Hua Jingya never expected to see the two people in front of her again, and it caught her off guard.
She first caught sight of Gu Xiqiao standing next to the door, and then Jiang Shuxuan, who stood behind her. The lights during the day were brighter than that night, and she could clearly see the beautifully marble-like silhouette of the man, the elegant arch of his eyebrows and the delicate features of his face. It was completely different than the other night she had seen him, his obsidian eyes seemed to be a pool of never ending abyss. If you were to look into it, it would only send chilling frost into your heart.
Hua Jingya could feel the cold rising at her back, and she took a deep breath. She turned her eyes to Gu Xiqiao, and remembered what she had just said. She flashed her a kind, but conceited smile, and spoke as though she was explaining to a child. “This lady can tell at a glance the acupoints of my needles, so you must also be someone within the same field. Then, could it be possible that you don’t know about the acupuncture method called ‘break to stand’?”
She wasn’t talented in other areas, and was only unique in terms of her medical skills. There were countless people who praised her on it since her childhood, and the master who taught her medicine had nothing else he could teach her, and pointed her toward the outside world, asking her to seek out the divine doctor, Rong Feishuang.
Her master had said that with her peerless talent, Rong Feishuang would definitely not turn her down.
But she hadn’t been able to find the divine doctor up till now, and she had run into this patient. She followed all the steps in the medical records to treat him, and it had worsened out of her expectation instead of getting better. At this time, she could only use the secret technique that her master had taught her.
“Break to stand?” Gu Xiqiao slowly walked to Wang Jincheng’s side, and looked at the legs that clearly were beginning to rot. “Can you really cure these legs without any form of antibiotics?”
Her face was like porcelain, and her posture was elegant and straight. She wore a bright colored top, but it looked dull under the bright complexion of her face. Her voice was cold and majestic, and Hua Jingya could clearly sense the faint aura of supremacy from her person.
No one had ever questioned her medical skills, and Hua Jingya frowned at Gu Xiqiao. “Antibiotics? I thought you were a traditional Chinese woman through and through, why must you be like those who admire Western medicine methods and all the other foreign methods? In terms of medicine, the teachings and knowledge that have been left by our ancestors are our treasures, and you should be using them and spread their teachings to educate the people. Antibiotics are the kind of things that only cure the symptoms, but not the root cause! They are more harmful than beneficial to the body, and have probably killed a lot of people!”
Now that Western medicine was in the lead, it was harder for traditional Chinese medicine to shine now. The reason was because the people in the country leaned more toward Western medicine methods, because the effect was fast and good, being able to quickly cure a lot more diseases than the traditional Chinese medicine was able to.
Gu Xiqiao wasn’t able to deny the exquisite and delicate art of traditional Chinese medicine, but it was too much to devalue Western medicine methods just because of those reasons.
Without the existence of antibiotics, the viral flu in the early days during the founding of the People’s Republic of China would have killed countless people. All of this was obvious to everyone, otherwise, why would their people choose Western medicine? They used their own eyes to witness it, after all.
Western medicine had many drawbacks, this was an undeniable fact. However, they were also improving day by day. Their medicine knowledge, studies and research were getting more advanced as the days went by.
On the other hand, the Chinese were not addressing the problems, and was blindly firm in their own opinions instead. The decline of Chinese medicine was not without reasons.
She recalled the speech that Zhu Yuan had given previously, where he had said that the amalgamation of Chinese and Western medicine would be the way forward, and she wholeheartedly agreed with that. As a doctor, you must first have the correct values, and more importantly you had to listen to the opinions of those around you. Those who insist on doing things their own way were not called doctors, they were called executioners!
Gu Xiqiao wasn’t about to waste her time arguing with Hua Jingya. She raised her eyes and looked at Wang Jinsheng. “Are you sure you want Miss Hua to treat you?”
Wang Jinsheng had no other options already, and he felt that he could only place his trust in Hua Jingya. He turned his begging eyes on her. “Miss Hua, please save me!”
Alright then, Gu Xiqiao took two steps back, indicating that she would no longer interfere.
Wang Jun however, was not about to stand back and watch this happen. He looked at the terrifying state of his uncle’s legs, and was about to coldly chase Hua Jingya out, but was stopped by a pair of slender hands.
