Wish You All the Best - Chapter 99
Chapter 99
This first-born child was nearly half a month early, eager and impatient to enter the world.
Given Pei You’an’s cautious nature, he had naturally considered this possibility during his absence. The day after he left for Su Ye City, a midwife with decades of experience had been brought in; she had remained here ever since, prepared for the inevitable.
The news of the Madam’s labor immediately broke the tranquility of the supply yard, which had just been basking in the joyous reports of victory. Tanxiang’s cries turned the atmosphere tense. Everyone rushed to help. The midwife and Mother Ding prepared the birthing bed; Cui Yinshui and Muxiang scrambled to boil water. Yang Yun mounted "Snow-Stepper"—the one-year-old steed that ran like lightning—to race into Su Ye City and report the news to Pei You’an. Strangely enough, while Snow-Stepper was naturally headstrong and would never let anyone but Pei You’an or Jiafu approach, today it seemed to possess a spiritual intuition. After watching Jiafu be carried inside while clutching her abdomen, it allowed Yang Yun to saddle and mount it without struggle. With a single whinny, it leaped over the ten-foot-tall gate of the supply yard, vaulting out like a crimson cloud before vanishing into a blurred, racing black dot on the wilderness path.
Before the labor, as the child grew within her day by day, Jiafu had sometimes wondered whether her and Pei You’an’s firstborn would be a boy or a girl.
She longed to give birth to a son just like Pei You’an. She knew that with a father like him, their firstborn son would surely be like a sturdy little pine, even if rooted on a snow-swept cliff amidst raging storms, he would reach toward the vast sky and flourish.
She also knew that when she later gave her husband the sweet, precious daughter he secretly longed for, his son would surely be a wonderful brother, working alongside his parents to love and protect his younger sister.
Beyond hope and longing, like all women about to become mothers, as the due date approached, she could not help but feel a flicker of nervousness.
She had heard the saying that for a woman, childbirth was like crossing the gates of hell. This tension, exacerbated by Pei You’an’s absence over the last few days, would creep into her heart whenever she felt the child move within her.
But now, knowing the child was about to be born, her mind was strangely clear. The lingering thread of anxiety vanished into thin air, leaving not a trace behind.
Whether boy or girl, this was the flesh and blood of Pei You’an, conceived within her own womb, and she would bring it into the world safely. Imagining the moment her husband would meet their child, her heart filled with tenderness and strength.
At first, the pains were intermittent and not particularly sharp. Gradually, the contractions grew frequent and intensified. Jiafu bit down hard on the wooden plug between her teeth, enduring the pain that felt as if it were numbly yet clearly slicing her body apart piece by piece. She closed her eyes, exerting force as the midwife commanded, striving once more to send her child into the world.
A full night and a full day had passed since her labor began the previous evening.
The window turned bright with dawn, then slowly grew dark again. Pei You’an had been keeping watch outside the door for a full day and night.
By the evening of the second day, the midwife confirmed that the cervix was finally fully dilated, yet it seemed unable to accommodate the infant’s head. This had persisted for some time, and after a day and a night of agony, the mother was exhausted; she looked as if she had been pulled from water and could no longer swallow food. Even the midwife was at her wit’s end, only able to tell Mother Ding to feed her a bit of sugar water while she rubbed her lower abdomen to assist the birth.
The wooden plug, marred by two deep teeth marks, was removed from Jiafu’s mouth. As another wave of pain surged through her abdomen, she subconsciously let out a cry of agony that pierced through the doors and windows.
"Husband..."
In all this day and night, this was the first call she had uttered, reaching Pei You’an’s ears.
He was still wearing the armor he had no time to discard, the robes stained with dried blood.
Just last evening, amidst the cheers of the people of Su Ye welcoming him home, he had just entered the city when he learned the news from Yang Yun. He had abandoned everything, mounted Snow-Stepper, and raced back home.
A night and a day of waiting had yielded no news of her safety.
For Pei You’an, this had been the longest, most harrowing day and night of his life.
He had been a brilliant, unparalleled young statesman, a pillar of the court who had once reshaped the world. Even now, though demoted to a mere guard of a supply yard and viewed by the people of the border city as a steadfast rock of reliance, no one knew that he was neither a detached god nor a heartless man of steel. In his decades of existence as a mortal, he too had endured soul-crushing shadows.
Living had not been his wish, and death held no ties.
It was only this girl who had insisted on calling him "Big Cousin," who had run into his arms that night, who had given his life a sense of joy.
