Lu Guanyi breathed a huge sigh of relief. Seeing Ye Yaming in such pain felt worse than having his flesh cut. Finally, this suffering had come to an end.

He clutched Ye Yaming’s hand tightly and murmured, “No more children. We won’t have any more after this.”

The midwife examined Ye Yaming’s condition and coldly shattered his fantasy: “It’s not over yet. There’s still another one in the belly.”

Lu Guanyi’s eyes widened.

That’s right—Ye Yaming had mentioned in her letter that she was carrying twins. That’s why her pregnancy had been twice as difficult as others.

Ye Yaming wasn’t the type to hide her difficulties to spare others worry. When she suffered, she made sure Lu Guanyi knew exactly how painful it was, lest he think giving birth was as simple as using the toilet.

So whenever Lu Guanyi’s guards came to deliver messages, she would have a thick letter for him detailing all her pregnancy experiences.

Therefore, when his comrades in the military camp congratulated him on his wife carrying twins, Lu Guanyi felt no joy inside, only concern.

Just now, seeing Ye Yaming in such agony, his heart ached so much that he had forgotten about the second child.

“Will it be just as painful?” he asked.

Midwife Wu had observed that this young General Lu truly adored his wife.

Wanting to strengthen the young couple’s affection, she said, “Of course! When is childbirth ever not painful? It’s a pain you men cannot imagine.”

Lu Guanyi tightened his grip on Ye Yaming’s hand. His other hand caressed her sweat-dampened face as he gazed at her with eyes full of tenderness: “Yaming, after this one, we won’t have any more children, all right?”

In these times, without contraceptives, avoiding pregnancy wasn’t an easy matter.

But Ye Yaming didn’t pour cold water on his suggestion. She nodded obediently and said, “All right.”

As soon as these words left her mouth, her expression suddenly changed. The pain struck again, and she threw her head back with a sharp cry.

Midwife Wu immediately became alert. After a moment, she called out, “I can see the head! Push, push!”

Ye Yaming felt something slide out from her belly with a “whoosh,” and her entire body relaxed.

“Congratulations, General! Congratulations, Madam! It’s a baby girl,” the midwife said with a smile.

Nanny Xia also exclaimed happily, “Congratulations, son-in-law! Congratulations, young miss! Dragon and phoenix twins! The masters are truly blessed.”

Ye Yaming sighed in relief.

Because she was carrying twins, she had written to Princess Imperial Yuning to inquire about such matters.

This was a sensitive topic—a secret that noble families kept hidden. Princess Imperial Yuning hadn’t replied by letter but had specially sent a matron to Lin’an, ostensibly to visit Ye Yaming and bring her tonics, but actually to answer her questions.

The matron had said that in the imperial family and noble households, if identical twin boys or twin girls were born, one would be eliminated to prevent potential impostors in the future.

Ye Yaming would never treat her children this way. But fighting against social customs wasn’t pleasant, and the children would have to live with people’s gossip, which wasn’t good.

She had already decided that if she gave birth to twin boys or twin girls, she would stay in Lin’an with the children and rarely visit the capital.

Now that she had given birth to dragon and phoenix twins (boy and girl), many troubles were avoided.

She hadn’t hidden these concerns from Old Lady Ye and Madam Yin. When Madam Yin learned that the second child was a girl, she also breathed a huge sigh of relief and hurried out to share the good news.

“Amitabha, Buddha’s blessing,” Old Lady Ye exclaimed joyfully, and then asked, “Is Yaming all right?”

“She’s fine.”

Now all of Ye Yaming’s trusted servants were guarding this courtyard. Old Lady Ye didn’t trust Jiachun and Jiaqiu to prepare food in the kitchen, so she had them set up a stove in the corridor to make chicken soup, with her, Nanny Lu, and Nanny Yu watching closely.

When news came that Ye Yaming had delivered the first child, she had instructed Jiachun to add noodles to the chicken soup, which was now ready.

She said, “Quickly, have someone carry Yaming to the main room. Mei’er, take the noodles in shortly. Make sure the young miss eats a few bites before sleeping.”

Ye Yaming was utterly exhausted after such difficult labor. Now that her task was finally complete, her mind relaxed, and she was about to fall asleep.

“Yaming, you can’t sleep yet. The birthing room is unclean. The maids have brought a sedan chair to carry you to the main room to sleep,” Madam Yin said, shaking her awake.

Qingzhi came over, lifted Ye Yaming into the sedan chair, and two servant women carried her to the main room. Qingzhi then lifted Ye Yaming onto the bed.

Lu Guanyi followed closely alongside as she was moved.

Though exhausted, Ye Yaming remained clear-headed. She gave Lu Guanyi a puzzled look.

Given Lu Guanyi’s habits, he would never let Qingzhi carry her up and down when he was present—he would always do it himself. Given his strength, he wouldn’t even need the sedan chair. After all, it was only a few steps from the east wing to the main room.

But Lu Guanyi showed no intention of helping.

Ye Yaming lay down on the bed in the bedroom, and Mei’er brought the noodles.

Lu Guanyi took them and sat by the bedside, encouraging Ye Yaming: “I’ll feed you. Just eat a few bites so you won’t be hungry and can sleep soundly.”

To make feeding easier, Jiachun had thoughtfully made the noodles like knife-cut noodles. Lu Guanyi scooped some up with a spoon, blew on them to cool them down, and held them to Ye Yaming’s lips.

During the eight-plus hours of childbirth, Ye Yaming had barely managed to eat some fermented rice balls and a small bowl of chicken soup. She simply couldn’t eat much. Now she was famished.

Both tired and hungry, Ye Yaming had no energy to wonder about Lu Guanyi’s unusual behavior. She accepted his feeding and began to eat. After a few bites, her appetite opened up, and she finished the entire bowl of chicken noodle soup. Then she had Bai Rui help her rinse her mouth. Only then did she lie down to sleep.

She didn’t need to worry about the children—there were people watching them and wet nurses to feed them. She slept deeply and sweetly. When she opened her eyes again, it was already the hour of Si (9-11 AM) the next day.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she met Lu Guanyi’s slightly worried gaze.

By now, Lu Guanyi had shaved his beard clean, revealing his handsome face. He had lost a lot of weight, making his features even more rugged and defined. He likely hadn’t slept well last night; there were still bloodshot streaks in his eyes.

Seeing his expression, Ye Yaming became nervous: “What’s wrong? Where are the children?”

Lu Guanyi quickly reassured her: “The children are fine. I was just worried because you slept for so long.”

Ye Yaming tried to get up but was held down by him: “Don’t move. Whatever you need, I’ll get it for you.”

Bai Rui, who was standing guard outside, heard them talking and called from outside: “Young miss.”

Ye Yaming raised her voice: “Bring the children over for me to see.”

She had only managed a hasty glance after giving birth yesterday and hadn’t looked at them carefully.

She was the only one giving birth in this mansion, with Lu Guanyi, Old Lady Ye, Madam Yin, Madam Qi, and trusted servants like Bai Rui all present—over a dozen pairs of eyes watching—so she wasn’t worried about the children being swapped. Therefore, she hadn’t checked the children thoroughly for birthmarks or other distinguishing features.