As a person who had gone through training before, Wang Jun was sure that his underlying strength was not so easily stopped by someone as petite as her, and was surprised to be halted in his steps gently and skillfully. His eyes locked onto another pair of clear ones, and the main thing was that she didn’t even look like she exerted any power to hold him in place.
Even though he was already aware of how powerful Gu Xiqiao was, he didn’t expect this level of greatness. If you were to put it in other words, he never expected himself to be as weak as a chicken compared to her.
“Let her do her useless thing, your uncle will be fine, don’t worry.” Her voice was light and indifferent when she spoke.
Although she was just a girl that was younger than him, Wang Jun felt himself being convinced by the tone of her voice and the confidence that she exuded, and so he let his hands fall and took a step back.
Hua Jingya had seen how fierce Wang Jun had been, and she couldn’t help but shrink backward. Although she was talented in medicine, she was still a weak woman, so it was natural for her to be afraid. At this time, she suddenly caught sight of a tall figure walking toward them, and she exclaimed in surprise, “Brother Wang Liang, come over here!”
Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, the bodyguard stationed with Wang Jincheng had discreetly contracted Wang Liang.
Wang Liang had a burly rough voice, and he boomed, “Jun, didn’t I say not to disturb Miss Hua?!”
It was no wonder they were father and son, both of them were brainless idiots. Wang Jun felt that he had no f*cks to give anymore at this moment in time.
As he came closer, Wang Liang realized that apart from Wang Jun, there was another man and woman with him.
The man leaned against the door, an imposing figure that radiated a chilling and cold aura. It felt like there was an invisible pressure pressing down on him, and when he looked over to the man, he was met with a pair of onyx eyes that were deep and frosty. Wang Liang quickly averted his eyes, not daring to look any longer. He felt his legs tremble slightly, and hastened his steps into the ward, only then did he wipe the sweat off his face.
The girl standing in the ward had extremely attractive features, and her face was as smooth as jade. Wang Liang scratched his head, when the bodyguard had told him there was trouble, he didn’t expect a pretty girl to be the cause of it. He couldn’t help but soften his tone a little as he next spoke, “Miss, don’t listen to Jun Zi’s nonsense. Miss Hua is a descendent of the medical sage, Hua Tuo. She is very skilled in medicine, and she will definitely be able to save my father.”
Wang Jun sneered when he heard that. What descendent of Hua Tuo, there was no improvement at all since yesterday, how ridiculous!
“A descendant of Hua Tuo?” Gu Xiqiao repeated, raising an eyebrow.
Wang Liang’s arrival made Hua Jingya feel more at ease. When she heard Gu Xiqiao’s words, she raised her chin proudly. “That’s right, Hua Tuo is my ancestor. I’m the descendant of the 123rd generation.”
As long as the words ‘Hua Tuo’ was mentioned, there was no doubt the next word that came to mind was ‘divine doctor’. Every time she mentioned she was a descendant of the great doctor, she would receive countless worship and admiration from the people around her.
Now that she had mentioned the name, she was prepared to receive the adoring looks from the two, but she didn’t expect them to be completely indifferent to it.
Instead, there was a mocking expression on the girl’s face, as though completely disbelieving her words.
And the man had a faint smile on his face, as though he had heard something funny.
Hua Jingya’s face flushed with anger. “Those who are unrelated, please get out. I will be using a unique acupuncture method that has been passed down through the Hua Tuo line!”
Gu Xiqiao gave one last look at Wang Jincheng lying on the bed, before turning around to exit the room.
Twenty minutes later, Wang Jun was pacing outside the ward door. “I’m feeling very anxious about this.”
“Jun Zi, Miss Hua is a descendent of Hua Tuo, my dad will be fine.” Wang Liang seemed to have complete trust in Hua Jingya.
“Idiotic fool, shut up!” Wang Jun snarled. He didn’t want to hear another word from Wang Liang.
Sometimes, Wang Liang still had a healthy dose of fear of his cousin, and this was one of the times. He stopped talking immediately.
Gu Xiqiao had pulled Jiang Shuxuan to sit on the bench nearby. He pulled out his phone, he had already wanted to watch the promotional video of ‘Empire Under Siege’ the moment Wang Jun had brought it up back at the wedding.
