There were no official examination rooms within the Apricot Woods. However, the quiet forest contained free standing, enclosed courtyard residences that sat in a line about ten steps apart. The four patients were each assigned a courtyard by the ti the three departnt heads and Gu Beiyue arrived.
Each treatnt residence was given one young dical assistant in change of announcing the progress of treatnt. Since this was a competition, any advancents in the patient’s illness or the doctor’s treatnt would have to be publicized. Now the results of the draw had been determined, news spread beyond the Apricot Woods to the waiting crowd outside. All of them were most interested in Gu Beiyue’s obstructed labor case.
Within the woods, the three departnt heads each had empty courtyards, while Gu Beiyue’s was stuffed with so many spectators that there wasn’t even a place to stand. Everyone was willing to wait outside Gu Beiyue’s courtyard than delve into the situation of the other three courtyards. Even the judging panel was hanging around his doors.
After all, his was an urgent case!
Han Yunxi and Gu Qishao sat in seats behind the judging panel as they watched servant girls carry in basins of hot water and multiple cries of pain from within. She wished she could charge in and help, while Gu Qishao was sunk in a rare mont of seriousness without a smile.
Clan Head Xiao from the south central regions eventually pushed his way through the crowd until he was behind Han Yunxi. In a low voice, he murmured, “Esteed wangfei, don’t worry. Doctor Gu can definitely do it.”
As soon as Han Yunxi recognized his voice, she turned to give him a glare. Then she looked back without speaking a word. She still rembered the debt for his cris!
By now, Gu Beiyue had been cloistered inside for two hours along with the pained mother. But the dical assistant still hadn’t co out to announce anything. Judging from that, Han Yunxi could guess that the woman’s water still hadn’t broke. For childbirth to occur, the water had to break first. Sustaining labor pains like this would only sap at the mother’s strength and weaken her psychologically.
Gu Beiyue and the midwife both understood this logic, so they would comfort the woman as best as they could to keep her calm instead of crying and wasting her energy. But why was the woman still sobbing? Either Gu Beiyue couldn’t calm her down, or she was in extre pain. In any other case, no news was good news, but no news was bad news here!
Comntary and discussions grew in the crowd as the ti stretched out. Han Yunxi’s heart was all sixes and sevens in her chest. In modern tis, they could break the woman’s water with manmade ans, but what could Gu Beiyue do now? She hardly dared to imagine the consequences if the mother remained in agony. Would she die right in the delivery room?
Finally, the dical assistant erged from a side door. The crowd shut up to listen to him speak.
“Doctor Gu has determined that the woman is pregnant with four infants, but her water hasn’t broken yet.”
Four infants...
“That’s it, it’s over. He’ll have to save either the mother or the children!”
“If only one side can survive, do we even need Gu Beiyue? Just use the midwife!”
“This...her water still hasn’t broken yet. We don’t know the positions of the infants either. It’s possible we could lose both them and the mother!”
At this point, many people forgot about the competition and starting worrying about human lives instead. But then the cries in the room suddenly ceased.
What now?
The dical assistant dashed inside before coming out with a fresh report. “Doctor Gu has used needles to minimize the pain of the mother.”
Hearing this, Han Yunxi finally felt better, while everyone else exhaled as well. At least the mother would be able to preserve so energy if she stopping screaming in pain. She needed the strength to push out her babies after her water breaks.
“Using needles to stop the pain? Heheh, ingenious and clever! Gu Beiyue can certainly think of ways,” soone praised.
Han Yunxi smiled. In the modern tis, this would be called a painless delivery, which was usually effected with dicine. She never thought Gu Beiyue could accomplish the sa task with just a few acupuncture needles, how formidable! It was impressive that he could even think up the thod and put it to use!
Inside the room, a black cloth rested on the mother’s body to hide her awkward bits. The midwife was at the foot of her body while Gu Biyue sat at the mother’s head, carefully working his needles. The mother’s face was ashen white and soaked in sweat from exhaustion. But her eyes were still open as she looked at the gentleman with the eyes as warm as jade. It was as if he held all the safety and hope in the world. She wasn’t sure whether it was his needles or his hands that held the magic, but all of her pain had disappeared.
Gu Beiyue soon noticed the woman’s stare. Unmoved and unchanged, his words were very stern. “If you want to keep every single child, you must close your eyes and rest. This is your duty.”
Alard, the woman instantly shut her eyes. Only then did Gu Beiyue continue setting the needles while instructing, “Go make a bowl of rooster soup and add so ginseng.”
Inside the room, everything turned peaceful along with the expectant mother’s silence. But everyone outside were still waiting anxiously. Very soon, the dical assistant ca to report that the mother’s water had finally broken. The midwife was delivering a child while Doctor Gu was still using acupuncture to ease her pain. Finally, every exhaled in relief.
Unxpectedly, another day and night passed without a single child being born. This was already the limit. Once all of the amniotic fluid left the womb or any bit of got contaminated, the infants would be in danger! Waiting for dical treatnt now wouldn’t save the children! The crowd felt their hearts seize up just as the dical assistant announced bad news.
“The first child is a breech delivery! If it doesn’t co out, it’ll really be obstructed labor!”