Another basin of blood-red water was carried out, splashed away, and Tanxiang, pale-faced, hurriedly carried in a new, clean basin of freshly boiled hot water.
The joy and excitement Pei You’an had felt upon his return last night were gone. His face was ghastly pale, his lips drained of blood. Despite the bitter cold, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. His fingers gripped the doorframe so tightly that the veins on the back of his hands bulged, yet he could not stop his hands from trembling.
Behind him, Cui Yinshui had long since lost all color; his legs had turned to jelly, and he collapsed onto the floor, kowtowing aimlessly to the void, his mouth muttering soundlessly—it was unknown what god the eunuch was praying to, or what words he was chanting.
Pei You’an could no longer endure it. He pushed open the door, shed his armor, threw it to the ground, and with eyes burning red, sprinted toward the woman on the bed, throwing himself down beside her.
"Fu’er! Fu’er! I am here!"
The man knelt on one knee, gripping her cold, sweat-drenched hand, bringing it to his lips to warm it with his own breath.
A day and night of pain had tormented her to this point; every ounce of strength had been drained away, thread by thread.
Jiafu was nearly catatonic, held together only by the singular determination to bring her child into the world.
She no longer had the strength to open her eyes, but she felt the strength of the hand holding hers and heard the voice calling her name by her ear.
She could not let him be disappointed. How lucky she was, in this life, to have married such a man.
She could not let their child be disappointed either. How she had longed for its birth.
They were both waiting for her.
She gritted her teeth, summoned every ounce of her remaining strength, and pushed once more.
"The head is out! The head is out! Madam, push harder, just a little more and it will be out!"
The midwife cried out in joy.
Jiafu’s body trembled uncontrollably, but her small hand gripped the man’s large hand tighter, inch by inch, their fingers locking together.
Jiafu felt the little life within her, as if it, too, were struggling alongside her.
Inch by inch, she poured her entire being into helping her child enter the world.
It was a long, excruciating pain, yet a journey filled with hope.
"It’s out! It’s out! A big, healthy boy!"
Following the loud, clear cry of an infant, the midwife’s joyful voice suddenly rang in her ears.
The pain that had tortured her for so long vanished in that very instant, and Jiafu felt her entire being go hollow.
She wanted to open her eyes to see what her newborn child looked like; she wanted even more to see Pei You’an’s face, which surely must be filled with joy. But she lacked even a shred of strength.
The hand she held tightly to his slowly went limp, and her consciousness began to drift away.
Besides the cries of the infant, she seemed to hear Pei You’an calling her name.
She wanted to answer him, but could not open her eyes, managing only a faint smile on her lips.
She wanted Pei You’an to see her smile; if he saw it, he would know she was well and not to worry. She was just a little tired. She wanted to sleep.
She was drawn into a dream.
In the dream, her body became light, like a falling feather, slowly rising. She was surprised to find that she could open her eyes with ease, only to discover she was still lying on that birthing bed, her head tilted, her face matted with sweat-dampened hair, her eyes closed, a faint smile on her lips. Beneath her, blood seemed to be flowing, and the man—he was kneeling by the bed, holding her tightly, patting her face with desperate intensity, calling out to her endlessly.
His silhouette looked filled with terror.
Jiafu’s heart ached. Although she knew she would wake up, she could not bear to see him so afraid. She wanted to return at once, open her eyes, and smile at him, but her body was too light; she could not control it. As she drifted, all sounds gradually faded away.
Jiafu was engulfed by a black, sweet darkness. She slept a long, long sleep, not knowing how much time had passed. When she finally felt fully rested, she knew in her heart that she should return, or Pei You’an would come looking for her—but for a moment, she could not find the path back.
She worried that Pei You’an would not be able to find her, and she feared losing her way home. As she drifted in panic, lost and frightened, she found herself back at the final moment of her previous life, sealed inside that magnificent coffin in the underground palace.
The underground was pitch-black and cold. She shivered, scratching desperately at the heavy wooden lid sealing her in. She wanted to escape, but it was in vain.
Just as she was once again deeply engulfed by the familiar despair and the fear of impending death, a radiance appeared before her eyes. She saw her father’s loving face. Through a shimmer of tears, her father faded, and another young man walked toward her from the deep, dark distance.
His robes fluttered, his grace was unparalleled, and he walked toward her with a gentle smile.
"Fu’er, let’s go home."
He reached out to her, took her hand, and interlaced his fingers with hers, locking them together tightly.