Thrown out of the house, the wet nurse enters the noble household and becomes a person of high statu

Liu Wenying turned around, looking at her with confusion.

Xiao Yiheng covered his lips with his hand and cleared his throat.

"Thank you for last night. I rarely... lose my composure like that."

His breakdown and vulnerability last night were fully exposed to her, and he inevitably felt somewhat embarrassed to bring it up again.

Liu Wenying thought for a moment and said, "If Your Highness truly wishes to express your gratitude, wouldn't words be too inadequate?"

Xiao Yiheng was taken aback, then chuckled, "So what do you want? Gold and silver jewelry or fine silks and satins?"

"Then let's have gold and silver," Liu Wenying said frankly and candidly.

Xiao Yiheng was taken aback again, then chuckled softly, "You don't beat around the bush at all. Isn't your fondness for gold and silver a bit too vulgar?"

Liu Wenying wasn't annoyed at all. "A gentleman loves money, but he acquires it in a proper way. Besides, everyone lives in this mortal world; who isn't a common person? What's wrong with being a little vulgar?"

Gold and silver can be exchanged for food and stability, which is much more real than empty fame.

Xiao Yiheng pondered her words carefully and found them to make a lot of sense.

"What you said makes perfect sense, but gold and silver are good, but they can't buy everything. There are some things that gold and silver alone can't provide."

Upon hearing this, Liu Wenying began to have doubts.

I didn't realize that the Second Prince was such a stingy person. He was so generous before, but now he's changed his tune. Could it be that he doesn't want to give it to me?

"I, Your Highness, grant you a promise, a promise worth a thousand pieces of gold."

"Whatever you wish to do in the future, I will do my utmost to accomplish it for you, and I will never break my promise."

Liu Wenying accepted.

……

As time flows by, spring goes and summer comes, and time slips away like sand through the air.

The princess's pregnancy grew increasingly heavy, her belly swollen like a drum.

With the day of delivery fast approaching, all the palace staff in Huiyin Palace were on high alert, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.

That day, as the lights were just coming on in the palace, the princess, having just finished her dinner, was being helped by her husband to the inner room.

Suddenly, warm liquid soaked a large area of ​​her skirt.

"Your Highness's water has broken!"

The palace servants around him gasped in alarm, and chaos ensued.

In the chaos, Liu Wenying strode forward to support the princess and moved her to the bed.

She calmly directed everyone to fetch the imperial physician and midwife, and to prepare hot water, scissors, and ginseng soup.

Outside the Huiyin Hall, the moon was high in the sky. The prince consort paced anxiously with his hands behind his back and his brows furrowed.

The imperial physician and midwife had already entered the palace. The palace doors were tightly closed, and only the princess's unbearable cries of pain could be faintly heard.

Time passed slowly, the lights remained on, and the imperial physician and midwife went inside for a long time, but no good news came.

Finally, the palace doors opened, and a figure in green stepped out.

"Lady Liu, how is His Highness? Where is the child?"

The situation was urgent; Liu Wenying's hands and skirt were stained with blood, and there was no time to clean them.

"Your Highness, the princess is having a difficult childbirth. Please come in and take a look."

The prince consort was stunned for a moment, then shook his head. "How...how can I go in?"

It is considered unlucky for a man to enter the birthing room when a woman is giving birth, as this is a rule passed down from our ancestors.

"But Your Highness is not in good condition. You are the child's father. How can you let Your Highness bear the pain of childbirth alone?"

If it weren't for the fact that the princess was having a very difficult time giving birth, and the midwife hadn't said that if she could see her husband and receive encouragement, Liu Wenying wouldn't have come out to invite him in.

The prince consort hesitated, but Liu Wenying dragged him inside without saying a word.

"Your Highness, the Prince Consort has arrived!"

Liu Wenying dragged the man into the inner hall. The strong smell of blood filled the man's nostrils, causing the prince consort to frown.

