Prologue

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The sky was still dark but the dawn couldn’t be far away. The air was cold and unkind to the skin, biting whatever was left uncovered. The faraway cries let people remember that the New Year had come. However, in the Jia residence, despite the soft cries of pain coming from a particular room, the rest of the manor was dreadfully silent. Many were up, in a sitting position, waiting for the news that was late to come.

General Jia was particularly anxious as he let his fingers tapped against his thigh, his brows furrowed. His sons were fidgeting too, and the eldest one, Fai Cong, was constantly putting his hand on his belt, where would have been his sword had it been a later time of the day. Touching the tilt of it let him relax on the outskirts of the city and it had long become a tick he never tried to suppress. The loss of the steel was now making him feel even more anxious. The other two youngsters were still sleepy, their heads tilting up and down as they fought to be awake. Chang He, the elder one of the two, had dragged his younger brother, Huang Ju, out of bed when he heard the running feet of the servants going to and fro with hot water and other preparations. Thinking that for once he would get to see the newcomer the very instant he would be here had excited him to the point of chasing off his sleepiness. Who would have thought that several hours later, that person had yet to arrive still! Huang Ju for his part hadn’t been given any choice as his brother shook him again and again until he fell off the bed. At this time he really wished he was little Xin Yi, at the very least, he would still be comfortably sleeping. What difference would it have made to wait for the proper hours of the morning, ah?

Father and eldest son usually weren’t as anxious as that. After all, the general had experienced such an event four times already. What of a fifth? It should have been less worrying. However, a month ago, it had been brought to him that one of his subordinated lost his wife during birthing. And the fact that this pregnancy of his beloved had affected her like the previous ones didn’t, made his heart raced. She was constantly tired these months and while she didn’t throw up this time, she had still bled a little. And now, she was in that dreadful room for a whole day now! How could his thoughts be pacifists? He was restraining himself to not enter the room and shake these easy-going women! It was his wife that was crying for hours now for crying out loud!

Grandfather Jia and grandmother Jia were in the room with them too, while the other members of the family were waiting respectfully in their own pavilion.

As the sun pierced the night away, the first cries of the child were heard. Grandmother Jia congratulated her son, the congratulations were repeated by the bowing servants in an interminable echo, the news traveling the whole manor really fast. The littlest ones were shaken awake by the voices and while there was a little relief on his face and that of his eldest child, the general was still a little stiff, waiting for the head of midwives to come and tell him that his wife was alright. However, the person was late to come in his opinion and in the end, feeling impatient as well as that he could hold on no longer, he went to open the room just as the woman came out holding the new additional member. And while he smiled politely, and gave his fifth child a brief glance, he didn’t linger and instead promptly enter the room that still had a thick smell of blood; not deterred by the servants that tried to dissuade him.

His wife was lying there, looking at him with a tired expression but a still silly smile on her face. A smile formed its way to the shaking corner of his lips. He wanted to talk but in the end, no words came out. Crossing the room in long strides, he was fast to come near her. Her gaze followed him all along as he obediently sat next to her, holding one of her hands, while his were still slightly shaking.

She was alright, he told himself. She was still alive.

“Silly” she mouthed, not having the energy left to muster more.

“How do you feel?”

She smiled as an answer, her gaze then going to the door.

“The little one is alright” he was fast to assure. From what he had briefly seen, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong, if there was, he would certainly have been informed by the head of the midwives already.

Chuckling a little at his doting manner which wasn’t usually as obvious as this and at his ignorance of the fact yet, she finally managed to tell him with her slightly plump face revealing dimples,

“It’s a girl”

The callused hands that were caressing hers stopped; his expression growing a little astonished.

“Is it?” he asked then, cracking a smile that lighted his whole face, mirroring hers.

Outside the room, the loudness was going higher and higher, as everyone was welcoming the first daughter of general Jia, first miss of house Jia since five generations ago.

Jia Bao Bai.

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