Chapter 171: An Eye-Opening Experience

Guo Guo Yuanzheng was seeing Jun Jun Zijin perform an autopsy for the first time. Having practiced medicine for many years, he believed he had seen countless corpses. Yet the scene before him still left him so stunned his jaw hung open.

The coroner stood aside, his deeply furrowed face now etched with the expression of someone who had just seen a ghost.

He had spent half his life dealing with corpses—horizontal, vertical, complete, or missing legs; he had never missed a single type.

But an autopsy performed this beautifully? He had truly never seen one before.

The internal organs had been cleanly removed and placed neatly aside, without the slightest damage.

Every cut was as flat and beautiful as a work of art. This wasn't dissecting a corpse; this was practically sculpting a masterpiece!

"This... this is simply unbelievable!"

Guo Guo Yuanzheng's eyes went wide, and he couldn't help but murmur in awe.

He felt his entire medical understanding completely overturned, like a man who believed himself a master chess player suddenly checkmated by a three-year-old child, and worse, checkmated by that child using a toy pair of scissors.

The more they watched, the more entranced they became; unconsciously, Jun Chengcai, Guo Guo Yuanzheng, and the coroner all crowded closer to the corpse.

Everyone felt Jun Jun Zijin's voice was like heavenly music, and they listened to her explanation with total concentration.

Autopsies were originally a lowly and taboo profession, after all, not only did one deal with the dead every day.

One also had to cut open corpses, even dismember them; ordinary people wouldn't even dare to think of such things.

If not driven to desperation by life, who would willingly take up this trade? Just thinking about it felt ominous; one would surely have nightmares at night.

But Jun Jun Zijin stood at the autopsy table, golden sunlight bathing her figure, gilding her with a layer of sacred radiance.

She looked like an angel descended to earth, carrying out a solemn and holy mission.

Everyone suddenly felt that autopsies could indeed be so solemn and sacred.

Every one of her movements was observed by all present. The Governor of the Capital had seen great sights; scenes of coroners performing autopsies, he had watched for half his life, long ago becoming accustomed to them, even somewhat numb.

Yet he had never seen an autopsy conducted so cleanly and neatly.

Even... even somewhat enjoyable? The Governor of the Capital shook his head. Damn, I've gone mad.

Comparing the usual coroner's autopsy with Jun Jun Zijin's, the former's scenes were simply unbearable to behold; it was sheer chaos.

He couldn't help but inwardly admire her; this Princess truly lived up to her reputation.

He suddenly felt that the coroner's profession might not be as wretched as he had imagined. At least, in Jun Jun Zijin's hands, this profession seemed to have acquired a new, even respectable, meaning.

Aside from Jun Jun Zijin's voice, not a single person spoke, fearing to break this sanctity.

What everyone was thinking, Jun Jun Zijin had no time to attend to; she examined the organs while simultaneously teaching Jun Chengcai anatomy.

Jun Jun Zijin checked each one in turn; the organs appeared perfectly intact from the outside, the liver surface smooth, showing absolutely no signs of poisoning.

Lacking modern advanced instruments, Jun Jun Zijin could only rely on silver needles to check for poison residues.

Holding a silver needle of extremely high purity, she carefully probed the deceased's stomach, throat, and mouth one by one.

Ancient poisons like arsenic would react chemically upon contact with silver, causing the needle's surface to turn black.

Although this method was not entirely reliable and had certain limitations, in ancient times, seventy percent of poisons could be detected using high-purity silver needles.

However, after testing the stomach, throat, and mouth one by one with silver needles, no poison residues were found.

The deceased did not die from food poisoning, nor from internal injuries; this was very strange.

Jun Jun Zijin frowned slightly, sinking into deep thought.

Moments later, she raised her head, her eyes now clear and lucid:

"The fatal cause is not here; then the only remaining possibility is the brain."

Upon hearing these words, everyone immediately showed expressions of admiration.

"The Princess's medical skill and insight are truly rare in this world. Unraveling the truth step by step like peeling silk from a cocoon is truly admirable!"

Guo Guo Yuanzheng stroked his beard and spoke first, offering praise without any stinginess.

The coroner, standing aside, nodded repeatedly, his eyes filled with respect and gratitude:

"The Princess's art of dissection has opened my eyes. Henceforth, I must study diligently under the Princess to avoid shaming this coroner's duty."

The Governor of the Capital looked at Jun Jun Zijin, his heart filled with satisfaction and expectation:

"So, the medicine from Tong'an Hall indeed has no issues. Please continue the autopsy, Princess. If the truth can be uncovered and justice restored to the deceased, the entire Governor's Office will be eternally grateful."

Jun Chengcai wore a proud expression, as if the praise were directed at him personally, his lips unconsciously curling upward.

"But how does one examine the brain?"

The coroner asked the question everyone wanted to ask.

"Craniotomy."

Jun Jun Zijin glanced at everyone's eager gazes and said calmly.

"Craniotomy?"

Guo Guo Yuanzheng's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Princess, can a craniotomy be performed on a living person?"

Once medicine was mentioned, Guo Guo Yuanzheng became excited.

"Sister, if a craniotomy is performed on a living person, will... will they die?"

Jun Chengcai also became excited.

"Generally, no. Under specific conditions, perhaps it is possible."

Jun Jun Zijin patiently answered Jun Chengcai's question while her hands never stopped, shaving the deceased's head clean.

In later eras, craniotomy was considered a major surgery, requiring general anesthesia, special instruments such as electric drills and nerve dissectors, and postoperative recovery was extremely critical.

But in this world, medical conditions were crude; attempting such a surgery with only a set of scalpels was too difficult. She didn't even have a thirty percent chance of success.

Here, there were no special instruments; one slip could injure the intracranial tissues.

The surgical environment was completely substandard; how could a craniotomy be performed?

Performing a craniotomy on a corpse required no consideration of intracranial tissues or intracranial nerves.

Just no electric drill; all done by hand grinding, so it takes a bit longer.

Guo Guo Yuanzheng felt somewhat disappointed, but he was quickly captivated by the movements of Jun Jun Zijin's hands.

Everyone stared fixedly at every one of her movements.

They saw her first cut open the scalp, then separate it from the skull.

Seeing Jun Jun Zijin, she continued to operate while explaining the principle and key points of each step to Jun Chengcai beside her.

"Since it is a corpse, no anesthesia is needed. With no blood, there is no need for clamps to stop bleeding."

She then explained in detail to Jun Chengcai how to administer anesthesia and effectively stop bleeding if performing a craniotomy on a living person.

In her view, regardless of whether such surgery would ever be needed in the future, imparting all her knowledge was her duty as a master.

She patiently drilled hole by hole with a grinding drill; since she was teaching Jun Chengcai, every one of her movements was extremely precise, as rigorous and serious as performing surgery on a living person.

No one knew how long had passed before five holes were finally drilled.

Then came the cutting; the skull separated from the dura mater, and as the dura mater was opened, a mass of brain matter was exposed before everyone's eyes.