Chapter 701 Surgery
After leaving the stable, Prince Han went straight back to his own courtyard, where Han Che had been waiting for him for a long time.
"Big brother!"
When Han Che saw him, he stepped forward and greeted him.
Han Shizi glanced at him: "Your injuries have healed?"
"I'm fully recovered," he said. "If my older brother is fully recovered, why can't I?"
If we don't mention it, it's fine, but just mentioning it ignites a surge of anger in Han Shizi's heart.
Who would have thought that both brothers would be beaten up by a student from abroad?
Of course, apart from his second uncle Han Yong, he didn't let anyone else in his family know that he had been put in a sack. Han Che only thought that he was injured while practicing martial arts.
Han Shizi entered the house.
Han Che stepped forward and said, "Brother, you must be exhausted. Here, have some water."
He attentively served tea and water to Prince Han.
This is his own younger brother. To put it bluntly, Han Shizi could tell what kind of fart he wanted just by the way he sticks out his butt.
"What do you want now?" Han Shizi asked in a deep voice.
Han Che smiled and said, "Well... nothing else, it's just that... I heard that my brother's cavalry has trained a new batch of Black Wind Riders. Could you give me a powerful one?"
The Black Wind Riders are all very powerful, so the fact that he specifically said that he doesn't want ordinary Black Wind Riders.
Han Shizi remained silent.
Han Che thought to himself, "Oh no, my brother is going to say again, 'Wasn't the trouble you caused by borrowing the Black Wind Riders last time enough?'" But to his surprise, the Crown Prince Han did not blame him for the first time.
Han Shizi picked up his teacup and suddenly said, "Didn't you take a fancy to that kid's horse?"
"Huh?" Han Che was taken aback. "What kid... Ah!"
He finally realized that the kid his older brother was talking about was Xiao Liulang from Tianqiong Academy.
He stared blankly at Prince Han: "Brother, you..."
Han Shizi took a sip of tea, lowered his eyes to conceal the fleeting glint of darkness in them, and said, "If he dies, his horse is yours."
Han Che stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "Big brother, are you serious? That King Horse is really mine? I can really have my own King Horse?"
That's no ordinary horse king, it's a wild horse king that can leave the Black Wind Riders far behind!
Chu Nan said that it is only two and a half years old and has not yet reached adulthood, but it already has such power. Given time, it will surely become the number one horse after the Black Wind King!
Even though he couldn't get the Black Wind King from his elder brother, he was satisfied with getting it!
He was so engrossed in the joy of about to win the Horse King that he paid no attention to his elder brother's words, "If he dies."
However, his joy was short-lived, as a piece of bad news came crashing down on him.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
The servant's anxious voice came from outside the door.
Han Shizi frowned, put down his teacup, and asked, "What is it?"
The servant stood at the door, trembling, and said, "Lord Chu Nan just came and said that the Black Wind King... the Black Wind King is missing!"
...
In the alleyway scorched by the blazing sun, Mr. Meng was drenched in sweat, almost turning into a salted fish.
He felt that if Gu Jiao and Ma Wang didn't come back soon, he might suffer heatstroke on the spot.
Fortunately, when he was on his last breath, Gu Jiao finally brought Ma Wang back.
No, it seems there's more than just Horse King.
The Horse King and the horse from the Imperial Preceptor's Hall were pulling a cart together. Gu Jiao was sitting in the front of the cart, while... another horse was lying in the back!
Feng Yuehua has already been driven away by Mr. Meng; he is all alone here.
He walked over, sweating profusely, and asked, "What happened?"
"Oh." Gu Jiao jumped down, patted the cart, and said, "I borrowed it from someone along the way, and I have to return it later."
Mr. Meng: "..."
Am I asking about cars?
It's a horse!
What's wrong with this horse?
You didn't happen to want to eat horse meat, so you brought a horse home from the market, did you?
Mr. Meng whispered to Gu Jiao, "Child, this horse looks so listless. It's obviously got equine disease. You can't eat its meat."
Gu Jiao: "..."
Black Wind King: "..."
Black Wind King's condition was more serious than Gu Jiao had anticipated. Even after treating the main injuries to its abdomen, it was still unable to walk independently.
Gu Jiao decided to take it back for treatment first.
Black Wind King was covered in mud, and his saddle was broken and kicked away by Horse King, so no one recognized him as the famous Black Wind King.
The disciples of the Imperial Preceptor's Hall were very enthusiastic in preparing a new carriage for Gu Jiao and helping her send the Black Wind King back. As for the cart that the Gu family had borrowed along the way, the disciples said they would help Gu Jiao return it.