He opened Weibo, and he didn’t need to look far for it. ‘Empire Under Siege’ had already taken the top spot on the popular topic list of Weibo on the front page.
—Princess Qixia, this is her soul within the actress.
Cheng Zhou had written that when he made the Weibo post.
When you clicked on the video, it would start with just a black screen. It was then suddenly lit up by a bright spark, and the screen gradually flickers. The perfect combination of the sound and special effects made the people who were watching the video feel like they were right there on the scene itself, and it was mesmerizing.
It was only a two-minute video, and Jiang Shuxuan didn’t skip a single second of it, his eyes glued to the screen. Only in the last fifteen seconds, did he finally see a flash of red.
A beautiful woman dressed in fine red clothes rode a stunning horse, hitting the target with an arrow. Then the wind blew, and flowers were falling all around. She turned her head, a bright smile creeping onto her face as she seemed to see someone she recognized. The sun shone faintly on her porcelain face, and the camera zoomed in on her face. No matter how bright the red dress she wore, it didn’t hold a candle to the radiance of her face.
The video gradually panned out and changed, and another scene faded in. A plainly clothed princess was standing next to the city wall, and although she was dressed in simple garbs, it did nothing to dampen her beauty. You couldn’t find the words to describe the heartbreaking sadness she exuded, and you could only watch her, and feel your own heart break as the video continued.
A crystal teardrop slid down from the corner of her eye, and she opened both arms slowly. The many netizens who were watching couldn’t help but burst out loud when they watched this scene, “NO!”
The white figure made the jump resolutely, and the frame dissolved into a big, white, snowy scenery. In the vast white landscape, the pale white figure underneath the city wall was gradually covered in a fresh layer of snow.
The emotional sad music in your ear then slowly trailed off. At this point, the video ended, and the screen went black again. The title of the movie then slowly rotated outward—Empire Under Siege!
The comments below started off with all the fans of Li Yu and Song Guanjing, all fangirling and fanboying, licking the screens and keyboard smashing.
The later comments changed however, after they had watched the video to the end, where the scene with Princess Qixia completely blew the minds of everyone.
“It was only fifteen seconds, Princess Qixia only made an appearance for fifteen seconds. Why are you guys like this (goodbye) (goodbye)”
“Ahhhh! I will beat the crew up if they dare to come out, why do you guys have to be so cruel, even a big pack of tissues is not enough to wipe the river of tears that I cried!”
“Li Yu is as handsome as always, and Jing Jing is also pretty. The newbie’s acting skills are also remarkable, the only thing that shocked me was the last two scenes. It moved me deeply, as though I was given a glimpse of the real Princess Qixia.”
Jiang Shuxuan was silent for a long while. When he had seen the figure jump down, although he knew it was fake, he couldn’t help the stab of pain and agony that went through his heart.
“What’s with your expression?” Gu Xiqiao was chatting with Xiao Yun on WeChat, and then she looked up to see a slightly depressed look on Jiang Shuxuan’s face.
“I watched the promotional video for ‘Empire Under Siege’.” His voice was slightly lower than usual.
“Oh, and?” Gu Xiqiao tilted her head to the side in confusion.
“The scene where Princess Qixia jumps off the building,” Jiang Shuxuan said, turning to look at her. His eyes were the same onyx black, and a solemn expression on his face. “It’s a little sad.”
“…” Brother Jiang, that was fake, okay!
She stretched out her hand to rub the top of his head. “Brother Jiang, that was all fake. I didn’t jump off a building.” Her eyes were bright, and the corner of her lips lifted in a confident smile. “Even if I really did jump off, such a low wall is just a small case for me!”
Jiang Shuxuan’s expression darkened. “Nonsense.”
“…”
After another ten minutes, there was still no movement from inside the room. Wang Jun couldn’t stand it any longer, it was as though there was something clawing at his insides, and he wanted to kick the door down in his anxiousness.
His control was slipping, and he unconsciously sought out Gu Xiqiao to try to calm himself. “Miss Gu, Idol Gu, Hua Jingya is not out yet, how is my uncle now?”
Gu Xiqiao checked the time on her phone, and then she turned to look at him. “Don’t worry, there should be news in another ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes?” Now that he had an accurate estimated time, it wasn’t impossible to wait for it to pass. But how did she know there would be news at that time? He couldn’t hold the question in and spoke it out loud.
