Jiang Sui frowned slightly. “Are you very poor?”
Ji Kongqing shook her head. “It is still early now, so let Your Highness have a good conversation with the Fifth Highness. May this subject go to the Imperial Medical Academy? I happen to need to fulfill His Majesty’s entrustment.”
“Very well,” the Emperor nodded, turning to instruct, “Xiao Guizi, take the Prince Consort to the Imperial Medical Academy, and by the way, get the Prince Consort a token for entering and leaving the academy.”
“This servant understands,” Minister Li nodded. “Prince Consort, please follow me.”
Ji Kongqing nodded, rubbed her knees which were a bit sore from kneeling, and followed Minister Li forward.
As expected, making a living in ancient times is truly difficult. You have to kneel at every turn, and if you don’t kneel, your life is on the line. It is really hard to get by.
She had originally planned to thoroughly enjoy life, but now she still had to learn flattery and green tea literature. It was so difficult, and Ji Kongqing felt she was truly pitiful.
Along the way, Minister Li introduced Ji Kongqing to the identity of the imperial physician from the banquet just now.
That old man was named Zhuo Weiqian, the director of the Imperial Medical Academy, the highest-ranking official there, and also the one with the best medical skills. He served the Emperor and Empress exclusively, and the princes and princesses were not qualified to summon him out of the palace.
Ji Kongqing hadn’t expected that the old man from earlier held such a high status and strong capability, and she was somewhat surprised for a moment.
Upon arriving at the Imperial Medical Academy, Minister Li showed the token to the guards outside, and a guard went inside to call Zhuo Weiqian.
Zhuo Weiqian quickly came out and led Ji Kongqing inside with a humble attitude.
“Prince Consort, the imperial physicians of the academy have not all arrived today, so classes might not be able to be held.”
“It is fine,” Ji Kongqing looked around and found that the Imperial Medical Academy was quite similar to a modern hospital: quite large, with specialized pharmacies, departmental classifications, treatment rooms, pharmaceutical preparation rooms, and even autopsy rooms.
“Director Zhuo, which department are you from?”
“Replying to the Prince Consort, I am from the Department of Internal Medicine,” Zhuo Weiqian replied. “I wonder which category the Prince Consort studied?”
Ji Kongqing understood that the internal medicine department Zhuo Weiqian mentioned was likely specialized in treating adults.
In her past life, her grandfather was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, so she had been subtly influenced and understood some traditional Chinese medicine herself.
She pondered for a moment. “I suppose I am from surgery.”
“Surgery?” Zhuo Weiqian was stunned. “The Imperial Medical Academy does not have this department.”
“Well, it should be similar to this department.” Ji Kongqing stopped in front of a plaque written in traditional characters: the Department of Sores and Ulcers.
Ji Kongqing wasn’t very familiar with traditional characters, so she made an educated guess.
“I see,” Zhuo Weiqian understood.
“This is unexpected.” Ji Kongqing stopped at the door sign for the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics. “Could you tell me about this one?”
“Ah,” Zhuo Weiqian hadn’t expected that a Qianyuan like Ji Kongqing would actually be interested in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, and his expression instantly turned complicated.
“May I?” Ji Kongqing looked at Zhuo Weiqian with some anticipation. “It is fine if you just lend me some medical books to read.”
“Yes, you may,” Zhuo Weiqian nodded. “Prince Consort, please wait here a moment, I will go ask a colleague to borrow some.”
Not long after Zhuo Weiqian went inside, he came out with two medical books. The covers were also written in traditional characters, which Ji Kongqing didn’t quite recognize. She pointed to a character on the cover and asked, “What is this character?”
Zhuo Weiqian looked at Ji Kongqing in shock. “The Prince Consort doesn’t know how to read?”
Ji Kongqing’s expression showed a hint of awkwardness. “I only recognize a part of them.”
Zhuo Weiqian withdrew his shocked gaze, associating it with Ji Kongqing’s situation in the Kingdom of Thousand Birds, and a trace of sympathy arose in his heart. He patiently explained, “This character is read as qi.”
“Oh, I see.” Ji Kongqing casually opened one of the medical books in her hand and found that the inside was densely packed with classical Chinese written in traditional characters.
When she was young, in order to understand medical books, she had specially taken classical studies classes and roughly knew the meaning. It was just that traditional characters were rarely used in modern times, and there were quite a few characters she didn’t recognize.
