Poison Genius Consort

 creating a liquid disinfectant before stepping forward to help.

Han Yunxi didn’t dare use random medicine at will, but disinfection was still important.
The more they could minimize the risks of infection, the better.
She only hoped that Gu Beiyue wasn’t on shift at the palace so he could hurry over fast.
Zhao mama ended up falling silent as well, her expression serious.
In the end, she found a silk coverlet to drape over Su Xiaoyu’s body and keep her from catching a chill.

Even the angels treated wicked children with tenderness before they grew up.
Perhaps that was the reason why Su Xiaoyu was lucky enough to have Gu Beiyue resting at home today.
Once he got the summons, he came over as fast as he could.
Although it had been ages since he’d seen Han Yunxi, both of them forgoed all the niceties in favor of medical professionalism.
Han Yunxi gave a brief outline of the burns while Gu Beiyue examined the patient.
Very soon, he came to a diagnosis.

“It’s an extremely severe burn, she’ll completely lose her skin from this!” he said seriously.

Baili Mingxiang and Zhao mama were stunned by his words.
They didn’t know much about medicine, so losing all one’s skin sounded terrifying.
But Han Yunxi remained calm.
She’d heard of beautifying surgery from the past, while skin graft surgeries of the present weren’t very complicated, either.
But usually patients took skin from their head to replace lost patches elsewhere since the head skin recovered very well.
Since Su Xiaoyu was injured there, she’d probably have to use skin from the child’s thighs and buttocks.
She privately wondered what Gu Beiyue do in these circumstances.

Still, she trusted his judgment and went on to ask for other things instead.
“Would the burn have reached the bone and damaged her brain?”

Gu Beiyue’s expression was intense.
“The bone was left uninjured, but with a burn like this…it’s hard to gauge the shock on the brain.”

Han Yunxi didn’t tell Gu Beiyue that Su Xiaoyu had gotten the injuries as a result of torture.
She only said that a careless mistake had left Su Xiaoyu’s head tumbling into some boiling water.
If a great master doctor like Gu Beiyue was uncertain, then Han Yunxi had a good idea of how things stood already.
Gu Beiyue next made some preparations and wrote out a few prescriptions for Zhao mama to gather before Baili Mingxiang volunteered, “Why don’t I go instead.”

It wasn’t public knowledge that Baili Mingxiang was now working as a servant at the Duke of Qin’s estate.
In the eyes of outsiders, she was simply here to learn poisons.
Gu Beiyue finally noticed her existence and respectfully handed over his papers.
“I’ll have to trouble you.”

“Imperial Physician Gu is too polite,” Baili Mingxiang bowed before hurrying off.

Once the preparations were all done, Gu Beiyue began to start on skin-graft surgery.
Zhao mama retreated as well, leaving just him and Han Yunxi in the room.
Most of their collaborations in the past had Gu Beiyue assisting Han Yunxi, but now the situation was reversed.
Despite this, the good doctor remained unmoved by the presence of the beauty beside him as he focused his entire attention on his charge.

There was anesthesia, opening up the burns, repairing the muscles and disinfecting the affected areas before stopping blood flow and adding in new skin.
Then the transfers were sewn up against the skull and covered with medicine and bandages.
Gu Beiyue did his entire work in silence while Han Yunxi watched, mesmerized.
His procedure was similar to modern day surgery, but he used different medicines and techniques to accomplish his goal.
Han Yunxi thought that it’d take Gu Beiyue ages to finish, but his movements were so smooth and quick that he didn’t stop until he was done.

She couldn’t help but blurt out, “Can you slow down a bit? I didn’t see anything clearly.”

Gu Beiyue didn’t answer until he finished everything.
Only then did his stern expression relax somewhat to reply, “Esteemed wangfei, one cannot tarry when saving lives.”

“Mm,” Han Yunxi nodded seriously.

Gu Beiyue smiled.
“If esteemed wangfei is interested, this official can teach you anytime.”

Han Yunxi dearly wanted to learn, but she was so busy these days that there were still things left undone.
After coming back from the disaster regions, she even wanted to train up her own retinue of guards and teach them poisons, but there simply hadn’t been time.
Instead, she took Baili Mingxiang under her wing instead—fortunately, the girl was quick enough to learn.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t gain anything even after following her for two to three years.

She said helplessly, “Then I’ll consult you when there’s time.
How is the girl doing now?”

“I’ll observe her for a day.
If the newly grafted skin survives, she should be fine.
As for esteemed wangfei’s concerns towards brain damage…that’ll have to wait until she regains consciousness,” Gu Beiyue said honestly.

In the end, the surgery proved successful, so the aftercare was left to Baili Mingxiang.
Thanks to the delay with Su Xiaoyu, Han Yunxi pushed the matter of hunting down Gu Qi Sha to the back of her mind.
Nor did Long Feiye bother to remind her.
Judging from Gu Beiyue’s anesthesia, Su Xiaoyu should have regained consciousness that very same night, but she was still sleeping by the next morning.
Han Yunxi examined the girl and found that her breathing and body temperature were all normal.
Her injuries hadn’t worsened either, so it didn’t make sense for her to still be out cold!

She grew uneasy.

That afternoon, Gu Beiyue dropped by and creased his brows at Su Xiaoyu’s unconscious state.
He carefully examined her burns and confirmed that the new skin was settling in well.

“Esteemed wangfei, the injuries are doing fine and she received proper care.
If they aren’t infected, she’ll recover from the burns in about 10 days and fully heal in about a month,” Gu Beiyue said.

Han Yunxi nodded.
“Then when…will she wake up?”