The midwife's face turned pale at these words, and she immediately turned and entered the delivery room. Without her relaying the message, everyone inside heard it clearly.
Yu Meng looked at him crying and gently wiped his tears with her small hands, "Dad, Mom will be alright, don't worry!"
The tender voice echoed in his ears. Fan Zehao mechanically turned his head to look at his daughter, his gaze vacant, as if he were looking through her at someone else.
The sky had darkened completely when a scream came from inside the room, followed closely by a faint cry.
It was the baby's movement, the baby's cry. Fan Zehao didn't feel it was a joyous occasion, for it meant his wife was gone.
Like a walking corpse, he wanted to see his wife one last time. Before he could reach the door, he heard another cry!
His movement to push the door open paused, his eyes glazed over, his body stiffened, standing at the door like a fool.
Inside, the midwife was busy attending to the unconscious princess. The mattress on the bed was already stained with blood. Her face was ashen, her breaths shallow.
Acupuncture, sustaining her with ginseng... After more than half an hour of frantic effort, her life was finally saved. The group wept, careful not to make a sound.
"Alright, the princess is saved, and so are the children. We don't have to die now. Thank heavens. I won't take on such a job again!"
"There won't be a next time. I'm retiring after this. It was too terrifying!"
Their hearts still pounding with fear and sadness, they held the cleaned babies and could finally walk out of the delivery room alive.
As soon as the door opened, the midwife was startled by the prince's appearance. "Congratulations, Your Highness, congratulations! The princess and the young masters are safe!"
Zhang Cuihua was the first to recover and quickly asked, "Is my daughter-in-law truly alright?"
"The princess is fine, just weakened and having lost a lot of blood. She's asleep now. Give her plenty of nourishment to replenish her qi and blood, and within a year or two, she can add more to the prince's household."
The midwife explained clearly, her arms aching slightly from holding the babies. She pushed the infants towards Fan Zehao. "Your Highness, this is the eldest son, and the one next to him is the second son. I've marked them with red and pink strings to distinguish the elder from the younger!"
Zhang Cuihua and Wang Zhaodi quickly took the babies and led the midwife down to receive their reward.
At this point, Fan Zehao finally came to his senses. He hadn't even glanced at the babies before rushing into the room to see his wife, and he stayed there, stunned, all night.
The next day, the first thing she saw upon waking was Fan Zehao, staring at her dazedly.
Her voice was dry and hoarse, her words weak. "Am I beautiful?"
Fan Zehao held her hand and brought it to his face, nodding with tears in his eyes. He choked back a sob, "Beautiful! My wife is the most beautiful woman in all of Yun Country."
She knew he was coaxing her, but she couldn't help but feel happy hearing it.
She scanned the room from her bed, but saw no sign of the babies. She withdrew her gaze and asked him, "Are they boys or girls? Where are the children? I haven't seen them! Do they look like you or me?"
Her string of questions made him feel annoyed. "Why aren't you asking about me? You're only concerned about the children!"
"What?"
She chuckled, then frowned. The smile had strained her lower body wounds, causing some pain.
"What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?" Fan Zehao asked anxiously, nearly rushing to fetch the imperial physician.
"It's all your fault, teasing me like this. How old are you to be jealous of babies!"
Fan Zehao felt indignant but dared not speak, only replying grumpily, "Two sons. They've been taken by the wet nurses for feeding. They'll be with their mother in the future. The doctor said you need to rest and aren't suitable to care for children. Wait for a year or so until you've recovered your vitality, then you can bring the children back!"
For now, he wanted the babies as far away as possible, so they wouldn't be an eyesore. These two brats had nearly cost him his wife. He'd consider himself lucky if he didn't beat them.
Zhao Jiaqi frowned. She believed it would take half a year to recover her vitality, but it wasn't said she couldn't care for the children!
"Which quack doctor said that? Call him here, I want to ask!"
Why didn't she believe that caring for children and recuperating couldn't happen at the same time?
He ignored her, the person who could lie without blushing.
She spent New Year's Eve in her room, the Lantern Festival also in her room, and even Yu Meng's third birthday was spent in her room.
No matter how she struggled, how she pouted, or how angry she became, Fan Zehao was firm on one point: she couldn't go anywhere until she was out of confinement and couldn't be exposed to the wind.
And the two children born must be cared for for two full months!
"Are you crazy? What kind of family has a two-month confinement period? It's at most forty-two days, good heavens!"
If she really had to stay confined for two months, the land she rented might go to waste again. She was already going mad within a month, let alone sixty days. She'd probably be completely insane after confinement.
Fan Zehao looked at her, who had entered a frenzy mode, and quietly took a step back. "Then forty-two days. Nothing else is negotiable!"
At this moment, Zhao Jiaqi finally saw his true colors: selfish, arrogant, and unreasonable.
"Bring the children to me, I want to see if they're alright! What kind of mother isn't allowed to see her child? I wasn't like this when I gave birth to Yu Meng! Can you be reasonable?"
Fan Zehao saw that his wife was speaking with renewed vigor and seemed to be no longer in great distress.
"I'll have the wet nurses bring them to you after they've been fed!"
Zhao Jiaqi finally breathed a sigh of relief. If her mother and the maids hadn't said her children were alive, she might have thought something had happened to them.
This time, Fan Zehao kept his word. Half an hour later, the wet nurses brought the babies. They were soft, smelled of milk, and infants in their confinement period loved to sleep.
She played with their tiny hands for a while, but the babies didn't wake up. At this moment, she asked Fan Zehao, "Have you named the children?"
"Big Dog, Second Dog!"
She froze, looking at Fan Zehao, who had become a father again, and wished she could strangle him.
Her voice lowered to a whisper, she asked furiously, "They're Big Dog and Second Dog, are you an old dog? How can you be a father, what kind of names are these!"
Fan Zehao craned his neck to glance at the babies in their swaddles. They were plump and fair, quite cute, but the thought that these two had almost sent his wife away still made him feel displeased.
"The elders say that children with humble names live longer. I'm calling them this for their own good. It's no problem!"
She was too lazy to argue with his twisted logic.
Now she clearly saw and understood that in his heart, their daughter's status was higher than their sons'.
She lowered her head and gently stroked her two sons' faces, whispering, "Your father doesn't love you, but mother does! We don't need your father anymore. Mother will raise you."
After pondering for half an hour, she thought of two names.
Fan Yao, Fan Sen. Neither Yao nor Sen has a single stroke that curves, hoping the children will be upright people in the future.
"The legitimate son shall be named Fan Yao, and the second son, Fan Sen. The names are decided."
Fan Zehao looked displeased but felt happy inside. Finally, the children had names.