Chapter 204 Slap in the Face (Second Update)
"Don't move, it'll be over soon." Gu Jiao was cleaning a wound on a patient.
This was the first craftsman to notice something was wrong with the furnace and immediately send someone outside.
If it weren't for him, all the craftsmen who were blowing the bellows would have been killed.
However, even though they escaped quickly and the furnace exploded just as fast, many people were still seriously injured by the blast. In particular, after this furnace exploded, the other furnaces also collapsed, and the fire burned the entire workshop to the ground.
The imperial court suffered enormous losses.
"Doctor... will my legs be ruined?" the craftsman asked fearfully, his legs numb.
Gu Jiao stitched up his wound: "No, it's just that I gave you anesthesia, so you're temporarily unconscious. You'll feel pain once the effects wear off."
The craftsman was relieved and looked at Gu Jiao gratefully, saying weakly, "Miss... I'm alright now... Go and treat others..."
"Mm." Gu Jiao nodded, finished stitching up the last stitch, bandaged his wound, and moved on to the next patient.
Another patient had extensive burns on his back. Dr. Song was using the saline solution given by Gu Jiao to clean the wound, but the wound was too large. This was the first time Dr. Song had handled a patient with such a severe burn, and he was somewhat inexperienced in dealing with it.
“I’ll do it,” Gu Jiao said to him. “You go and check on the patients over there.”
"Hey!" Doctor Song made way for Gu Jiao and went to see the other two patients with yellow bandages on their wrists.
The patient has a red cloth strip on their face; their condition is critical, but there is still hope for rescue.
Gu Jiao squatted down, took the scissors, and cut open the rest of his clothes on his back.
He did not completely lose consciousness, which means he was in great pain.
Gu Jiao took a painkiller injection from her first-aid kit and was about to administer it intramuscularly when Gu Jinyu rushed over like a madman, grabbed Gu Jiao's wrist, and shouted hoarsely, "I've been calling for so long, didn't you hear me? There's someone over there dying! Go save him!"
In Gu Jinyu's mind, Gu Jiao used to be just a little medicine boy, but when it came to a critical moment, she actually started to rely on this little medicine boy.
Gu Jiao glanced at the hand gripping her wrist with annoyance: "Take it off."
I find it annoying to say even one more word.
Gu Jinyu retorted confidently, "Aren't you a doctor? How can you just stand by and watch someone die?" She pointed to the patient lying next to Gu Jiao, "That person's condition is much more serious than his! He'll die if we don't treat him!"
Gu Jiao understood that person's condition, of course. She had tied the black cloth strip on herself. He was a dying patient and there was no point in trying to save him. Trying to save him would lead to the deaths of many critically ill patients wearing red cloth strips.
Seeing that Gu Jiao was ignoring him, Gu Jinyu exploded: "Are you just going to watch him die? Don't you have any conscience?"
Gu Jiao pried open Gu Jinyu's wrist, inserted a needle into the patient's arm, and with her other hand free, slapped Gu Jinyu across the face!
This wasn't the little slap he received during his playful fight with Zhuang Mengdie in the small town.
Gu Jinyu was knocked to the ground. Her right ear was ringing, her lip was cut, and her forehead hit a broken wooden board, causing it to bleed immediately.
Gu Jinyu looked at Gu Jiao in disbelief.
Gu Jiao had already given the patient the pain relief injection. She took out a sterile dressing and covered the patient's wound very carefully.
After doing all this, she stood up and looked coldly at Gu Jinyu: "Now that you know someone is about to die, where were you before? You can't even figure out how much wind and airflow a furnace can withstand. Who borrowed your gallbladder to operate the bellows?"
Gu Jinyu's face drained of color instantly!
Gu Jiao said coldly, "If you're ignorant, go find a place to die stupidly, don't come out and cause trouble for others!"
Gu Jiao had just met the old blacksmith and learned the whole story of the accident.
This was an accident that could have been completely avoided.
The young man witnessed everything that happened between Gu Jiao and Gu Jinyu: "Find out who that girl is."
Minister Zhao was about to agree when a bodyguard appeared out of nowhere, cupped his hands, and nodded, "Yes!"
Minister Zhao broke out in a cold sweat. As expected of His Highness, even his secret guards are so elusive!
