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As they were leaving the back yard, Chu Yue saw a young woman dressed as a maid rushing into the pharmacy.
“Is Doctor Zhu here? Please, doctor, save my mistress!”
Doctor Zhu, who was examining patients, looked troubled.
“Miss, haven’t I made it clear? I’m not a midwife. Even if I went, I wouldn’t be able to help. Besides, I have a lot of patients waiting to be seen.”
In Nanyuan, male doctors generally avoided treating pregnant women, so when women gave birth, it was crucial to have an experienced midwife.
The maid knelt before Doctor Zhu, pleading tearfully, “Doctor, please, my mistress has fainted. They say doctors are compassionate. Please, just take a look.”
Doctor Zhu sighed.
“What can I do even if I go to your mistress? It won’t change anything.”
Just then, the people in the long queue began to say, “Doctor Zhu, our illnesses aren’t life-threatening. We can wait. Why don’t you go and see this young lady’s mistress first?”
Hearing this, Doctor Zhu looked at Shopkeeper Chen, who had just come out of the back yard.
“Old Chen, what do you think…?”
Shopkeeper Chen fiddled with the ginseng he had just received from Chu Yue. “In that case, Doctor Zhu, you should go. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself; just do your best. Magistrate Huang won’t blame you.”
Doctor Zhu sighed, somewhat reluctantly packing up his medicine box.
Chu Yue, very curious, stepped forward and asked the maid, “Sister, did your mistress encounter any problems during childbirth?”
Although the young girl in front of her looked even younger than herself, the maid didn’t underestimate her. She wiped away her tears.
“My mistress is having a difficult labor. She’s been in labor for three days, and the baby still hasn’t come out. She just fainted from exhaustion. The midwife said that if the baby doesn’t come out, I’m afraid both the mother and child won’t survive.”
As she spoke, tears involuntarily fell again.
So it was a difficult labor.
In such cases, without special measures, it’s basically hopeless. Doctor Zhu going there would just be a formality.
It was fine not to encounter this, but now that she had, Chu Yue wanted to go and see for herself.
She turned to Lu Xinghe.
“Husband, do you know this Magistrate Huang?”
“He’s a very kind man. He and my father were classmates, I believe. It’s a pity that he’s having this happen at his old age.” Lu Xinghe’s voice held a hint of regret.
After hearing this, Chu Yue made up her mind.
“Husband, can you go to Hua Yu Lou alone? I want to follow Doctor Zhu to Magistrate Huang’s house.”
Lu Xinghe wasn’t quite comfortable with Chu Yue being alone.
“If you want to go, I can go with you. We can go to Hua Yu Lou later. But…” He looked at Chu Yue with some confusion. “You’re a young girl. What can you do there?”
Chu Yue whispered, “My luck has been so good lately. What if I go, and Mrs. Huang has a smooth delivery?”
Although she wasn’t confident in traditional Chinese medicine, she did have some practical experience in surgery. If she succeeded, not only would she save two lives, but she might also gain Magistrate Huang’s protection in the town in the future.
Lu Xinghe, upon hearing this, thought there was some logic to what she said.
“Then go.”
After all, he was his father’s classmate, and they had met twice before. In the past, during bad harvests, he had done many good things for the people. If she could bring them good luck, it wouldn’t be a bad deed.
Chu Yue was delighted. She pulled Lu Xinghe out of Chen’s Pharmacy, and the two pushed the cart toward the direction where the maid and Doctor Zhu had left.
Because the situation was urgent, and considering Doctor Zhu’s age and slow pace, the maid had brought a sedan chair.
The sedan chair bearers walked steadily and quickly. In less than a quarter of an hour, they arrived at Qiyun Alley, where Magistrate Huang lived. Four or five wealthy families lived in this alley, all prominent figures in Nanping Town.
The sedan chair carrying Doctor Zhu stopped in front of the first house on the left.
The maid, perhaps anxious, quickly lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and helped Doctor Zhu out.
At this moment, someone from the Huang residence, hearing the commotion, quickly opened the gate.
“Doctor Zhu, you’re finally here!”
Doctor Zhu, having been jostled in the sedan chair, hadn’t yet recovered when the maid hastily pulled him out. Still a little dazed, he was about to follow the servants into the Huang residence when he heard someone call from the alley entrance, “Doctor Zhu, wait a moment!”
Everyone looked towards the alley entrance, where a young man and woman were pushing a cart towards them.
Doctor Zhu looked puzzled. “Who are you?”
Chu Yue quickly said, “Doctor Zhu, have you forgotten? We were the ones who delivered herbs to Shopkeeper Chen earlier. Shopkeeper Chen was worried that you might have trouble, and since I know a little about medicine, he specifically asked me to come and help you.”
Doctor Zhu immediately beckoned.
“What are you waiting for? This is a matter of life and death. Come with me quickly.”
“Okay!” Chu Yue quickly lifted her skirt and ran up the steps. Before entering, she said to the steward standing beside the door, “Uncle, the man pushing the cart is my husband. The sun is too hot. Would you please let him come inside and wait for me?”
The steward quickly nodded.
“Of course, miss. Please hurry and follow Doctor Zhu.”
Although her clothes were worn, they were clean and neat, and the people of the Huang residence didn’t look down on her because of her attire.
Seeing Chu Yue’s hurried and anxious manner, Lu Xinghe shook his head and smiled. Even at a time like this, she still remembered him.
But it was precisely this sincerity of Chu Yue’s that warmed Lu Xinghe’s heart.
Watching Chu Yue’s back disappear from view, Lu Xinghe parked the cart in the corner and followed the steward into the Huang residence.
Chu Yue followed Doctor Zhu and the maid, Xiaolian, to the back yard, entering a courtyard called Yi Mei Yuan. As expected of a wealthy family in ancient times, Chu Yue felt that the flowers and plants in Yi Mei Yuan were far more refined than those of ordinary people.
A middle-aged man, anxious and sweating profusely, rose from a stone bench to greet the doctor.
“Doctor Zhu, you’re finally here. Please, Doctor Zhu, save my wife and child!”
Doctor Zhu bowed.
“Magistrate Huang, let me examine your wife’s condition first.”
“This way, please.” Magistrate Huang gestured towards the house. “Xiaolian, quickly take Doctor Zhu inside.”
“Yes, sir.”
Xiaolian curtsied and quickly led Doctor Zhu to the side room where the woman was giving birth.
Chu Yue silently followed behind them, pondering the situation she might encounter and some emergency solutions.
When the three of them entered the room, they saw the woman lying on the bed, pale and weak, seemingly on the verge of death.
Her abdomen was greatly distended. Because of the presence of a male, her body was tightly wrapped in a thin quilt.