Chapter 242 Practice

Actually, during dinner at the Li family's house, something happened that involved Li San Niang, and it happened very suddenly and urgently.

As it was the last day of the Emperor's birthday celebration, Pingkangfang was packed with people tonight, making it incredibly lively.

The largest brothel in Pingkangfang erected a high platform on the main road in front of the palace, creating a huge spectacle long before the start of the Emperor's Birthday Festival.

It is said that the Fox Princess, from one of the twenty-four kingdoms of the Western Regions, whose kingdom had been destroyed and whose family had perished, was invited to perform a flying dance.

In reality, she wasn't a princess at all; she was just a maidservant by the princess's side.

But who cares whether she was a real princess or not?

As long as there are beautiful women to see, especially those never seen before, who cares whether they are real or fake?

Everything is fine, just as the mother of the woman from the brothel had envisioned.

That evening, just as darkness fell, a number of people were already hurrying towards the high platform erected at the entrance of Qunfang Courtyard since the afternoon, with large lanterns just hung around it.

With a small black mole on her left eyebrow, Fang's mother thought to herself, "I'm going to make a lot of money tonight."

Following the procedure, dressed lightly, barefoot with silver bells, the sound of the bells with every step was intoxicating.

The fox spirit ascended the high platform, her face partially obscured by a veil.

As the sounds of string and wind instruments began, the fox spirit woman sprang into action.

One person was stunned, two people cheered, and the three of them started shouting, instantly creating a lively atmosphere.

But it was precisely because of the cheers from those in front that the people behind wanted to squeeze forward to see more.

Most people are like this; they love watching excitement, especially free excitement, and they will go to great lengths to catch a glimpse of it.

Despite the presence of patrolling constables maintaining order and the deployment of soldiers from the city gate to the area as the crowd grew larger, they were still unable to stop the ever-increasing flow of people gathering at the entrance of the Qunfang Courtyard.

When the first person cried out that they couldn't breathe, the crowd stirred and the situation became increasingly chaotic.

Many of these men had been drinking and were already in a daze. At first, when they heard someone shouting that they couldn't breathe, they thought it was because the people in front of them had watched the hot dance of the Western Region women and were having trouble breathing.

And so, the drunkards pushed forward even more, and when a second person in the middle shouted, "Don't push, I can't breathe!" the situation was already out of control.

The constables and soldiers maintaining order were blocked by the crowd. No matter how loudly they shouted, the surrounding music and the commotion in the crowd could not carry their words.

Once the first person was pushed and fell, a second would follow. Only when five or six people had fallen and were trampled so badly they couldn't even make a sound did someone realize something was wrong.

What followed was chaos: screaming, people trying to leave, people unable to get out, people being squeezed so tightly they could hardly breathe, and some rational people shouting for everyone to stop moving and follow the soldiers' orders.

But under such circumstances, where can it work? Where can it be effective?

Cries, shouts, and pleas for help erupted here.

The soldiers, looking from another high-rise building, realized that if the situation wasn't addressed soon, it could really lead to disaster.

Therefore, after the soldiers with long swords cut down several people who disobeyed orders and continued to push forward, the crowd, after a period of panic, slowly stopped moving and came to a halt under the soldiers' desperate shouts.

Next, they used longswords to clear a path, splitting two narrow lanes through the crowd.

Constables and soldiers went in to rescue people, but one by one they carried out were already dead, limp and lifeless.

At this time, a soldier who had been transferred from the camp in the suburbs of Beijing to Chang'an thought of using the CPR techniques that had just been taught in the camp to save people.

The soldier immediately knelt on the ground and began pressing down on the young man his colleagues had carried out.

His actions enlightened the soldiers who had gathered from the gate, and they quickly knelt down and began to press down on him.

At first, the constables didn't understand what was going on.

But seeing this reminded the constable of the story circulating in Chang'an about a woman who saved people in the street during the fire at the West Market a couple of nights ago.

The head constable spoke to the constables, telling them to learn from the soldiers and rescue people!

There are already more than a dozen people lying on the ground, and there are still some who haven't been carried out yet. They will definitely suffer the consequences of this disaster tonight.

But it's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep are lost!

Save as many as you can!

Once the first person rescued regained a heartbeat from the soldiers, the others worked even harder to perform chest compressions.

Of course, Li San Niang knew nothing of this; she had long since fallen asleep.

The next day, Li San Niang was driven to the entrance of the clinic by Shi Jiu at the usual time.

They weren't the first to arrive, but they weren't the last either.

Tang Mingyue was the closest and had arrived long ago.

The two chatted about the burn patient who had come for treatment yesterday. After waiting a short while, Dr. Gao, Dr. Li, and Dr. Cui arrived.

"The past three days have been tiring for Dr. Tang and Dr. Li."

Faced with Dr. Gao's polite words, Tang Mingyue and Li Sanniang replied repeatedly, "It's our duty, not at all, it's our responsibility."

Li San Niang was thinking that when she had lunch later, she would buy a few doses of medicine from the counter with her own money, and then go to the back alley to see Xiang Niang at noon.

Then, we can send Zhou Lang and Granny Zhou away and ask Xiang Niang what she really wants.

That's a good question. Now Li San Niang can think of a way to help her.

But before lunchtime, the clinic received an "uninvited guest".

Three constables carrying knives barged into the clinic. The young apprentice knew from their demeanor that they were definitely not there for treatment.

Furthermore, the emperor had his own medical clinic at the Imperial Medical Bureau next to Wuhoupu, and most of the time, people came to this clinic on official business.

The young apprentice first bowed to the constable, who, as expected, said he had official business to attend to.

The young apprentice went inside and found Doctor Gao, who was reading a medical book. After Doctor Gao came out and introduced himself as the manager of the clinic, the constable explained his purpose: he had come to see Li San Niang!

“If this is a matter of public concern, our medical clinic will certainly cooperate.”

Dr. Li is a physician at my clinic, and also a woman, so I have to ask what's going on that requires my consultation with Dr. Li.

When Li San Niang heard that she had been mentioned, she got up and went behind Doctor Gao. She bowed to the group without saying a word, waiting to see what the constables opposite her would say.

"Did Dr. Li go to the back alley to deliver a baby yesterday?"

Facing the probing gazes of the constable, Doctor Gao, and the other three doctors standing nearby, Li San Niang nodded and replied, "Indeed, someone came to my door yesterday afternoon seeking treatment, so I accompanied that person to a house on the back street to deliver a baby."

The constable nodded: "Is that family surnamed Zhou?"

Li San Niang nodded again.

"That's right."

This morning, I received a report from someone on the back street that there was a bloody smell coming from the Zhou family's house, and when someone went to knock on the door, no one answered.

When we climbed over the wall and got inside, we found that all four members of the Zhou family were dead.