That night, long after the estate had grown quiet, a servant arrived at Luo He's chambers with unusual urgency. Su Kim had called for him.
He went immediately. Her room was warm and dimly lit, heavy curtains drawn against the night air. Lamps burned low along the walls, casting soft amber light over polished wood and folded linens prepared in advance.
Midwives waited near the far side of the chamber, whispering among themselves. Two physicians stood nearby with worried faces and tired eyes. Su Kim lay propped against cushions upon the bed.
She was well past the time expected for delivery more than a week and a half beyond it. Yet labor had still not begun.
Even for a woman who hid discomfort better than most warriors hid fear, the strain was beginning to show.
When Luo He entered, her eyes found him immediately. No performance. No playful cruelty. Only trust sharpened by concern. Luo He approached without wasting words and placed a hand lightly over her abdomen.
His system's scanning sense moved through mother and child alike. The child was healthy. Strong heartbeat. Proper position. No immediate danger. He exhaled once. The room noticed.
One of the physicians stepped forward.
"My lord, the child delays too long. If this continues, the mother may weaken. We advised methods to encourage labor."
Luo He looked at him once.
"My lord, the child should have come by now. In many homes, it is believed that intercourse can help start labor. We advised Lady Su Kim to call for you."
Luo He's expression changed only slightly.
"A belief," he said calmly, "is not the same as truth." The room fell quiet.
He stepped closer and placed a hand gently against Su Kim's abdomen, then again he activated the scanning senses which he trusted far more than rumors.
He examined the child's position, the mother's pulse, the movement of the womb, the tension of the muscles, and the overall health of both mother and son.
After a moment, he spoke. "The baby is healthy. Su Kim is tired, but stable. Labor has not properly begun yet." The physician frowned. "Many women say intimacy brought contractions so I advise your lordship to spend some time with her." Luo He turned to him giving a weird glance.
He turned to the others. "All of you step back. I need space." Every one moved out.
"What often happens is," he said to Su Kim evenly. "Timing mistaken for cause." He began explaining while continuing his examination. "When a woman is already near labor, contractions may begin naturally soon regardless of what she does.
If something happens shortly before labor, people assume it caused it." "That is how superstition survives."
He continued "Movement, relaxation, reduced fear, stimulation of certain hormones, and the body already being ready for labor can all play roles. But intercourse itself is not some magical switch that forces childbirth."
"In medicine," Luo He said. "We must separate coincidence from mechanism."
Su Kim gave a weak smile. "So I asked you here for a foolish reason?"
"No," he replied. "You asked for help. That is never foolish." She looked relieved enough to nearly cry. Then Luo He rolled up his sleeves. "I did study methods that may genuinely assist labor."
Luo He wisely stepped back. He already understood the truth. Many physicians relied on customs repeated more often than tested. Fear filled gaps where knowledge failed.
Su Kim watched him carefully. Then, after a moment, she spoke in a quieter voice than anyone had ever heard from her. "They told me many things." Luo He sat beside the bed.
"Most foolish." A faint shadow of her old sharpness returned. Then faded. "But I do not care if it is foolish." She lowered her eyes briefly. "I want our son to be safe." That word hung in the room. Our son.
She continued. "If I must beg, then I beg of you." The physicians pretended not to hear but they tried their best to understand what was going on behind the closed door. The midwives looked at the door. Su Kim, who would rather insult a king than flatter one, had chosen humility for the child's sake.
Luo He saw how much that cost her. "Help me bring him out." He was quiet for a moment. Then nodded. "I was already going to." Luo He said confidently.
Relief crossed her face so quickly she almost seemed angry at herself for slowing it.
From a leather case he withdrew several small jars and cloths. He had studied childbirth carefully in recent months, preparing for this very possibility.
There were methods beyond waiting and praying. He used a specially prepared medicinal oil to reduce strain and discomfort, then began a controlled abdominal massage designed to encourage proper descent of the child.
He gave her a tea he specialy made for women not to get pregnant. This helps to abort any pregnancy from occuring in regular women but it contains progesterone a hormone also very important in triggering labour.
His hands moved with precision never rough, never careless guiding pressure in measured intervals while monitoring both mother and infant. Su Kim gripped the sheets. Sweat gathered at her temples. She said nothing. Not one complaint.
Only once did she curse him for putting a child in her, which Luo He considered a sign of improving progress. Time passed slowly. The room held its breath.
He adjusted position again, instructed breathing, corrected tension, and continued. At last the body responded.
Labor began properly. The midwives hurried forward at his command, now suddenly with reverence, assisted where told and nowhere else.
After a long, difficult stretch of effort, a child's cry broke through the room. Strong. Clear. Alive. His son. The entire chamber exhaled as one. Su Kim fell back against the cushions, exhausted, eyes wet though she would deny it forever.
Luo He received the child first, checked breathing, pulse, limbs, color, then cut and secured the cord with practiced calm before handing the boy to be wrapped.
He looked down at the infant a moment longer than expected.
Then handed him gently to his mother.
Su Kim stared at the child as though the world had narrowed to only that small face. "He has my eyes." She said. Luo He glanced once. "Unfortunate for him."
She laughed weakly despite her state. By morning, stories had already spread through the estate. Most versions were wrong. Some claimed it was sorcery.
Others whispered that Luo He had followed the physicians' advice.
A few made the tale scandalous for sport. Truth, as usual, was less dramatic and more skillful. By midday even Jin Mulan had heard enough to come see for herself.
She entered Su Kim's chamber with composed dignity, though curiosity moved faster than pride. When she saw the child in Su Kim's arms, something in her expression softened at once. Then she looked at Luo He. Then at Su Kim.
Then back at the child.
"So this is the chaos everyone was whispering about." Su Kim smirked faintly. "Jealous?" She asked. "Of your timing, perhaps." Jin Mulan replied.
Then, after a pause, she stepped closer and looked down at the boy. Once, she had made a promise to her husband.
Whatever came, she would face it directly. So she did. She reached out and touched the child's small hand. "He is innocent in all this."
Luo He, standing nearby, smiled quietly.
For all their rivalry, sharp words, and tangled loyalties they had both come.
And in houses ruled by power, that often meant more than affection ever could.