Chapter Eighty-Six: A Difficult Birth

At the Ninth Prince's residence on Iron Lion Lane, a heart-rending cry began before the day had fully brightened, and even the neighboring residence of the Eighth Prince seemed to tremble with it. Yet the cries went on until dawn, and the sound of a child’s first wail still had not come. This made the Eighth Prince suspect that the precious Lady Yan, so carefully held in the Ninth Prince’s palm, was in a difficult labor.

At that moment, Yan Yan felt the same. She sobbed and begged Madam Song to simply cut her open. The agony of childbirth was truly beyond what an ordinary person could bear; at the very least, she could not bear it. Enduring this long had already been her limit, and she no longer wished to strain herself, nor to go on giving birth.

The Ninth Prince, pacing restlessly in the courtyard, heard Yan Yan’s cries grow faint and immediately roared at the matron beside him, “Go at once and see what is wrong with the Secondary Consort.”

Lady Dong-e hurried forward to persuade him. “My lord, this is how women give birth. My sister Yan is blessed by heaven and protected by good fortune; mother and child will surely be safe. The wind is strong out here. My lord should return inside and wait.”

The Ninth Prince shot her a resentful glare. “How long did it take you to bear the Fourth Princess? How long did Madam Zhaojia take to bear the Fifth Princess? How long has Yan Yan been at this already? She should have delivered long ago!”

Lady Dong-e was left speechless, looking at him with a hint of grievance. Yes, her own labors, and Madam Zhaojia’s as well, had not taken very long—but had this lord ever stood outside waiting for them as he was now doing for Lady Yan?

In truth, the Ninth Prince’s anxiety was no surprise. In his heart, he believed Yan Yan’s premature delivery, after only a little more than eight months, was all his fault. If he had not gotten drunk yesterday and come to this Palace of Dreamlike Splendor, perhaps Yan Yan would still be at the desk, tallying the profits of the Nine Flavors Shop.

It turned out that after the Ninth Prince got drunk yesterday, he insisted on coming to the Palace of Dreamlike Splendor to take a look. By then, Yan Yan had already gone to bed, but hearing the commotion downstairs, she got up again.

Seeing how drunk he was, she quickly instructed the kitchen to prepare a sobering soup, then, with her swollen belly, helped him out of his clothes, washed his face, and only then let him sleep in her bed. Naturally, he had slept uneasily, for when he rose the next morning, he found a teapot and teacups on the low table beside the bed.

Yan Yan rarely had her maids keep watch at night, especially when he stayed here. So the Ninth Prince knew the one who had served him water in the night had not been a maid, but Yan Yan herself, whose belly had grown so large that even getting up had become difficult.

He stared at the teacup for a long time before a satisfied smile appeared on his face. It seemed the gloom of these past days had been swept away. He almost regretted it now; knowing this sooner, he should have come to Yan Yan long ago. Why had he gone off drinking dull, bitter wine instead?

He gently turned over and saw Yan Yan sleeping soundly beside him, and his heart grew even warmer. He lightly kissed her lips, then prepared to rise for court. Who would have thought that the moment he lifted the quilt, a chill of dampness would strike him below. Instantly, he went rigid with alarm. Looking at the large wet patch on the bedding, his heart began to pound.

He clasped Yan Yan at once and called out, “Yan Yan, wake up.”

Her brow furrowed immediately. Clearly she, too, felt something was wrong. She opened her eyes in a daze. “What is it?”

She had truly been exhausted the night before, and so had slept very deeply.

Seeing her like this, the Ninth Prince pulled her tightly into his arms. For a moment just now, he had feared Yan Yan had left him without his knowing, as though someone had carved a piece of flesh from his heart, the pain unbearable.

Now that he saw she was still conscious, how could he not be overjoyed? But he quickly came to himself and shouted for Cui’er and Madam Song. Yan Yan’s condition was certainly the onset of labor.

Fortunately, the delivery room, the midwives, and the matrons had all been prepared half a month earlier and were already residing in the Palace of Dreamlike Splendor. So after the Ninth Prince’s roar, everyone went off to their tasks.

Madam Song first took Yan Yan’s pulse, and after confirming her condition, said to the Ninth Prince, “My lord, the Secondary Consort is going into labor.”

Without another word, the Ninth Prince lifted Yan Yan in his arms and strode toward the delivery room. So frightened were Madam He and Wang Quan’er and the others that they followed close behind, fearing that in his agitation he might try to enter the room himself.

It must be remembered that among the Manchus, it was a grave taboo for a man to enter the birthing room. Thus, as soon as the Ninth Prince carried Yan Yan near the door, Madam He summoned several sturdy matrons to take her from him, while Wang Quan’er was tasked with pulling the Ninth Prince back.

By then, Cui’er had already lost her composure, running back and forth fetching things while simultaneously brewing tea for the Ninth Prince in a flurry of panic. In the end, she forgot everything else and stood right beneath the delivery room window, keeping vigil there.

Who could have imagined, however, that Yan Yan’s labor would last for several hours, with still no news even after the sky had brightened again. In the middle of it all, the Ninth Prince had called Madam Song out and instructed her that if either the mother or the child were in danger, Yan Yan must be saved first. If Madam He objected from inside, then Madam Song was to shout loudly.

Lady Dong-e had been nearby when he gave these orders, and her gaze grew even deeper and more inscrutable.

