Chapter 144 Surgery (First Update)
Du Xiaoyun screamed as she was beaten, running around the room: "Look at you, so rude! How can you be a royal concubine? The Crown Princess wouldn't act like you! You should learn from her!"
"You little brat, you've gone too far!"
Enraged, the Third Prince's wife threw down the ruler, took off her shoe, and started whipping her younger sister with the sole!
The person the Third Prince's wife hated most in her life was undoubtedly the Crown Princess, without a doubt!
In fact, in terms of family background, the Third Prince's wife is superior to the Crown Prince's wife.
The Third Prince's wife's mother was the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Luo's family.
Among the four great families in the capital, the Marquis of Xuanping's family ranks first, followed by the Duke of Luo's family. The Crown Princess's maternal family is not particularly powerful; she owes her current success to her own talent.
The Third Prince's wife and the Crown Princess are the same age. They entered the palace at a young age to accompany the princesses in their studies, and the two were compared to each other almost from childhood.
The Crown Princess was superior to her in every way; she was not only smarter and more beautiful than her, but also more popular with the princes and princesses.
The only slight advantage the Third Prince's Consort had was her skill with the zither, but even that was completely overshadowed by the Crown Princess after she saw the real Fuxi Zither.
How could the Third Prince's wife not be jealous of her?
However, the Third Prince's wife was engaged to the royal family, while the woman who always stole her thunder was only engaged to a young marquis.
Ha, that childhood sweetheart is three years younger than her!
In fact, the young Marquis of Zhaodu was more famous in the capital than the Third Prince, but no matter how famous he was, he was still a subject, while the Third Prince was the emperor. The Third Prince's wife found a wonderful balance in her heart.
Unfortunately, not long after, the young marquis died in a fire.
Her fiancé died before they were even married, which was considered a curse, as she was believed to have caused his death. The Third Prince's wife was waiting to see her nemesis make a fool of himself, but little did she know that once the mourning period was over, she married the Crown Prince and successfully became his sister-in-law!
The Crown Princess is the future Empress, while she is just a princess who will be sent to her fiefdom in the future. What's even more tragic is that she has to perform a grand ceremony when she sees her mortal enemy!
That's what people in Beijing say.
“From a young age, the Crown Princess was more outstanding than the Third Prince’s wife. No wonder she married someone of higher status than her.”
The entire capital loves the Crown Princess. As long as the Crown Princess exists, no one will ever see the Third Prince's wife.
She can't control what others do, but surely she can control her own sister?
The Third Prince's wife, still not satisfied with beating her younger sister, threatened, "If you dare go to a girls' school, I'll break your legs!"
Du Xiaoyun's stubbornness was just like that of the Third Prince's wife: "Go ahead and hit me! If you have the guts, hit me now! Even if you interrupt me, I'll crawl over!"
"You..." The Third Prince's wife was furious. She threw down her shoes and picked up a broom from the side.
Seeing that her younger daughter was about to be beaten to death by her older daughter, Madam Du hurriedly stepped forward to mediate: "Alright, alright, you two sisters, stop arguing. It's just about studying. Let her go to school. You know how much she loves studying since she was little!"
The Third Prince's wife retorted angrily, "Does she love reading? She's just trying to curry favor with the Crown Princess!"
Du Xiaoyun stared at the messy hair and puffy face and snorted, "That's right! I'm going to suck up to her! Who told her to be so outstanding? She's proficient in everything from music and chess to calligraphy and painting, leaving you miles behind!"
This is because the Third Prince's wife has a good relationship with her family and never puts on airs at home. Otherwise, given Du Xiaoyun's insubordination, she would have been dragged out and beaten to death a hundred times over!
"Shut up!" Madam Du scolded her youngest daughter sternly.
However, everyone knew that if she didn't get the invitation, that would be fine, but if she did, she probably wouldn't give up going to the girls' school so easily.
The Third Prince's wife was furious and got into the carriage to return to the mansion with a dark expression.
The Third Prince's residence is on Zhuque Street, quite far from here. On the way back, the Third Prince's wife was upset and felt that the carriage was more bumpy than usual.
"That brat, she's infuriating... she's really infuriating... Is there no one better than the Crown Princess in the world? I'm her own sister... look at how she's siding with outsiders..."
The Third Prince's wife cursed and berated him, while feeling her stomach ache with anger.
The two accompanying female officials sat obediently on either side of her, not daring to make a sound.
