Chapter 398: An Encounter on the Road
Chapter 398: Chapter 398: An Encounter on the Road
Stopping and going along the way, a journey that should have taken only a few hours dragged on until it was nearly dark.
Bai Suihe noticed that the weather here was much warmer than in Zhang County, and she even spotted many tropical plants. "If we were exiled here, it wouldn’t be too bad."
Gu Kaiyuan agreed, "The climate here is better, and there are many more varieties of fruit. Lychees, which are very scarce in the capital, can be found right here."
Bai Suihe, of course, knew the geography of this place. This was the Guangdong Province of later generations, and it was much closer to the sea.
"Then, when summer comes, we’ll return to taste the fresh lychees." Seeing the setting sun on the horizon, Bai Suihe asked, "Can we make it to the county town before dark?"
Gu Kaiyuan replied, "It shouldn’t be a big problem. If we can’t make it, we can stay overnight in a nearby village."
As they drew closer to the county town, more villages began to appear. Since they were carrying many belongings anyway, as long as they could borrow a courtyard to park in, they could sleep in the carriage just like before. This carriage had been specially custom-made for them after they arrived at the previous county town; it was unimaginably more comfortable than their old ox cart.
Right at this moment, an unexpected accident occurred. Zhou Xingshun, who was driving the carriage, glared at the children blocking the way. "What are you doing? Move aside, quickly!"
"Noble ones, please save us!" two tender voices cried out from outside.
"What’s going on?" Gu Kaiyuan lifted the curtain. If he hadn’t reacted quickly to protect the baby, the child would have been startled awake by the sudden halt.
"Mr. Gu, these two children rushed out suddenly," Zhou Xingshun reported. Song He stepped forward as well; the two of them took turns driving the carriage, and they knew that braking so abruptly had disturbed their masters inside.
"Noble ones, please save us!" The two children kept kneeling in the middle of the road, kowtowing repeatedly.
Gu Kaiyuan couldn’t help but frown. "We are just passersby. Step back, quickly."
He had never seen anyone beg for help like this, let alone two young children. "Where are the adults in your family?"
"Noble one," the slightly older girl spoke timidly. "My father went into the mountains and hasn’t returned. My mother is about to give birth. Please, noble ones, save her."
Hearing that it was an expectant mother, Bai Suihe’s heart softened. "What about your other family members? Hurry and get a midwife. If that doesn’t work, find a doctor."
The little girl looked up, her face covered in tears. "We just came out of our village, wanting to borrow some Silver from our grandparents’ house. Who knew that halfway there, my mother would sprain her ankle and her stomach would start hurting.
"We couldn’t see anyone around, so we could only beg for your help. Please be merciful and save my mother’s life. I’ll work as a slave or a maid to repay you in the future."
Seeing this seven or eight-year-old girl state her case so logically, Bai Suihe softened even more. It was often said that children from poor families had to grow up early, not to mention in this ancient society.
"Where is your mother now?" Bai Suihe asked. Although she suspected this might be a trap, what if it wasn’t?
And even if it was a trap, wasn’t that exactly what she was expecting?
She was currently armed from head to toe, but just to be safe, she took out the Antidote Pills and handed the bottle to Gu Kaiyuan. He was the main fighter here, so of course, he needed to take precautions in advance.
"My mother is just ahead! Please, noble ones, save her!" The two children continued to kowtow. This was probably their only hope.
"Mrs. Gu, I’ll go take a look first." Zhou Xingshun handed the horse whip directly to Song He and jumped off the carriage. He pointed at the little girl and said, "Lead the way."
Seeing that they were willing to help, the little girl immediately stood up in pleasant surprise and ran frantically toward the direction she had just pointed. "Mother, I found someone to help!"
The little boy wanted to follow closely behind, but Song He held him back. "You stay right here, little guy. Don’t go over there and cause trouble."
After a short while, Zhou Xingshun ran back, sweating profusely. "Mr. Gu, Mrs. Gu, there really is a woman about to give birth over there, and she has already fainted."
Gu Kaiyuan was speechless. It seemed they were going to accumulate some good karma for their daughter today.
Bai Suihe decided, "Let’s go take a look. We can’t just leave her alone in the middle of nowhere."
With that, she jumped off the carriage first, with two maidservants following closely behind.
When they saw the expectant mother, they couldn’t help but gasp. She had probably hit her head when she fell, as there was blood on the back of her head. Her face was deathly pale, and she didn’t open her eyes despite the little girl crying and calling out beside her.
Bai Suihe had studied medicine for a while. Although she couldn’t officially diagnose patients yet, she still knew some basic medical knowledge. She walked over and checked the woman’s pulse to confirm she was still alive, then quickly pressed a few acupoints. As soon as the woman woke up, she immediately started looking around for her children. Seeing both of them wiping their tears beside her, she let out a sigh of relief.
Bai Suihe checked the back of the woman’s head again; the bleeding had stopped.
The mother didn’t forget to comfort her children, "Don’t be afraid. Mom is fine."
Seeing Bai Suihe and the other strangers, she tried hard to squeeze out a small smile, but the pain in her abdomen caused cold sweat to pour down her forehead. "Noble ones, my two children don’t know proper manners. I hope you won’t hold it against them."
Bai Suihe reassured her, "Now is not the time to talk. Your condition isn’t very good. We need to find you a midwife or a doctor as soon as possible. Do you know where there is a midwife nearby?"
The woman shook her head. "I don’t know."
After saying those words, as if she had exhausted all her strength, she clutched her stomach and gasped heavily for air.
"We can’t just keep going like this. Let’s help her onto the carriage first. We need to find someone to save her life as soon as possible."
Bai Suihe worked with the two maids to carry the woman into the carriage.
"Little girl, do you know where there’s a doctor around here?"
Bai Suihe could only pin all her hopes on the slightly older girl, but the child shook her head.
"Do you know where a midwife is?"
The little girl still shook her head in confusion. "I know there’s a midwife in the neighboring village. My mother said she’d ask our neighbor to go fetch her when the time came.
"But I don’t know where she is, and I can’t find her house..."
"Then where is your home? We’ll help take you back."
The little girl pointed at the mountain path they had come from. "It’s just over two mountains from here."
Bai Suihe was speechless. There was no way their carriage could pass through such a narrow mountain road. By the time they crossed two mountains, the expectant mother wouldn’t be able to wait. Making a prompt decision, she told Zhou Xingshun and the others, "Hurry to the village ahead! If you meet any pedestrians on the road, stop and ask where the nearest midwife or doctor is."
With no other choice left, Gu Kaiyuan picked up the two little kids, one in each hand, and hoisted them onto the carriage. Then, they immediately sped toward the county town. If there was no help in the nearby villages, they would have to find a way to rush to the county town today, hoping to save her life.
Pretending to rummage for a medicine bottle, Bai Suihe took out some medicine from her space that Nanny Pang had prepared for her. It was a mild and nourishing tonic. The pregnant woman’s body was too weak, and she probably wouldn’t have the strength to survive childbirth.
The two children stared at Bai Suihe with wide eyes, wanting to ask questions but not daring to speak.
"I just gave your mother some medicine," Bai Suihe explained. "It will be good for her body."