Under emergency circumstances, Ran Yan had no time to change her clothes and hurried to the palace in her usual attire, following the temple staff.
When Ran Yan arrived at Ganlu Hall, a group of Imperial Physicians had gathered outside the bedroom, Li Shimin, with hands behind his back, was pacing back and forth outside the bed curtains anxiously. Inside the room was very quiet, which made Princess Jinyang’s wheezing sound particularly severe.
"Lady Xianliang has arrived!" the Eunuch’s shrill voice rang out.
Li Shimin abruptly stopped pacing and quickly approached her. Without waiting for Ran Yan to salute, he immediately said, "No need for formalities, Lady Xianliang, go quickly and see to my child."
Without saying much, Ran Yan hastened into the inner chamber.
Princess Jinyang’s face was pale, her chest rising and falling dramatically, her small hand gripping Su Fu’s robe tightly, her brow furrowed in pain, tears constantly sliding down from her eyes.
She was suffering from a sort of respiratory illness, asthma. If carefully managed and prevented, this condition would not usually be fatal, but if patients exhibit cyanosis, altered consciousness, without agitation, their lives would be in danger, and it seemed Princess Jinyang was in a bad state.
Su Fu and Liu Qingsong were doing their utmost to save her. Su Fu’s expression was as cold as usual, but fine beads of sweat had appeared on his forehead. Liu Qingsong was already drenched with sweat.
Upon seeing Ran Yan, Liu Qingsong couldn’t help but ask anxiously, "The aerosol isn’t working well, do you have oxygen with you?"
"I have it." Ran Yan immediately joined in the life-saving efforts.
This aerosol was different from those of later times; it was a finely ground powder of Chinese medicine prepared by Ran Yan and Liu Qingsong. After boiling and filtering, they obtained a liquid. The spray equipment was quite simple and couldn’t produce a mist as evenly as modern ones, but it had proven somewhat effective in previous tests on other patients. However, Princess Jinyang’s condition was clearly much worse, and the aerosol had no alleviating effect.
Princess Jinyang’s hereditary asthma was not hard to relieve, but curing it was almost impossible; it could only be controlled over the long term.
Ran Yan took out a one-foot-tall glass bottle from the medicine chest and inserted a hollow tube into one of Princess Jinyang’s nostrils and the other end into the glass bottle.
This was oxygen self-made by Ran Yan, using a pig liver grinding solution as a catalyst to produce oxygen. However, because of the limited conditions, collecting the oxygen was exceedingly difficult, and since some patients required high-flow oxygen while others needed low-flow, it was difficult to control without instruments.
As the oxygen flowed in, Princess Jinyang’s breathing gradually became smoother.
Su Fu and Liu Qingsong relaxed a little.
"The oxygen is simply insufficient; we only have two bottles, not enough to last even a quarter of an hour," Ran Yan paused and then said, "Liu Qingsong, prepare more aerosol for when the oxygen runs out, and Pharmacist Su, please prepare the suitable oral medicine for the symptoms."
Both responded in unison; Su Fu hurriedly left, and Liu Qingsong busied himself with the aerosol.
While Ran Yan controlled the delivery of oxygen, she asked Liu Qingsong, "Princess Jinyang was already improving; how could she have suddenly had an attack?"
"I don’t know. These past days, Pharmacist Su and I have strictly controlled the Princess’s diet and her personal belongings, and even inspected the palace. The Princess has always been obedient; she would never go to places like the garden," Liu Qingsong couldn’t understand it either. The patient had been fine in the morning, how could it have become so severe in just a short hour?
"The Princess’s condition must be the result of accidentally ingesting or coming into contact with something that triggers asthma. Have you checked her midday meal?" Ran Yan asked.
Liu Qingsong, having prepared the aerosol, wiped off his sweat and said, "There was no time to check; I hadn’t even finished my midday meal when a temple staff came urgently looking for me, so I sent for Pharmacist Su and you immediately. We have been rescuing her up until now."
As they finished talking, Li Shimin’s voice, dignified with underlying anger, came from outside, "Go investigate what the Princess ate for her midday meal, where she had been before that, and overlook no detail. Not a single thing should be missed!"
Ran Yan saw that Princess Jinyang’s breathing was becoming more rapid again, realizing the oxygen in the bottle was finished, and she immediately switched to another bottle.
The small figure on the bed, ghastly pale, eyes tightly shut, was soaked with sweat as if just fished out of water, so frail it seemed as though she might break at the slightest touch. Ran Yan sighed; although this disease’s mortality rate wasn’t extremely high, sufferers endured agony. Especially in ancient times, with no good aerosols, no specialized oxygen, an inability to hydrate, patients could only painfully endure the outbreaks.