Chapter 3: Saving People
"Let him study, but what has he learned after so many years? He gets drunk with those playboys in the theaters and brothels every day. From tomorrow on, he is not allowed to go there anymore. Follow me to the pharmacy to identify medicines and diagnose diseases."
Qin already had a headache, and his yelling made her headache buzz like a bell.
"Keep your voice down. What can I do if Yufeng likes to study? Besides, it's not that easy to pass the imperial examination. He's still young. After a few years, he'll be able to concentrate on his studies after getting married."
Song Qiao got angry when he heard this, "He's still young? How can he be younger than Yuzhu? She could memorize hundreds of prescriptions at the age of eight, and followed the third brother to treat illnesses at the age of ten!"
Qin was also unhappy. No matter how bad her son was, he was born from her womb. There are many kinds of people, how could all of them be as cunning as Song Yuzhu?
"If you dislike me, just say it directly. Don't make indirect accusations against our sons. I think our eldest son is practical and our second son is elegant, they are two of the best children. How can they be as unbearable as you say?" Qin felt very aggrieved and wiped away her tears.
Song Qiao felt that he couldn't communicate with her. The Song family started out as a medical family. Now that his two sons didn't want to learn medicine, they were forgetting their roots. In the future, the old man would beat him to death with his crutch.
"What a loving mother who spoils her son!" Song Qiao said this angrily and went to the concubine's yard.
Qin was so angry that she fell backwards, picked up the three-legged incense burner from a green kiln beside the low couch and threw it towards the door. Chunhong, who was standing outside the door, secretly rolled her eyes and quickly cleaned up with a broom.
*
Six or seven days passed in a flash, and there was still no news from the capital.
The old lady of the Song family fell seriously ill after her son left that day. She had not eaten any rice or flour for three or four days. Her two daughters-in-law and her daughter were all by her side serving her and dared not leave, for fear that something might happen to her.
The day before yesterday morning, he was barely able to eat some soft food, and Song Yuzhu also took the opportunity to visit the old man.
For some reason, Old Lady Song had never liked Song Yuzhu since he was a child. It couldn't be said that she didn't like him, but to be exact, she had no feelings for him. Every time she saw him, he seemed like a stranger, but she loved her other grandchildren very much, which puzzled him. Could it be that this old lady was different from ordinary people and could tell that he was a time traveler?
It was not long after the beginning of autumn and the weather had not yet turned cold. Perhaps because she was weak and afraid of the cold, Old Mrs. Song had already lit a brazier in her room. The warmth was accompanied by a smell of rotten medicine, which made people feel nauseous.
When Song Yuzhu came in, Old Lady Song was leaning on the couch drinking medicine. When she saw him come in, she drooped her eyes and didn't even look at him. She just hummed a few words in response and waved her hand to let him leave.
Jiang, who was serving beside him, felt uncomfortable. Her son was not a monster, so was it worth treating him like this?
Qin raised her eyebrows with a smug look on her face. Old Lady Song didn't treat her children like this. Every time she saw them, she would hold their hands, ask about their well-being and show great love for them.
Song Yuzhu didn't care much about it. She had taken over someone else's grandson's body. If she didn't like it, then she didn't like it. She didn't expect her to live. After she came out of the old lady's yard, she went straight to the clinic.
*
Song Yuzhu is sorting out medical books these days. There are many books passed down by the Song family for generations, which are messy and chaotic. Many folk prescriptions in the inheritance of nearly a hundred years are mixed in them. If you don't distinguish carefully, it's hard to find them.
Song Lin, the last generation of the Song family, was able to become an official in the Imperial Medical Academy, and Song Qiao and Bai were also skilled in medicine. In his generation, only Song Yuzhu and a few brothers from the side branches of the family knew medicine. If he didn't compile the books, he was afraid that the books would be lost in the future. He planned to reclassify these medical books and compile them into a book for future generations, which would be considered as fulfilling the responsibility of the descendants of the Song family.
Although Song Yuzhu studied surgery and Western medicine in his previous life, medicine is universal, and he has learned the medical skills of the Song family through osmosis over the years. Even Song Bai feels inferior to him, as his son is more accurate in diagnosing diseases than himself.
"Young Master Zhu is here." The owner of the clinic saw Song Yuzhu coming and greeted him with a smile.
"Uncle Ming, where is my father?" Song Bai is a doctor in the clinic and usually stays here and does not go out.
Song Daming said: "The third master has received a patient and is currently treating him in the backyard."
