135 She might be lowly, but her ability was the real deal Part I
The next morning, news reached the capital that Da Chu’s army was preparing to attack Da Yang’s border. Luckily, there were no casualties yet. It seemed Da Chu had only sent its army to the city wall, aiming to destroy Da Yang’s soldiers’ morale. Currently, the citizens were being evacuated away from the border to a safer place.
Da Yang and Da Chu might not have been allies, but they were also not openly enemies. There was trade between the two borders, and there were foreigners coming in and out. Ouyang Feilong and Chu Zhaoran were limiting each other’s moves.
However, it seemed Da Chu’s army no longer cared about the two nations’ trade. It ordered its men to the borderline and evacuated its citizens all in one night, almost as if the people were already prepared.
Ouyang Feilong then followed suit and ordered an evacuation. The Emperor had sent rations and resources for those citizens, as well as the army.
“Go. Don’t let anyone see you,” she whispered to the black butterfly before sending it along with a message directly to Ouyang Feilong.
Its content was brief. She only warned him to be careful of Chu Zhaoran, not to let that man get too close, and to avoid being alone. She was unsure whether Chu Zhaoran was planning to capture Ouyang Feilong or not, but at least warning him would be best. Ouyang Feilong was a general. He knew what he should do. It was not her place to order him around, especially when she had her own duty right here in the capital.
“Greetings to mother.” Bai Yu curtsied to her mother, before nodding to another person she brought to Yue Mansion today.
“Greetings to first mother.” Bai Hua curtsied. She slightly lowered her face, being aware of her manner.
Yue Mei said nothing, only looking at Bai Hua with indifferent eyes. Seeing her reaction, Bai Yu spoke up.
.....
“I brought her to examine brother’s condition.”
“No need.”
Since Yue Mei did not allow Bai Hua to go near Bai He, she never had another chance to look at his condition after the day she gave him first aid before fleeing with Ouyang Mingxian. Today, Bai Yu brought her here because of her reputation as a genius doctor, in hopes that she might know how to treat Bai He. She could no longer wait.
“Mother.” Bai Yu held her mother’s hand. “All the royal doctors that came to see brother all left while shaking their heads. There’s only her left.”
“But she...”
“She’s still the royal doctor, appointed by the emperor himself. Mother, please let go of your pride just once, for brother.”
Yue Mei was silent for a brief while. Her eyes glanced at the child of the concubine she hated before turning to her own daughter. Bai Yu gave her mother a nod and a smile.
“Let her in.”
Yue Mei said. Her words were curt, her tone harsh, but it nevertheless brought a smile to both Bai Yu and Bai Hua’s faces. Everyone headed to the bedroom where Bai He was sleeping to observe Bai Hua’s examination.
Bai Yu herself was the one who had asked Bai Hua to come here. They might have had bad blood before from Bai Yu’s pride and old resentment, but now those feelings from the past had become light as a feather. Now, Bai He’s life was more important, and Bai Hua seemed to be thinking the same.
Bai Hua put down the paper and ink brush she had brought with her before starting first by feeling his pulse. She kept her finger on Bai He’s wrist for a long while. Her seriousness and the strange atmosphere surrounding her discouraged everyone else from making a sound.
“The pulse is normal,” Bai Hua murmured as she noted something down on her paper. Then, she turned to Bai Yu. “Other doctors have said that he seems like he’s only sleeping, right?”
She nodded. Bai Hua frowned before moving to sit next to Bai He’s head. Both her hands touched his temples, her thumbs pulling at his eyelids as she slowly turned his head to both sides. Her eyes were fixed on his face while her hands kept moving.
“The eyes have a normal reaction. There are no signs of decorticate rigidity or decerebrate rigidity. Mmm...” No one understood the strange words she said. And so they could only keep quiet and continue watching. “Lucky, though. At least no parts of the brain have been destroyed.”
“What does that mean?” Yue Mei asked.
Bai Hua moved slightly, not immediately answering Yue Mei. She noted down what she had observed before looking up. Her tone was firm from her past habit. “According to what the patient has faced, it seems that this condition is not a direct result of the poison that he ingested. But the true cause is still unknown, mother.”
“So what is this condition he’s in?” Seeing that Bai Hua had stopped examining him, Bai Yu then asked.
“Unconsciousness,” Bai Hua answered in English. Bai Yu could understand it immediately, while others were left confused.
“Unconsciousness? You mean a coma?”
“Correct, though it is not a deep coma. What is happening right now here is only at the stage of a semicoma, or a light coma. It means the patient can sense everything happening around them but is unable to respond. Actually, the patient shouldn’t be sleeping like this. There should be some movements or facial expressions. Still, it’s not a deep coma since the pulse is still normal.”
“Then can it be cured?” Bai Yu continued to ask without caring to help explain to others in the room, now including Xu Luanle and Xu Peipei, who had just come into the room when Bai Hua was noting down her examination.
“There’s a way...”
“Is that true?!” Xu Peipei interrupted the conversation in a strange language between the two. Bai Hua looked at her gaze full of hopefulness and not contempt like when they had first met, then she smiled. “It is true.”
“How?” Yue Mei became excited as well, even though she had yet to understand exactly what condition her son was in.
“I am still unsure of the treatment.” Bai Hua who only now realized that she had used too much of her old world’s speech, suddenly changed her tone. “Since I have yet to confirm the cause if I can perform a blood test...”
“There’s no lab for you to do a blood test.” Bai Yu ended Bai Hua’s thoughts for her.
“I know.” Bai Hua sighed. She wished she could bring her medical equipment here with her. “I’ll try to find a way. But I want to know brother’s condition and symptoms ever since he fell asleep until now.”
“I know!” Xu Peipei blurted out. Her heart was beating faster than ever before. How wonderful it would be if he woke up.
“Right now, you should ask for the details from Miss Xu. If there’s something else you need to know, come to me.” Bai Yu said to Bai Hua, who nodded.
“Let’s go. I’ll tell you everything.” The younger sibling of the Xu family entwined her arm with Bai Hua’s, leading her out of the room amidst the surprise of everyone. They had never expected to see Xu Peipei acting casually with a woman of lower status like this.
“Can she really treat your brother?” Despite the glimmer of hope, Yue Mei was still worried.
“We should try to trust her, at least this once, mother.”
“But she’s merely a concubine’s child...”
“She might be lowly...” Bai Yu met her mother’s gaze. “But her skills are indeed excellent, mother.”
Right now, the life of the person she loved was going down a path of cruel fate. This was no longer the time to hold on to hate.