Gu Jiu and Gu Mei hurriedly followed Gu Rui to check on the eldest young madam, Jia shi.
Jia shi lay in bed, her consciousness hazy.
Gu Rui held her hand, calling loudly, “Mingyue, Mingyue…”
Jia shi seemed to hear him; in a daze, she opened her eyes. “What… what happened to me?”
“You’re haemorrhaging badly. Move aside quickly. Tang ge, keep talking to her, don’t let her fall asleep.”
Gu Jiu lifted the quilt, only to see a large pool of blood on the bed.
“Ah!” Gu Mei screamed. As a sheltered young lady, she had never seen anyone lose so much blood. She was terrified out of her wits.
Gu Jiu reminded her, “Mei jiejie, go outside and keep watch for me. Don’t let anyone else in.”
Gu Mei nodded quickly. “Xiao Jiu, I’ll leave it to you here. I… I’ll go out first. You maids, serve properly!”
Her face pale, Gu Mei fled the bedchamber, but the image of that blood-soaked bed kept flashing in her mind. It was horrifying.
Gu Rui was hardly faring better. Seeing all that blood drained the colour from his face.
His lips trembled. “Xiao Jiu, is she… is she going to be all right? With so much blood, what do we do? Will she survive?”
Then, turning on the maids, he roared, “How were you attending the young madam? She bled this much and yet you reported so late? If she dies, I’ll have you buried with her!”
“Please spare us, shaoye, spare us!”
All the maids dropped to their knees. “As soon as we noticed the young madam was bleeding, we immediately sent for the taiyi and summoned shaoye. But the bleeding was too severe, we couldn’t stop it!”
“Silence! Excuses!” Gu Rui’s eyes reddened.
Frowning, Gu Jiu finally finished sterilising her silver needles. “Tang ge, step aside. Let me try stopping her bleeding first.”
“Yes, yes, of course.”
Gu Rui moved to the side, still clutching Jia shi’s hand tightly.
He watched Gu Jiu anxiously. “Xiao Jiu, she’s still bleeding, isn’t she? Can it be stopped? Can the child be saved?”
Beads of sweat soon rolled down Gu Jiu’s forehead as she carefully worked the needles.
Clenching her teeth, she snapped at Gu Rui: “Forget about the child for now. Saving the mother’s life is all that matters.”
“What?” Gu Rui swayed, his face going ashen, unable to accept it. “Xiao Jiu… you mean she might die?”
“Shut up and stop distracting me!” Gu Jiu barked, her heart burning with urgency. She had medical knowledge from obstetrics, but no real experience. All she could do now was try her best to stem the bleeding. Everything else would have to wait for the physician’s arrival.
Judging by the blood loss, the child was almost certainly lost.
A fetus several months old would not pass as easily as one or two months. If it died in the womb, medicine would have to be used to expel it.
But Jia shi was already terribly weak, could she even endure such a cruel outcome?
Half-conscious, Jia shi faintly heard voices around her.
She struggled to open her eyes. “Dalang… am I… am I going to die?”
Gu Rui gripped her hand tight. “No, you won’t die. I won’t let you die.”
Jia shi gave a frail smile, her eyes shimmering with light, but the glow was far too faint.
She whispered, “And the child? Is the child still there?”
She tried to sit up, to touch her belly, to see if the baby was still inside.
But with all her strength, she managed only to twitch her fingers.
Gu Rui held back tears, forcing his voice to calm. “Don’t worry, you and the child will both be fine. Nothing will happen.”
“Really?”
“Really. Xiao Jiu is stopping the bleeding. Once it’s under control, everything will be fine.”
Jia shi smiled weakly. “Poor Xiao Jiu, what trouble I’ve caused her. She’s just a young girl, how shameful, letting her see such filthy things.”
“Don’t talk, don’t think so much. You’ll recover.”
Jia shi gave a faint hum, slowly closing her eyes. “I’m so tired. I’ll sleep for a bit.”
“No, don’t sleep! You mustn’t sleep!”
“The taiyi is here!” From outside, Gu Mei shouted.
