The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

Fortunately, Lord Zhou did not force Zhang Ping'an to admit it immediately, which made Zhang Ping'an much calmer and at least gave him time to think.

Early the next morning, Lord Zhou and his entourage rushed to the next county.

Everyone in the county government breathed a sigh of relief.

County Magistrate Yang wiped the sweat from his forehead and said exaggeratedly: "Now I can have a good sleep!"

The others nodded knowingly and agreed secretly.

Time passed like flowing water, and it was already mid-September.

My sixth brother-in-law stayed in Ci County for a while, and after making sure that the weapons could be used stably, he returned to Lin'an more than ten days ago.

It should be just in time for Liu Ya to give birth.

After Lord Zhou left, Lieutenant General Zhou trained his troops even more diligently, and now he even comes to the county government less often.

The suburban navy camp is under closed management. Even Zhang Pingan, the county magistrate, is not allowed to enter easily. No one knows what the situation is like now.

The Annan rice brought back by Green Bean Eye was grown very well, with a high germination rate and a high survival rate. Some seedlings that were not doing well were replaced in time. Now they are almost two feet tall. The green rice looks lush and green, and the growth is gratifying.

If all goes well, we can harvest at the end of October or early November. We just hope the weather is good and there won't be heavy rain.

To this end, Zhang Ping'an also had people erect many half-person-high wooden stakes in the ground and made a lot of straw mats. In case of a heavy rain, it can be used to withstand it for a while, which is better than nothing.

I thought Liu Ya would be the first to bring the good news, but unexpectedly it was my eldest cousin's wife who started it first.

It was Xu who discovered it first. She had given birth to many children and had experience. In addition, Chen Ergu also reminded her that the closer to the delivery time, the more careful she should be. Therefore, she let Yingniang rest in bed for some time and asked the maid to keep an eye on her at all times.

When the maid came to report that Yingniang's stomach was uncomfortable, Xu went into the room and felt her and knew that she was about to give birth.

He quickly ordered the maid, "Go and ask the midwife and Aunt Chen to come over. Oh, and tell the old lady too."

"Hey," the maid responded and ran out quickly.

"Yingniang, how do you feel now? Can you get up?" Xu asked with concern.

Yingniang had a forbearing expression on her face. She touched her belly and nodded, "It just feels like my stomach is cramping and it hurts a little, but I can still bear it. Second Aunt, please help me up!"

"Okay, childbirth usually doesn't happen this quickly. I'll bring you a bowl of brown sugar and egg water later. After you drink it, you'll have the strength to give birth," Xu comforted Yingniang as she helped her get up.

At this time, Zhang also received the news and came over. Seeing Yingniang's condition, she touched her belly and said, "It will take a while before the baby is born!"

Then, together with Xu, they helped Yingniang to the delivery room across an alley from the back door of the yamen. The distance was not too far and only took a few minutes to walk there. It was specially prepared for Yingniang's delivery two months ago.

After helping the patient to the delivery room and finally settling them down, both Xu and Zhang were sweating.

Xu panted heavily and said, "Mother, please wait here for a while. The midwife and Aunt Chen will be here soon. I'll go back and bring you a bowl of brown sugar and egg water. It will give you more strength to give birth."

"Okay, go ahead," Zhang nodded.

After a while, Xu came over with her maid and old woman, carrying brown sugar and egg water in a food box.

The midwife and Chen Ergu arrived soon after.

"It's still early, eat something first," the midwife said calmly after touching her belly.

He also ordered the maid to boil some hot water to cook scissors, cloth and other things.

However, the child might have gotten used to staying in the mother's womb and was reluctant to come out. When Zhang Ping'an left the yamen, the child had not yet been born.

Zhang and Xu were really tired after waiting for the whole afternoon, and they were exhausted when they came back for dinner.

Qian Youyi tilted his head and said, "Grandma, Mom, you must be tired after guarding for the whole afternoon. I'll go see my cousin's wife later!"

Zhang shook her head and said, "I appreciate your kindness on behalf of your cousin's wife, but you'd better not go. There are maids, servants, and doctors there. The conditions there are much better than when we gave birth. You're not pregnant yet, so be careful not to bump into them. It's not good!"

Xu also followed up, "That's right, you're not pregnant yet, so you can't go. These are the rules passed down by the older generation. No one will blame you if you don't go. You can wait until your cousin's wife gives birth and then go and see her."

"Okay, then I'll prepare some more supplements for my cousin's wife. She just gave birth and must be lacking in energy and blood," Qian Youyi nodded and no longer insisted.

Zhang Laoer sighed with some envy, "Big brother's family is going to have another baby. I hope it's a boy."

"Yingniang is already this old. To be honest, it doesn't matter if she has a boy or a girl. She will have someone to rely on," said Zhang.

After dinner, Zhang felt a little tired, so she went back to her room to rest, and Xu went to the delivery room to keep an eye on it.

Zhang Ping'an and Zhang Laoer are both boys, and they live in separate rooms, so it is not convenient for them to go there specially. They can only wait until the baby is born to go and see it.

It was not until it was completely dark, almost the hour of Xu, that Yingniang gave birth safely to a baby boy.

Xu was very happy holding the child, but she only regretted that it was not her own.

Chen Ergu had been busy for most of the day and finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the baby was born safely.

Yingniang had fallen asleep due to exhaustion.

"When she wakes up, let her drink more brown sugar water. Remember to stay up all month and don't get out of bed. The bowl of labor-inducing medicine I gave her at night is still quite strong, so she needs to rest well," Chen Ergu advised.

"Okay, I'll pay attention to it," Xu nodded and asked the maid to take out the sealed medical fee and give it to Chen Ergu.

She then complained a bit, "My eldest sister-in-law is so comfortable being a mother-in-law. She pushed her daughter-in-law to Ci County and doesn't care about anything. She hasn't even seen a penny. I wonder if she will still care about Yingniang after she gives birth to a son!"

Chen Ergu didn't want to get involved in such family matters, so she smiled and said nothing, then went back accompanied by the servants.

It was already late at night, and it was not good to disturb others. Xu could only stay up all night. It was impossible to say that she had no resentment in her heart, but she blamed her sister-in-law more, and felt sorry for Yingniang. But she thought about it and let it go.

Zhang Pingan and his friends only learned the news early the next morning.

Old Man Zhang and Old Man Zhang were also very happy to hear this, after all, he was a male in the Zhang family.

"Ask the chef to make some nourishing soup and we'll deliver it over in person to see my sister-in-law. By the way, let the wet nurse go over and let her take care of me. She's probably exhausted," Zhang Ping'an said, turning to Qian Youyi.

"Okay," Qian Youyi nodded.

Just as he finished speaking, before he finished his breakfast, someone from the post station brought a letter.

Zhang Ping'an opened it and smiled. It turned out that his sixth sister had also given birth the day before yesterday morning. It was a boy, a little bit older than Yingniang's child.

It’s a double happiness!