Qi Mansion's encampnt is on the other side of Dead Tree Forest.
This encampnt is large; the original dead trees that were here had been cut down, and the felled trees piled up into a man-high wooden wall, encircling the vast encampnt.
Besides Qi Mansion, there are other rich families within the encampnt.
The protectors from the wealthy families, grouped in teams of five, patrolled around the encampnt.
Master You was waiting at the entrance of the encampnt; upon seeing the villagers from Gu Family Village approaching en masse, he greeted them and led them deep inside the encampnt.
Along the way, Gu Jinli sized up the encampnt.
The encampnt was vast, divided into six smaller encampnts by four intersecting grid-shaped roads.
Each small encampnt had tents at the front with lanterns emblazoned with surnas; from these, Gu Jinli learned that there were at least one household and up to about four households in each small encampnt.
In front of the tents was open space where many carriages were parked, though most of these were decrepit. The horses pulling the carriages were as thin as kindling; so carriages even lacked horses, presumably drawn by disaster victims instead.
Because Gu Jinli saw groups of disaster victims sitting paralyzed on the ground, guarded by protectors, who restricted their movent.
Qi Mansion's small encampnt was located deeply on the left side, having another exit where people of Qi Mansion could rapidly escape in case of an ergency.
"Ah!"
Before they entered the encampnt, a piercing scream echoed; it was the Young Madam of Qi Mansion in childbirth.
Hearing this scream, Gu Jincheng, sowhat scared, shrank closer into Mrs. Cui's embrace.
Gu Jinli patted Brother Cheng's head and softly smiled, "Brother Cheng, don't be afraid. That's the Young Madam of Qi Mansion giving birth to a little brother; soon, a little brother will be born."
Brother Cheng, not yet four, was at an age where small children piqued his curiosity most. Hearing Gu Jinli's words, his eyes brightened: "A little brother is going to be born? Second Sister, I like little brothers."
He liked the Young Master of Qi Mansion who had helped their family apprehend those villains, so he also liked his child.
Gu Jinli nodded and said, "Second Sister likes it too."
The people of Old Gu Family, hearing this harrowing scream, were reveling in another's misfortune, wishing Qi Yi dared to seize them and hoping his wife would die along with the unborn child!
Qian Li'er glared angrily at Gu Jinxiu, as if wishing she could devour her alive.
Gu Ya, considering herself a noble young lady, being tied up, sat on the ground, her resentnt was palpable. Seeing Gu Dashan's family being led into the encampnt by the Guardian Master of Qi Mansion and spotting Gu Jinxiu's face—though dirty and disheveled, yet her beauty could not be concealed—she couldn't help but shriek and glare at her in rage.
However, her mouth was gagged with a cloth, so no matter how much she shouted, no loud voice could be emitted.
Gu Jinxiu, intimidated by Qian Li'er and Gu Ya's furious stares, shivered and gripped Gu Jinli's hand tightly.
Gu Jinli said, "Sister, don't be afraid, they can't hurt us."
While speaking, Gu Jinli keenly sensed a resentful gaze fixed on her; turning her head quickly, she t Gu Rong's eyes head-on.
Gu Rong was startled, not expecting Gu Jinli to suddenly turn and look at her; she quickly looked away, pretending she had not been glaring at Gu Jinli.
Gu Jinli's eyes slightly narrowed; this Gu Rong, young but venomous and scheming, must be guarded against.
As she thought about guarding against Gu Rong, a woman covered in blood rushed out from a tent in the middle, yelling towards Qi Yi, "Young Master, it's bad, the Young Madam's having a difficult birth."
Difficult birth!
Qi Yi's body shuddered, this usually mild-mannered man dashed toward the tent, but was stopped by the woman: "Young Master, you can't go in, it breaks taboo."
Childbirth is considered impure, n cannot enter. Moreover, the Young Master was to participate in the imperial examination; he could not allow the blood and miasma inside to spoil his fortune.
Housekeeper Lin also grabbed Qi Yi, urging, "Young Master, please calm down first."
"Let go, I need to go in." How could he stay calm at such a ti?
