That piercing cry clenched every heart in the room.
“Lady, please hold on a little longer.”
“Momo, it… it hurts so much…”
“All women must go through this when giving birth. Endure it, and all will be well.”
Qiao Momo spoke while gently wiping the sweat from Shen Yujiao’s brow, her old eyes brimming with sorrow. “Good lady, however bitter or hard, you’ll come through it. I’ll stay with you, don’t be afraid.”
With her birth mother absent, the gentle, loving voice of the old nurse steadied Shen Yujiao’s heart. She bit her lip tightly, yet the tearing pain was unbearable; her eyes fixed on the canopy above, she felt as though her body no longer belonged to her.
“Madam, stay awake.”
Chen Pozi stood in front, seeing her mistress nearly fainting from pain, she quickly held out a slice of ginseng to her lips. “Take this, it will help you hold on.”
Shen Yujiao had just opened her mouth when Huang Momo, kneeling at the foot of the bed, lifted her head and cast a faintly displeased glance at Chen Pozi. “Why are you using ginseng so early?”
Chen Pozi froze, looking awkward. “So… so early? But just now the lady’s eyes went blank. If we don’t give it, what if she faints?”
“She’s only six fingers dilated. There’s still a long way to go! If you use ginseng now, what will you do when the child is actually coming and she has no strength left?”
Huang Momo gave her a sidelong glance. “Don’t act on your own. Just follow my lead.”
Though she wasn’t scolding outright, the contempt in that look still left Chen Pozi uneasy.
Ever since entering this household, she and Huang Momo had lived in the rear quarters—neighbors separated by a wall. But Huang Momo was from the palace, every gesture carrying authority, always seen holding a medical text. To Chen Pozi, with her humble origins, she was both admirable and intimidating.
To reach Huang Momo’s level as a midwife was truly the height of honor.
Now, hearing her say she had given the ginseng too soon, Chen Pozi dared not argue. She only nodded meekly: “Yes, yes, I’ll listen to you.”
Time ticked by, the bloody smell in the birthing room growing stronger, nearly overwhelming even the bitter herbal fragrance of mugwort.
Shen Yujiao’s pain grew so intense she felt numb, her strength draining away, her body alternating hot and cold. Weakly, she opened her eyes. “Still… still not out yet?”
The torment of this pain was endless; it felt like a whole lifetime had already passed.
“Madam, don’t be anxious, save your strength.”
Qiao Momo squeezed her hand, but when she saw Huang Momo at the foot of the bed, silent-faced, she grew anxious. “Didn’t you say once the water breaks the birth is quick? How has it been so long without progress?”
Beneath the four corners of the raised quilt, Huang Momo’s gaze flickered. “This… the lady’s fetal position is a bit off. It seems the child’s shoulder is stuck.”
As soon as these words fell, everyone in the room drew in a sharp breath.
“How could the fetal position be wrong! Don’t you massage Madam every day to set the fetus straight?” Qiao Momo pressed urgently.
“I do check the fetal form every day, but separated by a belly, how could I be so precise!” Huang Momo frowned. “Besides, the child inside is alive, moving every day—who’s to say it didn’t turn over just in one night? I’m no immortal. Only at the time of birth can the situation truly be known.”
Qiao Momo had no children of her own all her life, and when rebuked by such a professional midwife, she suddenly didn’t know how to reply.
It was Chen Pozi who cautiously stepped forward: “Shall I take a look?”
Huang Momo gave a cold snort. “Do you think I’d make up something about a matter of life and death to fool you? Fine—go on and see for yourself, at least you can bear witness for me!”
“Huang Momo, don’t misunderstand, I didn’t mean it like that, I just…” Chen Pozi, afraid to offend her, put on a smiling face. “If I take a look, maybe we can think of a way together.”
Huang Momo spread her two blood-stained hands and shifted aside, almost defiantly: “Come, see for yourself.”
Chen Pozi stepped up and only at a glance, her face instantly changed: “Heavens above—why is it tilted so badly!”
At these words, Qiao Momo’s face went ashen. “Then you two must quickly think of something! My lady has been in pain so long, if we delay any more she truly will have no strength left!”
Chen Pozi grew anxious too, thinking, It’s not just Madam who will lose her strength—her waters have been broken for so long, the child trapped inside must also be suffocating by now.
A shadow of doubt also flickered in her mind: when Madam was five fingers dilated, it should already have been clear the fetal position was wrong—why had Huang Momo waited so long to speak up? Wasn’t this harming people!
