Chapter 99: The Fifth Lady

Chapter 99: The Fifth Lady

Yinqi had been supporting An Qing. As soon as she stopped, he noticed something was amiss.

"Is something wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

An Qing pursed her lips. She did not seem panicked as expected; instead, she spoke calmly, "I think I'm going into labor."

Going into labor?!

Upon hearing this, Yinqi was initially stunned, then visibly panicked. Even his arm supporting An Qing stiffened slightly.

An Qing found it somewhat amusing. It wasn't him giving birth, so why was he panicking? She, the one actually in labor, remained remarkably calm.

Tsk tsk~ This sense of composure truly comes from contrast. Now she felt like a rock in the face of a storm.

After a brief moment of panic, Yinqi quickly regained his composure and called over several waiting midwives nearby. Upon hearing that An Qing was in labor, everyone sprang into action.

Two midwives carefully took An Qing from Yinqi and carried her to the delivery room. With her due date approaching, the fire pits in the delivery room and the boilers in the tea room had been burning continuously for twelve hours a day, keeping the room warm. As soon as An Qing entered, she felt a wave of warmth.

An Qing was placed on the bed, surrounded by people. Perilla then brought in the midwife.

"Lady, please forgive my impertinence, but I need to examine your condition now."

An Qing understood what the midwife meant by examination and nodded lightly. At this point, any sense of modesty had to be set aside.

The experienced midwife worked efficiently. She first placed a pillow under An Qing and then washed her hands thoroughly with hot water before instructing someone to undress An Qing to check the baby's position.

"Lady, don't worry. The baby is positioned correctly," the midwife said. "You've only dilated a little more than one centimeter, so there's no rush. You can relax for a bit."

Since An Qing had just finished eating, she didn't need to eat anything else at the moment. The midwife instructed someone to prepare ginseng slices, just in case An Qing needed them during labor.

Of course, it would be best if they weren't needed.

Hearing that the baby was positioned correctly, An Qing felt a sense of relief, even if it was temporary. It was still a good start.

She felt the pain in her lower body and realized that she had only dilated a little more than one centimeter. No wonder it wasn't too painful yet.

An Qing never liked doing things blindly, especially when it came to childbirth, which directly affected her life. So, she had learned about childbirth from Mai Dong beforehand.

This "dilation" referred to the opening of the cervix, measured from one to ten centimeters. A dilation of ten centimeters meant the cervix was fully open, ready for the baby to be born.

In normal circumstances, a dilation of one centimeter indicated that it was still early and there was no need to panic. One should pay attention to the baby's movements. When the dilation reaches three centimeters, preparations can begin, but one still needs to wait. Once it reaches eight centimeters, it's time to push harder, as the baby will be coming soon. When the cervix is fully dilated at ten centimeters, the baby will be born shortly.

So, An Qing had no reason to be anxious yet. She even had the presence of mind to give some instructions to Perilla and Mai Dong. Cui Liu and Chunxiao couldn't squeeze in and could only watch from outside.

Inside the room, An Qing was calm, but outside, everyone was frantic.

The courtyard was brightly lit.

Yinqi paced back and forth in the main hall, anxiously looking toward the delivery room. "Why isn't there any news? What's happening inside?"

Ma Xiang knew his master was worried and tried to reassure him, "Master, the midwife just said that Lady is fine. Don't worry. Why don't you sit down and rest for a while?"

Yinqi waved his hand. He couldn't sit still, wishing he could go in and check himself.

As they spoke, two imperial physicians from the pharmacy arrived. "Your Highness, the Fifth Beile..."

Yinqi's tone was impatient. "Enough with the formalities. Go check on Lady immediately."

The two physicians hurriedly complied and were led to the outer room of the delivery area, ready to assist at any moment.

Cui Liu and Mai Dong rushed out upon hearing the physicians arrive. Seeing familiar faces, their faces lit up with joy.

"Physician Xiao Qi, how wonderful! It's you on duty tonight."

Physician Xiao Qi had been taking care of An Qing throughout her pregnancy. His presence provided additional reassurance, even though Mai Dong was also skilled. Having another physician present added an extra layer of security, especially since Physician Xiao Qi was even more skilled than Mai Dong, as confirmed by Mai Dong herself.

Physician Xiao Qi bowed to them. "His Majesty specifically instructed my uncle that the Fifth Lady's due date was approaching, so we have been taking turns on duty."

His uncle was Chief Physician Qi, and since Emperor Kangxi had personally instructed him, it was clear that he placed great importance on An Qing's pregnancy. The Imperial Medical Bureau staff dared not neglect their duties.

In Yikun Palace, Concubine Yi was about to retire for the night when Xizhu rushed in to report.

"My lady, the Fifth Beile sent word that the Fifth Lady has gone into labor."