As the fire spread, it was no longer advisable to remain at the scene, so Minister Zhao joined in the effort to evacuate the injured.
Soon, Gu Changqing arrived with a group of guards.
The Six Ministries and the Grand Council belong to different factions. Strictly speaking, the Ministry of Works' accident was not related to the military camp. However, when he heard that the doctors of Miaoshoutang had been requisitioned by the Ministry of Works, he led his personal guards over.
"Big brother!" When Gu Jinyu saw him, it was as if she had seen another lifeline. She ran towards Gu Changqing with tears streaming down her face.
Gu Changqing didn't see her at all, and rode past her. He stopped not far from Gu Jiao, dismounted, and walked nervously towards her: "Are you alright?"
Gu Jiao was changing the patient's dressing. His injuries were so severe that the dressing was immediately soaked with blood.
Even Gu Changqing, a grown man, felt secretly uncomfortable seeing this scene. He held out his hand and said, "Give it to me."
Gu Jiao shook her head and said to him, "There are still a few patients over there. Could you help me move them?"
"Should we send it to the clinic?" Gu Changqing asked.
"Mm." Gu Jiao nodded.
Gu Changqing hurriedly ordered his men to find wooden planks to carry the person out.
There was also a patient with minor injuries, just a sprained ankle and some superficial wounds, whom Gu Changqing carried on his back.
He hadn't walked far with the person on his back when he suddenly felt two undeniable gazes on him. He looked in that direction and saw a carriage parked outside the back gate.
That seems to be—
As I was pondering this, a rumbling sound came from the other side of the ruins.
Gu Changqing's brow twitched.
At that moment, the old blacksmith cried out, "Oh no! The furnace is going to explode again!"
The fire got out of control and spread to a furnace in another boiler room, causing that furnace to explode as well.
Gu Jinyu turned pale and ran away!
She no longer cared about critically ill patients; saving her own life was the priority.
Gu Jiao picked up the patient in front of her and quickly left the scene.
Unfortunately, she was too late. The moment she took a step, the stove exploded with a loud bang!
The moment the fire dragon swept up, Gu Changqing lightly touched the ground with his toes and flew behind her, using his body as a shield to block the onslaught of flames.
Gu Changqing's whole body was burning up.
Gu Jiao turned to look at him: "Get lost!"
Everyone was shocked. The Commandant saved you, and you still told him to get lost?
Gu Jiao said, "Get out of here!"
Gu Changqing fell to the ground and rolled around, the flames on his body were quickly extinguished.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but was also somewhat stunned: So your "get lost" really was just the literal meaning of "get lost"...
Gu Changqing extinguished the fire quickly and did not suffer serious burns, but Gu Jiao still took him back to the clinic along with the other patients.
Many medical institutions came to provide treatment, including the old stronghold of the second master—Huichuntang.
Huichuntang is one of the top medical clinics in the capital. They brought six doctors this time, but they treated less than half the number of injured people that Miaoshoutang had treated.
What's even more disheartening is that the injured all requested to continue treatment at Miaoshoutang.
"Manager He, don't you think that girl looks familiar?" an elderly doctor said.
Manager He watched Gu Jiao's retreating figure.
He couldn't get a good look at the other person, but he was very familiar with the basket.
Isn't this the young medicine boy who accompanied the second master at the hot spring resort?
Why is she here?
The doctor said, "I heard that after the second master left the Hu family, he opened a new clinic in the capital, which seems to be called Miaoshoutang. Could it be the same Miaoshoutang we just saw?"
Manager He said, "Impossible, right? The doctor at Miaoshoutang is even more skilled than ours. Where did he find such a good doctor?"
Manager He thought it was unlikely, but Miaoshoutang had indeed taken away business from Huichuntang. He would have to report to the boss and ask him to keep a close eye on Miaoshoutang!
The injured at the scene only received basic treatment. Once they returned to the clinic, those who needed surgery would have surgery, and those who needed treatment would have treatment. Gu Jiao was very busy and didn't have time to cause trouble for Gu Jinyu for the time being.
After fleeing the scene, Gu Jinyu hurriedly boarded the carriage, tripping and falling.
"Miss..." The maid was terrified by her miserable state.
