Chapter 617 Twins (First Update)
Gu Jiao's heart ached faintly; she couldn't tell if it was her own feeling or Gu Yan's pain. She was someone who lacked emotional sensitivity; many of her experiences of the world came from Gu Yan.
She didn't know if all twins were like this.
If she and Gu Yan were a tree, then her branch had become iron-hardened. It was Gu Yan who conveyed his feelings to her, allowing her to deeply feel that she was still alive and living in the sunlight with Gu Yan.
This analogy may not be entirely accurate, but she knew that she and Gu Yan were inseparable, and they shared the deepest bond in the world.
Gu Jiao hugged Gu Yan tightly, placing one hand on his burning forehead: "You won't leave, I'm going to keep you here."
Gu Yan fell into a deep sleep in Gu Jiao's arms.
Unlike the time he was rescued at the hot spring resort, his condition this time was indeed quite bad.
Gu Yan needs to have surgery.
However, this is not an ordinary surgical procedure that can be completed simply by anesthesia, incision, treatment of the lesion, and suturing. Gu Yan's surgical procedure requires extracorporeal circulation.
She did not have extracorporeal circulation equipment, nor any other medications or equipment required for the surgery.
Although the small first-aid kit can continuously provide the institute with medicines and medical supplies, the items are all very small and will not exceed the size of the kit itself.
Moreover, taking care of Yan's current condition requires not only a set of extracorporeal circulation equipment, but also a complete operating room.
Gu Jiao looked down at Gu Yan, who was fast asleep in her arms. He was so weak that even the little tuft of hair on his head couldn't stand up and was drooping there listlessly.
Gu Jiao grasped Gu Yan's weak and powerless hand and said firmly once again, "You won't leave, I won't let you leave."
I haven't had enough of being your older sister.
No one can take you away from me, not even the King of Hell.
...
Performing surgery on Gu Yan seems impossible at present; she lacks equipment and an operating room, but she doesn't want to give up.
Gu Jiao held Gu Yan for a while, and after confirming that Gu Yan would not wake up for the time being, she gently put Gu Yan back on the bed and pulled the quilt over him.
She walked out of the east room and said to Gu Xiaoshun, who was waiting anxiously in the main room, "Xiaoshun, come here."
"Sister!" Gu Xiaoshun turned around and walked towards Gu Jiao. "How is Gu Yan?"
"They've been saved for now," Gu Jiao said.
Gu Jiao's face didn't show much emotion, but Gu Xiaoshun still felt the icy chill enveloping her.
Gu Xiaoshun felt sorry for Gu Jiao. He was a child who was not loved or cared for by his parents, and only his sister was good to him.
"Sister." The thought of Gu Jiao being sad because of Gu Yan made his throat tighten.
Gu Jiao looked at him and asked, "I have something to ask you."
Upon hearing that it was something important, Gu Xiaoshun quickly wiped away his tears, rallied himself, and said, "Sister, what is it?"
Gu Jiao asked, "Did Gu Yan exhibit any strange behavior before his heart condition flared up?"
Gu Xiaoshun scratched his head: "Strange behavior?"
Gu Jiao thought for a moment and said, "For example, who did you come into contact with, and what did you eat?"
Gu Yan had been taking medication and his heart condition was well controlled. Although he was still different from a normal person, it shouldn't have suddenly flared up like this.
Gu Xiaoshun knew that Gu Yan had a heart condition, so he took good care of him and paid close attention to him at the academy.
He thought back carefully: "We entered the academy together, then attended classes together, studied together... After class, he went to the outhouse and came back... he seemed to say he was a little tired. He always complained of being tired, but he wasn't really tired. He just didn't want to go to class and wanted to lie down on the table and doze off. I thought he would be like that today too, but who would have thought... he suddenly collapsed while lying down."
Gu Jiao frowned.
"ah!"
Gu Xiaoshun suddenly remembered something and said, "I remember now! Gu Yan came back from the outhouse and said, 'What bad luck to run into someone who doesn't know what's going on!' I asked him what happened, but he said nothing. Then he patted his clothes, as if he had fallen. But since he was fine, I didn't ask any further questions."
"Are you blind?" Gu Jiao then summoned Guard A and Guard B. "Were you with Gu Yan today? Do you know that he tripped and fell in the outhouse?"
The two shook their heads.
They were indeed following Gu Yan, but they wouldn't follow him even to the outhouse.
The guard said, "We're guarding outside the outhouse courtyard. If anyone tries to harm the young master, we can sense the killing intent."