“This acupuncture method involves all thirty acupoints of the body, of which there are six dead acupoints. You have to be extremely careful when doing this, and looking at her speed of inserting the needles, it would take about another ten minutes for the effect to be seen. Your cousin should be going out to buy some medication right about now,” Gu Xiqiao explained, keeping her phone, and raising her head to look at Wang Liang.
Just as she finished speaking, Wang Jun saw Wang Liang leaving in a rush after receiving a call.
He turned back to look at Gu Xiqiao, astonishment on his face. “You, how did you know that?”
“Perhaps I may be a descendent of Hua Tuo too?” Gu Xiqiao said, blinking up innocently at him.
She could even tell the moment Wang Liang needed to leave to buy medicine. Wang Jun took a deep breath, his faith in Gu Xiqiao on an even higher level now. Since she had said to wait another ten minutes, then he would do so.
Ten minutes later, Wang Liang rushed back in, drenched in sweat. He walked to the ward door and raised his hand to knock. Before his hand could reach the door, a shout was heard from inside the ward.
Wang Jun flinched violently, his face changing the moment he heard the shout and he immediately rushed forward to kick the door open.
In the ward, Hua Jingya was standing at the side, her face full of disbelief. She was the descendent of Hua Tuo, this set of acupuncture methods had been left behind by her ancestors and was peerless. As long as the needles were inserted, even the dead could be rescued from the gates of hell, how did this happen?!
In just a short forty minutes, Wang Jincheng had been rendered unconscious, and his initially healthy face had started to turn a purplish blue hue.
“Doctor! Doctor!” Wang Jun yelled after taking in the scene. A group of doctors was already on standby in a room nearby, and finally hearing something from this ward, they immediately got into action, pulling all sorts of equipment in.
There were various sophisticated equipment that were being used, an artificial pacemaker, electrocardiogram (ECG)…
“The patient’s heartbeat is dropping!”
“The patient is unconscious!”
“The patient has no chance of surviving this!”
The leading doctor took off his mask, there was no way they could save him, even if they brought him in for surgery now. He looked at Wang Jun apologetically. “I’m sorry, Young Master Wang. We have tried our best. The bacteria has just spread to Mr. Wang’s heart and lungs, there is nothing we can do to save him.”
Bacteria and viruses were already hard to control by itself, and the delays of treatment for the past few days had brought a lot of damage to his body. And then, not knowing what he had just gone through just now, the bacteria cells had suddenly spread at a massive speed to his heart and lungs.
If it had stayed within the legs, they would still be able to halt the progress using medication, and cut off his legs to protect the upper part of his body from infection. But now, even the deities and immortals in the mountains wouldn’t be able to save him.
Wang Liang was standing stiffly at the door, his hand still holding onto the packet of Chinese medicine that he had bought from across the hospital. From the beginning, he had placed his entire trust in the hands of Hua Jingya. She was the descendent of Hua Tuo, she would definitely be able to save his father. He held onto that faith all the way till now, and when he heard the words the doctor had uttered, he still couldn’t believe it.
Wang Jincheng lay on the hospital bed, his face blue and was different from a half-dead man.
Plop!
The medicine in his hand fell to the ground, and he took slow steps toward the bed.
“A pity.” The doctor sighed as he looked at the hollow eyes of Wang Liang. He already knew that this would happen, why would you put your faith in an unknown woman?
Wang Jun couldn’t contain the anger inside him, and his face twisted into an ugly expression. He gritted his teeth so harshly till the grinding sound could be heard. He took big strides to Hua Jingya’s side and reached out to grab her neck. “Aren’t you a descendent of Hua Tuo?! Didn’t you say you could cure him without the need for amputation?! If my uncle dies, then you’re going to be buried next to him, descendent of Hua Tuo!”
Hua Jingya was being held by her neck, and her feet were also not touching the floor anymore. Her eyes were wide in fear, and she could feel herself choking, running out of breath.
Panic and fear gripped her heart as she tried to struggle out of his grasp.
She couldn’t help but look toward Wang Liang for help, and Wang Liang, who was standing next to the bed, turned to her suddenly. His eyes were blood red, a furious spitting expression on his face. He approached her slowly, and her eyes widened even more, the fear growing worse as she struggled harder.