The princess lay on the bed, her temples completely soaked with sweat, sticking messily to her cheeks.

The excruciating pain of childbirth completely ruined her composure, and her whole body trembled uncontrollably.

"Quickly! Speak to His Highness!"

The prince consort was pushed to the bedside. He grasped the princess's sweaty hand and said, "Your Highness, please hold on a little longer. The baby will be out soon."

The princess was in so much pain that she lost her mind and clung to the prince consort's arm as if grasping at a straw.

The prince consort cried out in pain.

Liu Wenying turned her face away, not having time to pay attention to those trivial details.

She walked over to the midwife and asked in a low voice, "How is His Highness? How much longer until he finishes giving birth?"

The midwife beckoned her over and whispered in her ear.

Upon hearing this, Liu Wenying's face darkened.

The eldest princess was old, it was her first pregnancy, and she was carrying twins. In addition, the babies were breech, so she had a difficult labor!

Before long, a report came from outside the palace that His Majesty and the Empress had arrived with palace servants.

Separated by the palace gates, the imperial physicians inside surrounded the bed, taking pulses, administering acupuncture, and feeding medicine, working frantically but still helpless.

The imperial physician outside the palace knelt before His Majesty, his voice filled with despair.

"Your Majesty, the Princess is giving birth to her first twins, and the babies are breech. We have done our best, but we have no other options."

Whether she can survive now depends entirely on the midwife's experience, and even more so on fate.

The midwife, also covered in sweat, knelt on the ground and replied, "This old servant has delivered hundreds and thousands of children, and such a dangerous delivery is truly rare."

Now that Her Highness is in difficult childbirth and there is nothing that can be done, we are forced to choose between saving the mother or the child. We urge Your Majesty to make a decision as soon as possible!

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

The Empress's brow furrowed slightly. She took the Emperor's arm and said softly, "Your Majesty, the Princess's pregnancy was hard-won, and it's twins, a boy and a girl. If we can't keep it, wouldn't it be a waste of the Princess's hard work during her ten months of pregnancy..."

The implication was that the emperor should protect the young child.

But didn't she also harbor her own selfish motives?

If the eldest princess passes away, Xiao Yiheng will lose his most solid backer.

Her son, Lin'er, will soon hold immense power.

The emperor remained silent, his face grim.

"Save the adult!"

The Empress Dowager arrived supported by someone, who turned out to be Xiao Yiheng.

"I said, save the master! Zhaoning cannot be harmed!"

"If anything happens to Zhaoning, I will not let her off lightly!"

The Empress hadn't expected to offend the Empress Dowager as well. She hurriedly bowed and explained, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I did not mean to make things difficult for the Princess. It's just that the Princess is not young, and even if she survives, she will have difficulty conceiving in the future."

"The eldest princess has always longed for a son. If she were to find out, she would probably find it unbearable and would rather be dead than alive."

"Shut up!"

The Empress Dowager's eyes sharpened as she rebuked, "I'm asking you, do you want Zhaoning to die?"

The authoritative tone in his voice startled the Empress, who exclaimed, "Your Majesty, I dare not!"

Xiao Yiheng was equally anxious. He noticed Qingying standing behind the midwife and asked, "Liu Wenying, you are exceptionally intelligent and can cure paralysis and headaches. Do you have a way to save my aunt and the child?"

Liu Wenying met his eyes, then hurriedly looked down.

"This servant...has a way."

"Then hurry up and use it!" The Empress Dowager urged, her hope rekindled upon hearing this. "As long as we can protect Zhaoning and her child, any method will do."

"This servant dares not lie, but this method is extremely risky. If it is not handled properly, it could result in... the death of three lives."

A moment of silence fell over everyone; the loss of three lives was too heavy a burden.

The Empress feigned urgency, "The longer we delay, the greater the danger. Since there is a way to protect the Princess and the child, why not give it a try?"

…………