Concubine Yi immediately got out of bed and ordered, "Quickly, help me get dressed. I need to go see her."

Giving birth was like walking through the gates of hell, and she needed to support An Qing.

When Concubine Yi hurried to the residence, she met Empress Dowager, who had also rushed over.

Seeing each other, Concubine Yi couldn't help but say, "Fifth Son is being unreasonable. Why did he disturb you? He's so thoughtless."

Empress Dowager was elderly, and Emperor Kangxi rarely disturbed her to avoid disrupting her rest.

Fifth Son would surely face a scolding once Emperor Kangxi found out.

Empress Dowager waved her hand and replied, "It wasn't Fifth Son. I left someone here from Ningshou Palace."

She knew no one would dare disturb her, so she had stationed someone from Ningshou Palace here because she was genuinely concerned about An Qing.

After a brief exchange, Concubine Yi supported Empress Dowager inside.

Yinqi, upon hearing they had arrived, hurried out to greet them. "Grandma, why are you here?"

He had sent someone to notify Yikun Palace, but despite his grandmother's instructions, he had hesitated to send a message to Ningshou Palace out of concern for her health.

Empress Dowager waved her hand and asked, "How is it going? What's the situation inside?"

Inside, the specific situation was unclear to Yinqi as well, so he could only have someone go in to call for help.

In the delivery room, An Qing had just dilated to two centimeters. But the pain in her lower abdomen came in waves, making her face pale. This was just at two centimeters; she couldn't imagine how much worse it would get later.

She heard that the Empress Dowager and Concubine Yi had come, and was taken aback, even forgetting about the pain momentarily.

Given the circumstances, it seemed she wouldn't be giving birth anytime soon. Why had they come now?

Earlier, An Qing had heard the midwife say that for a first-time mother like her, it would take five or six hours to dilate from one to ten centimeters. It was currently late at night, so it would likely be morning before she gave birth.

Waiting outside for so long would be exhausting, especially for the Empress Dowager, who was elderly.

In the main hall, Doctor Xiao Qi and Maidenhair came out to report.

"Your Highnesses, the Empress Dowager, Concubine Yi, and Fifth Beile, Fifth Lady is doing well, the baby's position is normal, and she has dilated to two centimeters. The midwife is attending to her inside, and everything is fine for now," Doctor Xiao Qi reported.

Hearing that everything was fine, the three people in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

Maidenhair then stepped forward and bowed to the Empress Dowager and Concubine Yi. "Your Highnesses, my mistress sends her regards. She says she is doing well, but it will still take some time before the birth. It's not worth troubling you to wait here. Perhaps you should return to rest and we can send word when she gives birth."

Yinqi also had this intention, but before he could speak, Concubine Yi interjected, "I don't need to leave; I can hold on."

Then she looked at the Empress Dowager and added, "Mother, you are elderly and shouldn't stay up. Please go back and rest; I'll stay here."

The Empress Dowager waved her hand. "No need for that. If I go back, I won't be able to sleep with worry. It's better to wait here."

Then she looked at Maidenhair and instructed, "Tell your mistress that I understand. If I can't hold on, I'll rest in one of your rooms. She should focus on giving birth without worrying about me."

After hearing Maidenhair's message, An Qing didn't insist further. The Empress Dowager might seem approachable, but she was firm in her decisions. With Yinqi and Concubine Yi outside, they would take care of her.

Besides, the pain was becoming unbearable.

People often said childbirth takes time and cannot be rushed. An Qing fully understood this after about two hours when she started experiencing intense contractions.

The midwife hurried to comfort her and began instructing her on managing her contractions.

An Qing's mind went numb from the pain, but she tried to bear it silently, knowing the Empress Dowager and Concubine Yi were waiting outside.

But once she dilated to five centimeters, she couldn't hold back any longer and cried out in pain.

In the main hall, as time passed, Yinqi grew increasingly anxious. When he heard An Qing's scream from the delivery room, he panicked and rushed towards it.

Fortunately, Ma Xiang had been watching his master and quickly stopped him.

"Master, don't rush. No one has come out to report, which means everything is fine. If you barge in, it might cause panic."

Concubine Yi also responded and advised, "Childbirth is always like this. Ma Xiang is right. Even if you enter the delivery room, you won't be able to help and might cause more trouble."

Yinqi sat back down heavily. He understood this; he had seen similar scenes during Liu Jiashi's childbirth years ago. His earlier actions were instinctive.

Another scream came from the delivery room, and he couldn't sit still anymore. Though he didn't rush in, he paced anxiously around the main hall, occasionally peeking outside.

Concubine Yi felt a headache coming on from Yinqi's pacing and barely resisted scolding him.