“Alright, enough.” A familiar clear, melodic voice came from behind suddenly.
Wang Jun felt his grip loosen and he let go of Hua Jingya.
Hua Jingya slumped to the ground, embarrassment clear on her face. She coughed harshly as she held a hand to her neck, the purple reddish hue fading from her face, and the tears slid down her face. Wang Jun ignored her, turning around to face Gu Xiqiao, who was walking into the room.
Gu Xiqiao took a rubber band and tied up her hair, giving instructions to the doctors. “Prepare a surgery room for me.”
“What?” The doctor couldn’t help but react dumbfoundedly.
“Prepare a room for surgery, and sterile clothes too.” Gu Xiqiao repeated her instructions.
“Yes!” Seeing her calm look and remembering what Gu Xiqiao had said in the beginning, Wang Jun suddenly felt that everything that happened was within her predictions. He turned to the doctors and barked out, “Go, prepare the operating room!”
The doctor had already reserved an operating theater for Wang Jincheng for a long while, but how could they let an outsider use their hospital’s room just like that?
“Why are you still here?! Hurry up!” Wang Jun grabbed the doctor’s collar and lifted him up.
However, he didn’t dare to offend Young Master Wang. Thinking that Wang Jincheng was a dead man either way, dying on the operating table was no different than dying on the bed, the doctor nodded his head rapidly.
Gu Xiqiao had changed out of her shoes and put on a surgical gown. The operating room was on the upper floor, and she walked slowly as she put on a mask, exposing only a clear pair of eyes. You could see how serious her expression was, and it was different than what people usually saw on her face. When she had changed into the gown, it seemed like she had changed into a completely different person too.
She approached the operating room, and the glass door closed behind her, the thin figure disappearing from everyone’s view.
How could the doctor let an outsider like Gu Xiqiao enter the room herself? He brought his assistant and rushed into the room after her.
Wang Jun stood outside the door, and looked up at the lit up sign above the door, indicating that the room was in use. Although there was a glimmer of hope in his heart, he already knew that the possibility of saving his uncle was slim, as the doctor had already informed him.
Thinking of that, he pulled out his phone, wanting to break the news to his family.
Wang Liang had dragged Hua Jingya to the front of the operating room, and although she cowered, she lifted her head to look at Wang Liang. She bit her lip, and courageously said, “The sickness has already penetrated his lungs, and there’s no way he can be saved. The operation now only serves to drag out his torture.”
“Shut up!” Wang Liang slammed a fist into the wall, his eyes bloodshot.
Hua Jingya dared not open her mouth anymore after that.
There were benches on both sides of the operating room, and Jiang Shuxuan sat down on one of them. His expression was indifferent, as though he wasn’t concerned in the slightest over Gu Xiqiao.
The light was still on, and the entire place was eerily silent.
About ten minutes later, the elevator door opened suddenly, and a few doctors in white coats rushed out. Wang Jun recognized the one leading them, it was the dean of the hospital. The dean had most likely come to see him, and Wang Jun straightened up to greet him, but the dean brushed past him into the operating room.
There was faint excitement on the faces of the doctors that followed after him.
What was happening? Wang Jun couldn’t react for a moment.
Jiang Shuxuan had raised his eyes in surprise. With a thought, he sent a trace of mental power to slowly penetrate the operating room. After a few moments, a strange expression appeared on his face.
An hour later, the Wang family members came. Wang Jun glanced over to them, and explained to them what was happening truthfully. His grandparents collapse on the chair, a bewildered and dumbfounded expression on their faces.
“If I had been firm in stopping that woman in the beginning, this wouldn’t have happened,” Wang Jun said, lowering his head. He blamed himself, he already knew that this woman was not to be trusted, and yet, why didn’t he stop it from the beginning? It was because of that, that things had developed to this point!
The one who blamed himself the most was Wang Liang, and he glanced at Hua Jingya before speaking, “This was all caused by my stubbornness.”
“You child!” His grandmother cried.
At the same moment, the light on top of the door went out. A doctor dressed in a blue sterile gown came out. “The operation went smoothly, the patient is safe.”
The people outside the operating room didn’t have time to react to the news yet, before they saw a group of doctors trailing behind Gu Xiqiao as all of them came out from the room.
