Sword Slaying the Jianghu : Chapter 17: The Precious Child Arrives

After Yang Shao finished giving these instructions to his men, he went to Yang Ran’s room.

“Uncle Yang, no no no, Father, why have you come?”

“Ran, Father will find you the best master and teach you the best martial arts. How does that sound?”

“That would be wonderful. Nann, no no no, Ran wants to learn the best martial arts to avenge Father.”

“Good, you have ambition. That is what it takes to be my son, Yang Shao’s adopted son. Come with me.”

Yang Shao took Yang Ran to a remote courtyard. Living in the courtyard was a skilled fighter of the residence, Lin Changfeng. It was said that Lin Changfeng had killed many people in the martial world, and in the end his enemies had forced him to lose his family and home. Yang Shao had taken a liking to his abilities, so he helped him get revenge. Lin Changfeng then followed the prince with complete devotion, loyal to the end.

“Changfeng, this is my adopted son. From now on he is also the young prince of the Prince of Zhennan’s residence. You are responsible for teaching him martial arts properly. If he does not learn your skills, you are not allowed to let him leave this courtyard even half a step. Is that clear?”

Actually, Lin Changfeng’s martial arts only counted as skilled in the martial world. He was not at all the “best master” that Yang Shao had promised beforehand. Yang Shao was a hero of his generation. How could he be foolish enough to let his enemy’s son learn the best martial arts? That would be asking for his own death.

He arranged things this way because he was certain Yang Ran could not learn Lin Changfeng’s skills in a short time. So he smoothly separated him from his mother, to prevent Yang Ran from learning the truth and forcing him to kill Yang Ran. If Yang Ran died, how could Zhong Yueping continue to live?

“Changfeng, if he does not learn your skills, you absolutely cannot let him out of this courtyard. Otherwise, bring me your head.” Yang Shao repeated.

Lin Changfeng, as Yang Shao’s trusted confidant, already understood that the prince’s order to teach martial arts was false. The real purpose was to use teaching martial arts as an excuse to imprison the “young prince.”

Time is like a wheel. You can never figure out just how fast it can turn. In the blink of an eye, eight months had passed.

They say pregnancy lasts ten months, but actually that is not true. Most are nine months, or even born earlier. And vomiting symptoms usually appear after about a month. So this day, eight months later, was exactly Zhong Yueping’s day of delivery.

During these eight months, Zhong Yueping’s movements were still free, but this freedom was limited to within the residence. There were also guards watching her. Still, she felt this was already Yang Shao’s “grace” toward her.

During these eight months, Yang Shao rarely went to the military camp. Even when he did go, he would absolutely return before noon to share lunch with Zhong Yueping. At first, Zhong Yueping could not eat when she saw him. But later, because of malnutrition, the child nearly miscarried in her womb. In the end, she had no choice but to ignore Yang Shao’s presence and eat ravenously. She had only one purpose in her heart: no matter what, she must fulfill her husband’s wish.

During these eight months, Yang Shao had used every method to win Zhong Yueping’s heart. He had also given Zhong Yueping several chances to secretly visit Yang Ran. Each time she saw Yang Ran, he was training hard. The child who used to talk about everything had now become silent. She did not know that Yang Ran trained martial arts so frantically only because he wanted to see his mother and his “little brother or sister.” If he could not defeat Lin Changfeng, he could not get his wish. So he studied and practiced hard, constantly pushing himself not to slack off.

This was a night of howling winds, yet the white snow still refused to fall. In a room of the prince’s residence, Zhong Yueping had already been struggling for several hours. But the child still had not arrived.

“Madam, follow my hand gestures. Breathe evenly. Do not scream randomly. The child cannot come out this way.”

Zhong Yueping on the bed was already in too much pain to speak. She only nodded painfully. Large beads of sweat on her forehead flew about in all directions. The braziers for warmth all around were almost roasting her into dried meat.

“Exhale, inhale, push, push hard! Madam, do you understand? You must push hard when you exhale. This way the child can come out faster.”

Zhong Yueping seemed about to faint from the pain. It had already lasted so long. An ordinary pregnant woman would have long since lost her strength. But Zhong Yueping’s determination was still holding her up. She was still working hard for this. Her hands grabbed randomly at the bed, then randomly at her legs. For a woman, the most painful thing in this life is nothing more than this moment.

A baby’s cry rang out.

“He’s out. The child is out. Looks like the child really pities his mother. He knows his mother has suffered enough, and finally came out.” One of the midwives said excitedly with a smile. Since entering this profession, only at this moment was she the happiest, because she had not only completed her work but also “created” a new life.

The other midwife reached out and picked up a bloody child. “Madam, congratulations. You have been blessed with a precious son. He weighs about eight jin. The child is very strong and healthy. No wonder the birth was so difficult. Rest well. We will take the child to collect the reward money.”

“No, give me the child.” Zhong Yueping growled fiercely. Although the growl was not loud, it shook her wound below with a hidden sharp pain.

The midwife’s face showed some confusion, but seeing Zhong Yueping angry, she had no choice but to place the child back beside her.

On Zhong Yueping’s happy face, there seemed to be a trace of disappointment. Because what she had finally given birth to was a son, not the daughter her husband had wanted. That beautiful wish had ultimately lost to heaven’s trickery. Actually, whether you have a boy or a girl is just like this. The more you want something, the more often the opposite happens.

The child in Zhong Yueping’s arms actually fulfilled half of Su Lianyun’s wish. Because he was born delicate and pretty. Even his crying was as sharp as a baby girl’s. His looks were seven or eight parts similar to Zhong Yueping, like a living “male version of Zhong Yueping.” One could imagine he would grow up to be a stunningly handsome man like his mother. But all of that is a story for later.

Another month passed. On the night Zhong Yueping finished her month of postpartum rest, several men in black slipped silently into the Prince of Zhennan’s residence. The leader of the men in black was Ye Xuyang.

It turned out that after he brought Su Lianyun’s body back to the Tianji Sect, he began searching for traces of Zhong Yueping and her son while carrying out missions. In the end, he accidentally learned from an old melon farmer that two months ago, a group of people had appeared near Licheng with a mother and son matching his description.

What the old melon farmer remembered most clearly was that the child talked a lot, constantly asking if his melons were sweet. For a melon seller, if you do not buy melons and yet question whether they are sweet, this is simply looking for trouble on purpose. So he angrily shooed the child away. Unexpectedly, a man without a palm picked up his melons and smashed them on the ground without asking right or wrong. The motion of picking up melons easily reveals whether someone has a severed palm. Then several more fierce looking men came and smashed his melon stand into a melon juice stand. In the end, it was a woman with the looks of a heavenly fairy who secretly slipped him some silver. Only then did he avoid losing everything. So his impression of that group of people was especially deep.

And back then, Ye Xuyang had heard Su Lianyun talk about his love story with his wife. Su Lianyun had perhaps been holding things in for too long, and even told him about how his wife had saved the prince and how he had felt a bit jealous about it. So Ye Xuyang knew that Prince of Zhennan Yang Shao had a severed palm. Combined with the old farmer’s account, he was certain Zhong Yueping was in the Prince of Zhennan’s residence. And the place where he was happened to be near the Prince of Zhennan’s residence. So he secretly checked it out once and learned that someone was closely watching Zhong Yueping, and that Zhong Yueping was pregnant. So to rescue a pregnant woman from inside, he had to go back and find some men. The back and forth delay took two months.