But the thought passed quickly. After all, Huang Momo had been sent by high-ranking palace folk—if the task failed, she herself would get no good out of it either, so what benefit was there?
“At this point, Madam can only suffer a little more, and push harder!”
So saying, Huang Momo ordered a maid: “Go, as I instructed before, decoct a bowl of inducing medicine and bring it here.”
Chen Pozi exclaimed in shock: “But the child’s position is wrong—if you give the inducing medicine now, how can Madam’s body bear it?”
Though inducing medicine aids labor, its potency is fierce—called a wolf-and-tiger drug for a reason. Once taken, it gravely harms the mother’s body and easily causes heavy bleeding. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Chen Pozi never dared use it.
“What other method do you have? The child’s shoulders are stuck, Madam’s strength nearly spent. If we don’t give the inducing medicine, the child suffocates in the womb—then it will be two lives lost! When it comes to that, will you take responsibility, or shall I?”
Huang Momo impatiently waved her hand. “Stand aside quickly, don’t waste time.”
“No… no, this won’t do!” Chen Pozi hurriedly stopped the maid, turning a worried face toward Qiao Momo. “Madam, once the inducing medicine is given, nine out of ten women hemorrhage badly. And this is Madam’s first birth—she’s delicate and frail, she might not withstand it.”
At these words, Qiao Momo’s heart quivered, tears welling in her eyes, her face full of helplessness. “Then what should we do… what are we to do?”
Shen Yujiao, half-faint with pain, only felt her belly and lower body bloated and unbearable. She vaguely caught pieces of their conversation, but her mind could not think; her little finger weakly hooked into Qiao Momo’s palm, murmuring feebly: “Momo… it hurts… it hurts so much…”
“My good lady.” Qiao Momo’s heart ached like being cut with knives, she clutched her hand tight. “Hold on a little longer, just a little longer.”
Huang Momo’s face was stern. “Qiao Momo, you must make a decision.”
“I… how can I decide!” Qiao Momo wept. “The master is not at home, I’m only a servant—how can I decide for the family!”
As she spoke, suddenly she thought of something. Turning, she told Xiaying and Dongxu: “Send more people to summon the master. And also the Li household—quickly invite Madam’s maternal grandfather, her uncles, her aunt from the Marquis of Yongwei’s manor—bring them all here!”
Xiaying and Dongxu, knowing the situation was dire, both left crying to run outside.
Meanwhile Huang Momo pressed Qiao Momo again. Qiao Momo, steady all her life, was now flustered and lost.
One was the young mistress she had raised from childhood, the other the legitimate eldest grandson of the Pei family—one was the flesh of her heart, the other the lifeblood of the household. She dared not decide lightly.
At this time, Chen Pozi suddenly thought of something and cautiously said: “I know at Yonghe Hall there’s a Doctor Lin—he has an ancestral acupuncture method for correcting the fetus, he could…”
Before she finished, Huang Momo cut her off coldly: “What use is that now? The fetus cannot be corrected at this stage! The child’s shoulders are stuck—if it doesn’t come out soon, it will suffocate in the womb. Where’s the time to wait for you to fetch a doctor? If you delay and both lives are lost, can you bear it?”
Chen Pozi choked, swallowing her words bitterly.
Yes, if they fetched the doctor and by the time he came the child was already dead, she would be blamed. And who knew the master’s stance—whether to save the mother or the child. But most households… would choose the child.
Seeing Chen Pozi silenced, Huang Momo’s eyes glinted with a touch of triumph. Looking again at tear-stained, distraught Qiao Momo, she pressed once more: “Qiao Momo, I know you love Madam, but right now it’s a matter of life and death. Saving one is better than losing both! If not, ask Madam herself—see what she says.”
Qiao Momo’s lips trembled, tears spilling before she spoke. “Madam, my good Madam—this inducing decoction… should we use it or not?”
At this moment, Shen Yujiao only felt her strength spent, her whole body cold, her mind clouded. She could not think further—she only wished the torment would end quickly. Her bloodless lips quivered as she whispered: “All right…”
“Jiaojiao, Jiaojiao!!!”
Suddenly, heavy pounding sounded on the door, startling everyone inside.
Qiao Momo’s expression changed. She ordered toward the outside: “Hold him back, under no circumstances let him in!”