Fine, out of sight, out of mind. She closed her eyes.

The Empress Dowager, seated above, observed Yinqi's reactions and seemed to ponder something. She was initially surprised but then slowly withdrew her gaze.

An Qing lost track of how long she had been in pain. She felt the child's stubbornness was concentrated in these final moments. No matter how hard she pushed, it seemed unwilling to come out.

Eventually, her mind went numb from the pain, and she followed the midwife's instructions mechanically. She labored through the entire night, and just as dawn broke, a loud cry echoed from the delivery room.

"Congratulations, Lady! Congratulations! You've given birth to a little prince."

A little prince, An Qing thought dizzily. Honghui must be disappointed; it's a brother, not a sister.

The midwife handed the wrapped child to An Qing's side, wanting her to see it.

But An Qing was too exhausted. She glanced briefly at the child before falling into a deep sleep.

Her last conscious thought was, is this really my child? How ugly.

An Qing felt like she had slept for an eternity. When she woke up, she was still disoriented. She instinctively touched her belly, a habit formed during pregnancy, but froze in surprise.

It was flat?

An Qing sat up abruptly but fell back halfway, the pain reminding her of what had happened.

Right, her child was born, so her belly was naturally flat.

"Master, you're awake. Are you feeling unwell anywhere?" Perilla noticed the movement immediately.

An Qing shook her head lightly. The sleep had been good, except for the lingering pain. Otherwise, she felt fine.

She moved slightly, feeling refreshed. The stickiness from before was gone, indicating someone had cleaned her up while she slept.

Perilla finally relaxed. Although Doctor Xiao Qi and Maidenhair had checked on her while she was asleep and confirmed she was fine, just tired from labor, Perilla still felt relieved seeing her mistress awake and well.

Just then, there was a commotion at the door. An Qing looked over and saw Concubine Yi entering.

"Mother, you're here," she said with a smile.

Concubine Yi approached, examining her thoroughly before breathing a sigh of relief.

"When did you wake up? Have you seen the child yet?"

An Qing shook her head. "Not yet. I just woke up, Mother. It seems our hearts are connected."

Concubine Yi gave her a reproachful look. "You really haven't changed, have you? After going through so much, you still have the energy to joke around."

Upon hearing that An Qing had just woken up, she hurriedly instructed someone to bring in the food that had been prepared early in the morning. Giving birth was an extremely physically demanding process, and she had only managed to drink a few sips of ginseng soup before passing out. After sleeping for so long, it was obvious she would be starving.

An Qing was indeed quite hungry and smiled as she replied, "Mother always knows how to take care of me."

Though Concubine Yi was used to her sweet words, she couldn’t help but laugh and scold her gently, "You’re just full of sweet talk."

An Qing chuckled. "I’m not exaggerating; it’s because Mother is good to me."

After a moment, she seemed to remember something and said, "Mother, you wouldn’t believe how scared I was at first, but when I heard you and Grandmother had arrived, my heart immediately felt at ease."

Concubine Yi smiled as she smoothed the stray hairs by An Qing’s ear and casually remarked, "What were you scared about? Prince Fifth was outside too."

An Qing waved her hand dismissively. "Don’t mention him. Mother, you didn’t see him; he was even more nervous than I was."

Then, she vividly recounted Yinqi’s reaction when he found out she was giving birth.

Concubine Yi, after listening, also found it rather embarrassing. "He really isn’t very capable."

Hearing Concubine Yi’s description, An Qing felt it wasn’t that bad and quickly tried to salvage Yinqi’s image.

It wasn’t that he was incapable; he just wasn’t as composed as she was. Hmph, who knew she had the potential for great things deep down.

Seeing An Qing’s smug expression, Concubine Yi couldn’t bear to look at her. This girl truly hadn’t changed; she couldn’t help but praise herself.

As mother and daughter chatted, the wet nurse heard that the Lady had woken up and promptly brought the little prince over from the adjacent room.

"Come and see, our little prince looks wonderful," Concubine Yi said with a smile as she took the child from the wet nurse.

Sitting on the bed, An Qing could only see the red floral blanket covering the baby, but upon hearing Concubine Yi’s words, she was taken aback.

Wonderful?

She vaguely remembered taking a quick glance before falling asleep, and the baby seemed a bit... ugly.

Was it because she was too tired and her eyes were playing tricks on her?

An Qing thought it was possible; she had been quite dazed then. Besides, both she and Yinqi were good-looking; genetically speaking, the baby shouldn’t be too far off.

But as she eagerly awaited, Concubine Yi finally brought the baby over and placed him beside her.

An Qing: "..."

This is called looking wonderful?

She suddenly doubted her beautiful mother-in-law’s taste or perhaps it was just the grandmother’s filter.

