Chapter 73 Premature Birth

Chapter 73 Premature Birth

"Don't resist!" The Empress Dowager tightened her grip on Lu Jiming's neck, threatening in a low voice, "And don't make a sound. Otherwise, I can't guarantee where this knife might end up."

Lu Jiming's mind went blank for a second, but he quickly pulled himself together, desperately protecting his belly as he nodded. Only then did the Empress Dowager slightly loosen her arm, giving Lu Jiming room to breathe.

"You were never unwell... How did you fool the imperial physicians?" Lu Jiming lowered his voice, fearing that if he spoke too loudly, the Empress Dowager's knife might strike.

"Just a little self-poisoning, that's all," the Empress Dowager sneered.

"Madman!"

"I'll take that as a compliment," the Empress Dowager replied. "Isn't Wei Yan mad too? He's mad too. Takes after me."

"Why did you trick me into coming here? What do you want?" Lu Jiming asked, bewildered. He and the Empress Dowager had never openly clashed, and he had no idea why.

"What do I *want*?" The Empress Dowager shoved him forcefully, sending Lu Jiming crashing to the floor. His lower back slammed directly against the edge of the bed.

Lu Jiming instantly felt his lower back go numb, followed by a sharp, piercing pain. He clutched his belly, watching the Empress Dowager warily.

A-Luan, who had been peacefully sleeping in his belly, was suddenly disturbed and began to kick anxiously. Lu Jiming felt his abdomen begin to contract, hardening like stone.

Looking down, he saw blood trickling from beneath his robes.

That fall had caused his water to break.

Overwhelmed by tension, Lu Jiming's breath came in short gasps. Instinctively, he scrambled backward a few feet, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and the Empress Dowager, hoping to find an opportunity to call out to Ning Zhifei for help.

But the Empress Dowager immediately pounced, pinning Lu Jiming down and holding the short knife to his belly. "If you dare scream, I don't know what will happen to you, but this child certainly won't survive."

"This is your own grandchild..." Lu Jiming gasped in pain, saying to the Empress Dowager in disbelief.

"It doesn't matter. I came here today to take your life. I never intended for it to live," the Empress Dowager sneered. "If you have the guts, abandon this child and call for help now. You might even save your own life... No, wait, the people you brought with you should already be unconscious."

"What?"

"When you came in, didn't you see the brazier lit in the corridor? I put sleeping incense in it. The timing should be just about right..."

Despair washed over Lu Jiming. "Why are you doing this?"

"You've repeatedly thwarted me. First, you harmed Yiqing, then you used underhanded means to eliminate my people during the imperial examinations. Shouldn't I hate you?"

"You and Chen Yiqing conspired to harm the late emperor and tried to fill the court with your cronies. Should I have just stood by and watched?" Lu Jiming clutched his tightening belly, cursing the fact that he was just a weak scholar, unable to protect himself even in such a dire situation.

The Empress Dowager was too strong. In his current state, nearing childbirth, Lu Jiming was no match for her.

"Aren't you also meddling in politics?" the Empress Dowager retorted. "What's the difference between us?"

"His Majesty permitted it..."

"Wei Zhao permitted me too," the Empress Dowager said, her eyes turning venomous at the mention of the late emperor. "Before I entered the palace, he promised that even as empress, I could remain an official, and that I'd be the only one in his heart. He lied to me."

The late emperor had initially agreed to the Empress Dowager's request to remain in office but later changed his mind for reasons unknown. The Empress Dowager believed Consort Xie had instigated this and tried to have her expelled from the palace, but the late emperor refused. Their relationship shattered over this.

The Empress Dowager grabbed Lu Jiming's collar and slapped him hard across the face. "Why is it that you can do it?"

The Empress Dowager put all her strength into that slap. Lu Jiming's head snapped to the side, and he tasted blood in his mouth.

With his head still turned, Lu Jiming glared at the Empress Dowager. "Everything was done by His Majesty and me together. Why do you only want to kill me?"