“Jiaojiao, you’ll be fine, you will definitely be fine! Hold on!”
The clamor outside didn’t stop. Huang Momo frowned, but couldn’t be bothered with that man. She only turned to Qiao Momo: “The young lady agreed just now, did she not?”
Qiao Momo’s heart twisted with pain, and she nodded tearfully. “Then follow her wish. Use it.”
Suppressing the joy of relief rising in her heart, Huang Momo caught sight of Chen Pozi looking downcast and dejected. Afraid this woman might stay and ruin things, she said: “Old sister, the maids may not be able to get the heat just right boiling the inducing medicine for the first time. Please, you go in person.”
Seeing that the mistress herself had already given consent, Chen Pozi’s heart was heavy with sorrow, but she could say no more. She nodded: “Fine, I’ll go.”
Led out by a maid, as she passed the gate of the courtyard, she caught sight of that handsome young man, held back by two or three servants.
The moment he saw her, he rushed forward like seeing a savior. “How is she? Why did those two maids just now run out crying? Has something gone wrong?”
Seeing his anxious worry, Chen Pozi’s heart softened. She said: “The young lady’s fetal position is wrong, the birth won’t progress. Now they’re going to use inducing medicine…”
“Difficult labor? How could it be? She was fine just now!” Xie Wuling was incredulous. Clearly, when he carried Shen Yujiao into the bedchamber, she had been calm, in good spirits, even comforting him not to worry.
“In childbirth, all sorts of things can happen,” Chen Pozi shook her head. “It’s only that it’s dragged on too long. Otherwise, if someone had gone to Yonghe Hall to invite Doctor Lin and Lin Little Hand, there’d be no need to use inducing medicine…”
Xie Wuling’s sharp instincts caught the flaw. “What about the inducing medicine?”
Chen Pozi let out a deep sigh. “Inducing medicine induces the child to be born… and induces the mother to die.”
“What did you say!” Xie Wuling’s expression changed violently.
“Ah—oy!” Chen Pozi’s arm was nearly crushed by his grip, the pain making her bare her teeth. “Young master, young master, let go, quickly!”
His grip loosened a little, but those pitch-black eyes still bore into her. “What do you mean by that just now?”
The cold ferocity swirling in his narrow, ink-dark eyes made Chen Pozi shiver all over, and she hurriedly explained the risks of inducing medicine.
When Xie Wuling finished listening, he felt it utterly absurd. “Save the mother—of course you save the mother!”
Without another thought, he dragged Chen Pozi with him and charged straight toward the birthing room.
“Mercy, young master, you—!”
“Young sir, you mustn’t!”
The maids rushed to stop him. Xie Wuling simply drew the dagger at his waist.
The blade gleamed cold and sharp. The household was full of delicate servant girls—none had ever seen such a scene. Terrified, they all backed off at once.
Inside, Qiao Momo and Huang Momo saw that tall man dragging Chen Pozi in, dagger in hand, his whole body radiating murderous intent like an Asura risen from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Their faces both changed at once.
“You—how did you get in here!”
Qiao Momo instinctively shielded the near-unconscious Shen Yujiao behind her, her cloudy old eyes fixed on the sharp dagger. “What exactly do you want to do!”
The heavy air inside was tainted with the stench of blood mixed with mugwort. Xie Wuling glimpsed that pale little face at the bedside and his heart sank like lead. His cold gaze swept the room. “If the child is lost, so be it. But if anyone dares gamble with Jiaojiao’s life, I’ll kill them!”
With that, he shoved Chen Pozi to the bedside, ordering harshly: “I don’t care what method you use. Until I bring the doctors from Yonghe Hall, you must keep her alive! If anything happens to her, even if I die for it, I’ll drag your whole family to the grave with me!”
Chen Pozi was terrified, especially seeing his bloodshot eyes—he truly looked like a madman gone berserk. She could only nod frantically. “Yes, yes, yes!”
At the side, Huang Momo braced herself and said: “But in her condition, without inducing medicine, the child certainly cannot be saved!”
At those words, that tall figure, just about to step out the door, suddenly froze. Then his striking features twisted into a fierce, ruthless expression as he turned back toward her. “So it was you who suggested inducing medicine? Who gave you the gall to risk her life for the sake of some brat?”
“Y-you… don’t come closer. I am a woman of the palace!”