After flipping through a few pages, she asked several times until Zhuo Weiqian grew tired of her questions and could only hint to her: “Prince Consort, perhaps it would be better for you to go back and have Her Highness hire a tutor for you. Unified studying like this is definitely faster than having this official teach you.”
Ji Kongqing felt she was indeed troubling Zhuo Weiqian too much, so she closed the medical book. “That works too.”
Seeing her agree, Zhuo Weiqian breathed a sigh of relief. “Let me show you around a bit more.”
“No need,” Ji Kongqing had already finished walking around once. “Director, you are older than me and considered an elder. Stop addressing me formally as you every other sentence. Address me directly by my name, you can call me Kongqing.”
“Alright, Kongqing.” Zhuo Weiqian didn’t decline either, given that his age was right there. “Then is there anything else Kongqing needs me to do?”
“Do you have a human anatomical chart here?” she asked him.
Zhuo Weiqian nodded. “Yes, every month the Imperial Medical Academy has death row inmates with no relatives brought over. We conduct experiments on them every month, and we have drawn illustrations based on that.”
“Then take me to see those.” Ji Kongqing nodded and followed Zhuo Weiqian to get the drawings.
As several scroll paintings were unfurled, Ji Kongqing earnestly examined the full picture and found that the painters and skills of the ancient era were very good, with details drawn very precisely.
“This here is the airway, Director Zhuo is aware of this, right?”
Zhuo Weiqian nodded. “Aware.”
“My method today is to use a fist to impact the upper abdomen, which is this position, to force the diaphragm in the abdomen to lift upward. The chest cavity, meaning this position, will increase pressure, bringing an outward impact force to the airway, so that the choking object can be expelled.”
Ji Kongqing explained while pointing. After finishing the explanation, she asked, “Can Director Zhuo understand what I mean?”
Zhuo Weiqian nodded. “Although many of the positional names Kongqing mentioned differ from what I know, I can roughly understand.”
“Then I will teach you now.” Ji Kongqing rolled up her sleeves. “This method couldn’t be simpler, but depending on the age, the method differs as well. Today, I will first teach you the rescue method for adults.”
“Ah, is there someone who can come over so I can demonstrate?” Ji Kongqing looked at the white-haired Zhuo Weiqian, truly unable to bring herself to practice on him.
“Yes,” Zhuo Weiqian nodded, turned around, and shouted toward a spot where herbs were being dried, “Medical Officer Ye, come over.”
A young female Qianyuan raised her head, responded, and immediately put down what she was holding to walk over.
“This is the Prince Consort of Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess,” Zhuo Weiqian introduced. “I suppose you have heard about what happened at today’s noon banquet. The Prince Consort intends to teach me the method now, and you will serve as a model for the Prince Consort.”
“Okay,” the female Qianyuan maintained a calm expression and nodded. “Prince Consort, what should I do?”
“I don’t know your name yet?” Ji Kongqing asked first.
“Replying to the Prince Consort, this subordinate’s name is Ye Siqin, an intern medical officer at the Imperial Medical Academy, 16 years old this year.” Ye Siqin bowed to Ji Kongqing.
“Alright, Siqin.” Ji Kongqing nodded. “Please relax and stand with your back to me.”
Ye Siqin nodded, obeyed Ji Kongqing’s words, and turned her back to her.
Ji Kongqing began to explain to Zhuo Weiqian: “After realizing that a patient is choking and unable to breathe, we need to react quickly and make a quick fist two fingers above the patient’s navel, which is this position.”
“Use your other hand to wrap around the fist, quickly tighten your arms, and repeat 5 times. Then check the patient’s condition. Repeat a few times, and the choking object can be expelled from the body.”
“Is it that easy?” Zhuo Weiqian had seen Ji Kongqing’s operation, but he hadn’t expected it to be so simple.
“That is right.” Ji Kongqing let go of Ye Siqin. “Director Zhuo can also give it a try. Medical Officer Ye has not yet reached 18 and is not very tall, you can try it too.”
“Alright,” Zhuo Weiqian consulted Ye Siqin’s opinion and operated according to the method Ji Kongqing described. Ji Kongqing watched from the side and nodded. “Correct, the operation has no problems.”
Zhuo Weiqian showed a smile. “Then it will be very easy to popularize. I will take paper and a brush right now to write it down.”