In the afternoon, the Ninth Prince’s other concubines also came to the Palace of Dreamlike Splendor to express concern, but he drove them all away.

As for the imperial physicians from the palace, once they entered the Palace of Dreamlike Splendor, they never came out again. Everyone was anxious over Yan Yan, and the Ninth Prince was so frantic he no longer knew what to do.

After waking in the morning and learning that Yan Yan still had not delivered, the Emperor also sighed over it. He even granted the Eighth and Tenth Princes leave, sending them with several imperial physicians to the Ninth Prince’s residence.

The Eighth Princess and Tenth Princess had also arrived early that morning. Seeing the Ninth Prince’s bloodshot eyes, they offered a few words of comfort. Because it was so early, Lady Dong-e knew the Eighth and Tenth Princesses had surely not eaten breakfast, so she hurried to have the small kitchen prepare light porridge and side dishes for them, and had the Eighth Princess try to force the Ninth Prince to eat something as well.

Who would have thought that Lady Dong-e’s thoughtfulness would earn her no gratitude at all, but rather a cold stare from the Ninth Prince. The Eighth Princess said, “Cousin, this is not right. However hard Lady Yan’s labor may be, there is no need for you to be like this. To put it bluntly, giving birth to your child is her blessing; if she cannot, then it is because her fortune is thin. If this makes you ill, then it will be her fault.”

The Ninth Prince looked helplessly at the Eighth Princess and sighed. “My dear cousin, go inside and sit for a while. Or if you prefer, go home. I am nearly frantic already, and you only add to the confusion.”

Seeing his state, the Eighth Princess let out a long sigh, but she also knew there was no persuading him. So it can be imagined that when the Eighth and Tenth Princes arrived, matters naturally did not improve in the least.

Inside the Ninth Prince’s residence was all anxiety; outside it was the same. Almost everyone was watching for movement from the Ninth Prince’s household. Though the Emperor was somewhat displeased by the Ninth Prince’s recent antics, Yan Yan had, after all, once saved his life. So the Emperor still hoped the Ninth Prince would safely receive this child.

The Empress Dowager, because she genuinely liked Yan Yan’s temperament, also hoped Yan Yan would deliver safely. Imperial Concubine Yi did not much care who the child’s mother was, but still hoped the Ninth Prince would produce a son this time.

As for the Prince Jian and Prince Kang, they had already had their men open an underground betting pool, wagering that the Ninth Prince’s child would once again be a daughter. And those who had joined in the pot, of course, kept constant watch over the Ninth Prince’s residence; even the Nine Flavors Pavilion and the grocery shop had people stationed there for a long time, all hoping to obtain the first piece of news.

Just when everyone was earnestly hoping Yan Yan would quickly bear the child, Yan Yan herself no longer wished to struggle. She wanted to give up. She had almost already seen the towering buildings of a future age, seen its streams of vehicles, seen its green lawns, and even seen a pair of radiant lovers holding their wedding upon that grass.

Wait—why did the groom look so familiar?

What? It was actually Ni Chen!

Yan Yan was instantly furious. Ni Chen was her very own idol, the idol she had spent the best years of her youth yearning for with all her heart. How could he possibly be marrying someone else at a time like this? Yan Yan cried out, shouting with all the strength in her body.

That cry startled the Ninth Prince standing in the courtyard. The Eighth and Tenth Princes exchanged a glance as well, and were just about to comfort him to accept the inevitable, when from the delivery room came the bright, ringing cry of a newborn baby.

Everyone was instantly roused. The Ninth Prince could not help taking two steps toward the door, and Cui’er was already weeping with joy. Lady Dong-e lowered her eyes, but along with the smiling Eighth and Tenth Princesses, she still walked toward the delivery room.

At that moment, a wet nurse came out carrying the child. The Ninth Prince and the Tenth Prince asked urgently at the same time, “How is the Secondary Consort?” “Is it a boy or a girl?” Of course, the first question was asked by the Ninth Prince, and the second by the Tenth Prince.

The Tenth Prince looked at the Ninth Prince in surprise, as though he had never expected his Ninth Brother to ask that first, and it seemed the Lady Yan had already become very important in his brother’s heart.

The wet nurse was also briefly stunned, but immediately said with a broad smile, “Replying to Your Ninth Highness, the Secondary Consort is fine, only somewhat tired.” Then she looked at the Ninth Prince, then at the Tenth Prince, and said, “Congratulations, Your Ninth Highness, great congratulations. The Secondary Consort has given birth to a princess, a stout little princess weighing a full four jin.”

The Ninth Prince seemed not to have heard what the wet nurse said at all, and was already preparing to go under the eaves to speak with Yan Yan. The Tenth Prince, however, let out a long sigh, his face full of disappointment, already considering whether to hang a red cloth strip at the Ninth Prince’s residence.

The Eighth Prince also shook his head. It seemed the Ninth Prince’s fate of bearing sons would have to wait yet again.

Meanwhile, half of the city of Peking was stirred to excitement. Prince Jian and Prince Kang threw back their heads and laughed, ordering their men to increase the betting further, determined that as soon as the Ninth Prince stepped outside, those who had wagered on him having a son would be driven back with jeers.

And just then, after the delivery room had been quiet for a good while, Yan Yan raised her voice and cried out once more...