“So what if you’re from the palace?” Xie Wuling strode forward, his strong body like a collapsing mountain, and seized the back of her collar in one hand. “If anything happens to her, I swear I’ll carve you apart alive, one cut at a time!”
The next instant, before Huang Momo could react, he had her by the collar and was dragging her out mercilessly.
“You—you madman! Where are you taking me!” she struggled and shouted, but her little strength was no match for him.
As he dragged her out, Xie Wuling barked at the servants who tried to block him: “Anyone dares stop me, I’ll cut off her hand!”
Qiao Momo suddenly came back to her senses and cried out: “If you take her away, what about my lady! She is a palace midwife!”
Xie Wuling halted, his voice brooking no doubt as he slanted her a glare. “Since Jiaojiao trusts you, don’t fail her. Guard her well until I bring back the doctor to save her life! As for this old hag—you may fear her, but I don’t!”
Throwing down those words, he dragged Huang Momo out without looking back.
Huang Momo refused to yield and struggled again with all her might.
Xie Wuling’s gaze darkened; with almost no hesitation, he lifted the dagger and pierced through her palm.
“Ah!!” Huang Momo let out a shrill scream.
“Dawdle again, and next time it won’t be your hand I stab!”
Xie Wuling yanked the dagger back with a swift motion. The face that was usually lazy and careless was now cold and merciless. Dragging along the no-longer-struggling Huang Momo, he bolted outside.
But Huang Momo’s legs were limited in strength. Even forcing herself to keep up, she slowed him down.
Just as Xie Wuling decided he might as well knock the old woman unconscious, lest she run back to make trouble, a tall, slender figure in azure hurriedly came up the veranda.
“Xie Wuling, what are you doing?”
Even with his usual restraint, upon returning to his own residence to see this street rogue holding a bloodied dagger, dragging along a palace midwife, Pei Xia’s normally calm face was tinged with anger. “Release Huang Momo at once.”
“You came just in time.”
Seeing Pei Xia rush back, Xie Wuling flung Huang Momo to the ground and turned bloodshot eyes on him. “Jiaojiao’s in a difficult labor, and this d*mned crone wants to force labor with a death-for-life drug! Pei Shouzhen, you keep her under watch. Before I bring the physician back, she is absolutely not allowed to use that medicine!”
As he said this, he suddenly recalled how these great aristocratic houses always valued heirs above all else. Pei Shouzhen might call himself a gentleman, but what if…?
“Pei Shouzhen.” He strode forward, seizing the front of Pei Xia’s neat robe with his bloodstained hand. His black eyes blazed as he ground out between his teeth, “You already failed Jiaojiao once. If this time you can’t protect her, if you choose the child over her, I swear I’ll skin you alive!”
The stench of blood at the tip of his nose made Pei Xia’s face chill. He raised a hand and struck down at Xie Wuling’s wrist, his long, narrow eyes glinting with cold light. “Xie Wuling, don’t think you’re the only one who cares most for Yuniang. She is my wife—of course I put her first!”
Xie Wuling took the blow to his wrist but didn’t strike back. He only staggered two steps back, looking at him with a cold, shadowed gaze. “You had better.”
“This old crone I leave to you. Guard her well. I’ll fetch the physician from Yonghe Hall.”
“Wait.”
“What now?!” Xie Wuling turned his head back impatiently. Was this pale pretty boy ever going to stop dawdling?
Pei Xia drew in a deep breath, suppressing the searing anger in his chest, and instructed Jinglin at his side: “Let him ride my horse.”
Jinglin froze for a moment, then cupped his hands. “Yes! Young Lord Xie, come with me—”
Hearing this, Xie Wuling shot a long look at the man in azure standing in the clear spring light, like snow crowning the mountain peak, like faint stars against a pale moon. His thin lips moved, but in the end he said nothing, striding after Jinglin straight out of the courtyard.
When the two figures vanished down the veranda, Huang Momo finally came to her senses. Clutching her bleeding hand, tears welling, she cried, “Young Lord Pei, thank heavens you’re back! That fiend was utterly reckless and insolent—he not only injured me, but barged into my lady’s birthing chamber…”
Before she could finish, that upright jade-like gentleman cast her a cold glance. “If a physician can be summoned, why insist on using forced-labor decoction?”
Huang Momo’s expression froze. Under those black eyes, as sharp and penetrating as fire, it was as if she stood naked before a demon-revealing mirror, with nowhere to hide.