Gu Jiao said thoughtfully, "The implication is... Gu Yan was accidentally knocked down? That person didn't intend to hurt or kill Gu Yan? But why would he fall ill after being knocked down? His body shouldn't be this weak..."
Gu Jiao felt something was wrong, so she went back into the room, pulled back the quilt, and uncovered Gu Yan's clothes.
It wasn't very noticeable when she was trying to save Gu Yan, but now that the bruises have appeared, Gu Jiao can see a handprint on Gu Yan's chest.
He was slapped!
"We didn't sense any killing intent." Guard A looked at the palm print on Gu Yan's body with surprise.
The guard nodded.
To be honest, Gu Yan is practically a little tyrant in the academy now. Even Gu Chenglin doesn't dare to provoke him. If Gu Yan just shouts, the two of them will immediately appear.
If Gu Yan is unable to summon someone, it must be because a master has arrived. However, a master's killing intent is too strong to escape their senses.
Then there's only one possibility: this person really didn't come to kill Gu Yan; he just accidentally bumped into Gu Yan and then casually slapped him.
"Sister, Master Nan's wife is here!"
Outside the east room, Gu Xiaoshun interrupted Gu Jiao's thoughts.
Today was the day Gu Xiaoshun and Gu Yan were to go to Master Lu's house to learn their skills. Usually, if the two of them didn't go, the guards would go and inform them. But today, no one came. Nan Shi Niang was worried that something might have happened to someone, so she rushed to Bishui Hutong to check.
Master Lu has also arrived.
"Master Lu, Madam Nan," Gu Jiao greeted the two in the main room.
As soon as Madam Nan entered the courtyard, she sensed the unusual atmosphere. She glanced at Gu Xiaoshun, who was secretly wiping away tears, and asked Gu Jiao, "What happened? Why is Xiaoshun crying? Where is Yan'er?"
"Something happened; his heart condition flared up."
Is it serious?
"It's quite serious."
"Let me see!"
Gu Jiao led Nan Shi Niang and Master Lu into the east room.
They knew that Gu Yan suffered from a heart condition, but after spending so much time with him, Gu Yan had hardly ever had an attack, and they were almost starting to treat him like a normal child.
Now, Gu Yan lay on the bed, pale and weak, looking as if he might die at any moment, which broke their hearts.
Master Lu exclaimed in surprise, "How could this happen so suddenly? He was perfectly fine yesterday."
“He was slapped,” Gu Jiao said.
"Who!" Nan Shi Niang's eyes flashed with murderous intent.
Gu Jiao shook her head and came to the bedside: "I don't know. Nobody saw who it was. They just left a handprint. Otherwise, they wouldn't even know he was slapped."
"A palm print?" Madam Nan strode over, unbuttoned Gu Yan's clothes, and upon closer inspection, her gaze darkened. "Nine Clouds Palm?"
"What is the Nine Cloud Palm?" Gu Jiao asked.
Nan Shi Niang said in a deep voice, "This is the unique skill of the Nangong family of Yan Kingdom. The power of this palm technique lies in the fact that you will be fine when you are hit, but your tendons and veins will gradually break afterward. He controlled the force of this palm and did not intend to kill the person. He just wanted to vent his anger and teach Yan'er a lesson."
Gu Jiao frowned: "The Nan...Gong...family?"
Could it be Nangong Li?
Nangong Li lost an arm to Chang Jing and has been hiding all this time. Could it be that he secretly sneaked into Qinghe Academy today?
Nangong Li did not know Gu Yan. He must have bumped into Gu Yan by accident and, annoyed that Gu Yan was blocking his way, slapped Gu Yan in a fit of anger.
He appeared to be acting unintentionally, but in reality, he was committing heinous crimes.
Gu Yan hadn't provoked him or offended him; it was just an accidental bump... and it was still unclear who bumped into whom, yet he was able to vent his anger on a weak scholar.
Is he even human?!
Gu Jiao's gaze turned cold.
Nangong Li, it better not be you, otherwise...
Madam Nan was furious. Gu Yan was just an innocent child. How could any beast in the Nangong family do such a thing to him!
"Why would the Nangong family come to Zhao Kingdom?" Master Lu asked Nan's wife in a low voice.
"How should I know!" Mrs. Nan said irritably.
Master Lu choked for a moment and then remained silent.
He understood that Nan Xiang wasn't targeting him personally; she was just extremely angry.
To be honest, he was angry too. Regardless of who in the Nangong family did it, this behavior was more hateful than any purposeful revenge.
