When Cui Huan arrived at the villa with an air of authority, the maids and grannies standing at the door looking around finally heaved a sigh of relief and quickly welcomed her in.
On the couch, Qi Jinxuan was extremely frail. Blood was continuously flowing from below, and she could hardly hold herself up, on the verge of fainting. Qi Jinxuan covered her belly. At this moment, she no longer cared about any grudges. Seeing someone coming to see her, she immediately pleaded tearfully with everyone, "Please save me, save my baby!"
Grandma Yu saw that a large part of the couch was stained red and Qi Jinxuan's face was extremely pale. Her heart ached. She stepped forward and grabbed Qi Jinxuan's slender hand, comforting her in a low voice, "Good child! Hold on for a while. The doctor will come soon!"
Qi Jinxuan originally thought it was the doctor who had come. When she heard that the doctor was still on the way, the pain almost made her faint on the spot.
Cui Huan coldly asked the trembling maid kneeling on one side how this could have happened. A maid replied, "Miss Qi has been playing the zither at night and worrying excessively during the day for the past two nights. She has also been crying all day. She started to have unbearable abdominal pain at noon today, and there was bleeding in the evening... We tried our best to persuade her, but she just wouldn't listen!"
Cui Huan glanced at the pale - faced Qi Jinxuan. On the pretext that she needed to rest quietly, she persuaded the elders to go to the main hall to drink tea and wait for news.
Only Qi Jinlan, with tears in her eyes, truly stayed by Qi Jinxuan's side. She took a handkerchief to wipe the fine beads of sweat on Qi Jinxuan's forehead and softly urged her to cheer up.
Not long after, the doctor invited by Jingzhe rushed over. The middle - aged doctor looked at the couch that was half - stained red. Without even feeling her pulse, his face turned ashen and he said anxiously, "This is a sign of premature birth! You have to quickly invite a midwife! I'm not a gynecologist. I really can't help!" With that, the doctor turned around and was about to leave.
Jingzhe grabbed the doctor's robe and said angrily in a deep voice, "You stabilize her first! Treat the dying horse as if it were alive! You'll have nothing to do once the imperial doctor from the palace arrives. You'll get every single copper coin you deserve when this is all over!"
Everyone was extremely panicked. Premature birth at more than seven months of pregnancy? This was a matter of life and death! Even the doctor didn't dare to take on this case. What if something went wrong and both mother and child died?
Cui Huan quickly called someone to invite a midwife.
Qi Jinlan hurriedly opened the medicine bag given to her by Ruan Niang and held it in front of the doctor. She pleaded in a low voice, "Doctor, this is a matter of life and death. Please do me a favor! You'll be handsomely rewarded when this is over. Take a look at which of these medicinal materials can be used?"
The doctor was already a bit scared after being intimidated by Jingzhe. Now that Qi Jinlan was pleading with him, he quickly took the opportunity to reach into the medicine bag and pick out a red ginseng. He shouted urgently, "This ginseng is excellent. Cut it into pieces and let her hold it in her mouth!" Then he selected a few other good medicinal materials and told someone to decoct them and feed them to her.
Cui Huan took the red ginseng, picked up a dagger, and cut a piece off. She pinched Qi Jinxuan's chin and stuffed the ginseng into her mouth. She snorted and said, "You should remember clearly. All our efforts for you today are for Miss Wei's sake! Otherwise, you could die here and no one would even spare you a second glance!"
Hearing this, Qi Jinxuan's bloodless lips trembled slightly.
Qi Jinlan's face turned deathly pale. She gently tugged at Cui Huan's sleeve and said in a low voice, "Sister Cui Huan, stop talking." She was afraid that if Cui Huan said a few more words, her cousin would faint on the spot.
Cui Huan wasn't willing to let it go. She had seen clearly how this eldest miss of the Qi family had treated their Miss Wei! Not only was she mean to Lv Kou, but she was also not kind to her own cousin! And she had caused such a commotion on Cui Huan's wedding day! Cui Huan had been holding back a lot of anger. Now she simply said without any scruples, "If it weren't for Miss Wei's sake, would I come to see this ungrateful white - eyed wolf? Only you and Miss Wei are so soft - hearted! She wishes she could stab you with a knife, and yet you still protect her! In my opinion, a woman like the eldest miss of your Qi family can just die. It's a waste of food for her to live!"
Qi Jinxuan heard every word Cui Huan said clearly. She held the red ginseng in her mouth and bit her lips tightly without saying a word.
Ignoring Qi Jinlan's desperate head - shaking at her, Cui Huan snorted and said, "Even if Miss Wei were to raise a dog, it should be tamed by now. A dog knows to wag its tail at people! But this person is just impossible to tame. She even wishes to pounce on people and take a bite!"
Qi Jinxuan couldn't stand it any longer. She trembled and gritted her teeth, saying, "If it weren't for my Qi family taking in Wei Dongling back then, she would have starved to death by now. How could she have achieved what she has today?"
Cui Huan sneered and said, "I don't even know what your Qi family is! With Miss Wei's abilities, even if she weren't the fifth princess of the current dynasty, we would still be willing to follow her whole - heartedly! Only a heartless person like you would take Miss Wei's kindness to you for granted. Not only are you ungrateful, but you also bite the hand that feeds you. You're really shameless!"
"You!" Qi Jinxuan was almost furious when she heard this. If it weren't for the unbearable abdominal pain, she would have wanted to get up and tear Cui Huan's sharp - tongued mouth.
The doctor really couldn't stand it anymore. He said to Cui Huan, "Miss, please say a few less words! The parturient is very weak right now. Why do you have to be so unrelenting..."
Cui Huan snorted and finally shut up.
But Qi Jinxuan wasn't grateful at all. She tightly grabbed the bedsheet with both hands and shouted angrily, "Stop distorting the truth here. What is she, Wei Dongling? If it weren't for my Qi family taking her in and teaching her, could she have what she has today?"
Cui Huan was angry. She really couldn't imagine what kind of elders could raise such an ungrateful person. She just wished she could pounce on this woman and slap her twice!
Qi Jinlan quickly hugged Cui Huan and pleaded, "Sister Cui Huan! My cousin is in critical condition. Please say a few less words and go out to have a cup of tea!"
Someone shouted outside the door, "Make way! The imperial doctor is here!" A maid went up to open the door and welcomed the imperial doctors from the palace in. Cui Huan snorted and stepped back to one side, silent.
The two imperial doctors stepped forward to take a look, then took turns feeling her pulse. Their expressions became more and more solemn. They came over to report to Jingzhe, "This is a sign of premature birth. It might be difficult to handle. We can only try our best."
Jingzhe nodded and said, "Thank you for your trouble."
The two imperial doctors immediately started to treat Qi Jinxuan with acupuncture. Cui Huan led a group of irrelevant people out.
Not long after, the midwife also rushed over. The maid decocted the medicine and brought it in. Qi Jinlan quickly took it, blew on it gently, and fed it into Qi Jinxuan's mouth in small sips.
However, before the medicine could take effect, they heard Qi Jinxuan's cries of pain in the room getting more and more shrill, which made everyone's hearts ache.
Suddenly, the door opened. The imperial doctor with blood all over his hands rushed out in a hurry. He said tremblingly to everyone, "What should we do! There's a massive hemorrhage. It might not be possible to save her..."
All the elders' hearts were in their throats. They were extremely panicked.
Cui Huan and Jingzhe glanced at each other. Cui Huan asked the imperial doctor, "Can the baby be saved?"
The imperial doctor paused for a moment and said tremblingly, "We will surely do our best."