Beware Of Chicken

The last week of Meiling’s pregnancy certainly changed things.

She was currently bundled up in a blanket, seated on a pillow near the fire. Chun Ke was acting as a backrest, which was common enough, but the coiled dragon surrounding them was new. Her fingers were scratching through the dragon’s mane as she sat, still a bit amused. Wa Shi’s favourite bag of mixed nuts and dried berries was beside her; he kept trying to get her to eat… and the things he brought her were devoid of any bite marks. She was flattered, truly, to be held in such esteem.

She hadn’t really been allowed to do anything without somebody bouncing up to help her. She’d been forced to come up with some tasks to cut down on the hovering.

Tigu, Bi De and Xianghua were all out aggressively patrolling the perimeter. Warding off what dangers she couldn't fathom. Gou Ren had been sent off when she claimed she had a craving for stew and she requested that he hunt something for her. She appreciated it, she truly did, that Gou cared so much about her… but he was a ball of nervous energy and did not help her peace of mind at all.

They were all acting rather silly, in Meiling’s opinion.

She supposed everything like this crammed into the last week was better than suffering through it for months. It was novel and kind of cute, so she could stand being pampered for a week. She at least had some peace and quiet right now, though.

At least Jin wasn’t hovering. Her husband, aside from looking slightly constipated, was a veritable bastion of calm control and competence. He took charge with easy grace and still wasn’t babying her, for which she was grateful for. He was actually out now, picking up her father for the one final check up, and had said he would go to Verdant Hill to see if Meihua wanted to visit.

The three people, aside from her backrest and the dragon, who she couldn’t have deterred with chores and phantom threats so easily were still in the room. Pi Pa was writing down a checklist of everything they needed and Ri Zu was rereading everything she could get her paws on about the birthing process.

There was probably a bit of karma here, considering how much her student was poking and prodding at her every hour to check her over. Meihua had been right: it was annoying as hell, but Meiling managed to keep her temper in check. The rat meant the best, and she would accept it for what it was.

The last person in the room was the most tense. She turned to her main “guardian”. Xiulan was standing in the corner of the room, her muscles stretched as tight as a bowstring. Her swords floated behind her, ready to slice and waiting for any would-be intruders.

Meiling sighed. Xiulan had been getting steadily out of sorts as the day progressed. Her brow was furrowed and she kept shooting glances at Meiling. She had even gone back to her overly formal speech, treating whatever Meiling said like an order from an Empress.

Meiling had worked entirely too hard on smashing through that shell, and having her retreat back into it was frustrating.

“Xiulan, what’s the matter?” she finally asked. Her friend was startled out of her silent reverie at her sudden question.

“I am well, Senior Sister—” she started, but Meiling was entirely out of patience.

Meiling reached back over the boar and onto the couch, where she grabbed a pillow and then threw it. Her weapon sailed through the air at her target before Xiulan’s hand snapped out and caught it. Both Ri Zu and Pi Pa turned to look at the commotion.

“Xiulan.” She stated simply and with mild reproach.

Xiulan blushed.

“It is an unfounded worry.” She deflected.

Meiling’s eyebrow arched higher. Xiulan’s resolve wavered and then collapsed. Her friend sighed and ran her hand through her hair, then stood and started walking forwards. She stepped over the coils of the dragon and knelt down beside Meiling.

Xiulan carefully took Meiling’s hand in her own, her fingers on Meiling’s pulse.

She chewed her lip for a moment before looking directly into Meiling’s eyes.

“There have been no signs of this… but… oftentimes as a woman’s cultivation rises in rank, pregnancy and birth can become more traumatic.” Xiulan finally said. “The child can destabilize a woman’s foundation and occasionally even provoke tribulation. My own mother had this to a minor effect and was rendered unable to use her combat arts for a full three months due to her unstable Qi. There are also tales of a child completely consuming their mother’s cultivation… “ Xiulan trailed off before sighing again.

“I don’t want to see you hurt, Meiling.” The earnest words struck Meiling’s heart.

