Physician, Not A Consort

“Thank you for believing in me and also for never asking about my origins. You’re my first confidante since I arrived. It’s only natural for me to be nice to you. Believe me when I say that I’m not a bad person. I can’t tell you where I came from right now, but I’ll explain everything one day!” Lin Haihai promised. 

“In my heart, you’re no different from the young miss,” Xiao Ju said, the undertone in her voice was apparent. Lin Haihai could understand the underlying message. Xiao Ju had long treated Lin Haihai as someone close to her just like her young miss. Lin Haihai smiled blissfully. As long as someone treated her somewhat kindly, she would think that the world was a wonderful place! 

After bringing Xiao Ju and Tangtang back to North Court, Lin Haihai slowly walked back. She had just entered the hospital when Qing Feng anxiously asked, “Master, where did you go? A military officer has been waiting for you for a long time.”

“A military officer? Why is he looking for me?” Lin Haihai asked confusedly. 

“Zheng Feng pays his respect to the Sixth Princess Consort. The Sixth Prince is tending to an urgent matter and requests your presence in the palace immediately!” a person dressed like an imperial guard appeared and greeted respectfully. 

Lin Haihai stared at Zheng Feng and found him to be somewhat familiar. She suddenly recalled the day she was saving someone on the streets and how he had grasped her wrist back then. His master then reprimanded him for his actions; his master was Prince Yong. No wonder he said he knew her. So it was him, Brother Yang! 

“Did the Sixth Prince mention what the matter was?”

Zheng Feng took a step forward and said, “His Majesty got into an accident, and the imperial physicians are at their wits' end. The Sixth Prince requests you to enter the palace immediately!”

Lin Haihai was shocked and immediately ordered Qing Feng to bring the first-aid kit over. She then grabbed Zheng Feng and started running. Zheng Feng struggled free from her grasp and said to Lin Haihai, “Consort Lin, forgive me. I’m going to overstep my boundaries.” Zheng Feng grabbed Lin Haihai’s wrist and flew into the air. Lin Haihai secretly exclaimed in admiration. Great qinggong! His cultivation was pretty solid that even carrying someone with him also felt like a breeze. He didn’t seem to be struggling at all. 

“Son, will bringing Yuguan over be of any use? Even the imperial physicians couldn’t do anything,” the empress dowager asked as she wept. 

“Imperial Mother, don’t worry. As long as she’s here, she will be able to save Imperial Elder Brother.” Right now, Yang Hanlun trusted Lin Haihai for some reason. When the imperial physicians declared that Yang Shaolun had lost too much blood and the poison had already spread throughout his body, implying that Yang Shaolun was beyond salvation, Yang Hanlun held onto his thread of hope - Lin Haihai. However, Zheng Feng had been gone for an hour now. Why isn't he back yet? Yang Hanlun watched as his Yang Shaolun's lips turned from pale white to purplish black. That was proof that the poison had already reached the vicinity of his heart. Yang Hanlun was suddenly uncertain. What if she couldn't do anything either?

Zheng Feng flew into the courtyard of Yang Shaolun’s sleeping chambers with Lin Haihai in his arms. He immediately knelt down and apologized humbly. However, Lin Haihai didn’t have time to be bothered with him. She quickly pushed the doors open and barged in. She couldn’t help but be shocked by the sight that welcomed her. The imperial physicians were all on their knees while the palace maids and eunuchs were standing in straight lines. Yang Hanlun looked sorrowful while the empress dowager was wiping her tears as she sat on the side of the bed. At Lin Haihai's appearance, everyone's hopeful gazes landed upon her. Yang Hanlun said nothing but looked at her pleadingly. She glanced at the person on the bed and recognized him instantly. It's Brother Yang! Her heart became heavy then. 

She examined him briefly. His internal organs aren't damaged, so it's not too big of a problem other than excessive blood loss. His lips are black; he's probably poisoned. She asked the imperial physicians, “Do you know what type of poison this is?” All the imperial physicians shook their heads before lowering them in shame. Lin Haihai’s  brows furrowed together and she retrieved a powder-like substance from her first-aid kit. She said to Yang Hanlun, “Order someone to fetch a bucket of water and then grab a dozen bowls. Get all the imperial guards to come in.”

Yang Hanlun hurriedly relayed the order. The imperial physicians looked at her, baffled. What’s the use of this? Even the empress dowager looked at Lin Haihai in confusion. 

