Chapter 774 - 776: Revenge for the Dead
A sharp pain struck her. Bai Ruozhu staggered half a step forward involuntarily. She turned around and saw Hao Baishuang holding the scissors used to cut the umbilical cord, the blade still stained with fresh blood, unmistakably her own.
She almost collapsed from the pain but her utmost concern was the baby in her arms. She hastily protected her child, taking a few steps back and shouting, "Achun, quick, protect the baby!"
On hearing Ruozhu’s warning, Lin Ping’er also quickly moved aside, shielding her child. But her eyes fell on the wound in Ruozhu’s waist and tears instantly began to fall.
As soon as Jiang Yichun heard Bai Ruozhu cry out, he rushed into the room. He kicked Hao Baishuang, sending her flying and crashing into a table behind her before falling onto the floor. She looked extremely disheveled.
Xie Dun was taken aback by the sudden turn of events. He quickly stood up and moved in front of Yu Hongxiu, reproaching Hao Baishuang, "Doctor Hao, what are you up to? How could you so recklessly betray my wife’s trust in you?"
Hao Baishuang slowly climbed up, a trickle of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, indicating that Jiang Yichun’s violent kick had seriously injured her. Despite the violent fall, the scissors didn’t drop from her hand. But her hand trembled, and her face was pale.
Laughs erupted from her, "When did I let you down? I won’t harm patients, just Bai Ruozhu. You can breathe easy knowing I won’t harm the child either."
Bai Ruozhu, feeling a bit unsteady, quickly handed her newly born second child to Xie Dun. Soon, Jiang Yichun had turned around to support her. When he saw the wound on her waist, his eyes were full of anguish. He pressed several points on her waist to stop the bleeding, about to guide her to the side to sit, but she shook her head saying, "It’s not over yet, the placenta hasn’t been removed." Saying this, she turned to walk towards Yu Hongxiu.
This room was after all Yu Hongxiu’s delivery room, and Jiang Yichun’s intrusion made bit awkward. As such, he reluctantly grabbed Hao Baishuang and extracted her from the room, trying his best not to look where he shouldn’t. Despite these precautions, because of his uneasy worrying about Bai Ruozhu, his gaze constantly strayed to her wound.
She wore a thin, pale-colored spring dress that day, which made the blood from her waist highly visible. It drenched a large area, filling it with a striking, bright red stain, like a large patch of summer flowers blooming. It was brilliant and yet glaring, causing a piercing pain in Jiang Yichun’s eyes.
Bai Ruozhu told her mother and maid, Ruyi, to clean up the babies. Since the children were born prematurely, they needed to be handled very carefully.
Yu Hongxiu started sobbing, "Ruozhu, don’t worry about me. Go check on your wound, it’s my fault you got hurt."
While retrieving the placenta from Yu Hongxiu, Bai Ruozhu chuckled, "She attacked me specifically, it has nothing to do with you. Now that you’ve had the baby, you should begin postnatal care, and you shouldn’t cry. You could cry your eyes out."
Yu Hongxiu detected that Bai Ruozhu’s speech was weaker than usual and saw her lips were white, which only increased her distress.
After she had finished treating Yu Hongxiu, Bai Ruozhu’s body swayed and she nearly collapsed onto the floor.
Jiang Yichun rushed back using his lightness skill, sweeping her up like a gust of wind and carrying her out of the room.
"Let’s get your wound treated," he said, filled with concern.
Bai Ruozhu pulled on his arm, "No, I can’t leave, someone has to monitor her after giving birth, it’s very dangerous. Did you forget about my postpartum hemorrhage?"
"But..." Jiang Yichun was anxious but as he met Bai Ruozhu’s eyes, he found himself incapable of further protest.
Hao Baishuang, who had been thrown aside by Jiang Yichun, looked blankly up and her eyes had a look of confusion.
In the end, they bandaged Ruozhu’s wound in the second bedroom. Fortunately, Hao Baishuang had not wielded the scissors with much strength, the wound was not very deep. However, as Jiang Yichun felt his wife’s delicate waist, his heart was filled with a mix of distress and fury.
Thinking of this, he went out to deal with Hao Baishuang. Bai Ruozhu didn’t try to stop him. She was no saint capable of rising above vengeance.
Jiang Yichun kicked Hao Baishuang, seeming to think she wasn’t worth dirtying his hands over. Hao Baishuang cried out in agony as her right arm, the one she had used to stab Ruozhu, was broken.
"Was there really a need for you, an accomplished female doctor, to intervene for the Du Family? Was it worth it?" Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help asking. It was the Du Family’s own fault that they had fallen, she felt Hao Baishuang, being unrelated, had no business getting involved.
Hao Baishuang’s lips trembled with pain. Her laugh was cold, "I didn’t need to stand up for the Du Family, but you’re responsible for my cousin’s death, and you owe her a life. Your blood doesn’t even begin to settle the scores."
Cousin? Dead?
"Are you talking about Du Zhongshu’s mother?" Bai Ruozhu asked in surprise, she hadn’t expected that the second mistress of the Du Family was deceased.
Hao Baishuang’s eyes were filled with desolation, "Last month she killed herself. All because of you, she was expelled and sent back home. Add to that the collapse of the Du Family, she lost hope and chose to kill herself. My family was impoverished when I was a child. If not for her help, I wouldn’t have become a doctor. Today, when I met you, how could I not avenge her?"
Bai Ruozhu, who was clutching her lower back, filled her eyes with frost, "Don’t you know why the Du Family sent her back home? She bribed killers to shoot cold arrows at me on my way to Beiyu City. The Du Family was afraid of getting into trouble, so they expelled her. If anything, she’s entirely to blame for her own cunning acts. It was more than merciful of me not to have her thrown into prison. What right do you have to say I killed her?"
"No, that’s not possible. My cousin is not such a person..." As Hao Baishuang spoke, her voice faded because she could no longer be sure of the kind of person her cousin was.
Hao Baishuang’s eyes were clouded over. She seemed at a loss, as though she’d lost her soul. Seeing her like that, Bai Ruozhu huffed coldly and returned to the room to check on Yu Hongxiu.
Ruyi, accompanied by a maid, had cleaned up the room. The beddings had been changed as well. Exhausted, Yu Hongxiu had fallen asleep. Xie Dun was still tightly clutching her hand, refusing to leave her side even for a bit of rest.
Lin Ping’er returned with the two babies and put them down in Yu Hongxiu’s bed. Then, with tears in her eyes, she turned to Bai Ruozhu, "Daughter, are you alright?"
Bai Ruozhu quickly grabbed a handkerchief for her mother to dry her tears, smiling comfortingly, "I’m fine, it’s just a superficial wound. I’ve applied some top-quality wound medicine; I’ll recover quickly."
That’s good, just so long as you’re alright," Lin Ping’er said, wiping her tears.
Outside, Jiang Yichun ordered Bai Yichun to be imprisoned before promptly leaving the courtyard.
After a while, Bai Ruozhu, who was in Yu Hongxiu’s room, was beginning to feel sleepy, when Jiang Yichun reappeared, this time carrying a bowl of medicine soup.
"Here, drink the blood restoration medicine," he tenderly held the medicinal soup, blew at it to cool it down, and brought it to her lips.
Bai Ruozhu was really tired that day, combined with her injury and blood loss, she merely hummed in response. Leaning on his hand, she allowed him to feed her the medicine.