"Aaarrgghh!!" A painful scream was echoing through the room—a young lady, 16th, fighting against her labor. Her name was Li Xiaoyu, The only daughter and child of Li family.
"Push!! Push harder, My Lady!!" shouted a midwife.She was helping the young lady give birth to her baby.
"The head comes, push again!!" The midwife was slightly relieved, the baby was starting to get out.
"Try harder, Miss!!" Li Xiaoyu's maid wiped away the cold sweat with the size of a corn kernel that continued to flow profusely during this painful process.
"Aaaarrrrgghhh!!!" Xiaoyu pushed again, she pushed her baby's body with all her might. The midwife helped pull the baby's head. The maids tightly held Xiaoyu's two hands as support. She also bit the cloth to channel the pain.
The excruciating pain immediately disappeared as the tiny baby slid from between her open thighs. Amniotic fluid flowed profusely along with blood.
"Oekkk Oekkk!!" The sound of the baby girl's cry echoed throughout the room, making the maids touched by Xiaoyu's struggle.
Xiaoyu's pale face looked radiant, a smile adorning her beautiful appearance. Xiaoyu's fingers moved slowly, hoping to touch the fruit of her love.
"Beautiful little baby," said the midwife who helped Xiaoyu's delivery. She wrapped the tiny baby in a golden cloth.
"Let me see my daughter!" Xiaoyu tried to get up, she looked exhausted, but her maternal instincts gave her extra strength.
Outside the room, her mother, Mrs. Li Mingxi, walked to and fro. She couldn't hide her worry. The young woman in this room was her only child, the precious daughter of the Li family. And now, her daughter was suffering in pain due to the hard labor. The illegitimate baby could take her daughter's life.
A maid left the room with a basin full of bloody water.
"How??" Mrs Li asked her.
"The baby was born, it's a girl!" The maid said happily, after a long, terrifying wait and painful struggle, the baby came into the world.
Mrs Li went inside. First, she looked at her daughter. The young lady seemed exhausted, but her face was happy and proud. She became a mother of a healthy and adorable baby girl. The baby was the embodiment of her love for a young warrior. He died during the war, but his body has never been found.
After measuring that her daughter was okay. Then Mrs. Li saw the midwife hugging the baby. Her anger peaked. This unwanted baby would ruin her daughter's future. She had to banish the baby from Li Xiaoyu's life.
"Yuyun!"
"Yes, Madam."
"Take the baby!" Mrs Li asked her young maid to take the baby from the midwaife's arms.
"Yes." Wu Yuyun snatched the baby from the middle-aged woman.
"Oeeee…" The baby started to cry.
"No!!! No!! My baby!! Please don't take her!!" Li Xiaoyu begged her mother not to take away her baby. She loved her baby so much.
But Mrs Li stood still with her decision, she had to take this baby away from her daughter's life. So that her daughter could marry a good man from a noble family.
Last year, Li Xioyu was engaged to Gu Zhaoan, a young man from the duke's family. He was a widow with a son. Gu Zhaoan had a noble family background, meanwhile Li Xiaoyu was from a rich family. The Li family needed honor while the Gu family needed money to support their career. Gu Zhaoan was a small king under Emperor Liu's reign.
But Li Xiaoyu already loved someone else. A young man from a low-income family background. A soldier from a small village. They fell in love and made love before Liu Anwei went to war. Unexpectedly, Xiaoyu was pregnant while Anwei fell during the war.
The Li family had to delay their wedding, said that their daughter was ill. Waiting for Xiaoyu to give birth first.
"Please don't, Mother! Please!" Xiaoyu cried, Beging for her baby's mercy.
"Take her!!" Mrs Li shouted, and the maid quickly turned away.
Her cold gaze made Xiaoyi's heart tremble, there was fear, also a feeling of worry.
"No!!"
"Hold her!" She asked other maids.
"No ... my child!! My baby!!" Xiaoyu refused, she did not want to be separated from her child. The baby belonged to Xiaoyu, she loved her baby, the child of her lover.
"Shut up, Xiaoyu!! Don't cry!! Mother did all this for your own good!!" Mrs. Li approached Xiaoyu, she grabbed her arm on her child's shoulder who continued to rebel.