“Xiulan…” she trailed off. It was something Meiling and Jin had heard about, but they thought that the signs for something like that would start early. It was still a worry, but even if it damaged her cultivation it didn’t really matter all that much to Meiling. If it wouldn’t kill her, and if that was the price she had to pay for her child… then Meiling would endure it.

“I have already shared my worries with Ri Zu and she thinks there is nothing to indicate such a thing happening to you… but still. You already know that I tend to worry a bit too much, Senior Sister.”

Xiulan’s lips quirked into a smile. Meiling couldn’t help but smile back.

“Well… I think my guardian should be slightly closer at hand, don’t you?” Meiling decided, pulling Xiulan’s arm. There was no resistance as Xiulan sat down beside her.

The day became slightly less tense… until Xiulan reached out to take a nut. Wa Shi’s head snapped up and the dragon growled at her.

Xiulan glared back and picked out the nut. She bit down and chewed aggressively on it.

The only reason there wasn’t a fight is because Meiling was there.

It was funny… until Ri Zu decided to do another check up, “just in case”. Meiling poked Xiulan in the side the entire time for making Ri Zu worry even more.

Morning turned to evening as people came and went, until there was a bit of a commotion outside the main house.

Meiling was curious, but the door soon opened to reveal Yun Ren with a bright smile on his face. She had actually been expecting him sooner.

“Haven’t popped yet?” He asked cheekily as he leaned down to embrace her. Meiling rolled her eyes. At least she could count on Yun Ren to not be a worry wart.

“Not yet. A few more days. How was Biyu?” she asked back, and Yun Ren scratched his cheek.

“She’s doing good. Gonna visit in the spring, she said, so… There's that to look forward to. How much do I have to bribe you to not tell her every embarrassing story you know about me?

Meiling simply stared at him. She was actually disappointed he had asked. Of course it would be too expensive for him to afford… but she wasn’t heartless. The really bad stuff could wait until after they were married.

Yun Ren sighed. “Hey, worth a shot, right? But I gotta get back out and help Jin carry everything in.”

Meiling raised an eyebrow. “‘Everything in?’”

“Well, yeah. Everybody gave something to Jin when he grabbed your pops. Jin’s got enough food to feed an army, and Auntie Li said more people are going to be coming over—”

“Meimei! My darling, how are you?!” Before Meiling could start to parse that they were going to have more guests than she thought Yun Ren was unceremoniously pushed out of the way by Meihua, her friend marching in with her own son tied to her back. Little Jinhai’s dark eyes were looking around curiously at the menagerie of people and animals. “Oh, you’re positively glowing! Alright, I’ve got some things I’ve learned were absolutely invaluable—”

Meiling smiled as Meihua started talking her ear off.

She had been there for Meihua….and now Meihua was here for her. Like it always was.

Hu Li came in next, then her father, and finally Jin, carrying enough food that the mound went over his head.

Her heart started beating faster in her chest as the nerves finally hit her.

Many a scholar or poet likened the birthing room to a woman’s battlefield. Where life and death hung in the balance between screams of agony and gushing lifeblood.

Meiling found the comparison rather apt; like a battle, the unexpected is what turned victory into defeat nine times out of ten. And the unexpected could be mitigated, or dealt with, by proper planning and a good doctor. Meiling liked to think of herself rather as an expert on the circumstances of birth. She had helped her father and the village midwives deliver enough children until she had learned enough to have been the one in charge.

She had certain expectations for how this was supposed to go and had been mentally preparing herself. She was rather small, so quite a bit of tearing in that area was to be expected at the minimum.

She had also expected to be a bit more… alone for some reason. She was giving birth in a far off house, after all. She expected Jin, her father, the Xong Brothers, and maybe a midwife for aid, and she thought that that would be enough.

Reality however was nothing like her expectations. Hong Meiling, daughter of Hong Xian and Liling of Pale Moon Lake City, may have thought of herself as a simple farmer’s wife, but the world did not agree.

She was, after all, the Lady of the Household and she had a number of people, including a crowd of powerful cultivators, that very much wanted her alive and well, and for her birth to go as smoothly as possible.

