delivered babies for half her lifetime arrived in the compound. She had been staying there these past few days, ready for any emergency.
The news of the Madam going into labor spread instantly through Dianxiang’s urgent calls, disrupting the remote yard that had just been celebrating news of military victory. The atmosphere grew tense as everyone rushed to help. The midwife and Matron Ding prepared the birthing bed, while Cui Yinshui and Muxiang hurried to boil water. Yang Yun mounted Taxue, the now one-year-old horse that ran like lightning, to ride to Suye City to find Pei You’an and report the news.
Strangely enough, Taxue, normally spirited and untamed, would never allow anyone except Pei You’an and Jiafu to approach. Even when Pei You’an rode him, unless the female master sat before him, the horse would prance and buck first, only reluctantly giving up when unable to throw off its rider. Today, however, as if sensing something, the horse watched Jiafu being helped indoors as she clutched her belly, and when Yang Yun attempted to approach, the animal was unusually docile, allowing him to put on the saddle and mount. With a neigh, Taxue galloped toward Suye City. At the tall gates of the yard, without waiting for Old Ding to open them, the horse leaped like a red cloud, clearing the entrance and quickly becoming a distant black speck vanishing along the wild path.
Before giving birth, as the child in her womb grew day by day, Jiafu would sometimes wonder if she and Pei You’an’s firstborn would be a boy or a girl.
She yearned to first have a son like Pei You’an. She knew that with a father like Pei You’an, their firstborn son would surely grow like a small pine, and even if rooted in snowy cliffs and battered by storms, he would reach toward the sky and grow strong.
She also knew that when she later gave her husband the daughter he secretly longed for, the boy would certainly be a good older brother, helping his parents to love and protect his sister.
Beyond hope and anticipation, like all women about to become mothers, as her due date approached, she couldn’t help feeling nervous at times.
She had heard people say that women giving birth was like crossing the gates of hell. This anxiety, especially with Pei You’an away these past few days, would gradually envelop her heart when she felt the baby moving in her womb.
But now, knowing the child was about to be born, her mind was clear of distractions. The earlier thread of nervousness had vanished completely without a trace.
Whether a boy or a girl, this was Pei You’an’s flesh and blood growing in her womb, and she would deliver it safely. Imagining the moment when husband and child would meet, her heart filled with tenderness and strength.
At first, the contractions came only occasionally and weren’t very painful. Gradually, they became more frequent and intense. Jiafu bit down hard on the cork placed between her teeth, enduring the pain that seemed to grow numb yet still cut through her body inch by inch. With closed eyes, following the midwife’s instructions, she pushed, striving again to bring her child into the world.
By now, since her contractions had begun the previous evening, a whole night and day had passed.
The window had brightened and then darkened again, and Pei You’an had been keeping vigil outside the door for a full day and night.
By the second nightfall, the midwife found that the birth canal had finally opened fully, but still seemed insufficient for the baby’s head to emerge. This had continued for some time, and after a day and night of pain, the mother was exhausted. Her entire body appeared as if dragged from the water, and she couldn’t eat anything. The midwife herself had few options left, only instructing Matron Ding to give her more sugar water while she massaged her abdomen to assist with the delivery.
The cork, now bearing deep teeth marks, was removed from Jiafu’s mouth. As another wave of pain seized her abdomen, Jiafu unconsciously let out a cry of pain that passed through the doors and windows.
“Husband—”
In this day and night, she had finally uttered her first call, reaching Pei You’an’s ears.
He was still wearing his battle armor, which he hadn’t had time to remove, the robe beneath stained with dried blood.
Just yesterday evening, amid the cheers of Suye citizens lining the streets to welcome him, he had entered the city. Upon hearing from Yang Yun that Jiafu was about to give birth, he immediately abandoned everything and rode Taxue back home.
After a night and a day of waiting, yet still no news of her safe delivery.
This was the longest and most agonizing day and night Pei You’an had ever experienced in his life.
He had once been a brilliantly talented young minister, a towering statesman who had shaped the nation’s destiny. Even now, though demoted to this place, reduced to a humble storekeeper, in the eyes of the frontier soldiers and civilians, he remained a pillar of strength admired by all. Yet no one knew that he was neither a detached immortal nor made of unfeeling steel. Throughout his decades of human existence, he too had experienced periods of heart-wrenching darkness.
Birth had not been his wish, and death held no attachment for him.
It was this girl who had insisted on calling him “Elder Cousin” and who had run into his embrace that night, making his existence finally worth living.