Lin Haihai didn’t explain and took out a detoxifying pill for Yang Shaolun's consumption. A few moments later, the palace maids and eunuchs returned with the items Lin Haihai had requested. Lin Haihai brought Yang Hanlun’s sword over and then lifted Yang Shaolun's hand, slashing a slight cut on his finger. A drop of blood fell from the tip of the sword and landed in the bowl. Everyone gasped. The empress dowager pushed her away and furiously questioned, “What are you doing?” Lin Haihai said nothing as she held the bowl containing the drop of blood. She poured the powder into the blood and then poured a bit of water in each bowl. She then divided the blood-powder mixture among the numerous bowls. Having done all that, she ordered the imperial guards, “All  of you are to drip a single drop of your blood into the bowls.” 

The imperial guards glanced at Yang Hanlun. Yang Hanlun could only choose to believe in Lin Haihai right now. He ordered for the guards to listen to Lin Haihai and they adhered to it.

Lin Haihai continued, “If your blood can form a homogeneous mixture with the blood in the bowl, stand to one side. If not, you may leave.” After the imperial guards dripped their blood into the bowls, they stared at their bowls as they waited for the results. Lin Haihai glanced at the bowls before saying, “All of you may leave.” 

Yang Hanlun anxiously asked, “Why are you telling all of them to leave?” Lin Haihai didn’t answer him but responded with another question, “How many siblings do you have? Call all of them over.”

“Why do you want them to come over?” Yang Hanlun asked, confused. 

"Let me explain. In simple words, he needs a blood transfusion since he lost too much blood. However, I can’t just transfuse any blood to him. I need to find someone who has the same blood type as him. Otherwise, his body will reject the blood. The poison in him is traversing within his body through his blood. We have to expel the poisonous blood out of his body and allow new blood to flow into his body. I will also add an antidote into the new blood, so that when the new blood flows through his body, it will bring the antidote to all of his organs. I am trying my best to get rid of the poison in the shortest time possible.” 

Imperial Physician Shangguan slapped his thigh and cried out in surprise when he heard Lin Haihai’s explanation, “Amazing! It’s truly amazing! Consort Lin is truly a divine physician!” 

Yang Hanlun looked at Imperial Physician Shangguan; he could barely understand half of whatever Lin Haihai had said. His gaze then landed on Lin Haihai again. As someone who had lived dozens more years than Yang Hanlun, the empress dowager was brought over by Lin Haihai's explanation and nudged Yang Hanlun, urging him, “Go quickly!” As though he was jolted awake from a dream, Yang Hanlun promptly rushed out.

After busying herself for some time, Lin Haihai finally selected three people whose blood type matched Yang Shaolun’s. But three people wasn't enough. She thought about it and bit her finger, letting a drop of blood drip into the bowl. Her blood actually mixed with his! Yang Hanlun followed suit but unfortunately, his blood wasn't a match. Lin Haihai prepared the equipment and took out a few thin tubes from her first-aid kit. They were sparkling, translucent and extremely dazzling. The glass tubes were the result of her daily experiments. Because she had no tools to perform the blood transfusion, she had to use her limited scientific knowledge to experiment continuously. Despite countless failed attempts, she continued to experiment nonstop, and finally produced these simple and crude tubes. She found a blacksmith to craft a few thin perforated needles and connected them with the mouths of the tubes. As such, a simple transfusion tube was borned!

She got Imperial Physician Shangguan, Zheng Feng, Yang Hanlun, and the three princes in charge of transfusing their blood to stay in the room. She turned to Zheng Feng and said, “I’m going to slash His Majesty's artery open later and the four of us will transfuse our blood to him. You will have to transfuse your internal energy into His Majesty's body rapidly and strive to circulate our blood through his body. As for Imperial Physician Shangguan, the moment you see that the blood flowing out of His Majesty's body is no longer black, stop the process immediately. I have a bottle of antihemorrhagic here. You just need to press on his wrist firmly and then pour the antihemorrhagic on the wound.” Imperial Physician Shangguan took the bottle cautiously. 

“What about me? What can I do?” Yang Hanlun was a little anxious when he saw that he couldn’t help. 

“You need to do something very important, which is to look over us because we can’t be distracted by the outside world during this process. If His Majesty doesn’t receive enough blood, his life could be in danger. Therefore, you can’t make any mistakes.” Lin Haihai said solemnly and Yang Hanlun nodded fervently.

“Princes, please use your internal energies when transfusing your blood in such a way that the blood would enter His Majesty's system rapidly. It might hurt a bit, but it won’t affect any of our physical conditions.”

“Sister-in-law, don’t worry. We have engaged in countless battles. Something like this won’t stump us,” remarked Second Prince, Yang Yonglun, as he looked at Lin Haihai with great admiration.

“Okay. Since everyone is ready, let's start.” Lin Haihai inhaled a deep breath. She picked up the scalpel and slashed Yang Shaolun's wrist. Black blood immediately spurted before oozing out. Zheng Feng instantly used his internal energy to hasten the speed of blood circulation. Lin Haihai promptly inserted the transfusion tubes on the three princes and her wrists before connecting it to Yang Shaolun's blood vessel. She had sprinkled the antidote in the transfusion tubes in advance. While channeling the internal energies, their blood slowly and gradually flowed into Yang Shaolun's body. 

