The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1042 - 1021: Open Abdomen

Chapter 1042: Chapter 1021: Open Abdomen

Manbao was inserting needles, while another physician on the other side closed his eyes slightly as he took the pulse. After a moment, he nodded and then shook his head to Imperial Doctor Zheng and another colleague.

Imperial Doctor Zheng was anxious, "What do you mean by that? Has the bleeding stopped or not?"

"The effect is better than our previous attempts. At least, the pulse has not subsided that much, but the bleeding has not stopped."

Manbao also felt the pulse and then looked again at the patient’s abdomen before suggesting, "Let’s perform an abdominal surgery."

The three physicians’ faces changed repeatedly, none daring to make such a decision lightly.

Manbao, however, was already searching her backpack for her usual surgical knife. When Manbao was studying within the system, she had a set of surgical tools, which were given to her by Teacher Mo. They didn’t cost much in the mall.

But the material of those tools was too different from the ones in their world, and Keke advised her not to use them in reality. Teacher Mo had said he would help her commission a set of surgical tools with similar materials and designs to the knives of their world.

But before that, Imperial Doctor Fan had already given her a set.

Manbao felt they were quite satisfactory. She used this set half the time when practicing on humanoid models.

Yet, such a set of tools was rarely used in real life, with the suturing needles being the most frequently used.

Now Manbao took out that set and opened it, directly pulling out a knife and looking at the three physicians. She asked, "So, do we perform the surgery or not?"

The young man holding the sword also understood by now and came over to ask, "Why must you perform surgery?"

Manbao glanced at him and asked, "Are you a relative?"

The young man with the sword looked down at her, his expressionless face answering, "Yes."

Manbao then explained to him, "Look at his distended abdomen. It’s likely that there is internal bleeding. I’ve seen the prescriptions the physicians have written, all good for stopping bleeding. But how long ago did he take the medicine?"

Imperial Doctor Zheng spoke solemnly, "Nearly an hour."

"The medicine is not only urgent but is also strong. An hour has passed with no significant effect; clearly, it’s not stopping the bleeding. Giving him more medicine to drink, he might die from the drug before bleeding out. They also attempted acupuncture for blood stasis, but to no great effect. My acupuncture method is currently the best, but it’s not very effective either. If this continues, he’ll bleed to death in less than two hours."

Manbao said, "Therefore, we can only open the abdomen, find the bleeding point, suture it, and then close the abdomen."

"Can you ensure he will certainly survive?"

"I cannot. I only have a fifty percent chance."

The young man with the sword was angry, "You dare operate on his stomach with only fifty percent assurance?"

Manbao said, "Last year, Ji Hao had less than fifty percent chance of hope. All I know is, without surgery, he’s one hundred percent dead; with surgery, there’s a fifty percent chance of hope."

The young man with the sword looked at Imperial Doctor Zheng and the others.

All three physicians lowered their heads, agreeing with Manbao’s words.

The young man with the sword gripped his weapon tighter and with a bitter laugh said, "Fine, fine. Go ahead with the operation. But if he doesn’t survive, I will make sure all of you accompany him in death!"

Manbao finally noticed his self-reference, blinked, and turned to look at Bai Shan, "Is he the Crown Prince?"

Bai Shan had noticed it the first time he referred to himself that way and nodded gravely, suggesting, "So shall we leave?"

Manbao hesitated, "Should we not treat him?"

Their voices weren’t low, everyone heard them, and they all turned to look at the two, each somewhat speechless.

The Crown Prince was so angered he almost found it amusing, "Now that you’ve arrived, you think you can just leave?"

Manbao retorted, "I’m not an official, nor am I an Imperial Doctor; naturally, I can leave if I’m unable to cure the patient."

"All the subjects under heaven are my loyal citizens..."

Manbao blinked and asked, "So, if none of the subjects under heaven can heal the person in bed, would you have all the people under heaven executed?"

Bai Shan also raised his head to look at him.

Choked by her logic, the Crown Prince pursed his lips tightly and glared at them.

Imperial Doctor Zheng anxiously stamped his foot, "Young Doctor Zhou, the patient’s condition is critical, let’s get started."

Seeing Manbao didn’t move, he grew more anxious and called out to the Crown Prince, "Your Highness..."

Manbao was right about one thing; she was neither an official nor an Imperial Doctor. She had no obligation to obey the Crown Prince’s commands. Among all the people, those who had knowledge and skill could even defy an emperor’s decree, let alone that of a mere Crown Prince.

He could execute an Imperial Doctor, for they dined at the Imperial Family’s table and reaped the glory and benefits that came with it. If they failed in their duties, execution was simply that—execution—with the worst aftermath being criticized for being too harsh on his subordinates.

But Manbao was a commoner. To kill her would be an act of sheer cruelty and ruthlessness.

Even the emperor would be wary of such a reputation, let alone the Crown Prince, who was under the watchful eyes of many.

The Crown Prince took a deep breath and, after calming his emotions, said, "Go ahead and treat him. If you cure him, the credit is yours; if he dies, they are to blame."

The three Imperial Doctors inhaled sharply, taking Manbao seriously for the first time. Then they felt a chill down their spines—she was so young.

Reluctantly, the other two Imperial Doctors looked towards Imperial Doctor Zheng and whispered, "Imperial Doctor Zheng, why don’t you take the lead?"

Imperial Doctor Zheng gave a wry smile. He wished he could, but he had no confidence.

Hearing the Crown Prince’s words, Manbao immediately rolled up her sleeves and ordered, "Come, move this table away, bring that couch over here. The light is better in this spot. We’ll perform the surgery here."

Before the three Imperial Doctors could react, the servants had already begun to work. They quickly cleared the table in the middle of the inner chamber, brought over a couch that could fit a single person lying down, and placed it properly. They then carefully lifted the mats and blankets under the patient and moved everything onto the couch.

Servants holding candles brought over lampstands, setting them up and lighting additional candles.

Manbao, dissatisfied, waved her hand, "Don’t come too close, stay back a little."

She scribbled two emergency medical prescriptions and handed them to Imperial Doctor Zheng and the others, "What do you think of these two prescriptions?"

Imperial Doctor Zheng and his colleagues immediately perked up, reviewed the prescriptions, made a few adjustments, and Manbao, upon seeing the changes were indeed better than her own, nodded in agreement.

Someone immediately took the prescriptions to prepare and brew the medicine.

Manbao then felt the patient’s abdomen and said, "We shouldn’t delay any further, let’s start."

Imperial Doctor Zheng swallowed nervously and asked, "Have you ever performed an abdominal operation before?"

"On a person? No, never." Only on models made to resemble humans, as well as on the chest and the head; indeed, she had done so no less than a hundred times.

Manbao had already placed the instruments in boiling water to sterilize them. She skillfully sterilized and dried them before feeling the patient’s abdomen. With her hand hovering above, she drew an imaginary line, then deeply set the knife to the patient’s skin and made the first incision...

The three Imperial Doctors had not expected her to act so swiftly; without giving them time to mentally prepare, she made her cut.

When Manbao first incised, her hand was somewhat unfamiliar, but the flesh of the patient and that of the human-like models felt remarkably similar. Gradually, she regained her sense of touch, continuing with a familiar force. Suddenly, a spurt of blood sprang out with a "pfft," and since Manbao was short, her entire face was splattered with blood.

She blinked briefly, her knife motionless while Bai Shan quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from her face.