Breech delivery ant that the baby ca out feet first. Silence fell upon the crowd. Clan Head Ren abruptly rose to his feet, his voice alard. “Does Gu Beiyue have any solutions? What’s he going to do?”
If the mother couldn’t birth her children, then they would have to choose between preserving one or the other. If they wanted to save the babies, then they’d force open the mother regardless of damage and carry it out. The mother would then die from excessive blood loss. If they wanted to save the mother, then they’d have to cut off the little one.
Before the dical assistant could reply, the mother’s husband ran out from the side rooms to kneel in front of the judging panel. “We want to change the doctor! We want to change the doctor!”
The dical academy naturally sought the family’s approval before submitting these patients for the dical skills competition. However, with life and death at stakes, the relatives had more faith in the departnt heads. If it wasn’t for the competition, they wouldn’t have a chance at finding one of them for treatnt even if the mother had ten babies to born. Seventh rank Sage Doctors were harder to find than so fourth or fifth rank physicians. But at a ti like this, they naturally wanted the best doctors available.
The judging panel grew uncertain as well. There might be a chance of survival if the case was handed to another seventh-rank doctor, but things were unpredictable in fifth-rank Divine Doctor Gu Beiyue’s hands.
What to do?
While the panel discussed amongst themselves, Clan Head Ren had people summon the three departnt heads over as well as the dical academy’s obstetrics specialists. The dical skills competition was temporarily halted as they focused on saving human lives. Han Yunxi’s gaze grew complicated. Her only comfort was that the dical academy still had so sense of human compassion and knew to put lives first.
The three departnt heads and a few female doctors arrived at the examination hall to understand the current situation. After more discussion, they erged with no better ideas than to save either one or the other. The husband sank to the ground in despair, stuck with the most painful decision of his life.
“Please decide quickly. If you don’t, it’ll be impossible to save either side,” Departnt Head Lin urged.
“What did Doctor Gu say?” Han Yunxi asked anxiously. Was he part of their talks? Was he still using the needles? What were his opinions?
“What else can Doctor Gu do besides stopping the pain?” Departnt Head Lin smiled coldly.
When they entered the room just then, Gu Beiyue not only ignored them, but told them to get out. They couldn’t be bothered to argue with him then and let him use his needles while they held their talks.
“Save the mother or the children, hurry and decide!” Departnt Head Ouyang pressed as well.
The husband’s eyes were red with tears. Finally, he was forced to pick a side. “The children!”
These were quadruplets. It was possible to save all four if he chose them, but saving the mother would only leave one person behind.
“Please restrain your grief!” a female doctor sighed. She turned to go in, but was stopped by the dical assistant.
“Please hold. Doctor Gu said, he can save both the mother and children. Everyone, calm down.”
The female doctor gave a start before she knitted her brows. “Is Gu Beiyue insane? Where does he have the skills to save them both? This is just the ravings of a lunatic!”
“That’s what Doctor Gu said. He told to guard the door. Besides changing the water, no one’s allowed to disturb him.”
“Ridiculous! This is simply asking for trouble! If it’s a matter of life and death, he doesn’t have the right to run rampant! What can a re fifth-rank Divine Doctor who doesn’t even specialize in obstetrics do?”
Departnt Head Lin lost his temper and stepped forward to push the dical assistant aside so he could charge in, but soone kicked his leg and sent him sprawling.
Gu Qishao rested his foot over Departnt Head Lin’s heart while grinning at the crowd. “If anyone tries to barge inside, this old man guarantees that we’ll lose so lives out here today!”
“Gu Qishao! You dare!” Departnt Head Huo raged.
“Soone co, take away this madman!” Departnt Head Ouyang cried desperately.
Unfortunately, none of the guards dared to approach them, because Gu Qishao’s foot was right over Departnt Head Lin’s heart. They might not understand Gu Qishao, but they knew Gu Qi Sha all too well. He was a vicious, ruthless type without question. The two departnt heads looked towards Han Yunxi along with the rest of the female doctors, trying to coax her to their side.
“Qin Wangfei, if this drags on, we’ll really lose human lives! We’ve seen so many cases like these. If a solution really existed, would we need Doctor Gu? Moreover, when has he ever taken on childbirth cases? Right?”
“Esteed wangfei, try to convince him. Doctor Gu can’t be like this, he can’t experint with human lives!”
“The situation’s urgent, is esteed wangfei just going to watch these lives die?”
Han Yunxi ignored them all and walked to the door with hands crossed over her chest. The hopeless husband suddenly threw himself at Gu Qishao and scread, “All of you, get lost! You guys are simply murderers! Do you want to kill my children? Gu Beiyue, get out, I don’t believe you! I don’t! I want the children! The children...”
There was no reaction from within the rooms.
Gu Qishao shoved the man aside, so he ran for Han Yunxi instead. Fortunately, Gu Qishao blocked him before he could reach her.
“Han Yunxi, what right do you have to stand here? You guys want to experint on my wife, don’t you?” the man accused.
“What right do you have to pick the mother or the children? Your wife has her opinions, too. She’s the only one with the right to decide! Her life is her own, and she’s the one who worked hard carrying those babies for the past ten months!”
Han Yunxi’s words awed the man into silence. anwhile, she told the dical assistant to hurry in and ask the mother for her choice.
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