No Loud Noise Outside the Birthing Chamber
Chu Yuan was in the middle of a game of cards when his abdomen suddenly seized with pain.
Jiang Ni was the most composed among them. He directed everyone in an orderly manner, and together they carried Chu Yuan back to the room.
“Do not be afraid. Ah-Die is here with you.” Jiang Ni held his hand and gave him an encouraging smile. “Yuanyuan, do your best.”
Chu Yuan endured wave after wave of pain from his abdomen. He bit his lower lip and nodded toward him.
Soon, the servants brought in basins of hot water one after another. Jiang Ni placed his medical kit at his side for immediate use.
Seeing Chu Yuan’s face turn pale, he knew that the time had not yet come for the child to be delivered. He wished to ease his tension, so he softened his voice and spoke of his own experience, recounting it as a light tale.
“On the day I gave birth to Siran, there was a torrential downpour. Your grandfather was still in the palace. At home, there was only your father and me. Your father was frightened out of his wits, crashing into doors and pillars. As I lay inside, I could hear the sounds of banging outside, one after another like thud, thud, thud.”
Chu Yuan had been focusing all his attention on the pain in his abdomen. Hearing this, he could not hold back and let out a laugh.
“Father… was even more nervous than Ah-Die…” He drew in breaths as he spoke, his voice broken and uneven.
Jiang Ni wiped the sweat from his face, wearing the knowing expression of one who had been through it. “It is always like this. For one becoming a father for the first time, how could he not be nervous? I imagine His Highness is just as uneasy at the door now.”
Chu Yuan felt doubtful.
In his mind appeared Lu Ronghuai’s cold and austere face. It was difficult to imagine that expression showing any sign of nervousness.
At that very moment, a startled cry rose from outside the door.
“Your-Your Highness, what has happened to you?”
In the courtyard, everyone stared in astonishment as they blocked Lu Ronghuai from rushing into the room.
Only half an hour earlier, Prince Li had been perfectly composed. Now, he stormed into the courtyard covered in ash and soot, his appearance disordered, his expression somewhat disordered. In his left hand, he still tightly clutched a roasted sweet potato.
“I…” Lu Ronghuai’s eyes were red. When he opened his mouth, his throat felt blocked, like a dried riverbed cracking apart at the slightest movement.
Nie Siran followed closely behind him.
Even his face bore traces of ash.
Nie Xuxing first pressed a hand against Lu Ronghuai to stop him. “Jiang Ni is inside assisting. Childbirth does not happen so quickly. Your Highness should not go in and create disorder.”
He then glared at Nie Siran. “Have the two of you fallen into the stove?”
Nie Siran brushed the ash from his sleeve, his jaw tightening slightly. “The moment he heard that Ah-Yuan was about to give birth, he lost all composure. When he stood, his legs gave way and he stepped straight into the fire. He nearly prostrated himself on the ground.”
If he had not reached out to pull him back, this man would have turned the entire kitchen upside down.
“I am going in,” Lu Ronghuai said hoarsely. His fist clenched tightly, his heartbeat so rapid it seemed ready to burst from his chest.
He could not hear anything they said. His mind held only one thought: Chu Yuan was in labor. His Ah-Yuan was inside, enduring pain.
He must go to him.
The steward brought a chair. Nie Chouwen sat down, his aged gaze sweeping across them. “What would you do inside? Assist him in giving birth, or deliver the child yourself?”
Lu Ronghuai’s lips felt parched. His gaze fixed on the door, his heart tightening.
“Why… is there no sound from within?”
Seeing him in such a distracted state, Nie Xuxing could not help but laugh. “It has only just begun. At the very least, several more hours are needed.”
After hearing this, Lu Ronghuai’s vision darkened, and his expression grew even worse.
At that moment, Jiang Ni suddenly opened the door and called for Le Shu to come inside and assist.
Lu Ronghuai immediately followed, but as soon as he reached the doorway, Jiang Ni extended a hand to block him.
“Your Highness may wait outside.”
Lu Ronghuai’s gaze seemed as though it wished to pierce through him and reach Chu Yuan. No matter what, he refused to leave, his stubbornness absolute. “Ah-Die, I wish to go in and accompany him. Alone… he will be afraid.”
Jiang Ni glared at him. “Am I not a person?”
“Look at the state you are in. Yuanyuan is doing well. Do not come in and create trouble. Stand aside.” Jiang Ni drove Lu Ronghuai away as though he were a wooden post, then pulled in the shrinking, silent Le Shu and shut the door.
In the courtyard, everyone had already seated themselves in a row. The steward even thoughtfully brought out a brazier.
Nie Siran called out kindly, “Your Highness, come and sit while you wait.”
The wooden post by the door did not move in the slightest. His words went entirely unheard.
Su Ruhe was observing Lu Ronghuai with curiosity. After all, a Prince Li like this was rarely seen. He wished to observe carefully, perhaps even gain inspiration for his writing.
As he watched intently, a steaming, fragrant sweet potato suddenly appeared before him.
The skin had already been peeled away, revealing the golden flesh within. It looked soft and sweet.
By his ear came Nie Siran’s unhurried voice. “Lord Su, would you do me the honor of taking a bite?”
“...”
Su Ruhe asked seriously, “Where did this sweet potato come from?”
Nie Siran blinked his fox-like eyes. “I took it from His Highness. Eat it quickly. It will not taste good once it cools.”
Su Ruhe turned his head and glanced toward Lu Ronghuai. As expected, the sweet potato in his left hand had vanished.
Su Ruhe fell silent.