Qi Yi struggled fiercely, and Housekeeper Lin had to call two servants to hold him down.
Housekeeper Lin was a clever man, and he said to Qi Yi, "Young Master, Dr. Li is right here. Let him first co and consult with Nanny Chen about the situation inside."
Dr. Li was an old man and had been privately invited by Qi Yi. When Qi Yi returned, he had called Dr. Li to wait outside the tent.
However, Housekeeper Lin and Nanny Chen were reluctant to let Dr. Li enter to treat the young madam, fearing it might damage her reputation.
But now the young master wanted to rush into the tent to see the young madam, so they had no choice but to bring out Dr. Li.
Qi Yi quickly said, "Right, there is also Dr. Li, Dr. Li, please co here quickly."
Dr. Li, carrying his dicine box, quickly walked over and asked Nanny Chen, "What is the condition of the pregnant woman right now?"
Nanny Chen replied, "The young madam's amniotic fluid is almost dry, but her cervix has only dilated four fingers."
Gu Jinli frowned upon hearing this beside them, thinking this could result in death for both mother and child.
Dr. Li's face also changed dramatically and he said to Qi Yi, "Young Master Qi, once the amniotic fluid dries up, the child might not survive. It's already too late to prepare dicine now, I can only go in to perform acupuncture on the pregnant woman."
Using acupuncture to open the cervix is faster than using dicine.
Qi Yi was not a pedantic person and agreed without hesitation to let Dr. Li enter the tent and perform acupuncture.
Nanny Chen anxiously said, "How can this be proper? There are distinctions between n and won."
Qi Yi retorted, "Human life is paramount. Dr. Li is saving Ah Shu's life. Would you not regret it if sothing happened to Ah Shu?"
Nanny Chen had no choice but to first go back to the tent and make sure the young madam was properly covered.
After a while, once Nanny Chen had finished, Qi Yi brought Dr. Li into the tent to perform acupuncture on the young madam.
Dr. Li was skilled in dicine, and after two rounds of silver needles, the young madam's cervix had dilated by about eight fingers.
"It's almost ti to give birth now, I shall leave first," said Dr. Li, not wanting to stay longer. After finishing the needles and checking the young madam's pulse, he carried his dicine box and left the tent.
Qi Yi continued to stay in the tent with his wife.
"Ah!"
The young madam of Qi Mansion continued to scream, tornted by severe pain, which made her faint several tis.
Fortunately, after 30 minutes, she finally delivered the child in her womb.
It was a baby boy, but there seed to be sothing wrong with him. He wouldn't cry, his face was purple, and his body was still slightly twitching.
Seeing this, Qi Yi hurriedly took the child from the midwife's hands, ran out of the tent, and said to Dr. Li, "Dr. Li, co quickly and see, the child, the child seems not quite right."
Dr. Li hurriedly ran over, saw the child's condition, quickly lifted the child by the feet, and turned the child's head downward, patting the child's back.
Unfortunately, despite patting for about half a minute, the child still did not cry, and his previously twitching little body stopped moving.
Gu Jinli hurried over, grabbed Qi Yi's sleeve, and said, "Uncle Qi, I can save the little brother."
Nanny Chen followed out of the tent, and upon hearing Gu Jinli's words, grabbed her and said, "What child? Don't make a ss."
Qi Yi had no ti to pay attention to Gu Jinli, and just watched Dr. Li in horror.
Dr. Li shook his head at him, handed the child back to him, and sighed, "Young Master, please grieve."
Sothing was blocking the child's airway, and it could not be patted out; the child had already stopped breathing.
Qi Yi was nearly mad. This was the son he and Ah Shu had been hoping for, for six years. If he were to be lost...
Qi Yi couldn't bear to think about it. Rembering what Gu Jinli had just said, he handed the child to her, "You said you could save him, save him quickly!"
Gu Jinli hurriedly took the child, unwrapped the swaddling clothes, pushed slowly upward from the abdon with one hand, pried open the child's mouth with the other, and mouth-to-mouth tried to suck out the foreign object in the child's airway.
User Comments
0 comments from readers