Today, Hu taiyi had arrived with his female disciple Jinju, thankfully just in time.
Dispensing with formalities, they hurried straight into the room, only to find Gu Jiu already applying needles. He froze in surprise.
“What’s going on here?”
“Xiao Jiu is helping stop dasao’s bleeding,” Gu Mei explained.
Gu Rui, meanwhile, remained at the bedside, softly calling Jia shi’s name.
Hu taiyi frowned but said nothing. He rushed forward to take her pulse.
Then, seeing the extent of the blood loss, even this experienced doctor was shaken.
“So much bleeding, stop it at once!” Gu Jiu replied coldly, “Already stopping it.”
“Let me see.”
Hu taiyi stepped over, studying her hand technique and the acupoints. He couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.
He stared at Gu Jiu with suspicion and awe, itching to ask where she had learned such needling. Remarkable!
What was more, this method didn’t belong to any school he knew, yet he immediately recognised its unique brilliance.
Gu Jiu’s needlework, one look was enough to tell: it was an original system, forged by drawing on the strengths of many traditions.
That was no small feat.
Hu taiyi had never heard of anyone possessing such ability, to gather together the secret acupuncture techniques of different families and, from them, create an entirely new method.
Remarkable. Truly remarkable.
Hu taiyi nodded inwardly. He instructed his female disciple Jinju to go and decoct the medicine, while he himself stayed behind, watching Gu Jiu administer the needles, his gaze fixed without blinking.
Gu Jiu inserted twenty-four silver needles in one breath.
When the final needle pierced into Jia shi’s body, Gu Jiu finally let out a long exhale.
Immediately after, her body swayed, nearly collapsing to the ground.
Gu Mei reacted quickly, catching hold of her. “Xiao Jiu, are you alright?”
Gu Jiu’s forehead was covered in sweat, her inner clothes already drenched through. With a face full of weakness, she said, “Mei jiejie, please help me to a chair.”
Gu Mei hurried to support her into the outer chamber to sit down.
“Xiao Jiu, you’ve worked so hard. You’ve sweated so much, here, drink some water.”
Gu Jiu was utterly exhausted, so tired she didn’t even want to move a finger.
Acupuncture, especially in a case like Jia shi’s, where time was of the essence in saving her life, was gruelling physical labour.
Her hands trembled from the strain.
Normally, with an ordinary illness and no urgency, she could have worked at a steady pace, needle by needle. When tired, she could rest for a while, then continue again.
But just now, her fingers had trembled several times before finally calming down.
Only then did she lift a teacup and gulp down the water in one go.
Gu Mei patted her back gently, helping her catch her breath. “Xiao Jiu, you’ve worked so hard today. I didn’t know acupuncture was so demanding.”
Gu Jiu exhaled again. “It’s mainly because tangsao lost so much blood. The bleeding had to be stopped immediately; the time was pressing.”
She had nearly worn herself out. Fortunately, the result wasn’t bad, the bleeding was more or less under control.
Gu Mei lowered her voice. “Xiao Jiu, do you think dasao will be alright this time?”
Gu Jiu glanced toward the bedchamber. “With Hu taiyi here, perhaps the child can still be saved.”
Gu Mei’s expression changed at once. “Does that mean the baby might not survive?”
Gu Jiu lowered her eyes. “You saw it too, so much blood was lost. I fear the child’s chances are slim.”
Gu Mei frowned and sighed. “Dasao has longed for this child for so long. To conceive smoothly, she has practically lived in a medicine jar these past two years. She finally became pregnant, yet to end like this…”
Gu Jiu also sighed. “Mei jiejie, don’t dwell on it. When tangsao conceived this time, her body had not been well-nourished. She has relied on pregnancy-preserving medicine to carry it this far.”
In Gu Jiu’s opinion, Jia shi should never have forced herself to preserve the pregnancy. A fetus also had to undergo survival of the fittest in order to be healthy.
From the very beginning, the need for pregnancy-preserving treatment showed that the fetus was not developing well.
If she hadn’t clung so stubbornly, if she had let nature take its course and allowed the embryo to miscarry, perhaps by now she would already have conceived a second child.