"What’s wrong?" Concubine Yi asked, puzzled by her expression.

An Qing glanced at the baby, sighed deeply, and said, "Mother, he’s a bit... ugly."

Concubine Yi was momentarily stunned. A bit ugly? What did she mean by a bit ugly?

An Qing silently looked at the baby beside her, leaving everything unspoken.

Concubine Yi followed her gaze and, seeing her grandson, suddenly understood.

She meant the baby was a bit ugly?!

Concubine Yi couldn’t help laughing and crying at the same time. "You, you silly girl, they say children don’t despise their mothers’ ugliness, and mothers wouldn’t..."

An Qing pursed her lips and weakly defended herself. "They say children don’t despise their mothers’ ugliness, but they never said mothers can’t despise their children’s ugliness."

Concubine Yi couldn’t help holding her forehead, almost getting caught up in her logic. The point wasn’t whether children despise their mothers’ ugliness or mothers despise their children’s ugliness; the point was that her precious grandson wasn’t ugly!

"Mother, even though this is my own son, I can’t bring myself to say he’s handsome. Look at him, all red like a monkey." An Qing couldn’t abandon her sense of aesthetics but added, "But don’t worry, no matter what he looks like, I’ll love him since I went through so much to give birth to him."

She then patted the floral blanket affectionately and said earnestly, "Son, thank goodness we’re rich; otherwise, with your looks, you might not find a wife."

Concubine Yi was both amused and exasperated.

The wet nurse interjected, "Lady, newborns always look like this. Our little prince is actually doing quite well. He’ll look better in a few days."

An Qing was surprised. "Really?"

Concubine Yi took a deep breath. "Of course, it’s true. Prince Fifth looked worse when he was born. Look at him now—does he look ugly?!"

An Qing truthfully replied, "No."

To be honest, Yinqi was not only not ugly; he was quite handsome.

If that was the case, she looked down at her son and felt relieved.

However, An Qing hadn’t known this. She had never seen a newborn before. When her sister-in-law gave birth to Wuritu, it was during the autumn harvest, and by the time she returned, Wuritu was nearly a month old.

When Duo Lan was born, she was already married and living in the Forbidden City, so she missed that too.

As it turned out, just as Concubine Yi and the wet nurse had said, newborns do change every day. In just a few days, the redness had faded, the swelling had gone down, and his fair skin began to show. His features became increasingly attractive.

By the time of the third-day washing ceremony, he had completely transformed and was no longer the ugly baby An Qing had described.

It was quite a magical thing.

An Qing was quite satisfied with her son’s transformation. However, as expected, the baby’s temperament matched her prediction—he was calm and quiet, only making sounds when he was hungry, wet, or needed changing. An Qing hadn’t heard him cry once in these few days.

"Milady, shall I take the little master out? It’s time for Nurse Liu to change his clothes and prepare him for the washing ceremony," Perilla said.

An Qing nodded lightly. Calculating the time, it was indeed time to get ready. Today was the day of the washing ceremony for the child, and she wondered how things were progressing outside.

On the third day after a newborn's birth, a bathing ceremony known as the 'washing of the third day,' or 'washing of the third morning,' is held.

This ceremony symbolizes the newborn's transition from the remnants of pregnancy into infancy. The custom dates back to the Tang and Song dynasties, and after the Great Qing entered the pass, it was also adopted in the imperial palace.

First, the Board of Astronomy selects an auspicious time based on the child's birth date and time. Three days after birth, the baby is bathed facing south.

Before the bathing begins, a nursemaid pours water boiled with locust leaves and mugwort into a basin. While the water is still hot, gifts of gold, silver, eggs, peanuts, red dates, and other items sent by family elders are added to the water. This step is called 'filling the basin.'

After filling the basin, a respected elderly woman washes the baby. As she washes, she stirs the water with one hand while reciting blessings. This step is known as 'stirring the basin.'

An Qing only learned yesterday that the Empress Dowager had volunteered to be the elder who would perform the 'stirring of the basin.' She was quite surprised, knowing that even the eldest son of the Crown Prince did not receive such treatment.

If anyone were to ask who the most respected woman in the world is, it would undoubtedly be the Empress Dowager. She is nearly sixty years old, which is considered a great age in ancient times. Having her perform the 'stirring of the basin' is the best blessing for the child.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Yinqi was raised by the Empress Dowager, and she has always openly favored this grandson. Now, favoring her great-grandson so openly, others cannot really say anything.

After all, whether it is the Crown Prince or any other prince, everyone has grown accustomed to it.

However, sometimes, despite being accustomed to it, seeing it firsthand still causes a pang of envy.

For example, during this washing of the third day ceremony, every brother has a son, and every son has had a washing of the third day ceremony. But when have they ever seen such a scene?