Isn’t this malicious monopoly? Ji Kongqing frowned, growing increasingly dissatisfied with the Jishi Medical Hall’s bullying and reliance on power.
She stepped forward and grasped the shoulders of the man who kept kowtowing.
The man stopped kowtowing, tears welling in his eyes as he looked up at Ji Kongqing. His weather-beaten face was stained with blood and dust, and the robe he wore was patched. He was obviously a poor commoner.
Seeing him in this state, Ji Kongqing felt a pang of sympathy, but remembering Jiang Sui’s warning from three days ago, she hesitated slightly.
In her past life, she was a doctor who loved to meddle in other people’s business. Whenever she handled a patient, she helped however she could. For patients whose families struggled and truly could not afford medical fees, she even paid out of her own pocket.
Some of these patients returned the money, while others did not, and a few ungrateful ones even considered her sacrifices to be nothing more than her duty. She had felt sad and in pain, but she had never once regretted her kind actions.
People always say that medical professionals should avoid empathizing with patients, but facing life, death, and human suffering, she could never learn to turn a blind eye.
“I can save your son,” Ji Kongqing bit her lower lip and finally made up her mind. “Follow me.”
Hearing this, the man hesitated. “You can save my son? Dr. Zhou from the Jishi Medical Hall said he couldn’t be saved. You are so young, what can you use to save him?”
“With my medical skills.” Ji Kongqing looked at him, crouched down to examine the young boy’s body on the ground, and after the check, her heart leaped into her throat.
An irregular, clearly defined abdominal mass could be felt in the boy’s upper-left abdomen. This condition was most likely a ruptured spleen with severe internal bleeding, and surgery had to be performed immediately.
Ji Kongqing frowned. “Was he hit in the stomach by something?”
The man’s previously hopeless eyes lit up instantly. “Yes, yes, the noble lady is right! Our family ox suddenly went wild today, knocked the little one down, and kicked him in the abdomen. After that, he said his stomach hurt terribly and then he fainted and lost consciousness.”
“We need to open the abdomen for surgery immediately,” Ji Kongqing frowned. “Otherwise, your son will die. He has a ruptured organ.”
The man did not understand what an organ was, but hearing that his son would die and required an abdomen-opening procedure, he was shocked. “Open the abdomen? How can a person still live after their belly is cut open?”
Ji Kongqing naturally knew that Western medicine seemed utterly absurd in this era, but the little boy in front of her looked to be only seven or eight years old with a bright future ahead of him, and she truly could not bear to watch a young life perish right before her eyes.
She frowned. “Do you want to save your son or not? You also know Dr. Zhou from the Jishi Medical Hall said he couldn’t be saved. Do you want to watch your son die with your own eyes, or take a desperate gamble?”
The man fell silent, frowning as a struggle played out on his face.
A moment later, he stared with heartbroken eyes at his son’s tiny body for a few seconds, then nodded heavily. “Alright, please save my son.”
“Then take your son home first. I cannot treat him here. Is your home nearby?”
Realizing that her sterile operating room required a physical space to manifest and that going to the Princess’s Estate was unrealistic since she didn’t want to be scolded by Jiang Sui again, Ji Kongqing thought of the man’s home.
“It is, it is.” The man nodded, frantically wiping the dust from his palms onto his clothes as he prepared to lift his son onto a nearby wooden cart.
“Brother, where is your home? Won’t using a cart delay the time?” A scholar-looking person who had been watching for a long time suddenly stepped forward to inquire about the man’s situation.
The man nodded, looking deeply worried. “My home is in Fangjia Village, which is outside the city and across two mountains from here.”
“That’s too far, and I cannot leave the city.” Ji Kongqing frowned as she estimated the boy’s current condition; surgery was needed immediately and could not be delayed at all.
“Why not go to my humble abode?” The scholar suddenly offered on his own initiative. “I was also once from Fangjia Village, and later, having the good fortune to pass the imperial examinations as a scholar, I moved to the capital with my wife and child. Meeting by chance like this is quite a fate.”
“I also wish to see how this young lady plans to save your son. My humble home is right nearby, and there is a vacant courtyard.”
“Alright.” Ji Kongqing didn’t have time to overthink; feeling that saving lives was paramount, she nodded immediately. “Let’s go right now.”
The three of them hurried away with the scholar leading the front, the man pulling the cart running behind him, and Ji Kongqing jogging alongside the cart to constantly monitor the boy’s condition.
The scholar led them through bustling streets and turned into a small alley Ji Kongqing had never set foot in before.
At first, Ji Kongqing didn’t notice anything wrong, but after making numerous turns and walking for a long time without reaching the scholar’s home, she finally shifted her focus from the child to her surroundings.
“Why aren’t we there yet?” Ji Kongqing stopped in her tracks, a bad premonition welling up in her heart.
The scholar stopped and looked back at Ji Kongqing. “Almost there, we are right there. A turn at the intersection ahead is my humble home.”
“Is that so?” Ji Kongqing frowned, her eyes filled with suspicion.
Alarm bells were ringing loudly in her mind now, filled entirely with Jiang Sui’s warnings about helping people only to invite trouble.
The scholar shifted his gaze and signaled the man pulling the cart.
