49 Delivering A Baby
In the study of the First Prince’s Palace in the Imperial City.
Xiao Jue, who was wearing a red ministerial robe, was sitting in front of the writing desk, reading the report from the spy.
The more he read, the stranger his expression became. In the end, he simply threw the letter at the face of his trusted aide.
“Is this the information the spies have sent to me?”
“How could an idiot like Su Ying kill a white tiger by herself? How could she beat up dozens of muscular men until they were howling in pain and had to kneel and beg for mercy?” When Xiao Jue finished speaking, he was so angry that he burst out laughing.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that they were talking about Su Ying, I would’ve personally gone out to recruit such a talent back!”
The trusted aide knelt on the ground in fear and said, “Please don’t be angry, Your Highness. I think these people do not have the guts to spread false news…”
Xiao Jue gave a scornful laugh. “Are you saying that I’ve wronged them?”
“Your humble subordinate wouldn’t dare.”
“Do they really think that I can’t do anything to them just because they are so far away from me? They are even trying to fool me with this sort of ridiculous information!” No one knew better than Xiao Jue what kind of person Su Ying was, and he didn’t believe that she had that kind of ability.
“But Your Highness, those two people also came back and reported that Su Ying said that Xiao Jin’s token of military authority, the tiger tally, was in her hands. This woman Su Ying is acting very strangely in all aspects, and it’s indeed hard to guess what she’s up to.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jue furrowed his brows. Indeed, those two spies didn’t have the guts to lie to him, but he didn’t believe their reports. He didn’t believe that Su Ying could become so powerful, and he didn’t believe that Su Ying would betray him.
Furthermore, Xiao Jin wasn’t stupid enough to hand the tiger tally to her, but then again, she might very well know a thing or two.
“Your Highness, previously we received news that Xiao Jin had most likely hidden the tiger tally in his fiefdom. After all, his soldiers are still guarding his fiefdom.”
Although the Emperor had handed Xiao Jin a guilty verdict, the troops guarding his fiefdom were not recalled at the same time. Xiao Jue could not figure out what the Emperor was thinking.
However, that was an army of 200,000 soldiers. How could Xiao Jue not be envious?
“Don’t worry about Xiao Jin for the time being. He’s just a cripple with two useless legs. Even if he really doesn’t hand over the tiger tally, I’ll make sure he never returns from the northern wilderness. Immediately send a message to the spies in his fiefdom and ask them to go to his palace to look for the tiger tally. And another thing. Come here.”
The trusted aide stepped forward and listened to Xiao Jue’s instructions.
The trusted aide nodded after listening. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. I know what to do.”
“Go. I will reward you handsomely if you carry out this task well.”
“Yes, Sir.”
The exiles arrived at Yan City at the end of the month as scheduled. This was the last city they would pass by before reaching the northern wilderness.
Su Ying planned to spend most of her gold to buy supplies here, but when they arrived at Yan City, the city gates were already closed. They could only enter the city tomorrow.
After looking for a place to settle for the night, Su Ying took out rice, flour, eggs, as well as some oil and salt from her baggage and gave them to Hea Shouyi to cook. She herself looked around to see if there were any mountains nearby where she could go to search for resources.
However, after looking around, she realized that Yan City was surrounded mostly by flat plains, and there were almost no decent mountains. There were some small hills that were quite low but Su Ying couldn’t be bothered to waste her efforts on these.
Just as Su Ying was about to head back, she heard someone crying not far away.
“Wanniang, you… you don’t have to be afraid. I… I’ll go ask the officials. I’ll ask them to help you get a doctor. You… you don’t have to be afraid. Don’t be afraid.”
Su Ying raised her eyes and saw a woman with a bulging stomach lying on the ground in pain. The man beside her was probably her husband, and he was already scared out of his wits by the woman’s condition.
“My dear husband, I… I can’t take it anymore…”
“Wanniang, don’t say such silly things. I’ll come back immediately. Immediately.”
The man wanted to look for an official, but the moment he stood up, he almost bumped into someone.
Just as he was about to apologize, he raised his head and saw Su Ying looking at his wife with an expressionless face.
“Begging the officials will only get you a scolding. You might as well beg me.”
Everyone in the group knew what kind of person Su Ying was, and the man was also a little afraid of her. However, he had no other choice but to try everything out of desperation.
“I beg you, Mistress. I beg you to save my wife.” True enough, the man knelt down in front of Su Ying and kowtowed to her.
“Alright. Get up. Let me take a look.”
Su Ying walked up to the woman and reached out with her hand to touch the woman’s belly. She could clearly feel the life beating inside with her palm, and it was a new and interesting feeling.
In the post-apocalyptic world, very few women would get pregnant. Most newborns grew up in incubators. When they reached a certain age, they would be taken back by different factions to undergo training and nurturing. Those who could pass the assessment would be allowed to stay. Su Ying entered the combat division as the most outstanding finished product and had accomplished great achievements for the combat division.
Therefore, when Su Ying saw a woman giving birth to a life in person, she walked over subconsciously.
Although the Obstetrics Department had declined in the apocalypse, she had still learned some related subjects when she received the knowledge transfer.
As such, when she touched the woman’s belly, she was sure that the fetus was in an abnormal position in her belly. In this case, it would be difficult to give birth naturally without problems.
She asked the man to wait, and then returned to the carriage. After evading the gazes of the crowd, she entered the interspatial store to take out some corresponding medicine and tools, and then came down from the carriage.
When Xiao Jin saw that Su Ying was about to leave in a hurry, he couldn’t help but ask, “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to deliver a baby.” Su Ying replied without turning her head.
Aunt Zhao, who was helping with the cooking, stood up when she heard the commotion. As she watched Su Ying leave, she wiped her hands and said, “Although Mistress has given birth before, she doesn’t know how to deliver a baby. I’ll go over and take a look too.” With that, she hurried after Su Ying.
As she had suffered long-term malnutrition, the woman was terrifyingly thin. She lay there, and at a glance, one could only see her big, bulging belly.
Su Ying took out a water bag filled with glucose and instructed the man to feed it to the woman. She then took out a tablet of ginseng energy candy and pressed it under the woman’s tongue to ensure that her body would be able to replenish its energy during the delivery process.
Su Ying lifted the clothes on the woman’s belly. The man wanted to stop her when he saw that, but his gaze suddenly met Su Ying’s menacing almond-shaped eyes. “If you don’t want people to see her in this state, go look for some branches to shield her. Don’t get in our way.”
The man was stunned and quickly ran to a hill located just behind them. Although there was no wild animal on the hill, there were still plenty of trees.
“Mistress, what are you doing?” Aunt Zhao ran over, huffing and panting.
“The fetal position is abnormal. I want to try and re-position the child properly.” As Su Ying spoke, she placed the thumb-sized fetal heartbeat monitor on the woman’s belly. The device was constantly flashing with a faint blue light, which indicated the child’s heartbeat was normal.
“Er… Mistress, do you know how to do this?” Aunt Zhao had heard from an experienced midwife that she could adjust the position of the fetus, but she had never seen the process with her own eyes before. How could the Mistress, who had led such a pampered, comfortable life in the past, know anything about this?