Chapter 73

When Murong Feiyan handed the note to Hu Xiaotian, he quietly pulled her aside and whispered, "Something's not right here!"

Murong Feiyan frowned slightly and asked, "What's not right?"

Hu Xiaotian leaned in close to her ear and said in a voice only she could hear, "That old man might be a eunuch!"

Murong Feiyan let out a soft exclamation, her face flushing red. She glanced at Hu Xiaotian with a scolding look and said, "How do you know?" As soon as she asked, she regretted it. Why did she ask such a stupid question?

Hu Xiaotian actually explained, "His manhood has been cut off. Don't believe me? Go check for yourself."

Murong Feiyan's face turned red all the way to her neck. She hung her head, her beautiful eyes fixed on her toes. She couldn't blame Hu Xiaotian; she had asked him herself. But this scoundrel was really shameless. Why did he have to be so explicit? Did he think she didn't know what a eunuch was? He must be deliberately trying to embarrass her. Scoundrel, big scoundrel, asking her to go check, she was still a maiden!

At this moment, Hu Xiaotian had no intention of embarrassing her. He whispered, "People like him usually live in the imperial palace and rarely come out. That little girl also seems very unusual. Have you ever seen a child around eleven or twelve years old act so domineering?"

Murong Feiyan suddenly realized what Hu Xiaotian meant. The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. She whispered, "You mean, she might be a princess?" The Emperor of Dakan had twenty-seven sons, and even more daughters, most of whom were raised in the inner palace. If this little girl was a princess, it would make sense for her to have an old eunuch as a companion.

Hu Xiaotian said, "I don't know who she is, but I'm sure she's not the old eunuch's granddaughter. You must keep this note safe. If anything happens, we'll have some evidence. By the way, they came with nothing, no luggage. Later, you can subtly ask if she left anything behind."

Handling emergencies can reveal a person's intelligence and skills. Murong Feiyan couldn't help but admire Hu Xiaotian. This guy was really shrewd, always thinking ahead. In terms of martial arts, she could easily defeat him with one finger, but when it came to strategy, she always felt outmatched. Despite her frequent commands and apparent authority, when it came to major issues, she still followed Hu Xiaotian's advice.

Murong Feiyan said, "Are you really confident you can cure the eun... the old man?"

Hu Xiaotian replied, "I don't have the power to bring the dead back to life, but he's not dead yet. We'll treat him as if he's still alive."

Hu Xiaotian chose two assistants from the four servants: Hu Fo and Shao Yijiao. Liang Dazhuang was the first to be rejected. From their interactions, he was clearly more of a troublemaker than a helper. He was the best at flattery among the servants, but when it came to practical work, he was useless.

Although they had some surgical instruments, they were far from complete. The amputation was a high-risk procedure, and there were no conditions for anesthesia. This left Hu Xiaotian in a difficult position.

Hu Xiaotian used the strong liquor he brought to disinfect the old man, who remained unconscious throughout. This provided some convenience for the surgery. If he was lucky, he could complete the amputation while the old man was still unconscious. Whether he would wake up afterward, Hu Xiaotian had no guarantee. He could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.

Without sterile conditions, anesthesia, blood transfusion, or proper lighting, the surgery was extremely risky with a very low success rate. Hu Xiaotian had never done such an uncertain procedure before. He believed the old man would likely die during the surgery. But if he didn't help, the old man would certainly die.

For the one percent chance, Hu Xiaotian decided to take the risk. He would do his best at every step, hoping the old man was strong enough to survive this ordeal. Although he had no connection to the old man, the doctor's sense of duty took over when he faced a patient.

The old man's right leg was a mess from the knee down, with the knee and shin bones completely shattered. There was no value in trying to save it, and an amputation was necessary. Hu Xiaotian used a bowstring as a tourniquet around the old man's thigh, taking advantage of its elasticity. He chose the incision point 25 centimeters below the greater trochanter of the femur, a common position for amputations. He used a scalpel to cut the skin, separated the underlying fascia, and flipped the skin flaps.

Following the standard procedure, he cut through the limb and bone, ligated and cut the great saphenous vein, separated the femoral artery, femoral vein, and saphenous nerve from the sartorius muscle, and made the necessary cuts. After dealing with the blood vessels and nerves, he made a circular cut 3 centimeters below the amputation plane, reaching the femur, cut the periosteum, and used a steel saw to cut through the femur, completely separating the injured limb.

Hu Fo and Shao Yijiao were responsible for boiling and sterilizing the instruments and passing them to Hu Xiaotian. Watching him saw through the old man's thigh, they were both horrified, breaking out in cold sweat, almost vomiting. This young master's mental fortitude was truly extraordinary. Despite the bloody scene, he remained calm, methodically performing each step. Even though they knew nothing about medicine, they could see that Hu Xiaotian was extremely familiar with human anatomy, performing each step perfectly.

After sawing through the femur, Hu Xiaotian began to handle the posterior blood vessels and nerves. He separated the deep femoral artery and vein between the femur and the adductor magnus and biceps femoris muscles, performing a double ligation. He then separated the sciatic nerve between the semitendinosus, semimembranosus, and biceps femoris muscles, ligated the nutrient vessels, and cut the nerve, allowing it to retract naturally.

He released the tourniquet made from the bowstring, ligated all the bleeding points, placed a skin flap for drainage, and then flipped the rectus femoris flap over, suturing it to the muscle interval behind the femur. He used interrupted sutures to close the fascia and skin.

After successfully amputating the old man's right leg, Hu Xiaotian began to treat his other wounds. Although the old man had many wounds, they were not severe and only required debridement and suturing.

The entire surgery took more than an hour. After sewing the last stitch, Hu Xiaotian threw the surgical instruments into a copper basin and used sterilized and dried gauze to bandage the old man's wounds. He felt the old man's neck; although the pulse was weak, it was steady.

The old man remained unconscious throughout the process, which was a fortunate thing. At least he avoided a lot of pain. He might never wake up. Hu Xiaotian took off his outer robe and threw it on the ground. Despite the cool weather, he was drenched in sweat.

Stepping outside, he saw Murong Feiyan and the little girl waiting. The little girl held a blue and white cloth bundle, which she must have retrieved while he was performing the surgery.

The little girl asked, "How is he?"

Hu Xiaotian replied, "It went smoothly, but I don't know if he'll wake up." He was being honest. He had only followed the steps of the amputation, and he had no guarantee the old man would wake up.

The little girl turned and walked back into the room.

Murong Feiyan didn't follow her. She looked at the exhausted Hu Xiaotian and said softly, "You've been busy all night. Go rest. I'll take care of things here."

In Hu Xiaotian's memory, this was the first time she had shown concern for him. He couldn't help but laugh, "Did I hear that right? You actually care about me?"

Murong Feiyan said, "You can also interpret it as pity!"

Hu Xiaotian shook his head and said, "I don't want pity! I want care. You're not a stingy person. What's the harm in showing a little care?" With that, he walked briskly to the neighboring courtyard. Murong Feiyan watched his tall, straight back, her face blushing red from his words. But after a moment, a smile appeared at the corners of her lips.