Another basin of bloodied water, just used to clean her body, was carried out from the room—bright red—and emptied. Dianxiang, pale-faced, quickly carried in a basin of fresh hot water.
The joy and excitement Pei You’an had felt when he first returned the previous night had completely vanished. His face was ashen, his lips drained of color. Despite the bitter cold, his forehead was covered in rolling beads of sweat. His fingers gripped the doorframe tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand, yet even so, they trembled slightly.
Behind him, Cui Yinshui had long lost all color in his face and collapsed to his knees, kowtowing wildly toward the front, his mouth silently muttering something. It was unclear what deity this eunuch was worshipping or what prayers he was offering.
Pei You’an could no longer contain himself. He pushed open the door, removed his armor, and cast it to the ground, his eyes bloodshot as he rushed to the woman on the bed, practically flying to her side.
“Fu’er! Fu’er! I’m here!”
The man knelt on one knee beside the bed, tightly gripping her cold, sweat-drenched hand and bringing it to his lips, trying to warm it with his body heat.
A day and night of pain had tormented her to this point, draining her strength bit by bit.
Jiafu was almost spent, persevering only because she was determined to bring their child into the world.
She didn’t even have the strength to open her eyes, but she felt the power of the hand holding hers and heard his voice calling to her.
She couldn’t let him down. How fortunate she was in this life to have married such a man.
Nor could she disappoint their child. How she looked forward to its birth.
They were all waiting for her.
She gritted her teeth, using all her strength to push once more.
“The head is out! The head is out! Madam, push a little harder, just a little more and the baby will be born!” the midwife cried excitedly.
Jiafu’s body trembled uncontrollably, but her small hand gradually tightened around the man’s large one, their fingers tightly interwoven.
Jiafu felt the small life in her womb seemingly joining her efforts.
Inch by inch, with all her strength, she helped her child enter the world.
This was a long, painful process, yet also one filled with hope.
“It’s out! It’s out! It’s a big, healthy boy!”
Accompanied by a loud infant’s cry, the midwife’s excited voice suddenly rang in her ears.
The pain that had tormented her for so long suddenly left her at that moment, and Jiafu’s entire being went limp.
She wanted to open her eyes to see what her newborn child looked like. Even more, she wanted to see Pei You’an’s face, which should now be filled with joy, but she had no strength left.
The hand that had been tightly holding the man’s gradually went soft, and her consciousness began to drift.
Besides the baby’s cries, she seemed to hear Pei You’an calling her name.
She wanted to respond to him but couldn’t open her eyes. Only a faint smile appeared on her lips.
She wanted Pei You’an to see her smile, so he would know she was fine and wouldn’t worry. She was just a little tired and wanted to sleep.
She seemed to be drawn into a dream.
In the dream, her body became lighter, like a feather, slowly rising into the air. Surprised, she easily opened her eyes, only to discover that she was still lying on the birthing bed, her head slightly tilted, her face covered with sweat-dampened disheveled hair, her eyes closed, and a faint smile on her lips. Blood seemed to be flowing beneath her, while that man knelt by the bed, holding her tightly, forcefully patting her face, continuously calling her name loudly.
His back radiated fear.
Jiafu’s heart ached terribly. Although she knew she would wake up, she couldn’t bear to see him so frightened. She wanted to return immediately, to open her eyes and smile at him, but her body was too light, and she couldn’t control it. As she drifted, all sounds gradually faded away.
Jiafu was enveloped in an overwhelming sweet darkness. She slept for a long, long time, not knowing when she would wake. Finally, having slept enough, she knew in her heart that she should return, or else Pei You’an would look for her, but for the moment, she couldn’t find her way.
She worried that Pei You’an wouldn’t find her, and feared that she had lost her way home. In this confused and anxious state, drifting about, she found herself back at the final moment of her previous life, sealed in that ornate coffin in the underground palace.
The dark underground was so cold that she shivered. She desperately clawed at the heavy wooden board that sealed her in above her head. She wanted to get out but struggled in vain.
Just as she was again engulfed by that familiar despair and fear of impending death, a shaft of light appeared before her eyes. She saw her father’s loving face, and through her tears, he disappeared. Another young man walked toward her from the depths of the distant darkness.
His clothes billowed gracefully, his bearing unmatched, and his face wore a gentle smile as he came before her.
“Fu’er, let’s go home.”
He reached out his hand to her, grasped her hand, and their fingers intertwined, tightly locked together.