Gu Jiao thanked him and got into the carriage with Mr. Meng.
The Horse King was slightly injured when it pulled the Black Wind King, so Gu Jiao didn't let it pull the carriage and used the horses from the Imperial Preceptor's Palace instead.
Horse King frolicked and bounced around in front of him.
It was already dark when the two carriages arrived at their temporary residence.
As Nan Shi Niang was wondering why Gu Jiao and Meng Lao had been gone for so long, she heard the sound of horses' hooves outside.
She hurriedly put down the half-picked mung bean sprouts in her hand and got up to open the door for Gu Jiao.
As a result, she saw Black Wind King being carried down on a stretcher by several disciples of the Imperial Preceptor's Hall.
She was taken aback, and murmured, "Are we having horse meat tonight?"
Black Wind King: "..."
Gu Jiao: "..."
The disciples of the Imperial Preceptor's Hall carried the Black Wind King into the front courtyard and then took their leave.
"It was a horse found in the woods, discovered by Xiao Shiyi." Gu Jiao recounted to Nan Shi Niang how Black Wind King rescued the horse from the swamp.
Mr. Meng had already heard it once at the entrance of the Imperial Preceptor Hall, but he didn't quite understand it then. This time, when he listened to it again, he suddenly realized that something was wrong.
Where in the inner city of Shengdu is there such a large forest?
Could this baby have wandered off to the royal hunting grounds?
This might be a royal horse—
Never mind, it was the people from the Imperial Preceptor's Hall who brought the horse back. Let the Imperial Preceptor's Hall hold up the sky if it falls.
Han Shizi turned the inner city upside down, but little did he know that his Black Wind King had already been taken out of the city in a spacious covered carriage.
When a new horse arrived at the house, Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun came over to see what was going on.
Gu Jiao stopped her two younger brothers: "We need to wash it first, its body is covered in poisonous swamp."
Gu Xiaoshun went to fetch water, and Gu Jiao, along with Nan Shiniang and Master Lu, spent half an hour cleaning the swamp off its body.
Gu Jiao then noticed that besides the large wound on its abdomen, it had many other small injuries.
Gu Yan brought over the small medicine box: "Here you go."
Gu Jiao took the small first-aid kit, placed it on the stool, took out disinfectant, tweezers, and cotton swabs, and squatted down to carefully clean its wounds.
"It's so badly poisoned, it'll need to take medicine soon. If it can't take it, it'll need an IV drip."
Gu Jiao said.
"Does it allow fighting?" Gu Yan asked.
"If they won't let us, we'll tie them up," Gu Jiao said.
People become exceptionally docile when they are weak, and so do horses.
Black Wind King lay there quietly, letting Gu Jiao do whatever she wanted to it, and it didn't even flinch when she tried to prick it with needles.
Perhaps he was too deeply poisoned and had no strength left, or perhaps no one here knew he was the Black Wind King, so there was no need for him to be too strong.
Seeing that Black Wind King had regained some strength, Gu Jiao tried to feed it medicine, but Black Wind King couldn't swallow it, so Gu Jiao had to take out an IV drip to give it an injection.
Gu Yan squatted down next to Gu Jiao, looking at the Black Wind King obediently letting Gu Jiao give it acupuncture, and said, "It's so beautiful."
Like the Horse King, Black Wind King is a black horse, but the Horse King is still a baby and its fur is not fully developed, so it is not as black and shiny as Black Wind King.
It is entirely black, with a robust yet not exaggerated physique. Every inch of its muscles is restrained yet full of power, exuding an air of nobility.
"Huh? It's a girl?" Gu Yan noticed that Gu Jiao had put a pink band-aid on it.
"Hmm." Gu Jiao nodded, glanced at Gu Yan teasingly, and said, "But it should be bigger than you. Come on, call her Aunt Ma."
Gu Yan: "..."
Gu Yan pointed at the Black Wind King and said, "I'm bigger than it!"
He won't admit it, so it's not as big as him!
All the Black Wind Kings of the Xuanyuan family are male horses, except for one little mare who showed remarkable strength and speed from a young age. She ran faster than all her brothers, surpassed her father at the age of three, and defeated the previous Black Wind King at the age of six to become the new leader of the Black Wind Cavalry.
It was so powerful that no one dared to laugh at it for being a mare.
Gu Jiao and Gu Yan were unaware of these facts; they only believed it to be a pitiful, sick horse that had been abandoned by its owner after getting stuck in a swamp.
