Chapter 618: Difficult Delivery
On the street.
Chu Qingzhi, Chu Xuhua, and Shen Ruyue were leaving the Yipin Tea House, heading towards the street.
Chu Xuhua, somewhat helplessly, said, “Fifth sister, 1 feel I’m far behind compared to other shopkeepers.”
They had just met with some shopkeepers in the capital, organized by Chu Qingzhi, to get acquainted. It was a brief meet and didn’t last long before the three of them left.
“Everyone starts from not understanding to understanding,” Chu Qingzhi reassured him. “Big brother, you’ve just started in this line of work. It’s normal to have some gaps.”
Shen Ruyue added, “Qingzhi is right, Xuhua. Don’t underestimate yourself. You are already very good in my eyes.”
Chu Xuhua held Shen Ruyue’s hand, “I’ll work hard.”
Shen Ruyue softly responded, “Mhm.”
While they were talking, a butler hurried towards them with two servants, “Miss Qingzhi, please save a life!”
Chu Qingzhi stopped, “Who are you?”
The butler, sweating profusely, said, “1 am the butler of the Minister of Rites. Our young madam is having a difficult labor. Please save the young madam and the baby.”
Hearing it was a difficult labor, Chu Qingzhi didn’t hesitate, “Ruyue, go and inform Fourth Sister to come to the Minister of Rites’ mansion to find me. Big brother, go back and inform our parents.” She then told the butler, “Lead the way!”
“Right this way, Miss Qingzhi.”
Everyone went their separate ways.
At the Minister of Rites’ Mansion.
The atmosphere in the mansion was tense. Two imperial physicians were present, both appearing very anxious, like ants on a hot pan.
The family of the Minister of Rites waited outside the birthing room. Inside, the increasingly exhausted screams of the young madam were suffocating and distressing.
The young madam’s husband, Kong Guang, had red eyes and sat in agony, his fists clenched tightly, looking very pained.
The midwife came out of the room, her face grave, “Master, madam, young master, the young madam cannot give birth. Do you choose to save the mother or the child?”
Kong Guang immediately stood up, his voice filled with unbearable pain, “Save the mother. We can have more children.”
The midwife looked at the Minister of Rites and his wife for confirmation.
Seeing that the two of them had no objections, she turned around and returned to her room.
Kong Guang staggered and fell back onto the chair, tears streaming down his face.
“She will be fine,” the Minister of Rites reassured him, patting his shoulder, his own eyes reddening. It was his eldest grandson they were losing, a deeply heartbreaking matter.
At this moment, the butler arrived with Chu Qingzhi, “Master, I have brought Miss Qingzhi.”
Everyone’s eyes brightened.
Chu Qingzhi said immediately, “1 will save her first.” She then entered the birthing room.
The Minister of Rites slapped the butler’s back, smiling through his tears, “With her here, both my daughter-in-law and grandson will be saved. You’ve done well. Once the child is safely born, I will reward you handsomely.”
The butler, who had received kindness from the young madam before, had tried his best to find help when everyone else was at a loss.
The Minister’s wife was also pleased, having heard of Chu Qingzhi’s exceptional medical skills. They had forgotten to think of her, but thankfully the butler had brought her, “I will reward you handsomely too.”
The butler humbly replied, “I just hope the young madam and the child will be well.”
The two imperial physicians secretly sighed in relief. They were not specialists in obstetrics and had been out of their depth. Luckily, Chu Qingzhi had arrived.
Kong Guang stared eagerly at the birthing room’s door, hoping for good news.
Upon entering the room, Chu Qingzhi put on gloves and immediately started attending to the patient.
The two midwives, having exhausted their methods, stepped aside without a word when Chu Qingzhi arrived.
The situation was critical. The mother was barely breathing, and even the most potent medicines seemed ineffective.
The baby was stuck in the severely torn birth canal, its skin turning a pale purple. If not delivered within a minute, the child would suffocate.
Chu Qingzhi pressed her hand on the mother’s abdomen, channeling her spiritual energy to protect the mother’s body, while her other hand pushed the baby’s buttocks back, forcefully correcting the fetal position.
Zhang Yuyan, the mother, opened her eyes with difficulty and looked at Chu Qingzhi, “Miss, I don’t matter, please save my child, save my child…”
Chu Qingzhi sighed inwardly at the willingness of a young woman in the prime of her life to sacrifice herself for her child, “Rest assured, 1’11 do my best.”
Then she said to the midwives, “There are two babies. Please prepare another set of newborn supplies.
Twins?
“Yes, we’ll go right away.”
After the midwives left, Chu Qingzhi used her spiritual energy to carefully extract one baby from the womb and then did the same with the second.
The newborns, their bodies weak and blue-purple, cried faintly, barely audible, but they were alive.
Chu Qingzhi nourished them with her spiritual energy, and soon the babies looked as healthy as normally born infants.
She placed the twins aside under a blanket, intending to bathe them later.
Then she used her spiritual energy to heal about seventy to eighty percent of the mother’s wounds, sparing her some pain.
After recovering, Zhang Yuyan weakly asked, “Miss, my child…”
Before she could finish, tears were already streaming down her face, fearing the worst scenario as she hadn’t heard her babies cry.
Chu Qingzhi smiled, “Congratulations, you’ve given birth to twins, a boy and a girl. I’ll give them a bath and then let the wet nurse feed them.”
The young madam was stunned, then burst into tears of joy, “Twins? They’re both alive?”
Chu Qingzhi nodded, “Alive and well, don’t worry, they will grow up healthy.”
Overjoyed, the young madam cried and laughed, “That’s wonderful, truly wonderful…”
Just then, the door opened, and Kong Guang rushed in, looking anxious, “Miss Qingzhi, how is my wife?”
Chu Qingzhi raised an eyebrow, impressed that he asked about his wife first, “Mother and children are safe. Your wife is just very weak. You should ask the kitchen to make her some carp soup.”
“I’ll do it right now.” Kong Guang looked at his wife and then at the babies, his happiness bubbling like a child’s, and he hurried out.
With the birth of twins and both mother and children safe, the joy of the Minister of Rites’ family was beyond words. Meanwhile, Chu Qingzhi bathed the newborns.
Handling these newborns for the first time felt peculiar to her.
The young madam’s maid approached, expressing gratitude, “Miss Qingzhi, thank you for saving the young madam and the children.”
Chu Qingzhi glanced at the maid, “Take good care of your young madam. Giving birth this time was like a trip around the gates of hell.”
“I will,” the maid said, her face pale from the recent ordeal.
“Call the wet nurse to feed the children.”
“Yes.”
The wet nurse took the boy first, and Chu Qingzhi bathed the girl, who was more active, crying loudly and energetically the moment she touched the water, showing none of the weakness typical in newborns..