Ren Yuan readily agreed to buy the whole pig.
“I happen to know a pig farmer. When I have more free time in a while, I’ll go and take some people over to pick one out.”
Lu Qiqi thought of practicing sewing with pigskin, so she told Physician Ren about it.
After thinking for a moment, Physician Ren said, "This matter should not be difficult. The wealthy families in the border regions are very concerned about our soldiers."
They often donate grain, fodder, and medicinal herbs; I'll have someone handle the arrangements when needed.
Wealthy families in remote border regions feared the Tatars' iron hooves crossing the city gates more than anyone else.
Let them make some contributions for our soldiers; both sides will benefit.
Thinking of this, Lu Qiqi didn't say much, only mentioning that she still needed a few more high and narrow beds.
Doctor Ren said, "Thank you for your trouble, Your Highness. I have already had someone make the arrangements."
After he learned that the village chief of Kang Le Township knew how to suture, he ordered people to prepare a high and narrow bed. He couldn't let his unfilial son go to the general's tent to dismantle the bed.
After finishing their meal, the group left the tent of the imperial physician and went to the tent where the wounded soldiers were being treated.
In just one afternoon, three more high and narrow beds appeared in the tent.
Lu Qiqi was amazed by the speed at which Physician Ren arranged things.
She glanced at the wounded soldiers on the ground and asked, "How are they fed?"
Ren Yuandao said, "Soldiers with minor injuries can line up and collect their food themselves, while those with serious injuries who can eat on their own will be provided by the cooks."
Those who, like them, are unable to move and have difficulty feeding themselves, have no choice but to ask the centurion to arrange for someone to feed them.
Lu Qiqi nodded knowingly, then looked at Ren Yuandao, "For the next operation, I'd like you to be the lead surgeon, with Doctor Zhao as your assistant. What do you think?"
"Let me be the surgeon?" The usually confident Ren Yuan suddenly became a little timid. "I've never done suturing before, I'm afraid I can't do it. How about I practice on pigskin first?"
Seeing that Lu Qiqi had thought for a moment, he nodded, thinking that she had asked for his opinion.
Ren Yuan's heart, which had been hanging in mid-air, finally began to relax slightly.
"You'll be the one to perform the surgery later, and I'll be there to guide you. If you practice on pigskin, you can treat the wounded soldiers right after I check your work."
In other words, if the surgeon has guidance now, and the opportunity is missed, then he will have to figure it out on his own.
With the pros and cons clear, Ren Yuan did not hesitate and looked at Lu Qiqi with a firm gaze, saying, "I want to give it a try."
Lu Qiqi was very satisfied with Ren Yuan's timely change of heart.
She handed him the carving knife and said, "We don't have any extra gloves. Just wash your hands and wipe them with some wine."
Ren Yuan took the carving knife. The small knife felt as heavy as a thousand pounds in his hand, making him dare not hesitate or waver.
Li Changlong and Zhou Yi carried the wounded soldier onto the narrow bed, and Doctor Zhao then tried to loosen the wound.
The location of the injury this time was somewhat embarrassing; there was a long knife wound on my right thigh that snaked all the way down to my groin.
When the wound was bandaged earlier, the pant leg was already torn, and now it's barely covering the wound.
There were never any women in the military camp, so no trousers were changed for the wounded soldiers.
Who would have thought that a dignified village head would personally stitch up the wounds of a wounded soldier?
Doctor Zhao thought that Lu Qiqi was a young girl, and seeing the wound, he was worried that it would affect her future marriage prospects. He had been giving instructions and teaching Ren Yuan how to suture.
Therefore, he hesitated to take action.
After Lu Qiqi finished checking Ren Yuan's preliminary work, she noticed that Doctor Zhao had not yet taken any action.
She asked, puzzled, "Dr. Zhao, what's wrong?"
Doctor Zhao said with some melancholy, "Your Excellency, this soldier's wound is in a rather... well, perhaps I should change his trousers first before stitching it up."
Lu Qiqi immediately understood Doctor Zhao's good intentions and said, "It's alright. You'll have to cut the pants to make them easier to stitch up after you change them. Why go through all that trouble?"
Cover him with a cloth; once the anesthetic is applied, he won't feel pain and won't move around.
Upon hearing this, Doctor Zhao realized his own shallowness and said, "The village head is very righteous; I was mistaken."
Upon receiving Lu Qiqi's words, Doctor Zhao did not hesitate and took a piece of cloth to cover his private parts.
To prevent wounded soldiers from moving around and exposing any indecent parts that might frighten people.
Doctor Zhao covered the wounded soldier with five pieces of cloth in succession.
He only stopped what he was doing and untied the bandage he had used to stop the bleeding when Lu Qiqi, both amused and exasperated, shouted for him to stop.
The strips of cloth that had been removed were almost stained red, and blood was still seeping from the wound on his thigh.
The bleeding was minimal, just a thin line winding down the thigh.
There wasn't much necrotic tissue in the wound; most of it was just congealed blood.
The wound wouldn't heal, and the blood even clotted.
In fact, this kind of injury is more difficult to treat than rotten flesh.
When rotten flesh needs to be cut away, the blood congeals into hard clumps that are difficult to clean, and the wound will bleed profusely if not handled carefully.
After all, removing rotten flesh will cause pus and bleeding, but the amount of bleeding is not large.
Lu Qiqi said with some sympathy, "Dr. Ren is lucky."
This is the first time I've performed surgery on such a difficult wound.
Ren Yuan was on high alert, ready to fight, and couldn't listen to Lu Qiqi's teasing at all.
He reviewed her surgical technique, methodically applying hallucinogenic drugs to the wound with a cloth to anesthetize the area around the wound.
"Apply more; his wound is too deep, and it will take a long time to treat."
After Lu Qiqi reminded him, Ren Yuan applied the ointment again before applying some alcohol to the area he was about to treat for disinfection.
The carving knife moved across the skin, and the scabs were gradually removed.
Ren Yuan held it very steadily, which must be due to his many years of experience writing with a brush; there was nothing to criticize.
Seeing this, Lu Qiqi raised an eyebrow with appreciation.
In her opinion, it would be even better if Ren Yuan's expression at this moment didn't look so bitter and resentful.
It took Ren Yuan two hours to remove the blood clots and stitch up the wounds.
During this time, Lu Qiqi had him apply hallucinogenic drugs twice to prevent the wounded soldier from moving around in pain.
This speed wasn't exactly fast, but Lu Qiqi was already quite satisfied with it.
Debridement and suturing are simply matters of practice makes perfect, and Ren Yuan did a very good job on his first attempt.
Looking at the black stitches, which resembled a centipede that had died several times, Lu Qiqi no longer found them so unpleasant.
Ren Yuan used scissors to cut the thread of the curved needle, looked up at Lu Qiqi and said, "Village Chief, I'm done."
The expectation in these words is like a student waiting for their teacher to grade their exam.
Lu Qiqi looked down at the centipede and smiled faintly, "It's already very good that the first stitch has achieved this result."
The stitching technique needs more practice.
After saying that, she paused and said, "Have you never sewed clothes before?"
Ren Yuan was stunned by the sudden change of topic and it took him a while to react.
He was a little embarrassed. "My mother used to sew all the clothes at home. To be honest, this is the first time I've ever sewed anything like this."
Lu Qiqi nodded, "It's already quite good for your first time sewing by hand, especially since you're using a curved needle to sew flesh."
If other doctors had your level of understanding, it would be a blessing for the soldiers.
Ren Yuan was a little embarrassed by Lu Qiqi's praise, and he smiled so broadly that his eyes disappeared.
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