Gu Jinyu's face turned pale as she said, "Quick...quickly go find Father!"
Lord Gu is not at the Ministry of Works today. He was sent to the western suburbs of the capital last night to survey water conservancy projects and will not return for three days.
He was unaware that something had happened at the Ministry of Works.
Because of Gu Jinyu's great contributions, Gu Jinyu's status rose accordingly, and he became a highly sought-after figure in the Ministry of Works, someone everyone wanted to kill... uh, no, to curry favor with!
He was happily surrounded by his colleagues showering him with compliments when suddenly a guard came over and announced, "The princess has arrived!"
Lord Gu personally went outside to greet his daughter: "My dear daughter, what brings you here today? Did you come especially to see your father? Oh!"
He was startled by Gu Jinyu's pig-headed face!
Those who didn't know better would think they'd seen a ghost!
"Father—"
After Lord Gu boarded the carriage, Gu Jinyu told him about what happened at the Ministry of Works: "...I really didn't mean to, I didn't know the bellows would malfunction...They all say it was a problem with my design...But why was everything fine at first...and then the problem occurred when those two people arrived..."
This is said as if the bellows malfunction had anything to do with the old blacksmith and carpenter.
Gu Jinyu sobbed, "They also said that I didn't make the bellows, but my sister did..."
"How could that girl possibly make a bellows?" Lord Gu asked with a look of disdain.
Gu Jinyu whispered, "I wonder if my sister saw my drawings..."
Lord Gu frowned.
He vaguely felt that the girl wasn't the type to do such a thing, but apart from that, he couldn't figure out how she could make the bellows: "Did the old blacksmith really say that your sister told him?"
"Mm." Gu Jinyu nodded.
"That shouldn't be the case..." Lord Gu pondered, "Why would she be peeking at your things? She doesn't even know where your things are."
Gu Jiao had visited the Marquis's residence and the villa several times, but had never entered Gu Jinyu's courtyard.
Gu Jinyu hadn't expected that her father would suddenly start believing Gu Jiao at this moment.
She paused for a moment, then said, "That might be because my sister also thought of how to use bellows; we both thought of it..."
Lord Gu's intelligence only flashed briefly. He sighed, "That might truly be a case of you two sisters being of one mind. Don't worry, I will investigate the bellows accident. It may not necessarily be a problem with the bellows; it could be that the furnace has been neglected for years. As for who invented the bellows, I will report that to His Majesty."
Gu Jiao hugged his arm and said softly and coquettishly, "Father, you are truly the person who loves your daughter the most in the world."
Lord Gu was very pleased; this was truly a sweet and considerate daughter!
Unlike that girl, who is drafty everywhere and is practically a cold, hard suit of armor!
Lord Gu temporarily set aside his official duties and went to the palace to meet His Majesty.
His Majesty was listening to Minister Zhao report on the accident, the condition of the injured, and the extent of the damage at the scene. He was in a terrible mood.
When he heard Lord Gu say that the furnace explosion was probably a problem with the furnace itself, rather than the bellows, he wanted nothing more than to kick Lord Gu out!
Lord Gu, unaware that he had ignited the Emperor's raging anger, continued, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, I will definitely uncover the truth! Furthermore, regarding the bellows, my two daughters have actually considered this..."
After Lord Gu left, His Majesty leaned wearily against the back of his chair and rubbed his aching temples.
As darkness fell and all around was silent, the vast imperial study was shrouded in darkness, like a colossal beast with its gaping maw, swallowing him whole.
After a long silence, he sighed, "Wei Shen."
"Your Majesty," Eunuch Wei stepped in, "would you like the lamps lit?"
His Majesty nodded.
Eunuch Wei lit an oil lamp.
Under the oil lamp, His Majesty looked haggard and weary.
With such a major incident, no one is more heartbroken than the ruler of a nation.
He said softly, "Your Majesty, please take care of your health."
His Majesty asked, "Tell me, whose work is this bellows?"
Eunuch Wei chuckled dryly: "Your Majesty already has the answer in your heart, why bother asking this servant?"
His Majesty said, "The old Marquis served me on the battlefield his whole life, but in the end he was accused of disrespect and stripped of his military power, forced to retire to his hometown."
