Chapter 47: Dark Clouds Over the City

  In the warm little house, a strong medicinal smell wafted out, and upon closer sniffing, there was also a stench of rot.

  This was Li Xu's ward, Gu Zhenhua sat in front of the bed, and on the bed lay a man in his thirties. His frame was robust, and there were similarities between him and Li Jibei around his eyebrows. However, due to prolonged illness, his cheekbones and temples had sunken, his lips were purple, his complexion was yellowish, and even his mind was somewhat unclear, constantly making indistinct sounds.

  Gu Zhenhua examined it carefully, but Li Jibo frowned.

  "Master Gu, why didn't you even take his pulse?"

  "No!" Gu Zhenhua replied succinctly.

  Li Jibo's anger flared up instantly, and he grabbed Gu Zhenhua's shoulder: "Gu Junye, do you think you can fool me?"

  "Old Li, we've made a bet, and Lord's injury is now in my hands."

  "Are you sure?"

  "No!"

  "Ah!" Li Jibo was thoroughly tormented and had lost his temper, he could only glare at Gu Zhenhua with a huff.

  Gu Zhenhua smiled very lightly and said: "Old Li, the wound has become severely infected and purulent, and Young Master Li also has a high fever. To be honest with you, the toxin has already entered the bloodstream. The disease is so severe that no one can guarantee anything, in short, it's just treating a dead horse as if it were alive!"

  "Gu Zhenhua, let me tell you something. Don't think that just because you're carrying the name of Zhongyongbo, you're anything in my eyes. You're nothing but a fart. If you dare to play with my son's life, I'll make sure to take someone down with me before I hang myself!"

  "Old Li, you're really unreasonable. You came to me on your own initiative and agreed to the bet with me. Now you're threatening me? Isn't that too shameless?"

  Li Jibai raised an eyebrow and smiled, saying: "I've met countless people in my life, but I just can't see through you. If I don't push you to the limit, I'm afraid you won't show your true strength!"

  "If you scare me to death, I won't be able to make it."

  Facing the old fox, Gu Zhenhua could only admit defeat and said angrily: "Old Li, go prepare things quickly, boiling water, gauze, clean needles and thread, and bring some cypress salt over. Remember to steam each item in a pot before bringing it over, and don't dare touch them with your bare hands. If they get contaminated, it's a matter of life and death. You wouldn't joke about the life of your own son, would you?"

  At this time, Li Jibai could only pin his hopes on Gu Zhenhua and hurriedly made preparations.

  Gu Zhenhua then pulled out the only remaining antibiotic and five painkillers from his clothes. These medicines were Gu Zhenhua's most precious treasures, he only gave one to Sun Cheng, later when the brothers were injured, he gave everyone a few painkillers, and all that was left is here.

  Li Jibei's son's injury was clear, he had been shot by an arrow and the wound had not fully healed. The prolonged time, combined with the rising temperatures in March and April, led to a severe infection, with toxins even entering the bloodstream. To put it bluntly, his life was only a matter of days.

  Under current medical conditions, no matter how high-ranking the doctor is, they will be helpless, and Gu Zhenhua's only reliance is the penicillin in his hand!

  Although the contact time was not long, Gu Zhenhua also understood that Li Jibei's eyes were accurate and familiar with all situations in Shanhaiguan. The most difficult thing is that he still missed the Ming Dynasty. If there was such a person to help himself, not only would his personal safety be guaranteed, but he might even be able to add some trouble for Wu Sangui, and even get some of the elite soldiers and grain from Guanning.

  Of course, all these beautiful visions have a prerequisite, which is to cure Li Xu on the bed!

  At this time, Li Jibo had already prepared everything. Gu Zhenhua took out the dagger and repeatedly washed it with salt water until everything was ready.

  Gu Zhenhua had just slowly removed the bandage from Li Xu's shoulder, and saw that centered on the shoulder socket was a fist-sized area of redness and swelling, with pus flowing continuously, emitting a pungent odor that made Gu Zhenhua wrinkle his brow.

  "Mr. Li, the wound is hard to heal, most likely because there's something dirty inside. I need to cut open the wound and take out what's inside. You'd better arrange a few strong young men to hold your son down firmly, he absolutely cannot move."

  Li Jibo nodded solemnly, and instantly four soldiers rushed in to hold down his limbs. Li Jibo tightly hugged his son's head, with a piece of wood clamped between his teeth.

  "Lord Gu, just go ahead and do it, regardless of life or death, I will be grateful to you!"

  Gu Zhenhua nodded slightly, first using gauze to repeatedly wipe away the pus until he could see the flesh clearly. Gu Zhenhua then inserted the dagger without hesitation, and the wound was cut open in an instant.

  "Ah!"

  A loud cry of pain came out, and his body involuntarily twisted, several soldiers immediately exerted their strength together, firmly pressing him down.

  "Son! Bear with it, you're not afraid to fight the Tartars to the death, are you afraid of this little pain?" Li Jibei said with a heartache, and the turbid tears in his eyes flowed down.