The Song Family Clinic is divided into a front hall and a backyard, and looks similar to a modern small clinic. The front hall is mainly responsible for pulse diagnosis and prescription medicine, while the backyard has a separate compartment, which is about three feet square and has a flat bed, which can be used to perform acupuncture, moxibustion, bloodletting and other methods to save lives.
When Song Yuzhu heard that there was a patient inside, she immediately walked towards the backyard.
As soon as I reached the door to the backyard, I was suddenly blocked by a strange man.
The man was not very old, but was very tall, wearing a dark-colored shorts. His pale face was stained with blood, but it still couldn't hide his handsome appearance.
He held a long knife in one hand to stop Song Yuzhu and said, "Who are you? Don't go in!"
"Is Zhu'er here?" Song Bai's voice came from inside the house.
"Dad." Song Yuzhu stopped looking and called inside.
The man quickly put away the knife, lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry." Then he stepped aside silently.
Song Yuzhu pushed open the door and saw a patient covered in blood lying inside. His father was giving him acupuncture to stop the bleeding.
Judging from Song Yuzhu's clinical experience in his previous life, this person will most likely not survive.
A long cut ran through the aorta of the inguinal ligament, and blood was flowing out like a faucet, which could not be stopped. In addition, there were no advanced medical facilities in ancient times, so he would soon die of shock due to excessive blood loss.
"The bleeding won't stop." Song Bai's body was covered in blood and he wiped the sweat from his head with a handkerchief.
Song Yuzhu stepped forward and opened the man's eyes to take a look. His pupils were dilated. She habitually said, "He is dying. Notify his family to prepare for his funeral."
When the people outside heard this, they immediately rushed in.
Song Bai quickly explained: "The injury is too severe, and the journey has delayed us for some time..."
The man didn't seem to be too surprised. He took out a bag of silver from his pocket and handed it over: "Thank you for your help, doctor. This is the medicine fee."
Song Bai quickly waved his hand and said, "No need, I won't charge you if you don't cure it."
The man walked silently to the bedside, intending to take the deceased away. As soon as he picked up the body, he stumbled and fell heavily to the ground and fainted.
Song Bai was startled and quickly called the staff in the clinic to come for help and carry the man to the next compartment.
"Dad, where did these two people come from?"
"I don't know either. They were at the door of the clinic early in the morning and said that a merchant was injured by robbers on the road."
Song Yuzhu thought, these two people don't look like traveling merchants. Not to mention the jade pendant that the dead man wore on his waist, which was engraved with cloud dragon patterns. Which ordinary people would dare to wear such a jade pendant? Besides, the man holding the knife had a measured manner, and he looked more like a specially trained guard.
Without thinking too much, the two hurried to check the pulse of the fainted man. This time, Song Yuzhu was the one who checked the patient, and Song Bai was beside him giving instructions.
The slender fingers touched his wrist, and Song Yuzhu's eyebrows immediately twisted into knots. "Dad, cut off his clothes quickly!"
Song Bai picked up a pair of scissors and cut open his belt. He lifted up his collar and saw that this guy was really strong! There was a broken arrow stuck in his chest!
Song Yuzhu touched it tentatively with her hand, and the man groaned in pain.
Song Bai said in a deep voice: "This kind of arrow has a barb, and it is inserted too deep. If it is pulled out hastily, it may cause hemorrhage."
Song Yuzhu certainly knew that the arrow was located right next to the heart, and if not handled properly it would injure the blood vessels around the heart and cause heavy bleeding.
The father and son looked at each other and said in unison: "We have to use a knife to get it."
It is recorded in the Song family's medical classics that the ancestor performed laparotomy on people when he was alive.
"In the 13th year of Emperor Gaozong's reign, a man had a belly as big as if he was pregnant. The pain was unbearable and he could not eat three bowls of rice a day. So he underwent surgery to remove the bowels, and he was well again afterwards." In modern terms, this disease is severe intestinal obstruction, where the man's stomach became swollen due to the inability to defecate. Old Master Song cured the man by performing surgery directly.
But there is a world of difference between what is written in the book and what is actually implemented.
"Yuzhu, give him acupuncture to relieve the pain later... I'll use a knife to remove the arrowhead." Song Bai wiped the sweat off his face nervously and told his servant to get the tools.
His great-grandfather left behind a set of knives made of fine iron. They had been placed at the bottom of a box for decades. His father had taken them out to show him once when he was young, but now he really had no idea how to wield them.
"Dad, are you okay?"
"We have to do it no matter how hard it is. If the arrow is not taken out, his life will be in danger." Doctors are kind-hearted. Song Bai couldn't bear to watch the young man die. He decided to give it a try, just in case he could be saved.