Ye Siqin reacted quickly: “Director, I will go help you get brush and ink.”
“Good,” Zhuo Weiqian said with excitement on his face. “In the future, when encountering such a situation, it will not be troublesome anymore, and more lives can be saved.”
Ji Kongqing nodded. “Director, I intend to continue promoting this method after the Imperial Medical Academy has learned it. This method is easy to learn, and non-medical personnel can all learn it. It ought to be promoted.”
“Moreover, this method does not necessarily require someone else’s help to be performed. If someone is choking and there is no one else at home, but there are items like tables or chairs nearby, they can also use a corner of them to press against the abdomen and expel it for self-rescue.”
“That truly is a method that benefits the country and the people!” Zhuo Weiqian was extremely excited. “Choking of the airway generally happens during meals, and at such times the situation is critical; commoners simply have no time to summon a doctor. If the commoners can learn it themselves, it can also prevent more people from losing their lives.”
Ji Kongqing nodded. “Then Director Zhuo should let everyone learn this first-aid method during this period. This method is very simple, and I believe Medical Officer Ye has already learned it.”
Ye Siqin nodded. “The student has already memorized it.”
“May I take these two books back to the estate to read first?” Ji Kongqing asked Zhuo Weiqian. “I can pay for them.”
“No need,” Zhuo Weiqian shook his head. “That colleague of mine and I are on very close terms, I will speak to him about it.”
“Thank you.” A flash of amusement crossed the depths of Ji Kongqing’s eyes. “Once the silver from His Majesty’s reward is issued to me, Director Zhuo can bring your colleague along, and I will treat you two to a dinner. Medical Officer Ye may also come along.”
“Alright,” Zhuo Weiqian hadn’t expected Ji Kongqing to be so down-to-earth; he remembered that the Emperor had rewarded her with a thousand taels of silver just today.
At the carriage parking area outside the imperial palace.
“Your Highness, you have returned.” When Jiang Sui finished talking with Jiang Yi and returned to the carriage, Ji Kongqing was already waiting for her inside.
Jiang Sui nodded expressionlessly and sat down opposite Ji Kongqing.
“Your Highness, about when will the silver rewarded to me by His Majesty be delivered to the Princess’s Estate?” Ji Kongqing looked at Jiang Sui with bright eyes.
Jiang Sui frowned slightly. “Are you very poor?”
“Yes.” Ji Kongqing didn’t feel that being poor was shameful and nodded generously. “The Prince Consort’s monthly stipend is not much, and I want to renovate my little courtyard, but the money I have on hand is not enough.”
Jiang Sui fell silent. She was seeing such a Qianyuan for the first time. You could say she was foolish, but today she performed very well in the palace and even put Imperial Noble Consort Ya and Jiang Ya in an awkward spot.
Yet you could say she was intelligent, but she still presented an appearance of innocent sincerity. This person truly made her feel complex and strange.
“Probably tomorrow.”
“That is great!” Ji Kongqing clapped her hands; this was simply someone sending a pillow right when she felt sleepy.
Knowing that she would get the money tomorrow, Ji Kongqing took out the medical book and flipped forward. When she encountered characters she didn’t recognize, she mustered the courage to ask Jiang Sui.
Jiang Sui looked like someone not to be trifled with, but she was actually quite patient and answered them one by one.
Until the carriage stopped at the entrance of the Princess’s Estate, Ji Kongqing closed the medical book, lifted the carriage curtain, and jumped down.
Jiang Sui got down after her, and Cuizhu went up to support her.
After getting off, Ji Kongqing took out several food boxes from the back of the carriage. There were a total of four food boxes in the carriage: Jiang Yi had given her one, and Prince Shao had given her three to thank her.
“What is this, Your Highness?” Seeing Ji Kongqing returning from the palace laden with bags, Cuizhu was somewhat puzzled.
“Leftovers from the palace banquet brought back,” Ji Kongqing smiled and flaunted them. “Cuizhu, do you want to eat? I will share one with you. These were given to me by His Highness Prince Shao, you can share them with the sisters to eat together.”
Ji Kongqing generously opened one box to show Cuizhu, put the lid back on, and shoved it straight into Cuizhu’s hands.
After shoving it, she skipped back into the estate, not needing anyone to guide her at all, familiar with the way.