Nie Siran added, “Ah-Yuan cannot eat it now. It would be a waste otherwise. Open your mouth.”
Su Ruhe refused. Yet he could not withstand the persistent urging. In the end, he bit down reluctantly.
“How does it taste?”
The sweet potato was soft and sticky, sweet upon the tongue. Su Ruhe swallowed, his expression unchanged. “It is… passable.”
Seeing his brows relax slightly, clearly enjoying it yet pretending indifference, Nie Siran lowered his head and laughed quietly.
“What are you laughing at?”
Nie Siran restrained his laughter. His dark eyes fixed on him as he lowered his voice deliberately. “I am laughing at how endearing you are.”
“...”
Another half hour passed.
From within the room came a low, suppressed groan, trembling with pain and thick with restrained tears. It tightened the hearts of those who heard it.
At the same time, basin after basin of blood-stained water was carried out by Le Shu and handed to waiting servants.
Lu Ronghuai’s hearing was keen. Seeing the vivid red of the basins, his figure swayed. It felt as though someone had wrapped a rope around his heart and pulled tight. The suffocating pressure surged like a tidal wave, and the thread of his reason snapped entirely.
He no longer thought of anything. His face tightened, and he strode forward, intending to rush inside.
At that moment, Xian Shuang and Xian Feng appeared in a flash, blocking him on either side.
“Your Highness, Madam Nie has ordered that we guard the door and not allow you inside,” Xian Shuang said.
Stopped again and again at the door, Lu Ronghuai’s restraint teetered on the brink of collapse.
“Move aside.”
Xian Shuang did not yield. Xian Feng spoke with difficulty, “It is not only Madam Nie. Before entering, the Consort also instructed us. Your Highness may remain at ease and wait outside.”
Lu Ronghuai could not conceal his agitation. He paced back and forth before the door. Xian Shuang and Xian Feng did not dare move even half a step, afraid he would take the chance to break in.
From within came hurried footsteps.
Le Shu opened the door a crack, revealing only his eyes. “Your Highness, the Consort asked me to pass on a message.”
The commotion outside was not small. Even within the birthing chamber, Chu Yuan had heard it.
“Speak.”
“The Consort asks that Your Highness quickly think of a name for the child.”
The most important matter was that he should not pace outside the door and disturb him, making it difficult to focus on delivering the child.
Lu Ronghuai opened his mouth but did not speak. Seeing this, Le Shu was about to close the door when Lu Ronghuai stopped him.
“Ah-Yuan… is he well?” His voice trembled so violently that even he did not seem aware of it.
Le Shu paused, then smiled. “Your Highness may rest assured. Madam Nie said the child is well-positioned. There is no problem.”
Lu Ronghuai did not know how he returned to his place. His mind was in disarray. Cold sweat seeped across his back, and even his temples began to throb faintly.
He stood where he had been before, his gaze fixed upon the tightly shut door, silent and unmoving.
After finishing a cup of tea, Nie Xuxing looked up at the unmoving figure and clicked his tongue. “Those unaware would think he is the one giving birth. Not a moment of peace.”
Nie Chouwen glanced at his son and exposed him mercilessly. “When Xiao Ni was in labor, you were even worse.”
“You were so beside yourself you nearly bashed yourself bloody running into things. Half a step from knocking yourself unconscious.”
Nie Xuxing: “...”
“Pfft…”
Nie Xuxing shot a sharp look over and glared at Nie Siran. “Show some filial piety to your father. Giving birth to you truly was suffering in vain.”
Nie Siran smiled serenely. “Understood.”
“You understand nothing.” Nie Xuxing grew more irritated the more he looked at him. Having just been mocked by his own father and laughed at by his son, he raised his voice. “At your age, you have yet to establish a family or career. Do you believe remaining alone will bring honor to your ancestors?”
Nie Siran’s smile did not change. He pointed toward the door. “No loud noise outside the birthing chamber.”
Once silence fell, the waiting became all the more unbearable.
Aside from the initial groans, there was almost no sound from within the room.
Yet that very silence nurtured a deeper fear within their hearts.
Daylight sank away, and night quietly descended.
Chu Yuan had gone into labor before the evening meal. More than an hour had already passed. The charcoal in the brazier had been replenished time and again. No one in the courtyard was willing to leave. They endured their hunger, silently offering prayers for the one inside.
At last, at the first quarter of the xu hour, the cry of an infant rang out.
“The child is born,” Nie Chouwen said, rising to his feet, his tone steady.
Nie Xuxing supported him as everyone moved toward the door.
“Your Highness?” Nie Chouwen called when he passed the pillar, seeing that Lu Ronghuai had not moved an inch. His expression could not be discerned in the darkness.
Lu Ronghuai did not respond, standing motionless as though he had not heard.
Soon, the door opened from within.
Jiang Ni’s smile could not be restrained. In his arms lay an infant wrapped in a soft quilt. After crying briefly, the child had already fallen asleep.
Nie Siran stepped closer and could not help but reach out to gently touch the baby’s soft, rosy cheek.
“So small. The cheeks are flushed red.”
“They are all like this just after birth.” Jiang Ni’s brows lifted with joy. He looked around. “Where is His Highness?”
The others silently moved aside.
Jiang Ni saw Lu Ronghuai standing by the pillar, silent and unmoving, and urged, “Will Your Highness not come and see your child?”
Under everyone’s gaze, Lu Ronghuai finally took a step forward.
Then, in the next moment, he fell straight to his knees.
“...”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
Nie Siran: Do you know how to write the word ‘embarrassing’?
Lu Dog: A distant flute echoes in the wind.
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