Soon, the waiter brought a delicate wooden box, which contained a complete set of surgical tools made of fine iron. There were knives, tweezers, clamps, and even suture needles of different thicknesses. Song Yuzhu took a closer look. Although these tools looked strange, they were no less sharp than modern surgical equipment.
The waiter brought some boiling water, and Song Bai threw the tools in to boil them, which was a simple disinfection. He held the knife in one hand and gestured at the man's chest with the other hand, but he was hesitant to start.
Seeing his father's hands shaking like he had Parkinson's disease, Song Yuzhu simply said, "Dad, you give him acupuncture to relieve the pain, and I'll do the surgery."
"Ah? Zhu'er, can you do it?"
Song Yuzhu thought, is it for nothing that he is the chief of surgery? In his previous life, he had performed thousands of surgeries, big and small, so how difficult is it to remove a small arrow?
However, this was his first time performing surgery in such an environment, and the strange-shaped scalpel in his hand did not fit him well. Whether it would be successful depended on fate.
"Let me try." Song Yuzhu took the knife from his father.
Song Bai breathed a sigh of relief. He had never killed a chicken in his life, so it was too much to ask him to operate on a living person.
Song Yuzhu first asked Song Quan to light candles in the room, and then used the boiled three yellow water (Coptis chinensis, Scutellaria baicalensis, and Phellodendron chinense) to disinfect the skin next to the arrow. The wine of this dynasty did not meet the requirements of medical alcohol, and if it was used for disinfection, it might contain more bacteria.
After wiping, Song Yuzhu took a deep breath and looked up at his father. Song Bai had already used silver needles to block the man's pain and nodded to his son.
The knife gently cut a line on the man's chest, and bright red blood flowed out along the cut. Song Bai took a look and turned his head away, not daring to look again.
Song Yuzhu seemed to be back on the operating table, looking focused and calm, her hands working methodically, performing surgery and stopping bleeding at the same time. She could also skillfully avoid the blood vessels and tendons and accurately find the position where the arrow was hooked.
The arrow was made of cold iron, more than three inches long, and stuck in the middle of the patient's ribs. It took a lot of effort to pull it out. Song Yuzhu's hand strength was limited, and he could only ask Song Quan outside to help.
Song Quan had never seen such a bloody scene. He cried while pulling the arrow out. Finally, he pulled it out with great difficulty and squatted outside crying for half an hour.
After removing the arrow, Song Yuzhu began to suture the wound. The entire operation took less than an hour. Song Bai's acupuncture skills were so great that the person on the bed did not feel any pain at all.
Song Yuzhu looked at the wound on his chest that was sutured with catgut and nodded with satisfaction. He quietly opened the book in his mind and saw that the number had successfully increased from (89/100) to (90/100). It seemed that it would not be long before he could see what the first reward was.
"Zhu'er...is this all settled?" Song Bai stared at the person on the bed in amazement, then looked up at his son.
Song Yuzhu quickly put away the expression on his face and said, "He will definitely have a fever after such a serious injury. It depends on whether he can survive these few days." There were no antibiotics in ancient times, and it was unknown whether there were other bacteria on the iron arrow inserted into this kid's body. If the wound got infected, no matter how skilled his medical skills were, he would not be able to save him.
Song Bai said: "It's not easy to take out the arrowhead, the rest depends on his luck." After that, he wrote out a prescription for replenishing qi and blood, and asked his servant to boil the medicine and feed it to him.
Song Yuzhu and Song Bai's clothes were stained with blood, and the two of them went straight home in a carriage.
Sitting in the car, Song Bai kept looking at his son, and finally couldn't help asking the question in his heart: "Zhu'er, when did you become so proficient in surgery?"
Song Yuzhu knew his father would definitely ask, so he said the draft in his mind in advance: "I was sorting out our family's medical books recently, and I happened to see the medical classics on laparotomy left by my great-grandfather. I thought it was very interesting, so I read it several times and even tried it on rabbits. I didn't expect that most rabbits would survive after laparotomy."
Song Bai remembered that his son had indeed asked Song Quan to buy a bunch of rabbits some time ago. He was wondering what was going on at the time, but he didn't expect that he was practicing medicine and didn't suspect that his son was deceiving him.
I couldn't help but sigh: "Zhu'er, you are braver and more careful than Dad!"
Song Yuzhu touched his nose guiltily. Did this count as activating the golden finger?
After returning home, Song Yuzhu took a bath and just changed her clothes, Song Quan rushed in anxiously: "Master, something bad has happened. Grandma, she has hanged herself!"
(End of this chapter)
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