Chapter 4: Treating Dead Horses as if they were Alive

  Seemingly stunned by Shen Huan's sudden outburst, Li and Liu shifted from their previous argumentative state to a bewildered stare at each other, before finally placing their gaze on Shen Huan.

  Feeling the astonished gaze of Liu and Li on her, Shen Huan also felt that she was somewhat excited, but that kind of perception made her feel a little frightened for a while, yet also had some hidden anticipation. The ability to feel the real heartbeat of a small life, not her own illusion, made her ignore the static state of Li and Liu, and once again turned around, squatting down and stretching out her hand to gently stroke Liu's wife's belly, closing her eyes to fully perceive that kind of soul-stirring sensation.

  Shen Han slowly opened her eyes, heavily exhaling a breath. A voice in her heart told her that the child must still be alive and needed to be rescued. Although she couldn't be certain and there was no medical evidence to prove it, she also couldn't deny the possibility of an adult dying while the infant remained alive. Most importantly, at this moment, she didn't know how to explain this news to Liu Shi. If she told her that her grandson might still be alive without any solid proof, would she believe her?

  "Auntie, it's no use quarreling like this now. Sister-in-law has already left, and this will only make her leave with a worried heart."

  "It's precisely because she has gone that I won't let you off!"

  Just now, Liu was suppressed by Shen Huan's imposing manner. At this moment, seeing Shen Huan touching his daughter-in-law's belly and even putting his ear on it to listen, his expression looked a bit strange. Hearing such words, the anger that had been suppressed due to doubt suddenly surged up again. Shen Huan also didn't bother to argue with her, and his face turned dark: "What right do you have to not let us go? I believe everyone in this town knows that Yuan's wife's body is not good, and the doctor said she shouldn't give birth at first?"

  "What do you mean?"

  Seeing the other side getting angry, Shen Han was not in a hurry, but instead had a faint smile on his face, and his heart was nervous. Hard confrontation would definitely not work, even if someone was desperate to jump over the wall. Everyone knew that Liu wanted to hold her grandson now, and both adults and children were gone, while the short-lived only son married this woman with poor health. Facing the extinction of the Liu family, she might do something crazy when she got furious.

  It's come to this, might as well take a gamble and treat a dead horse as if it were alive!

  In an instant, Shen Huan pointed to the woman in labor on the bed and gambled on Liu's eagerness to hold her grandson: "If I tell you that the child in your belly can be saved, can't we just downplay this whole thing?"

  "What a joke! The flowers have been dead for so long!"

  Shen Han made a great effort to prevent herself from bursting out laughing, she had only been in this body for a month and didn't have much understanding of the outside world. Her decision was purely based on the entry point she found in Li's words when he was excited at first, so the name of Yuan's family daughter-in-law, Ruhua, made her feel a bit flustered, after all, the two characters "Ruhua" were indeed deeply ingrained in people's minds.

  "Has Auntie forgotten what our family does?"

  Liu heard the words and her lips twitched, but she didn't respond with a single word. Shen Huan's father was considered half a famous doctor in Qingfeng Town, and after she woke up, she immediately started asking around about her identity and current living environment through various indirect means, which is why she brought up her maternal family at this moment.

  Seeing Liu's wavering, Shen Han became even more confident. She was so angry and refused to let go of Li because she wanted that grandson in her belly. Thinking of this, Shen Han immediately softened her tone, but didn't show weakness, saying: "Auntie, I've said it all now, whether or not the child gets a chance to be born depends on you."

  "Are you really sure?"

  "But you have to promise me one thing: no matter what I do later, you can't stop me!"

  She took a step forward to the bedside, Shen Huan no longer looked at Liu Shi, she was afraid that she would not have the courage to continue pretending, now the only thing she could think of was cesarean section, but that was a childbirth method that could be implemented under the assistance of modern high technology, in her own hands, who knew nothing about medicine and had no idea how to perform it.

  It was precisely Shen Huan's words of reminder and warning that made Liu have a few points of trust in her, hesitating for a moment before finally gritting his teeth and nodding: "Alright!"

  Having obtained permission, Shen Huan bent down to prepare to undress the postpartum woman, and at the same time felt that everyone else's eyes in the room were focused on her. She turned back to Liu Shi and said: "Can I trouble Auntie and all the sisters to withdraw for a moment?"

  Liu's tense expression stiffened, seemingly unwilling, and glanced at the people in the house before waving her hand at the two maids. After they left, she turned to Li and asked, "Aren't you going out?"

  "Mom, can you stay and help me?"

  While speaking, Shen Huan also didn't forget to put her hand on the pregnant woman Ruhua's belly, feeling the baby's movements inside her while anxiously thinking of a way to get rid of the people who might affect herself at any moment. However, she knew that she alone couldn't accomplish this daring task, and at this critical moment, the only person she could trust was her mother-in-law, Li Shi.