“I…I…” Her guilty head sank low, and stammering, she explained the situation inside the birthing chamber. At the end, she raised her tear-streaked face in aggrieved protest: “My lord must see clearly—the situation truly is dire. Without the forced-labor draught, the young master will surely be stillborn!”
For two beats, silence hung in the noon veranda. Then came the man’s voice, cold to the point of heartlessness: “So what if the fetus dies in the womb? How can an unknowing infant compare to a living adult?”
All the more so when that adult was his own wife.
Children could be conceived again. But if Yuniang were lost—there would never be another.
Just as that scoundrel surnamed Xie had said, he had already failed her once. This time…
Pei Xia shut his eyes briefly, suppressing the icy tide of guilt in his chest, and ordered Steward Zuo: “Lock her in the woodshed.”
After a pause, as if recalling something, his black eyes narrowed. His gaze lingered on Huang Momo’s brow and eyes before he added coldly: “Bind her hands and feet. Gag her mouth. Post men to watch her closely.”
Left Steward pondered a moment, immediately understanding. “This old servant understands.”
Pei Xia lingered no longer. With a sweep of his sleeve, he strode toward the back courtyard.
—
The rich stench of blood filled the inner chamber, while the daylight outside the lattice windows gradually dimmed.
“Madam, take another sip of the ginseng soup…” Qiao Momo held the bowl to the lips of the frail young woman on the bed. But the liquid that touched her lips only spilled down her pale mouth’s corner. The old servant burst into tears, sorrow wracking her voice. “I beg you, just take in a little, for this old servant’s sake.”
The maids clustered at the bedside were all sobbing as they wiped at their eyes with sleeves.
It was clear to all of them that their lady was utterly spent, holding onto her last breath. If even the adult was like this, how could the unborn child fare?
Old Chen Pozi knelt at the bed’s foot, still pressing at Shen Yujiao’s belly with effort, trying to stimulate the fetus within, hoping it might stir and perhaps turn its head out.
“Good child, pity your mother…” Old Chen Pozi pressed carefully, her forehead beaded with anxious sweat. All she hoped was that the red-robed gentleman could quickly bring back Doctor Lin and Lin Little Hand.
That Lin Little Hand had a pair of exceptionally nimble, slender hands, the bones soft and deft. She had once managed to turn even a fetus lying crosswise in the womb—let alone now, when only half a shoulder was stuck.
The only fear was that help might arrive too late, and the child would suffocate in the womb.
Just as the atmosphere in the room sank heavy with despair, heads drooping in grief—a tall, clear figure entered, as if a breeze had swept in. At once, every Momo and maid in the room looked up as if seeing their backbone—
“Blessings upon Young Lord!”
“Young Lord, thank heavens you’re back!”
Even Qiao Momo, who usually upheld rules the most, no longer cared about the custom of “men not entering the birthing room.” Tear-streaked, she rushed forward: “Please, come see our lady at once!”
She stepped aside, and Pei Xia immediately saw the young woman lying on the bed, face ashen as paper, eyes tightly shut.
In that instant, it was as if something slammed into his heart. A suffocating weight he had never before felt surged through his chest, waves crashing, boulders pressing, even his breathing turned difficult.
Within his wide sleeves, his fingers curled tight. Forcing down the dull ache crushing his chest, his tall frame staggered to the bedside. “Yuniang.”
He gripped Shen Yujiao’s hand tightly, feeling it icy cold, as though plunged into an ice cellar. His face sank like water. “Yuniang, can you hear me? It’s me, your Langjun. I’m back.”
The person on the bed seemed to stir, letting out a faint moan.
Seeing this, Pei Xia quickly gathered her into his arms, then glanced around the room at the others. “It’s freezing in here—quick, bring in two braziers.”
“Yes, this maid will go at once.”
Pei Xia lowered his head, brushing his chin against Shen Yujiao’s pale cheek. “It’s alright. Xie Wuling has already gone to fetch the doctor. His hands and feet are fast. Once the doctor comes, you’ll be safe.”
Half-conscious, Shen Yujiao felt warmth wrap around her. Vaguely, there was also that familiar, reassuring trace of sandalwood fragrance.
She tried to open her eyes, but she was simply too exhausted. Her eyelids were unbearably heavy. Only her lips moved, murmuring unconsciously: “Langjun…”
Hearing that call, a trace of gentleness flashed in Pei Xia’s dark eyes. His arms tightened around her. “I’m here.”
