Chapter 946 - 948: Ripping Open the Abdomen_1
Bai Ruozhu also heard the words Zhou Ying was cursed with by others, and naturally, she had no good feelings toward him, but she ultimately didn’t want anyone to lose their life causing those who stood up for her to be punished.
It’s said that the law does not punish the multitude, but if someone died, the ones leading the trouble would still be punished, like Old Feng.
With that thought in mind, Bai Ruozhu stepped forward and said, "Enough, I’ll save him."
At this, everyone was stunned for a moment before regaining their senses, then someone discontentedly said, "Madam, why save him? That boy has a nasty tongue. You don’t know what he just called you."
Without raising her head, Bai Ruozhu replied, "I know, but it’s not right to leave him unaided. Let him come to regret his own actions later."
Although everyone disagreed with Bai Ruozhu’s "kindness," they didn’t stop her, and at that moment, a military doctor who had been called also came forward to look at the patient and said with a grave face, "He has a tumor that went undetected until now, and just happened to be hit right at the lesion. However, there’s nothing this old lady can do to treat the tumor, I can only stop the bleeding and postpone the inevitable for some time."
Bai Ruozhu glanced at the old military doctor, thinking to herself that the doctors in the military were not to be underestimated, having so quickly identified the real issue. Probably an ordinary doctor would have just assumed it was internal bleeding from the beating.
Members of the Right Wing Vanguard had red eyes, someone shouted, "Zhou Ying gets sick and still you beat him, are you even human?"
The others were unhappy as well, saying, "Does his illness show on his face? If he’s sick he shouldn’t be out causing trouble, and still, you blame others?"
Li Maoshi’s face was extremely ugly. He knew why Zhou Ying was cursing the most fiercely, mainly because Zhou Ying was a close friend who wanted to defend him from the attacks of others, and that’s why he kept cursing Bai Ruozhu.
"Is there really no way?" Li Maoshi looked at the old military doctor, with a plea in his eyes.
The old military doctor shook his head, "I have no means to cure a tumor. One can generally only take medicine and gradually adjust, but Zhou Ying’s illness is acute, and there’s certainly no time for gradual adjustment."
Li Maoshi, in agony, thrust his hands into his hair, thinking that if he hadn’t been so petty and spoken ill of Bai Ruozhu today, none of this would have happened, and perhaps Zhou Ying wouldn’t be dying.
Bai Ruozhu gave him a look, thinking to herself that although the man was petty, he truly cared about his friends.
"Help him back to the tent to lie down. Have someone carefully carry him on a level surface. I can save him," Bai Ruozhu spoke up.
Surprise showed on the old military doctor’s face, "Madam has a way? This is wonderful news. I hope you’ll let me assist you, to learn from you."
Bai Ruozhu hastily returned the old military doctor’s gesture, "Dr. Li, you flatter me. Your help will certainly make a difference."
The Right Wing Vanguard team dared not cause any more disturbances, worried that something bad might happen to Zhou Ying. They quickly and carefully carried him back.
Among the onlookers, someone remarked, "The madam truly has Buddha’s Heart," and the others picked up the phrase.
Bai Ruozhu bowed to the crowd, saying, "Thank you all for today. Tomorrow we must rise early to march, so everyone please rest well."
Suddenly, everyone returned the gesture hurriedly, then watched as Bai Ruozhu entered the tent to save a life.
Somehow, the crowd remained motionless, and someone said with a tinge of emotion, "I really didn’t want the madam to save that Zhou Ying."
However, Old Feng’s eyes were slightly red, he sighed, and said, "The madam is afraid of someone losing their life, we in the Firehead Camp would definitely be punished, for sure."
Everyone suddenly realized, causing trouble wasn’t to be feared, but if a life was lost, there definitely had to be some form of accountability; the ringleader, Old Feng, and the people from Firehead Camp would surely be disciplined. The lady was truly concerned about them.
For a moment, everyone was somewhat moved; Old Feng too wiped the corner of his eye and said, "Let’s go, back we go. You all get some good rest and then go and pay the fee. We’ll continue to watch over the medicine soup, maybe later we’ll even need to brew some for the lady."
The onlookers all agreed and quickly left the vanguard tent on the right flank.
In the huge tent, because many people had been sleeping there, the conditions were not very good. Bai Ruozhu asked others to move their beds, clearing the space next to Zhou Ying.
"How does the lady plan to treat him?" Doctor Li asked curiously.
Bai Ruozhu had already taken out her silver needle and, without lifting her head, said, "First, I’ll apply acupuncture to stop the bleeding, then I’ll cut open the abdomen and remove the tumor."
The first part of her statement didn’t raise any flags, but the mention of cutting open the abdomen gave Doctor Li quite a start. In Danliang Country, the medical scriptures did record ways to treat tumors, but most involved using medicinal stones for relief, at most supplemented with acupuncture. Surgically removing a tumor was exceedingly rare, of course, it wasn’t unrecorded in the literature, but ordinary doctors simply didn’t have the skill for it; only the fabled Divine Doctors were said to be capable.
When he came to his senses, Doctor Li almost knelt on the ground; a Divine Doctor, oh, the lady Jiang right before his eyes was truly a Divine Doctor.
Bai Ruozhu didn’t notice Doctor Li’s astonishment; years of studying medicine had familiarized her with human anatomy, which allowed her to perform such surgery. The state of surgical development in Danliang Country was stunted, so it naturally seemed miraculous to them.
"Have someone prepare boiling water, it must be clean, and I’ll write some formulas; go and start preparing the medicine soup," Bai Ruozhu, having completed a set of hemorrhage-stopping acupuncture, turned and requested paper and ink, then quickly listed some medicinal materials.
Jiang Yichun had been silent the entire time, took the formulas and handed them to Wen Shu to handle.
Li Maoshi, anxious and standing to the side, asked, "What if opening the abdomen doesn’t heal him? Won’t his intestines come out?"
Bai Ruozhu was in a hurry to save someone and didn’t have the time to explain further, simply saying, "All unrelated persons exit; perhaps we should move Zhou Ying to another tent. Doctor Li’s assistance will suffice during the treatment."
After she finished, she sensed the displeased gaze of Jiang Yichun and hastily added, "My lord, you are also skilled in the medical arts; I need your help too."
Jiang Yichun hummed in acknowledgment and then his displeased gaze softened.
However, Li Maoshi didn’t feel reassured about Zhou Ying and was unwilling to leave; Jiang Yichun glared at him with a fierce look, "If you delay the treatment, can you bear the responsibility? Get out!"
Doctor Li also gave him a displeased glance and said, "What are you worried about? In any case, I couldn’t save him. If you’re not confident in Lady Jiang’s ability to save him, then prepare for his funeral!"
Li Maoshi’s face turned very ugly, and suddenly he fell to his knees with a thump, giving Bai Ruozhu three loud kowtows.
"Lady Jiang, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have spoken ill of you. I am willing to accept any punishment; please only ensure that you save Zhou Ying’s life. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t be in this state today," said Li Maoshi as tears flowed down his cheeks.
Bai Ruozhu glanced at him and said, "I will do my best; please step aside."
Getting up from the ground, Li Maoshi led the other people out of the tent.
Once everyone had left, Doctor Li could not help but ask, "Madam, even if we remove the tumor, what about the wound?"
Bai Ruozhu looked up at him with a smile and said, "Doctor Li, have you not heard of suturing technique?"