Before the operation, Hu Xiaotian had explained the procedure and its steps to Xu Baichuan in detail. Only when everything was ready and they were about to operate on Xue Shengkang did Xu Baichuan say apologetically, "Lord Hu, you won't blame me, will you?"
Hu Xiaotian asked a question whose answer he already knew. "Blame you for what?"
Xu Baichuan sighed. "I had no other choice. His Majesty's illness struck with such ferocity this time. If anything should go wrong, I fear that my colleagues at the Imperial Medical Academy and I would lose our lives and everything we own..."
Hu Xiaotian smiled. "His Majesty's blessings reach as high as heaven. How could anything happen to him? Lord Xu, you needn't worry so much." Of course, he understood that if Xue Shengkang's condition worsened, all these imperial physicians would surely lose their heads. Xu Baichuan was clearly clutching at him like a drowning man at a straw. Perhaps he had not held out much hope himself, only to discover that mentioning Hu Xiaotian's name actually won the emperor's approval. In truth, the man who had decided to summon him for treatment was the emperor of Great Yong, Xue Shengkang. Everyone else's opinions had merely served as references. Hu Xiaotian simply could not understand why Xue Shengkang dared place such great trust in him, entrusting his life to him at their very first meeting.
Hu Xiaotian put on his gloves and walked slowly into the makeshift operating room enclosed by curtains.
Xue Shengkang lay on the bed, watching him calmly. His composure impressed even Hu Xiaotian. In modern society, a cholecystectomy was no more than a routine surgical procedure, but in this era, it was an earth-shaking undertaking. Yet Xue Shengkang showed no fear whatsoever. The bearing of a sovereign was