Mo Jiuye saw him leave and instructed, "When I don't call you, you must not come in and disturb me no matter what."
"Okay," Nan Rui replied, and had already closed the door outside.
He Zhiran was not at ease, so she went forward and bolted the door from inside.
The two looked at each other, then brought Consort De with them and flashed into the space.
Consort De's condition was slightly better than what He Zhiran had imagined. After all, she was an imperial consort in the palace, so even if Emperor Shunwu did not favor her, at least she was not mistreated in terms of food and drink.
It was just that the gu worms had erupted on the way here these past few days and she had not eaten much, causing her body to be weaker than an average person’s.
The only tricky thing was that the gu worms in Consort De's body had already eroded into her internal organs and were extremely close to her heart.
Just as He Zhiran had initially judged, if the gu worms were not removed within three days, Consort De's life would be over.
The top priority now was to first remove the gu worms from Consort De's body. As for her aged appearance, it was also caused by the gu worms in her body.
As long as the gu worms were removed, she would surely regain her youthful looks after slowly recuperating.
Mo Jiuye was no stranger to surgery. He knew the gu worms in Consort De’s body were less than a centimeter away from her heart. Removing them would definitely be much more complicated than when his brothers had their gu worms removed.
Therefore, while He Zhiran was carefully examining Consort De, he had already prepared the surgical facilities so that later his wife would only need to do some key procedures. Whatever he could help with, he would definitely not let He Zhiran get too tired.
At this moment, He Zhiran had also changed into surgical scrubs. After accurately locating the gu worms with the equipment, she started wielding the scalpel.
As always, Mo Jiuye was holding a glass container, ready to catch the gu worm as soon as it poked its head out.
The gu worm’s position was quite special, less than a centimeter away from the heart. If this was an ordinary tumor removal surgery, this area could be treated with minimally invasive techniques.
However, Consort De’s situation could not be handled that way. Gu worms were not dead matter like tumors. Once a hole was made in the body, they would still remain in their original position.
If the gu worms sensed any danger, they would immediately destroy other tissues in the body to save themselves.
Therefore, removing Consort De’s gu worm could only be done through conventional surgery.
He Zhiran skillfully used the scalpel to cut open a 10 cm incision below Consort De’s heart. She kept deepening the incision based on the equipment prompts.
Only when she saw the gu worm did she alert Mo Jiuye.
“Get ready to catch the gu worm.”
In fact, Mo Jiuye was already prepared. As He Zhiran peeled back Consort De’s flesh with tools and the gu worm poked its head out a little, Mo Jiuye accurately clamped it with forceps and quickly sent it into the glass bottle.
This was an ordinary gu worm. Unlike puppet gu, once a offspring gu left its host, it was like a child without its mother, thrashing around in the glass bottle.
In order for the gu worm to continue living, He Zhiran decisively took some of Consort De’s blood and poured it into the bottle.
As long as the offspring gu was alive, they still had hope of finding the mother gu.
This was another reason why He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye were willing to save Consort De. As long as the offspring gu was alive, they could use its reactions to search for the location of the mother gu.
This would definitely be easier than her brothers searching the Western Sea.
Mo Jiuye carefully stored away the offspring gu. On He Zhiran’s side, she quickly sutured Consort De’s wound closed before dressing it.
When all the procedures were complete, Consort De was still unconscious.
Taking this chance, He Zhiran administered medical treatments from two fronts, hanging both plasma and intravenous nutrition fluid to speed up Consort De’s recovery.
Worried about He Zhiran’s health, Mo Jiuye helped her change back into the old woman’s outfit as soon as she was done and prepared a sumptuous meal for her.
While Consort De was on the IV drip, He Zhiran took another short nap.
It was not until ten hours later that the two brought Consort De, who was showing signs of awakening, out of the space with them.
When Mo Jiuye opened the door, the sky outside was already dark.
This day had been extremely agonizing for Nan Rui. After waiting five hours, worried about his Imperial Consort Mother’s condition yet not daring to step forward and ask, he was on pins and needles.
Finally, when the door opened, he quickly went up to Mo Jiuye and asked anxiously, “Ninth Young Master, how is my Imperial Mother?”
Mo Jiuye understood his feelings. Back then, when Fourth Brother was having surgery, just watching from the sidelines made him feel tortured. How much more so for Nan Rui who couldn’t even see the person?
“The gu worm in Imperial Consort De's body has been successfully removed, and the master has also treated her body. She will definitely wake up before long.”
Hearing this, Nan Rui trembled as he grabbed Mo Jiuye’s hand in excitement.
“Can I...can I go see Imperial Mother now?”
Mo Jiuye stepped aside to make way for the door. “You can.”
Nan Rui rushed into the room without even remembering to thank He Zhiran.
He knelt by the bed on one knee and carefully examined his mother in the dim oil lamp light.
It could be seen that Consort De’s complexion had a touch of rosy glow to it, and her breathing was extremely steady.
Tears instantly rolled down Nan Rui's cheeks.
“Mother, your gu worm has finally been removed. From now on, your son will take you away to live an ordinary life under assumed names.”
These were Nan Rui’s words to Consort De, but to Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran, they were quite unexpected.
No matter what, Nan Rui was still a prince of the Da Shun Dynasty. To give up the glory and wealth he was born with for his mother was astonishing.
Could it be that he truly had no ambition at all?
This was something Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran did not completely believe.
No matter what he did in the future, as long as he did not secretly harm the Mo family, it was none of their business.
The most important goal of obtaining the offspring gu in Consort De had already been achieved. As for what Nan Rui would do next, they had no intention of getting too involved.
But Consort De’s current condition truly could not be casually moved. It seemed they would have to stay here for some time.
The gu master persona created by He Zhiran could not linger here indefinitely. She planned to take this chance to leave this place.
“The gu worm in Imperial Consort Mother has been removed. This old one should take her leave.”
Hearing her voice, Nan Rui suddenly remembered he had been rude.
He quickly stood up and solemnly bowed to He Zhiran.
“Many thanks to the master for removing the gu worm from my Imperial Mother. I plan to stay in the northwest from now on. If you ever need me for anything, please let me know.”
It could be said that Nan Rui’s tone was very sincere. He Zhiran did not sense even a hint of perfunctoriness from him.
“This old one has remembered Prince Rui’s words. I definitely won’t stand on ceremony with you if I have any needs.”
As He Zhiran spoke, she was also sneering inwardly.
Nan Rui wanting to stay in the northwest was unexpected for both her and Mo Jiuye. Could it be that he really planned to live an obscure life from now on?