  "Auntie, things have their own importance and urgency, I've troubled you."

  Time has passed for so long, Shen Han also felt that the little guy's breath seemed to be not as strong as it was at first, and his heart was anxious and his tone couldn't help but be a bit urgent. He didn't care if Liu would be unhappy or not. The current situation is so dangerous, time is life, not only for the unborn child, but also for the safety of their family of three.

  Finally, Liu's family didn't dare to walk out of the house, Shen Han immediately rushed to the door and locked the wooden bolt, then quickly returned to the bedside and said to Li: "Mother, I can only use a dead horse as a living horse doctor now, you have to help me!"

  "What does it mean?"

  At this moment, seeing Shen Huan's anxious and tense appearance, Li Shi originally put down half of her heart was lifted up again. Looking at the worry in Shen Huan's eyes that could no longer be hidden, initially in front of Liu Shi, she was on high alert and proud because she thought she had done nothing wrong, and also didn't want to lose momentum in front of Liu Shi. But now seeing her daughter-in-law so tense, how could she possibly remain calm?

  "For a moment, it's hard to explain clearly, Mother, can you help me find something sharp like scissors?"

  Shen Han didn't dare to move her hand away from the pregnant woman's belly, so she could only turn her head around and look around. Li saw this and swallowed all the doubts in her heart, starting to search for things in the room. Fortunately, it didn't take too much time, and finally found a pair of scissors in a basket containing embroidered cloth and thread.

  Shen Han took the scissors and, without saying a word, grabbed the expectant mother's clothes with one hand and cut them open directly. All that could be heard was a "ripping" sound, and the clothes were torn off in an instant.

  Finishing all this decisively, Shen Huan couldn't help but feel tense and fearful, her hand holding the scissors also paused in mid-air. Li didn't understand what she was doing, but had never seen a daughter-in-law like this before, and couldn't help but become curious about her, silently watching everything and sizing up Shen Huan. At this moment, seeing that she had stopped moving, he couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong?"

  The sound of Li's voice rang in his ears, and Shen Han only pulled out from a momentary blank, shaking his head and saying: "Nothing, just thinking about where to cut the knife better."

  "Off with you?"

  She nodded, took a few deep breaths, and closed her eyes again to carefully feel the impact of the baby on herself. At the same time, the confusion in her mind gradually cleared up, and she thought about the method of cesarean section, but the scene of killing fish appeared in her mind...

  She suddenly opened her eyes, and Shen Han immediately understood that the woman in labor was already dead. Cutting open her belly was actually easier than cutting open a live fish, the only difference being one was human and the other was a fish. The child inside the woman's belly was like the gallbladder inside a fish's belly, the only thing that couldn't be touched or damaged. Moreover, she now had the ability to perceive the fetus inside her womb, greatly reducing the possibility of harming the child.

  "Mom, didn't Liu aunt just say they've already hired a funeral director?"

  "Yes, what's going on with Guan Yu? You're making me anxious, hurry up and tell me what you want to do?"

  Seeing the tension and worry on Li's face, Shen Huan knew that this matter of breaking the abdomen couldn't be hidden, so she told her own thoughts to her. Li was frightened and stunned, she had also been an experienced midwife, but she had never heard of a method of directly cutting open someone's belly to take out the child, it was simply a bolt from the blue. She immediately opposed: "No way, no way, I've never heard of such a childbirth method before, what if something goes wrong?"

  "Mother, at this point can you still think of another way? This Yuan family's daughter-in-law is already dead. Although Liu aunt is not thinking about her, the child in her belly is our only hope now. We have to try our luck, if we win, we'll have a glimmer of life, if we lose, it's just a fierce fight, and the worst result will be like this. Why not give it a try? Maybe we can still save the child!"

  "But this is also too... How did you think of this method?"

  "Mother, I know your concerns. You're afraid we'll make things worse. My younger uncle still has a bright future ahead of him. But the truth is, we have no way to compete with the Yuan family now. Either way, it's death. Do you think we should fight or not?"

  "Are you really sure?"

  "Let's go fifty-fifty, just trust me this once. We're three people with one life now, I won't do anything that's not safe!"

  "Sigh... it's come to this, and there's nothing else to be done."

  "Mother, time is running out, can you go ask if the undertaker has arrived?"

  Li was a clever person, and at this moment, when Shen Huan mentioned the servant girl, she naturally understood her intention. Speaking of opening one's belly, no one was more suitable than the servant girl. She nodded and ran towards the door. Before long, the door opened again, and Li entered first, followed by a twenty-year-old woman in blue clothes, dressed in a rather neutral style, with her hair simply tied up. However, Shen Huan could still tell at a glance that she was a woman.

  Li noticed Shen Han's surprised expression and immediately made a simple introduction: "This is the Shadow Maiden of the Yamen, all female corpses in the Yamen are examined by her."