Chapter 88 Promotion to Imperial Concubine
The news of Narcissus's massive hemorrhage struck like a thunderbolt, instantly shattering the joy that had just risen on Emperor Zhaoheng's face.
"Where is the imperial physician?!"
Emperor Zhaoheng's hands, which were holding his daughter, trembled slightly. He coldly ordered, "Go in and save Consort Jin!"
The people from the Imperial Medical Academy subconsciously looked at Lu Baohua, who was hiding behind others. They saw that Lu Baohua's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his previous high spirits when he was vying for credit had completely vanished.
However, having just stolen credit from the Emperor, if he were to reveal that he wasn't the one responsible for Narcissus's pregnancy, it would be a crime of deceiving the Emperor!
"I...I obey your order!"
According to the rules, Lu Baohua was led to the delivery room by the chief eunuch Feng Shunxiang.
The stench of blood in the delivery room was so strong it was suffocating.
Narcissus lay on the delivery bed, already unconscious, her breath weak, the brocade quilt beneath her soaked with large patches of bright red blood, a shocking sight!
The midwives frantically tried to stop the bleeding using their experience, but the blood flowed like a flood, staining the cloth and dripping onto the cold floor tiles.
Lu Baohua was allowed to enter, but due to the strict separation between men and women, she could only stay outside the gauze curtain behind the screen.
Through the gauze curtain, he placed his fingers on the narcissus's cold wrist pulse, only to find it weak and scattered.
The palace maid then brought out the blood-stained cloth for him to examine and make a judgment.
Lu Baohua quickly calmed down. This pregnancy of Shuixian was highly valued, and the Imperial Hospital had already prepared hemostatic medicine and placed it outside the door.
There was a prescription in the palace for a safe medicine for postpartum hemorrhage, so Lu Baohua quickly ordered a maid to go out and bring the warm medicine to Shuixian to drink.
However.
The bleeding beneath Narcissus did not slow down; instead, it became even more torrential!
Her face paled visibly, her lips turned bluish-purple, and her breath became so weak it was almost gone!
"How could this be... how could this happen!"
Lu Baohua panicked completely, pacing anxiously outside the gauze tent, his official robes soaked with sweat.
"The prescription shouldn't work like this... Why is the bleeding getting worse instead of stopping?!"
The atmosphere outside the delivery room was extremely oppressive.
Emperor Zhaoheng stared intently at the door of the delivery room, his eyes filled with utter terror.
In his memory, the late Emperor's Consort Wen died before his eyes due to severe bleeding from a miscarriage!
Reality and memory overlapped, and Emperor Zhaoheng trembled with tension. He had no choice but to hand the child to the nanny beside him to avoid accidentally hurting the child.
The Empress's face was also filled with worry.
"Your Majesty, Consort Jin will surely pull through..."
Consort De sat to one side, her worry evident in her eyes.
Consort Jing stood up at some point, her ramrod straight, her cool gaze fixed on the curtain of the delivery room. Her face revealed little emotion, only her tightly pursed lips betrayed her inner concern.
Consort Wan picked up the tea that had long since gone cold, took a small sip, and sighed softly.
"Alas... childbirth is already a brush with death for a woman, let alone this deadly postpartum hemorrhage... Consort Jin, what misfortune..."
"Consort Wan!"
The Empress frowned and coughed lightly.
"Be careful what you say! Consort Jin is blessed by Heaven and will surely be safe and sound! What are you trying to do by saying such discouraging things at this critical moment?"
Consort Wan was reprimanded, and she couldn't help but show a hint of grievance.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. I was only worried about Consort Jin and spoke carelessly. Please forgive me."
During the critical moment of the emergency in the delivery room, Pei Jichuan stayed in the outer room.
Just before Lu Baohua entered, he gave him a warning glance.
After he entered the Imperial Medical Academy and became an apprentice of Lu Baohua, Lu Baohua not only took credit for him, but also assigned them, his apprentices, trivial tasks.
If an apprentice resisted, Lu Baohua would use his master's name to suppress them, and even deliberately make things difficult for them in the medical field.
However, the one who is now in danger is the narcissus who has been kind to him!
Ignoring the possible punishment that might follow, Pei Jichuan rushed out of the corner and knelt heavily before Emperor Zhaoheng, his forehead hitting the cold ground.
"Your Majesty!" Pei Jichuan's voice was hoarse with urgency. "I am a eunuch! A palace attendant! I am not bound by the strict separation of men and women! Consort Jin's life hangs by a thread, her fate is imminent!"
"Physician Lu is taking the pulse through the curtain, making it difficult to see the whole picture. There may be oversights in his prescription! I humbly request Your Majesty's permission to enter the curtained area, see Her Majesty in person, examine her pulse, and prescribe the right medicine... There may be a glimmer of hope!"
These words shocked everyone in the room!
According to ancestral rules, imperial physicians entering the pregnant woman's bedchamber to personally examine her? This is simply unheard of and against all regulations!
But Pei Jichuan was indeed a eunuch... This...
Consort Wan covered her mouth with a handkerchief: "This...this is outrageous! How can imperial physicians...no, eunuchs, be allowed near the inner palace concubines? What about the ancestral rules?"
Emperor Zhaoheng's voice interrupted her decisively.
"allow!"
He said in a deep voice, "If you can't save Consort Jin, Pei Jichuan, you'll bring your head upon yourself!"
Despite risking his life and fortune, Pei Jichuan wore an expression as if he had been granted a pardon.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After speaking, Pei Jichuan rushed into the delivery room, which was filled with the smell of blood.
He had just lifted the outermost curtain of the delivery room when he bumped into Lu Baohua, who was covered in sweat.