“Miss Gu, I have recorded the entire process, may we share it with the other surgeons for future references?” It was the dean who said this. And the usually imposing and dignified dean was talking and looking at Gu Xiqiao with a look full of respect and admiration.
Jiang Shuxuan had stood up, and Gu Xiqiao was taking off the mask and gown, passing it off to him. She smiled slightly at the dean. “Of course. If you have any questions, you may contact me any time. I’ve already given them my contact information.”
“I’ve never seen anyone extract the bacteria within ten minutes, and even calculating and administering the correct mix and dosage to counteract it!” The doctor beside the dean couldn’t help but say. “If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it! Miss Gu, how on earth did you do it?!”
He seemed to be around forty or fifty years old, and yet when he spoke to Gu Xiqiao, he attached an honorific suffix to her name. It can be seen that that was how much respect and faith he had in her.
“My computer skills are really good.” Gu Xiqiao said, smiling.
The doctors: “…”
A person with such superb medical skills is also good in computer skills, did they all need to invest time into developing their own computer skills in the future then?
When they saw one person talking to her, Gu Xiqiao suddenly didn’t seem as aloof or unapproachable as they had thought, and one by one the other doctors started to ask her more questions.
The questions were all complex, and the people who didn’t know, just didn’t know. Wang Jun saw that some of the doctors had taken out their phones and started recording the conversations instead of trying to follow what they couldn’t.
After they finished, Gu Xiqiao pulled Jiang Shuxuan into the elevator, heading downstairs to change her clothes.
Wang Jun also finally reacted at this time, looking at the dean excitedly. “My uncle, he’s fine now, right?”
“Yes, Young Master Wang.” The dean could clearly understand Wang Jun’s feelings, and he reassured him, “The operation was very smooth. Your uncle didn’t need to have any amputations, and now they’re bandaging his wounds. In about another ten minutes, you will be able to see him.”
“How is that possible!” A shrill female voice came from the corner, full of disbelief. “The sickness had clearly entered his lungs and heart, it would have been impossible to save him!”
The medical book passed down through generations in her family had clearly said that once the sickness had gone into the lungs and heart, there was no way to save the patient.
The dean glanced at her, he was already well aware of this woman who claimed to be a descendant of Hua Tuo. He had thought that she really was a capable woman, but after sending Wang Jincheng halfway to his death, now she was turning around and questioning Miss Gu, who had saved his life?
“Divine Doctor Hua, forgive me for speaking bluntly, but what you’re unable to do, doesn’t mean that others are unable to do either.” The dean rarely spoke to people in such a contemptuous tone, but this so-called descendant of Hua Tuo was really unpleasant, and she even dared to try to discredit Miss Gu!
The term ‘Divine Doctor Hua’ made Hua Jingya feel that it was said in a way that it was more of a mockery than a compliment, and she felt ridiculed. Her face flushed red in embarrassment, knowing that the dean was not lying to her. But how was that possible? Was there really people in the world who could snatch someone back from the depths of hell? From Hades himself?
The dean no longer bothered with the woman, but turned to face Wang Jun instead. His tone was gentle and kind, but it was hard to hide the excitement on his face and actions. “Young Master Wang, is Miss Gu a friend of yours? She really is a magical person, her thoughts are bold and out of the box, she made a miracle happen! If this incident was publicized, it will definitely send the entire medical world into an uproar. There has never been such an incident recorded in the entire history of medicine! But Miss Gu is unwilling to make her name public.”
The dean felt it was regretful when he said this, and he was puzzled. Why did she refuse such a good opportunity to become famous?
Hearing the reassurance that his uncle would be fine, Wang Jun was still in a state of disbelief. The entire team of doctors in the City Hospital had been helpless, he had even prepared himself for his uncle’s passing, and now the dean had told him not only was his uncle fine, more importantly, he didn’t even need to have the amputation to save his life anymore!
***
At three o’clock in the afternoon, a certified official doctor of N City Hospital posted on Weibo.
The entire medical community was plunged into chaos.
Even the community overseas was in an uproar, the dean receiving nearly thirty calls in just that afternoon, both domestic and foreign. All of them were from masters in the medical field, people he usually could only admire for their existence, but never seeing them in person.