Princess Wanping’s expression grew heavy with seriousness.
After a mont of deliberation, she said to ng Qianqian, "You just focus on the treatnt. No one will know you were here tonight."
The relationship between ng Qianqian and Lin Wan’er was extrely delicate. If anything were to happen to Lin Wan’er, the Lu Family would undoubtedly pin the bla on ng Qianqian.
Moreover, the citizens of the Capital City were unlikely to take ng Qianqian’s side.
Princess Wanping’s words decisively cut through all the potential troubles for ng Qianqian. She alone would bear all the consequences.
ng Qianqian did not feign selflessness. After all, the fewer troubles, the better.
Princess Wanping bore no grudge against Lin Wan’er; no matter how hard the Lu Family tried, they couldn’t place the bla on her.
"Your Highness, I must trouble you to step aside."
Princess Wanping glanced at Lin Wan’er and said to ng Qianqian, "Feel free to command the servants in the courtyard."
ng Qianqian replied, "Understood."
Once Princess Wanping left, ng Qianqian imdiately wrote a prescription and instructed Steward Bao to head to the Governor Mansion with Brother Wu to retrieve the Miaojiang herbs from Liu Qingyun.
The two n rode swiftly, racing to the Governor Mansion.
ng Qianqian ordered the maids to heat water, prepare scissors, bedding, and swaddling cloths.
A maid from the small kitchen entered and asked, "Young Madam of the Lu Family, would you like so ginseng soup to be stewed?"
ng Qianqian considered for a mont. "Yes, stew so."
Lin Wan’er gave a bitter smile. "Ginseng soup is useless for now."
"I know," ng Qianqian nodded, "it’s for to drink."
Lin Wan’er froze, then chuckled self-deprecatingly.
While sterilizing the scissors, ng Qianqian remarked, "Save your strength. Otherwise, you’ll have nothing left when it’s ti to give birth."
After speaking, she turned to the two experienced older won in the room and said, "I must trouble you two to carry her to the room next door."
The adjacent room had already been set up as a temporary birthing chamber under her instructions. It had to be said that the servants in the Princess Mansion were far more efficient than those of the Lu Family—quick and orderly, ensuring that Lin Wan’er received the best care and treatnt in the shortest ti.
The two won carried Lin Wan’er to the next room and gently placed her onto the bed, which was covered with thick bedding.
ng Qianqian tied her hair up high, removed her intricate wide-sleeved outer garnt, rolled up the sleeves of her white inner garnt, and washed her hands thoroughly with soap.
Lin Wan’er’s condition was dire. Although ng Qianqian used the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles to stabilize her heart, she still couldn’t hold on and fainted twice in just over half an hour. Her pulse stopped once.
"Lin Wan’er, stay strong!"
ng Qianqian revived her for the third ti.
Lin Wan’er wept with grievance. "ng Qianqian... I can’t hold on anymore..."
ng Qianqian replied, "Good people never live long; calamities last for a thousand years. How could soone like you not hold on?"
Clang!
Yu Zichuan burst through the door, covering his eyes, and handed over a bottle of dicine. "The dicine is here!"
ng Qianqian took the dicine, and Yu Zichuan, still covering his eyes, stumbled out, bumping into things several tis.
With the Miaojiang Protective Essence Pill, Lin Wan’er’s withered body seed to suddenly be infused with boundless energy. Her pale face gained a hint of rosiness, and her breathing steadied.
One hour passed.
Two hours passed.
After enduring a night of agonizing labor, at the break of dawn, a sharp cry echoed through the desolate and lonely Princess Mansion.
"She’s given birth! She’s given birth!"
The maids and old won in the courtyard bustled with excitent.
In the side room where she had waited all night, Princess Wanping let out a long sigh of relief.
Lin Wan’er gazed weakly at the child cradled in ng Qianqian’s arms.
ng Qianqian weighed the little one and skillfully wrapped her in swaddling cloths. "It’s a girl, five pounds and eight ounces."
Lin Wan’er choked on her tears. "Can I... hold her?"
"Yes."
ng Qianqian gently placed the little one in Lin Wan’er’s arms.
Lin Wan’er lowered her head to look at the wrinkled little creature, and tears stread uncontrollably from her eyes.
"I’ll leave now. You two, mother and daughter, have so ti together."
"ng Qianqian..."
Lin Wan’er called out to her, "I have sothing to tell you."
ng Qianqian glanced at the maids and old won in the room and said, "You all leave first."
"Yes, Young Madam of the Lu Family!"
The servants quickly left the room.
ng Qianqian turned around, looking at the weak Lin Wan’er on the bed. "What is it you want to say? If it’s about your impersonation, I already know."
In the past, Lin Wan’er would have been utterly shocked.
But for so reason, at this mont, only one thought crossed her mind: Of course, I knew it would be impossible to fool you.
Lin Wan’er said, "Why didn’t you ask just now about the Twelve Guards? If you had used my life to threaten , I would definitely have told you."
ng Qianqian simply replied, "Oh."
Lin Wan’er seed perpetually unable to understand ng Qianqian. She had countless opportunities to exploit or dominate her, yet she never seed to do so.
But to say ng Qianqian was soft-hearted—she wasn’t.
ng Qianqian’s heart was harder than a blade.
She just... just...
Had principles.
Yes, that was it—principles.
Lin Wan’er had lost, thoroughly and completely.
Or perhaps, from the very beginning, she was never qualified to contend with ng Qianqian.
"Are you really ng Qianqian?"
Lin Wan’er asked, dazed.
She wondered if the woman she tried to compare herself to was the ng Qianqian Lu Lingxiao spoke of. Yet the person she t in the Capital City seed like a woman of unreachable heights.
"You should rest."
ng Qianqian shook her head, clearly disinterested in such trifles.
"My na is Xiao Li. I’m Lin Wan’er’s neighbor."
Lin Wan’er—or rather, Xiao Li—began recounting her past at the border.
Her father was a gambler, her mother a shrew. She had seven siblings, and life was desperately impoverished.
Lin Wan’er’s father was a blacksmith who, according to so, later joined the army. Xiao Li would often visit Lin Wan’er, as she was the only neighbor willing to befriend her.
The other neighbors kept their distance from her family.
One day, her parents were scolding and beating the children again. She fled to Lin Wan’er’s house out of fear, only to find the Lin Family under siege by masked assailants fighting fiercely with Lin Wan’er.
It was only then that Xiao Li discovered the gentle and kind Lin Wan’er had such extraordinary combat skills.
Ten masked n attacked—Lin Wan’er killed seven.
At that mont, she and the remaining three were all gravely injured, unable to gain the upper hand over one another.
Then, one of the masked n spotted Xiao Li, seized her, and used her to threaten Lin Wan’er.
Lin Wan’er pulled a token from her bosom. Later, Xiao Li learned it was the Execution Order, but at the ti, Lin Wan’er said:
"This is a rescue token from the Black Armor Guards. Once I release the firework signal, every Black Armor Guard within a hundred miles will arrive. If you’re smart, let her go and leave now. Otherwise, you all will die today!"
The masked n threw Xiao Li aside and fled.
"Wan’er! Wan’er, you’re hurt! Let find a doctor for you!"
She was flustered and frantic.
She didn’t want Lin Wan’er to die. Lin Wan’er was the only person in the world who was kind to her, secretly giving her food and teaching her to read.
"Xiao Li..." Lin Wan’er propped herself up with her sword, kneeling on one knee.
"I won’t survive... When my father returns... Please tell him... Wan’er is unfilial... She cannot... care for him in his old age... But Wan’er... has fulfilled her mission..."
Lin Wan’er died—she died in front of her.
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