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The weather in the borderlands was bitterly cold, with ground frozen, and there was no heating system in the wine cellar. To prevent Old Marquis from experiencing dangerously low body temperature during the surgery, Gu Jiao had Gu Chengfeng dismantle a table and ignite a small fire with some strong liquor.
Snowflakes fell from the sky, hitting the eaves and the ground with a soft, rhythmic sound, perfectly masking the noise of the firewood burning.
Gu Jiao's movements were very gentle, and her expression remained very calm.
She administered an IV drip for Old Marquis and had Gu Chengfeng find a stand to hang the IV bag.
Old Marquis was bleeding internally, and an epidural anesthesia injection was not very convenient, so Gu Jiao put him under general anesthesia.
Old Marquis lost his last trace of consciousness and drifted into a deep sleep.
The conditions on-site were not suitable for laying out surgical drapes, so Gu Jiao disinfected a large area of Old Marquis's left upper abdomen and made an incision directly.
Blood-tinged ascites flowed out through the incision.
Gu Chengfeng held his breath at once!
Gu Jiao skillfully freed the spleen, then carefully extracted it from the incision. Gu Chengfeng took a quick glance and almost fainted on the spot!
Gu Jiao continued the surgery calmly. She located the active bleeding point on the spleen and sutured it. If the bleeding didn't stop after suturing, they would have no choice but to consider partial or total spleen removal.
The spleen wasn’t like the appendix. Removing it was still fine.
However, the consequences of spleen removal were lifelong. If this surgery was performed, Old Marquis would never be able to return to the battlefield again.
Time passed slowly, and the snowflakes outside seemed to have stopped.
The entire Prefect's Mansion fell into silence.
The fire occasionally made crackling sounds, and with each crackle, Gu Chengfeng's heart tightened.
Gu Jiao was completely focused on her work, her hands covered in blood.
The suturing was effective. There was no need to remove the spleen, just suture all the fissures.
The spleen repair was complete, and the surgery was nearing its end. The next step was to suture the abdominal incision.
Gu Chengfeng clenched his fists, silently praying, "Please, no one come, please, no one come..."
This courtyard was very remote, and generally, no one would come here. As long as there was no significant commotion in the wine cellar, it wouldn't attract the attention of patrolling guards.
However, someone did come.
Listening to the footsteps and the sound of armor rubbing against each other, it was two adult soldiers.
Overall, the Prefect's Mansion was under the control of the remnants of the previous dynasty, with the main force of the State of Chen stationed outside. Therefore, Gu Chengfeng deduced that the two individuals who arrived were henchmen of the remnants of the previous dynasty.
Gu Chengfeng quietly approached the door. He couldn't see what was happening outside, so he strained his ears to catch any sounds or voices from the newcomers.
By this time, Gu Jiao had already started suturing the abdominal wound.
Gu Chengfeng could tell that the surgery was nearing completion, but the closer they were to finishing, the more they couldn't afford any unexpected incidents.
His heart lifted up slightly.
Two soldiers entered the courtyard and walked in the direction of the wine cellar. One of them grabbed his companion to a stop and said, "Alright, there's no one else here. Take it out now!"
"Speak more quietly! Don't let anyone hear!" His companion replied in a hushed tone.
"Okay, okay, I won't speak loudly!" The soldier's voice was quieter, but his tone became more urgent, "Don't just keep asking me to speak softly or loudly, where's the stuff you brought? Take it out!"
Hearing them, Gu Chengfeng understood that these two men weren't here to check on their grandfather. His hanging heart moved back in place a bit.
However, he didn't dare to let his guard down. He still tightly gripped two concealed weapons in his hand.
The companion handed over a small porcelain bottle to the soldier and said, "Here!"
The soldier removed the bottle cap, sniffed the contents, and sounded somewhat disgusted, "What's this smell?"
"It's supposed to smell like that!"
"Is it really effective?"
"Why don't you try it, and you'll know for sure."
"Have you tried it yourself? Can you really do it seven times in one night?"
Upon hearing this conversation, Gu Chengfeng couldn't help but furrow his brow. Seven times in one night? Their discussion had taken an inappropriate turn with too much vulgar language! He wished he could shut these two men up!
He glanced back at Gu Jiao, who was diligently treating Old Marquis. She was almost finished with the suturing.
This girl is so focused on her work. She shouldn’t have heard those vulgar words, right?
"Are you going to buy it or not?" One of the soldiers asked.
"I want it! How much is it?" The other replied.
"Outside, they sell it for one or two silver taels, but the owner is my friend, and he's giving it to me cheap. It's two hundred copper coins. If I sell it to someone else, I'd have to charge an extra fifty coins. Since you're my pal, I won't charge you extra."
Gu Chengfeng snorted inwardly.
For such a shoddy item, even ten copper coins would be overpriced, and they were calling each other friends?
The soldier eventually became the sucker and spent two hundred copper coins to buy the bottle of "Ten-Fold Rejuvenation Pills."
"Let's go." He said to his companion.
“Wait."
"What's up?"
"Over there."
"What's over there?" The soldier looked and said, "Oh, it's the wine cellar."
Gu Chengfeng's heart raced!
"I heard that the wine in Lingguan City’s Prefect's Mansion has been aged for over ten years." The companion said as he started walking towards the wine cellar.
The soldier held him back, "Hey, who was it that said we shouldn't get caught? Carrying a wine jug in the middle of the night, you think we're not going to get noticed fast enough? If you want to drink, I have plenty in my room. I'll pour you a pot when we get back!"
"Oh... Alright."
Convinced by his companion, they both left the courtyard.
Gu Chengfeng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
His entire back was soaked with cold sweat, and his forehead felt sticky. He wiped his sweat and asked Gu Jiao, "Is it done?"
Gu Jiao trimmed the last thread and covered the wound with gauze, "Not yet, the fractured areas still need to be immobilized."
Old Marquis had fractures in multiple limbs that needed to be stabilized first, or moving him would be very risky.
Half of the dismantled table was thrown into the fire, leaving the other half. Gu Jiao managed to fashion a few boards from it.
Gu Chengfeng went to help her.
But at this very moment, something unexpected happened.
The two individuals who had left suddenly rushed back!
"Uh-oh! It's Chief Guard Liu! If he finds out we didn't patrol properly and came here without authorization, he'll definitely punish us!"
It was the voice of one of the soldiers.
"Quick, hide!"
His companion said.
"Where should we hide?" The soldier asked nervously.
"In the wine cellar!"
Gu Chengfeng's eyebrows jumped!
He froze, and his helping hand that was securing the boards came to a halt. He glanced at Gu Jiao, but she appeared to have heard nothing and continued her work calmly and swiftly.
Gu Chengfeng's eyes flickered, and he gazed coldly in the direction of the room's door.
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