The Truth About Difficult Childbirth

  Song Lingyu looked at the midwife, slightly furrowed her brow, immediately stood up from her seat and also helped the midwife: "Midwife, what are you doing?"

  All that could be seen was the midwife crying non-stop, and her words were also intermittent: "Young lady, I...I'm sorry to you. If it wasn't for me being bewitched at that time, I absolutely wouldn't have done such a heinous thing."

  Song Lingyu leaned on the midwife's arm and said: "Midwife, you get up first. I don't mean to blame you. I just want to know the truth."

  The midwife wiped away the tears on her face with a tattered sleeve, and she was choked with sobs for a long time before calming down: "Young mistress, actually, I've been taking care of Madame Shangguan since she was two months pregnant with you until she gave birth. She's very kind, so she always trusted me. But...I let her down."

  "It was a few days before giving birth, and those few days the madam said that her stomach had some faint pain, but it wasn't very obvious. I thought the madam was about to give birth too, so I went to the kitchen to cook some labor-inducing soup for her. That kind of medicinal soup is used to help women give birth more easily, but on that day, Zhuang Qing's wife came looking for me."

  "She said, let me change that medicine for you. That medicine won't make people notice, but the result will be completely different. One is to help with childbirth, and the other is to make it difficult. At that time, my family was poor and had no money. In order to marry a daughter-in-law for my son, I accepted Mrs. Zhuang's money and gave the medicine to Madame Shangguan."

  Later, Mrs. Shangguan indeed had a difficult labor and couldn't give birth for a long time. The imperial physician said that if she still can't give birth, both the mother and child would be in danger. At that time, Master was not at home, and no one could make decisions. However, at this moment, Mrs. Shangguan said, "Save the child." Later, Mrs. Shangguan died, leaving behind a child.

  Song Lingyu looked at the midwife who spoke more and more desolately, with a look that seemed to be on the verge of tears. She asked: "Are all you said true?"

  The midwife nodded vigorously and continued: "What I said is all true, don't be fooled. After I returned to the countryside, I used the money given by Lady Zhuangqing to marry a wife for my son. The daughter-in-law was very filial and kind-hearted, our whole family lived happily together. But unexpectedly, one day when the couple went up the mountain, they encountered bandits who took a liking to my daughter-in-law and wanted to take her back as their own. My son refused, and a conflict broke out between him and the bandits. In the chaos, my son was killed by the bandits. My daughter-in-law, for the sake of my son, was stabbed in a vital spot, and at that time, she was already close to giving birth. As she lay on her bed, all she said were three words: 'Save the child.' Every time I see my grandson, I think of Lady Zhuangqing, perhaps this is retribution. I have long regretted it."

  As she watched the midwife speak with such emotion, Song Lingyu felt a wave of sadness wash over her own heart. But this wasn't the emotion she should be feeling right now - she needed to think about how to deal with Madame! The thought that she had actually called the woman who had killed her mother "mother" for so many years made her even angrier! Song Lingyu handed the midwife some silver and said, "Alright, I'll have someone escort you back home. Keep this money safe and use it to raise your grandson well, teach him to be a good person."

  The midwife looked at the silver in her hand and knocked her head: "I will definitely do it!"