As all eyes turned towards the source of the voice, a young woman, no more than sixteen, emerged from the crowd.
She was dressed in a simple, pale purple coarse cloth dress, her face veiled in white, revealing only her bright, clear eyes. Her build was delicate, her waist so slender it seemed a gust of wind could blow her away.
Xing'er, startled by Leng Ruo Li’s bold statement, tugged at her sleeve. "Miss, please don't cause trouble. This is a matter of life and death!"
Leng Ruo Li gently patted Xing'er's hand. "Don't worry, your mistress never does anything without a plan."
Xing'er remained unconvinced.
The surrounding onlookers whispered amongst themselves.
"Young lady, are your words true? Can you save my wife?"
"Yes, General Su. I have a way that might save Madam Su's life."
Hearing this, General Su Xun's despair was instantly ignited with a flicker of hope.
Doctor Huang, however, frowned and reprimanded Leng Ruo Li. "Young lady, do you understand Madam Su's condition? It is a difficult birth. Do not act recklessly."
Leng Ruo Li understood Doctor Huang's concern. In this era of rudimentary medical conditions, many women died from difficult childbirths. Doctors were often helpless, leaving everything to the mother's strength and luck. Even the original owner's mother had died during childbirth. But she was a doctor from the 22nd century, skilled in both Western and Chinese medicine, and equipped with a portable system. Seeing this situation, she couldn't stand by and watch another mother and child perish.
"Young lady, what is your method?" Su Xun asked anxiously.
"General Su, allow me to examine Madam Su first. Only then can I tell you my method," Leng Ruo Li replied.
Su Xun nodded.
With his consent, Leng Ruo Li swiftly boarded the carriage. Moments later, she emerged, her expression grave. She spoke directly to Su Xun. "My method is caesarean section."
"What?"
Leng Ruo Li's words exploded like a time bomb, detonating the crowd's shock. Xing'er and Doctor Huang, standing beside Leng Ruo Li, nearly dropped their jaws. Su Xun, unprepared for such a suggestion, was also taken aback. Fortunately, as a military man accustomed to bloodshed, his composure was stronger. A scholar hearing such a terrifying prospect might have fainted.
"Young lady, if you cut open her belly, can my wife still live?" Su Xun’s heart ached.
"General Su, you must understand that Madam Su's situation is critical. If we perform the caesarean section promptly, the chances of both mother and child surviving are higher. If you delay further, both will be in mortal danger, and I will be unable to save them," Leng Ruo Li stated calmly.
Su Xun hesitated for a moment, then made his decision. "Young lady, please perform the caesarean section on my wife."
The crowd, particularly Doctor Huang, vehemently opposed the idea, believing Su Xun had gone mad. "General Su, a caesarean section is unheard of! If Madam Su's belly is cut open, can she possibly survive?" Doctor Huang earnestly advised.
"Yes, after I extract the child, I will suture the wound and prevent post-operative infection. Neither mother nor child will be in mortal danger," Leng Ruo Li patiently explained.
The onlookers, hearing the horrifying terms "caesarean section" and "suturing the wound," immediately conjured images of bloody scenes, making their scalps tingle. Su Xun, a general who had witnessed countless bloody battles, understood the implications without Doctor Huang's reminder. However, if this young lady claimed she could save both mother and child, he was willing to take a gamble.
"Then, young lady, what is your success rate for saving the mother and child?"
"Seventy percent."
"Very well, Su Xun agrees to try."
"Excellent, General. You truly are a general, decisive in your actions. I will not disappoint you," Leng Ruo Li said, her praise genuine. It took immense courage for someone from this era to attempt something so unprecedented. In reality, Leng Ruo Li was confident of a hundred percent success rate, thanks to her extensive clinical experience and her system. A caesarean section was a minor procedure for her. However, she couldn't overstate her confidence, as any surgery carried inherent risks.
"Young lady, let us begin. What do you need from Su Xun?" General Su urged, unwilling to gamble with his wife and child's lives.
"General Su, first, please help Madam Su down from the carriage and prepare swaddling clothes," Leng Ruo Li replied. She then turned to Doctor Huang. "Doctor Huang, please prepare an empty room for Madam Su as a delivery room. Then, have someone disinfect the room with white vinegar. Also, prepare two basins of hot water, a pair of scissors, and some needles and thread. Quickly!"
