However, just as their heads turned, something suddenly flew out from the tent entrance—a white boot shot out, followed by an enraged roar: "No peeking!"
"Your Majesty, gentlemen, please rest assured. Childbirth is painful, yes, but it's a process every woman must go through. Whatever you do, do NOT anger Her Highness right now—her breathing is already unsteady. If she gets upset, the consequences could be very serious," Madam Bao said honestly.
Upon hearing this, all seven husbands shouted in unison, "We won't peek! Absolutely not!"
"Good," Madam Bao nodded, then carefully lifted a corner of the tent and slipped inside at lightning speed.
"Ah—!" Immediately, another agonized scream from Ivy Shen echoed from inside the tent.
Her screams were so sharp it felt like ants were crawling through their hearts, making the seven men unbearably anxious.
"Breathe, Your Highness—relax, just relax," Madam Jin was sweating as well, clearly just as nervous. No wonder, since she'd delivered many princes and princesses before, but never had she seen His Majesty so worried about Her Highness. This was a first.
"Don't be afraid, Your Highness. Just try to relax," Madam Yin sat at the bedside, constantly wiping Ivy's sweat and soothing her.
"It hurts, it hurts so much..." Getting stabbed in the chest with a dagger hadn’t even hurt this bad—so why did having a baby hurt so much more?
"Hang in there, Xin’er, the baby should be almost here!" Yvonne Li had never witnessed a scene like this before. Ivy was squeezing her hand so tightly from the pain that Yvonne was sweating too, as if she were experiencing childbirth herself.
Ethan Chu's furious outburst scared the soldiers so much that they scrambled back into their tents and didn't dare come out again.
"Little Seven, I'm scared, our wife is in so much pain, I..." The snow outside fell harder, quickly covering the seven men in white, but none of them felt cold—only terrified. Liam Willow, sweating from worry, couldn't stop his palms from sweating.
"It's okay, it's okay," Eli Crane tried to comfort him, though he was sweating just as much and had never felt so scared before.
No wonder—even when Ivy Shen fell from a great height and was badly injured, she didn't make a sound. But now she was screaming in pain; it was clear how much she was suffering.
Adrian Night, unable to calm down, kept swinging his sword in the snow, hoping it would help steady his nerves, but his technique kept slipping.
"Sixth Brother," Butterfly Rogue clasped his hands together, snowflakes gathering on his lashes, but he didn't notice, too worried about the tightly closed tent.
Ethan Chu said nothing, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, sneaking glances at the tent.
"Xin'er, Xin'er..." Lucian Vane's usually mesmerizing face was twisted in worry, eyes full of concern.
"Xin'er, Xin'er, you can do it!" Caleb Miles paced back and forth, his abacus clicking loudly with every step—a rare sight, since normally it wouldn't make a sound no matter how fast he moved. But now he was too worried to care, and the noise was especially jarring in the quiet night.
"Push, Your Highness, it's almost out—I can see something white!" Madam Jin said, drenched in sweat.
"Go, Xin'er, you can do it!" Yvonne Li cheered, her excitement clear as she kept encouraging Ivy.
"Push, push, push!" Madam Jin shouted loudly.
"Ah—!" Ivy grabbed Yvonne Li's hand with one hand and the bedding with the other, arched her back, and screamed, using all her strength. Suddenly, everything below slipped and her belly felt empty.
And just like that, the indescribable pain disappeared.
"It's out, it's out!" Madam Bao knelt there, wrapping the steaming 'baby' in a fine white mink blanket.
Madam Jin finally breathed a sigh of relief and began cleaning Ivy up.
"Your Highness, look, what a cute little prince!" Madam Bao hurried over to Ivy, smiling. "So cute, so beautiful, so..."
"Auntie, it's just an egg!" Ivy said helplessly. Are all the palace people this good at flattery? Cute, beautiful?
Come on, it's just an egg—how can you tell if it's cute or beautiful?
Yvonne Li couldn't help but laugh. "It may just be an egg, but it's a beautiful egg! I can't wait to see what the baby inside looks like!"
"Your Highness, you're all cleaned up, please change into your serpent form," Madam Jin said as she came over.
"Change into my serpent form?" Ivy asked, confused.
"Yes, the egg needs to be incubated! Naturally, it needs the warmth of your tail," Madam Jin replied with a smile.
"Careful, Your Highness," Madam Yin gently helped Ivy up and added several pillows behind her waist to make it easier to incubate the egg.
Ivy pouted helplessly. "So as long as it's a tail, it's fine? Why not let the seven of them take turns incubating it?"
She was so exhausted from giving birth, she thought the seven men should handle the egg incubation.
"That won't work, Your Highness. Your body is connected to the baby. If you incubate the egg, the baby will hatch in a day or two. If someone else does it, even with utmost care, it would take at least fifteen days, and any mistake could be disastrous. Besides, with all this snow, the egg needs warmth—only your body can provide that," Madam Jin explained.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, Your Highness. If you do it, the baby will hatch in a day or two. If someone else does it, it would take fifteen days even without any accidents. And after all that pain, you want to see your baby as soon as possible, right?" Madam Yin urged.
Hearing this, Ivy looked at the egg wrapped in Madam Bao's hands, sighed, and revealed her tail, curling it into a circle.
Madam Bao carefully placed the egg on Ivy's curled tail and covered it with a mink blanket.
Ivy's mouth twitched. She was a 21st-century woman, and now she had to incubate an egg like a mother hen. Unbelievable!
Madam Jin hurried outside, knowing the men must be waiting anxiously.
"It's born—a big, plump, white egg!" Madam Jin announced cheerfully.
Ivy, listening inside, couldn't help but twitch her mouth again. Seriously, all serpent eggs are white!
The men rushed inside when they heard.
"Xin'er, darling..." They saw Ivy resting, her golden tail curled in a circle with a white mink blanket on top.
They hurried over and peeked at the egg on her tail.
"Can we see it?" they all asked eagerly in unison.
Madam Jin smiled and carefully lifted a corner of the mink blanket, revealing the big, white serpent egg.