CHAPTER 616: CHAPTER 401: AN ANATOMY LESSON_2

"So that’s how it is!" Zhang Songhe had been devoted to the medical profession his whole life, and although he had never heard of such a thing before, combining it with his known medical knowledge, he was able to understand immediately. And thus, he too benefited greatly, beginning to observe the distribution of the green veins closely, despite feeling nauseous.

Ran Yan finished cleaning the tools and placed them within easy reach on the table, immediately drawing everyone’s attention with the varied sizes and shapes of the surgical knives.

"May I ask, is there a reason for the different shapes and sizes of these tools?" a young Doctor inquired.

Zhou Chu quietly scolded, "You have no respect for rules! These are the divine skills of the Hua Tuo lineage, how dare you inquire so thoughtlessly!"

Although he said so, he secretly praised the young man in his heart, thinking, Good lad, what a great question!

Liu Qingsong didn’t hold back; sharing more would earn him the good graces of these people. But surgery wasn’t something you could just perform because you knew about it, this was true even in future times, let alone in the Great Tang. He picked up a number seven scalpel handle, "For instance, this is called a slender handle, paired with these few blades..."

Liu Qingsong pointed at several blades on the tray, saying, "For deep cuts, the deeper the required incision, the more suitable these blades are. Shorter ones are for cutting the epidermis."

Liu Qingsong hadn’t finished speaking when Ran Yan interrupted, "Help me turn the corpse over."

"Let me first briefly describe the condition of the corpse." As Ran Yan spoke, she watched Liu Qingsong and a Pharmacist help to turn the body over, then took the chance to continue, "The deceased’s back has numerous lash wounds, some of which have started healing, indicating they were inflicted before death.

There are five bruises of different sizes on the waist and buttocks, but the old and new overlap. Currently, based on the healing of the bruises, it can be inferred that the deceased had been subjected to blunt force trauma at least three times in the two months before death, affecting the lower back and buttocks. However, due to the lash wounds completely covering the back, it’s temporarily impossible to determine if there were also injuries from blunt force trauma."

With the body turned face down, the buttocks were exposed, and many maggots had emerged around the anal area. The indoor temperature seemed quite low, so the maggots were no longer wriggling. The Imperial Physicians’ faces turned green, but none forgot why the Emperor had summoned them here, so they reluctantly went to examine the wounds on the corpse’s waist and buttocks.

Confirming that Ran Yan’s description was accurate, they all nodded in agreement. The Eunuch beside them had already started to write down the details.

Ran Yan paused for a moment, swept some residue from between the corpse’s toes using a brush, and continued, "The deceased’s left foot sole was dirty, with residue resembling fine black granular soil, while the right foot was clean. The soles of the shoes were clean, without any traces of the black soil."

Ran Yan washed the back of the corpse and then selected a long surgical knife to begin the dissection.

At this moment, the way everyone looked at Ran Yan had shifted to shock and admiration. As a Doctor, maintaining one’s composure at all times was a state of mind, and Ran Yan’s level of composure was startlingly impressive.

Li Shimin observed Ran Yan’s exposed eyes for a while, and besides focus and seriousness, he saw no other emotion, filling him with wonder and genuine appreciation for her conduct.

When she cut open the buttock region, the severely bruised gluteus maximus muscle was exposed, which didn’t surprise Ran Yan at all. She continued, "From the surface to the depth, the gluteus maximus is seriously bruised."

Ran Yan had Liu Qingsong explain what healthy muscles looked like compared to bruised ones, allowing everyone a brief look. After the Imperial Physicians hazily recognized this, she started to dissect deeply following the bruises on the waist with her scalpel in hand.

She chose a spot nearest to the spine, and as the scalpel moved deeper, Ran Yan wiped away the decayed blood with a white folded cloth while pushing the layers of muscle aside, revealing the spine.

"The muscles in the waist, like those in the buttocks, have also suffered severe bruising, and the spine shows slight fracture marks due to being struck by a blunt object." Ran Yan showed the exposed spine to everyone; the crack wasn’t large, but the blood stained over it blurred against the chilling whiteness of the bone, making for a shocking sight.

Li Shimin saw this, and his brows gradually furrowed. The hand resting on his thigh unconsciously clenched into a fist.

To inflict such heavy blows on a scholar! What could possibly justify such brutality! It was utterly inhuman!

The more he thought, the more the veins on the back of his hand bulged. The Imperial Physicians, sensing his fury, did not dare to further question Ran Yan, and Liu Qingsong stopped speaking as well.

After dealing with the two wounds, Ran Yan had the body turned back onto its back and began dissecting the thoracic cavity. Her ultimate goal was to find the blood clot that caused the sudden death of the victim.

Ran Yan also felt some pressure because, after all, she was guessing based on her experience and couldn’t be one hundred percent certain; she wasn’t that confident.

Although the chest and abdomen were severely decayed, at least they weren’t infested with disgusting creatures like maggots. The Imperial Physicians gradually recovered from the nausea of the earlier scene and became much more composed when confronted with gore.

After opening the chest cavity, Ran Yan located the pulmonary artery and switched to scissors, cutting along the artery. In everyone’s eyes, Ran Yan’s expression didn’t change as she dissected, resembling a butcher—no, she seemed even more adept than a butcher.

Finally, Ran Yan stopped her movement, immediately switched to tweezers, and removed the clot. She breathed a slight sigh of relief internally, "It was this little thing that blocked the pulmonary artery, causing the victim to die suddenly." (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation ticket and monthly ticket, your support is my greatest motivation.)