The Empress Dowager pinched Lu Jiming's chin, turning his face from side to side. "Just as I thought, a hypocrite. What kind of spell has that fool Wei Yan fallen under because of you?"

His belly continued to contract relentlessly. The pain had drenched Lu Jiming in sweat, making it hard to think clearly. But he knew he had to buy as much time as possible, waiting for someone to notice something was wrong.

"Why don't you hate Wei Yan?"

"He's my son," the Empress Dowager replied, looking at Lu Jiming as if he were an idiot. "The throne rightfully belongs to my Wei family. Am I insane to hand it over to that bitch Xie's son? And that bastard surnamed Chen, clinging to Wei Zhao, insisting on entering the palace even as a concubine!"

Only one thought remained in Lu Jiming's mind: *And you still remember Wei Yan is your son?*

"Enough nonsense," the Empress Dowager said. "I'll make your death quick, don't worry."

"If I die, do you think Wei Yan will let you go?"

"So what? With filial piety as a shield, would he dare kill me? It's more satisfying to kill you first. You have no idea how long I've waited for you to be alone in the palace. Any later, and this bastard would have been born, letting you succeed."

She hated Lu Jiming to the core, unwilling to let him give birth to the Crown Prince. Otherwise, wouldn't her descendants forever carry the blood of this Lu family?

The Empress Dowager pressed the dagger against Lu Jiming's throat, just below his Adam's apple, as if considering how much force to use. Gasping for air, Lu Jiming suddenly remembered what Hu Si had said: if he ever found himself in a life-threatening situation, he could call out to him in his heart, and Hu Si would come.

At this desperate juncture, it seemed there was no better option. Lu Jiming tightly shut his eyes, trying to recall Hu Si's appearance, repeating his name over and over in his heart.

But it seemed futile. Lu Jiming could clearly feel the sharp blade pressing against his neck. He heard the sound of his skin being cut.

*Fight him with everything I have!* Lu Jiming suddenly opened his eyes. Summoning strength from somewhere deep within, he struggled violently, actually managing to push the Empress Dowager away. Supporting his hardening, sagging belly, he struggled to his feet.

Clutching his bleeding neck, he tried to call for help but found he could no longer make a sound. He could only stare fixedly at the dagger in the Empress Dowager's hand, trying to find an opportunity to seize it.

The Empress Dowager was momentarily taken aback by the burst of strength from Lu Jiming's desperate struggle but quickly realized it was nothing more than the last stand of a cornered beast, not worth fearing. So, she simply lunged forward with the dagger, aiming directly at Lu Jiming.

Lu Jiming gave up trying to stem the bleeding from his neck. Instead, he used both hands to shield his belly. No matter what, A-Luan must not be harmed first.

Suddenly, thunder rumbled from the corridor. Immediately after, the door to the bedchamber was blown open by the wind. The Empress Dowager felt as if her hand had been scalded, a sudden pain shooting through it. The dagger clattered to the floor.

The sky suddenly darkened, and lightning flashed and thunder roared outside the hall.

Lu Jiming was momentarily stunned. Thunder in winter?

Then, in the flickering lightning, he saw Hu Si walking toward him.

Hu Si's wide sleeves billowed in the wind, giving him an ethereal, immortal-like appearance, yet his face wore a venomous expression. With a flick of his wrist, the Empress Dowager was thrown to the ground as if struck, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Lu Jiming breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he was saved.

Abdominal pain surged through him again. Unable to stand, Lu Jiming fell backward once more.

"Xuping!" Wei Yan's voice, hoarse and desperate, echoed as he rushed into the bedchamber, catching Lu Jiming in his arms just as he collapsed.

Hu Si glanced at Wei Yan and scoffed, "Useless thing, letting Ming'er end up like this."

Then he raised his hand, healing the knife wound below Lu Jiming's throat as if it had never been there.

