“Miss, one of the kids has been injured by a carriage.”
“Where is he?”
Cheng Ran closed his lips lightly and replied. “Still on the street.” He was to go out just now but met Su Muge at the door.
“Lead the way. I’ll take a look with you.”
“Yes.”
The accident took place on Zhengyang Street, which was an important main road in the capital and was usually taken by many nobles.
“Do you know the details?”
Cheng Ran glanced at the little girl who was walking in front of them and replied, “The child in trouble is Tianya’s younger brother. Two hours ago, I asked them to buy something on the street. Unexpectedly, Tianya suddenly hurried back to tell me her brother, little Hu, was hit by a carriage. She didn’t know what to do and rushed back to find me.”
The scene of the accident was not far away from them. After walking for over a quarter of an hour, Su Muge found the entire street was blocked by plenty of gathering people.
Su Muge sighed and trotted forward as Cheng Ran cleared the way for her. “Excuse me. Excuse me.”
They squeezed in and found that the imperial guards had isolated the scene of the accident from the crowd.
Faintly, she could hear cries of pain in the carriage isolated from the crowd.
“It’s the little Hu. Brother Cheng Ran, I saw little Hu.” Tianya urgently pointed to a small figure beside the carriage; he was supported by a guard to lean against the wall, with his face covered with blood.
“Miss, please, please save the little Hu.” Tianya burst into tears at the sight of her injured brother.
Su Muge frowned; the imperial guards could be summoned, so the person in the carriage must be somebody.
“Don’t cry, Tianya. I’ll save your brother.”
“Uncle, I wonder what happened here. Why are the imperial guards alerted?” Cheng Ran asked an uncle beside him.
“It is said that Princess Linghua and Madam Duke Qing are sitting on the carriage. Just now, a child suddenly rushed out and hit the carriage. Then the carriage stopped and the imperial guards were summoned soon.”
As soon as the uncle finished his words, a few guards pulled some people towards them.
A man who appeared to be a doctor was brought to little Hu to treat his injury on his head.
A middle-aged woman was supported to get on the carriage by a guard.
Shortly afterwards, a woman in a gorgeous dress came out of the carriage. With a gauze hat on her head, her face couldn’t be seen clearly.
“It’s Princess Linghua.” Su Muge glanced at the purse around the woman’s waist and whispered. She had seen exactly the same purse on Infanta Jiaoyue at the hunting party. It was said that Princess Linghua and Infanta Jiaoyue were very intimate, so it was quite normal for them to wear a purse with the same pattern.
Princess Linghua approached little Hu and looked at his injury.
“Is this kid okay?”
The doctor hurriedly stopped his movement and bowed, “Your Grace, the child just has a skin trauma on his forehead. He’s fine.”
Princess Linghua nodded. “That’s good. Be careful next time.”
The people beside pushed little Hu. “Hurry to thank Her Grace.”
Little Hu was still muddled and kowtowed to Princess Linghua. “Thank you, Your Grace.”
Princess Linghua waved her hand absently, staring at the carriage with a slight frown.
“Ah…”
A scream suddenly broke out in the carriage, and Princess Linghua put on a sterner look.
Seeing that little Hu was okay, Su Muge could finally feel a little relieved. Hearing the screams, she guessed that it was probably someone giving birth to a child in the carriage, who might be Madam Duke Qing, an elderly pregnant woman who had been a recent hot topic.
Duke Qing was nearly forty years old, who married Madam Duke Qing at a young age. This Madam was also of a certain age. After marrying Duke Qing, she gave birth to a daughter but could never be pregnant for a long time due to her poor health. Last year, she finally got pregnant again. Regardless of the danger, she insisted on giving birth to the child.
She heard this from Yueru’s gossip.
“Princess, no, no, the child is too big to be born!” The middle-aged woman who was brought in just now was the famous midwife in the capital. At this moment, she lifted the curtain with her bloody hands and said in a shaking voice.
“Ah!”
The cry from the carriage was getting weaker and weaker. In this era, a woman giving birth was a life-and-death struggle, not to mention an elderly pregnant woman.
“How come?” Princess Linghua and Madam Duke Qing were intimate confidantes who had been playing together since childhood.
She had persuaded Madam Duke Qing to give up this child but was rejected.
“Hurry up! Go to the palace and find Doctor Xue!” Doctor Xue was the best doctor in obstetrics and gynecology.
To get to the palace from here at the highest speed, it would take at least two hours to go back and forth. When the doctor arrived, it must be too late.
Su Muge walked to an imperial guard and said. “Brother, could you please tell Her Grace that maybe I can have a try? My name is Su Muge.” It had nothing to do with her indeed. And if Princess Linghua had been as arrogant and unreasonable as Eighth Princess, she would have ignored it. But although it was because of little Hu’s naughtiness, as Tianya told her just now, that he hit the carriage and got injured, Princess Linghua not only did not blame him but also found him a doctor. Seeing this, Su Muge was willing to help.
