Tangyuan left when she was already pregnant, the child not even two months old.
She left in tears, seeking safety. Knowing he would be furious and search every corner for her, she moved to a grove outside Yuxi Town and hid in the "space," making it impossible for him to find her. After wearing him out, once his guard was down, it would be safe for her to erge from the "space."
Her days in the space, albeit monotonous, weren’t lonely as she could touch her belly and feel the "gift" he had given her growing day by day, which was blissful, yet...
Hehe, she laughed at herself scornfully. Was that lodramatic? Quite lodramatic indeed. She could have returned with him and beco the empress of a nation but chose the so-called freedom instead, forcibly parting ways with him. Call her foolish or fake, she had no regrets about her decision. She simply wasn’t suited for the Imperial Palace, where a single word from her could rule the harem.
Where there were won, there would be strife. Even as Empress, she couldn’t avoid being sched against, and all n were scoundrels. What did it matter if they loved passionately?
In the end, wasn’t she just one among many in the harem? She was no longer young, and such favoritism was not likely to last many years.
It was better, she thought, to carry his child and let the child stay with her for the rest of her life, for emperors had always been heartless; those with too many feelings either beca monks or died young. She did not wish for him to die early nor to beco a monk, so the best solution was for her to leave.
After growing accustod to life in the "space," she had lost interest in going out again, especially since there had been a severe drought outside - indeed, Nanling Country had not seen a single drop of rain since she left six months ago.
Now six months pregnant, she was unable to take care of many others. Going anywhere was inconvenient, so why not just stay in the "space," tend fields, raise fish, livestock, poultry, and even birds that served her. How perfect?
Although pregnant, she did not slacken; she scrupulously harvested and planted crops each day. Perhaps because she had seen the drought, her focus shifted from growing dicinal materials, as she had done previously when she was a doctor, to mainly cultivating rice, corn, and sweet potatoes. Of course, she couldn’t neglect vegetables and fruit; she needed a balanced diet.
When she reached the ninth month of her pregnancy, she began to organize things for the delivery, such as diapers, which she bought made of pure cotton. During the day, she mainly used diapers, but at night, she would switch to disposable diapers for the baby. She also prepared little mats and clothes. To pass the ti, she made them herself using cotton grown in the "space" – extrely fluffy, warm, and made from the finest soft cotton fabric bought within the "space." These self-sewn items, filled with love, looked more comforting than those bought from stores.
In addition to these items, she set up a prefab house in the "space," containing a 1.5-ter bed, a crib, chairs, and a table, effectively turning it into her own bedroom, laid with soft bedding that looked very comfortable.
For the baby’s needs, she made whatever she could herself and bought anything else from the Space Mall. For her own needs, she primarily purchased from the Space Mall as well. Over the years, she learned many recipes, selling her dicine Pills inside the "space" and earning quite a bit of money.
On the Laba Festival, her labor began. Enduring the pain, she laid out layers of already prepared sanitary pads on the grass.
Sterilized scissors, clean towels, mats, and various dical supplies followed before the long wait for her cervix to dilate comnced.
Thankfully, the child had been strong and didn’t put her through a life-or-death instant. The child hadn’t deviated from the birth canal, nor had any ergencies occurred. He followed the normal sequence of delivery, gradually pushing through the birth canal. At the mont of birth, she cried. After ten hours, she had safely given birth to him.
She had planned to give birth in water, but her body was too short, and she wasn’t stable enough on her feet, so she chose to give birth on the grass instead. Sensitive to her difficulties, the child arrived in this world in a safe posture. Grateful, she pressed him against her cheek and shed tears.
Perhaps because the entire pregnancy was spent in the space, the baby was born exceptionally healthy and robust. Not only did he have a full head of hair, but he also had no vernix on his body, incredibly clean and beautiful.
After cutting the umbilical cord, she also extracted the placenta herself, a task that took another two hours, before she could finally rest easy.
She fed the child so glucose, allowing him to calm down, and then administered glucose to herself, waiting for her energy to recover.
Her body was covered in sweat, and too weak to bathe, she changed into a maternity pad and, holding her child, fell into a deep sleep.
However, she hadn’t slept long when the baby’s cries woke her; he was hungry. As her milk hadn’t co in yet, she prepared thirty milliliters of formula for him. Feeling he hadn’t had enough, he sulked and cried again. Without a choice, she prepared another thirty milliliters, and this ti he was satisfied. After burping him carefully, she cautiously placed him on the small bed beside her.
Though she had only rested briefly, her body felt less weak. It might have been due to the space’s environnt. As the IV drip ran out, she pulled it out and went outside to heat so water for a warm bath, cleansing herself before slipping into comfortable pajamas. She then cooked so millet porridge for herself, choosing this mild and stomach-soothing dish with a fried egg to ensure proper nutrition during the first critical three days postpartum.
When the child woke up again, she let him suck on the pacifier to draw out the milk, ensuring a continuous milk supply for the future.
After enduring repetitive efforts throughout the day, her breast milk finally started to co in, initially thin but nearly normal after a week.
The greatest advantage of postpartum recovery in the space was the abundant food, which made everything else convenient. The little one was easy to care for, mostly sleeping, apart from when hungry, soiling diapers, or needing her. Sotis, he slept so soundly she couldn’t wake him even when she was engorged with milk, making her realize that too much milk could indeed beco a problem!
While she was caring for her child in the space, the outside world was suffering from drought and famine.
However, because Tangyuan had previously donated sweet potato vines and corn seeds, the people of Nanling Country were not yet facing starvation.
After all, the drought hadn’t reached a year yet, but other countries weren’t so fortunate—they didn’t have the drought-resistant sweet potato vines!
During this ti, Rong Heng also realized Tangyuan’s foresight and greatness. She had once ntioned that for drought-resistant crops, nothing could beat sweet potatoes and corn, prompting him to spread their cultivation across the country. Because of her advice, Nanling Country had enough food to endure the famine years.
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