"Here."
Cheng Juxiu finished casting the Iron Casting Technique and summoned a gentle breeze, rapidly cooling the completed silver forceps before handing them over to Li Ang.
"Thank you, Brother Cheng."
Li Ang took the forceps, looked at the two people in the courtyard, then flicked his fingers gently to the west. "Are you sure everything is okay?" he hesitated.
Do I need to inform the garrison in West City?
"Don't worry, everything is fine."
Cheng Juxiu casually shook his head. "There's a horse in the stable. Ride it. Hurry, saving a life is crucial."
"Okay."
Li Ang led the horse out of the stable, shut the door, and with some difficulty, stepped onto the threshold to mount the horse, heading towards Lu Yi's home.
THUD!
Li Ang pushed open the gate of Lu Yi's courtyard again and rushed into the room.
Lu Yi's mother's condition still looked unpromising; her face was deathly pale, completely devoid of color.
"Hot water!"
The midwife brought hot water. Li Ang washed the surface of the forceps with it, then wiped them dry with a clean cloth that had been boiled and wrung out.
He first inserted the left blade of the forceps, then the right, and locked the two blades together.
During a contraction, he pulled gently and slowly. Once the baby was visible, he disassembled and removed the forceps. He then carefully lifted the baby out with his hands, placing it on Lu Yi's mother's belly to keep it warm and dry.
"WAAAHHH—"
The baby's cry was weak but stable. After racing all over the city, Li Ang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He stepped back, leaned against a chair, and entrusted the baby and mother to the experienced midwife's care.
"Young Master..."
Chai Cuiqiao, her heart aching with sympathy, wiped the sweat from Li Ang's forehead with her sleeve. "Are you tired?"
"As long as they're saved, it's good."
Li Ang pursed his dry lips and said with effort, "Saving one life is better than building a seven-story Floating Tower. This time, it's like I've built a fourteen-story one..."
He glanced at Lu Yi, who was constantly wiping her tears; Lu Yi's mother, pale but smiling; and the incessantly crying baby in her arms. He chuckled lightly, then washed his hands and the forceps with clean water.
"The mother and child are safe, mother and child are safe."
The old midwife repeatedly patted her thighs, excitedly telling Lu Yi's mother, "And it was an Academic Palace Disciple, a Wen Qu Star from heaven, who personally delivered your baby, Mrs. Xi! Your young master will surely be a great scholar in the future! I've been delivering babies for decades and have never seen one delivered with forceps. Truly a disciple of the Academic Palace, a Wen Qu Star from heaven..."
Lu Yi's mother—a woman named Xi Hui—smiled with difficulty and gently tilted her chin toward Lu Yi.
Lu Yi immediately understood and stepped back, preparing to perform a deep bow to Li Ang.
"No, no, no,"
Li Ang quickly stopped the girl, who wasn't much younger than himself. "I'm really getting tired of you all. Always kowtowing at the drop of a hat. I can't accept it, I really can't."
"What do you mean you can't accept it, young master? You are the Wen Qu Star from heaven. A kowtow from us might let us share in some of your good fortune."
The old midwife chuckled, patting her thigh. After some questioning, Li Ang finally learned about Lu Yi's family situation.
Lu Yi's mother, Xi Hui, had been a Qing official on Yizhou's pleasure barges. Ten years ago, a wealthy patron from a prominent family had bought out her contract, originally intending to take her as a concubine.
However, the patron's formidable new wife disagreed, so Xi Hui was kept in a small house in East City.
To make matters worse, Xi Hui gave birth to Lu Yi shortly after her contract was bought out. Calculating back, she would have still been on the pleasure barges then, casting a large shadow of doubt over Lu Yi's parentage.
After numerous setbacks, Xi Hui and her daughter were left without any recognized status; they couldn't even be considered lowly concubines or illegitimate daughters.
Their days were quite harsh, and they frequently suffered abuse from the main wife and the household servants, who would also embezzle from their already meager monthly salary.
Even for this childbirth, the main wife had forbidden reputable midwives from the city to attend to Xi Hui. Her intention was to let Xi Hui die on the delivery bed, thus preventing the birth of a son who might later contend with her own children for the family inheritance.
Just another typical mess from a large, influential family.
Li Ang silently shook his head. Suddenly, a clamor of voices erupted outside the courtyard gate. "Where is Xi Hui? Tell her to come out!"
The joyous expressions on Xi Hui and Lu Yi's faces vanished. The old midwife's face also turned pale. "Are... are those people from the Lu Mansion here?"
"So soon?"
Li Ang frowned, turned, and walked out of the room. He saw a middle-aged man in a housekeeper's attire leading several servants, standing brazenly at the doorstep.
Li Ang asked with a furrowed brow, "Who are you?"
"Who are we? I should be asking who you are!"
The man in the housekeeper's attire looked Li Ang up and down. "The sound of your horse galloping through the streets in the middle of the night was loud enough for half of Yizhou to hear! You, a man, in a birthing room at this ungodly hour! Have you no sense of propriety? If word of this gets out, what face will our Lu Family have left?"
As the housekeeper spoke, he glanced at Lu Yi, who had run out of the room, and sneered, "You little hussy, where's your mother? Tell her to come out and face the family discipline."
Li Ang's expression turned frigid. "Subjecting her to family discipline right after she's given birth? Isn't that treating a life with callous disregard? I'd like to know who in all of Yizhou dares to be so audacious."
"Audacious? You don't even know the Lu Family, and you call us audacious? If you know what's good for you, get lost! Otherwise, we'll tie you up too."
A servant sneered, pulling a rope from behind him. Just as he was about to step forward, another bald-headed companion suddenly grabbed him.
"Doctor... Doctor Li."
The bald servant's face turned from red to white. He lowered his voice and said with difficulty to the housekeeper beside him, "Housekeeper Chen, this... this is Doctor Li, the one who received the Academic Palace's recommendation letter today! I saw him at the Yishui River Shore when I was buying vegetables for the mansion!"
"What?!"
Housekeeper Chen looked as if he'd been struck by lightning. His expression changed multiple times, and his voice instantly softened. "Is... is it Doctor Li who helped Xi Hui with the delivery?"
"It is I."
Li Ang nodded indifferently. "Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem."
Housekeeper Chen looked as though he had swallowed poison. He struggled to cup his hands in a bow. "Then it's nothing. A misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. It's Xi Hui's good fortune to have Doctor Li assist with her delivery. We will take our leave now."
"Thinking of leaving?"
Li Ang raised an eyebrow and gently patted Lu Yi's shoulder reassuringly. "Weren't you just planning to tie me up? As it happens, you can take me to the Lu Mansion. I'm quite curious to see what the Lu Mansion looks like. Oh, and don't even think about sneaking off. If you don't lead the way, I'll go to the Governor Mansion tomorrow and bang the grievance drum. And don't think you can silence me. Before I came here, I met with people from the Academic Palace."