Chapter 408 Giving Birth

Qin Xiaoning hurriedly asked someone to bring Mrs. Gu in. When Mrs. Gu saw Qin Xiaoning, she was so excited that she wanted to kowtow to her.

"If the princess hadn't taken me in, I wouldn't have survived until today. I also had a difficult birth. The princess saved me twice."

Mrs. Gu wiped her tears and insisted on bowing. Qin Xiaoning accepted her greeting and then took the baby to look at it.

The little baby is not even a month old, but is so cute. Perhaps because she is about to become a mother, Qin Xiaoning felt soft in her heart and loved the little baby very much when she saw him.

"This child is born very well, but I think he is a little thin." Qin Xiaoning looked at Mrs. Gu: "But don't you have enough milk?"

Mrs. Gu hesitated for a moment, then replied, "I only breastfeed her twice a day, and the rest of the time I feed her rice soup."

Qin Xiaoning saw Mrs. Gu's expression and understood: "Are you going to save your breast milk for my child?"

Mrs. Gu said, "The princess kept me here to feed the young prince. I should repay you with a favor and do my duty."

Qin Xiaoning looked at the little baby in her arms who was blinking and looking around, and then said to Mrs. Gu, "When I was in Qianzhou, I found two wet nurses, you and Fujia. Fujia sucks milk every day, and now she has plenty of milk. My mother-in-law also selected a wet nurse for the young masters, so you don't have to feed my two children, just take care of your daughter."

"How can this be possible?" Upon hearing this, Mrs. Gu hurriedly confessed to Qin Xiaoning: "Thanks to the princess's great kindness, I must do my duty."

Qin Xiaoning said, "If you want to fulfill your duty, there are other ways. Let's do this. Leave the breastfeeding to other women, and you will be the one who takes care of the young masters. The young masters have their own wet nurses, as well as many special maids and even cooks. You will be in charge of all these people."

She looked at Mrs. Gu and said, "You are the person I brought back from Qianzhou. You are also my mother. As the saying goes, a loving mother's heart is the most precious. I am relieved to leave this matter to you."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Gu hurriedly knelt down and wanted to kowtow to Qin Xiaoning to express her gratitude, but was stopped by Qin Xiaoning.

Perhaps because she heard the adults talking loudly, the little girl broke free from the swaddling clothes, stretched out her two tender white arms, and waved at Qin Xiaoning. Her eyes were squinting with joy and she made cheerful babbling sounds from her mouth.

Qin Xiaoning liked her more and more: "This little girl is so cute."

"Children are also intelligent. This means that she likes the princess." Mrs. Gu stood aside, looking at her little daughter's cheerful look, smiling with curved eyebrows and eyes: "This child doesn't have a name yet. Princess, please give her a name."

Qin Xiaoning thought about it and said, "Since her father is so cruel, she shouldn't take his last name. It would be better for her to take your last name 'Gu'."

When the heartless man was mentioned, Mrs. Gu showed a trace of disgust on her face and replied, "I think the same as the princess."

Qin Xiaoning thought about it for a while, and then said: "This child was born in winter, and her skin is so white, so let's call her 'Xue'er'"

"Gu Xue'er." Mrs. Gu muttered, and then said, "It's a good name."

The little baby seemed to understand what the adults said. Knowing that he had a name, he made more cheerful "ah" sounds. At this moment, Qin Xiaoning felt a violent churning in his abdomen, and then it began to hurt.

Seeing this, Songzhi immediately became nervous: "What happened?"

Mrs. Gu was experienced: "It looks like she's about to give birth."

The maids and servants in the room immediately became nervous when they saw this. Qin Xiaoning carefully handed the baby in her arms to Mrs. Gu, and then, enduring the pain, calmly ordered: "Go find the imperial physician and the midwife, and then send someone to inform the prince."

Seeing their master so calm, all the servants seemed to have found a backbone and everyone went about their business. Mrs. Gu directed several maids with great experience. They first helped Qin Xiaoning take off her outer clothes, then helped her lie down, and hurriedly ordered someone to boil hot water.

The imperial physician and midwife had been ready in the mansion, waiting for the princess to give birth. After a while, they rushed over after hearing the news. The imperial physician waited outside, and the midwife came in to deliver the baby. The pain in her abdomen became more and more intense. The midwives were all experienced people. Several of them guided Qin Xiaoning on how to push. The increasingly intense pain came over her like an overwhelming force. The little woman was delicate, and she was carrying twins. Giving birth was destined to be difficult. However, no matter how painful it was, Qin Xiaoning always bit the handkerchief and didn't even utter a groan.

The pain became more and more intense. After an unknown amount of time, Qin Xiaoning felt that she was gradually becoming dizzy from the pain. She forced herself not to close her eyes and tried to exert force as the midwife had instructed, but she gradually became exhausted. Someone gave her some ginseng soup, and she managed to hold on and started to exert force again.

The room gradually darkened. After half a day of waiting, the baby still hadn't come out. She was anxious and asked the midwife, "Will the baby be suffocated?"

The midwife wiped her sweat and said, "It's always like this for the first child, and it will take a while. Don't worry, Princess. The baby is in the right position, and nothing will happen."

After hearing what the midwife said, Qin Xiaoning felt relieved. She was about to make another effort when she heard a familiar voice coming from outside.

"Why is there no movement?"

"Why didn't the people inside come out to report the news?"

"How is An Ning doing?"

"Oh my, she has always been delicate, I'm afraid she can't bear such pain."

He spoke one sentence after another, with a tone of anxiety. Qin Xiaoning could imagine without even looking that at this moment, Lu Ji outside must be as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. She was not a patient person and always regarded herself as a delicate person. If she continued to suffer, he might rush in.

Qin Xiaoning grabbed a midwife and ordered, "Go out and tell the prince to wait patiently."

Just as the midwife was about to run away, Qin Xiaoning grabbed her and ordered, "Tell him that if he gets so agitated outside again, kick him out."

"This" That's the Regent, how could a midwife have the courage to do that.

Qin Xiaoning saw that she looked embarrassed, so she said, "Just say so, and say that these are my original words."

"If he keeps getting so agitated, kick him out."

He added: "Tell him not to affect my childbirth."

The midwife couldn't help laughing when she heard the last sentence.

After a while, the anxious voice of the man outside the door was no longer heard. Qin Xiaoning drank two more sips of ginseng soup and tried again.

But until the time when the lights were turned on, the baby still hadn't been born.

She gradually lost her strength, her eyelids became heavy, and many past scenes began to appear in her mind in a disorderly manner.

Just like when she was infected with the plague that year, she saw her deceased mother again. Her mother was wearing thin clothes and pulling her forward with great effort in the snow. As she walked, she ran out of strength and could not catch up with her mother. She was left far behind. She stood in the snow and called desperately. After a long time, her mother finally stopped and turned her head slowly. She was still so beautiful, with a kind face. Qin Xiaoning suddenly asked her, "Mom, who is my father?"

After asking this question, even she herself was a little surprised.

She seldom thought about this question.

In fact, deep down, she still cared about it. She wanted to know where she came from and figure out who she was.