The man instantly understood his intent, put on a worried and anxious expression, and said, “Noble lady, he said it’s right there, so it must be soon. Please hurry, otherwise it will be too late.”
Just as the man finished speaking, the boy on the cart suddenly convulsed, turned his head, and began vomiting blood.
The man’s face turned sheet white. He scrambled onto the cart using hands and feet, pulled the child into his arms, and frantically wiped the blood from the boy’s mouth with his robe, speaking in an anxious and worried tone, “Xiaobao, Xiaobao, what’s wrong? Don’t scare your father! Don’t scare your father!”
Ji Kongqing was startled. Based on past experience, she immediately judged that the boy’s vomiting of blood was caused by gastrointestinal bleeding triggered by massive internal hemorrhage.
This precisely indicated that his condition had reached an extremely critical stage.
Moreover, the man’s panic and worry did not look faked at all.
Gritting her teeth, Ji Kongqing nodded. “Then hurry, this child cannot hold on much longer.”
The scholar nodded, turned around with a triumphant smile hidden from view, and softly urged the man holding the child, “Hurry, or it really will be too late.”
The man hastily wiped away his tears and hopped down to pull the cart again.
This time, their pace was much faster than before, and they soon arrived at the courtyard the scholar had mentioned.
“Open the door quickly,” Ji Kongqing urged the scholar.
The scholar glanced at Ji Kongqing, his eyes carrying deep meaning and the corners of his lips curling into an inexplicable smile. Feeling something was amiss again, Ji Kongqing took a few steps back, intending to run.
The next second, the scholar shoved the door open hard, and a group of masked men rushed out.
Ji Kongqing pushed the man beside her. “Run! Something is wrong!”
The man’s body swayed slightly, but his footsteps remained firmly planted. He lowered his head slightly to stare at the ground, not daring to meet Ji Kongqing’s eyes, and even grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving.
The masked men who rushed out had already surrounded Ji Kongqing completely.
Ji Kongqing instantly understood: the man and the scholar were in cahoots, and she had fallen into a trap.
“I’ve lured her here just as you asked, can you save my son now?” The man pushed Ji Kongqing away, cradling the child with hopeful eyes fixed on the scholar.
Hearing this, Ji Kongqing understood everything in an instant. She had offended the Jishi Medical Hall previously, and they were holding a grudge and retaliating against her.
To save his own child, this man had colluded with the Jishi Medical Hall to set up this scheme, using her kindness to lure her into a trap.
“What do you want to do to me?” Ji Kongqing stared at the group of masked men in front of her, steadying her mind and practicing mental self-suggestion to keep calm.
The scholar gestured to one of the men, who quickly took the man and his child away and pushed them into the courtyard.
A moment later, the scholar walked out, closed the door, stared at Ji Kongqing, and smiled arrogantly with a curved lip. “My master said we cannot beat her to death, but we must pull out her tongue and break her legs. A heavy reward awaits once it’s done!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the masked man closest to Ji Kongqing kicked her fiercely in the lower abdomen, knocking her to the ground.
In her past life, Ji Kongqing had dedicated all her energy to curing patients and saving lives, never learning martial arts or how to fight. Her current body also suffered from a lack of regular exercise and physical strength, leaving her completely unable to dodge the kick.
Instantly feeling as though her internal organs had been displaced, she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach and arching her back as she tried desperately to minimize the pain.
Naturally, this group of men had no intention of letting her off after a single kick. They swarmed her with punches and kicks. Ji Kongqing could only protect her head with her arms while rapidly brainstorming solutions in her mind.
“Alright, don’t beat her to death!” Seeing that they had inflicted enough damage, the scholar tossed down a long wooden club. “Tie her up, break her legs first, and then pull out her tongue. Let’s see if she still dares to talk nonsense and show off!”
Following the scholar’s command, his subordinates bound Ji Kongqing.
Two of them stepped forward to pin her arms, forcing her to stand while exposing her still-intact legs.
Another remaining man picked up the club from the ground, took aim at Ji Kongqing’s legs, and raised the club high, preparing to strike a heavy blow.
Ji Kongqing closed her eyes, hardened her heart, and prepared to open the system interface to directly materialize a laminar-flow operating room.
She still remembered the system introduction stating that once the operating room was activated, no one inside could harm her. She didn’t want to become disabled, and this was the only survival tactic she had left; she no longer cared about exposing the existence of the system.
“Bold! You dare strike this palace’s Prince Consort!”
Just as Ji Kongqing was about to tap the manifestation button, a familiar and pleasant voice rang out, accompanied by the urgent sound of hooves and the whistling of arrows slicing through the air.
The man raising the club beside Ji Kongqing let out a sharp cry of agony the next second and crashed heavily to the ground right at her feet.
Ji Kongqing opened her eyes and saw the masked man lying on the ground, wailing with a long arrow piercing his body.
She also saw Jiang Sui, clad in a fiery red riding outfit, wearing a gold-threaded sheer gauze hat, holding a bow and arrow, waving a riding crop, and galloping straight toward her on horseback.
Her dark strands of hair fluttered in the wind, and her pitch-black eyes were filled with absolute determination. At that moment, time seemed to stand still, and Ji Kongqing fancied she could hear the chaotic, disordered rhythm of her own heartbeat.