Chapter 2 up! Enjoy!

Hehe, this chapter explains why this fic is rated what it is :P

Birth Throes – Chapter 2 – Doubts

Staring at the stacks of scrolls and books in front of her, Yue Ying almost felt her soul leave her body. "Whose great idea was this?!"

Lady Gan shoved the books toward her. "Come on now, if you want to learn some things about this, you'll have to read about past births and maybe auspicious dates that can make your future son more important than the Prime Minister. Don't be shy, pull them all open! You're a bookworm anyway!"

Yue Ying looked higher up, noticing the scrolls touched the ceiling. "I can't do this in one day!"

"No one said you had a time limit," Lady Mi assured, "You have all the time in the world."

"I do?" Yue Ying asked, nervously. She stood up. "Well good, very good, I don't have to do this now, nor do I have to get pregnant anytime soon. W00t." She raced to the door, and just as she pulled the doors open, stood Liu Bei's younger brother, Zhang Fei.

"What's going on here?" he inquired, a jug of wine in his left hand. Judging by the redness of his face and the heavy smell of alcohol, anyone could tell he was already drunk.

Yue Ying stepped back. "W-What are you doing in the castle library?"

"Who says a man can't read?"

Lady Gan's eyes narrowed. "If any idiot couldn't tell that Lord Zhang was drunk, they could tell now!"

She directed her attention to Zhang and then said, "Since when do you want to read?"

"Since I drink!" He took another gulp, wine spilling on the front of his shirt. "What's going on here?"

Just as Yue Ying was about to say something, Lady Mi interrupted, "Have you heard what happened with Lady Huang and the Prime Minister? He wants something." She winked at the drunkard.

Zhang Fei hiccupped. "You mean a son?"

Lady Gan frowned. "What a guess."

"Don't worry, sister-in-law," Zhang Fei responded, walking into the room unsteadily. "It was my second guess. It's the second thing every man wants." He was just about to fall when Yue Ying grabbed his sleeve, causing his wine to spill all over her.

"Aww, dangit," he muttered. "My wine . . . the famous Chengdu brew! This is a hundred taels a jug!"

"You can always get another jug," Lady Gan said, helping him back on his feet. "Anyway, Zhuge Liang wants a son . . ."

Zhang Fei's eyes widened. "I can imagine how much jars of wine I can make off Yue Ying!"

Yue Ying wiped her face with her soaked sleeve, which seemed to make it worse. "What? I'm not going to bribe you to keep your mouth shut!"

"You must," Zhang Fei said, smiling. He leaned on Yue Ying's shoulder, the smell of wine hot on his breath. "A golden ingot will do."

Yue Ying held her breath for as long as she could, but then had to breathe. Once she inhaled Zhang Fei's putrid odor, she coughed and collapsed, Zhang Fei falling on her. She gasped for air and then choked, "Can't . . . breathe!"

"For two ingots!" Zhang Fei exclaimed.

Yue Ying coughed twice, and that somehow triggered two golden ingots to fall out of her sleeve. Zhang Fei stared at the ingots, stood up, thanked her and left the room He bumped into every maidservant he saw, some accidentally, some purposely.

Yue Ying sighed deeply and then whispered, "Ai, that's over . . ." She went over to another room to change and dry herself, the smell of wine filling the room.

"No it's not," replied the Ladies Mi and Gan, grinning.

"Oh dear, don't tell me I have to bribe you two as well?" The clothes Yue Ying was wearing before was tossed back into the Library.

"No money can shut my mouth, Lady Huang, and I'm surprised you haven't figured that out earlier."

"O damn you. What can I do so you can keep your mouth shut about this? It's quite personal . . . I don't even know why I told you in the first place." She came out, looking more as she always did.

"Nothing, except learning about birth, auspiciousness, and other things that fall along those lines," replied Lady Mi. "How does that sound to you?"

"Sounds . . . good?"

"Better be."

Yue Ying shakily pulled out a scroll from the bottom of the pile, because she was too lazy to pull one from the top, and started reading along, her eyes blinking more often due to fatigue. It seemed to act like an infection, as it spread to the Ladies Mi and Gan.

"This is tiring," Lady Gan said. It had already been a few hours since Yue Ying started.

"We'll come back with Ginseng tea," Lady Mi said. "Come on Gan. Let's leave the Lady to her work."

Lady Gan grumbled. "Now I have to stand . . ."