That second child might have been a healthy fetus, sparing Jia shi so much suffering.
But now, if this child could not be saved, Jia shi’s body would be left gravely weakened, her qi and blood depleted. For the next two years at least, she could forget about conceiving again.
By Gu Jiu’s reckoning, the best choice would be for Jia shi to wait at least three years before trying to bear another child.
But could Jia shi and the hou fu afford to wait three years?
Gu Jiu gave a faint shake of her head. It was as if she could already see the makings of a tragedy.
“What’s the young madam’s condition now?”
Wei shi rushed over as soon as she heard the news.
Even lao furen, along with Wang shi and Duan shi had sent people to come inquire.
Gu Mei quickly rose to greet her. “Mother, why are you here?”
“With such a grave matter, how could I not come? Xiao Jiu has worked hard.”
Gu Jiu gave a small bow. “It was nothing, tang bomu.”
“Ah, it’s fate. She is my daughter-in-law, of course I must care for her. You young girls shouldn’t go in, I’ll go in and take a look.”
Wei shi hurried into the bedchamber.
Gu Mei was deeply anxious. She whispered to Gu Jiu, “If the baby can’t be saved, I don’t know how heartbroken Mother will be. Xiao Jiu, what should we do?”
“Hu taiyi will do his utmost. Right now, the baby is secondary; the mother is what matters most.”
Gu Mei’s eyes widened in alarm. “Xiao Jiu, are you saying dasao is in danger too? But isn’t the bleeding stopped?”
Gu Jiu lowered her voice. “The baby is still inside.”
Gu Mei instantly covered her mouth, afraid she might cry out.
Yes, this was not a one- or two-month-old fetus that would be naturally expelled with a haemorrhage. At six or seven months, if the baby couldn’t be saved, it wouldn’t simply pass on its own. A way would have to be found to remove the stillborn child.
Just the thought of that scene nearly scared Gu Mei to death.
“What do we do, what do we do? Could something really have happened to dasao?” Gu Mei was beside herself with worry.
Gu Jiu, weakly, said: “We wait for news. Trust Hu taiyi.”
Gu Mei nodded. At this point, all they could do was trust that Hu taiyi had the ability to pull them back from the brink.
One of Hu taiyi’s female disciples came in carrying a freshly prepared bowl of medicine.
She noticed Gu Jiu sitting on the chair, and couldn’t help but glance at her a few more times.
Gu Jiu smiled at her.
Jinju felt a little embarrassed, smiled back, then hurriedly carried the medicine into the bedchamber.
Meanwhile, the maids carried out basin after basin of bloody water without pause.
Watching the constant stream in and out, Gu Mei grew paler and paler, all colour draining from her face.
At this rate, could either the mother or the child be saved?
When Wei lao furen learned how dire things were, she sent her trusted servant Yu mama to check in.
The moment Yu mama saw the scene, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
“How is it? How is the young madam faring?” she asked Gu Mei.
Gu Mei, her face ghostly pale, shook her head. “Not very well. Hu taiyi is inside, doing everything she can.”
Yu mama frowned. The situation looked grim. The child would likely not survive.
What a sin!
The pregnancy had been so hard-won, and now, with only two or three months left before delivery, there was suddenly massive bleeding.
Yu mama said: “I’ll go in and take a look. You young ladies shouldn’t go in, too unclean.”
Gu Jiu nodded. “Thank you for your concern, Yu mama.”
Yu mama had only just stepped into the chamber when she heard a heart-wrenching scream from Jia shi.
“No! My child, my child…”
Yu mama was so shocked she nearly stumbled to the ground.
Gu Mei rushed to the doorway. “What happened? What’s wrong with dasao?”
Wei shi shot her a fierce look and barked, “Do not come in!”
Yu mama quickly pushed Gu Mei back. “Guniang, it’s foul inside, absolutely don’t go in.”
A woman haemorrhaging during childbirth was no pleasant sight; in fact, it was terrifying and gory.
If an unmarried young lady witnessed such a scene, she might carry psychological scars, which could affect her marital life and even her own ability to conceive.
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