Qin Liuxi consecutively drew three talismans, folding them into triangles before stashing them away and returning to the delivery room.
By now, Qihuang had returned, carrying a steaming bowl of herbal soup. Seeing her mistress nod, she personally fed Gu Shi the medicine.
As Wang Shi stepped forward to assist, Qihuang's deft hands effortlessly lifted Gu Shi, effortlessly administering the medicine.
Meanwhile, Qin Liuxi affixed two talismans respectively to the headboard and beneath the pillow, keeping the third one ready.
The sight puzzled onlookers.
"Xixi, what's this?" Wang Shi's eyebrow twitched. Why was this girl behaving so strangely?
Qin Liuxi replied woodenly, "Oh, these are protective talismans, to ensure safety."
Everyone: "..."
It sounded rather peculiar, but no one dared to comment.
The induction medicine took effect quickly, and Gu Shi began to cry out in pain again, only to be comforted by the midwife, "Madam, with Miss here, you and your child will be safe."
Gu Shi hesitated for a moment but didn't take it to heart, considering it merely a consolation. Tearfully, she looked at Wang Shi, "Sister-in-law, give me a cloth to bite on."
Wang Shi placed a clean cloth in her mouth.
Seeing Qin Liuxi still in the room, Qin's elderly lady said, "You're an unmarried girl, you shouldn't be here. Wait outside. Wang Shi and Mei Niang can handle things here."
"Okay."
Qin Liuxi obediently pushed the door open and left.
But Qihuang, handing her a cup of tea, teased, "Miss, are you just going to sit there?"
The one suffering inside was her third sister-in-law.
Qin Liuxi took a sip of tea and glanced at her, saying, "As an unmarried girl, a proper young lady from a noble family, how could I witness a woman giving birth?"
The Qin family, despite its current crisis, had once held high-ranking positions in the government. She, too, was a noble lady of the Qin family.
Qihuang almost burst out laughing. "You say that with a straight face? Just last month, you passed by that Peach Blossom Villa and helped that Deng family's difficult childbirth, delivering a plump baby boy!"
Qin Liuxi remained composed. "After tasting their peach pastries, I had to repay the favor. It's only fair."
Qihuang chuckled and then composed herself, asking, "Miss, did you not foresee this sudden calamity for the Qin family?"
Qin Liuxi hesitated. Could she tell Qihuang that she had foreseen it when she was young?
After a moment's thought, she replied, "People have their ups and downs, and so do families. Just as flowers do not bloom forever, the Qin family has enjoyed decades of prosperity. Now facing this disaster, it's the result of villainous schemes. When a villain prospers, we must avoid their edge, endure hardships first, and then prosper. The green hills will remain; there will be a day when the clouds part and reveal the mountain."
Qihuang said, "Miss is right. With you around, the Qin family won't truly fall."
Qin Liuxi smiled but said nothing, silently picking up her tea.
It was all cause and effect.
"However, with so many people in the Qin family, now that a few elderly, weak, and women and children have arrived, it's a bit overwhelming. There are even a few men without martial skills who need money for everything. Miss, your leisurely days are over," Qihuang suddenly remarked, her tone tinged with schadenfreude.
Qin Liuxi: "!"
This tea was a bit bitter; she couldn't drink it anymore!
She suddenly got up, stood by the window, and looked at the rain falling steadily outside.
...
Outside the city gate.
A group of guards wearing rain capes and bamboo hats rode into the city of Li, knocking on the door of an inn to seek shelter from the rain.
In the main room, a distinguished-looking man opened a scroll depicting an androgynous, handsome face. With long, pitch-black hair tied up with a bamboo hairpin, the man had a cold and indifferent expression, with a slight disdainful curve to his lips, as if he looked down on all the worldly matters before him.
He stood before a Taoist temple, as if he was about to leave. In his presence, everyone seemed ordinary.
"Freshen up. Tomorrow, when the weather clears, we'll visit Qingping Temple," Qi Qian said, placing the scroll back into its copper tube.
It was said that in the city of Li, there was a renowned doctor known as Buqiu, whose medical skills were superb. He mastered the Daoist Taixu pulse method, which could divine a person's fortunes, predict their future, and even foresee the destiny of their descendants, all through pulse diagnosis. It was incredibly mysterious.
And he was going to seek medical treatment for his grandmother.