Once the two left, Yue Ying stared outside through the window. "Freedom!" she whispered, feeling slightly delirious after staying in one room for hours. She also felt hunger crawl through her, as she had barely ate before. She looked back at the doorway, then the window again.

Yue Ying pulled a rope from a nearby closet, tied it around the four legs of a desk, and sealed it around the window so that it could not fall out. Then carefully, she slid down with the rope.

---

Zhang Fei, still drunk, headed down the marble steps. He burped several times, sometimes expelling wine from his throat. It just so happened that Zhuge Liang was on his way up when Zhang Fei vomited more than half of the Chengdu brew on the stairs, some food from his breakfast pouring down to the servants below.

"Drunk? Already?" Somehow after the breakfast with Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and half-way with Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang's mood soothed.

"Water is wine," he replied. "Wine is water. Wine is slightly thicker than water due only to the grapes that make it. What does it mean to be drunk when wine is sugared water?"

Zhuge Liang laughed whole-heartedly. "Very well worded, Zhang Fei!" he exclaimed, patting the drunkard on his back. "I saw you come out of the Library. Since when do you read?"

"Everyone says that!" Zhang Fei muttered, trying to stand properly using the railing, but he had slipped on his own vomit and fell again.

Zhuge Liang pressed himself against the wall, trying not to get the discharge on him. "You're just not the person to read. Why were you there?"

Zhang Fei hiccupped and attempted to stand again. "Remember this morning Lady Mi and Gan said that they had a new 'victim'?" He reached out for Zhuge Liang's hand.

Zhuge hesitated, then just held out his fan. "Who is it?"

"Take a wild guess." He reached for the fan, his hand covered in stomach acid and wine. Zhang Fei pulled it to rise, only for his hand to slip off and fall upon his mess once again.

Zhuge Liang looked at his fan, feeling his meal earlier rise up. He clamed his mouth and he was settled again. It was a while before he replied, "It can't be Yue Ying, can it?"

"O my god, how disgusting!" Lady Gan exclaimed, staring at the stairs, the two men on it staring at Liu Bei's wives. In her hands was a steaming pot of ginseng tea and three little cups.

"I knew this would happen! Didn't I have a dream that Zhang Fei was clean?"

Lady Mi nodded. "Your dreams are the opposite of auspicious. That probably explains your dream where your precious little dipper entered your womb. Yes, that must mean good fortune for the little boy, but no skill."

Lady Gan agreed, "I warned Liu Bei already. His fault if something happens. Now, back to this," She stared at Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang.

"Prime Minister," she began. "Why are you on your way up?"

He held out a scroll in his hand labeled Fire and Water. "I took this a few days ago, just putting it back."

"Let me go up first!" Lady Mi exclaimed, remembering Yue Ying was inside the room.

She and Lady Gan exchanged glances. Lady Gan ran up to the step right before Zhang Fei threw up on and then turned around. While Gan was running, Mi followed. When Gan turned around, she held out both hands. Lady Mi grabbed them and then she was flung to the top step.

"Ahh, talk about refreshing smell!" sarcastically remarked Lady Mi. "Gan, the tea!"

Zhuge Liang observed, "Why are there three cups?"

"Why don't you notice less?" sighed Lady Gan. She passed the pot to the Prime Minister and then said, "Pass it to Mi."

And Zhuge Liang did as told.

Zhang Fei pulled up Lady Gan's dress in another attempt to stand up, only being able to tear the fabric that covered her legs.

"You pervert!" she exclaimed, kicking Zhang Fei's face. "What do you think you're doing?"

Lady Mi, holding the ginseng teapot, was quite amused at the sight. She couldn't help bursting out laughing.

"Trying to get up!" exclaimed Zhang Fei, still drunk. He grabbed on to the next garment she had that was closest to him, which just happened to be another garment that was tied around her waist.

Lady Gan shrieked and kicked the drunkard again.

"Prime Minster," she ordered, "Throw me up!"

Zhuge Liang turned red, either because Lady Gan was half-naked in front of him, or because Zhang Fei was still on his pile of vomit. "I-I don't think I can do that . . ."

Lady Gan's face narrowed. "You woman!"

Zhuge Liang, feeling his manhood being threatened, grabbed Lady Gan and threw her up the rest of the stairs. Lady Gan didn't bother going to the Library; she dashed into her own room, slamming the door shut.

Lady Mi, calming herself down, went into the Library. All that came out was a scream.

"What's going on?" Zhuge Liang asked.

"Yue Ying was here before," Lady Mi explained, "But now, she's gone! The bitch!"