His voice, usually calm, now carried a hoarse edge of disarray. His thin lips brushed against her hair as he coaxed softly, “Yuniang, don’t be afraid. I’m right here with you, I’ll stay with you always.”
“The… child…”
“He’s fine.”
Pei Xia’s gaze swept over the still-rounded belly beneath the quilt. His eyes darkened, but his tone was infinitely tender. “As long as you’re fine, the child is fine. Yuniang, be good, listen to your Brother Shouzhen. Hold on just a little longer. The doctor will be here soon.”
Seeing that with the young lord present their lady could even speak, Qiao Momo hurried forward with the ginseng soup. “While she’s conscious, let this old servant feed her two sips.”
Pei Xia raised a hand. “I’ll do it.”
He took the spoon and brought it to Shen Yujiao’s lips.
Some went in, but for every spoonful half spilled out.
After three or four spoons, Pei Xia’s brows knotted. Unable to restrain the restless urgency in his chest, he simply took the porcelain-white bowl, tipped it back, and drank a large mouthful himself.
Before the astonished eyes of all the Momos and maids, the ever-proper, rule-abiding Young Lord of the Pei clan bent his head and fed the medicine to his laboring wife mouth-to-mouth.
Before long, the bowl was empty.
Qiao Momo was the first to react. She took the empty bowl and handed over a cloth.
Pei Xia accepted it, carefully wiping Shen Yujiao first before lightly dabbing his own lips.
Perhaps the ginseng soup had worked; Shen Yujiao’s breathing grew stronger than before. She tried to open her eyes, her thoughts muddled, but then heard the man’s low, steady voice at her ear: “If you have strength, keep your eyes shut and rest. Don’t force them open.”
A pause. “Hold that breath inside you. Don’t let it slip.”
Xie Wuling had said the same thing when he carried her in.
Shen Yujiao’s thin eyelids trembled but she obeyed, holding on to that last thread of breath, as though it were suspended at her throat.
During this time, bits of conversation reached her ears, fragmentary, indistinct. She had no energy to make sense of them.
She didn’t know how long had passed when suddenly a commotion rose: “They’re here! They’re here!”
It seemed many people entered the room. Soon after, fine, cold needles were inserted into her head, fingers, and belly.
The next moment, a pill was placed into her mouth. Its bitterness spread slowly over her tongue.
It was unbearably bitter, enough to make her want to retch. But all the attention she had left was soon captured by the sensation below.
As if a small, impossibly supple hand reached in, gentle as a spring breeze, deft as a spirit serpent, slowly easing away that suffocating blockage below…
…
Outside the birthing room, dusk had deepened, nightfall approaching.
Pei Xia had managed to temporarily settle the Li family in the guest quarters, but he could not “invite” the stubborn Xie Wuling out of the courtyard.
Yet this time, he had been of great help—one could say he had saved his wife’s life again—so Pei Xia shut one eye and tolerated him waiting outside the birthing room.
The two men disliked each other, but for the sake of the woman inside, who mattered more than anything to both, they both swallowed their breath and maintained a rare silence.
But as time dragged on, the sky darker and darker, and still no news from within, Xie Wuling paced, restless, raking his hands through his hair.
“Why is it taking so long? It’s been forever!”
“…”
Though Pei Xia stood with hands behind his back, even his long fingers within his sleeves clenched tight, veins bulging. His brows were heavy with gloom. “Stop pacing. You’re making me dizzy.”
Xie Wuling shot back irritably, “If you’re dizzy, then close your eyes!”
Pei Xia: “…”
Exhaling a long, steadying breath, he lowered his gaze, silently reciting Daoist heart-calming verses.
At last, as the final strand of sunset was swallowed by night, with the sobbing cries of joy from the Momos and maids inside— a newborn’s wail broke forth.
Weak, yet undeniably real.
Pei Xia’s eyes snapped up. “The child… is crying?”
Xie Wuling was also stunned, not quite certain: “It… it is, right?”
In the chill March evening wind, the two men looked at each other.
Until another joyous cry came from inside: “The Bodhisattva blesses us—mother and child are safe!”
In that instant, an indescribable sourness welled up in Pei Xia’s throat.
Yuniang was safe.
He had become a father.
“I’m a father!!”
Xie Wuling also leapt up, rushing straight for the door: “Thanks to heaven, thanks to earth, thanks to the Bodhisattva—Jiaojiao, I’m a father!!”
