Said No to the Prince and Yes to the King novel Chapter 8

Chapter 8 She Has No Shame

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Finished

Margaret said calmly. “I may not know much, but I do know this child’s arm doesn’t need to be cut off Amputation is the simplest way to treat the poison, but preserving his arm is the most humane choice.”

As she spoke, she knelt beside the child, pulled out one of the needles from his body, and inserted it again in a different spot. “This placement will stop the poison from spreading further.

The physician’s eyes widened. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing? A life is at stake–this is no place for recklessness!”

“Precisely because a life is at stake, as healers, we must be even more careful.”

Margaret’s tone remained calm. She turned to the child’s mother. “This is your son. I’ll ask you once: do you want him to live?”

The woman was too terrified to speak and could only nod frantically.

Margaret continued, “I can save his life and his arm. Will you trust me?”

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The mother stared at her blankly, then looked at the physician.

The physician rose to his feet with a snort. “Hmph! If you’re so confident, go ahead! If you kill the child, don’t blame me when we drag you to the authorities!”

He glanced down at the mother. “I’ve told you–the only y way to save your son is to cut off his arm. hesitate and something goes wrong, don’t come crying to me!”

If y

f you

The terrified mother immediately grabbed the physician’s leg. “Please save my son! Please!”

It was all she could think to say.

Seeing this, Margaret nearly decided to walk away.

But the boy on the ground–so small, so close to death-

Ah, forget it. A healer’s duty.

She pulled open the boy’s shirt and, using the physician’s own needles, began carefully performing

acupuncture.

The physician sneered, “Putting on quite the act. Don’t say I didn’t warn you–with my needles removed, that boy won’t last half an hour!”

The mother panicked and instinctively reached to push Margaret away.

But looking at her fading son, she instead collapsed before Margaret, weeping. “Miss, please don’t harm my child! Have mercy–please save my son!”

Tears and snot mingled on her face. She was terrified. But if there was even a chance–a chance her son could keep his arm and his life–she had to take it.

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Chapter 8 She Has No Shame

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Still, she couldn’t quite let go of the safety net. She turned and grabbed the doctor’s leg again, begging.

“Please. Doctor, just let her try! He’s so young–if he loses his arm, he’ll be crippled for life! I can’t–I can’t bear it! Please don’t leave–if she can’t save him, I’ll still need you!”

The physician’s expression softened with pity. “I’ve made it perfectly clear–cut off the arm now, and he lives! Trying to have it both ways will only doom him…”

“I don’t know what to do! I have no choice! If my son loses his arm, my husband will beat me to death when I get home!”

While they argued, the boy’s body became covered in needles.

Margaret worked with intense focus, but the crowd kept pointing and murmuring.

“She dares to toy with a human life? This girl has some nerve!”

“She looks familiar…

“It’s that ugly miss from the Prime Minister’s Estate!”

“Right! That’s why I recognized her. Tsk. A noble lady, causing chaos in the streets. She thinks her status protects her, doesn’t she? Thinks commoners can’t touch her.”

“I heard she’s fat as a pig and vicious as a snake. Looks like the rumors were true.”

“She thinks she can kill an innocent child and get away with it?”

“No wonder the Crown Prince moved on. Who’d want to marry that?”

“Fat people, fat deeds. If that child dies, she’ll have some explaining to do.”

Voices came from all directions. Convinced Margaret couldn’t touch them, they grew bolder with each remark.

Time passed. A bead of sweat dripped from Margaret’s brow.

It seemed the entire street was watching now.

Most faces wore sneers; only a few silently hoped the boy would awaken…

By a second–floor window, two men had been watching for some time.

Cyan said flatly, “She was invited here, yet she stops to save someone on the way. No sense of punctuality.”

Beside him, Theodore watched silently, expressionless.

This was the Fragrant Celestial Pavilion, the capital’s largest restaurant, right on the main street.

At that moment, many on the second and third floors were observing the scene below. Snatches of conversation drifted through the air.

“That’s really the Prime Minister’s second daughter? I saw her years ago–she wasn’t fat at all! What

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Chapter 8 She Has No Shame

happened?”

“Apparently she was pretty enough as a child. Just… filled out as she grew.”

“Living too well, obviously. All that prosperity padding her frame.”

“Yes, while the third lady is slender. You can tell she’s suffered.”

“A woman that fat, out in public? Shameless.”

“And playing doctor, of all things. If that child dies, even her father won’t escape the backlash.”

“Wait for it. The show’s just starting.”

Noble ladies gathered at windows, waiting for the punchline..

Finished

The crowd in the street swelled, people pressing forward. After hearing what had happened, some even spat on the ground.

“So what if she’s a noble lady? If she kills a commoner’s child, she’ll pay with her life!”

“That’s right! We’re all here watching. If that boy doesn’t wake up, we won’t let her slip away!”

The mocking voices multiplied, interspersed with angry shouts.

The mother had nearly cried herself unconscious. The physician stood aloof.

“Little girl, I know you’re nobly born. People have recognized you. You think your status protects you, which is why you’re so bold. But today, with this crowd, if things escalate, even your father would have trouble escaping.”

He shook his head. “I’m not looking down on you, but that centipede that bit the child–I’ve never even heard of such a thing. You can’t cure this poison. If we cut off the arm now, at least the boy might live…”

The cacophony was giving Margaret a headache.

Finally, she began removing the needles one by one.

Seeing this, the physician sighed, “Giving up already? Why put the boy through all that suffering? Now put those needles away and leave. Since you’re just a girl, I won’t hold this against you.”

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