The black blood gradually decreased until eventually, bright red blood started to gush out. Imperial Physician Shangguan immediately pressed down on Yang Shaolun’s wrist and then sprinkled the antihemorrhagic. Lin Haihai glanced at Yang Shaolun’s face, which slowly returned to its normal rosiness. She called Imperial Physician Shangguan over to remove the needles from the three princes and use alcohol-soaked cotton to press down on the injection site. The three princes fell back against their chairs, their faces pale. Yang Hanlun immediately ordered the servants to help the princes out to rest.

Lin Haihai removed the needle from her own wrist and closed her eyes, secretly going over the mental cultivation method that Baizi had taught her. She immediately felt refreshed. Yang Hanlun looked at her worriedly and wanted to say something, but hesitated. She immediately returned a faint smile of assurance. Yang Hanlun nodded with mixed emotions. Yang Shaolun’s breathing gradually stabilized. It seemed like he was out of danger. Yang Hanlun respected Lin Haihai even more now. 

Who knew that she'd easily got rid of the poison that the imperial physicians could do nothing about? However, she was his divorced princess consort and he was about to marry another woman. Would the woman he loved mind Lin Haihai's existence? Yang Hanlun suddenly felt overwhelmed with the conflicted feelings in his heart.

Yet, Lin Haihai didn’t know Yang Hanlun's thoughts. She thought that he was just worried for his elder brother judging from his furrowed eyebrows. She even secretly admired their close brotherhood. She still had the mental age of a twenty-eight year old. Hence, she only thought of Yang Hanlun as a big boy and didn't harbor any romantic feelings towards him. Of course, she never thought that Yang Hanlun would like her because from the very beginning, he had already told her that he was in love with someone else. 

Lin Haihai was more concerned about General Chen. She told Yang Hanlun about it before stating her intention to leave. Yang Hanlun had to stay to watch Yang Shaolun, so he had Zheng Feng take her back. 

The moment she stepped out of the door, the dozens of imperial physicians all knelt before the steps, and echoed, “Consort Lin, please accept us as your disciples!” Lin Haihai was startled and looked towards the empress dowager with pleading eyes, hinting at the latter to help her out. The empress dowager flashed a faint smile and said, “Child, they told me that they admire your medical skills and want to learn medicine from you. Isn’t this a good thing? They can bless the citizens if they learn well. Just agree to it.” 

Pondering over the empress dowager's words, Lin Haihai thought of how there weren’t enough physicians in the hospital. An idea bloomed. She said to the imperial physicians, “All of you have brilliant medical skills. I am really undeserving of all of you to address me as 'Master'. However, I have an idea. My Linhai Hospital is at the south of the imperial palace and it isn’t that far from here. Although there are a lot of people in my hospital, they are all disciples who know nothing about medicine. I really can’t handle all the patients alone at times. If you guys don't mind, let’s be colleagues. We can discuss medicine and research pharmacology together.”

“Does that mean Your Highness is willing to take us in? And teach us the art of medicine?” Imperial Physician Chen stepped forward and asked. 

“It's not teaching. We’re merely exchanging ideas. You may be imparting your skills to me and I to you. Either way, it doesn’t matter. There are a total of fifteen imperial physicians but leaving three imperial physicians in the imperial palace is more than enough. In the future, you guys can take turns to be on duty in the imperial palace. The rest of you will come to my hospital to help me. Imperial Mother, is this arrangement fine?” Lin Haihai finally became an unscrupulous businessman for once. She transferred the imperial physicians from the imperial palace to her hospital and she didn’t even need to pay them! 

“You can do as you say.” Who would have thought that this daughter-in-law from a commoner's family was that outstanding? The empress dowager was overjoyed on the inside. 

“Okay. We’ll do what Master tells us to do.” The imperial physicians were agreeable to the arrangement too. 

Lin Haihai was extremely delighted and said, “From tomorrow onwards, you will come to the hospital to help me. Imperial Physician Shangguan, I’ll trouble you to arrange everyone's schedule. There is a critical patient in the hospital that needs a surgery tomorrow, so you should come early to help.” 

When the imperial physicians heard that there was a surgery, they could hardly contain their excitement. They had all heard of the Imperial Physician Shangguan's description of Lin Haihai's annotation to the surgery, which was to open up the head. At the start, everyone felt that it was inconceivable. However, after having witnessed how she cured the emperor of the poison, they believed her. But who should stay put in the imperial palace tomorrow? Everyone would definitely give their all to fight for this opportunity. Lin Haihai handed the decision making to Imperial Physician Shangguan and made her escape.