"No! I will never give up as long as there is even the slightest glimmer of hope. Divine Doctor, please, you must save my child! No matter what it takes, I just want my child to live!"
As a mother, Lady Shen couldn't bear to watch her child slip away from her. Even if there was only a slim chance, she wouldn't give up.
Lord Shen still disagreed, but he couldn't withstand Lady Shen's insistence, so he had no choice but to give in and stop objecting. Although they had both agreed, Mu Fengqie was still extremely nervous.
The patient was a two - year - old child, so the operation was highly risky. She prepared a scalpel, some hemostatic tools, and silver needles for suturing. After making sure everything she needed was ready, she drove everyone out, leaving only Xiao Qing to assist her.
After taking a few deep breaths for several minutes, she began to disinfect the boy's abdomen. After sterilizing the instruments with boiling water, she fed the boy some anesthetic, and then the operation officially began.
She slowly cut open the boy's abdomen. Fortunately, she didn't damage any blood vessels or arteries, and there wasn't much bleeding. She managed to stop the bleeding temporarily and then took out the dead fetus from his abdomen.
This seemingly simple operation took a full five hours. She finally completed the last step. Looking at the faint scar on the little boy's abdomen, Mu Fengqie's face was beaming with a satisfied smile, and her eyes were filled with glistening tears.
Supported by Xiao Qing, she walked out of the side room. After a full five - hour rescue, it had gotten dark. Lady Shen and Lord Shen anxiously looked at Mu Fengqie. Their hearts had been in their throats all this time, afraid that something might go wrong.
"The operation was a success. The young master should wake up soon. However, the young master has just had the operation and is not suitable to be moved for the time being. Why don't you stay here for a few days?"
Hearing this, Lady Shen almost fainted from excitement. Even the usually composed Lord Shen was as excited as a child. Seeing this, Mu Fengqie also showed a gratified smile. Perhaps it was moments like this that made her fall in love with her profession.
Lady Shen took out a silver note from her bosom and put it into Mu Fengqie's hand. "Here is a silver note worth five hundred taels. Please accept it, Divine Doctor."
Mu Fengqie had never seen so much silver before. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. She never expected that Lady Shen and Lord Shen would be so generous.
Since they had already offered so much silver, it was obvious that they were not short of money. She didn't decline and let Xiao Qing help her into the room to rest.
She had been in a state of high tension just now, afraid of accidentally cutting the child's artery. Now she was completely exhausted. Looking at Jing Xunchi beside her, she checked on him briefly and then lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep, sleeping until the next day.
When she got up, she found that the person beside her was gone. Jing Xunchi still had injuries. How could he just wander around casually? If his wounds got infected, wouldn't all her efforts from yesterday have been in vain?
After getting dressed, she got up and came to the courtyard. Mu Fengqie saw that familiar figure. But why was he sitting with Lord Shen? Did they know each other?
Mu Fengqie stood still and listened to their conversation, hoping to find the answer she wanted.
"The court has never given up searching for the general's whereabouts. How dare the general show himself so openly under the nose of the imperial city?" Lord Shen asked with a worried look on his face.
"The most dangerous place is the safest place. For now, this is the only option. We'll make further plans later."
"But do you plan to live like this for the rest of your life? If you can't be rehabilitated, will you have to live in hiding forever?"
Mu Fengqie always felt that Jing Xunchi's identity was extraordinary. Judging from the way they were chatting, they must be acquaintances. Moreover, Lord Shen called him "general". Could he really be a general in the imperial city?
But if he was really a general, why was he living at the foot of a desolate mountain? How much of this story was unknown to her?
Just as Mu Fengqie was lost in thought, Jing Xunchi noticed her presence and immediately shut up, stopping the conversation.
"Your injuries aren't healed yet. How can you just wander around casually?" Mu Fengqie said pretending to be nonchalant.
"It's okay. I'm much better."
Lord Shen never expected to meet Jing Xunchi here, and he was even more surprised to learn that he had married the divine doctor.
Lord Shen and Jing Xunchi's father were close friends. So even if he saw Jing Xunchi here, he would never reveal his whereabouts. Lord Shen and Lady Shen had no children when they were young. This young master was a late - born child for them. They were in their forties when they finally had this hard - won child, so they doted on him extremely.
"Do you... know each other?" Mu Fengqie couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
Jing Xunchi shook his head. "I've never met this lord before. I just heard about what happened yesterday from this lord. It seems that my wife is truly a divine doctor."
Mu Fengqie snorted in her heart. It seemed that this man still didn't consider her one of his own. Clearly, the content of their conversation just now was something that only acquaintances would discuss, but now he was pretending not to know each other in front of her. It was really suspicious.
"What are you talking about? You two chat first. I'll go and check on the young master."
With that, Mu Fengqie left without looking back. Since they didn't want to tell her the truth, why should she make a fool of herself?
When she came to the side room, the young master had already woken up, but he still looked a bit weak. When Lady Shen saw Mu Fengqie, her face was filled with a happy smile.
"Thank you, Divine Doctor, for saving us. If I had lost this child, I wouldn't have been able to live on. If we hadn't met you, perhaps my son and I would no longer be in this world by now."
As Lady Shen spoke, tears welled up in her eyes again. This feeling of having something lost and then regained made her feel as if it wasn't real. But from the bottom of her heart, she was grateful to Mu Fengqie, who had saved their family of three.
"The original intention of a doctor is to save lives. Lady, you don't need to take it to heart. You don't need to be so polite. My name is Mu Fengqie. You can call me Qier."
Hearing this, Lady Shen's smile grew even wider. "Good. I'm old enough to be your mother. If you don't mind, would you like to be my adopted daughter?"
Mu Fengqie's eyes widened, and she blinked in disbelief. As far as she knew, Lord Shen was the Minister of Revenue, and his official position in the imperial city was among the top. She never thought she would be able to form a kinship with such a family. If she could get on good terms with Lady Shen, it would be much more convenient for her to handle things in the future.
"Lady, you're really overestimating me. It should be me hoping that you won't dislike me."