Chapter 68 Prince Chen’s Assistance

Chapter 68: Prince Chen Lends a Hand

The most infuriating part was that none of the doctors there knew anything about this condition, nor did they know how many types of medicinal herbs were needed to treat a cleft lip.

Even if Luo Jingshen wanted to seek confirmation, he had no way to do so, and could only swallow his pride and keep his mouth shut.

He glanced at Luo Feizhou, wondering if he could ask him, since he was the one running the contest, to chip in half the herbs.

But when he turned around, Luo Jingshen realized that the spot where Luo Feizhou had been standing was now completely empty, and he was nowhere to be seen.

This pissed Luo Jingshen off so much he almost started cussing.

He took a few deep breaths to calm down, then turned to his trusted subordinate.

“Go get all the herbs Princess Ye asked for.”

“But Your Highness, we don't have these herbs in the mansion, and you probably can't find them outside either…”

The main issue was that there simply wasn’t enough time to find them now.

Luo Jingshen's heart clenched, but with all these commoners watching and his own public promise, he had to save face.

Finally, he swallowed his frustration, pulled a token from his chest, and tossed it to his subordinate.

“Take my token to the Imperial Pharmacy. Say it's for me. If Father asks, tell him I owe him one and I'll make it up to him later.”

Herbs can be replaced, but face can't.

If, after she's done treating the kid, Ji Yuntang is caught not using these herbs and pocketing them instead, he'll make her pay dearly!

Ji Yuntang watched all of Luo Jingshen's reactions, seeing him grit his teeth and swallow his pride, acting all generous while clearly hurting inside. She just wanted to laugh.

If Luo Jingshen wanted to use her, he should've seen this coming. This was nothing.

It took the trusted subordinate almost half an hour to come back with over a dozen kinds of herbs.

Luo Jingshen didn't even want to look at them and quickly told him to hand them over to Ji Yuntang, afraid he'd change his mind and grab them back.

Ji Yuntang's eyes swept over the well-preserved herbs in the boxes, and a satisfied smile crept into her eyes.

Not bad, not bad—these were really top-notch stuff from the Imperial Palace, all aged to perfection.

Now that these things were in her hands, they were hers. If she sold them, she could probably make a nice chunk of change.

Ji Yuntang put the herbs away and then told Yaoniang to pick up the kid and follow her.

At the door, she stopped. “I, this Princess, never like having strangers around when I treat patients. Since you've chosen me to heal your child, trust me and leave her with me. Wait outside with Tao Zhi, and don't let anyone in to disturb me until I come out.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Ji Yuntang had already spotted a group of black-clad guards surrounding the area—all of them were the Crown Prince's men, probably sent to block her in case she tried to pocket the herbs.

But they didn't know Ji Yuntang had a space. Once the herbs went in there, no one would find them unless she took them out herself.

Yaoniang's eyes were wet. Though reluctant, she knew the only one who could save her daughter now was Ji Yuntang.

With tears in her eyes, she handed the baby girl in her arms to Ji Yuntang. “Princess Ye, this common woman entrusts my child to you.”

Ji Yuntang nodded. “Don't worry.”

The door closed. The kid, feeling a stranger's arms, started crying again. Ji Yuntang casually pulled out a mermaid princess toy to distract her, and the kid was immediately hooked, stopping her tears.

The next second, with a thought, Ji Yuntang appeared in her space with the baby girl, just like that.

She first ran a physical exam on the kid. The report showed she was in good health, with no upper respiratory or surrounding tissue infections. Only then did Ji Yuntang feel comfortable moving forward with the surgery.

The best time for cleft lip repair surgery is when the patient is between three and six months old, since recovery is faster. The kid was now almost eight months old, but luckily, Ji Yuntang had the universal spiritual spring water, so doing the surgery was still doable.

Ji Yuntang used a cotton swab to clean the kid's mouth and nasal cavity, then started opening the lip and separating the mucosa of the alveolar groove. She used a scalpel to cut through the skin and muscle layers, applied 1:200,000 epinephrine saline to stop the bleeding and compress, and finally started stitching slowly.

The kid had been given anesthesia and was now asleep. The whole process had to be extremely careful, with no room for mistakes.

The kid's skin was very delicate, so Ji Yuntang's movements were slow. Before long, tiny beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Finally, after two hours, Ji Yuntang finished the last stitch. She let out a sigh of relief, took out the spiritual spring water, and drank a big cup to regain some strength.

She waited in the space for a bit. After the kid woke up, Ji Yuntang carried her out of the space.

Outside the door, the guards led by Luo Jingshen had tried several times to barge into the room, but Tao Zhi and Yaoniang were blocking them firmly.

Tao Zhi knelt on the ground. Even though her body was shaking with fear, she still mustered the courage to say, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, our Princess is still in the room treating the kid. You can't go in now.”

“It's been two hours already, and she hasn't come out. We haven't even heard the kid cry. Who knows what your Princess Ye has done to the kid?”

“Open the door. I have to go in and see. If something goes wrong with the kid, who's going to take responsibility?”

As Luo Jingshen spoke, he got ready to kick the door open. Tao Zhi pressed her body against the door, squeezed her eyes shut, and braced herself for a beating.

At the critical moment, Luo Sinian stepped forward out of nowhere and stood in front of Tao Zhi.

His eyes were a bit cold. “Second Brother, since the… Princess Ye said she would heal the kid and asked not to be disturbed, I think we should give her a little more time.”

“What if she's at a critical point right now? If you barge in and mess her up, causing a medical accident, I'm sure Second Brother would also take the blame.”

Luo Sinian wasn't worried about Luo Jingshen. He didn't know why he had done this either—his mind had just gone blank, and he had stepped up to speak up for Ji Yuntang.

He could only comfort himself by thinking that the ugly woman was his Third Brother's Princess Consort, and if her reputation got ruined, it would also affect his Third Brother.

He was doing this purely for his Third Brother's sake, not because he wanted to help Ji Yuntang at all.

Luo Jingshen kept pushing. Just then, the door opened from inside, and Ji Yuntang stood at the entrance, holding the kid, calmly facing the crowd outside.

She first looked at Luo Sinian, who was closest to her, and said lightly, “Thanks for your help just now, Prince Chen.”

She always believed in keeping things separate. Ji Yuntang knew that Luo Sinian disliked her and had a deep prejudice against her, but the fact that he had stepped forward to block Luo Jingshen just now, even though it was a small thing, earned her gratitude.

If it weren't for him, Tao Zhi would probably have been kicked to the ground by Luo Jingshen.

Luo Sinian met Ji Yuntang's kind gaze, his ears turning a little red. But he turned his face away arrogantly and let out a cold snort.

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