Recently, Su Muge had won a great reputation. It was no trivial matter to treat His Majesty. After a moment of doubt, the imperial guard turned to Princess Linghua.
Soon after, Su Muge met Princess Linghua’s eyes.
In a while, the imperial guard came back. “Princess let you come, Miss Su.”
“Miss …” Cheng Ran whispered worriedly.
“Bring little Hu back in a while. He’s scared and should be pacified.”
“Yes.”
As Su Muge walked over, she could sense Princess Linghua’s sight of inspection on her.
“Pay my respects to you, Your Grace.”
“Miss Su, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“You’re flattering me, Your Grace.”
Princess Linghua came to the point. “Can you help Madam Duke Qing deliver the baby smoothly?”
“I don’t know Madam’s situation and dare not make a conclusion.”
“Take Miss Su in.”
Someone stepped forward, lifted the carriage curtain, and helped Su Muge get into the carriage.
As soon as the carriage curtain was lifted, Su Muge felt overwhelmed by a strong smell of blood. In the carriage, besides the gradually unconscious Madam Duke Qing, there were a midwife and an old Mama who had been scared to death with a pale face.
“How is Madam now?”
Su Muge went straightforward, rolled up her sleeves and prepared to work!
At the sight of Su Muge, both the two women in the carriage were puzzled. Since Princess Linghua was guarding outside, there should be no problem with the entering girl, but they still felt it improper for an unmarried little girl to witness such a scene.
“Madam’s amniotic fluid has burst out and her cervix has dilated, but the child’s head is too big to come out.”
Madam Duke Qing was afraid that her old age would influence the growth of the baby, so she had eaten a lot of supplements during pregnancy, which led to the big size of the child.
Su Muge reached out to touch Madam Duke Qing’s belly; the fetal position was normal and the baby was very big indeed. In modern times, she would recommend a cesarean section for the parturient.
She looked down between Madam Duke Qing’s legs; she had already lost plenty of amniotic fluid. It would be harder to deliver the child if the amniotic fluid drained. And the baby would also be dangerous if staying in the uterus for too long.
But the cesarean section was risky, which she must make clear.
Su Muge lifted the curtain and walked out. Seeing her, Princess Linghua became nervous. “How is it?”
“Dystocia. If no action is taken, both the adult and the baby will be dangerous. The only way is a cesarean section — to cut her belly open and take the child out. I have 50% odds of saving them.”
“Presumptuous!” Unexpectedly, hardly had Su Muge finished speaking when Princess Linghua rebuked her angrily.
Su Muge was not surprised at her reaction. The cesarean section had been practiced before in the Chu, but the results were not so satisfactory — only one of the mother and the child could be saved.
As Madam Duke Qing’s intimate friend, Princess Linghua certainly didn’t want her to take any risk.
“Su Muge, do you know what you are talking about?!”
Facing Princess Linghua’s sharp eyes, Su Muge kept her countenance. “I’m quite clear. But I must tell you that if the baby cannot be delivered, both the mother and the child will be in danger. Your grace, please make a decision.”
Princess Linghua really couldn’t decide on this matter!
Even if she had a good relationship with Madam Duke Qing, she was not her family. If any decision made by her led to any unpredictable result, Duke Qing Mansion wouldn’t let her go.
“Hurry up! Go and find Duke Qing.”
“Your Grace, it’s too late. If you can’t make a decision, please ask for Madam Duke Qing’s opinion.”
Staring at Su Muge, Princess Linghua finally gritted her teeth and got on the carriage.
In a while, she got off the carriage and looked at Su Muge seriously.
“Miss Su, I hope you’ll do your best.”
Hearing this, Su Muge knew Madam Duke Qing had agreed. “I certainly will.”
Due to the limited space of the carriage, Su Muge asked to take Madam Duke Qing to the clinic nearby. Fortunately, she had brought her medical kit with her, in which the surgical tools were very complete.
Knowing that it was Madam Duke Qing who was to deliver a baby, the director of the clinic could only vacate a clean empty room even if he didn’t want to.
After Madam Duke Qing was carried onto the bed, Su Muge tied up her hair with a piece of cloth, rolled up her sleeves, put on a pair of gloves, and asked the rest people out except the midwife.
“Now, do as I said, understand?”
The midwife nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes.”
Su Muge firstly disinfected Madam Duke Qing’s whole body with liquor and made her drink up a bowl of anesthetics. Then Madam Duke Qing fell fast asleep.
Seeing this, the midwife was shocked. How could she deliver the baby if she had fallen asleep?!
Su Muge took out the sterilized scalpel from her medical kit and walked to the swollen belly of Madam Duke Qing. The tip of the scalpel gently crossed the belly of Madam Duke Qing…