Doctor Huang merely shook his head but did not refuse. He called two or three medicine boys to carry out Leng Ruo Li's instructions. Unable to dissuade them, he decided to observe the spectacle.
Meanwhile, the crowd of onlookers grew larger, all curious about the caesarean section. Soon, the medicine boys cleared a clean, secluded room in a corner of the clinic. Leng Ruo Li immediately had Su Xun carry his wife to the bed in the room and then ushered everyone else out. Su Xun and Doctor Huang remained.
"Young lady, I am her husband. Can I not stay to help?" Su Xun asked, looking at his wife, who had fainted from pain, with deep concern.
"No!" Leng Ruo Li refused decisively.
"And I, as a physician, can I stay in the room to assist you?"
"Everyone out! You cannot help," Leng Ruo Li stated calmly. In her mind, she thought, If they stay, how can I move the pregnant woman into the system space for surgery? This was precisely why she had Doctor Huang clear a room; it served as a cover for her secret portable system.
Doctor Huang dejectedly left, but Su Xun still showed no sign of departing. Leng Ruo Li then calmly told him, "General Su, if you wish to remain in the room, you may. However, if you watch me perform this bloody surgery, you must not make a sound. If your movement startles me and I accidentally cut the wrong place, causing Madam Su and the child to perish, I will not be responsible."
Upon hearing the words that threatened his wife and child's lives, Su Xun glanced at his wife on the bed, then turned and exited the room. To prevent anyone from barging in, Leng Ruo Li called Xing'er to guard the door and sternly warned the gathered crowd. "General Su, Doctor Huang, and all of you, listen carefully. Unless I open this door from the inside, do not intrude upon Madam Su's delivery room. If anyone cannot wait and forces their way in, causing harm to Madam Su and the child, you will bear the consequences." With that, Leng Ruo Li closed and bolted the door, thwarting their curiosity.
Inside the system space, Leng Ruo Li administered an anesthetic to Madam Su and prepared all the necessary caesarean section tools: disinfectant, surgical knife, anesthetic, forceps, hemostatic forceps, coagulant, round needle, scissors, catgut, and more. After a thorough examination, she discovered Madam Su's critical condition: perineal tearing and ruptured amniotic fluid, raising concerns about infant asphyxiation. Therefore, she had to perform the caesarean section immediately.
With a sharp surgical knife, she made a swift incision on the abdomen. The skin and flesh parted, revealing the intestines, and bright red blood began to flow. One cut, two cuts, three cuts… Carefully, Leng Ruo Li located the uterus and delivered the infant. After clamping the umbilical cord, she gently patted the baby's bottom. The infant immediately let out a loud cry. Leng Ruo Li rejoiced; the baby had not suffocated. She wrapped the infant in swaddling clothes and set it aside, then began to suture the mother's wound, layer by layer, from the inside out, all while staunching the bleeding. With the final stitch, Leng Ruo Li took a deep breath; the caesarean section was successfully completed.
Outside the room, the crowd grew impatient, craning their necks and standing on tiptoe to peer at the delivery room door. "General Su, there's been no movement for so long. Something must have gone wrong," one person remarked. "Yes, General Su. We've never heard of anyone surviving a caesarean section," another added. Su Xun was also filled with anxiety and longed to see his wife, but each time he resolved to force the door open, Xing'er, stationed at the entrance, would remind him of Leng Ruo Li's instructions.
"Xing'er, please let me in to see my wife," Su Xun pleaded desperately.
"General Su, have you forgotten what my lady said? Do you not want Madam Su to be well?" Xing'er's questions left Su Xun speechless. He dared not gamble with his wife and child's lives and retreated. Xing'er, too, was worried about Leng Ruo Li's well-being inside.
Half an hour later, the door finally opened. Leng Ruo Li emerged, cradling a swaddled infant. She smiled at Su Xun. "Congratulations, General Su. You have a healthy eight-pound baby boy. Both mother and child are safe."
The moment she spoke, the room erupted. The entire clinic buzzed with excitement as if boiling water.