When Lu Baohua saw that he dared to come in, he thought that he wanted to take advantage of the situation and steal credit. He was both anxious and angry, and stepped forward to stop him: "Pei Jichuan! Your skills are not good enough. Don't cause trouble here! Get out of here!"
"Get out of my way!"
Time is life! Pei Jichuan abruptly shoved away Lu Baohua's outstretched hand, the force causing Lu Baohua to stumble!
Pei Jichuan's eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Lu Baohua and roared at the outside, "Lord Lu! You haven't even carefully examined the unusual pulse of Consort Jin in her late pregnancy. You only know how to prescribe medicine according to the usual prescriptions. How can that be effective?!"
"If anything happens to Her Majesty, you will be the culprit!"
His angry accusations were clearly heard by everyone outside.
Lu Baohua was pushed back a few steps, pointing at Pei Jichuan in shock and anger, but unable to refute him.
He angrily flung his sleeves and stormed out of the delivery room, whereupon he preemptively accused Emperor Zhaoheng, whose face was ashen.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please see the truth! Pei Jichuan has no respect for elders, barging into the delivery room and even making false accusations against me! He..."
"Enough!"
Emperor Zhaoheng's entire attention was focused on Shui Xian, whose fate was uncertain, and he had no mind to listen to his nonsense.
"Judge! Keep a close eye on Lu Baohua! We'll deal with her after Consort Jin is safe! If Consort Jin suffers any harm... Hmph!"
The murderous intent in those unspoken words caused Lu Baohua to collapse to the ground instantly.
Inside the delivery room, Pei Jichuan had already rushed over the gauze curtain to Narcissus's bedside.
The stench of blood assaulted her nostrils; Narcissus's face was ashen, her breath so faint it was almost gone.
He disregarded the need for secrecy and immediately grabbed Shui Xian's wrist to take her pulse, while simultaneously asking the maid beside him in a hurried voice.
"Speak quickly! Besides the hemostatic medicine prescribed by Physician Lu, what else did Your Majesty use just now? When did you use it?"
The maid spoke very quickly.
"Just... just follow Physician Lu's prescription, decoct it and immediately give it to her! It took less than a quarter of an hour! When Her Majesty was giving birth, she was exhausted and only had a piece of old ginseng to keep her breathing... that's all!"
"Conventional hemostatic drugs...there is absolutely no reason for them to worsen the bleeding!"
Pei Jichuan frowned, his mind racing. Suddenly, he looked up sharply.
"The Dingkun Pill! Quickly! Go to the Imperial Hospital! Get the Dingkun Pill!"
"The Pill of Stabilizing the Universe?"
The head of the Imperial Medical Academy and all the imperial physicians outside were dumbfounded.
That's a precious medicine for treating severe blood stasis and stroke! It has absolutely nothing to do with postpartum hemorrhage in women!
Upon hearing this, Lu Baohua immediately sneered coldly: "Ridiculous! Consort Jin suffered postpartum hemorrhage and was depleted of both qi and blood! You actually want to use the blood-activating and stasis-removing Dingkun Pill? Do you want the Consort to die even faster?"
Yinzhu, who had been anxiously waiting outside the delivery room, could no longer contain herself. She turned abruptly and shouted at Lu Baohua and the hesitant imperial physicians:
"My master trusts Lord Pei's medical skills the most! Now that my master's life hangs by a thread, you quacks are helpless. Lord Pei says he has a way, yet you are still here obstructing us?"
Pei Jichuan was once a eunuch in Yongle Palace. Emperor Zhaoheng glanced at the helpless imperial physicians and made a firm decision.
"Send men on horseback at top speed! Using my imperial token! Immediately retrieve the Dingkun Pill from the Imperial Hospital!"
The horse galloped swiftly and quickly delivered the Dingkun Pill to Yongle Palace.
Pei Jichuan took the pill and stuffed it into Shui Xian's mouth without hesitation.
Immediately afterwards, he took out the silver needles he carried with him and, with lightning speed, precisely pierced several major acupoints around Narcissus's body!
He was completely focused, betting everything he had learned in his life, as well as his bold conjecture, on this life-or-death moment!
Time seemed to stand still outside.
One breath... two breaths... three breaths...
Suddenly, the midwife, who had been using her experience to stop the bleeding, exclaimed in surprise, "The bleeding is less! It's really less!"
Feng Shunxiang was so excited that his voice changed as he rushed out of the delivery room to share the good news!
"Your Majesty! Consort Jin's bleeding has stopped! Her life... is saved!"
"Good! Good! Good!"
Emperor Zhaoheng said "good" three times in a row, and the usually composed emperor's eyes were slightly red at this moment!
He gazed in the direction of the delivery room and made the announcement on the spot.
"Consort Jin, for her meritorious service in giving birth to the imperial heir and for the benefit of the nation, is hereby promoted to the rank of Imperial Noble Consort and granted the authority to assist in the management of the six palaces!"
"Pei Jichuan has rendered meritorious service in saving the emperor and possesses superb medical skills! He has been promoted to the rank of Imperial Physician of the Eighth Grade in the Imperial Medical Academy, in charge of the health and well-being of Consort Jin and the imperial heir!"
Upon hearing Emperor Zhaoheng's decree, everyone's gaze instinctively turned to the Empress!
Consort Li was just demoted to Consort Li and stripped of her power as assistant, and in the blink of an eye, Consort Jin, who came from a lowly background, was promoted to Consort because of her child!
The Empress, seemingly unaware of the gazes of the crowd, stood up on the spot, her voice gentle and graceful.
"Your Majesty is wise; such a reward is in accordance with the will of Heaven and the hearts of the people! Your Majesty is truly happy for Consort Jin!"
Everyone in the hall felt that the Empress was indeed virtuous, as always.
Only Consort De, standing in the corner, took a deep look at the Empress's gentle and perfect profile...
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