Gu Jiao said to Gu Yan, "Go and rest, get a good night's sleep. The surgery is tomorrow."
Gu Yan readily agreed: "Okay, you should go to sleep early too."
Gu Jiao nodded: "I'll put it to sleep after I finish the IV drip."
Gu Yan got up and went to his room.
"Ayan, don't be afraid," Gu Jiao said to him.
Gu Yan turned around and smiled gently: "With you here, I'm not afraid."
...
The next day, before dawn, the whole family got up.
With the operating room secured, Gu Yan was finally able to undergo surgery, and everyone was eagerly anticipating it.
"You make breakfast today," Mrs. Nan said to Master Lu. "I'm not a good cook, so don't make Jiaojiao and Ayan sick."
Master Lu thought to himself, "Do you even know that your cooking skills are bad? Then what's the deal with you having Gu Chengfeng and Jiaojiao bring Liu Lang and Jing Kong pickles, dried vegetables and all sorts of other dishes every day?"
Master Lu cooked millet porridge, steamed a basket of braised pork buns, and fried a few scallion pancakes, filling the entire courtyard with their crispy aroma.
Gu Yan sat down in a daze, still a little dazed. He scooped up a spoonful of millet porridge and was about to put it in his mouth when Gu Jiao stopped him.
“You need to fast,” Gu Jiao said.
Gu Yan's stomach growled, and he said with a pitiful expression, "But the breakfast today looked so delicious."
Nan Shi Niang looked embarrassed.
I should have let her do it; look how much the child is craving it.
After breakfast, Gu Jiao and Gu Yan boarded the carriage to the Imperial Preceptor's Palace.
Gu Jiao resolutely refused to let Ma Wang pull the carriage, and instead used another horse from the family. Old Mr. Meng also got into the carriage.
Nan Shi Niang's heart was in her throat. She was very nervous. Although she knew that Gu Jiao was a skilled doctor, she still couldn't help but worry.
Master Lu comforted him, saying, "Yan'er is a lucky person, so don't worry. Besides, Jiaojiao is here, and she won't let anything happen to Yan'er."
“I…I know, I am…” Nan’s wife could hardly describe the feeling.
In reality, Master Lu is all talk and no action; deep down, he's terrified.
The calmest one was Gu Yan.
It was as if he wasn't the one going for surgery.
Gu Xiaoshun stood outside the car window and said to him, "Don't be afraid. I'm a very skilled doctor. When my brother-in-law was lame, the doctors said they couldn't cure him, but I cured him. You can definitely be cured too."
Gu Yan covered her chest: "Now that you mention it, I'm actually a little scared."
Gu Xiaoshun's expression changed drastically: "Huh?"
Gu Yan laughed: "Just kidding."
Gu Jiao said, "Xiao Shun, don't forget to ask the academy for leave."
Gu Xiaoshun replied, "Okay, sis!"
Gu Xiaoshun waved to the carriage and watched it disappear at the end of the road: "Everything went well, Gu Yan."
About half an hour later, the carriage arrived at the Imperial Preceptor's Hall.
Yu He had been waiting outside the door for a long time.
He saw Gu Jiao and Mr. Meng's carriage approaching the Imperial Preceptor's Hall from afar. After the two got off the carriage, he hurriedly went forward to greet them, cupping his hands in greeting: "Mr. Meng, Young Master Xiao."
Gu Jiao asked him, "Huh? What are you doing here?"
“I’ll be waiting for you here,” Yu He said.
Gu Jiao asked in surprise, "Did you know we would be coming today?"
Yu He smiled and said, "The Grand Preceptor said that you will definitely arrive before 9:00 AM."
Is that guy a god? How could he guess that?
Yesterday it was clearly stated that if Gu Yan's physical condition allowed, he could come over for surgery at any time.
How could he be so sure that Gu Yan's physical condition was definitely fine?
Gu Jiao asked suspiciously, "Did your Grand Preceptor send people to monitor me?"
Yu He couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Young Master Xiao is joking. The Imperial Preceptor would not spy on Young Master Xiao. He is just good at divination and knows everything about the world."
What a person who can divine the future and knows everything under the sun!
Forget it, now is not the time to verify this. The most important thing is to perform surgery on Gu Yan.
Gu Yan got off the carriage.
Gu Jiao introduced, "This is my friend Gu Yan, A Yan, and this is Yu He, a disciple of the Imperial Preceptor Hall."
The two greeted each other and bowed.
Gu Jiao said, "I'll trouble Brother Yu He to lead the way."