Eunuch Wei turned the lamp wick up a bit: "That's all for the sake of the country and its people."
His Majesty casually picked up a memorial from the table: "The Marquis of Ding'an wants to give the credit to his adopted daughter."
One thing at a time, the responsibility for the accident must be investigated, but the bellows' contribution cannot be ignored. Those who deserve punishment should be punished, and those who deserve reward should be rewarded.
Eunuch Wei chuckled dryly, "This old servant should say something I shouldn't, but it doesn't matter who made the bellows, it's all thanks to the Marquis's mansion in the end. I heard that Miss Gu has already gotten married in the countryside, while Princess Hui is still unmarried."
This is quite intriguing.
A married woman who marries only a countryman can only offer limited help to her family.
If Gu Jinyu marries into a prestigious family, His Majesty will be even more powerful.
From the perspective of its usefulness, the credit should go to Gu Jinyu.
As for the accident, once the evidence comes out, the Marquis of Ding'an's mansion will certainly be held responsible.
His Majesty hesitated: "But wouldn't that be too unfair to that young lady?"
Eunuch Wei said earnestly, "Even her own father doesn't feel wronged, so why should His Majesty feel wronged for her? She is destined to be an outcast of the Marquis's mansion, of no help to the mansion, nor to His Majesty."
His Majesty chuckled self-deprecatingly: "Then am I still a wise ruler?"
Eunuch Wei said, "Your Majesty sacrificed one person to save countless people from suffering. How can this be considered unwise or unkind?"
"Your Majesty!" a young alchemist called from outside the door, "It's time for you to take your elixir."
His Majesty gave Eunuch Wei a wink.
Eunuch Wei understood, raised his whisk and came to the door, stretched out his withered hand, and said in a high-pitched voice, "Give it to me."
"Yes." Xiao Dantong knelt on the ground and handed the brocade box to Eunuch Wei with both hands.
Eunuch Wei entered with the pills: "Your Majesty, please stop reviewing the memorials and take these pills."
Little Dan Tong craned his neck, unable to see the scene inside, but could vaguely make out the figure on the window paper that His Majesty had taken the elixir.
He withdrew, satisfied.
As soon as he left, His Majesty snorted coldly, threw the pills he hadn't even taken back into the box, and said with a look of disgust, "Get rid of them!"
"Yes." Eunuch Wei took the pill and put it away.
"His Majesty."
His Majesty hadn't had a moment's peace when another eunuch came in, saying, "Consort Shu has brought you some nourishing soup."
Venison Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup.
have to.
Another attempt to curry favor.
There were already far more women than men in the imperial harem, and the men hadn't been visiting for a long time. What woman could stand that?
But His Majesty is also helpless!
Eunuch Wei wanted to laugh but dared not, struggling to hold it in: "Your Majesty, please bear with it a little longer. Didn't that little miracle doctor say that if you don't get sick for two years, you can rest easy? It's been almost a year already."
His Majesty's expression softened upon hearing the name of the young miracle doctor.
Feeling bored in the palace, he decided to go out for a walk.
He left the palace incognito, taking only Eunuch Wei with him.
The master and servant, dressed in the ordinary clothes of a master and steward, walked openly down the street.
Few people in the world have ever seen the emperor's true face, so the two were not worried about being recognized.
Walking on the bustling streets, seeing the lights of countless homes and the people living in abundance, His Majesty's gloom finally dissipated considerably.
"oops!"
As His Majesty was walking, a little dumpling tumbled over and rolled to his feet.
Eunuch Wei was terrified and immediately spread his arms wide, shouting, "Protect the Emperor!"
His Majesty glanced at Eunuch Wei speechlessly: "It's a child."
The little dumpling stood up, tugged at the hem of her clothes, patted her bottom, and looked down: "Oh no! My shoes!"
One of his tiger-head shoes is gone!
Those were his most beloved little shoes!
He ran around for a while, but couldn't find his shoes. He got so anxious that he put his hands on his hips and stomped his feet!
His Majesty was amused by his adorable little face and couldn't help but laugh.
Little Jingkong then noticed the adult in front of him. He tilted his head up to look at the man, thought for a moment, and said, "Handsome uncle, have you seen my shoes?"
(End of this chapter)
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