Even as her mind went down every possible way it could go wrong, the more rational part of her supplied the solution; normally starting and ending with the fact that any damage she could possibly take could be healed away. Ripping and tearing? Gone in an instant. Bleeding out? A dose of sparkling herb essence and it would taper to a stop. If need be they could even do the horrifically risky procedure that involved cutting open the mother’s stomach…and she would probably live.

The baby too would probably be safe. They had run every test they could think of and then some.

Now she sat with what was effectively a war-council. It was actually a little funny, if she thought about it, though in the “this is funny because I’m trying not to freak out” kind of way. With two days to go, it was the last chance to prepare.

Her father sat at the head of the table, the position given to him by Jin. Ri Zu sat beside him. Pi Pa was to his left, duty rosters arranged in front of her. Then the rest of the large table was filled out with everybody else at the farm along with Hu Li, who’d accompanied Meihua when she had come with her father.

Her father finished flipping through the pages before him and cleared his throat.

“I have completed my examination and I concur with my daughter and apprentice Ri Zu; there are no complications that I can currently detect. The babe is positioned well, and when the labour signs start in full things will proceed normally.” Her father’s voice was matter of fact. “As you can see, here, things… are just about as perfect as I can imagine.”

He gestured beside him to a nearby slate. A slate with a hazy image on it. It had been Jin’s idea. Ri Zu’s Qi could take what amounted to impressions. Impressions that Yun Ren filled his Qi with and then projected as an illusion onto a page.

It resulted in the rough outline of a baby. Her baby. She could see the pudgy arms and head, along with the line that was the umbilical cord.

Such examinations were normally uncomfortable at best and inexact at worst. At least she wasn’t a cow, where the procedure involved sticking a hand up to the elbow in the poor creature’s ass, but there was enough poking and prodding in a sensitive area.

But it… wasn’t this.

It was a sight that struck her to her core. Her mouth was dry just looking at the image of her child.

A warm hand settled on her shoulder and Jin smiled at her. While Meiling was starting to get a bit nervous, Jin had come to a place of complete and utter calm. Zen, he called it. He was in, if not a good mood, at least at peace that he had done everything he could for her and it was out of his hands for now. She took comfort in his steadiness. He would move heaven and earth if she needed him to… but right now, all they could do was wait.

Meiling managed to drag her eyes away from the grainy image, rendered in shades of green, and refocused as Pi Pa’s voice called out.

“The schedule is as follows. Miss Yin, Young Sir Wa Shi, you’re in charge of heating the water and the cloth.’ The pig commanded, and the rabbit and the fish nodded. ‘Young Sir Bowu and Young Miss Xianghua have volunteered to aid you. Young Miss Tigu has requested to be on guard duty along with the First Disciple. My Dear is on standby, should we, for any reason, need anything from Verdant Hill or Hong Yaowu.’

Her voice called out the roles one after another.

‘Young Miss Ri Zu, Miss Hu Li, Miss Meihua, and Young Miss Xiulan will be assisting the Doctor in his duties. If the Mistress’s prediction holds true… in two days, the Young Master will be welcomed into this world.’

Young Master. It was tradition to hope for a male child… Meiling’s heart pumped so hard that she could feel it in her temples. Shee felt a bit ill, and there was pressure in her stomach—

Oh.

She abruptly stood, to the shock of the table, and walked out of the room, heading outside into the chilly air. She stopped off the veranda onto the snow, not even feeling the cold slush.

“Mei? Mei, are you alright?” Jin asked as he rushed after her.

Meiling took a few deep breaths.

“I didn’t want to get the floor dirty.” She said after a moment. Honestly, it was a completely absurd thought, but it was one she had just acted on when she knew that it was happening.

“Don't want to get the floor dirty—?” Jin asked, a confused lilt in his voice.

She felt something break inside her and warmth flooded her gut. Fluid dripped into the snow.

Jin’s eyes bugged out.

It appeared, even with the fact that she was so sure… the child within her was just ever so slightly impatient.

Took after her, if she was honest.