"Why don't you say something?" the Third Prince's wife said, frowning.
The two girls trembled slightly, exchanged a glance, and Lady Xu said, "But Third Imperial Consort, are you really alright after beating the Fifth Miss like that? She's your own sister! What if word gets out..."
What Lady Xu really wanted to say was that your reputation was already worse than the Crown Princess's; if it got any worse, there would be no one left to tarnish it.
The Third Prince's wife gritted her teeth and said, "Does she have any sense of being a younger sister? What kind of younger sister always sides with outsiders? I asked her to learn the zither with me, but she refused, saying that I don't play as well as the Crown Princess! What a joke, does she even understand?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the Third Prince's wife felt her stomach hurt even more.
It was all because of that girl!
The Third Prince's wife clutched her stomach, her brows furrowed tightly.
The two female officials sensed something was wrong. Female official Xu asked, "Master, are you alright?"
"Ouch..." The Third Prince's Consort couldn't help but groan, rubbing her stomach and gripping the corner of the table for support. She said, "Hurry back to the manor, and tell the carriage to slow down..."
The two were stunned.
Should we go slow or fast?
The Third Prince's wife was in so much pain that she broke out in a cold sweat. She wished she could return to the manor immediately, but with each violent jolting, the pain intensified.
The two men noticed that her face had turned pale, and for a moment they couldn't tell whether she had been angered by the Fifth Miss or was genuinely feeling unwell.
"I'm fine..." The Third Prince's wife was about to say that she was alright when she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. She lost her balance and fell straight down onto the floor of the carriage.
This terrified the two female officials.
Female officer Xu shouted, "Stop the car...stop the car now!"
The coachman stopped the carriage.
Although the bumpy ride was over, the Third Prince's wife's symptoms did not improve at all; she was still in excruciating pain.
"What should we do, Sister Xu?" Lady Liu asked tremblingly.
Lady Xu knelt beside the Third Prince's wife, and was quite frightened to see her writhing in pain.
It seems the Third Prince's wife won't be able to hold on until she returns to the manor...
She abruptly lifted the curtain and asked the driver, "Is there a clinic nearby?"
The driver thought for a moment and said, "The girls' school is just ahead. I remember there was a clinic next to the girls' school."
Lady Xu hurriedly said, "Why aren't you going yet?!"
"Yes!" The coachman drove the carriage to the clinic.
Lady Xu hurriedly jumped off the carriage road: "Doctor! Is there a doctor?"
The second shopkeeper came out and said, "Young lady, our clinic isn't open yet. You are...?"
"Ah—" Inside the carriage, the Third Prince's Consort let out a painful scream.
The second landlord felt a chill run down his spine, realizing that the other person's illness was probably not minor, and he knew better than to send someone to find another clinic.
He hurried upstairs and found Gu Jiao cleaning a side room: "A patient has arrived, a woman!"
Gu Jiao put down the broom, took off her apron, and went downstairs.
"Where is the doctor?" Lady Xu asked.
"This is the doctor," the second landlord said, pointing to Gu Jiao.
"A female physician?" Lady Xu frowned.
In the state of Zhao, there were doctors, and naturally, there were also female healers. However, the female healers were not as skilled as the doctors, and their status was very low.
In the palace, female physicians assisted the imperial physicians and could not treat the concubines on their own.
Lady Xu said sternly, "How can one female physician be enough? Bring out your doctors!"
Gu Jiao wouldn't allow anyone to be mean to her people, so she stood in front of the second boss and said, "I'm the doctor. If you want to see me, then see me; if you don't, then get out."
The female official choked.
"Ah—" The Third Prince's wife was in even more pain.
Lady Liu lifted the curtain and sobbed, "Sister Xu! Please let her up! The Third...Madam seems to be dying!"
The female official's heart skipped a beat.
Gu Jiao got into the carriage. It was getting dark, and the light inside the carriage was not very good.
"Light all the oil lamps!" she said.
Lady Liu lit all the spare oil lamps.
Gu Jiao carefully examined the Third Prince's Consort and saw that she was clutching her right abdomen. She knelt down, removed her hand, and pressed on the McBurney's point on her lower right abdomen. "Does it hurt here?"
"Ugh!" The Third Prince's wife was so uncomfortable that she almost fainted.
Gu Jiao released her hand: "It's acute appendicitis, and you need surgery immediately."
"What...what do you need?" Lady Liu couldn't understand Gu Jiao's words.