Yu He smiled and said, "You're welcome."
Learning from yesterday's experience, Yu He directly arranged for two disciples to guard Gu Jiao's carriage today.
Gu Jiao: Actually, there's no need, since Ma Wang isn't here either.
Yu He led the three to the Grand Preceptor's side hall. Through Yu He's introduction, Gu Jiao learned that it was the Grand Preceptor's office hall, where he handled all his official business, while the small bamboo house from yesterday was where he met with friends.
“The three guests who came yesterday were all very special, which is why we took them there. In the past, the Grand Preceptor would meet with guests in the Qilin Hall every month,” Yu He said.
The implication is that Gu Jiao is also a special guest.
Gu Jiao thought of that Daoist Qingfeng; it seemed he was also a special guest. She wondered what made the three from yesterday so special.
"Who was the first customer yesterday? Would you mind telling me? It's okay if you can't."
“It is the Duke of Anguo,” Yu He said frankly.
"Duke Anguo?" Old Master Meng frowned slightly.
"What's wrong?" Gu Jiao asked.
Mr. Meng explained, "The Duke of Anguo's mansion and the Imperial Preceptor's Hall are mortal enemies. Back then, the Duke of Anguo was so badly injured that he was practically a living dead for several years, yet he never came to the Imperial Preceptor's Hall for medical treatment."
Gu Jiao looked at Mr. Meng: "Do they have a grudge?"
"I suppose so." Old Master Meng glanced at Yu He, unsure whether it was impolite of him to speak ill of the Imperial Preceptor in front of the disciple.
Yu He tactfully walked to the front.
Mr. Meng said, "The Duke of Anguo's mansion and the Xuanyuan family are related by marriage. It is said that the Xuanyuan family's rebellion was related to the Imperial Preceptor's Hall. I am not too clear about the specifics. There are different versions of the story among the people. In short, some people saw Prince Jing arguing with the Imperial Preceptor back then, and then the two sides broke off relations."
Gu Jiao thought of the name Nangong Li had mentioned to her before his death, paused, looked at Old Master Meng, and asked, "It is said that you often play chess with the Imperial Advisor and are treated as an honored guest by him. Do you not know the reason behind this?"
Mr. Meng said helplessly, "He never mentions anything about the Xuanyuan family."
"Mr. Meng, Young Master Xiao, Young Master Gu, we've arrived," Yu He said with a friendly smile from the front.
The three entered the Qilin Hall.
Yu He led Mr. Meng to a side room and said, "Mr. Meng, the Imperial Advisor has asked you to wait here."
Mr. Meng looked at Gu Jiao, then at Yu He: "Okay, I'll wait for them here."
Yu He then said to Gu Jiao and Gu Yan, "Please come with me."
The three of them went to the end of the corridor.
Two assassins still guarded the place.
Yu He smiled and said, "I'll leave you here. The Grand Preceptor is inside. Please come in."
Two assassins pushed open the iron gate.
A strong smell of disinfectant wafted over, left by Gu Jiao yesterday. Today, the Imperial Advisor was already cleaning the operating room by himself.
“This isn’t the room we need,” Gu Jiao said, looking at the head advisor who was doing everything himself.
The Imperial Advisor turned around, his eyes filled with gentleness and expectation, and said, "Just testing the waters."
Gu Jiao took the small basket off her back and said to Gu Yan, "This is the Grand Preceptor of the Great Yan Kingdom."
Gu Yan cupped his hands in greeting, "Imperial Preceptor."
The Imperial Advisor said "Oh," and looked intently at Gu Yan: "He is that patient. He looks quite young, but he must have suffered a lot from the illness. I will help you."
As he spoke, his expression suddenly turned serious. "But are you sure you can really trust me?"
Gu Jiao took the small medicine box out of the small basket on her back: "Are you referring to character or medical skills? If it's the former, I don't care; if it's the latter, I'll rely on myself."
After saying that, she put the small medicine box inside the wall.
The next second, Gu Yan felt a bright light before his eyes, but before he could see the scene in the operating room clearly, he fainted in the arms of the Imperial Advisor.
The Imperial Advisor gently placed Gu Yan on the operating table and undressed him, saying, "There are some things that are better left unsaid to him."
Gu Jiao didn't refute. She took out two sets of surgical gowns, gave one to the Imperial Advisor, and changed into the other herself.
Click!
The operating light was turned on.
...
Gu Jiao raised the scalpel and calmly gazed at the boy under the light: "Anesthesia complete, surgery, begin."
(End of this chapter)
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