This is utterly disregard for human life and shows no humanity!
Looking at the weak Gu Yan, Nan Shi Niang closed her eyes with a heavy heart.
She can help with detoxification, but she's powerless to cure illnesses.
"Jiaojiao, can you cure Yan'er?" She looked at Gu Jiao expectantly.
In fact, she understood that the hope was very slim. If it could be cured, Gu Jiao wouldn't look like this.
"Let me think about it first." Gu Jiao went to the study.
Nan Shi Niang didn't dare to leave; she stayed in the east room to guard Gu Yan.
As night fell, family members gradually returned to Bishui Hutong, and soon everyone learned that Gu Yan's condition had worsened.
Yao cried her heart out.
Even Gu Xiaobao, who never cries, pouted with a wronged expression, her big eyes brimming with glistening tears.
Empress Dowager Zhuang rushed over from the palace.
She only had one request for Gu Yan: that he stay alive. But now even that seemed like a luxury.
She sat on the edge of Gu Yan's bed, and suddenly looked much older.
Huangfu Xian and Xiao Jingkong also arrived at the east room.
Huangfu Xian had only been living in Bishui Hutong for a short time. He thought he was just an outsider, but seeing Gu Yan unconscious, he felt very sad.
The usually talkative Jingkong was silent this time. He stood in front of the bed, staring at Gu Yan with wide eyes.
Gu Yan had also lashed out fiercely the time Tang Ming bullied her, but the atmosphere then was not as tense as it is now, as if everyone felt that Gu Yan was really in grave danger.
The old priest didn't dare to utter a sound. He silently went to the kitchen to cook, adding firewood to the stove while silently shedding tears.
"Grandpa, what's wrong?" Yu Ya'er asked with concern.
The old priest wiped his eyes with his sleeve and said, "The smoke... the smoke is too much."
Xiao Heng was the last to arrive home. Liu Quan had already told him about Gu Yan's situation on his way to pick him up, so he immediately put down his official duties and rushed back.
The whole family felt sorry for Gu Yan, but he knew that Gu Jiao was the one who was suffering the most right now.
She was both the older sister and the doctor, and she couldn't allow herself to fail to cure Gu Yan.
Xiao Heng found Gu Jiao in the study.
Gu Jiao was holding a charcoal pencil, scribbling something on a piece of white paper.
"Jiaojiao." Xiao Heng stepped into the house.
Gu Jiao paused in her writing, looked up at him, and said in a voice filled with a grievance she had never shown to outsiders: "Husband."
Xiao Heng's heart clenched painfully.
He walked around the desk to her side, leaned down and looked at her intently: "It's alright, Ayan will be alright."
Gu Jiao remained calm, picked up the paper on the table and handed it to him: "These are the equipment and medicines I have listed. The ones circled in cinnabar are the ones I already have. I haven't gotten the rest yet."
Xiao Heng took the paper and looked at it. It was a full sheet of paper, but only about one-tenth of it was circled in cinnabar.
She is very strong.
She's so strong it's heartbreaking.
Xiao Heng gently stroked the top of her head reassuringly: "With this, will A-Yan be saved?"
“If I have all of these, I can perform the surgery on him; I can do the surgery by myself,” she emphasized.
Xiao Heng looked at the strange names on the table and asked, "What are all these?"
Gu Jiao said firmly, "It's equipment needed for the surgery, and I can't get it out of my medical kit."
"This... is this a drawing you made?" Xiao Heng looked at the pattern on the back.
Gu Jiao nodded.
Xiao Heng pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Wait a minute."
Gu Jiao looked at him strangely.
He turned and went to the bookshelf, took down a box, and took out a yellowed drawing from it: "Is this it?"
Gu Jiao took it and looked at it, then her expression froze.
Isn't this the blueprint for an operating room?
"Where did it come from?" Gu Jiao asked.
Xiao Heng said, "It was tucked inside Jingkong's book on Yan arithmetic. I don't know what it is, but it didn't seem right to lose it, so I took it out and put it aside."
Does the State of Yan have an operating room? Or is the State of Yan planning to build one?
With that math book and this diagram of the operating room, the fact that the Yan Kingdom had a time-traveling predecessor is basically confirmed.
Gu Jiao clutched the blueprints in her hand, a glimmer of hope suddenly rising in her heart: "The Yan Kingdom has something I need!"
Xiao Heng's eyes darkened slightly.
The State of Yan was a place he should never set foot in.
(End of this chapter)
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