Mrs. Li was also sad to see her child's heart broken, but she had no other choice. What mother could bear to see her child suffer? However, Xiaoyi's pregnancy made Mrs. Li extremely upset.
Her only daughter, the most beautiful in Xian village, the most beautiful flower in the village, who had always be the idol of the nobles, suddenly became pregnant out of wedlock with a village young man with no title. The young man only had quite formidable martial arts skills because he graduated from the military academy and became a member of the army.
But what could such a lowly soldier be proud of? He would not be able to give Xiaoyu a bright future. He had no money, fame, or position in the social. To the Li family who was so rich, this man was just a loser.
"No!! I want my child!!" Xiaoyu whined to her mother. Usually Mrs. Li never refused Xiaoyu's requests.
"Shut up!! Save your energy for recovery, mother promises to take good care of your child! You can meet her again later." Mrs. Li refused. This time she had to act firmly with her spoiled daughter.
"Sob... sob... why?? you are so cruel!!" Xiaoyu cried. The baby was the only legacy of her late lover. Xiaoyu loved the man so much, she was even willing to give her purity to her lover before he went to the battlefield. Who would have thought that her lover would die on the battlefield?
"I'm doing this for you, dear! In three months, you will marry Duke Gu. How can their family accept a girl who already has a child as a daughter-in-law? They will definitely be very angry and think we are playing with them." Mrs Li stroked Xiaoyu's beautiful face.
"...." Xiaoyu was silent. Her engagement with Duke Gu Zhaoan had indeed been set by both families. This was a business marriage, the Gu family had a noble title and position, while the Li family had abundant wealth. By marrying Xiaoyu to the Duke's family, their families would have noble titles.
"This is all your fault! How could you get pregnant when your engagement was being discussed by both families?!" Mrs. Li sat down, her expression hard. Honestly, she was disappointed with Xiaoyu who chose love over power and honor.
"I love Anwei, Mom. I will only love him forever." Xiaoyu ignored her mother's words.
"Naive girl! Do you think your life will be guaranteed only live with love? How many times have I told you to stay away from that poor young man??" Mrs. Li slammed the table.
"He is a national hero!"
"He is a dead man, Xiaoyu!" Mrs. Li said firmly.
"Sob... but her body hasn't been found yet." Xiaoyu sobbed. She prayed every day so that Anwei would still be alive.
"Forget about him! You must recover quickly and marry Duke Gu!!" Madam Li stood up to leave her daughter's room.
"No... I don't want to!" Xiaoyu screamed loudly. She refused the marriage proposed by her mother.
"You must obey what mother says, Xiaoyu!! Otherwise, I will not support your daughter and will throw her far away so that you will never be able to find her!" Mrs. Li's threat made the daughter's courage shrink. Losing a child would be the most painful suffering for a mother.
Xiaoyu had no choice but to accept her mother's request to marry Duke Gu.
Three months later, Xiaoyu was slim again, beautiful, and also very charming. Wearing a bright red wedding dress, she was led by a luxurious horse-drawn carriage to Chengdu, the capital of the Shu district.
"The bride has arrived!!" Cheers from the Duke's family resounded. They welcomed the arrival of the bride.
Xiaoyu married Gu Zhaoan, a handsome and charismatic young man, a young duke who captivated many women's heart. His first wife died while giving birth to their first son, Zhao Qin. After five years of being a widower, Gu Zhaoan finally remarried.
He welcomed his beautiful wife with a warm smile. The attention and affection given by Zhaoan slowly shattered the hard stone in Xiaoyu's heart. She began to shift her love for Weian. Xiaoyu began to love Zhaoan with all her heart. She took care of Zhao Qin like her own son. Educated and brought Zhao Qin up to become a scholar.
However, in her nights, Xiaoyu never thought about her daughter for a single day. She missed her daughter who had been separated from her since birth. Xiaoyu always prayed that she could meet her sweet girl once again.
"Where are you now, baby? You must have grown up." Xiaoyu stared blankly at the moon that was shining brightly that night. When her daughter was born, the moon also shone as brightly as this.
****