"I cannot interfere with the karma of human life. This old thing, you deal with her yourself," Hu Si said, casting a glance at the Empress Dowager before standing rigidly by the door.

Wei Yan's eyes were bloodshot. He carried Lu Jiming to the bed, then turned and walked toward the Empress Dowager, picking up the dagger that had fallen to the floor.

Sensing the murderous intent in Wei Yan's eyes, the Empress Dowager cried out in panic, "What are you doing? I am your father! Guards! Guards, come quickly!"

But no matter how the Empress Dowager screamed, only the thunder outside the window replied. It was as if from the moment Hu Si appeared, they had entered another realm, and everyone else in the palace had vanished.

"Father? I wish I had never had a father." Wei Yan gripped the dagger tightly and raised it high.

"A-Yan, listen to me. Lu Jiming is scum. You... you can't bear the infamy of killing your own father for him." The Empress Dowager widened his eyes, his once handsome face now twisted and grotesque.

Wei Yan said no more. His raised arm fell, and the dagger plunged straight into the Empress Dowager's chest.

The Empress Dowager's eyes remained wide open. After a few convulsive struggles, he was gone.

Wei Yan came back to his senses, as if his strength had been drained from him in an instant, and slumped to the ground.

When it was over, he began to laugh, his face—so similar to the Empress Dowager's—drowned in tears.

With trembling hands, he closed his father's eyes and whispered, "Father, in your eyes, what exactly was Daddy worth? And what was I worth?"

Hu Si watched everything coldly, seemingly satisfied with Wei Yan's actions, then turned and disappeared outside the door.

Then, the weather cleared in an instant. The earlier lightning and thunder seemed like nothing more than hallucinations born of Lu Jiming's brush with death.

Wei Yan got up and ran to Lu Jiming.

The hem of Lu Jiming's robe was already stained with blood.

Wei Yan grabbed Lu Jiming's hand to check his pulse.

The impact had jolted the baby, causing his water to break prematurely. The birth canal hadn't even opened yet, and the situation was dire.

Lu Jiming clutched Wei Yan's hand and asked with difficulty, "You were in the outskirts of the capital... how did you get back so quickly?"

"Uncle brought me back," Wei Yan replied vaguely. After receiving the report from the palace, he had sensed something was wrong and was about to rush back when suddenly the world spun. By the time he regained his bearings, he was already under the corridor of Cide Palace's main hall.

Ning Zhifei, along with several imperial physicians and palace attendants, lay unconscious in the corridor, proof that the Empress Dowager had prepared in advance.

Cide Palace was, after all, a treacherous place. Wei Yan lifted Lu Jiming into his arms and headed out of the palace.

The Imperial Guard and the Golden Guard had already arrived, surrounding Cide Palace impenetrably. Everything that happened in the palace today would become an absolute secret.

In the sedan chair back to the palace, Lu Jiming's lips were deathly pale. He clutched Wei Yan's lapel tightly, sobbing, "Shi Xia, it hurts..."

"I've already sent someone to fetch Mr. Zheng. The imperial physicians are all waiting at Chongyuan Palace. Xuping, don't worry. A-Luan will be fine."

Lu Jiming heard a familiar name from Wei Yan, but the pain was too intense for him to think it through. He could only keep sobbing "Shi Xia."

And this time, finally, every call received a response.

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Author's Note: Everyone, well, the thing is, Sanhuo got too worked up today and took out the main villain ahead of schedule, which means the main plot will end earlier than originally outlined. So, this story will probably wrap up in about four or five more chapters. There are still some side plot threads left—the second child, matters related to Wei Ze'an, and Zhifei's identity—which will go directly into the extras. Currently, the planned paid extras include these side threads and daily life with the third child. The free extras tentatively include the reasons for the protagonists' rebirth, the entanglements between Sanhuo's daddy and his harem, Huan Zixiao's perspective on Sanhuo's previous life, the follow-up to the side CP Yan Ning's marriage and children, Ning Jia's return for a visit, and Wei and Lu's daily life.