Looking at the Third Prince's wife in pain, Gu Jiao said solemnly, "Surgery. I need to cut open your abdomen and remove the inflamed appendix."
The lady-in-waiting was so shocked that she stammered, "You...you want to cut open the Third...Third Madam's stomach?"
The Third Prince's wife looked at Gu Jiao with a pale face, seemingly waiting for her explanation.
Gu Jiao stared intently into the Third Prince's wife's eyes: "Your condition is very urgent. Medication can't control it. If you don't do as I say, you will die soon."
The danger of acute appendicitis lies in the fact that if it is not treated promptly, it can lead to appendiceal perforation, causing peritonitis throughout the abdomen, with an extremely high mortality rate.
A flicker of fear crossed the Third Prince's wife's eyes.
"No!" Lady Xu stepped onto the carriage and blocked the Third Prince's wife's path. "You're just a lowly physician, yet you dare to attempt to cut open my lady's stomach! I think you're just spreading rumors! Tell me! How much silver do you want?"
"I'm not exaggerating. Whether or not it can be cured is up to you." Gu Jiao said, then got up and walked out.
She had only taken a few steps when her wrist was grabbed by a cold, slender hand.
The Third Prince's wife gripped him tightly, almost with all her might: "Can you really save me?"
"lady!"
The two female officials turned pale with fright.
Is her third princess really serious?
Should we really let this female doctor cut open her stomach?
This is insane!
This female doctor has gone mad!
The Third Prince's wife has gone mad too!
Lady Xu said, "Madam, don't listen to her! I'll go and fetch the imperial physician right away!"
Gu Jiao said calmly, "Please do as you wish."
"No..." The Third Prince's Consort gripped Gu Jiao's wrist tightly.
She had seen this disease before. Before she got married, her wet nurse had the same pain in the same place as her, and the symptoms were the same. She invited the imperial physician to treat her, but the imperial physician could not cure her, and her wet nurse died from the pain!
She's going to die too!
Lady Xu exclaimed, "Madam! You mustn't!"
As a princess consort, one cannot have any knife wounds on one's body. During the palace selection process, even the slightest flaw in one's body would result in being rejected.
Although she is now married, she is still a prince's consort, and her body does not belong to herself, but to the third prince.
Without the Third Prince's consent, she cannot arbitrarily abuse her body.
She was in so much pain that she couldn't speak, but Gu Jiao understood the look in her eyes.
Gu Jiao carried the Third Prince's wife down from the carriage, and the two female officials could not stop her.
Lady Xu said to the coachman, "Why don't you hurry back to the manor and inform His Highness!"
"Yes!" The coachman returned to the mansion without stopping.
Gu Jiao carried the person into the side room and placed them on the makeshift operating table.
The Third Prince's wife looked at her in fear.
Gu Jiao wasn't good at perceiving her family's emotions, but she understood them instantly when she was a patient.
She said, "Don't worry, I'm confident. I've performed many surgeries. I'm not an ordinary female doctor; my medical skills are very high. Your surgery is not complicated and won't hurt. I'll give you anesthesia, and you won't feel anything throughout the whole process."
She spoke at length to calm the patient.
The Third Prince's wife couldn't help but tear up.
She was not only afraid of death and pain, but also many other things.
Her life doesn't belong to her alone; it belongs to the entire royal family.
Her body doesn't even belong to her; it belongs to the Third Prince.
She would be condemned for allowing someone to harm her body without her husband's permission!
Gu Jiao stared at her intently: "Nothing is more important than your life. Your body is your own, and you don't need anyone to make decisions for you. If you have to face criticism and contempt from others because of your illness, then it's not you who's wrong, it's the world that's wrong."
The Third Prince's wife burst into tears.
...
The surgery went smoothly.
The small medicine box contained new anesthetic drugs, and the Third Prince's Consort responded well to them.
She actually fell asleep during the surgery. When she woke up, she had changed into dry clothes and was lying on the bed in the side room.
"Does it still hurt?" Gu Jiao asked.
The Third Prince's wife shook her head.
It doesn't hurt as much anymore.
"The wound will be painful after the anesthesia wears off, but it should be within a tolerable range," Gu Jiao said, and then gave some post-operative instructions.
The Third Prince's wife wasn't well-liked in the capital. She was unsociable, disliked by others, and disliked others in return.
But this little girl was quite different from most of the people she had met.
The Third Prince's wife weakly opened her mouth: "What's your name?"
"Gu Jiao".
(End of this chapter)
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