  Pitiful parents all over the world, Gu Zhenhua also secretly sighed. The wound had been delayed for two or three months, and the surrounding area was all rotten flesh. Gu Zhenhua cleaned it up for a whole minute before finally revealing the central position. Only to see that the meat here was dark in color, with dark red blood constantly seeping out.

  Gu Zhenhua was familiar with first aid, but this operation was a first for him, and he couldn't help but be flustered. He put the dagger aside and hastily picked up the tweezers. After inserting them deep into the wound, he probed around to the left and right, and indeed found one spot that felt distinctly different.

  "It's here!"

  The pincers were tightly clamped, and Gu Zhenhua suddenly used force, but they didn't budge. Li Xu continued to twist and struggle, his body **, as if he couldn't be held down.

  "What shall we do, Master Gu?" Li Jibei asked anxiously.

  "What else can be done? The arrow is inside and if it's not taken out, his life will be gone!"

  Gu Zhenhua also made up his mind at this time, grabbed the dagger and continued to cut another knife at the wound, then inserted the tip of the knife into the center of the wound.

  "Got it!"

  Gu Zhenhua shouted loudly, and several people used all their strength to eat milk. At this time, Gu Zhenhua held a dagger in one hand and a larger iron clip in the other, and suddenly clamped down on the arrowhead. Then his hands applied force fiercely.

  As Li Xu let out a beast-like roar, the black arrowhead was finally pulled out. In an instant, Li Jibei's vision blurred and he almost fainted. At this moment, Guo Yunlong happened to rush over and hurriedly helped hold down Li Xu.

  Gu Zhenhua knew that once the arrow was removed, the problem would be more than half solved. He quickly cleaned Li Xu's wound and carefully cleaned up the rotten flesh. Finally, he used a needle and thread to sew up the wound, applied medicine, and bandaged it.

  It wasn't until more than three hours later that the crude operation was finally completed, Li Xu had long been in so much pain that he fainted, and Gu Zhenhua was also drenched from head to toe.

  "Master Gu, how is the young master?"

  "The wound has been treated, I have some medicine here, take two pills at a time, twice a day."

  "Will it be okay if I just eat it?"

  "I don't know, anyway I've done all I can, whether I live or die is up to fate now."

  Facing Gu Zhenhua's dead body, Li Jibei gritted his teeth: "Can't you give me some comfort and let me rest assured?"

  "Sorry, I haven't learned how to lie yet."

  Li Jibai's eyes rolled around and he suddenly laughed: "I'm dizzy and my eyes are blurry, I'll go rest first. Whatever it is, let's talk about it when the child wakes up."

  The old man didn't wait for Gu Zhenhua to speak, and directly slipped away, not giving Gu Zhenhua any time to discuss cooperation. This made Gu Zhenhua so angry that his teeth itched, but there was nothing he could do with this cunning old fox, and he could only wait for news.

  In the blink of an eye, two days passed. During these two days, the news of Wu Sangui's rebellion finally reached the capital, and Li Zicheng was furious. He immediately issued a decree to punish Wu Sangui, and in an instant, the capital and Shanhai Pass were shrouded in thick dark clouds.

  At dawn, Gu Zhenhua had just walked out of the military camp when he saw hundreds of iron riders galloping by. Behind the war horses, a dozen or so people were dragged along, their bodies scraping against the ground with bloodstains all over them, leaving behind a trail of red blood wherever they passed. Some people could still let out dying cries, while others had already lost their lives.

  "Break the cangue! What crime have these people committed?"

  "Sir," Yue Po hurriedly said, "I've heard that some officials have colluded with Li Zicheng and want to oppose the commander. These people are probably their secret envoys."

  Gu Zhenhua was also stunned, he thought Wu Sangui had been operating in Shanhai Pass for many years, and these officials had long since given up their hearts to follow him, but unexpectedly the situation was not like that, Wu Sangui also had internal and external troubles!

  At this thought, a sharp glint appeared in Gu Zhenhua's eyes. The more so, the more Wu Sangui wanted to surrender to the Qing Dynasty!

  Gu Zhenhua's guess was not wrong at all. Wu Sangui had just sent away his deputy general Chen Kun, letting him take a secret letter to ask the Qing dynasty for help. Just as he was about to return to his mansion, a dark green horse-drawn carriage suddenly came running over.

  Wu Sangui hastily went forward: "Is it Master? I was just thinking of you!"

  The curtain was lifted, and Li Jibai stretched out his body from inside, smiling and saying: "Chang Bo, no need to be so polite, I am also thinking of making a move."

  "Master, with internal and external troubles, please give me a solution!"

  Wu Sangui said, pulling Li Jizhong to the main hall of the commander's mansion. As soon as they sat down, Wu Sangui hastily said: "Master, Shanhai Pass is short of food and supplies, and people are in a state of panic. I am exhausted mentally and physically."

  "Older brother, there's a solution for everything, don't panic first."

  Just as Li Ji-bai was about to point out Wu Sangui, a eunuch suddenly brought in an old eunuch, who knelt down on the ground with a thud as soon as he entered.

  "Lord Pingxi, our family must impeach Gu Zhenhua. This guy deceives the emperor and commits treason, deserving of death ten thousand times!"